Source: Textbook Ch. 8, 10
Difficulty: Intermediate | Prerequisites: Ch. 4–7 (cognition, attribution, emotions, attitudes)
Persuasion is the study of how attitudes are changed through communication. The chapter's backbone is the dual-process framework: messages are processed either through careful, effortful reasoning (central/systematic route) or through quick shortcuts like source attractiveness or consensus cues (peripheral/heuristic route). Which route is taken depends on the receiver's motivation and ability. This connects directly back to attitudes (Ch. 7) and forward to media influence on stereotypes (Ch. 11).
Persuasion works through two routes: central (strong arguments, careful thought) and peripheral (superficial cues like attractiveness or expertise). Who says it, what they say, and who they say it to all matter. Resistance to persuasion is driven by prior commitments, knowledge, and attitude inoculation. Media effects are generally weak on their own but shape perceptions of social reality.
Central (systematic) route
Persuasion through careful evaluation of the strength and logic of arguments. Requires motivation and cognitive capacity.
Peripheral (heuristic) route
Persuasion through superficial cues: source attractiveness, expertise, quantity of arguments, or group consensus. Used when motivation or ability to process is low.
Elaboration likelihood model (ELM)
A dual-process model essentially identical to the heuristic-systematic model. Predicts which route a person will take based on motivation and ability.
Sleeper effect
A discredited source may still change attitudes over time, as the message is remembered but its source is forgotten.
Identifiable victim effect
Information about one specific individual is more persuasive than statistics about many people.
Need for cognition
An individual difference reflecting the drive to think deeply. People high in need for cognition are more persuaded by central-route arguments.
Third-person effect
The belief that media and persuasion affect other people more than oneself.
Attitude inoculation
Repeated exposure to weak versions of counter-arguments, and practice defending against them, strengthens the original attitude.
Heuristic-systematic model: central (reasoning, strong arguments) vs heuristic (feelings, superficial cues)
Elaboration likelihood model: essentially the same distinction
Which route is used depends on: knowledge/ability, personal relevance, responsibility, and cognitive energy (fatigue or distraction lowers capacity)
Lecture note: subliminal stimuli may be effective when there is an immediate chance to act
Who (Source)
Attractiveness: peripheral cue, works even when the topic is unrelated
Credibility: knowledgeable and trustworthy sources are more persuasive; sleeper effect for discredited sources
Certainty: perceived as credible even when not correlated with actual accuracy
Detecting deception: people rely on contradictions, not body language
What (Message)
High-quality messages: explain novel desirable outcomes, make conclusions explicit, refute opposing views, appeal to core values, argue against the source's own self-interest
Vivid information is more persuasive than statistics (identifiable victim effect)
Fear-based persuasion works when combined with clear "how to avoid" instructions
Culturally matched advertisements are more effective
Whom (Target)
Need for cognition: high NFC people are more persuaded by central-route messages
Mood: persuasion is more effective when the message matches the receiver's mood
Age: younger people are more persuadable
Audience size: larger, more diverse audiences respond better to abstract, distant messages
Confidence in one's own thoughts affects how persuasive a message feels. Body language can signal confidence.
Third-person effect: people believe others are more affected by media than they are
Advertising: consumer ads maintain loyalty and awareness; political ads affect low-knowledge and late-deciding voters most
Media shapes perceptions of social reality (gender ratios, violence prevalence)
Hostile media phenomenon: people perceive media as biased against their own views
Pre-existing attitudes govern how information is attended to, interpreted, and remembered
Previous public commitments increase resistance to change
Thought polarisation: the longer and more often an attitude is examined, the more extreme it becomes
More knowledgeable people have more counter-arguments available
Attitude inoculation: practising defence strengthens the attitude
Relationships are grounded in a universal biological need to belong. This chapter covers what draws people together (proximity, similarity, physical attraction), how relationships are structured (communal vs exchange, attachment styles), and what predicts whether romantic relationships last. Attachment theory, formed in infancy, reaches forward into adult romantic patterns. The evolutionary perspective on mate selection is tested alongside cultural alternatives.
