Dariusz Dolinski - Techniques of Social Influence: The psychology of gaining compliance

TECHNIQUES OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE

Every day we are asked to fulfil others requests, and we make regular requests of others too, seeking compliance with our desires, commands and suggestions. This accessible text provides a uniquely in-depth overview of the different social influence techniques people use in order to improve the chances of their requests being fulfilled. It both describes each of the techniques in question and explores the research behind them, considering questions such as: How do we know that they work? Under what conditions are they more or less likely to be effective? How might individuals successfully resist attempts by others to influence them?

The book groups social influence techniques according to a common characteristic : for instance, early chapters describe sequential techniques , and techniques involving egotistic mechanisms, such as using the name of ones interlocutor. Later chapters present techniques based on gestures and facial movements, and others based on the use of specific words , re-examining on the way whether please really is a magic word. In every case, author Dariusz Dolinski discusses the existing experimental studies exploring their effectiveness , and how that effectiveness is enhanced or reduced under certain conditions . The book draws on historical material as well as the most up-to-date research, and unpicks the methodological and theoretical controversies involved.

The ideal introduction for psychology graduates and undergraduates studying social influence and persuasion, Techniques of Social Influence will also appeal to scholars and students in neighbouring disciplines, as well as interested marketing professionals and practitioners in related fields.

Dariusz Dolinski is Professor at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Wrocaw Faculty in Poland, editor of the Polish Psychological Bulletin, president of the Polish Association of Social Psychology and past president of the Committee for Psychology of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

First published 2016
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2016 Dariusz Dolinski

The right of Dariusz Dolinski to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Dolinski, Dariusz.
Techniques of social influence : the psychology of gaining compliance /
Dariusz Dolinski. 1st Edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Social influence. I. Title.
HM1176.D65 2015
302.13dc23
2015004167

ISBN: 978-1-138-81517-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-81519-3 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-74687-6 (ebk)

Typeset in Bembo
by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon, UK

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As a rule, the introduction is where the author explains to the reader what the book is about. Before I do that, however, I will take the liberty of a brief digression of a personal nature. Whenever Im at some sort of gathering and find I am acquainted only with the host, my interactions with other guests go off without a hitch. Im not a particularly shy person, so its rather easy for me to get to know others and to talk to them about more or less serious subjects. Problems begin when they ask me what I do for a living. My answer that I am a psychologist provokes a feeling of unease in my interlocutors. So you must be observing us and analyzing, I hear. What do you think about us? My answer, that Im not observing or analyzing anybody but, just like everybody else, having a beer, chatting about Almodvars latest film, Kunderas books, recent sports events or political happenings, isnt taken at face value by others. It gets worse when the conversation turns to questions like So what is it you do exactly? Do you put people through psychotherapy, or devise intelligence tests? I respond that Im not a therapist and that Ive never created any intelligence test, and nothing would indicate that I ever will. I explain that for many years I have been engaged in the study of social influence techniques. When I give a few examples by way of explanation, opinions about me are uniformly devastating: I am a guy who sits in a lab and dreams up schemes for effectively manipulating people.

As it is, psychologists concerned with social influence techniques usually arent thinking up new tricks. Our approach to the subject is just the opposite. The metaphor of full-cycle social psychology, applied by Robert Cialdini (1980), would seem to be a good illustration of this. The full cycle is a construction under which a social influence technique emerges in social life, and after it is discovered, investigated and described by scientists, it winds up back in that real life. So, a psychologist interested in these techniques observes the tricks applied by individuals whose professions or social roles involve them exerting influence on others. He thus watches the behaviour of a waiter with an interest in his client leaving a generous tip, a car salesman focused on getting people to buy automobiles from him, door-to-door salespeople determined to leave a set of knives in someones home and walk out with a fat wallet. Also of interest to the psychologist may be those working for charitable causes who are skilled in acquiring donations from sponsors, as well as politicians who quickly gain in popularity, which translates into votes from constituents. Of equal interest may also be observing a married couple in which one partner is able to convince the other to agree to far-reaching concessions.

Every social psychologist has a wealth of opportunities to observe practitioners of social influence techniques. I live and work in Wrocaw, a city located in the centre of Europe and more precisely in south-west Poland with around 700,000 inhabitants. Yesterday I got out of my car, which I had parked around 200 metres from the Market Square, where I had arranged to meet up with a friend. While exiting my car I was approached by a man showing me where I could find a place to park, waving at me while I helplessly drove along the kerb in search of a free spot. I hadnt even got out of the car when he offered me a deal on some car air fresheners. Why not? He was polite and pleasant, he had helped me and he also had one of my favourite scents, vanilla. A moment after this transaction and after I had closed my car door, a young boy who seemed around 12 years old ran up to me, bringing a bucket and an offer to wash my car. I might have taken him up on it if it werent for the fact that the water in his bucket looked even dirtier than the exterior of my vehicle. Besides that, I was probably feeling a bit had by the air freshener salesman, whose offer wasnt really that cheap, so I decided I wouldnt just agree to everything people offered me. I set out briskly for the Market Square. Along the way I passed by two sellers of a newspaper I usually read (I wasnt enticed, as I had already bought a copy earlier), one seller of another newspaper (I didnt buy it because I dont care for its politics) and one vagrant (I didnt give him a cent). I did, however, take three flyers (two from language schools and one from a glassworks), which I immediately placed in the bin. I always take flyers. I know that some people, usually youngsters, are paid by the hour, but others are paid for the number of flyers they give out. I think this is a rather thankless and poorly paid job. Taking a flyer and throwing it into a bin, which is usually nearby, doesnt cost me a thing. So I usually let people press flyers into my open hand, then maybe I take a look at them or not and throw them away immediately. On the way to the Market Square I was additionally tempted by storefronts promising incredible thrills inside, and a bank tried to talk me into taking out an unbelievably attractive loan. Before I had made it to City Hall, I walked by a man who resembled Lenin and was standing on a fruit box holding a giant red flag in his hand. At his feet lay a prominently displayed hat for tossing money into, and it contained 10- and 20-zloty banknotes. Obviously, the idea was to prevent someone from thinking that they could just toss in some loose change. Not even for a moment did I consider throwing anything in there. Next, I encountered a man dressed up in a suit and tie who tried to press a business card into my hand while explaining the virtues of a central vacuum system, and a painting salesman encouraging me to pick up an image of a beautiful deer in rutting season, saying that I could get it at steep discount while helping young artists at the same time. In both cases, I managed to not break my stride and avoided closer interaction.