Applied Psychology: Unit 3 Health Psychology

Applied Psychology: Unit 3 Health Psychology

• Tutor: Jainub Begum
• Email: [email protected]
• Office: Room 413

Content Area C: Theories of Persuasion

• Session 27: Elaboration-Likelihood Model of Persuasion

5 Minute Lesson Planner (14/08/2023)

• Group: Applied Psychology - 2nd Year
• Intent (Learning Objectives): Consolidate Fear Arousal Theory of Persuasion and evaluate Elaboration-Likelihood Model of Persuasion.
• Implementation (Teaching & Learning Activities): Quizizz, tutor-led lecture, discussion, Q&A, exam style questions.
• Impact (Assessment & Progression Checks): Collaboration, communication, critical thinking, recall, reading, problem-solving and digital skills. Evaluation of Fear Arousal theory (focus on fear as a drive, fear-behaviour relationship, predicting behaviour change), collaboration, creativity, communication, critical thinking, recall, active listening, reading, writing and grammar.

Elaboration-Likelihood Model of Persuasion (ELM)

• Richard Petty & John Cacioppo (1981): ELM suggests two routes to persuasion.
• Process 1: Central Route:
  • Recipient deeply processes the message content (interested, motivated, cognitively able). This is termed high elaboration.
  • Message content is crucial (e.g., strong arguments, facts).
  • Leads to long-term attitude & behavioural changes. Resistant to counterarguments.
• Process 2: Peripheral Route:
  • Recipient doesn't deeply process the message (uninterested, lack cognitive ability). This is low elaboration.
  • Persuasion stems from non-content elements (e.g., attractiveness of source).
  • Leads to short term attitude & behavioural changes, which can be easily reversed.

Factors Influencing Persuasion Routes

• Personal Relevance: Central route is more persuasive if the issue is personally relevant (e.g., social media video about controlling sugar in your diet). High personal relevance leads to higher elaboration.
• Time and Attention: Peripheral route is more persuasive if time is limited or attention is distracted because elaboration is low.
• Role of Celebrity: Celebrities can enhance message attention, encouraging audience thought, which means high elaboration (likely Central Route), however, some recipients may primarily focus on attractiveness, leading to a low elaboration (Peripheral Route).

Individual Differences in Influence

• Need for Cognition (NFC): People with a high NFC (enjoy analyzing arguments) have the cognitive ability to attend to message details, favouring the central route.

Evaluation

• Practical Applications: Health campaigns can use peripheral route (using celebrities), or both routes (personal experience + elaboration) to improve audience engagement.
• Effective for Behaviour Change: People likely change behaviour if persuaded via the central route.
• Generalization Issue: Research often uses university students as participants, impacting generalizability to other populations.

Exam Style Questions (Example)

• Question 1: Amelia's argument follows the central route (deep processing of message content).
• Question 2: Rona's response to Amelia (boring arguments) and Liam (interested in Lindsay Lohan) demonstrates the influence of personal relevance and processing routes respectively.
• Question 3: ELM helps understand behaviour change by highlighting the importance of both the message content and presentation (through factors like celebrity or personal experience; the type of processing determines successful behaviour change).