Methods Of Persuasion Research Articles

THE USE OF ACTIVE SPEED WARNING SIGNS.

The problem of drivers failing to obey speed limits, even when non-compliance is dangerous, continues to present a major challenge to highway engineers. In Germany, as in the UK, attempts are being made to change drivers’ behaviour by both enforcement and persuasion. One method of persuasion being tried is the use of 'secret’ signs to warn of excessive speed. These signs are normally blank but display a warning when triggered by a speeding vehicle. The historic use of secret signs and trials of systems is presented along with a review of their use in other countries. The systems reviewed range from those which check vehicle speed to ones which check not only the speed of the vehicle but also its weight and dimensions, so that warnings specific to that vehicle can be given. A UK trial using number-plate recognition is also reviewed. Before-and-after studies have shown that in the right location these signs achieve up to 87·6% improvement in compliance with speed limits. Not all signs proved to be successful, however. The signs have been found to be most successful during their early life. As drivers become used to the signs, the effectiveness reduces. A system used in the Netherlands uses a variety of messages to overcome this problem. Vandalism has also been reported as a problem with these signs, with one in the US being destroyed by high-velocity bullets. Studies in the UK have shown that these signs can be more effective in reducing vehicle speeds than direct police enforcement using speed ‘guns’.

The friendly art of persuasion.

The ability to persuade is a critical skill for the health care professional in relating to employees, colleagues, and groups of individuals if health care objectives are to be promoted. However, persuasion is an art, which requires careful preplanning and deliberative actions if it is to be carried out successfully. Persuasion done in a friendly manner is more likely to be effective. This article provides techniques that will enable the health care professional to use persuasive methods most advantageously.

Hick and Loughlin on Disputes and Frameworks

It was Wittgenstein who said that in order to ‘combat’ a point of view, one first has to establish whether that point of view is within or without one’s own framework. That is to say, one has to establish whether the ‘combat’ is to be a dispute within a framework or between frameworks. For Wittgenstein, that was of the utmost importance if one was to avoid falling into confusion. This is because whereas disputes within a framework proceed by means of reasoned arguments which are held fast and validated by that common surrounding framework, disputes between frameworks do not proceed within a common milieu, and so the common validity of reasoned arguments subsides. Thus, a dispute between frameworks has to proceed by means of quite different methods, that is, methods of persuasion and charm.This insight has a particular significance when one considers some of the developments that have been taking place in theology in recent years. For the last three centuries or so, theological discourse was conducted within a framework that was, at once, both ‘theological’ and ‘scientific.’ As Amos Funkenstein has argued, it was a framework ‘in which theological concerns were expressed in terms of secular knowledge, and scientific concerns were expressed in theological terms. Theology and other sciences became almost one.’ Virtually all theological disputes in those centuries were located within that framework, and consequently, they were conducted by means of reasoned arguments.

Quests for a Scientific Mythology: F. Creuzer and K. O. Muller on History and Myth

Quests for a Scientific Mythology: F. Creuzer and K. O. Muller on History and Myth

Political Blackness and British Asians

In the 1980s a political concept of blackness was hegemonic, but is increasingly having to be defended, even within the sociology of race. This is to be welcomed and seven reasons are given why the concept harms British Asians. The use of `black' encourages a `doublespeak'. It falsely equates racial discrimination with colour-discrimination and thereby obscures the cultural antipathy to Asians and therefore of the character of the discrimination they suffer. `Black' suggests also a false essentialism: that all non-white groups have something in common other than how others treat them. The fourth reason is that `black', being evocative of people of African origins, understates the size, needs and distinctive concerns of Asian communities. Fifthly, while the former can use the concept for purposes of ethnic pride, for Asians it can be no more than `a political colour', leading to a too politicised identity. Indeed, it cannot but smother Asian ethnic pride-the pride which is a precondition of group mobilisation and assertiveness. Finally, advocates of `black' have tried to impose it on Asians rather than seek slower methods of persuasion, with the result that the majority of Asians continue to reject it. The new emphasis on multi-textured identities is therefore encouraging, as long as we are not simply exchanging a political for a cultural vanguardism.

Over-the-Counter Drug Advertising: Argumentation or Persuasion?

ABSTRACTThis study explored the extent of information and persuasive methods in over-the-counter drug advertisements in Sweden. A content analysis of 267 ads revealed that over-the-counter advertising is less informative than ethical advertising and that over-the-counter advertising is less persuasive than consumer advertising in general. The results indicate significant relationships between product age and informative content.

