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Summary
Ethics Class 09

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF ELEMENTS OF PERSUASION: MESSAGE (4:30 P.M.)

  • Drawing Conclusion
  • It works best when:
  • (a) Message is unstructured.
  • (b) The audience is not very intelligent.
  • (c) Message is not related to core belief.
  • (d) Drawing of conclusion is not perceived as an insult to the intellect of the target group.
  • (e) There exists no mistrust or hostility between the source and target group.
  • Sideness of the Message
  • The message can be one-sided or two-sided.
  • A one-sided message is used when:
  • (a) The audience is not intelligent.
  • (b) The audience is not aware of the existence of the other side of the message.
  • (c) They already agree with your position, and you need to make them agree further.
  • A two-sided message is used when:
  • (a) The audience is intelligent.
  • (b) The audience is aware of the existence of the other side.
  • (c) The audience already holds a counter-attitudinal position.
  • (d) The audience holds mistrust towards the source agent.
  • Emotional and Factual Appeal
  • Emotional and factual appeal works better than emotional, which in turn is better than factual appeal, which is better than neither emotional nor factual appeal.
  • This can be done through various means like cinema, street plays, civil society, or government initiatives.
  • Pleasant Form of Distraction
  • The attention span of an individual is limited.
  • Hence, people often resort to the pleasant form of distractions to increase the effectiveness of persuasive appeal.
  • For example, food, sense of humour, children, etc.
  • Channel Factor
  • Channel is the medium through which information is presented and it should be compatible both with the message, and the frame of reference of the target group.
  • For example, imparting education in the mother tongue, Bultoo experiment for tribals, and street plays to create awareness in the rural areas.

CHARACTERISTICS FEATURE OF THE ELEMENTS OF PERSUASION: RECEIVER (5:01 P.M.)

  • Selective Exposure
  • Many times target group members do not intentionally avoid the information, but because of the culture in which they live, they get exposed only to that information, which happens to support their existing viewpoint.
  • For example, the role of patriarchy in middle-class working women, calling people names or indulging in racist slurs, etc.
  • Selective Attention and Comprehension
  • Even though the persuader can overcome the cultural barrier and reach the target group, there is always a possibility of selective attention and comprehension.
  • Selective attention can be addressed by establishing the utility of the message.
  • Selective comprehension can be prevented by providing the proper illustration.
  • Intelligence
  • It is always advisable to have an intelligent target group.
  • Although it is difficult to persuade them initially, however, if you provide logical arguments it would ensure long-term persuasion.

DISCUSSION ON QUESTION (5:21 P.M.)

  • Question:
  • How would you use persuasion to ensure the implementation of the family planning method? (150 words, 10 marks)
  • Approach:
  • Introduction
  • In the introduction, define the term persuasion.
  • The linking statement highlights that persuasion consists of 4 elements.
  • Body
  • (a) Choose facilitators (to ensure the snowballing effect).
  • (b) Choose a source that is credible, attractive, and has power.
  • (c) Use the fear appeal in the message. 
  • For example, Highlight the effects at individual, family, societal, and national levels in the case of the high fertility rate.
  • (d) Now highlight channels you can use like street plays, government schemes, etc.
  • Conclusion
  • Highlight the significance of family planning.

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE (5:29 P.M.)

  • It is one of the most influential theories of social psychology.
  • It was put forward by Leon Festinger in 1957.
  • It refers to the psychological and emotional discomfort created due to discrepancies between thoughts and behaviour.
  • According to Festinger, the individual often resorts to the following ways to resolve the dissonance.
  • (a) Change the thought.
  • (b) Change the behaviour.
  • (c) Add more thoughts to justify the behaviour.
  • (d) Trivialize the inconsistency between thoughts and behaviour.

CASE STUDY

  • Let's take the example of a 25-year-old unemployed graduate who is supporting a political party with the hope that better job opportunities would be provided. Despite the five years of governance, no significant changes have occurred. Needless to say, this person is still unemployed. As the next elections approach, his support is requested. In such a situation, what will this person do?
  • Solution
  • (a) Changing the thought
  • This person would look at his neighbours, who are also graduates.
  • They have started chai and samosa shops.
  • Hence, this person concludes that although the job is not created in the traditional sense, income-generating opportunities are created.
  • (b) Changing the behaviour
  • The person decides not to vote for the party.
  • (c) Adding more thoughts
  • This person analyzed the activities of the government and concluded that although it has failed to generate job opportunities, there has been infrastructural development.
  • (d) Trivalize the inconsistency
  • The person would compare the state of his country with the economically poor neighbouring countries, where unemployment is relatively higher.
  • And, he would therefore trivialize the inconsistency between thought and behaviour.

TYPES OF ATTITUDES (6:00 P.M.)

  • (a) Positive and Negative Attitude.
  • (b) Bureaucratic and Democratic.
  • (c) Moral and Political Attitude.
  • Positive and Negative Attitude
  • People who hold positive attitudes have the following traits:
  • (a) They always focus on the good in other people, situations, events, etc.
  • (b) They have an optimistic approach and always focus on opportunities, rather than challenges.
  • (c) They have a problem-solving approach.
  • (d) They can easily achieve long-term goals since they exhibit the values of patience and perseverance.
  • For example, Thomas Edison, J.K. Rowling, Satish Dawan, Arunima Sinha, Sandeep Singh, etc.
  • Negative attitude is just the opposite.
  • Bureaucratic and Democratic.
  • Parameters Bureaucratic Democratic
    Definition It is defined as an attitude where an individual bases his/her decision-making on written rules and regulations.  When an individual encourages participation in decision-making, it is known as democratic decision-making. 
    Attributes

    (a) Rigid

    (b) Top Down

    (c) Objectivity

    (d) Impersonality

    (e) Rule Orientation

    (a) Flexible

    (b) Bottom Up

    (c) Fluid Communication

    (d) Participative

    (e) People Orientation
    Merits

    (a) Quick decision-making. 

    (b) Easy resolution of dilemmas.

    (c) Uniformity in treatment. 

    (d) Less Chaotic. 

    (e) Standardization is possible.

    (f) It sets the precedent for future decision-making.

    (g) Less scope of nepotism and favoritism.

    (a) People-oriented approach.

    (b) Inclusive decision-making.

    (c) Internalization of decision.

    (d) Better evaluation and implementation of the decisions due to the scope of constructive feedback.

    (e) Flexible approach.
    Demerits

    (a) Rigidity

    (b) Apathy

    (c) Status Quoism

    (d) Red Tapism

    (e) Alienation (Detachment)

    (f) Overobsession with rules leads to displacement of goals. 

    (g) Failure of decision-making at the level of implementation. 

    (a) Delay in decision-making. 

    (b) Difficulty in arriving at consensus. 

    (c) The lack of informed participation. 

    (d) According to Steven Lukes, there exist different phases of power. 

THE TOPIC FOR THE NEXT CLASS: TYPES OF ATTITUDE (CONTINUED)