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Functional Analysis of Persuasive Interaction in a Role-Playing Experiment
A Paul Hare1, Herbert M Kritzer2, Herbert H Blumberg3
1a Department of Sociology , University of Capetown , South Africa.
The Journal of Social Psychology
|February 1, 2017
Summary
Male undergraduates reciprocated positive and serious behavior from petition solicitors. Actor dominance increased signing when the petition aligned with student values, otherwise decreasing it, suggesting a cybernetic hierarchy of influence.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Behavioral Science
- Sociology
Background:
- Understanding interpersonal dynamics in compliance situations is crucial.
- Previous research explored factors influencing agreement to requests.
- The AGIL framework offers a model for analyzing social systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how an actor's behavior influences undergraduates' willingness to sign a petition.
- To examine the relationship between interaction process, functional analysis, and compliance.
- To test a cybernetic hierarchy model of social influence.
Main Methods:
- Laboratory experiment with 186 male undergraduates.
- Actor solicited petition signatures.
- Behavior and responses rated using Leary-Bales-Couch and AGIL schemes.
Main Results:
- Positive and serious actor behaviors were reciprocated by participants.
- Dominance correlated with Goal-attainment (G), positiveness with Integration (I), seriousness with Adaptation (A), and conformity with Latent pattern maintenance (L).
- Actor dominance increased signing likelihood when petition content matched participant values.
Conclusions:
- Social influence is complex, moderated by value congruence.
- The AGIL framework provides a useful lens for analyzing social interactions and compliance.
- A cybernetic hierarchy (L-I-G-A) appears to govern the relative influence of different social pressures.
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