Persuasion In 12 Angry Men

Throughout the entire course of the movie, Juror #8(Henry Fonda), utilizes several different tactics, perspectives and approaches to influence the decision of other jurors. Internally-focused tactics (Power and Influence, slide 16) arguably served a key role in altering the attitudes of other jurors and making them reconsider their position. He used rational persuasion (Power and Influence, slide 16) by laying out facts that none of the other jurors thought about. He made more external attributions for the boy’s behavior commenting that a possible reason would be his abusive slum upbringing rather than his character. He was successful in sowing seeds of doubt in the minds of other jurors simply by asking

Upon this Juror #8 asked Juror #4 to recall what all he did the previous night, which he did but with difficulty. To this Juror #8 asked him to imagine how the boy was still able to recall parts despite being under emotional stress. Juror #8 used some of the six principles of persuasion (Persuasion, slide 4) in order to justify his position. He employed the principle of Consistency (Persuasion, slide 9). As a leader of the minority opinion, he always remained consistent in his opposition to the majority. He did not waver from his conviction, which made the other jurors think more deeply about the decision at hand. The fact that he was self-confident and had complete conviction in what he was talking instilled confidence in other jurors who were learning in the “Not guilty” direction. He employed the principle of Liking (Persuasion, slide 15). Even though he was consistent in his position, he was open minded. He did not put the majority on the defense or say that they are wrong, instead he made them more open to the minority by wanting to talk about the issue more and not make a hasty decision based on superficial