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Attribution Vs Persuasion Study

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Two studies were completed to compare the relative effectiveness of attribution strategy with persuasion strategy in changing behavior. The first study was an attempt to teach fifth graders to not litter and clean up after other classmates. The attribution group was told they are neat and tidy, while the persuasion group was told they should be neat and tidy. The results found that attribution was more effective in modifying behavior compared to persuasion. The second study determined if attribution or persuasion is more effective for achievement in math and self-esteem. It also studied whether attribution of ability is as effective as attribution of motivation. This study attributed to second graders to do well in math proved more effective than persuasion or control groups. There is little evidence that persuasion can be effective because subjects do not integrate the information into their own belief system. The experiment was designed to test the relative importance of attribution versus persuasive manipulations by comparing persuasion treatment with an attribution treatment. The persuasion techniques were designed to be maximally effective by using a credible source delivering a repeated message stating the benefits of change. The attribution techniques were designed to be maximally …show more content…

Children’s behavior was monitored before and after treatment and after two weeks of non-treatment. The hypothesis was that both the attribution and the persuasion techniques would result in initial behavioral change, but attribution would show initial and lasing changes. The study involved a fifth grade classroom in Chicago with two classes’ randomly assigned to experimental conditions and a third group assigned as a control. Three female experimenters were randomly assigned to different classrooms and 8 days of attribution and persuasion treatments dealing with littering were performed for 45 minutes

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