The Notion of Persuasion - Essay Example

Persuasion Persuasion is a deep conviction that someone has in an attempt to influence others. It results in the act of changing an individual’s attitude, intentions, behaviors, and motivations towards some object, concept, event, or other person(s) by making use of either written or spoken information, reasoning, or feelings. I arrived at the definition by interpretating my personal and positional resources that I have used in the recent past to change other people’s behavior and attitude.

In the same way, Seiter and Gass (2010) argue that persuasion can be used for personal gain. To that effect, my experience during the election campaign assisted me to come up with persuasion definition. There are various factors that come into play when one is persuaded. The first factor is the credibility of the information. The more credible the communicator is, the higher the chances of being persuaded. If credibility increases, attractiveness also increases making something to appear more desirable.

The other factor that can result in one being persuaded is the one-sided argument (Cialdini, 2007). In the recent past, I have been hearing one sided arguments that resulted in me having higher levels of persuasion as compared to two sided arguments such as debate on abolition of the death penalty. (Brinol & Petty, 2009) note that persuasion offers an option that is more likely to be lasting, satisfying, successful, and rewarding to everyone. Therefore, the other factor is likeability. I tend to be easily persuaded by my friends, family members, lover, and other persons that I am attracted to than people I do not like.

Next is authority. When a person who talks to me is an expert or above me in some other way, I am more likely to be persuaded because I think what he or she may be saying is credible and official. Cialdini (2007) asserts that another factor that influences persuasion is consensus. If there something resonates with the public’s opinion, I am more probable to be persuaded. References Brinol, P., & Petty, R. (2009). Source factors in persuasion: A self-validation approach. European Review of Social Psychology , 20, 49-96.

Cialdini, B. (2007). Influence: The psychology of persuasion, New York: HarperCollins Publishers. Seiter, R., & Gass, J. (2010). Persuasion, social influence, and compliance gaining (4th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.