Abstract
The present study was designed to verify how school-aged children’s persuasive tactics changed if the persuadee was the mother or the peer. One hundred and forty-nine children at two grade levels (4th and 5th) were enrolled in the study. Persuasive strategies were investigated using pictures representing two common situations in which each child had to convince his/her playmate and his/her mother to obtain a toy. As predicted, with mothers children engaged more frequently in strategies aimed at encouraging cognitive reappraisal of the situation and offering guarantees. Conversely, with the peers, children adopted a greater variety of persuasive strategies, engaging in lower-order tactics. Implications and limitations of the study were discussed.
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Handling editor: Marta Olivetti Belardinelli (Sapienza University of Rome).
Reviewers: Gladys Nyarko Ansah (University of Ghana), Marcella Caputi (Vita-Salute San Raffaele University), and a third anonymous reviewer.
Appendix
Appendix
Persuasive types and verbatim examples
Persuasive type | Persuasive category | Definition | Verbatim example |
|---|---|---|---|
Simple injunction or query | Assertion | The child expresses his/her desire adopting an imperative way. | “Buy me that toy!” |
Simple statement | The child asserts his/her desire to have the game without threatening | “I want to play with this toy.” | |
Simple request | The child asks his/her playmate/mother to have the game. | “Would you buy me that toy?” | |
Why challenge | The child uses “Why” in isolation or combined with another statement. | “Why not” | |
Politeness modulation | Mitigated simple question | The child uses a polite question. | “Please, can I use your toy?” |
Plead | The child makes a request in a begging manner. | “Oh please, please, please!” | |
Mitigated simple statement | The child uses polite expressions. | “Please, buy me that toy.” | |
Positive argument or elaboration | Acknowledgment | The child accepts the persuadee’s statements. | “You are right.” |
Bargain | The child uses explicit statement about reciprocating favor. | “If you buy me that toy, I’ll clean my room.” | |
Compromise | The child renounces his/her goal only in a part to find a compromise with the persuadee. | “Maybe I can use your toy tomorrow.” | |
Emotion target | The child tries to turn the conversation on emotional side. | “You are my favorite pal.” | |
Guarantee | The child offers assurances. | “I won’t break it.” | |
Reason | The child uses rational argument. | “That toy won’t break because it’s strong!” | |
Negative argument or elaboration | Deceit | The child tries to deceit his/her playmate lying or concealing information. | “I have to buy that for school.” |
Threat | The child explains that negative consequences will occur if he/she has not the game. | “I’m gonna make you buy it.” | |
Thought manipulation | The child tries to manipulate the persuadee’s thoughts and beliefs. | “Toy must shared with friends!” |
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Lonigro, A., Baiocco, R., Baumgartner, E. et al. Persuasion in school-aged children: How does it change if the persuadee is the mother or the peer?. Cogn Process 18, 67–74 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-016-0776-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-016-0776-3