Back to Healthy Influence PagePhysical activity can help alleviate the problem of cardiovascular disease, but is mere physical activity enough? There is a difference between physical activity and physical fitness. Physical fitness is much more involved than is physical activity. Physical fitness could be described as habitual physical activity. Physical fitness could also be described as a person's physical work capacity, or the level of work (activity) one is able to perform without tiring (Young and Steinhardt, 1993). The findings of Young and Steinhardt show that physical activity alone is not enough to reduce the risks of heart disease. The person must also be physically fit, which is accomplished through steady physical activity (Young and Steinhardt, 1993).
Being physically fit also provides several other benefits. One of these benefits is helping prevent osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by low bone mass and deterioration of the bone tissue which leads to increased potential for fractures (Drinkwater, 1994). Drinkwater's research in this area led to the following conclusion - active women have higher bone mineral density than do sedentary women. Being active will reduce the chance of an osteoporotic break not only by causing the higher bone density but also by strengthening the muscles around those bones (Drinkwater, 1994).
A person's overall quality of life can also be affected by good physical health. Woodruff and Conway found that the higher a person's self-perceived physical fitness level, the higher quality of life they also reported (1992). This is a pretty logical conclusion. When a person is in good shape, that person generally feels better both physically and mentally. When a person feels better, that person will tend to feel like their life is generally better than if that person felt bad all the time.
Another important benefit of being physically fit is that it may help people handle stress better. This would also aid in the quality of life previously mentioned. The findings of one study showed that people who are physically fit are less vulnerable to the adverse effects of stress than are those who are not physically fit (Brown, 1991). Another study showed that being physically fit "leads to reductions in reactivity to stress at least in some stressful situations" (Brandon, Lofton, and Curry, 1991).
It is well known that young women are usually very conscious of their weight. This self-image is usually exaggerated more than their actual weight. In fact, one study found that college-age women generally thought of themselves as being about 14% fatter than they really were (Galgon, et al., 1989). This is a problem in that many women go about "fixing" their self-image the wrong way. This can lead to problems such as anorexia and bulimia. As shown already, the best way to fix this problem is to get into shape. Aside from the obvious health benefits, being in shape will help the person's self-image and their quality of life.
The purpose of this paper is to alleviate and prevent some or all of these problems in someone I care very much about. I will attempt to do this by using the persuasion techniques we have learned in class.
However, this is not my main concern. My concern is to get her exercising. I also hope that, in persuading my wife to start and maintain an exercise program, I will also persuade myself to do the same. My hope is that through my persuasive efforts, I will convince Stacy to exercise regularly and that her attitude toward exercising will be changed for the better. Her current attitude is that she is aware that she should exercise, but is not committed enough to the idea that she does this with any consistency. She does go walking every once in a while, but this is not enough to increase her level of physical fitness. I want to persuade her to undertake more strenuous activities on a regular basis.
I think one of the reasons she has not been exercising up to this point is the fact that she has not received that little push necessary to move her from the preparation stage to the action and eventually the habit stage. I have not pushed her at all up until now. She has not received any motivation from anyone else either. As I said, I hope to provide that little "push" for her.
The first cue I will attempt to take advantage of is an easy one since I am married to the target -- liking. The idea behind this cue is that people most prefer to say yes to the requests of people they know and like (Cialdini, 1993). I think I can take advantage of this cue. After all, if she liked me enough to marry me, she should like me enough for me to be able to persuade her to do what I want. I don't think this will be enough to change her attitude, but it sure doesn't hurt to take advantage of this. This is not something that requires a lot of work to use. This cue has always been there for me to use on Stacy but I just never did. I had not made any requests for her to do something. But, now that I will be making some requests, this cue will help persuade her to go along with what I request.
I will also attempt to use reciprocity. This is a rule of the world in which we live and is a very powerful cue in trying to persuade someone to change their attitude about something. Reciprocity is the idea that we should repay, in kind, what another person has provided us (Cialdini, 1993). I have, in fact, already done my part - that is, provided Stacy with something. I purchased a mountain bike and roller-blades for her in the past few months. These were both items she really wanted. So, being the wonderful husband I am, I got them both for her. She had said that she would use them both religiously and would be getting the exercise she needs. Unfortunately, both the roller-blades and the mountain bike have been sitting in their assigned places in the closet, inactive, for the past few months. Obviously, the weather has not been conducive to outdoor activities but, as Spring approaches, I want to already have her convinced that she needs to reciprocate my gifts by doing what I want her to do. And of course, what I want her to do to reciprocate the gifts is to use them and get some exercise. By purchasing the bicycle and the roller-blades for Stacy, I have helped move her from the pre-preparation stage into the preparation stage. She has all the necessary equipment she needs to begin exercising. Next stage, action!
