Lecture outline, Week 7<\/p>\n
The ideal social problems process predicts that once the media makes the larger public aware of the problem, the public will tell policymakers that something needs to be done. But the public sometimes wants policymakers to do the wrong thing. Why do people believe–and, even in the face of evidence, keep on believing–things that are wrong? <\/p>\n
One answer is that we are prone to confirmation bias. We pay attention to information that confirms our opinions and we ignore or discount information that challenges our opinions. <\/p>\n
A second answer is that we are members of groups. <\/p>\n
–Asch (1951): the pressure of conformity. <\/p>\n
How can you convince someone to change her or his mind about a political issue? Some things that do seem to work–but with qualifications. <\/p>\n
Try to convince them by reference to their values, not yours. <\/p>\n
Ask them to imagine opposing views. <\/p>\n
Tell them a story. <\/p>\n
Have them watch TV.<\/p>\n
Intergroup contact. <\/p>\n
Strategy a) Try to convince them by reference to their values, not yours. <\/p>\n
Willer and Feinberg (2015): Conservatives were more likely to support same-sex marriage if it was framed not in terms of equality, but in terms of patriotism (\u201csame-sex couples are proud and patriotic Americans, who contribute to the American economy and society\u201d). <\/p>\n
Liberals were more likely to support military spending if it was framed not in terms of patriotism, but in terms of equality (\u201cthrough the military, the poor and disadvantaged can achieve equal standing in society\u201d). <\/p>\n
But\u2026. <\/p>\n
When asked to make an argument for same-sex marriage or military spending that would be convincing to the other side, neither liberals nor conservatives could or would do so. <\/p>\n
Strategy b) Ask them to imagine opposing views. <\/p>\n
Doing so makes people more open to those views. <\/p>\n
But\u2026they are usually unwilling to do that voluntarily. <\/p>\n
Strategy c) Tell them a story. <\/p>\n
Stories can change people\u2019s minds. They work by one of two mechanisms: <\/p>\n
–When we are absorbed in a story, we tend not to counter-argue; that is, to question the information conveyed in the story. As a result, we are more likely to agree with the message of the story. <\/p>\n
–When we are absorbed in a story, we tend to identify with the story\u2019s hero. As a result, we are more likely to agree with the message of the story. <\/p>\n
But\u2026people have control over whether they allow themselves to be absorbed by a story. If we can tell that a story is intended to promote a message we disagree with, we are likely to resist it. <\/p>\n
Strategy d): Have them watch TV (?!). <\/p>\n
A \u201cdesignated driver\u201d is a person who refrains from drinking alcohol in order to drive friends home. The term was introduced in the United States in 1988 by Harvard public health researcher Jay Winsten. Winsten convinced major prime time TV shows to refer to designated drivers. Eventually, 160 shows featured designated drivers in sub-plots. The effect? A substantial decrease in drunk driving fatalities.<\/p>\n
\u201cEducation-entertainment\u201d initiatives have worked with Hollywood producers and writers to work pro-social behavior messages into fictional dramas and comedies. <\/p>\n
Studies have shown that such initiatives are effective in changing people\u2019s opinions and behaviors. They work because of \u201cparasocial identification\u201d: viewers adopt the opinions of characters with whom they identify. <\/p>\n
But\u2026Hollywood producers and writers see themselves as in the business of entertainment, not education. Polletta and Tomlinson (2014): Teen dramas included sensitive portrayals of acquaintance rape–but only for a short time. <\/p>\n
Strategy e) Intergroup contact <\/p>\n
Lessons of people\u2019s beliefs about social problems generally for understanding social problems <\/p>\n
People tend to hold on to false beliefs because of confirmation bias and because of the pressures of group conformity. <\/p>\n
There are, however, ways to overcome those biases. Each one, however, comes with limitations. <\/p>\n
For example, stories persuade by way of our identification with the story\u2019s hero or by suspending our tendency to counter-argue. But both depend on our willingness to be absorbed by the story. <\/p>\n
Building messages into television shows works because of our prior identification with recurrent characters. But writers see themselves in the business of entertainment, not education.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lecture outline, Week 7 The ideal social problems process predicts that once the media makes the larger public aware of the problem, the public will tell policymakers that something needs to be done. But the public sometimes wants policymakers to do the wrong thing. Why do people believe–and, even in the face of evidence, keep […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10],"class_list":["post-105981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research-paper-writing","tag-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105981\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}