The Anatomy of inlfuence Using the latest Social

The Anatomy of inlfuence: Using the latest Social psychology, decision-making, persuasion, and new brain science research to create cooperation and decrease resistance Bill O’Hanlon billohanlon. com

THree little Words Can Make a big difference An informercial copywriter (Colleen Szot) changed the “call to action” from: “Operators are standing by; please call now. ”; to “If operators are busy, please call again. ” Sales increased significantly; shattering a 20 -year sales record Why? You’ll soon find out and know very well.

Two WORDs Can too Students at MIT were told they had a guest instructor and were asked to rate him since he was being considered for a faculty position They were all given a description of him, with one slight difference. In one, he was described as “very warm” and in the other, “rather cold. ” Otherwise, the descriptions were identical. The class got the same lecture, but at the end, when asked to rate the instructor for possible hiring as an instructor, the students who had read the description of a “very warm” person rated him as “good-natured, considerate of others, informal, sociable, popular, humorous, and humane, ” while those who read that he was “rather cold” rated him as “self-centered, formal, unsociable, unpopular, irritable, humorless, and ruthless. ” Reference: Kelley, H. H. (1950). “The warm-cold variable in first impressions of persons, ” Journal of Personality, 18, 431 -439.

Now for ONE WORD Students were waiting in a long line for a busy copy machine at a major university library A person comes to the front of the line and asks if he or she can use the copy machine, with no explanation (“May I use the copy machine? ”) 75% of people agree to let the person use the machine In another condition, the person asking adds a phrase beginning with “because” (either “because I have to make some copies? ” or “because I am in a rush? ) and compliance increases to 96% for both forms of “because. ” E. Langer, A. Blank, and B. Chanowitz, (1978). “The mindlessness of ostensibly thoughtful action: The role of placebic information in interpersonal interaction, ” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36: 635 -642.

We have the illusion we make rational conscious decisions During any given second, we consciously process only sixteen of the eleven million bits of information our senses pass on to our brains. “The eye sends at least ten million bits to the brain every second. The skin sends a million bits a second, the ear one hundred thousand, our smell sensors a further one hundred thousand bits a second, our taste buds perhaps a thousands bits per second. ” (p. 125) “Our sensory perception admits millions of bits per second; consciousness two score. The flow of information, measured in bits per second, is described as the bandwidth or capacity of consciousness. The bandwidth of consciousness is far lower than the bandwidth of our sensory perceptions. ” (p. 126) Nørretrander, Tor (1999). The User Illusion: Cutting Consciousness Down to Size. NY: Penguin.

The 3 Major Principles OF INFLUENCE SOCIAL FOLLOWING PRIMING LOSS AVOIDANCE AND How to use these principles in changework to reduce resistance and increase cooperation and results

Influence Principle #1: Social influence factors

Humans are social animals

Social Comparison, following and Norms People tend to look to others, especially a majority of others, to decide how to behave in and perceive situations Any messages that show that many (or most) others are doing or perceiving a certain way will influence one’s actions, choices and perceptions

The Hotel Re-Use Studies Social psychologists, led by Dr. Robert Cialdini, investigated how the percentage of re-using towels more than once per stay was influenced by messages about how others behaved When a message was left saying it was good for the environment to re-use towels, a certain percentage of people re-used When the message was changed to suggest that most people re-used towels in that hotel, re-use went up 26%; when it was more specific (most people who stayed in that particular room re-used) re-use increased 33% Goldstein, Noah; Cialdini, R. B. ; and Griskevicius, Vladas. (2008). “A room with a viewpoint: using social norms to motivate conservation in hotels, ” Journal of Consumer Research, 13 (2), 214– 20.

