People often become more confident in their beliefs when they find out the majority of others disagree with them, a new study finds."It may be that you feel proud, because you were able to disprove, in your own mind, an opinion that most people have accepted," said study author Richard Petty, professor of psychology at Ohio State University. "You actually become doubly sure you were right."
The results suggest how a person or organization could strategically reveal the majority or minority status of a proposal to achieve the maximum persuasive effect.If you feel you have a weak argument, it should be best to suggest right away that a lot of people support your issue, before you make your case. The thinking goes, before people have a chance to ponder the decision they'll just "follow the crowd."
If you tell people you have majority support after you make your weak arguments, according to the new findings, it's too late — it will only serve to give people confidence in the negative thoughts they have generated about your cause, Petty said.
But for those with a strong argument, it can be helpful to reveal wide support for your proposal after explaining it, as this gives people confidence in their own positive thoughts, Petty said.
For more, see Popular Opinion? Bah! by Livescience Staff, August 4, 2010, at Live Science.
1 comment:
Very interesting research. So I guess if you har of support first the suggestion must be that you think you have a weak argument..Anyway..
dave-s
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