Undermining Your Case to Enhance Your Impact: A Framework for Understanding the Effects of Acts of Receptiveness in Persuasion

Abstract

Past research has uncovered actions that would seem to undermine but in fact frequently enhance persuasion. For example, expressing doubt about one’s view or presenting arguments against it would seem to weaken one’s case, but can sometimes promote it. We propose a framework for understanding these findings. We posit that these actions constitute acts of receptiveness—behaviors that signal openness to new information and opposing viewpoints. We review four classes of acts of receptiveness: conveying uncertainty, acknowledging mistakes, highlighting drawbacks, and asking questions. We identify conditions under which and mechanisms through which these actions boost persuasion. Acts of receptiveness appear to be more persuasive when they come from expert or high-status sources, rather than non-expert or low-status sources, and to operate through two primary mechanisms: increased involvement and enhanced source perceptions. Following a review of this work, we delineate potentially novel acts of receptiveness and outline directions for future research.

Why are people antiscience, and what can we do about it?

“…When communicators offer a nuanced, multifaceted perspective, especially if they change positions in the face of new evidence, they are perceived as less biased and more persuasive ( 113 ). When a communicator expresses openness to alternative views, especially when of high status, this can increase openness in committed recipients ( 114 ). For example, those who saw the issue of wearing masks in the COVID-19 pandemic as a moral impingement on their rights were more open to wearing masks when a communicator acknowledged the recipient’s view but explained why the promask position was preferable ( 115 ).…”

Attitudes in an interpersonal context: Psychological safety as a route to attitude change

“…For example, communicators who express interest in learning about their recipients’ viewpoints elicited more open-minded (or less defensive) responses from their audiences ( Chen et al, 2010 ). Although not typically enacted in interpersonal paradigms, evidence indicates that other behaviors by communicators that signal their own receptivity to their audience’s viewpoint, such as delivering a two-sided message ( Xu and Petty, 2021 ), can similarly impact the receptivity of their audience (see Hussein and Tormala, 2021 ). Such cues to receptivity by a communicator may signal to the recipients that their viewpoints are valid to have and express even if the communicator disagrees with them.…”

Receptiveness to Opposing Views: Conceptualization and Integrative Review

“…Yet, intelligence, rationality, and benevolence are the very characteristics people attribute to those who listen to and understand them. When counterparts demonstrate behaviors that are interpreted as being receptive, they violate the stereotypes and expectations people hold with respect to disagreeing others (Hussein & Tormala, 2021). A person who is thoughtfully engaging with our perspective is far more difficult to write off as ill-intentioned or irrational.…”

“…Second, parties in attitude conflict appear to be highly attuned to behavioral signals of a counterpart’s receptiveness. Expressions of receptiveness can take many forms, including asking elaboration questions (Chen et al, 2010), explicitly signaling a willingness to understand the other’s perspective (Collins et al, 2021), or acknowledging mistakes (Hussein & Tormala, 2021). Work using NLP has identified a specific set of words and phrases that lead a passage of text to be perceived as more receptive—a construct that has been termed “conversational receptiveness.” Across laboratory experiments and naturally occurring conversations, behaviorally demonstrating receptiveness improves people’s perceptions of counterparts and future willingness to interact.…”

“…She might reveal that she also considered at some point in her life that women are not well-suited for certain jobs but that her views changed over time. By following such an approach, Sally might leave Harry with the impression that she truly considered his point of view while continuing to hold firm to her own position (Hussein & Tormala, 2021).…”