Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · 2015 · 340 citations · 45 references
Coastal EngineeringEngineeringMoral IssueOceanographyPolitical BehaviorRhetoricMaritime ScienceMoral AppealsPublic DebateSocial SciencesPolitical SciencePolitical CommunicationAmerican PoliticsAdvocacyPublic PolicyIdentity PoliticsSame-sex MarriageCivil EngineeringPolitical AgendaPersuasionRespective Political Positions
Contemporary political rhetoric relies on moral arguments, yet these are largely ineffective because they ignore the divergent moral commitments that underlie American political divisions. The study hypothesizes that political advocates use their own moral values in arguments and that reframing those arguments to align with the target’s moral values increases persuasiveness. Across six studies on issues such as same‑sex marriage and universal health care, reframed moral appeals were found to be more persuasive by enhancing perceived agreement between the target’s values and the political position.
Much of contemporary American political rhetoric is characterized by liberals and conservatives advancing arguments for the morality of their respective political positions. However, research suggests such moral rhetoric is largely ineffective for persuading those who do not already hold one's position because advocates advancing these arguments fail to account for the divergent moral commitments that undergird America's political divisions. Building on this, we hypothesize that (a) political advocates spontaneously make arguments grounded in their own moral values, not the values of those targeted for persuasion, and (b) political arguments reframed to appeal to the moral values of those holding the opposing political position are typically more effective. We find support for these claims across six studies involving diverse political issues, including same-sex marriage, universal health care, military spending, and adopting English as the nation's official langauge. Mediation and moderation analyses further indicated that reframed moral appeals were persuasive because they increased the apparent agreement between the political position and the targeted individuals' moral values.
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