FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - This April, nationally renowned scholars in the field of social psychology will convene at the University of Arkansas to participate in a symposium that will explore the nature of persuasion as well as techniques for reducing people’s resistance to persuasive arguments and offers.

In layman’s terms, these researchers want to make you an offer you can’t refuse. They study social influence, particularly a phenomenon called the approach-avoidance conflict - the opposing positive and negative reactions people feel when faced with an offer, persuasive message or appeal.

"Until now, much of social influence research has focused on making offers more persuasive by heightening their attractive features," said Eric Knowles, UA professor of psychology. "But the focus of this symposium and all the researchers who will participate is just the opposite. We’ll be examining ways, not to increase people’s attraction to an offer, but to minimize their resistance."

Called the Symposium on Resistance and Persuasion, the event is the brainchild of Knowles and graduate student Jay Linn. It will be held April 13-14 at the UA Center for Continuing Education.

Knowles and Linn believe that by addressing the negative side of the approach-avoidance conflict, researchers can make arguments and offers more persuasive while also ensuring that people are more satisfied with their decisions, less troubled by remorse. Enhancing the positive aspects of an offer may convince people to accept, but it does nothing to address their concerns about the negative aspects of the offer - and this could lead to regret, Knowles explained.

Therefore, the study of resistance - and the search for techniques to reduce it - represents a new and potentially more effective approach to the field of social influence. By gathering the nation’s foremost scholars on resistance and persuasion, the University of Arkansas symposium will present the first opportunity for these researchers to share their work and to plot the progress of this new perspective in social psychology.

Sponsored by grants from the National Science Foundation and the Marie Wilson Howells Fund, the Symposium on Resistance and Persuasion will include two days of presentations by 13 leading scholars. Presentations on the first day, April 13, will address "the nature of resistance" while those on April 14 will relate to the topic of "using resistance to create change."

Participating researchers include Jack Brehm of the University of Kansas, a pioneer in the field of social influence. Curtis Haugtvedt, president of the Society for Consumer Psychology, Brad Sagarin, a consultant for the PBS television show "Mental Engineering", and Richard Petty, winner of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions, will also present their work.

Public and media participants will learn about how mood affects persuasion, the thought processes that can contribute to resistance, how to evaluate persuasive messages and techniques for minimizing or overcoming resistance. Such topics hold relevance for the fields of marketing, sociology, communication, advertising and public relations in addition to the field of psychology, said Knowles.

Those interested are encouraged to register and attend. Cost is $40 for faculty and researchers affiliated with any college or university and $50 for other participants. A discounted fee of $20 is available to students. Additional fees will be added for those who register after April 5. Accommodations at the Radisson Hotel - adjacent to the Center for Continuing Education - are available to registrants for a rate of $75 per night.

For a complete list of presenters or for more information about the Symposium on Resistance and Persuasion, visit http://www.uark.edu/~omega/symposium.html. To reserve a room at the Radisson, call (479)442-5555 by March 11.

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