Shabbir Akhtar on Muslims, Christians and British society: An appraisal and Christian response

An attempt will be made here to engage with the work of Shabbir Akhtar, whose stance as a theological modernist and Muslim fundamentalist represents one possible direction for the development of British Islam. Several points will be made which look toward constructive ways of negotiating with differences in a pluralist society. These include a recognition of the role of implicit theology in shaping our opinions, and the adoption of non-foundationalist philosophical positions. In response to Akhtar's criticisms of Christian theologies of power I call for a closer analysis of power and its operation, and for more energy to be devoted to alternative methods of persuasion and conflict resolution to the use of violence, observing that British Muslims are already becoming familiar with such methods, as the burning of The Satanic Verses illustrates.

Early Whig Ideology, Ancient Constitutionalism, and the Reverend Samuel Johnson

In 1833, Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote, “I do not know where I could put my hand upon a book containing so much sense with sound constitutional doctrine as this thin folio of Johnson's works.” The “Johnson” to whom Coleridge referred was not the celebrated Doctor Samuel Johnson of the eighteenth century but instead the late seventeenth-century Whig clergyman, the Reverend Samuel Johnson. Reverend Johnson's single volume of complete works impressed Coleridge; he scribbled laudatory remarks throughout the margins of a 1710 edition. Coleridge admired the directness of Johnson's style and his persuasive method of argumentation. Johnson would have appreciated Coleridge's comments. They reflected the way he himself understood his work—as sound constitutional doctrine, plainly put.Yet for all its clarity and consistency, Johnson's political thinking was not always appreciated by England's political elite of the 1680s and 1690s. The implications of Johnson's political ideas—much like those of his contemporary John Locke—were understood as far too revolutionary and destabilizing. However, Johnson's fiery prose and sardonic wit often proved useful to the political opposition: from the Whig exclusionists of the early 1680s, to the supporters of William and Mary in 1688/89, to the radical Whigs and country Tories of the 1690s and early eighteenth century.Johnson's career as a Whig propagandist spanned 1679 to 1700. Among his contemporaries, he was undoubtedly most renowned for his strident anti-Catholicism and for the brutal punishments that he endured for his radical politics.

The ethics of choice in the struggle against industrial disease.

This article argues that broad recognition of the ethical basis for society's decisions about the reduction of the risks of workers, including notification, has been, is, and will be a more persuasive method of establishing programs implementing the rights to know and act in controlling the industrial vector in human disease than sheer power politics. If the argument is correct, then attention needs to be focused on the nature of the ethics of choice. The moral dialectic in the history of science and medicine is traced to the metaphysically assumed values of open and closed models of knowledge and action that determine how we weigh genetic and environmental factors in the process of choosing who shall live and who shall die of disease, with strong industrially generated vectors. The author suggests that we escape from the concepts of the closed systems of the past, whose grammar reflects values repugnant to the empowerment of those notified of risk, to open systems that enhance community-ecologic values of life and freedom.

Cruzan and the constitutionalization of American life.

In America today, public policy governing an increasing number of social issues is made through the judicial enforcement of constitutional rights. Cruzan raised the question whether policy regarding the withdrawal of medical care from incompetent patients is to be handled similarly. This essay argues that privacy-rights doctrine provides a poor basis for constructing public policy in this area. It suggests that the Court has been unable to articulate a convincing basis for privacy rights and that the basis the Court seems to assume poorly fits many circumstances to which it is applied. The essay further contends that the Court has been unable to describe a persuasive method of analyzing the state interests that are at stake in privacy cases and to accommodate those interests in a reasonable way. The essay concludes that these are issues as to which policy is better formed through a political, not judicial, process.

Persuasion and Soviet politics

Part 1: Persuasion, Soviet politics and reform. Part 2 How to persuade: Soviet communication and its problems Soviet Propaganda and its organization problems and criticisms. Part 3 Persuasion, public opinion and ideology: Propaganda in the context of Soviet society the link between propaganda and organization in Soviet thinking propaganda through psychological manipulation - the Nazi example the evolution of Communist propaganda doctrine - the influence of Marxism Lenin and propaganda Lenin on public opinion - the question of majority support Stalin on propaganda and persuasion Stalin on the 'unanimity' of public opinion the Brezhnev era and after - propaganda and the 'ideology of stagnation' the influence of ideology on propaganda method traditional Soviet guidelines for propagandists other traditional methods of influence public opinion as a weapon of persuasion Conclusion - a method of persuasion?. Part 4 Propaganda, psychology and Stalinism: Soviet communication research in the 1920s Soviet communication research from the 1930s Stalin, Pavlov and 'mind-control'. Part 5 Soviet persuasion - from Stalin's death to Gorbachev's accession: The Khrushchev years - propaganda and de-Stalinization the Brezhnev era - new thinking on propaganda method propaganda, opinion research and the question of liberalization media research from the late 1960s - pluses and minuses Soviet propaganda research - conclusions and results political socialization, the 'micro-environment' and the 'work collective' propaganda, psychology and method. Part 6 Propaganda and the Soviet system - a critique: official goals and unofficial opinions the realism of Soviet propaganda method official and unofficial factors in socialization the family the critical audience. Part 7 Persuasion, Soviet politics and East-West relations: propaganda, public opinion and Soviet politics public opinion, persuasion and consent dialogue, confrontation and the Cold War.