Petrified Forest Study In an effort to reduce stealing of wood pieces from the Petrified Forest, officials put up a sign reading: “Your heritage is being vandalized every day by theft losses of petrified wood of 14 tons a year, mostly a small piece at a time. ” The study was suggested when a graduate student reported that his fiancée, who was usually scrupulously honest, read this sign and nudged him and whispered, “We’d better get ours now. ”

Petrified forest study Researchers specially marked wood pieces so they could measure theft on various trails. Then they created alternate signs: “Many past visitors have removed petrified wood from the park, changing the natural state of the Petrified Forest. ” This sign showed people picking up wood. “Please don’t remove wood from the park, in order to preserve the natural state of the Petrified Forest. ” This one showed a lone person picking up wood with a red X superimposed.

Petrified forest study Results Compared to a control condition (no sign); 2. 92% stolen: Social following sign: Increased theft to 7. 92 % of pieces stolen. Lone wolf sign: Decreased theft to 1. 67%.

We all think we aren’t going along with the crowd Why do you have to be a nonconformist like everybody else? - James Thurber You are unique; just like everybody else. Bumper sticker

Gazing Skyward Study Stanley Milgram had a person in NYC gaze skyward; most people ignored him. When he was joined by 3 others gazing skyward, 4 times as many people also stopped and looked up. Milgram, S. ; Bickman, L. and Berkowitz, L. (1969). “Note on the drawing power of crowds of different sizes, ” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 13: 79 -82.

Take Care how you use Social Norm messages Women’s Voices, during the 2004 presidential campaign, sent out 1 million postcards with this message: “Four years ago, 22 million single women did not vote. ” Oops! Voter turnout for single women was especially low that year, even lower than in 2000.

Take Care how you use Social NOrm messages An anti-littering campaign ad showed people waiting for a bus. After the bus left, it showed the empty bus stop with lots of litter. Then it cut to a poster of the well-known pervious anti-littering ad, with a Native American on horseback with a tear running down his cheek. The message said: Back by popular neglect. The inadvertent message was: “Littering is common and the social norm. ”

Take Care how you use Social NOrm messages California households’ energy use were monitored and then doorknob cards were delivered to each house telling them how their energy use compared to the norm (some had used more than average and some less). Over the next few weeks, those households who had above average usage reduced their consumption by 5. 7%; but those whose usage was below average increased their consumption by 8. 6%. [Don’t worry, they figured out how to fix this “middle magnet” by putting smiley faces on the cards or those whose energy use was low and frowny faces on the cards of those whose usage was high. ] Schultz, P. W. ; Nolan, J. M. ; Cialdini, R. B; Goldstein, N. J. ; and Griskevicius, V. (2007). “The constructive, destructive, and reconstructive power of social norms, ” Psychological Science, 18: 429434.

Mirror Neurons The ice cream cone and the monkey Gallese, V. , Fadiga, L. , Fogassi, L. , & Rizzolatti, G. (1996). “Action recognition in the premotor cortex, ” Brain, 119: 593 -609. Fogassi, L. , & Ferrari, P. F. (2007). “Mirror neurons and the evolution of embodied language, ” Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17, 136 – 141.

Subtle social mimicry A researcher subtly mimicked half the subjects while asking them survey questions, then “accidentally” dropped some pens; those who had been mimicked were 2 -3 times more likely to pick up the pens as those who hadn’t Van Baaren, Rick; Holland, Rob; Kawakami, Kerry; and van Knippenberg, Ad. (2004) “Mimicry and Prosocial Behavior, ” Psychological Science, 15, 71 -74.

Subtle social mimicry 37 Duke students tried out what was described as a new sports drink, Vigor, and answered a few questions about it. The interviewer mimicked about half the participants. The mimicry involved mirroring a person’s posture and movements, with a one- to two-second delay. If he crosses his legs, then wait two seconds and do the same, with opposite legs. If she touches her face, wait a beat or two and do that. If he drums his fingers or taps a toe, wait again and do something similar. The idea is to be a mirror but a slow, imperfect one. Follow too closely, and most people catch on. By the end of the short interview, those who were mimicked were significantly more likely than the others to consume the new drink, to say they would buy it and to predict its success in the market. In a similar experiment, the psychologists found that this was especially true if the participants knew that the interviewer, the mimic, had a stake in the product’s success. • • Chartrand, T. L. , & Bargh. J. A. (1999). “The Chameleon effect: The perception-behavior link and social interaction, ” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 893 - 910. Chartrand, T. L. , Maddux, W. W. , & Lakin, J. L. (in press). “Beyond the perception-behavior link: The ubiquitous utility and motivational moderators of non-conscious mimicry. ” In R. Hassin, J. Uleman, & J. A. Bargh (Eds. ), Unintended thought 2: The new unconscious. New York: Oxford University Press.

