Psychology 2720A/B Lecture Notes - Cognitive Dissonance, Elaboration Likelihood Model, If You Say So

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2720A/B
• Professor: Patrick Brown

Document Summary

A friend tries to convince you that you would enjoy taking a dance class. Your boss suggests that you should add a person to your work team with whom you have not worked before. Radio and television advertisements try to convince you to use their products. Your doctor tells you that you should exercise more. Your romantic partner argues with you about the benefits and costs of having children. All of these persuasion situations, and many more, take place frequently in everyday life. The chapter describes several theories that delineate how persuasion occurs in certain situations. The theories include ones that focus on motivational processes in attitude change, especially dissonance theory, and others that focus on cognitive processes, such as the elaboration likelihood model. The chapter ends with a discussion of propaganda, including recruitment strategies used by cults, but you should not lose sight of the fact that most forms of everyday attitude change are more benign than propaganda.