Jens Koed Madsen

Post-docoral research

From January 2014, I received an individual research grant (DFF-1329-00021B) from the Danish Council for Independent Research (see LINK – link is in Danish). The research has three distinct targets, all concerned with the psychology of persuasion and the cognitive psychological model of persuasion processing developed in my PhD thesis, the Subjective-Probabilistic Interactive Model of Persuasion (SPIMP).

The aim is to extend the SPIMP model, to test it by examining obesity campaigns, and to integrate emotional appeals into the model.

The post-doctoral research project will be carried out in collaboration with Professor Mike Oaksford and his research group at Birkbeck (link), ranked in the top five Psychology departments in the UK. The research focus of this group is perfectly close to support my post-doctoral research. Birkbeck, University of London will provide me with all necessary resources to support my research, including access to equipment, laboratory facilities, and office accommodation.

If you have any questions or if you are interested in hearing more about the research, you are more than welcome to email me at overmuren [at] gmail.com

Analysis of obesity campaign: drawing in shadows

The model developed in the PhD thesis describes how humans approach uncertain information from uncertain sources in a potentially malevolent and deceptive situation. The description takes point of departure in the individual’s subjective estimations of content strength and source credibility. In this way, the model describes a central element in persuasion and influence, namely how humans manage uncertain beliefs.

The SPIMP approach to persuasion is concerned with changes in beliefs in situations where there is a persuasive intention. Thus, a person might change her beliefs without necessarily altering her behaviour (for example, changing her beliefs about a particular politician without changing her eventual vote). The link between belief and behaviour is of central importance to persuasion (change in beliefs) and influence (change in behaviour), as the link is neither straightforward nor necessary.

The post-doctoral research will analyse obesity campaigns in the UK and Denmark with focus on two main issues. Firstly, it will explore the analytic potential of the SPIMP vis-a-vis other descriptions of persuasion such as rhetorical analyses. As such, the analyses of obesity campaigns will test the model in a real world setting. Secondly and on a more fundamental level, the analyses of obesity campaigns are concerned with a critical reflection upon the limitations of persuasion and the SPIMP. If persuasion is defined as changes in beliefs that may or may not result in changes in behaviour, analyses of actual persuasive campaigns highlight the possible limitations of information-based and belief-based campaigns in terms of their effectiveness in changing behaviour. this second issue begs a meta-theoretical positioning of the model in which the SPIMP becomes lodged in a more complex and realistic relationship between the notions of persuasion and influence.