Subtle social mimicry At Stanford, a computer figure, an avatar, was programmed to mimic the movements and gestures of study participants. If the avatar’s movements were immediate and precise, people picked up on them, but if they were slightly out of sync (delayed 4 seconds) people did not pick up on them and rated the avatars as warm and convincing. Bailenson, J. , & Yee, N. (2005). “Digital chameleons: Automatic assimilation of nonverbal gestures in immersive virtual environments, ” Psychological Science, 16, 814– 819.

Varieties of social mimicry Motor mimicry Facial mimicry Emotional contagion Reciprocal altruism People diagnosed high on the autistic spectrum show less facial and yawning mimicry than others Hermans, Erno J. ; van Wingen, Guido ; Bos, Peter A. ; Putman, Peter; and van Honk, Jack. (2009)“Reduced spontaneous facial mimicry in women with autistic traits, ” Biological Psychology, March/80(3): 348 -353. Avikainen, S. , Wohlschlager, A. , Liuhanen, S. , Hanninen, R. , and Hari, R. (2003). “Impaired mirror-image imitation in Asperger and high-functioning autistic subjects, ” Curr. Biol, 73(4), 339 -341. Dapretto, M. , Davies, M. S. , Pfeifer, J. H. , Scott, A. A. , Sigman, M. , Bookheimer, S. Y. , et al. (2006). “Understanding emotions in others: Mirror neuron dysfunction in children with

Take-Away You probably already mirror people naturally, but you might be able to improve your skill at gaining rapport if you attend to people more closely. Listen to and watch them as they speak and interact with you.

Modeling Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory posits that people learn from one another, via observation, imitation, and modeling. Famous for the Bobo Doll studies, which showed social learning through modeling. Bandura, A. (1986). Social Foundations of Thought and Action. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Bobo Doll Studies Bandura made a film of one of his students beating up a doll that bounced back up after being punched. The woman punched the clown, shouting “sockeroo!” She kicked it, sat on it, hit with a little hammer, and so on, shouting various aggressive phrases. Bandura showed his film to groups of kindergartners. They then were let out to play. In the play room were several observers with pens and clipboards in hand, a brand new bobo doll, and a few little hammers. Most of the kids beat the daylights out of the bobo doll. They punched it and shouted “sockeroo, ” kicked it, sat on it, hit it with the little hammers, and so on. They imitated pretty closely what they had seen. Responding to criticism that bobo dolls were supposed to be hit, he even did a film of the young woman beating up a live clown. When the children found the live clown in the other room after watching the film, they proceeded to punch him, kick him, hit him

Social Proof Testimonials Indirect evidence of popularity (It sold out last time; Billions served) Success stories about others Statistics that show a majority of people are doing something desirable: 97% of visitors do not take pieces of wood from the Petrified Forest 93% of Americans are on time with mortgage payments in the midst of economic crisis

A SIMPLE USE OF SOCIAL FOLLOWING/NORMS “Studies have shown that most people get and feel better after they come to therapy. ”

Psychotherapy outcome research The quality of therapeutic relationship and working alliance accounts for 30% of the positive results in psychotherapy Hubble, M. A. , Duncan, B. L. , & Miller, S. D. (Eds. ) (1999). The heart and soul of change: What works in therapy. Washington, D. C. : American Psychological Association. Lambert, M. J. (1992). “Psychotherapy outcome research: Implications for integrative and eclectic therapists. ” In J. C. Norcross & M. R. Goldfried (Eds. ), Handbook of psychotherapy Integration. (pp. 94 -129). New York: Basic Books.

