Persuasive Appeals and Responses to Appeals among Friends and Acquaintances

Abstract

Persuasive appeals and responses to appeals among kindergarten, 2nd- and 4th-grade friends and acquaintances were examined. Social perspective-taking, friendship and self-interest reasoning as predictors of appeals and responses to them were evaluated. Based on sociometric ratings, children were paired with a friend or an acquaintance and participated in a task designed to examine sharing under competitive conditions. Appeals to friends and acquaintances did not differ in kind or rate of success. Children of all ages and in all conditions tended to use simple requests most frequently. Friendship status had its most noticeable effect on responses to appeals. Grants were more likely to occur among friends and, when an appeal was rejected, refusals to friends were more extended. Multiple regression analyses revealed that different predictor variables were linked to different appeal and response measures. The behavioral explanations, friendship and self-interest reasoning were more frequently related to the appeal and response measures than was hypothetical reasoning. A comprehensive approach is apparently needed in order to describe persuasion among friends and acquaintances.