Distraction during persuasive communication: A meta‐analytic review

Research on the effect of distraction has produced conflicting results and competing theoretical explanations. Nonetheless, distraction has been cited as the process by which violations of conversational expectations influence the outcomes of persuasive communications. In this study, results from 38 studies examining distraction were subjected to meta‐analysis. The results indicate it is necessary to distinguish between communication relevant distraction (produced by behaviors of the source) and communication irrelevant distractors. The former, including violations of conversational expectations, produce attitude change via source valence effects, while the latter, in general, reduce attitude change by reducing message comprehension. The counterarguing hypothesis receives little support, though questions concerning counterargument measures suggest that it may not have been put to a fair test. The type of communication irrelevant distraction influences the reduction in attitude change perhaps due to the co...

[1]  L. Festinger,et al.  The effectiveness of unanticipated persuasive communications. , 1961, Journal of abnormal and social psychology.

[2]  L. Festinger,et al.  ON RESISTANCE TO PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATIONS. , 1964, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[3]  An empirical approach to the concept of attention , 1964 .

[4]  P. Zimbardo.  The effect of effort and improvisation on self-persuasion produced by role-playing , 1965 .

[5]  J. Freedman,et al.  WARNING, DISTRACTION, AND RESISTANCE TO INFLUENCE. , 1965, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[6]  P. Kirschner,et al.  FACILITATING EFFECTS OF "EATING-WHILE-READING" ON RESPONSIVENESS TO PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATIONS. , 1965, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[7]  Persuasion as a function of varying amounts of distraction , 1966 .

[8]  N Miller,et al.  Defaming and agreeing with the communicator as a function of emotional arousal, communication extremity, and evaluative set. , 1967, Sociometry.

[9]  Sara Kiesler,et al.  Distraction Hypothesis in Attitude Change: Effects of Effectiveness , 1968 .

[10]  M. Venkatesan,et al.  Resistance to persuasive communications: an examination of the distraction hypothesis. , 1968, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[11]  I. Silverman,et al.  Evaluation Apprehension, Demand Characteristics, and the Effects of Distraction on Persuasibility , 1968 .

[12]  R. L. Garrett,et al.  RESISTANCE TO PERSUASION: AN INTEGRATIVE FRAMEWORK , 1968 .

[13]  Philip Zimbardo,et al.  Influencing attitudes and changing behavior , 1969 .

[14]  G. Wayne Shamo,et al.  The Effect of Visual Distraction Upon Recall and Attitude Change , 1969 .

[15]  Timothy C. Brock,et al.  Distraction Increases Yielding to Propaganda by Inhibiting Counterarguing. , 1970 .

[16]  E. Ebbesen,et al.  Experimental Modification of the Relationship Between Effort, Attitude, and Behavior. , 1970 .

[17]  B. G. Rule,et al.  Distraction and self-esteem effects on attitude change. , 1970, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[18]  P. Zimbardo.  Modifying the impact of persuasive communications with external distraction , 1970 .

[19]  R. Baron,et al.  The relation between distraction and persuasion. , 1973 .

[20]  Robert S. Baron,et al.  On Measuring Counterarguing. , 1973 .

[21]  D. T. Regan,et al.  Distraction and attitude change: A resolution , 1973 .

[22]  Chester A. Insko,et al.  Facilitative and Inhibiting Effects of Distraction on Attitude Change , 1974 .

[23]  Timothy C. Brock,et al.  Acceptance of persuasion and the inhibition of counterargumentation under various distraction tasks , 1974 .

[24]  Timothy C. Brock,et al.  Distraction Can Enhance or Reduce Yielding to Propaganda: Thought Disruption Versus Effort Justification , 1976 .

[25]  Distracting stimuli: Do they elicit or inhibit counterargumentation and attitude shift , 1976 .

[26]  Christopher Leone,et al.  Cognitive schemas and thought as determinants of attitude change , 1977 .

[27]  Michael Burgoon,et al.  An Empirical Test of a Model of Resistance to Persuasion. , 1978 .

[28]  D. R. Brandt.  Listener propensity to counterargue, distraction, and resistance to persuasion , 1979 .

[29]  D. Romer.  Distraction, counterarguing and the internalization of attitude change , 1979 .

[30]  William A. Watts,et al.  Persistence of opinion change induced under conditions of forewarning and distraction. , 1979 .

[31]  M. Burgoon,et al.  Credibility of Communicators and Distraction as Predictors of Change in Attitude , 1979 .

[32]  Lee A. Becker,et al.  Distraction Effects on the Perceived Extremity of a Communication and on Cognitive Responses , 1980 .

[33]  Richard E. Petty,et al.  The Multiple Source Effect in Persuasion , 1981 .

[34]  D. Stacks,et al.  The role of nonverbal behaviors as distractors in resistance to persuasion in interpersonal contexts , 1981 .

[35]  Judee K. Burgoon,et al.  The effects of nonverbal synchrony on message comprehension and persuasiveness , 1981 .

[36]  G. Glass,et al.  Meta-analysis in social research , 1981 .

[37]  Gregg B. Jackson,et al.  Meta-Analysis: Cumulating Research Findings Across Studies , 1982 .