Language Strategies
- Framing and Shorthands
Framing
- What
is a frame?
- The
nine dot problem is an example
- The
frame dictates which window you look out of, which perspective you take.
- Frames
are conceptual “boundaries” within which we form understandings. Concepts “outside” the frame are not
considered, usually not even recognized as possible or relevant.
- Metaphors
are frames (e.g. “ the war
on ….”
- Reframing
is persuasion
- A
new frame (or metaphor) changes perceptions and, thus, how people
understand and behave
- Frames
can be found in
i.
Communicators
ii.
“Texts”
iii.
Receivers
iv.
“Culture”
- Is
there a difference between an 80% chance of success and a 20% chance of
failure? Between “welfare
mothers” and “Recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent
Children?” Between “private
sexual matters” and “perjury before the grand jury?” Between "class
warfare" and "Paying your fair share in taxes?"
Cognitive Shorthands - “rules of thumb people use to get on with
their lives without protracted deliberation (e.g. “Everybody lies about
sex. It’s no big deal.”)
- Cialdini’s
Seven Principles
- Contrast
– “ask for a mile”
- Reciprocity
– “one flower given” “door in the
face”
- Consistency
– justifying actions as consistent with B+V/M, response set bias
- Social
proof – “heuristics,” “bandwagon
effect,” “behavioral modeling”
(Bandura)
- Authority
– “credibility is in the eye of the beholder,” credibility is a social construction/concept
- Liking - balance theory, credibility
research, reciprocity
- Scarcity
– scarce is valuable (often), “expensive is better”
- Mother
Turkey hypothesis – social triggers, automatic releaser mechanisms.
("It's for the children.")
- The
Faulty Autopilot - Mental shortcuts - that usually work without
much thought - can sometimes guide us very wrongly .
Material on this page
adapted from H.W. Simons. (2001) Persuasion in Society. Sage.
115-150. [Note the “Get-Rich Scheme description on page 150 of Persuasion
in Society.]
|