Resistance and Persuasion
Summary Loes van de Pas
Lecture 1: Introduction
Lecture 2 : Self-control
Lecture 3 : Advertising literacy
Lecture 4 : Psychological Reactance & Politeness Theory
Lecture 5 : Receivers’ resistance strategies I
Lecture 6 : Receivers’ resistance strategies II & Sender strategies to overcome resistance I: Alpha and
Omega strategies for change
Lecture 7 : Narrative persuasion and self-persuasion
Lecture 8 : Emotions
Lecture 9 : Influencer endorsement
,Lecture 1: Introduction
Knowles, E. S., & Linn, J. A. (2004). The importance of resistance to persuasion. In E. S. Knowles & J. A.
Linn (Eds.), Resistance and Persuasion, (pp. 3-9). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Resistance = weerstand
Persuasion = overtuiging
“Resistance is the most important element in the persuasion process.”
“To understand and be successful at persuasion, you need to understand resistance in depth.”
Resistance
= A reaction against change.
= The ability to withstand a persuasive attack.
= An outcome: not being moved by pressures to change (even counterarguing the message).
= A motivational state: motivation to oppose and counter pressures to change.
Resistance has acquired a dual definition in psychology: behavioural outcome and motivational state.
Resistance as a behavioural outcome:
- The act of resisting, opposing, withstanding, etc.
Problems: no change or boomerang effect.
Resistance as a motivational state:
- Power or capacity to resist.
- Opposition of some force, to another or others.
- Force that retards, hinders, or opposes motion.
Problems: may affect other reactions to the influence attempt.
McGuire defined resistance to persuasion as the ability to withstand a persuasive attack. McGuire’s
inoculation strategies increased resistance in two ways:
- By increasing motivation to resist.
- By arming the person with the weapons needed to accomplish the resistance.
Resistance as an attitude:
Components in the model of attitude:
- Affective: I don’t like it!
- Cognitive: I don’t believe it!
- Behavioural: I won’t do it!
Four faces of resistance
- Reactance
= Recognizes the influence attempts as an integral element of resistance. Emphasizes the
affective and motivational/behavioural sides of resistance.
- Distrust
= Spotlights the target of change, and it reveals a general distrust of proposals. They wonder
what the motive is and what the true facts are. This face underlies both the affective and
cognitive reactions to influence.
- Scrutiny
= When people are aware that they are target of an influence attempt, the natural reaction is to
attend more carefully and thoughtfully to every aspect of the situation. This emphasizes the
cognitive element.
2
, - Inertia
= A quality that focuses more on staying put than on resisting change.
Lecture 2: Self-control
Wheeler, S. C., Briñol, P., & Hermann, A. D. (2007). Resistance to persuasion as self-regulation: Ego-
depletion and its effects on attitude change processes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43,
150-156.
Fennis, B. M., Janssen, L., & Vohs, K. D. (2009). Acts of benevolence: A limited-resource account of
compliance with charitable requests. Journal of Consumer Research, 35, 906-924.
Refuting persuasive messages requires active control processes similar to other forms of self-
regulation (= something every human being uses, every day. The human ability to get a grip on one's
thoughts, emotions and behaviour).
The results showed that prior self-regulation reduced subsequent resistance especially when the
arguments in the message were misleading. Counter argumentation appears to be a self-regulatory
process that can be undermined when the self-regulatory resources are exhausted earlier.
Counterargument
= The most extensively documented way of resisting (especially when motivation and ability are high.
Ego-depletion
= 'exhaustion of the self'. It means that your mental power is limited (e.g. when you have to control
yourself, but you can't anymore after the thousandth time). This also happens when failure occurs;
individuals are then more inclined to give in, agree and accept (standard, passive and low effort
response strategy).
Power metaphor
= Theory in the field of ego-depletion, in which effort in one situation is followed by a period of
reduced ability in the next situation.
Refuting a convincing message
= Information is actively processed, conflicting information is retrieved and applied to the content
(the individual engages in active control processes).
Chugging
= Combination of charity and mugging. Those are the people on the street trying to convince you of
something.
Scripted social influence technique
= Tactic specifically designed to increase the likelihood of responding to a request for charity.
Why do people do things that they don’t want to do?
Sequential request techniques:
- Foot-in-the-door technique: small request, keeps on getting bigger
Heuristic: consistency (do you like animals: yes, do you want to help animals: yes)
- Door in the face technique: very large request, make it smaller
Heuristic: reciprocity (I do you a favour, you do me a favour)
- Lowball: starts with a large offer, but weakens on the go.
- Disrubt: thrown off; do something weird: 900 cents except for 9 euros .
Automaticity is the cornerstone of all influence techniques.
