Communication as persuasion

This chapter reviews persuasion as a form of communication, and focuses on the social scientific study of persuasion since the mid-twentieth century. The chapter provides an overview of some key theories and models of persuasion that focuses on the process of persuasion, including cognitively-oriented theories (cognitive dissonance, balance, congruity, computational theories, and dual process models), and affectively-oriented theories (the drive model, parallel process models, and discrete emotions models). This chapter also calls for a synergy of cognition and affect in persuasion research.