The need to belong is biological and universal. Proximity, similarity, and physical attractiveness are the strongest predictors of who we form relationships with. Attachment styles (secure, avoidant, anxious) formed in infancy shape adult relationships. Love involves passion, intimacy, and commitment (triangular theory), and maintaining it requires novelty, forgiveness, and positive illusions. Divorce is predicted by Gottman's "Four Horsemen": criticism, defensiveness, stonewalling, and contempt.
Need to belong
A universal biological need for social connection, rooted in evolutionary pressures for survival and reproduction. The need is satiable (roughly six close friends for Europeans).
Communal relationship
A relationship characterised by special responsibility for each other, long-term orientation, and no score-keeping.
Exchange relationship
A relationship based on reciprocity, equity, and short-term expectations of returned favours.
Attachment theory
The theory that bonds formed with caregivers in early life create working models of relationships that persist into adulthood.
Secure attachment
Comfortable with intimacy, trusting, seeks closeness during stress.
Avoidant attachment
Prefers distance, self-reliance, becomes dismissive or detached under stress.
Anxious attachment
Seeks closeness but constantly worries about the relationship, seeks extreme closeness during stress.
Mere exposure effect
The finding that repeated exposure to a stimulus increases liking for it.
Triangular theory of love (Sternberg)
Love comprises three components: passion (desire, arousal), intimacy (trust, caring), and commitment (loyalty, devotion).
Investment model of commitment
Commitment depends on rewards-to-costs ratio, available alternatives, and sunk costs already invested.
Four Horsemen (Gottman)
Four behavioural patterns that predict divorce: criticism, defensiveness, stonewalling, and contempt.
Isolation harms mental and physical health (suicide risk, immune suppression)
Animal studies: Harlow's monkeys (cloth mother), isolated elephants become socially dysfunctional, socially rejected primates have shorter lifespans
Social rejection activates the same brain areas as physical pain
Functional distance (how often people interact) matters more than physical distance
Anticipating future interaction increases liking
Mere exposure effect: more exposure = more liking (including our own faces in the mirror)
Driven by fluency (easier processing) and classical conditioning (repeated exposure without negative effects)
Highly correlated with friendship and romantic partnership: beliefs, attractiveness, intelligence, socioeconomic status
"Opposites attract" is not supported; despite occasional complementarity in some domains, overall similarities dominate
Why similarity matters: social validation, more fluent interactions, reciprocation (similar people like us back), we like traits we see in ourselves
Attractive people are seen as more competent, earn higher incomes, receive lighter sentences
Attractiveness = assumed positive traits (halo effect), which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy
Attractive people are more confident and satisfied but not more intelligent or able
Evolutionary function: symmetry, smooth skin, and proper proportions signal health
More average faces are generally rated as more attractive, though some unique features are also valued
Greater impact on women's life outcomes than men's
Evolutionary perspective: females invest more in offspring, so they are more selective, preferring resources and status; males seek cues of fertility (youth, attractiveness)
Criticism: these "universals" may reflect rational responses to resource inequality rather than evolved preferences
Lecture note (Wendy Woods): textbook claims about ovulation-linked preferences may be based on flawed measurement
Triangular theory: passion, intimacy, commitment
Six styles of love: erotic, gaming, storge (comfort), pragma, mania, humanitarian
Feeling "one" with a partner: shared attributions, positive illusions, self-expansion (partner's traits felt as one's own)
Investment model: rewards-to-costs ratio (ideally 5:1), available alternatives, sunk costs. Predicts which abused women return to partners.
