Komunikacja kaznodziejska w świetle eksperymentalnej psychologii społecznej

Abstract

The aim of the present article is an attempt to present preaching communication within the field of experimental social psychology. Drawing on theological and psychological definitions of a sermon the article lays out key goals of preaching and ways that a priest can manage the process. It concentrates on the psychological aspects of sermons and tries to explain the main factors included in the process of preaching communication: sender, message, channel, and receiver. The features of these factors influence the level of persuasion and determinate the changes of attitudes in human communication. In addition to presenting persuasive communication, the paper provides examples of persuasion theory and research with reference to the field of preaching. A very interesting idea of analyzing religious and moral information comes from using the elaboration likelihood model which is nowadays considered the most influential theory of persuasion and attitude change. Finally, the article focuses on a potential adaptation of a model of the language attitudes process to the issue of sending and receiving sermons. Taking into account three crucial factors: speaker, hearer, and responses, the model appears to be an appropriate framework for creating new theoretical and empirical perspectives within preaching situations.