Psychology of influencing people.
Psychology of influencing people
From early childhood, we are all exposed to stereotypes (psychological principles), and they haunt us throughout our lives. Each such principle can be discovered and used as a tool for automatic influence on people.
Here are described the principles of psychological influence on people in general, and you, of course, model the situations yourself. It depends on the essence of the problem, place, time, education and social status of the «victim», etc.
1. The principle of contrast.
In the police, this principle is actively used and is popularly called «bad investigator — good investigator». That is, one of the officers creates strict conditions of detention for the detainee according to the legal maximum possible and promises him all earthly punishments for the offense. And then comes the «good» officer, who «enters into the situation». This is followed by a weakening of the detention regime, a humane attitude, such as «tea, coffee, let's dance» in exchange for a small request to voluntarily provide things for inspection, write an explanation, etc. You can already build relationships up to closing the topic. Roles must be distributed in advance, everything must be played out convincingly and then the person will meet your requests and reasonable demands. Simultaneously with the principle of contrast, the rule of mutual exchange begins to work here. This rule states that we are obliged to try to repay in some way for what the other person (the «good» officer) provided us.
2. The «refusal-then-retreat» method.
It is also known as the «how to open a door that was slammed in your face» technique. You can use this technique yourself, no assistant is required.
Suppose you want to make a person comply with a certain demand. Your chances could be increased by first presenting a more serious demand, which the person will most likely reject – “dig in.” Then, after he refuses, you present a less serious demand. The very one that you were interested in fulfilling from the very beginning. If you present your demands correctly, the person will consider the second demand as a concession to him and will want to respond with a concession of his own, that is, he will agree to fulfill your second demand. The created VISIBILITY of a concession is of decisive importance. The second demand may objectively be very serious, but less serious than the first.
Attention! — the first demand must be justified and feasible, otherwise it will seem unfair. According to a sociological study, the effectiveness of this technique is 84%.
The results of using this technique increase the «side effects» of the act of retreat: an increased sense of responsibility in the «victim» and satisfaction with the agreement being concluded. Namely: responsibility — the «victim» develops a sense of responsibility for the positive outcome of the negotiations, «They shook hands — we have to do it»; satisfaction — the person begins to believe that it was HE who influenced the outcome of the negotiations, HE personally knocked down the initial high demands.
3. The «harmless concessions» technique.
If a person refuses to write an explanatory note, you should let him read the explanatory notes of the “previous” detainees and ask him to “at least” copy the explanatory note of one of them. You should always have samples of applications, “other people’s” explanations, etc. at hand. This will help to get the detainee talking and “paint it out”. One small, harmless concession entails other concessions. A trifling obligation can lead to a change in a person’s subsequent behavior in the right direction. If he refuses to write an explanation, let him write a complaint. Then there will be a reason for mutual concessions and agreements. The main thing is that he writes and speaks something. During the conversation, the detainee can offer a compromise solution to the problem or put forward demands. You will make a concession to him, and then he will also be forced to make some concession to you.
Written explanations and obligations are more effective because:
— they require more effort than oral ones;
— they can always be presented to the author or other people.
The article uses the results of R. Cialdini's research.
With respect, Oleg. Yekaterinburg.