3
Summary Loes van de Pas
Lecture 1: Introduction
Lecture 2 : Self-control
Lecture 3 : Advertising literacy
Lecture 4 : Psychological Reactance & Politeness Theory
Lecture 5 : Receivers’ resistance strategies I
Lecture 6 : Receivers’ resistance strategies II & Sender strategies to overcome resistance I: Alpha and
Omega strategies for change
Lecture 7 : Narrative persuasion and self-persuasion
Lecture 8 : Emotions
Lecture 9 : Influencer endorsement
,Lecture 1: Introduction
Knowles, E. S., & Linn, J. A. (2004). The importance of resistance to persuasion. In E. S. Knowles & J. A.
Linn (Eds.), Resistance and Persuasion, (pp. 3-9). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Resistance = weerstand
Persuasion = overtuiging
“Resistance is the most important element in the persuasion process.”
“To understand and be successful at persuasion, you need to understand resistance in depth.”
Resistance
= A reaction against change.
= The ability to withstand a persuasive attack.
= An outcome: not being moved by pressures to change (even counterarguing the message).
= A motivational state: motivation to oppose and counter pressures to change.
Resistance has acquired a dual definition in psychology: behavioural outcome and motivational state.
Resistance as a behavioural outcome:
- The act of resisting, opposing, withstanding, etc.
Problems: no change or boomerang effect.
Resistance as a motivational state:
- Power or capacity to resist.
- Opposition of some force, to another or others.
- Force that retards, hinders, or opposes motion.
Problems: may affect other reactions to the influence attempt.
McGuire defined resistance to persuasion as the ability to withstand a persuasive attack. McGuire’s
inoculation strategies increased resistance in two ways:
- By increasing motivation to resist.
- By arming the person with the weapons needed to accomplish the resistance.
Resistance as an attitude:
Components in the model of attitude:
- Affective: I don’t like it!
- Cognitive: I don’t believe it!
- Behavioural: I won’t do it!
Four faces of resistance
- Reactance
= Recognizes the influence attempts as an integral element of resistance. Emphasizes the
affective and motivational/behavioural sides of resistance.
- Distrust
= Spotlights the target of change, and it reveals a general distrust of proposals. They wonder
what the motive is and what the true facts are. This face underlies both the affective and
cognitive reactions to influence.
- Scrutiny
= When people are aware that they are target of an influence attempt, the natural reaction is to
attend more carefully and thoughtfully to every aspect of the situation. This emphasizes the
cognitive element.
2
, - Inertia
= A quality that focuses more on staying put than on resisting change.
Lecture 2: Self-control
Wheeler, S. C., Briñol, P., & Hermann, A. D. (2007). Resistance to persuasion as self-regulation: Ego-
depletion and its effects on attitude change processes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43,
150-156.
Fennis, B. M., Janssen, L., & Vohs, K. D. (2009). Acts of benevolence: A limited-resource account of
compliance with charitable requests. Journal of Consumer Research, 35, 906-924.
Refuting persuasive messages requires active control processes similar to other forms of self-
regulation (= something every human being uses, every day. The human ability to get a grip on one's
thoughts, emotions and behaviour).
The results showed that prior self-regulation reduced subsequent resistance especially when the
arguments in the message were misleading. Counter argumentation appears to be a self-regulatory
process that can be undermined when the self-regulatory resources are exhausted earlier.
Counterargument
= The most extensively documented way of resisting (especially when motivation and ability are high.
Ego-depletion
= 'exhaustion of the self'. It means that your mental power is limited (e.g. when you have to control
yourself, but you can't anymore after the thousandth time). This also happens when failure occurs;
individuals are then more inclined to give in, agree and accept (standard, passive and low effort
response strategy).
Power metaphor
= Theory in the field of ego-depletion, in which effort in one situation is followed by a period of
reduced ability in the next situation.
Refuting a convincing message
= Information is actively processed, conflicting information is retrieved and applied to the content
(the individual engages in active control processes).
Chugging
= Combination of charity and mugging. Those are the people on the street trying to convince you of
something.
Scripted social influence technique
= Tactic specifically designed to increase the likelihood of responding to a request for charity.
Why do people do things that they don’t want to do?
Sequential request techniques:
- Foot-in-the-door technique: small request, keeps on getting bigger
Heuristic: consistency (do you like animals: yes, do you want to help animals: yes)
- Door in the face technique: very large request, make it smaller
Heuristic: reciprocity (I do you a favour, you do me a favour)
- Lowball: starts with a large offer, but weakens on the go.
- Disrubt: thrown off; do something weird: 900 cents except for 9 euros .
Automaticity is the cornerstone of all influence techniques.
3
