Techniques of Social Influence

This accessible text provides an overview of different social influence techniques, which people use in order to make others meet various requests, suggestions and commands. Author Dariusz Dolinski does not merely describe these techniques, but also explores the research behind them: how do we know that they work, and under what conditions are they more or less likely to be effective.

Dariusz Dolinski is Professor at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Wroc-aw 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.

1. Introduction 2. Sequential techniques of social influence 2.1 Foot-in-the-door 2.2 Four walls and Repeating "yes" 2.3 Door-in-the-face 2.4 Foot-in-the-face 2.5 Dump-and-chase 2.6 Law ball 2.7 Summary 3. Techniques involving egotistic and self-presentation mechanisms 3.1 Using the name of one's interlocutor 3.2 Incidental similarity 3.3 Induction of hypocrisy 3.4 A witness to an interaction 3.5 Summary 4. The role of wording the request 4.1 "Please" is it always the magic word? 4.2 Even a penny will help 4.3 But you are free! 4.4 Labelling and asking questions 4.5 How are you feeling? 4.6 Dialogue involvement 4.7 The power of imagination 4.8 Summary 5. Interaction dynamics and the surprise factor 5.1 That's not all 5.2 Disruption-then-reframe 5.3 The pique technique - requesting in an unusual manner 5.4 Gaze 5.5 Touch 5.6 Summary 6. Techniques of social influence using mood and emotion 6.1 Physiological arousal 6.2 The role of positive and negative mood 6.3 Fear and anxiety 6.4 The feeling of guilt and shame 6.5 Embarrassment 6.6 Emotional see-saw 6.7 Summary 7. A few more issues and final remarks 7.1 Academic researchers vs practitioners of social influence 7.2 Catalysts of social influence 7.3 Unethical social influence 7.4 How to study social influence techniques. A short guide for students and beginning researchers