Dogmatism & the Persuasion Process

This paper will discuss dogmatism as it affects the persuasion process. Basically, dogmatism has a negative impact on persuasion efforts. As Kelly notes, one of the strongest barriers to persuasion is "our potential immunity to the message" (Kelly 2025). A person who is dogmatic on a particular issue has a strong emotional commitment to his or her opinion on that issue. Because of this emotional commitment, the dogmatic person is not likely to change opinions lightly. As a result, dogmatism is a powerful inhibitor of attitude change. Studies using "dogmatism scales" have indicated that people can range from high to low levels of dogmatic belief (Neuliep 213). Thus, some dogmatic people will be more open to change than others. Nevertheless, for the most part, dogmatism in a person is a strong indicator that the person will reject any persuasive messages that do not coincide with his or her pre-established opinion.

The literature on this topic supports this point of view. In fact, there is evidence that resistance to attitude change is normal in all people regardless of their level of dogmatism. On this point, Dichter has claimed that "any change of belief requires readjustment, a most painful and highly emotional trauma" (Dichter 32). Linver has likewise indicated that "most of us resist change, even when it means improvement" (Linver 188). In his book on speechwriting and public speaking, Cook has pointed out that "stiffening resistance" is to be expected in

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lled for by the persuader "must be in accordance with the accepted and retained appeals" (Larson 65). In other words, the persuasive message will be made meaningless if the communicator is inconsistent in his or her arguments. In terms of attitude change, Hovland and his associates were certain that acceptance is the most important of all these factors (Ibid.). Even if the receiver hears the message and understands it, persuasion will not occur if the message is not accepted. Furthermore, even if the receiver retains the argument and even if the arguments are consistent and logical, persuasion will not occur if the validity of the message is not accepted. Conversely, if a person accepts the argument of the persuader, then the task of persuasion is already half-completed. With dogmatic people, the persuasion process is compounded by the tendency of such people to reject new messages rather than accept them. This tendency was noted in the study by Palmer and Kalin which was cited above. In that study, it was indicated that a primary characteristic of dogmatic people is the quick rejection of any opinion that disagrees with their own. In Hovland's theory, this rejection is generally related to the "ego-involvement" of the

Category: Psychology - D