building attitudinal acceptance – personal testimonials

Mediation, Musings, ,   1 comment  
“i pray in a different language now.” – AppleTV+ Foundation S1E2

In today’s milieu of polarization, is there any path to acceptance of attitudes between different groups on controversial topics? And decisions and behaviors related to health? Particularly “when logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead.”

• phys.org > “Study shows testimonials can open acceptance to differing opinions on controversial topics” by University of Kansas (October 11, 2023) – Movies and larger productions have long known the influence of an engaging story on audiences.

It’s hard to change people’s minds, especially on a topic they feel strongly about. But a new study from the University of Kansas shows that testimonials about a person’s lived experience can open people to acceptance of attitudes different than their own on controversial topics. That could go a long way in helping communicators reach people on important topics regarding health, life, death and other difficult to discuss issues, researchers say.

A study surveyed nearly 1,500 people on their attitudes about several controversial issues, … When they then read a testimonial that gave a moving account of a person’s lived experience with the issue, they were more likely to be receptive to an attitude different than their own than those who read an informative article on the same topic.

“At their core, testimonials are essentially the story of someone’s lived experience. They can be evocative or emotional. But much of the research on narratives tends to focus on … [resource intensive] movies, television or books …, but not on how effective they can be in everyday life [compared to testimonials or simpler forms of stories],” said Judy Watts, assistant professor of journalism & mass communications at KU and lead author of the study.

1 comment on “building attitudinal acceptance – personal testimonials”

  1. Workplace values

    What’s it like being in a “value minority” at work? When group productivity is on the line?

    • phys.org > “How to cope when your values clash with your co-workers’” by Jeff Grabmeier, The Ohio State University (October 10, 2023) – Self-disclosure (voluntary sharing of everyday life experiences) improves workplace performance for value minorities.

    A new study found that those whose values – political or otherwise – don’t match the majority in their organization felt they received less respect and as a result were less engaged at work. Moreover, their co-workers noticed their lack of engagement.

    But the study did find a way that “value minorities” could feel more a part of their teams: by disclosing personal information about themselves to their colleagues that had nothing to do with the values about which they disagreed.

    “When you talk about your family or the movies you like or what you did this week, it shows you’re a whole person, you’re not just defined by the difficult areas where you disagree,” she [Tracy Dumas, lead author of the study and associate professor of management and human resources at The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business] said.

    “Even if you don’t agree with others on your favorite movies, or what restaurants you like, that’s not a difficult conversation to have.”

    … the paper notes the importance of organizations creating an environment where people feel comfortable disclosing.

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