Mind & psychology

Influence

Robert B. Cialdini

The Psychology of Persuasion

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  • 10 key ideas
  • Text
  • Published 1984

Introduction

Robert Cialdini, a social psychologist, wanted to know why people say yes. For about three years he trained undercover in sales, fundraising and advertising organizations, and he ran experiments in his laboratory. His finding is that most of the thousands of tactics fall into six categories, each governed by a principle that sets off a nearly automatic response: reciprocation, commitment and consistency, social proof, liking, authority and scarcity.

The book has an introduction, seven chapters and an epilogue. The first chapter explains the 'click, whirr' shortcut that all six depend on. Then comes one chapter for each principle, each ending with a section called 'How to say no'. The epilogue asks why such shortcuts will matter even more in a fast, information-heavy world. This summary follows the revised edition (copyright 1984, 1994, 2007) and leaves out several of the book's longer examples.

Note: the studies are told as Cialdini reports them, and the figures are his. Since the book was written, some classic experiments in social psychology have been re-examined and debated. Milgram's obedience studies are one example, since researchers who later went through his archives questioned how his results were described, and a large project in 2015 that repeated 100 psychology studies found that about a third gave the same results. Treat the individual numbers in this summary with care.

  1. 1Cialdini argues that we run on automatic shortcuts, 'click, whirr' responses, which usually serve us well but can be set off by anyone who knows the trigger
  2. 2Cialdini argues that people feel bound to repay what they are given, so even a small or unwanted favor can win a much bigger yes
  3. 3Cialdini argues that when someone retreats from a big request we feel we should retreat too, so asking big first and small second often works
  4. 4Cialdini argues that once we take a stand, even a small one, we feel pressure to act in line with it, and a chain of small steps can lead us far
  5. 5Cialdini argues that a commitment holds firmest when it is written, public, costly in effort and freely chosen, and that it can outlive the reason that created it
  6. 6Cialdini argues that we decide what is right by watching what others do, most of all when we are unsure and when those others are like us
  7. 7Cialdini argues that we say yes more readily to people we like, and that good looks, similarity, praise, shared goals and mere association all make us like someone
  8. 8Cialdini argues that we obey apparent authority almost without thinking, and that a title, a uniform or a fine car is enough to trigger it
  9. 9Cialdini argues that anything feels more valuable when it becomes harder to get, especially when others are competing for it
  10. 10Cialdini argues that we should keep our shortcuts but learn the warning sign for each one, and fight back only against fakes

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Influence by Robert B. Cialdini: summary | Daridanesh