Anna is a devout Catholic.

She loves her gay son but still does not support marriage
equality because of her religion. What strategy would you use to convince her
otherwise?

 The strategy applicable in persuading Anna is incorporating the Elaboration

Likelihood Theory. We will identify first if Anna is ready to hear everything that
we’ll say then ask her if she has significant knowledge concerning our argument
or on the topic of marriage equality at least. If Anna says no, then we’ll have to
persuade her by using the peripheral route. We will say facts and superficial
information about marriage equality, what is it, and its effects on a child who is
part of the lgbtqia+. Then, we’ll gradually dive into the central route where we will
make Anna think more about marriage equality, how it drastically matters to her
gay son and how her positive opinion about marriage equality makes a difference
to his son’s feelings and sentiments. We will give her an idea of how marriage
equality strengthens freedom of religion and belief, how it’s happening around
the world, and how her positive attitude towards this notion can contribute to
making a progressive future where everyone can play an equal and valued role.
We will make her understand the impact of her support on the members of the
lgbtqia+, especially her son. Lastly, we will cite an example and narrative of how
marriage equality is already allowed in other countries and how society slowly
accepting this idea and that it means respect for each preference in life as a free
person with their own decision. Nonetheless, if Anna already has knowledge of
this issue, then we’ll go directly to the central route where we’ll make her think
hard and do the things mentioned just to persuade her.

James is a busy dad juggling two jobs to make ends meet for his family. During the
elections, his strategy is to go with what all his friends are voting for because he has
other things to worry about and feels that nothing will change anyway. How would
you persuade James to make an informed and wise vote?

 The strategy applicable in persuading James is utilizing the Social Judgement

Theory. We will first identify the rage of James’ attitude towards the election and
who to vote for so that we’ll know how to increase his acceptance towards the
 issue, and we’ll have a piece of knowledge if James is difficult to persuade or not
given that he’s busy and he’s in despair already because he believes that nothing
will change anyway. Basically, we will understand and know James first: if he has
someone that he’s eyeing even just a little bit among the candidates and how he
thinks about each candidate. Then, after weighing James and understanding his
way of thinking towards the election, that’s when we try to convince him to vote
for the right candidate and tell him that if he votes wisely, it will make a lot of
difference. For him to believe us more, we will present information and facts that
he knew never existed concerning the effect of good governance and how his
one vote truly affects the whole country. We will cite an example of the candidate
we want to vote for and tell him everything he needs to know about the credibility
and work of that candidate and how that certain candidate can be a catalyst of
change.

Ella believes that the Filipinos tortured and killed during the Martial Law era is not a
big deal. She believes this should no longer be discussed so we can “move on.”
How will you convince Ella of the importance of knowing our history?

 The strategy applicable in persuading Ella is utilizing the Cognitive Dissonance

Theory. We’ll make her understand that just because she has different views
about martial law and she’s not affected by it, it’s not a big deal at all. We’ll point
out the difference between her beliefs and the current reality by showing her
reports, narratives, photos, clips, and evidence of what happened during martial.
We will make sure that the information that we’re going to present to her comes
from credible sources. Most importantly, we’ll make her realize that martial law is
an essential part of our history that we need to know because if we don’t, it’s like
invalidating all the efforts of people who fight for our freedom and one of the
reasons why she is experiencing the independence she has now. Since she
rationalizes her beliefs, we assume that she has little to no knowledge about
martial law so our main action is to give her all the information she needs about
this phenomenon until she eventually realizes her flawed mindset.
Edward is preparing for a class presentation on the importance of getting tested and
safe sex. He is very passionate about this topic as he has had many friends who
became HIV positive however he is afraid that students will not pay attention to him as
they might not relate to the urgency or importance he feels. What should Edward do to
try and persuade his classmates to care about his cause?

 The strategy applicable in persuading Edward is incorporating the Narrative

Paradigm by Walter Fisher. Since he has quite a few friends who became HIV
positive, we highly suggest that he use their narratives as the main tool in his
presentation. His narrative should have fidelity because if his story is not fit to
audience’s narrative rationality, they tend to not believe every word he says, or
they will not care at all. Moreover, coherence is also important; his narrative
should appear truthful, or it should make sense. He can associate his narratives
with relevant photos and videos just to make them credible and compelling.

Contributors:

ASUNCION, Dave M.

ABLANDO, Maria Me