Permission Structure Framework
A Permission Structure provides an emotional and psychological justification that allows someone to change deeply held beliefs and/or behaviours while importantly retaining their pride and integrity.
Permission Structure
A Permission Structure provides an emotional and psychological justification that allows someone to change deeply held beliefs and/or behaviours while importantly retaining their pride and integrity.
MAKE CHANGE, DON’T MAKE SOMEONE WRONG.
Permission Structures serve as scaffolding for someone to embrace change that they might otherwise reject. An effective Permission Structure helps someone move to a new point of view in a way that feels rational, justified, and consistent with their existing core values. It’s the justification of doing something counter to their past beliefs, that still allows them to sleep at night and hold their heads up high during the day.
TYPES OF PERMISSION STRUCTURES.
A Permission Structure can take many forms, here are some possibilities that we generated, including examples around hypothetically influencing someone who is anti-vax to become vaccinated against Covid.
|
Approach |
Example statement |
Applied to a vaccination argument. |
|
Changed circumstances |
“I understand |
“It was understandable to be wary before, but now with the rise of Delta and other variants the choice has become clear…” |
|
Social proof |
“Most people in your situation |
“I get it, I was really suspicious about vaccines too, but after seeing my uncle almost die from Covid, I decided to take another look…” |
|
New information |
“I understand |
“It was unclear before but these latest studies out of highly vaccinated countries provide new insights that we just didn’t have before…” |
|
New stage, new learning |
“We gave what you thought a go, and that was great because it gave us time to learn more and gain more facts. So, now we can...” |
“Many people experimented with natural remedies and other immune-boosting strategies, and now that we have the data on those options we can…” |
|
That doesn’t apply |
“I understand that you're concerned about |
“You might have been concerned with x vaccine. But I’ve dug into the research and found that Covid vaccines are different because…” |
|
Compromise |
“We’ve made these concessions so the situation is quite different now. That means we can now…” |
“It’s great that you’re focused on natural supplements, combine them with exercise to boost your general health before your first shot...” |
This is by no means an exhaustive list and, of course, it will vary based on the person's specific concerns and beliefs, but the main point is to find a pathway for the person to change their opinion and/or action in a way that leaves their pride and integrity intact.