Liking This is another social phenomenon People are more likely to be influenced by people they like People they see as similar to themselves are usually liked better Compliments and praise increase liking for the praiser

Similarity One experiment showed that people were more likely to do things (loan some money or sign a petition) for people who dressed/looked like them Emswiller, T. ; Deaux, K. ; and Willits, J. E. (1971). “Similarity, sex, and requests for small favors, ” Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 1: 284 -291. Suedfield, P. ; Bochner, S; and Matas, C. (1971). “Petitioner’s attire and petition signing by peace demonstrators: A field experiment, ” Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 1: 278 -283. Another experiment showed that people were more likely to buy insurance from a person who was like them in terms of age, religion, politics, and cigarettesmoking habits Evans, F. B. (1963). “Selling as a dyadic relationship: A new approach, ” American Behavioral Scientist 6: 7: 76 -79

Take Away Find as many commonalities as you can with the people with whom you work and find a way of letting them know about those commonalities

Compliments Men in a study were given three kinds of statements by someone who needed a favor from them Positive Negative Neutral The person who gave the men pure positive praise was better liked, even when the men knew the praise was untrue and the person wanted a favor from them Drachman, D. ; de. Carufel, A. ; and Insko, C. A. (1978). “The extra credit effect in interpersonal attraction, ” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 14: 458 -467.

The Kind of Compliment Can Matter Carol Dweck and colleagues gave children a fairly simple puzzle and told half the kids a comment that told them they were smart and the other half that they must have worked hard to solve the puzzles. Then they offered them a choice of simple or challenging puzzles. 90% of the kids who were praised for effort chose the difficult puzzles; A majority of the kids who were praised for intelligence chose the easier ones. Then all the kids were given some difficult puzzles. Then some that were about as easy as the initial ones. The “work hard” kids did 30% better than they had in the initial scores, while the “intelligence” kids scores declined by 20%. Cimpian, A. et. al (2007). “Subtle Linguistic Clues Affect Children’s motivations, ” Psychological Science, 18: 314 -316.

Recency Several studies have shown that whatever the most recent or last part of an experience is tends to color and strongly influence our overall memory or sense of that experience. A particularly graphic example involves people who were undergoing proctological exams. Patients were divided into two groups: 1. Standard proctological exam; 2. The scope (or digit) was left in but not moved for an extra minute at the end (sorry for the pun) of the exam. Those patients who experienced the longer exam were more willing to undergo the procedure again in the future. Ending on a good note makes a difference in how the whole (sorry again) experience is remembered. Redelmeier, D. , and Kahneman, D. (1996). “Patients’ memories of painful medical treatments: Real-time and retrospective evaluations of two minimally invasive procedures, ” Pain, 116: 3 -8.

Take Away End sessions on a neutral or positive note; people are more likely to schedule another appointment Compliment people on their efforts rather than just praise them generally

Influence Principle #2: priming & Contextual influences/biases

Non-conscious influences and priming Exposing people to biased words and phrases and different contexts influences their subsequent performance, perceptions and decisions Contexts influence people’s perceptions and decision-making much more than we think

PRIMING CONTEXTUAL PRIMING PERCEPTUAL PRIMING CONCEPTUAL PRIMING LINGUISTIC PRIMING NUMERICAL PRIMING

Context makes a difference

Context makes a difference

Context makes a difference

contextual Influences • When Williams Sonoma added a high-end breadmaker to their line of products, sales of their previous high-end breadmaker nearly doubled (they had a low-end breadmaker as well). • Point: People often go for “second best, ” or the compromise choice Simonson, I. (1993). “Get closer to your customers by understanding how they make their choices, ” California Management Review, 35: 68 -84.

