Governments often use propaganda to bolster enlistment in the military.
Propaganda is the use of communications to manipulate the political beliefs of a population for the purposes of spreading a cause for people and institutions. It can have very unpredictable effects on society. Various groups have sought to influence the opinion of mass populations through propaganda. Guy Mason, professor of Western Connecticut State University explains that although the effectiveness of propaganda is unclear, some researchers have a general idea of its effects.
Distorting Meaning
Propagandists frequently use glittering generalities, which are words that imply commonly accepted virtues that mean something different for everyone, such as "rights," "freedom," "patriotism" and "the common good." They use these words to stir up emotions and create a more positive or negative image of an idea, person or country, changing the views of the audience members. For example, a religious leader might state that following a particular religion is an "act of patriotism."
Creating Negative Associations
Propaganda can be used to encourage citizens to develop negative attitudes toward the world. The Citizens Against Chinese Communist Propaganda argues that propaganda campaigns used during the Cold War created hatred, contempt and distrust among the Chinese people. Propagandists can inspire individuals to develop a negative attitude toward a group through name calling, in which the propagandist tries to attach a negative label to the group. The propagandist can also use a false analogy, comparing the enemy group to demons or something else undesirable. Audience members might then seek to distance themselves from the shunned individual or group. Propagandists can also create negative associations with ideas, which can change the core values of a society. The Chinese propaganda sought to encourage the Chinese to abandon their old cultural ways in favor of a new communist perspective.
Presenting Limited Options
Propaganda sometimes tries to limit options in the minds of the audience, giving audience members a very unattractive option and an option that the propagandist wants the audience to take. For example, the statement "Either you're with us or you're with the terrorists" can make the audience feel pressured into one of two options when they might prefer a third option. Audience members who believe that there are truly only two options might choose the positive option, feeling that the positive option is the only viable choice.
Giving False Hope
Grey propaganda includes a mixture of truth and falsehoods. Citizens are often given hope through propaganda that they can develop more motivation. For example, when citizens feel that they can win the war, they might be more willing to fight it. However, raising false hopes can damage the propaganda effort, since future events can dash the false hopes and cause citizens to develop cynicism towards the propaganda.
Distorting Emotional Perspectives
White propaganda includes the truth but slants the truth to help the population develop a certain emotional perspective. White propaganda can reduce anxiety and frustrations by placing the anxiety and frustrations into perspective. For example, if the nation loses a battle, white propaganda can relieve frustration by emphasizing that the battle was not a decisive victory for the enemy and was only a small loss for the homefront. Propaganda can also increase anxiety, such as in the Red Scares in the United States, to galvanize support for United States action.
Sowing Doubt and Depression
Black propaganda is a type of propaganda sent to enemies during a war. The propaganda consists of lies and is designed to reduce the morale of the enemy by sowing doubt and depression. The black propaganda also creates confusion, since the propaganda was often written to sound like it was from a different country than the actual propaganda producer.
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