5 ms·

Signing a petition is a symbolic act that causes you to commit to yourself the idea "I am the sort of person who cares about this issue". Petitions are, at best

Signing a petition is a symbolic act that causes you to commit to yourself the idea "I am the sort of person who cares about this issue". Petitions are, at best, only secondarily for influencing the powers that be. They are primarily for influencing the people who sign them.

developer9 15y ago
I agree. Instead of a petition, we should contact them directly as we did with our senators. So, use this instead: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comme...
jamesbritt 15y ago
Signing a petition is a symbolic act that causes you to commit to yourself the idea "I am the sort of person who cares about this issue". Or let you believe you've actually done something, so now you can direct your attention to other things. Is there any evidence to show that signing a petition makes a person more inclined to take additional practical action?
- mistercow 15y ago
  >Is there any evidence to show that signing a petition makes a person more inclined to take additional practical action? Yes, there is some evidence. In Chapter 3 of Influence: Science and Practice, Robert Cialdini discusses this kind of self-image effect, citing several studies including one in particular about petitions[1]. These kinds of "commitments" (even though they are not actually binding) really do affect our behavior, although the end results are not necessarily particularly issue-focused or predictable. One thing we can say though with some certainty: if you convince someone to sign their name to a petition that says "stop X", it will take significant mental effort for them to later decide that they actually support X. [1] http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/4/2/195/ http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/4/2/195/
  - jamesbritt 15y ago
    Thank you, quite interesting. There's a caveat, though (from http://faculty.babson.edu/krollag/org_site/soc_psych/freed_fras_foot.html http://faculty.babson.edu/krollag/org_site/soc_psych/freed_f...): Remember, these were innocuous requests from a non-profit group with relatively non-controversial goals. This technique may not produce the same results for more political or more controversial requests.
mike_ivanov 15y ago
Nah, it's just another cargo cult.
- mistercow 15y ago
  What is? I'm struggling to see how the cargo cult concept applies here.

developer9 15y ago

I agree. Instead of a petition, we should contact them directly as we did with our senators. So, use this instead: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comme...

jamesbritt 15y ago

Signing a petition is a symbolic act that causes you to commit to yourself the idea "I am the sort of person who cares about this issue". Or let you believe you've actually done something, so now you can direct your attention to other things. Is there any evidence to show that signing a petition makes a person more inclined to take additional practical action?

mistercow 15y ago
>Is there any evidence to show that signing a petition makes a person more inclined to take additional practical action? Yes, there is some evidence. In Chapter 3 of Influence: Science and Practice, Robert Cialdini discusses this kind of self-image effect, citing several studies including one in particular about petitions[1]. These kinds of "commitments" (even though they are not actually binding) really do affect our behavior, although the end results are not necessarily particularly issue-focused or predictable. One thing we can say though with some certainty: if you convince someone to sign their name to a petition that says "stop X", it will take significant mental effort for them to later decide that they actually support X. [1] http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/4/2/195/ http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/4/2/195/
- jamesbritt 15y ago
  Thank you, quite interesting. There's a caveat, though (from http://faculty.babson.edu/krollag/org_site/soc_psych/freed_fras_foot.html http://faculty.babson.edu/krollag/org_site/soc_psych/freed_f...): Remember, these were innocuous requests from a non-profit group with relatively non-controversial goals. This technique may not produce the same results for more political or more controversial requests.

mike_ivanov 15y ago

Nah, it's just another cargo cult.

mistercow 15y ago
What is? I'm struggling to see how the cargo cult concept applies here.