I am also going to use the commitment-consistency technique. This technique involves getting the person to make a commitment to something and then using that commitment to get what we want by involving the social pressures that cause us to act consistently with any commitments we have already made. I plan to use this technique in a couple of different ways. First, I will remind her that she promised me (made a commitment) that she would ride the bike and use her roller-blades. The pressure for her to be consistent with her earlier commitment will, hopefully, cause her to follow through on that promise. Secondly, I will use commitment-consistency by getting her to agree and put in writing, that exercise is good for her. This will not be hard because I already know that she agrees with that fact. After getting her to commit to that statement, I will then ask her to make a commitment to a specific exercise plan. After committing to the first request, she will feel the pressure to remain consistent and should agree to my subsequent, larger request.
Another strategy I will apply to persuade Stacy is to try to create dissonance within her. The dissonance will arise because of the inconsistency between her attitude toward exercise and her actions. Her positive attitude toward exercise and its benefits is in direct conflict with her actions - she doesn't exercise. I will try to make her more aware of this difference to bring the dissonance to her attention. One reaction to dissonance is to reduce dissonance by changing behavior. Hopefully, this will result in Stacy exercising.
I think this plan of using a multi-faceted approach to persuasion will work well in achieving my goal. The cues I plan to use are all related in this case and I think this will enhance my chances for success. By also employing the dissonance, my persuasive efforts will be made that much stronger.
I think the peripheral route is the best to use on Stacy in this case. While she is aware of the benefits of exercise and knows she should exercise, she still is not committed to doing it. This topic is not something she is likely to really think about (elaborate on). She's heard all the arguments and they didn't change her attitude or behavior. As a result, I have concluded that she is low elaboration when it comes to exercising and therefore, I have chosen to use the peripheral route to try to persuade her to exercise. This is the reason I will be attempting to use cues to influence her and not arguments. As I said, she has heard all the arguments and has still not changed her behavior. Hopefully, by using cues, I can change her behavior.
One study by Edgar Schein in 1956 that reflects the use of the commitment-consistency cue is the study of the American prisoners of war that were captured by the North Koreans in the Korean War. These POWs were placed in prison camps that were run by the Communist Chinese. The Chinese asked for seemingly very small requests from the Americans. They would persuade them to make slightly un-American statements. The POWs would make these seemingly inconsequential statements and then would be asked to do something a little more substantive but still related. The Americans would almost always comply because they had already committed to a similar request and they wanted to remain consistent. These tactics basically brainwashed the POWs. They were doing exactly what the Chinese wanted them to, and they weren't even aware of it.
I don't want to be as subversive as the Chinese and I do have good intentions, but I hope my results are as good as the Chinese achieved. Hopefully, by asking for and getting a commitment on a small request (get her to agree that exercise is good for you), I will then be able to get compliance on the larger request (get her to commit to an exercise plan).
The persuasion theory for my second strategy is the cognitive dissonance theory. Cognitive dissonance theory is concerned with the relations between cognitive elements (O'Keefe, 1990). Two cognitive elements will be in dissonance if the opposite of one element follows from the other. Dissonance is not a comfortable state humans enjoy being in. Dissonance can be reduced by changing the perception of behavior or by changing the perception of self (Booth-Butterfield, 1996).
An experiment by Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) shows how this theory works. The participants were asked to perform a very boring task. After they had finished, they were then asked to tell another student (the experimenters' confederate) that the task they had just performed was very exciting and interesting. To get the participants to do this counterattitudinal behavior, half the group was given one dollar. The other half were given twenty dollars. The experimenters found that the group that received only one dollar responded that the task was more enjoyable than did those who received the twenty dollars. They found these results because the group that had received the twenty dollars experienced less dissonance because they had the twenty dollars and, so, they had little need for an attitude change. The group that received only one dollar, however, experienced more dissonance because they only had one dollar to offset the counterattitudinal behavior. Therefore, they had more motivation to change their attitude in order to reduce their dissonance (O'Keefe, 1990).
This is relevant to Stacy's case because Stacy should be experiencing some dissonance because her behavior does not match her attitude. Therefore, if I make her more aware of this dissonance, she should do something to try to reduce the dissonance. Hopefully, this something will be to change her behavior to more closely match her attitude. That is, begin exercising because she believes that it is good for her. If this is the case, I will have been successful in my endeavor.
The use of the reciprocity cue was also fairly simple. I didn't have to do much but it was still very effective. I simply reminded Stacy that I had given her so much, the least she could do would be to comply with my request. My request was that she use the equipment I had spent so much of our hard-earned money on. She said she would as soon as the weather got better. This was at least a step in the right direction. This was also a sort of commitment that could be used later.
I had some of the commitment-consistency cue already in place before I began. I had purchased the bicycle and roller-blades for Stacy, at her request. When I purchased this exercise equipment for her, she promised she would use them and they would not just sit in the closet. This was part of her commitment. Although she seemed very convincing when she promised to use them, she did not follow through on her promise. The bike and roller-blades sat in the closet for months, unused. As mentioned before, the weather did not cooperate and was not conducive for outdoor activities for a long period of time. This weather would not last forever though. I had to remind her of the commitment she had made before I bought the equipment for her. I also reminded her of the other commitment she had made when I made my earlier request - that she would start using the bike and roller-blades as soon as the weather improved.
