Given that flattery is a form of impression management and a persuasive tool in interpersonal communication, two experiments investigated the effect of a (fictitious) political candidate praising the audience during a meeting. The flattery was addressed to the social category to which participants belong (direct flattery condition) or to another social category (observed flattery condition). The flattering message (vs. control condition) employed in the context of a public speech induced a more positive candidate evaluation on both the members of the flattered audience and the observers. The effect was not mediated by degree of message scrutiny, nor by suspicion of source ulterior motives, and it was not moderated by the level of identification with the audience. This suggests that the compliment to the audience leads the members of the flattered category to reciprocate liking and the observers to transfer the source’s attitude recursively (TAR effect). Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Captatio Benevolentiae: Potential Risks and Benefits of Flattering the Audience in a Public Political Speech / Cavazza, N.; Guidetti, M.. - In: JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY. - ISSN 0261-927X. - 37:6(2018), pp. 706-720. [10.1177/0261927X18800132]

Captatio Benevolentiae: Potential Risks and Benefits of Flattering the Audience in a Public Political Speech

Cavazza, N.
;
Guidetti, M.
2018

Abstract

Given that flattery is a form of impression management and a persuasive tool in interpersonal communication, two experiments investigated the effect of a (fictitious) political candidate praising the audience during a meeting. The flattery was addressed to the social category to which participants belong (direct flattery condition) or to another social category (observed flattery condition). The flattering message (vs. control condition) employed in the context of a public speech induced a more positive candidate evaluation on both the members of the flattered audience and the observers. The effect was not mediated by degree of message scrutiny, nor by suspicion of source ulterior motives, and it was not moderated by the level of identification with the audience. This suggests that the compliment to the audience leads the members of the flattered category to reciprocate liking and the observers to transfer the source’s attitude recursively (TAR effect). Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
2018
set-2018
37
6
706
720
Captatio Benevolentiae: Potential Risks and Benefits of Flattering the Audience in a Public Political Speech / Cavazza, N.; Guidetti, M.. - In: JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY. - ISSN 0261-927X. - 37:6(2018), pp. 706-720. [10.1177/0261927X18800132]
Cavazza, N.; Guidetti, M.
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
Preprint.pdf

Open access

Tipologia: Versione dell'autore revisionata e accettata per la pubblicazione
Dimensione 143.38 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
143.38 kB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri
Pubblicazioni consigliate

Licenza Creative Commons
I metadati presenti in IRIS UNIMORE sono rilasciati con licenza Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal, mentre i file delle pubblicazioni sono rilasciati con licenza Attribuzione 4.0 Internazionale (CC BY 4.0), salvo diversa indicazione.
In caso di violazione di copyright, contattare Supporto Iris

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11380/1167086
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 2
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 2
social impact