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30 - Psychological Theories Meet the Challenge of Persuading and Mobilising Voters

from Part III - Contemporary Challenges to Democracy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2022

By
Donald P. Green  and
José S. Gomez
Edited by
Danny Osborne  and
Chris G. Sibley
Danny Osborne
Affiliation:
University of Auckland
Chris G. Sibley
Affiliation:
University of Auckland
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Summary

Research on persuasion and social influence suggests that crafting effective persuasive and influential appeals is not only feasible but can be done fairly reliably with appropriate guidance from the relevant theories.With the advent of large-scale experiments conducted in field settings, key propositions about persuasion and social influence can be evaluated on a grand scale. In this chapter we assess whether well-known psychological insights work in practice, reviewing efforts related to political mobilisation and persuasion. We argue that in many cases field tests generate an estimated effect that is much smaller than highly influential psychological studies might lead us to expect. The implications of large-scale testing are profound, not only because of the guidance they offer for political campaigns, but also because of their implications for prominent psychological theories.

Keywords

PersuasionVoter mobilisationField experimentsSocial influenceVoter turnout
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Political Psychology , pp. 476 - 491
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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