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Chapter 12 Interpersonal Influence

Interpersonal influence involves efforts to change another person’s attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors. People have to manage a variety of goals when engaging in interpersonal influence and enact an array of communication strategies to achieve those goals. Influence messages can vary in terms of their explicitness, dominance, and argument. In addition, the degree of intimacy and power dynamics in a relationship can shape the appropriateness and effectiveness of interpersonal influence. People who are the target of interpersonal influence can use various tactics and obstacles to resist influence attempts. This chapter describes the qualities of interpersonal influence, the myriad goals involved in crafting influence messages, the features and patterns of influence interactions, and the various factors that shape the success or failure of influence attempts.

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Communication in Action Forms

Connect with Theory

Goals-plans-action theory explains the process by which people produce messages to change another person’s beliefs, attitudes, or actions. The theory views message production as a three-step sequence: goals, plans, and action. Goals are the outcomes that an individual is committed to achieve or maintain. The theory suggests that interpersonal interactions are goal-directed behaviors, and people consider both primary and secondary goals when attempted to influence others. Primary goals are the ones that initiate the communication process, and they are about what a person is trying to do in the interaction. For example, a person might have the primary goal of asking for help, giving advice, obtaining permission, or changing the status of a relationship. Secondary goals are the constraints or other considerations that influence how people pursue their primary goals. Secondary goals are typically concerned with relational issues, such as whether the speaker (a) projects desirable self-image (identity goals), (b) acts in a socially appropriate and competent manner (interaction goals), (c) maintains the relationship with the other person (relationship goals), (d) gains or retains personal assets (personal resource goals), or refrains from getting too emotional (arousal management goals). Once people have figured out what they are trying to accomplish, they think about and plan how to produce verbal and nonverbal behaviors, which is the second step in the theory. People may consider what strategy to use, what to say exactly, and how to deliver the message. Finally, action is the messages people actually produce to achieve a goal. The theory argues that messages can vary in terms of how transparent the intention is (e.g., “I need your help with this assignment” vs. “I’m struggling with this assignment, and I’m not sure what to do”), how much power they convey (e.g., “Do as I say” vs. “If it is not too much trouble for you, could you please do this?”), and how convincing the argument is (e.g., “A good night’s sleep before the exam can help clear your mind” vs. “You should go get some sleep before the exam”). The goals-plans-action theory has been applied to investigate students’ confrontation and whistle-blowing of a peer’s academic misconduct to a faculty member (Henningsen et al., 2013), college students’ interventions to prevent or reduce peers’ misuse of prescription stimulants (Labelle & Ball, 2019), and emerging adults’ use of sexual scripts to delay or abstain from sexual intercourse (Coffelt, 2018), to name a few. The theory sheds light on the process through which people produce messages to persuade and influence others.

References and other suggested readings:

Coffelt, T. A. (2018). Sexual goals, plans, and actions: Toward a sexual script emerging adults use to delay or abstain from sexual intercourse. Western Journal of Communication, 82(4), 416-438. https://doi.org/10.1080/10570314.2017.1400095
Dillard, J. P. (2004). The goals plans action model of interpersonal influence. In J. S. Seiter & R. H. Gass (Eds.), Perspectives of persuasion, social influence, and compliance gaining (pp. 185 206). Pearson Education.
Dillard, J. P. (2015). Goals-plans-action theory of message production: Making influence messages. In D. O. Braithwaite & P. Schrodt (Eds.), Engaging theories in interpersonal communication: Multiple perspectives (pp. 63-74). Sage.
Dillard, J. P., Anderson, J. W., & Knobloch, L. K. (2002). Interpersonal influence. In M. L. Knapp & J. A. Daly (Eds.), Handbook of interpersonal communication (3rd ed., pp. 425 474). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Henningsen, M. K., Valde, K. S., & Denbow, J. (2013). Academic misconduct: A goals-plans-action approach to peer confrontation and whistle-blowing. Communication Education, 62(2), 148-168. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2012.752509
Labelle, S., & Ball, H. (2019). College student goals in the context of prescription stimulant misuse: An application of goals-plans-action theory. Communication Quarterly, 67(1), 76-99. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463373.2018.1533485

