Placing the contemporary theory of inoculation in the context of historical resistance writing references its predecessors and offers further insight into the contemporary theory’s strengths and limitations.
Josh Compton
Most contemporary inoculation research reviews begin with the propaganda research of Lumsdaine and Janis in the early 1950s, but Aristotle was teaching resistance strategies that predate propaganda research by over two thousand years. This essay compares inoculation and Aristotelian rational analysis, noting areas of convergence and divergence. Finally, this essay proposes synthesis of inoculation and Aristotelian rationality, answering a call made by McGuire to develop inoculation treatments that help people discern truthfulness of claims.
Compton, J. (2005). Tracing the roots of resistance to influence: Comparison, contrast, and synthesis of Aristotelian rationality and inoculation. STAM Journal, 35, 1-23.
Winner, Top Manuscript Award: Central States Communication Association.
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