The role of nonverbal behaviors as distractors in resistance to persuasion in interpersonal contexts

The role of two nonverbal variables, conversational distance and physical self‐presentation, are examined as potential sources of distraction with consequent effects on susceptibility to persuasion. A model of conversational distancing violations is adapted to a distraction perspective to predict how nonverbal variables specifically might function as distractors. Results of an experiment manipulating violations of distancing expectations and physical attractiveness of confederates (N = 350) indicate that both may be sources of distraction, and offer modest support for the prediction that attractive individuals engaging in violations of expectations will serve as positive sources of distraction, leading to greater susceptibility to persuasion. Failure to support the prediction that unattractive individuals engaging in violations of expectations foster more resistance to persuasion is partly explained by the lack of a sufficiently unattractive confederate.     

Listener propensity to counterargue,distraction, and resistance to persuasion

This study addresses the question of whether or not persons differ in their general propensity to counterargue and if such differences affect the efficacy of distraction as a persuasion‐enhancing mechanism. Results of the study support the hypothesis that persons having a high propensity to counterargue who are not distracted will be most resistant to persuasion, while distracted persons having a low propensity to counterargue will be least resistant to persuasion.     

The semantics of social influence: threats vs. persuasion

This study investigates how language is used to make sense of influence attempts. More specifically, the perceived potency and evaluation of both influence agents and targets and the influence tactic used are examined for their effect on the actors' perceived power and influence success. The two influence tactics examined are threats and attempts to persuade. A pilot study (N=145) and main experiment (N=189) were conducted to create 84 simple sentences, the units of analysis for this investigation. Agents are perceived as more powerful than targets of influence. The tactic used to secure compliance (threaten versus attempt to persuade) does not affect the perceived power of either the agent or the target. A bad agent is seen as more powerful than a good agent, and a bad target is considered more powerful than a good target. Furthermore, good agents have more success in gaining compliance by using persuasion than by using threats, and they have more success when influencing a good target than a bad target. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

The Right to Die as an Issue of Privacy

The issue of whether or not an individual has the right to choose when he or she will die, is a very controversial one for many reasons. Further complicating the issue is the question of who, if anyone, has the right to decide for those who are unable to choose for themselves. The bibliography which follows includes articles which discuss this topic from a right to privacy perspective, and should prove useful to those researchers who are new to the subject, as well as those who are already familiar with the many complex issues involved.     

Type of speech,sex of speaker,and sex of subject as factors influencing persuasion

Speeches that advocated “institutional”; norms were compared with speeches that did not, in conditions where male and female speakers were varied. Female speakers were more successful when they took a noninstitutional position, and male speakers were more successful when they took an institutional position. “Masculinity”; and “Femininity”; were not significant factors in any of the effects.     

The origins and development of the diffusion of innovations paradigm as an example of scientific growth

Diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among members of a social system. The diffusion of innovations is a communication theory which has laid the groundwork for behavior change models across the social sciences, representing a widely applicable perspective. The diffusion of innovations paradigm began with the 1943 publication of the results of an hybrid seed corn study conducted by Bryce Ryan and Neal C. Gross, rural sociologists at Iowa State University. The diffusion paradigm spread among midwestern rural sociological researchers in the 1950s and 1960s, and then to a larger, interdisciplinary field of diffusion scholars. By the late 1960s, rural sociologists lost interest in diffusion studies, not because it was ineffective scientifically, but because of lack of support for such study as a consequence of farm overproduction and because most of the interesting research questions were thought to be answered. Since 1943, more than 4000 research publications have appeared and diffusion research became a widely practiced variety of scholarly study in sociology and other social sciences. This paper describes some of the history of rural sociological research on the diffusion of agricultural innovations with the goal of understanding how the research tradition emerged and to determine how it influenced the larger body of diffusion research conducted later by scholars in other disciplinary specialties. The authors describe how diffusion of innovations research followed and deviated from the Kuhnian concept of paradigm development.     

Subjective message constructs: A theory of persuasion

Subjective message construct theory maintains that the underlying constructs, or cognitive tests, that receivers apply to persuasive messages require that message information be perceived as important, novel, and plausible for belief change to occur. In three different studies a total of six complete replications of the theory were performed. For each replication respondents indicated their subjective beliefs in the probability of the claim, datum, claim given the datum, and claim if not the datum. These subjective probabilities were subsequently placed in a mathematical formulation that represented a multiplicative combination of importance, novelty, and plausibility. The results from six replications indicated that between 25 and 50% percent of the variance in belief change can be explained by subjective message construct theory. Additionally, the results from validity checks indicated that subjective probabilities can be used to construct valid operational measures of importance and novelty.     

The Instructions to Authors Section as an Aid in Serials Collection Development

No abstract available for this article.     

论古籍编辑应具备的文化素养

古籍整理类图书具有专业性强、学术含量高、文化价值大等特点,是对中华优秀传统文化和璀璨文明的传承和弘扬,在出版此类图书时不仅要求编辑工作者有较高的文化使命感,而且应具备较强的专业知识能力。古籍编辑的文字功底、文献知识、古文阅读能力和学术心态等,往往影响着古籍整理类图书出版的最终质量和价值。