The power of self-persuasion

In contrast with traditional, direct techniques of persuasion (advertising, political rhetoric, etc.), self;persuasion is indirect and entails placing people in situations where they are motivated to persuade themselves to change their own attitudes or behavior: We find that where important attitudes, behavior; or lifestyle changes are concerned, self-persuasion strategies produce more powerful and more long-lasting effects than do direct techniques of persuasion. This is primarily due to the fact that in direct persuasion, members of an audience are constantly all-care of the fact that someone is trying (or has tried) to influence them. In a self-persuasion situation, people are convinced that the motivation for change comes from within. In the present address, the author reviews a range of his research on self-persuasion and underscores its relevance to current societal problems.