Take. Away When introducing interventions and suggesting change, give three choices: A challenging and demanding one that is ideal but unlikely for all but the most motivated clients A slightly less challenging and demanding one An easy one that will move them forward a little

contextual Influences/ Attribution theory The Pygmalion/Golem Effect: We often make people over (even influencing them to be smarter/dumber, more/less capable, better/worse behaved) when we expect them to be a certain way The Chameleon Effect: Our environments influence how we behave, perceive and even how we are The Placebo/Nocebo Effects: The effects of fake medicines or other interventions can have powerful positive or negative effects on physiology

Attribution Theory Reserachers took a group of college freshmen experiencing difficulties (as reflected by their poor grades) and divided them into a control group and an experimental group They told the experimental group that many students had difficulties their first year and later did better. They showed them videos of seniors who related the same message Only 5% of the experimental group dropped out vs. 25% of the control group Experimental group members’ grades rose an average of. 34 points while the control group members’ grades declined by. 05 points Wilson, T. and Linville, P. (1982). “Improving academic performance of colllege freshmen: Attribution theory revisited, ” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42: 367 -376.

Contextual priming and symptoms of aging A group of elderly men were taken to a hotel that had been decorated to look like it was 20 years earlier in the U. S. (the study was done in 1979 and the hotel, decorations and items placed around were all from 1959). The men were told to live as if it were 1959 and that, if the experiment succeeded, the researchers thought the men would feel as good as they had in 1959. After just one week, the men in the experimental group (compared with controls of the same age) had more joint flexibility, increased dexterity and less arthritis in their hands. Their mental acuity had risen measurably, and they had improved gait and posture. Outsiders who were shown the men’s photographs judged them to be significantly younger than the controls. In other words, the aging process had in some measure been reversed. Langer, E. (2009). Counterclockwise: Mindful health and the power of possibilities. NY: Ballatine Books.

Con. CEPtual priming and stereotypes A group of Asian women were given math tasks. Before they did the math, they were “primed” into thinking about themselves as either Asian (they were asked if there were any languages other than English spoken by anyone in their extended family) or as women (they were asked whether they lived in a coed dorm) Those primed for Asian did significantly better in the math tasks (Asians are stereotyped as good in math) and those primed as women did poorly (females are stereotyped as not good in math). Shih, M. , Pittinsky, T. and Ambady, N. (1999). “Stereotype susceptibility: Identity salience and shifts in quantitative performance, ” Psychological Science, 12(5): 385 -390. Langer, E. (2009). Counterclockwise: Mindful health and the power of possibilities. NY: Ballatine Books.

Con. CEPTual priming A group of black and white sophomores at Stanford were given test questions and stereotypes taken from the Graduate Record Exam. When the difficult verbal test was presented as a test of “ability, ” black students performed dramatically less well than white students, even though they had been statistically matched with the white students in ability level. When the same test was presented as a laboratory task that was used to study how certain problems were generally solved and the instructions stressed that the task did not measure a person's level of intellectual ability, blacks and whites performed equally well. In order to assess “stereotype threat” (or how much blacks felt pressured by racial stereotypes), participants were given partial words (example: _ _ ce) and asked to fill in letters to make them complete. Blacks created significantly more race-related words then did whites, showing that race was more on their minds and those types of words rose when they were told the tests would measure ability rather than just how problems were solved. Aronson, J. & Inzlicht, M. (2004). “The ups and downs of attributional ambiguity: Stereotype vulnerability and the academic self-knowledge of African-American students, ” Psychological Science, 15(12): 829 -836. Steele, C. M. & Aronson, J. (1995). “Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African -Americans, ” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(5): 797 -811.

