Persuasion aims to convince someone of something.
Persuasion is the procedure and result of persuading . It comes from the Latin persuasĭo , which in turn derives from a cultism: the verb persuadere , which is made up of the prefix per- (which means "completely" ) and the verb suadere (synonymous with "advise" ).
The action of persuading, meanwhile, consists of convincing a person of something, using various reasons or appealing to different techniques.
For example: “First we are going to focus on persuasion: if we are not successful, we will use force” , “It is no use imposing things with violence, it is essential to achieve persuasion” , “Hours and hours of talk were necessary to persuade my parents, but I finally got permission and will be able to travel.”
How persuasion is achieved
Persuasion is achieved through influence . The intention is for a subject to modify their way of thinking or their behaviors , for which it is necessary to influence them through their feelings or by providing them with certain information that, until now, they did not know.
It can be said that persuasion is the opposite of coercion or imposition . While persuasion is achieved by suggesting things, coercion and imposition are achieved by force . This means that a person, when persuaded, will act as the other intends but by their own means, without fear of a violent or repressive reaction.
There are various factors that contribute to persuasion. The usual thing is to appeal to people's commitment , convincing them that what is proposed is the right thing to do. The position of the person trying to persuade another is also relevant: if the individual in question is an authority or is popular , it is likely that his or her opinions have greater persuasive power than the opinions of others. That is why many political parties choose to have celebrities as candidates in election processes.
Persuasion can be achieved with rational arguments or through other methods.
Different strategies
In order to persuade someone, it must be taken into account that there are various methods, the most significant being the following:
- Emotional . Within this group, techniques such as seduction, pity, faith, tradition are used...
- Rationals . In this case, evidence, rhetoric, the establishment of arguments or logic, among others, are used.
- Controversies , such as torture, mind control and even brainwashing.
Book «Persuasion»
We cannot ignore either the existence of a well-known novel that chooses to be titled with the term in question. We are referring to “Persuasion” (1816) by Jane Austen (1775-1817), known for other works such as “Pride and Prejudice” (1813) or “Sense and Sensibility” (1811).
Specifically, “Persuasion” is the last book that the English author wrote. It takes as its protagonist Anne , a woman who suffered, because of social norms, a hard blow in love when she had to reject the man she was in love with, simply because he did not come from a wealthy family. This circumstance has meant that she has seen the years go by alone. However, everything changes when he meets that man again, who is now a highly recognized captain and also enriched.