Companionate love: when passion fades and the relationship endures on intimacy and commitment
Marriage satisfaction tends to decrease over time and with children
Predictors: neurotic partner, sensitivity to rejection, financial stress, marrying early
Gottman's Four Horsemen: criticism, defensiveness, stonewalling, contempt
Attributing negative events to the partner's character increases dissatisfaction
Reaction to positive events: active-constructive responses (enthusiastic engagement) predict more satisfying relationships
Stay playful: novel and arousing activities, humour during routine tasks
Forgive: reduce desire to retaliate, take a compassionate view of mistakes
Idealise: maintain a positive view of the partner, emphasise strengths over faults
Western cultures: romantic love ideal, risk of disillusionment over time
Arranged marriages: tend to show increasing satisfaction over time
Students assume the central and peripheral routes are always separate. In practice, both can operate simultaneously; the question is which dominates.
Students think the mere exposure effect works for everything. If the initial exposure is negative, repeated exposure can increase dislike rather than liking.
Students believe "opposites attract" based on everyday intuition. The research consistently shows that similarity, not complementarity, predicts relationship formation.
Students assume secure attachment is fixed at birth. Attachment styles can shift with experience, though early patterns are influential.
⚠️ Be able to distinguish central from peripheral processing and give examples of when each is used.
⚠️ Know the sleeper effect and the identifiable victim effect.
⚠️ The three attachment styles and their adult relationship consequences are heavily tested.
⚠️ Be able to name Gottman's Four Horsemen and explain why contempt is especially damaging.
⚠️ Know the investment model and what predicts staying in a relationship (including abusive ones).
⚠️ Understand the evolutionary vs cultural debate on gender differences in mate selection.
The two routes of persuasion are __________ and __________. (central/systematic and peripheral/heuristic)
True or False: The mere exposure effect means that more familiar things are always liked more. (Mostly true, but initial negative exposure can increase dislike)
Name the three attachment styles. (Secure, avoidant, anxious)
Gottman's Four Horsemen of divorce are __________, __________, __________, and __________. (Criticism, defensiveness, stonewalling, contempt)
True or False: According to research, opposites attract. (False)
Q: A tired student watches a political ad featuring a celebrity endorsement. Another student, who cares deeply about the policy issue, watches the same ad. Which route of processing does each student likely use, and why?
A: The tired student is likely to use the peripheral/heuristic route because their cognitive energy is low, so the celebrity (a superficial cue) drives any attitude change. The engaged student is likely to use the central/systematic route because the issue is personally relevant and they have the motivation to evaluate the arguments.
Q: Explain how the investment model accounts for someone staying in a harmful relationship.
A: The investment model predicts commitment based on three factors: satisfaction (rewards minus costs), quality of alternatives, and investment size (sunk costs). A person may stay in a harmful relationship because their perceived alternatives are poor and their sunk costs (time, shared assets, children) are high, even when satisfaction is low.
Q: A child in the Strange Situation becomes very distressed when the mother leaves and clings to her upon return but is not easily comforted. Which attachment style is this, and what are its adult implications?
A: Anxious attachment. In adulthood, this style is associated with seeking closeness but constantly worrying about the relationship, seeking extreme closeness during stress, and higher rates of fear and sadness during separations.
Persuasion's dual-process model mirrors the intuitive vs rational processing distinction from Ch. 4. Fear-based persuasion connects to emotion's role in cognition (Ch. 6). Attachment theory provides the motivational basis for relationship dynamics that appear in stereotyping (ingroup loyalty, Ch. 11) and aggression (social rejection, Ch. 13). The investment model of commitment has parallels with system justification (Ch. 7).
Persuasion, elaboration likelihood model, ELM, heuristic-systematic model, central route, peripheral route, sleeper effect, identifiable victim effect, need for cognition, third-person effect, attitude inoculation, fear-based persuasion, hostile media phenomenon, thought polarisation, relationships, need to belong, communal relationship, exchange relationship, attachment theory, Ainsworth, Strange Situation, secure attachment, avoidant attachment, anxious attachment, mere exposure effect, proximity, similarity, physical attraction, halo effect, mate selection, evolutionary psychology, triangular theory of love, Sternberg, investment model, Four Horsemen, Gottman, companionate love, passionate love, self-expansion