Obermaier Magdalena, Koch Thomas
Department of Media and Communication, LMU Munich, Oettingenstr. 67, 80538, Munich, Germany.
Department of Communication, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
Sci Rep. 2024 Sep 27;14(1):22244. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-73348-1.
This paper analyzes effects of the mutual presentation of weak and strong arguments. Departing from the prevalent "the-more-the-better" heuristic, our research scrutinizes whether the inclusion of weak arguments enhances or diminishes the persuasive impact of strong arguments. Leveraging insights from judgment formation literature, we conducted four experimental studies on political and health-related topics to unravel whether the presenting weak arguments strengthens the persuasive effect of a strong argument (adding) or actually weakens this persuasive effect (averaging). The results show that providing supporting arguments of moderate strength along with a strong argument increases persuasion, representing an additive pattern. However, presenting weak supporting arguments along with a strong argument reduces the persuasive effect of the strong argument, representing an averaging pattern. Exposure to weak arguments diminishes the strength of strong ones, suggesting the omission of weak arguments. These findings underscore the vital role of strategically selecting arguments to optimize persuasion across disciplines.
本文分析了强弱论据相互呈现的效果。与普遍存在的“越多越好”启发式方法不同，我们的研究仔细审视了纳入弱论据是增强还是削弱了强论据的说服效果。利用判断形成文献中的见解，我们针对政治和健康相关主题进行了四项实验研究，以弄清楚呈现弱论据是增强了强论据的说服效果（相加）还是实际上削弱了这种说服效果（平均）。结果表明，与强论据一起提供中等强度的支持性论据会增加说服力，呈现出相加模式。然而，与强论据一起呈现弱支持性论据会降低强论据的说服效果，呈现出平均模式。接触弱论据会削弱强论据的强度，这表明应省略弱论据。这些发现强调了策略性选择论据对于跨学科优化说服效果的关键作用。
