Cause And Effect Of Persuasion

Persuasion is an art that is used in everyday language, and has existed for as long as humanity itself has. It can be discreet, yet there is always a form of persuasion impacting each and every person, from presidential elections, to a teenager wanting to go to a party. It continues to be an essential part of our lives, yet the act of persuading goes to a greater extent than just coercion. Persuasion impacts humans on a psychological level, where one has to ask themselves; how is the opponent reacting, how am I conveying my argument, how is the opponent effecting the way I convey myself, and why.
When defining persuasion an abundance of people might determine it as the act of salesmen trying to make them purchase something, while believing …show more content…
This is true in opposite context as well; if an attitude is expressed without confidence then the argument is less persuasive. Secondly, the conversion theory states that in a group the minority has the most effect, and can easily convert the members of the majority to believe in the minority’s cause. The last of the three is the information manipulation theory, in which a persuader breaks one of the four conversational maxims: quantity, quality, relation, and matter. In each of these theories, the persuader and the persuaded are affected and influenced by each …show more content…
Quantity is the amount of information presented, quality is how credible and strong the information is, relation is how the information is relevant to the issue, and manner is the way such information is presented, and whether or it enables others to understand the message at hand. In this theory, one will tell simple false statements, omit information that could hurt their position, or deliberately going off subject and confusing the opponent. Here psychology has a major impact in regards to the behavior of those using the information manipulation theory. Using psychology one would be able to avoid being persuaded by this theory by questioning what is being presented to you, when the persuader is giving false information, questioning will tend to throw them off course since they would not be expecting it or be unable to provide the correct information. Paying attention to small details will aid in finding the weak spot of the argument, and watching body language for signs of lying, such as dilated eyes or change of voice pitch. (Dawson, E.J., & Brashers, D. (1996). Information manipulation theory: A replication and assessment.) When using this theory to aid in your argument be sure to use half-truths rather than completely false statements, because when a statement has some truth to it, it is more feasible