Another part of my use of the commitment-consistency cue was to get her to agree to a small request and then to a larger one. I gave her a piece of paper with the statement, "Exercise is good for me" written on it. I asked her if she agreed or disagreed with the statement. She, of course, agreed. I had the commitment I needed. A few days later, I asked her if she would agree to begin an exercise program that I had designed for her. Since she had agreed that "exercise is good for me," I had hoped that this commitment would lead to her being consistent in her response to the next, similar, but larger request. She did agree to sign the "contract" and begin the exercise program. But, again, the weather did not cooperate for some time.
My final strategy was to use the cognitive dissonance theory. I wanted to make Stacy aware that her attitude and her behavior were not in accordance. To do this, I made statements that were supportive of Stacy's attitude. That is, I made favorable statements concerning exercising and the benefits of exercising. I also made statements that were not supportive of her behaviors. That is, I made negative statements concerning her not exercising. These efforts were intended to make Stacy feel more positive about exercising (her attitude) than about not exercising (her behavior). By doing this, she would choose to exercise because this would reduce her dissonance.
After I had employed all of my persuasive efforts, Stacy was convinced that she needed to start exercising. She began to ride her bike and go roller blading. I think this was as a result of all my efforts and strategies combined. I don't think one of the strategies worked that much better than any other. However, I think the commitment-consistency did have more of an effect because I think it made her feel a little bit guilty. She has begun to exercise somewhat regularly but it has not become a habit. I think the weather has also helped in getting her to exercise and it may also be hindering the exercise from becoming a habit for her. She now roller-blades or rides her bike whenever she can and when she has the time. This is at least part of what I wanted to accomplish by performing this intervention. I wanted to get the ball rolling and at least get her started exercising. I ultimately want to get her to make this a habit and exercise regularly, every day. I have not reached this point yet but I plan to keep on trying.
The reciprocity cue's rule is that if someone gives you something, you have to give them something back in return. This is a very useful and effective tool to use and it was for me in my persuasive efforts. I gave Stacy the bike and the roller-blades, and I wanted her to comply with my requests in return for my gifts. My request was that she use the exercise equipment I purchased for her so she could get some exercise. I think this strategy was effective because it made her feel guilty about not using the equipment and she doesn't like to feel guilty. For this reason, I think she really wanted to try to do something to reduce her feelings of guilt. So, the results fit the theory.
Commitment-consistency was probably the most effective cue I used. Commitment-consistency says that if you make a stand on an issue, you must remain consistent with that stand in your behaviors. I got Stacy to agree, in writing, to the truth of the statement, "exercise is good for me." By making this small commitment (stand), she was also committing herself to agreeing with and complying with my next request. When I then asked her if she would sign the "exercise contract," she felt obligated by social pressures and norms to agree with this request because she had already agreed to (taken a stand on) the previous, smaller but similar request.
In employing the cognitive dissonance theory, I tried to reduce the conflict Stacy was facing as to whether to exercise or not. I attempted to regulate the amount of conflict she was facing in order to get her to choose the path that I wanted her to. Prior to this intervention, she was feeling some dissonance because her attitude and behavior were not the same. "Dissonance is an aversive motivational state; persons will want to avoid experiencing dissonance, and if they do encounter dissonance they will attempt to reduce it" (O'Keefe, 1990). By reducing the conflict she was facing in her decision of whether to exercise or not, I led her to decide that she would exercise. By changing her behavior to be more in accordance with her attitude, she reduced the dissonance she was experiencing. This all falls right in line with what the theory says will happen.
I think all of my results occurred just as the theories said they would. This is a reassuring discovery - that the theories really work in the real world and not just in books and controlled experiments.
I plan on sustaining my persuasive efforts in the future. My ultimate goal is to have exercising be second nature to Stacy. This means I must persuade her to move from the action stage (which she is in now), to the habit stage of change. This will be difficult because of her schedule. However, next year, after we are more settled, and we both have more stable work situations, I hope that some of the obstacles to habitual exercise will become less obtrusive. Hopefully, this will make my persuasive job that much easier.
Other than those few changes, I think the overall technique worked as well as could be expected for an amateur persuader. I think my results were successful in that I did get her to change her behavior and begin to exercise. I got her to move from the preparation stage to the action stage. The next step is to get her into the habit stage. This will be the next part of my persuasive efforts. Hopefully, these efforts will be as effective as the ones used in this intervention and I can get her into the habit stage. My goal will then be complete. This will place Stacy on the road to better health and to a happier acceptance of herself. This was my real goal all along - to get her to exercise for her better health and happiness. I am well on the way to achieving this and plan to continue until I do achieve this and am assured that Stacy will be healthier in the future. Now, if I could only convince myself to start exercising!
Booth-Butterfield, Steve. (1996). Class Notes. Communications 221 Homepage, Internet.
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Brown, Jonathon D. Staying Fit and Staying Well: Physical Fitness as a Moderator of Life Stress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1991, 60, 555-561.
Cialdini, Robert B. (1993). Influence. New York:Harper Collins College Publishers.
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O'Keefe, Daniel J. (1990). Persuasion. Newbury Park, CA:Sage Publications.
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