Con. CEPTual priming and Shiftin. G Priming Subjects were asked to solve anagrams. Expermiental subjects were given more aging-symptom connected anagrams (examples: felorguft-->forgetful; mlpi--->limp). The control group was given neutral, nonage-related words. Subjects who had been primed with the age-related words walked significantly more slowly to the elevator on the way out. In a follow-up study, subjects were asked to sort photos into “old” and “young” stacks. They also walked more slowly to the elevator after the task. But if subjects were told to sort the photos by gender, no such effect occured. Bargh, J. , Chen, M and Burrows, L. (1996). “Automaticity of social behavior: Direct effects of trait construct and stereotype activation on action, ” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71(2): 230 -244. Djikic, M. , Langer, E. and Stapleton, S. (2008). “Reducing stereotyping through mindfulness: Decreasing effects of stereotype-activated behavior, ” Journal of Adult Development, 15: 106 -111. Langer, E. (2009). Counterclockwise: Mindful health and the power of possibilities. NY: Ballatine Books.

Contextual priming: 3 degrees of separation happiness Emotions such as happiness, seem to be contagious. In contrast to behaviors (like smoking or obesity), people must have direct contact with others (even by proxy) to “catch” the emotions in a social network. People who are happy and have friends, or friends of friends, tend to be happier. The amount of influence: Next door neighbor 34% Friends 25% Close living sibling 14% Spouse 8% People at the center of the “happy” social network tend to be happiest (vs. people on the periphery. The more people one is connected to, the happier. Happiness spreads more readily than unhappiness. Fowler, James and Christakis, Nicholas. (2008). “Dynamic spread of happiness in a large social network: longitudinal analysis over 20 years in the Framingham Heart Study, ” British Medical Journal, 337: a 2338.

Takeaway Who you hang with and where you hang out can make a difference in your behavior and feelings 12 -step people know this. They say the only thing you need to change when you want to challenge your addiction is: Your playground (where you spend time) Your playmates (with whom you spend time); and Your playthings (your drug of choice) Suggest your clients start changing any or all of those things to make changes in their lives For ideas: See O’Hanlon, B. (1999). Do One Thing Different. NY: Harper. Collins.

linguistic priming Some texts were altered to read more conditionally (using words and phrases such as: could be, perhaps, or in one view). Some subjects were shown the original text with more absolute phrases (such as: is). The subjects shown the conditional text showed more creativity when using items related to the text they had read. Langer, E. and Rodin, J. (1976). “The effects of choice and enhanced personal responsibility for the aged: A field experiment in an institutional setting, ” Journal of Pesonality and Social Psychology, 34(2): 119 -198. Langer, E. (2009). Counterclockwise: Mindful health and the power of possibilities. NY: Ballatine Books.

anchoring Whatever numbers or words are mentioned before something is asked will strongly influence the answer or response to that question or request

anchoring The experimenter had students write down the last two digits of their social security number Then they were asked whether they would pay that amount for several items that were to be auctioned The social security numbers influenced what students bid; For example, for one item, students with the highest numbers bid highest (e. g. $56 average for the highest) and those with the lowest numbers bid the lowest ($16 average) Ariely, D. ; Loewenstein, G. ; and Prelec, Drazen. (2003). “Coherent arbitrariness: Stable demand curves without stable preferences, ” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118(1): 73 -105.

interspersal Milton Erickson’s method of non-verbally emphasizing certain words or phrases Learn to rephrase problem words or phrases into solution/longing words or phrases For example, if someone is dealing with chronic pain, you might say, “I know you’d really like to find a way to feel more comfortable. ”

RESPONSE PRIMING Milton Erickson’s “YES SET” NO SET REVERSE SET

Take Away You might suggest that many people successfully resolve their issues within 4 to 6 sessions (the research indicates this is true) Or you might just mention some words or numbers you would like to anchor or prime for some therapeutic purpose before giving an intervention

Diagnosis bias When primed with a diagnostic label, we often ignore facts, data and perceptions that don’t fit with this diagnosis “In real life, unlike in Shakespeare, the sweetness of the rose depends upon the name it bears. Things are not only what they are. They are, in very important respects, what they seem to be. ” - Hubert Humphrey “The only man I know who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measurements anew each time he see me. The rest go on with their old measurements and expect me to fit them. ” –George Bernard Shaw

The Power of Labels Researchers interviewed a large number of potential voters and told 50% of them, based on their survey responses, that they were “above average citizens likely to vote and participate in political events. ” The other half were told they were about average. The ones who were labeled “above average” were 15% more likely to vote in an election held a week later and also saw themselves as better citizens. Tybout, A. M. and Yalch, R. F. (1980). “The effect of experience: A matter of salience, ” Journal of Consumer Research, 6: 406 -413.

