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change. “I would like to buy you new sneakers, but Daddy doesn’t really give me enough money to do that.”
Social psychologists have identified a number of factors which influence the listener’s attitudes and behaviors with respect to change. They are:
The credibility of the speaker
Sleeper effects
Perceived trustworthiness of the speaker
Content of the message
Rational vs. emotional appeals
The arousal of good feelings and the arousal of fear One sided versus two sided appeals
Some of these factors are straightforward, but others operate in a more subtle or tacit fashion. In general the more credible the communicator is the more persuasive he or she will be. People who are considered believable are also generally considered to be trustworthy. It is logical to assume that a parent who has a close bond to a child will be a credible source of information to him or her. Parents routinely convince children to believe the unbelievable when they spin tales about Santa Claus, The Tooth Fairy or The Easter Bunny. If a parent is truly motivated, telling anecdotal accounts of spousal abuse to a child, or telling the child false stories about abuse perpetrated on the child can and do readily become accepted as truth.
When I recently asked a six-year old child why she did not want to see her daddy, she replied glibly, “because he hits me, and I’m scared.” I asked. “Oh did he hit you yesterday or today?” The child replied negatively. “Did he hit you while you were living in the new house?” (The child had been living in her present residence for about year). The child again replied in the negative. Finally, I
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