In the book “The Dynamics of Persuasion”, R. M. Perloff says that it is a myth to think that persuasion includes convincing people to do things we usually do not want to do. In his view, people persuade themselves to change their attitude or their behavior. There is no way to command people to be persuaded, it is only possible to activate and stimulate their desires and expose them to the logic behind your ideas. Only when people completely understand and buy in with their personality, total commitment to a product or to an idea is possible.
It is much easier to understand the concept of self-persuasion when looking at an activity that does not seem to involve any persuasion:
therapy is such an example. Actually, a therapist only gives recommendations and offers suggestions about how improvements can take place. But clients of therapist will never say that the therapist has persuaded the client. This is because people who are seeking for psychological help think about themselv
(...) Read more? Sign up for free
