Media Studies Chapter 6 Homework Source Factors Persuasion Objectives This

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– SOURCE FACTORS IN PERSUASION

Chapter objectives

This chapter explores charisma and other factors of communication sources. It discusses aspects

of authority in great detail with a focus on Milgram’s classic study of obedience and the 2009

replication study. The concept of credibility is included covering contextual effects, and the role

that audience perceptions play in credibility judgments. Other source factors are discussed, such

as liking, similarity, and physical attractiveness effects.

Terms and issues to know

Authority

Authority effects in real life

Charisma

Compliance

Identification

Internalization

Knowledge bias

Liking

Milgram experiments

Nonverbal behaviors

Physical attractiveness

Chapter outline

I. Charisma

A. is set

apart from ordinary men and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or at

B. The chemistry between speaker and audience is a product of a particular set of

circumstances, psychological needs, and social conditions

II. Understanding the Communicator

A. Not one defining characteristic of effective communicators

B. Three fundamental communicator characteristics

2. Credibility

3. Social attractiveness

C. Credible communicators influence attitudes through internalization

III. Authority

A. Influence others through compliance

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C. Experimental Procedures and Results

1. Milgram experiment

a. One of the many studies of effects of authority on behavior

2.

inflict harm on a protesting victim

3. Explanations:

a. Explanation must lie in the power that situations can exert on human behavior

i. Early socialization

ii. Trappings of authority

iii. Binding forces

b.

D. Revisiting Milgram: 2009 Replication Article

1. In January 2009, the Journal of the American Psychological Association published a

major article by Jerry M. Burger on his replication of the Milgram experiment

3.

E. Additional Issues:

2. Authorities lose grip if enough people resist

3. Ethical critique has stimulated much discussion

F. Applications – there is always a way to respect conscience and resist exploitive

authorities in some way, shape, or form. Examples:

2. Holocaust of the Jews

IV. Credibility

A. Influences attitudes through internalization

B. Recommendations from credible communicators are congruent with our values and

attitudes

C. Dates back to Aristotle, who coined the term ethos to describe qualities of the source that

E. Credibility is a psychological or interpersonal communication construct

F. Credibility is defined as the attitude toward a source of communication held at a given

time by a receiver

G. Core Characteristics

1. Credibility has more than one dimension/more than a single layer

2. The most important characteristics are:

a. Expertise

i. Knowledge or ability ascribed

ii. Belief that the communicator has special skills or know-how

b. Trustworthiness – refers to the communicator s perceived honesty, character, and

safety

c. Goodwill

i. Perceived caring

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iv. s problems

v. An element of charisma

H. Role of Context

2. Critical situational factors include:

I. A Theoretical Account

1. Individuals make predictions or develop expectations

2. Knowledge bias:

a. If a speaker confirmed your prediction, you might conclude that they possessed a

knowledge bias

b. A knowledge bias is the presumption that a communicator has a biased view of

an issue

c. An audience member concludes that the communicator has a limited base of

knowledge, produced by a need to view an issue in accordance with the

3. Reporting bias

a. Taking a position merely to make a point

b. They assume that the speech reflects a situational pressure to say the socially

correct thing

J. Social Attractiveness

2. People go along with attractive speakers because they identify with them

3. Likability

a. Likable communicators can change attitudes

i. A likable person makes you feel good

4. Similarity

a. Similarity between source and receiver can facilitate persuasion in business, on

social issues, and for health problems

b. Similarity works for some of the same reasons likability succeeds, it induces

5. Physical Attractiveness

a. Attractiveness does change attitudes

b. People are more likely to pay attention to attractive people

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i. Attractiveness can help form attitudes

ii. Attractiveness can be effective when the communicator s goal is to

V. Conclusions

A. Charismatic speakers have seemed to magnetize audiences, influencing attitudes in

benevolent and malevolent ways

B. Three core communicator qualities: authority, credibility, and social attractiveness

C. Milgram study of obedience, demonstrated we can influence behaviors through a process

of compliance

Discussion questions

1. Compare and contrast the classic Milgram experiments with the January 2009 replication

study done by Jerry M. Burger. If you were going to do a replication study what would you

have done the same or differently?

2. Credible communicators are perceived as having expertise, trustworthiness, goodwill,

in.

3. Candidate credibility plays a prominent role in presidential campaigns. The text suggests

that a particular type of credibility communication will have different impacts due to