title: Re-Examining the Agentic Shift: The Sense of Agency Influences the Effectiveness of (Self)Persuasion.
abstract: In the present study we investigated whether differences in the sense of agency influenced the effectiveness of both direct persuasion and self-persuasion techniques. By manipulating both the delay and contingency of the outcomes of actions, participants were led to experience either a low or high sense of agency. Participants were subsequently presented with arguments as to why a clean local environment is important (direct persuasion), or were asked to generate those arguments themselves (self-persuasion). Subsequently, participants' cleanliness attitudes and willingness to participate in a campus cleanup were measured. The results show that techniques of direct persuasion influenced attitudes and volunteering behavior under conditions of low rather than high agency, whereas techniques of self-persuasion were most effective under conditions of high rather than low agency. The present findings therefore show how recent experiences of agency, a state based experience of control, can influence the effectiveness of both external and internal persuasion techniques.
authors.affiliation: Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Tom G E
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Damen
authors.affiliation: Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Department of Psychology, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Barbara C N
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Rick B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: van Baaren
authors.affiliation: Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ap
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dijksterhuis
mesh_terms: D001290:Attitude; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006920:Hygiene; D008297:Male; D010565:Persuasive Communication; D014838:Volunteers; D055815:Young Adult