The Power of Labels 105 trainees began the Israeli army’s rigorous “Commander Training” program Their trainers were told (falsely) that, based on psychological data, sociometric data from previous trainings, and ratings by previous commanders, various trainees either had a high, regular or unknown Command Potential (CP). When trainees were tested on their tactical and practical knowledge 15 weeks later, the ones whom the trainers thought were high CP scored better (79. 98 on average) than did the “regular” (65. 18) or “unknown” (72. 43). When their trainers were told of the ruse, they didn’t believe it, insisting that the “high” trainees were actually superior leader from the start. Eden, D. and Shani, A. (1982). “Pygmalion goes to Boot Camp: Expectancy, Leadership, and Trainee Performance, ” Journal of Applied Psychology, 67: 194 -199.

The Pygmalion Effect The Memphis School District experience “Those are their locker numbers!”

The Pygmalion Effect

The Pygmalion Effect “When teachers expect students to do well and show intellectual growth, they do; when teachers do not have such expectations, performance and growth are not so encouraged and may in fact be discouraged in a variety of ways. " - James Rehm Rosenthal, Robert & Jacobson, Lenore. (1992). Pygmalion in the Classroom. New York: Irvington

The Power of Labels Researchers told some schoolchildren that they seemed like the kind of students who “care about good handwriting. ” Those kids subsequently spent more of their free time practicing handwriting, even when they thought no one was watching them. Cialdini, R. ; Eisenberg, N. ; Green, B. ; Rhoads, K. ; and Bator, R. (1998). “Undermining the undermining effect of reward on sustained interest, ” Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 28: 249 -263.

Revisiting Two WORDs: Warm or COLD Mr. _______ is a graduate student in the Department of Economics and Social Science here at MIT. He has had three semesters of teaching experience in psychology at another college. This is his first semester teach EC 70. He is 26 years old, a veteran, and married. People who know him consider him to be a very warm person, industrious, critical, practical, and determined. Mr. _______ is a graduate student in the Department of Economics and Social Science here at MIT. He has had three semesters of teaching experience in psychology at another college. This is his first semester teach EC 70. He is 26 years old, a veteran, and married. People who know him consider him to be a rather cold person, industrious, critical, practical, and determined. Reference: Kelley, H. H. (1950). “The warm-cold variable in first impressions of persons, ” Journal of Personality, 18, 431 -439.

Revisiting Two WORDs: Warm or COLD The class got the same lecture, but at the end, when asked to rate the instructor for possible hiring as an instructor, the students who had read the description of a “very warm” person rated him as “goodnatured, considerate of others, informal, sociable, popular, humorous, and humane, ” while those who read that he was “rather cold” rated him as “self-centered, formal, unsociable, unpopular, irritable, humorless, and ruthless. ” Reference: Kelley, H. H. (1950). “The warm-cold variable in first impressions of persons, ” Journal of Personality, 18, 431 -439.

Self-Diagnosis In a recent study, Carol Dweck and colleagues found that people who believe personality can change were more likely than others to bring up concerns and deal with problems in a constructive way. Dweck holds the view that a fixed mind-set can foster a categorical, all-ornothing view of people’s qualities; this view tends to lead to ignoring festering problems or, at the other extreme, giving up on a relationship at the first sign of trouble. Blackwell, Lisa S. , Trzesniewski, Kali H. , Dweck, Carol Sorich. (2007). “Implicit Theories of Intelligence Predict Achievement Across an Adolescent Transition: A Longitudinal Study and an Intervention, ” Child Development, 78(1): 246– 263.