The interplay of affect and cognition in attitude formation and change.

Two experiments examined the hypothesis that the sequence of affect and cognition in an attitude's formation an important determinant of its subsequent resistance to affective and cognitive means of persuasion. Affect-based and cognition-based attitudes were induced and subsequently challenged by either affective or cognitive means of persuasion. The procedure used to create the 2 types of attitudes and the means of persuasion involved varying the sequence of affect and cognition while holding the content of communications constant. As predicted, affect-based attitudes exhibited more change under affective means of persuasion than under cognitive means of persuasion. Cognition-based attitudes, on the other hand, exhibited equal change under both forms of persuasion. The interaction between attitude type and means of persuasion emerged both when affect was manipulated subliminally (Experiment 1) and when affect was manipulated supraliminally (Experiment 2). Moreover, in the 2nd experiment, affect-based attitudes were expressed with greater confidence than their cognition-based counterparts. Together, these findings underscore the theoretical as well as practical importance of distinguishing between affect- and cognitionbased attitudes and, more generally, the need for influence attempts to make contact with an attitude's origin. Whether in the form of education or propaganda, whether the desired end virtuous or evil, persuasion plays a central role in social behavior. Parents and teachers use persuasion to instill appropriate attitudes in young people and to modify attitudes they consider inappropriate. Members of social groups rely on persuasion to gain representation and recognition. Spiritual, intellectual, business, and social leaders assert their strength and maintain a following in large part through persuasive efforts. And participants in a democracy are keenly aware of the important role persuasion and oratory play in the decision making of legislators. Yet two questions remain equivocal: What constitutes the best method of persuasion? And why do some persuasive attempts fail on one occasion and succeed on another? The Platonic ideal of persuasion emphasizes the exercise of reason and places a premium on skills of oration. This theme underlies a substantial body of empirical work on attitude change, much of which has its origins in the Yale Communication Research Program (Hovland, 1949; Hovland, Janis, & Kelley, 1953). According to this perspective, acceptance of a persuasive message dependent on the existence of incentives, and a critical incentive is provided by arguments or reasons which. . . constitute 'rational' or 'logical' support for the con

Personal Power and Political Crisis in Romania

COMPARED TO OTHER COMMUNIST STATES IN EAST-CENTRAL Europe, Romania offers a fascinating case of neo-Stalinist radicalism cloaked in nationalistic language. A hyper-centralized model of leadership, based on clan instead of party dictatorship, an obedient, corrupt and strikingly incompetent political class, a marked preference for coercive rather than persuasive methods of domination, and stubborn opposition to reforms have contributed to the development of a deep and potentially explosive social, political, and economic crisis. But the price for this unabated commitment to the Stalinist model has been a gradual institutional erosion, the growing deterioration of the social fabric, the heightening of economic tensions, and intellectual asphyxiation. The conflict between state and society has been exacerbated by president Nicolae CeauSescu's wilful and increasingly idiosyncratic behaviour.

Using group therapy to persuade dual-diagnosis patients to seek substance abuse treatment.

Appropriate postdischarge treatment for dual-diagnosis patients may lead to markedly lower rates of hospital utilization among these patients (6,10). The potential benefits of a persuasion group, which appears to enhance the use of and acceptance of discharge plans that include substance abuse treatment, are therefore substantial. The results reported here should encourage further examination of the efficacy of similar methods of persuasion.

The physician's influence on patients' choices.

Although the traditional physician ethic sees nothing objectionable about the doctor's influence over patients, superficial conceptions of the patient's right to self-determination imply that this influence may be manipulative. On the contrary, there are several different lines of argument which can reconcile self-determination with the physician's influence. Nevertheless, drawing the boundaries between legitimate methods of persuasion, and manipulation or coercion sometimes proves difficult.

Mario und der Zauberer: The Narration of Seduction or the Seduction of Narration?