Multiple goals theory suggests that people often pursue multiple goals simultaneously during their interactions with others. According to the theory, there are three types of goals that are relevant to a wide variety of conversations: instrumental goals (e.g., providing comfort, giving advice, persuading others), identity goals (e.g., maintaining a desirable self-image, limiting face threats), and relational goals (e.g., initiating, intensifying, changing, or ending a relationship). For example, when helping a friend through a break-up, you may think about what to say to make your friend feel better about the situation, how to be respectful of his/her way of coping and avoid being overly critical, and how to keep your friendship in a satisfactory condition. The theory argues that various goals can be incompatible with each other. For example, your desire to be respectful of your date may be at odds with your desire to escalate relational intimacy by initiating a first kiss. Multiple goals theory provides a framework for understanding communicative behaviors, such as how multiple goals shape message production (e.g., compliance-seeking messages), evaluating the effectiveness of communication based on whether it achieves its goals, and assessing how goals shape the meaning of communication. For example, the theory has been used to examine how primary care physicians pursue multiple goals in cost-of-care conversations with patients (Scott et al., 2021), how people manage multiple goals when concealing or revealing secrets (Caughlin & Vangelisti, 2009), and how HIV disclosure messages that address various goals elicit different reactions from the recipients (Caughlin et al., 2009).

References and other suggested readings:

Caughlin, J. P. (2010). A multiple goals theory of personal relationships: Conceptual integration and program overview. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 27(6), 824-848. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407510373262
Caughlin, J. P., Bute, J. J., Donovan-Kicken, E., Kosenko, K. A., Ramey, M. E., & Brashers, D. E. (2009). Do message features influence reactions to HIV disclosures? A multiple-goal perspective. Health Communication, 24(3), 270-283. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410230902806070
Caughlin, J. P., & Vangelisti, A. L. (2009). Why people conceal or reveal secrets: A multiple goals perspective. In T. Afifi & W. Afifi (Eds.), Uncertainty, information management, and disclosure decisions: Theories and applications (pp. 279-299). New York: Routledge.
Scott, A. M., Harrington, N. G., & Spencer, E. A. (2021). Primary care physican’s strategic pursuit of multiple goals in cost-of-care conversations with patients. Health Communication, 36(8), 927-939. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2020.1723051
Wilson, S. R. (2002). Seeking and resisting compliance: Why people say what they do when trying to influence others. Sage.

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Selected Writings by Communication Studies majors at California State Prison

Los Angeles County, City of Lancaster

In the fall of 2016, the Department of Communication Studies at California State University, Los Angeles, began offering classes inside a maximum security prison facility to offer incarcerated persons the opportunity to achieve a bachelor’s degree in Communication. In spring of 2017, selected assignments and essays produced by those students in response to prompts from this textbook were published in Colloquy: A Journal of the Department of Communication Studies, California State University, Los Angeles. In the time since, the program created The Prison BA Journal to share the students’ work with others. In addition, collaboration between the Lancaster State Prison’s Communication Studies students and students in Cal State LA’s Animation Option brought to life student essays through animation and narration.

Dr. Kamran Afary, faculty advisor to the program and Assistant Professor of Social Justice Communication, describes the impact of learning about interpersonal communication on his students: “I have seen its life transforming effect on my students in their interpersonal relationships with each other and in repairing relationships with their families.” Through the generosity of the program, we can share their work with all students learning from this textbook.

This website shares reflections and animations created in response to Pause and Reflect prompts, organized by chapter, as well as selected essays, poems, and presentations that address other topics or course assignments. Here is just a sample of what you will find: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7155653

We hope you will take the time to learn about interpersonal communication through the words of these students: https://www.prisonbajournal.org/ipccompanion