The Need to Belong and Persuasion


 

The need to belong is a powerful driver in human development and social psychology. 

  • Reflect on how the need to belong has influenced your life. 
  • What does it mean to “belong”? 
  • What makes you belong? 
  • How are we connected? 
  • Reflect on something that you are a member of. 
  • Who and what determines membership of your group? Who is outside our community? 
  • How are people identified as inside or outside of the group? 
  • What benefits do you have because of belonging to this group? 
  • How do those benefits compare to the value or those outside the group?  

 

We have learned in class the key elements of persuasion from the perspective of social psychology. These days we are bombarded with information and data and have less and less time to process information. This means you have a more challenging time trying to persuade someone.

  • make a message that can use any of the lessons you have learned throughout the course (so far) to persuade a broad audience to change a behavior you believe is important. 
  • Beneath the message, explain which principles you used to construct your message and why you chose to use those principles. How might this influence your attitudes and behaviors as a consumer in the future?