conviction

Conviction is a solid, unwavering, by Verify a facts or experience gained opinion - or a fixed belief . On the one hand, it can denote the personal belief in the correctness of certain ideas and values or, on the other hand, the process of transferring one's own ideas to other people. With conviction , also referred to the belief itself d. H. the statement that one is convinced that it is correct. If beliefs are no longer questioned, there is a risk of ideologization .

Correctness of your own ideas

Conviction is the trust in the fundamental correctness of one's own ideas and views. This is relatively stable against changes. Beliefs cannot be shaken by evidence if they themselves are the basis of evidence. That is why beliefs can be distinguished by their sustainability. Apparently there are fundamental beliefs, such as those of the so-called rational truths and plausible beliefs, which can be changed by invoking fundamental beliefs. Often, prevailing beliefs are based only on arguments of plausibility, such as the argument that the probability of error of a belief decreases with the number of its adherents. Fundamental convictions can, however, also be of such a subjective nature that they are only regarded as valid by those who possess them, so that no generalization claim is made with them.

Belief building

Often times a belief is inherited from other people, and many beliefs are based on clear observations. In addition, however, there is also the gradual formation of new convictions. Quantitative shifts in the evidence - for example due to the emergence of further indications that are not clear in themselves - can lead to a qualitative leap inside the viewer, namely to the formation of a conviction. Such a belief arises when the probability of the correctness of the statement in question is very high (and significantly exceeds 90%).

To convince someone

Convincing is communicative action in which the speaker receives the voluntary consent of his partner to an offer of information and identification. This can be done through rhetorical and dialectical means (persuasion), for example by presenting evidence or arguments or creating facts. Transfer of conviction in the sale of a product or an opinion can usually only succeed if the speaker keeps track of his topic and the statements and the buyer develops faith and trust in the seller that he is providing honest information. This also includes the seller's belief and trust in the buyer that the buyer has good reasons for his position.

Since Aristotle , rhetoric and dialectics have been taught in terms of convincing communication. They are important methods of opinion transfer and sales technique . Rhetoric is the art of convincing (monological) speaking, dialectics is the art of (dialogical) conversation.

The term is also used figuratively as a synonym for brainwashing . This means the immoral manipulation through persuasion , as the target person suffers personal disadvantages.

Historical

In the GDR , the SED coined the term “correct political conviction” for basic agreement with the propagated ideology of socialism and also with state doctrine . It was the criterion for the “trustworthiness” of the citizens and thus a prerequisite for the granting of certain rights and privileges. In popular parlance (especially among young people), someone who believed in communist ideology and not only pretended to be, was often ironically or disparagingly referred to as “convinced”.

literature

Edward Bernays: Propaganda . Horace Liveright, New York 1928. New edition: Ig Publishing, Brooklyn NY 2005, ISBN 0-9703125-9-8 . (German by Patrick Schnur, orange-press, Freiburg i. Br. 2007, German first edition, ISBN 978-3-936086-35-5 )
Robert B. Cialdini: The Psychology of Persuasion , 5th Edition, 2008, ISBN 978-3456844787
Franz Graf-Stuhlhofer : The threshold of persuasion. In: Belief and Thought. Yearbook of the Karl-Heim-Gesellschaft 16 (2003) pp. 209–212.
Kirchner, Baldur : Dialektik und Ethik , Wiesbaden 1991, ISBN 3-409-19150-X
Lay, Rupert : Dialektik für Managers , Munich, ISBN 3-7844-7032-7
Schopenhauer, Artur (author), Franco Volpi (ed.): The art of keeping the right : 1995, ISBN 3458333584
Ruede-Wissmann, Wolf: Satanic Negotiation , 1993, ISBN 3899962672
Schleichert, Hubert: How to discuss with fundamentalists without losing your mind , 2001/2004, ISBN 3406511244

Stark, Johannes: Appear convincingly - How to present yourself effectively , 2008, ISBN 978-3-589-21977-3

Thompson, Leigh: The Mind and Heart of the Negotiator , 2001, ISBN 0130179647

Web links

Wikiquote: Belief - Quotes

Wiktionary: conviction - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Single receipts

^ Conviction in duden.de, accessed on January 16, 2011.

↑ Graf-Stuhlhofer: Conviction Formation Threshold, p. 210f, refers as an example to the short story Window to the Courtyard , by Cornell Woolrich . After about 10 inconsistencies / clues, those observing his neighbors come to a suspicion, after another 10 “to the certainty that a murder had occurred”.

↑ As described by Graf-Stuhlhofer: Conviction Formation Threshold , p. 209.

↑ Kirchner, Baldur: Dialektik und Ethik, p. 117.

[1] Conviction in duden.de, accessed on January 16, 2011.

[2] Graf-Stuhlhofer: Conviction Formation Threshold, p. 210f, refers as an example to the short story Window to the Courtyard , by Cornell Woolrich . After about 10 inconsistencies / clues, those observing his neighbors come to a suspicion, after another 10 “to the certainty that a murder had occurred”.