Diagnosis Bias: Context and Clothing signals matter Joshua Bell, one of the top violinists in the world, gave a free performance in a Metro DC station in 2007. He was there for 45 minutes, playing in blue jeans and a baseball cap. He played several Bach pieces on a violin worth $3. 5 million. Very few people even stopped and listened; he got $32 in tips Several days before, Bell had played to a sold out audience in Boston at an average ticket price of $100. Weingarten, Gene. (2007). “Pearls before breakfast, ” Washington Post, April 17. www. washingtonpost. com/wpdyn/content/article/20027/0404/AR 200704041721. html

Self-diagnosis: How you think about the diagnosis matters Some people add cancer to their identities and others have a sense that the cancer is their whole identity People who felt damaged by their illness tended to rate their quality of life as low; people who viewed the illness as an opportunity for growth rated their quality of life as higher. Golub, Sarit. (2004). “Optimism, pessimism, and HIV Risk-Behavior: Motivation or Rationalization? ” Ph. D. Dissertation, Harvard University, Psychology Dept.

Commitment and Consistency Once people verbally or otherwise commit to some position, they are much more likely to act consistently with that committed position

Commitment and Consistency • Once restaurant owner decreased no shows for dinner reservations from 30% to 10% by changing what the receptionist said from “Please call if you have to cancel, ” to “Will you please call if you have to cancel? ” and then waiting for a yes response. • When people verbally commit to something, they are more likely to follow through. From Goldstein, Noah; Martin, Steve; and Cialdini , R. (2008). Yes: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive. NY: Free Press.

Commitment and Consistency The foot in the door technique: Small actions/comittments open the door lead to bigger ones

Commitment and Consistency One researcher set a blanket with a radio on the beach, listened to the radio for a few minutes, then went for a stroll on the beach A second researcher pretended to be a thief who took the radio and began to run away with it Very few (4 out of 20) onlookers stopped the “thief” until the next condition, in which the first researcher asked the onlooker to “watch my stuff. ” Then, 19 of the 20 onlookers ran after the “thief, ” snatched the radio out of his hand, in some cases, restrained him until the owner returned Moriarty, T. (1975). “Crime, consistency, and the responsive bystander, ” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 31: 370 -376.

Take Away Get people to publicly, verbally and with small actions, commit to some course of action or value that would be good for them and in the direction in which you are trying to lead them They are much more likely to follow through if they do

Influence Principle #3: loss aversion/avoidance

Loss Aversion/Avoidance People are very driven to avoid loss Lost opportunities Loss of freedom

Loss Aversion/Avoidance Professor holds an auction among MBA students for a $20 bill Bids can start anywhere, but the rules say that the top bidder wins the $20 bill and the second highest bidder must also pay the amount he or she bid The $20 bill has been sold to the highest bidder for more than $20 every time the auction is held; the highest bid was for $204 Bazerman, Max. (2002). Judgment in Managerial Decision Making. NY: John Wiley and Sons. Shubik, Martin. (1971). “The Dollar Auction Game: A Paradox in noncooperative behavior and escalation, ” Journal of Conflict Resolution, (15): 109 -111.

Take. Away When introducing interventions and suggesting change, link lack of compliance with possible loss E. g. , “If you walk away from this marriage now and don’t give everything you’ve got, you may find yourself regretting it later. ”

Take. Away Drug and alcohol counselor (Bill Bowles) offers class for military personnel on recognizing and changing their addictions He hands out a list at the end of the first class with the ten things they could lose if they continue their drug/alcohol problem behavior Children, spouse, health, friends, money, career advancement, respect of others He reports these tough military people are often in tears by the time they finish going over the list

Bill O’Hanlon 223 N. Guadalupe #278 Santa Fe, NM 87501 www. billohanlon. com Bill@billohanlon. com www. paidpublicspeaker. com www. getyourbookwritten. com www. yourlifeoffreedom. com