This article is an attempt to interpret a work of the great ironist, Thomas Mann, in the light of recent concerns with alleged “authoritarian” writing. Such critics as the late Roland Barthes and many advocates of reader theory have called to question traditionally accepted methods of literary persuasion. Such anxiety about coercive rhetoric became acute after the debacle of European fascism when a heinously effective propaganda was able to persuade entire nations to commit outrageous crimes against humanity. Peitho, the once revered Goddess of Persuasion for the Greeks, has become a wicked seductress for many contemporary language sceptics. It is within the context of such concerns with the nature of the persuasive powers of fiction that this article undertakes to analyse Mann's work on and of seduction: Mario und der Zauberer. My major contention is that it is not merely a literary work about fascism but, perhaps more significantly, a disclosure of the latent fascism in literature and all persuasive art.“The sole temple to Peitho is Language” Euripides

The Actresses' Franchise League and the Campaign for Women's Suffrage 1908–1914

In the great suffrage campaign waged in the decade preceding the First World War, women established a multitude of organizations in order to exert collective pressure upon a reluctant House of Commons. Some, such as the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), which was founded by Emmeline Pankhurst, favored confrontational tactics and resorted to occasional violence against property, as a means of attracting notice to the cause. Others, most notably the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) over which Mrs Millicent Fawcett presided, defined themselves as ‘constitutional’ and utilized the classic methods of persuasion and lobbying, in preference to the more dramatic tactics of their ‘militant’ sisters. Between the extremes of the WSPU and the NUWSS were numerous organizations composed of women activists of varying backgrounds, occupations, and views, sharing nonetheless a common dedication to the principle of female enfranchisement and caught up in the excitement and pageantry of a campaign which at times appeared almost religious in tone and character.

Fernsehen und Fremdsprachenlernen

Mass media is most effective at the cognitive stage of creating favorable health awareness, knowledge, and comprehension, which hopefully will lead to interest and an attitudinal predisposition. Mass communications are characterized as a low intensity approach providing information in a simple and inexpensive way. By contrast, high intensity or personal selling methods of persuasion involve direct contact and interaction between the communicator and receiver. This chapter discusses the new opportunities in media and communication. Two major developments in the field of television are direct broadcasting by satellite and cable television. The potential of reaching more local audiences than is normally the case with TV has led to an interest in a community-based channel. This would not only carry programs, news, and information of interest to the local community but also encourage active participation in gathering the news and information and producing the programs. Thus, programs with issues such as problem children and women's health would involve mother and toddler groups, and a collection of oral history from senior citizens would give them a sense of renewed worth and of making potentially entertaining programs. Video is increasingly being used in stores at the point of sale to help promote goods in the store. Videotext is the generic term used to describe the transmission of information to television screens in text or graphic form. Teletext is broadcast along with normal television transmissions. The role of computers is huge in medical administration, in improving hospital information systems, in reducing the cost of data processing, in increasing the efficiency of the admissions process, and the maintenance of waiting lists, and in many other areas.

Althusser on Theatre

The student of political philosophy who reads Louis Althusser's For Marx with the intention of gaining insight into Marxist thought as it pertains to epistemological disquisitions is liable to be initially perplexed by a chapter entitled Piccolo Teatro': Bertolazzi and Brecht. Notes on a Materialist Althusser had originally prepared this essay (hereafter PT) in response to a cultural event (the presentation of Giorgio Strehler's production of Carlo Bertolazzi's El Nost Milan at Theatre des Nations in July, 1962).2 Attentive inspection of the essay shows that its place in the book is quite secure, an indication that the search for a materialist theatre is in no way at odds with the theoretical and political topics examined throughout the volume. The premises discussed by Althusser constitute a rare example of Marxist criticism practiced upon a theatrical performance by a major philosopher. A formal simplicity governs the design of the essay: it opens with a brief introduction, followed in ordered sequence by plot synopsis (of the play as staged), extended discussion of Strehler's achievements as interpreter of the text, and a culminating argument in support of Bertold Brecht's pivotal role in Marxist theatre practice. Beneath the classically inductive method of persuasion employed by Althusser there is hidden a highly complex point of view, so rich and detailed in the sum of its original observations, that it becomes the objective of my treatise to expose those features, even as I introduce an aesthetically visionary piece of theatre criticism.

Historical trends in the use of television in health education.

Although health education is a relatively new professional discipline, health educators have actively utilized television for informational and persuasive purposes since its inception as a public mass medium. Informational messages have been developed for classroom and public television, while persuasive messages have been developed for commercial television. With the current health education emphasis on developing and maintaining behaviors conductive to health, the school health educator can blend both informational and persuasive methods to create a more dynamic classroom teaching environment.