Ch. 5 - Mass Communication, Propaganda, and Persuasion

Question 1

Persuasion

Answer 1

Occurs when communication from one person changes the opinions, attitudes, or behavior of another person.

Question 2

Opinion

Answer 2

What a person believes to be true. (easily changed)

Question 3

Attitude

Answer 3

An opinion that includes an emotion and an evaluative component. A long-lasting evaluation – positive or negative – of people, objects, and ideas. (not easily changed)

Question 4

Inoculation Effect

Answer 4

The process of making people “immune” to attitude change by initially exposing them to “small doses” of the argument against their position.

Question 5

Emotional Contagion

Answer 5

When one person’s emotional behavior triggers similar emotions and behaviors in observers.

Question 6

Credibility of the Source

Answer 6

If the source of a communication is both expert and trustworthy, they are likely to have an impact on the beliefs of the audience

Question 7

Credible

Answer 7

Expert and trustworthy, we are more easily persuaded by people who we feel are credible.

Question 8

Persuasion

Answer 8

The systematic propagation of a given doctrine.

Question 9

Education

Answer 9

The act of imparting knowledge or skill.

Question 10

Central Route to Persuasion

Answer 10

Involves weighing arguments and considering relevant facts and figures, thinking about issues in a systematic fashion and coming to a decision.
(ex. deciding to buy a particular laptop bc you’ve read about its user-friendliness, processing speed, memory,and data storage. You’re moved by the logic of the argument.)

Question 11

Peripheral Route to Persuasion

Answer 11

Rather than thinking in a systematic fashion, the person responds to simple, often irrelevant cues that suggest the rightness, wrongness, or attractiveness of an argument w/o giving it much thought.
(ex. deciding to buy a laptop bc your favorite entertainer endorses it. You are being moved by issues irrelevant to the product.)

Question 12

Moral Emotions

Answer 12

Feelings that have a normative judgment – what you are doing is wrong, disgusting, or evil. They are powerful rhetorical devices, can inspire and unite like-minded communities, and are contagious.

Question 13

Moral Elevation

Answer 13

The emotion we feel when we witness virtue in others. This can be persuasive by appealing to people’s prosocial motivation.

Question 14

Reactance

Answer 14

When our sense of freedom is threatened, we attempt to restore it.