As a PR or Public Affairs writer, here’s how you change people’s minds: Think cognitive dissonance
By Don Bates
Most people dislike changing their beliefs because it often makes them uncomfortable, embarrassed, guilty or conflicted. So, they resist or refuse contrasting views, even when they think those views have merit. This is especially true when addressing highly emotional issues, e.g., fighting for or against the legalization of recreational drugs, abortion, gambling, DEI initiatives and the sale of military-grade weapons to the public.
If you’re a PR or public affairs writer, dealing with emotionally loaded issues like these can make your job extremely challenging, even more so when you’re charged with getting resistors or opponents to move to your employer’s or client’s side of the proposition. You can’t simply tell those who resist that they’re wrong or don’t know what they’re talking about. Usually, this only makes them resist more. If you sincerely want to persuade someone to change, choose words and arguments that reduce rather than inflame what psychologists call “cognitive dissonance.”
Social psychologist Leon Festinger gave us this groundbreaking theory in the late 1950s. Based on research with thousands of subjects, he discovered most people won’t accept messages contrary to their current beliefs, values or attitudes. To alter their views, you must think and write more persuasively. Festinger’s work has had a major influence ever since on how PR, public affairs and other communication professionals communicate.
Festinger said: “When dissonance is present, in addition to trying to reduce it, the person will actively avoid situations and information which would likely increase the dissonance.” But don’t despair. Festinger says there are three ways to minimize cognitive dissonance. They provide a practical framework for determining what you say to get your target audience to think and/or act more favorably towards your messages and goals.
1. Tell them what has changed concerning their beliefs or feelings. By providing a more current perspective, you invite them to shift their views to fit the new reality. You don’t shame them. You don’t make fun of their position. You enable them to think more objectively.
2. Share credible new research, press coverage, or other documentation that challenges their ideas or perceptions. Carefully presented, the updated information makes them less resistant and/or stressed about changing how they think, feel, or act.
3. Cite relevant statements by highly respected leaders, experts, and other “stars” that strengthen the validity of your messages. You encourage your target audiences to join forces with influential people whom large numbers of the public identify with and/or consider trustworthy.
Enabling your target audiences to see beyond the limits of their current beliefs, without insulting them, is essential to productive managerial and political communications.
Help your target audiences feel less dissonant and stressed by what they believe. When you write, help them take the favorable action you desire by providing facts, news and information that will allow them to make more informed decisions. By doing this, you’ll win far more times than you’ll lose. At the very least, you’ll help to establish a more objective playing field for all concerned.
About the author: Don Bates, APR, Fellow PRSA, writes on public relations tools and tactics with emphasis on strategic thinking and writing that focuses on purposeful action instead of passive information. He publishes on Medium and Substack and other online places.
Image provided by Don Bates
