Learning to View Psychology as a Science: Self-Persuasion through Writing

A primary goal in most introductory psychology courses is teaching students to view psychology as a science. Petty and Cacioppo's (1986) elaboration likelihood model of persuasion and Bern's (1972) self-perception theory suggest that having students write an essay supporting an empirical orientation should promote attitude change in that direction. Compared to a control group, introductory students writing a proempirical essay at the beginning of the term were more likely to conduct an experiment when given a choice of assignment, and they more strongly endorsed a view of psychology as a science at the end of the term. Implications for teaching and persuasion in the classroom are discussed.