Sleeper effect in psychology

 

The sleeper effect is a psychological phenomenon that refers to a delayed increase in the effect of a persuasive message that is accompanied by a discounting cue. A discounting cue is a piece of information that suggests that the message is not to be taken seriously. For example, if a message is presented by a low-credibility source, or if it is accompanied by a counterargument, the message may be less persuasive initially. However, over time, people may forget the discounting cue and become more persuaded by the message.

The sleeper effect was first discovered by Carl Hovland and Walter Weiss in 1951. They conducted a study in which they presented participants with persuasive messages that were either accompanied by a discounting cue or not. They found that the messages that were accompanied by a discounting cue were less persuasive initially, but that this effect disappeared over time.

The sleeper effect has a number of implications for persuasion. It suggests that persuasive messages may be more effective if they are presented in a way that makes the discounting cue less salient. For example, if a message is presented by a low-credibility source, the source's credibility could be downplayed. Additionally, the sleeper effect suggests that persuasive messages may be more effective if they are repeated over time.

The sleeper effect has been used to describe continued growth following the completion of psychotherapy. Researchers have debated which therapies may be better than others regarding improvement  or growth following psychological interventions. See Podina et al. (2019) for an analysis of therapies and the sleeper effect for the treatment of anxiety disorders.

 

References

Foos, A., Keeling, K. & Keeling, D. I. (2016) Redressing the sleeper effect: evidence for the favorable persuasive impact of discounting information over time in a contemporary advertising context. Journal of Advertising Research, 45 (1). pp. 19-25. ISSN 0021- 8499

Kleinnijenhuis, J. (2020). Sleeper Effect. In The International Encyclopedia of Media Psychology, J. Bulck (Ed.). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119011071.iemp0147

Podina, I. R., Vîslă, A., Fodor, L. A., & Flückiger, C. (2019). Is there a sleeper effect of exposure-based vs. cognitive-only intervention for anxiety disorders? A longitudinal multilevel meta-analysis. Clinical psychology review, 73, 101774. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2019.101774

Geoffrey W. Sutton, PhD is Emeritus Professor of Psychology. He retired from a clinical practice and was credentialed in clinical neuropsychology and psychopharmacology. His website is  www.suttong.com

 

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