inoculation theory Inoculation theory is a social psychological/communication theory that explains how an attitude or belief can be protected against persuasion or influence in much the same way a body can be protected against disease–for example, through pre-expo ...

, refutational preemption consists of “specific content that receivers can employ to strengthen attitudes against subsequent change.”

Overview

Drawing on

McGuire The MacGuire ( ) family is an Irish clan based in County Fermanagh. The name derives from the Gaelic , which is "son of Odhar" meaning "dun", "dark one". According to legend, this relates to the eleventh descendant of Colla da Chrich, great-gran ...

& Papageorgis, Pfau, et al. define the refutational preemption, o
pretreatment
step of the inoculation

process A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic. Things called a process include: Business and management *Business process, activities that produce a specific se ...

: "The

theory A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may ...

posits that refutational pretreatments, which raise the specter of content potentially damaging to the receiver’s attitude while simultaneously providing direct

refutation In argumentation, an objection is a reason arguing against a premise, argument, or conclusion. Definitions of objection vary in whether an objection is always an argument (or counterargument) or may include other moves such as questioning. An ...

of that content in the presence of a supportive environment, threaten the individual. This triggers the

motivation Motivation is the reason for which humans and other animals initiate, continue, or terminate a behavior at a given time. Motivational states are commonly understood as forces acting within the agent that create a disposition to engage in goal-dire ...

to bolster

arguments An argument is a statement or group of statements called premises intended to determine the degree of truth or acceptability of another statement called conclusion. Arguments can be studied from three main perspectives: the logical, the dialectic ...

supporting the receiver’s attitudes, thus conferring resistance". Instead of providing the receiver with additional supporting

evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports this proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the supported proposition is true. What role evidence plays and how it is conceived varies from field to field. In epistemology, eviden ...

why their held

beliefs A belief is an attitude that something is the case, or that some proposition is true. In epistemology, philosophers use the term "belief" to refer to attitudes about the world which can be either true or false. To believe something is to take i ...

are true, the receiver is provided

counterarguments In reasoning and argument mapping, a counterargument is an objection to an objection. A counterargument can be used to rebut an objection to a premise, a main contention or a lemma. Synonyms of counterargument may include rebuttal, reply, count ...

they may encounter in the future that might challenge their held belief. The effectiveness of this inoculation falls off as the level of effort required by the receiver to defend the belief increases.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite journal , last1=McGuire , first1=W. J. , last2=Papageorgis , first2=D. , title=The relative efficacy of various types of prior belief-defense in producing immunity against persuasion. , journal=The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology , publisher=American Psychological Association (APA) , volume=62 , issue=2 , year=1961 , issn=0096-851X , doi=10.1037/h0042026 , pages=327–337, pmid=13773992 {{cite journal , last1=Pfau , first1=Michael , last2=Kenski , first2=Henry C. , last3=Nitz , first3=Michael , last4=Sorenson , first4=John , title=Efficacy of inoculation strategies in promoting resistance to political attack messages: Application to direct mail , journal=Communication Monographs , publisher=Informa UK Limited , volume=57 , issue=1 , year=1990 , issn=0363-7751 , doi=10.1080/03637759009376183 , pages=25–43 {{cite journal , last1=Kyle , first1=Michael Pfau , last2=Tusing , first2=James , last3=Koerner , first3=Ascan F. , last4=Lee , first4=Waipeng , last5=Goldbold , first5=Linda C. , last6=Penzola , first6=Linda J. , last7=Shu-Huei , first7=Violet , last8=Hong , first8=Yang-Huei, title=Enriching the Inoculation Construct The Role of Critical Components in the Process of Resistance , journal=Human Communication Research , publisher=Oxford University Press (OUP) , volume=24 , issue=2 , year=1997 , issn=0360-3989 , doi=10.1111/j.1468-2958.1997.tb00413.x , pages=187–215 Communication Propaganda techniques Psychological attitude

Overview

See also

References