Robert Cialdini
( 1945 - )
Compiled by Amber Sherman
• Biography
• Theory
• Time Line
• Bibliography
Robert Cialdini was born on April 27, 1945. He was raised in an entirely Italian family, in a predominantly Polish neighborhood, in a historically German city (Milwaukee), in an otherwise rural state. In 1963, he began his undergraduate study in Psychology at the University of Wisconsin. He received a Bachelor's of Science in June of 1967. In 1967, he began his graduate study in Social Psychology at the University of North Carolina where he received a Ph.D. in June of 1970. During 1970 and1971 he took his postgraduate position in Social Psychology at Columbia University.
From 1971 until 1975 Cialdini served as an Assistant Professor for the Department of Psychology at Arizona State University during which he served as a visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Social Psychology Doctoral Program at Ohio State University. In 1975, Cialdini became an Associate Professor for the Department of Psychology at Arizona State University. In 1979, he was a visiting scholar in the Department of Psychology at the University of California at San Diego. In 1979, he became a Professor for the Department of Psychology at Arizona State University and is still a Professor there today. In 1986, he was a visiting Professor of Psychology at the University of California at Santa Cruz. In 1987 until 1988, he was a visiting scholar at the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Southern California. In 1991 and 1992, he served as a visiting Professor at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. In 1993 and 1994, he served as a visiting scholar in the Department of Psychology and the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.
Throughout his life Cialdini as received many fellowships and distinctions. In 1985 and 1986 he was a Graduate College Distinguished Research Professor at Arizona State University. In 1988 he became Arizona State University Regents' Professor and he still holds this honor today. In 1994, he was a G. Stanley Hall Lecturer at the 1994 meetings of the American Psychological Association. In 1996, he received a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of North Carolina and their Department of Psychology. In 1996 and 1997, he served as President of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology and the Division of Personality and Social Psychology (Div. 8) of the American Psychological Association. In 2000, he was a recipient of the Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award of The Society of Consumer Psychology.
In 1974 through 1976, he was a member of the Board of Consulting Editors for the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. In 1976 through 1979, he was the Associate Editor for the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Since 1983, he has been a member of the Board of Advisory Editors for the Applied Social Psychology Annual. Since 1989. He has been a member of the Board of Directors for the Society for the Study of Social Influence. Since 1990, he has been a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for the Cultic Studies Journal. Since 1993, he has been a member of the Board of Consulting Editors for Basic and Applied Social Psychology. Since 1999, he has been a member of the Board of Advisors for Yaffe Center for Persuasive Communication at the University of Michigan.
Cialdini's Major Influences
Robert Cialdini has over 124 publications in journals, articles, and books. Professor Cialdini's book INFLUENCE, which was the result of a three-year program of study into the reasons that people comply with requests in everyday settings, has appeared in numerous editions and ten languages. Within his book Cialdini lists six basic social and psychological principles that form the foundation for successful strategies used to achieve influence. Those six principle are:
(1.) Rule of Reciprocity which requires that one person try to repay what another person has provided. By obligating the recipient to an act of repayment in the future--the rule for reciprocation allows one individual to give something to another with the confidence that it is not being lost. The opportunity to exploit this tactic is due to three characteristics of the Rule of Reciprocity:
• The rule is extremely powerful, often overwhelming the influence of other factors that normally determine compliance with a request.
• The rule applies even to uninvited first favors, which reduces our ability to decide whom we wish to owe and putting the choice in the hands of others.
• The rule can spur unequal exchanges. That is--to be rid of the uncomfortable feeling of indebtedness, an individual will often agree to a request for a substantially larger favor, than the one he or she first received.
(2.) Commitment and Consistency - people have a desire to look consistent through their words, beliefs, attitudes and deeds and this tendency is supported or fed from three sources:
Good personal consistency is highly valued by society.
Consistent conduct provides a beneficial approach to daily life.
• A consistent orientation affords a valuable shortcut through the complexity of modern existence. That is-- by being consistent with earlier decisions we can reduce the need to process all the relevant information in future similar situations. Instead, one merely needs to recall the earlier decision and respond consistently.
• To recognize and resist the undue influence of consistency pressures upon our compliance decisions--we can listen for signals coming from two places within us--our stomach or "gut reaction" and our heart.
• A bad feeling in the pit of the stomach may appear when we realize that we are being pushed by commitment and consistency pressures to agree to requests we know we don't want to perform.
• Our heart may bother us when it is not clear that an initial commitment was right.
(3.) Social Proof - is used to determine what is correct by finding out what others believe is correct. People often view a behavior as more correct in a given situation--to the degree that we see others performing it. Social proof is most influential under two conditions:
• Uncertainty--when people are unsure and the situation is ambiguous they are more likely to observe the behavior of others and to accept that behavior as correct.
• Similarity--people are more inclined to follow the lead of others who are similar.
(4.) Liking -- people prefer to say yes to individuals they know and like. These five concepts are used:
• Physical attractiveness--is one feature of a person that often may help to create some influence. Physical attractiveness seems to engender a "halo" effect that extends to favorable impressions of other traits such as talent, kindness, and intelligence. As a result, attractive people are more persuasive both in terms of getting what they request and in changing others' attitudes.
• Similarity--is a second factor that influences both Liking and compliance. That is--we like people who are like us and are more willing to say yes to their requests, often without much critical consideration.
• Praise--is another factor that produces Liking, though this can sometimes backfire when they are crudely transparent. But generally compliments most often enhance liking and can be used as a means to gain compliance.
• Increased familiarity--through repeated contact with a person or thing is yet another factor that normally facilitates Liking. But this holds true principally when that contact takes place under positive rather than negative circumstances. One positive circumstance that may works well is mutual and successful cooperation.
• A final factor linked to Liking is often association. By associating with products or positive things--those who seek influence frequently share in a halo effect by association
(5.) Authority - the tendency for compliance when requested by an authority figure. The strength of this tendency to obey legitimate authorities is derived from the systematic socialization practices designed to instill in society the perception that such obedience constitutes correct conduct. When reacting to authority in an automatic fashion there is a tendency to often do so in response to the mere symbols of authority rather than to its substance. Three types of symbols have been demonstrated through research as effective in this regard:
• Titles
• Clothing
• Automobiles.
(6.) Scarcity - people assign more value to opportunities when they are less available. The use of this principle for profit can be seen in such high-pressure sales techniques as only a "limited number" now available and a "deadline" set for an offer. Such tactics attempt to persuade people that number and/or time restrict access to what is offered. The scarcity principle holds true for two reasons:
• Things difficult to attain are typically more valuable. And the availability of an item or experience can serve as a shortcut clue or cue to its quality.
• When something becomes less accessible, the freedom to have it may be lost.
The scarcity principle is more likely to hold true under two optimizing condition.
• Scarce items are heightened in value when they are newly scarce. That is things have higher value when they have become recently restricted--more than those than those things that were restricted all along have.
• People are most attracted to scarce resources when they compete with others for them.
Time Line of Cialdini's Life
1945 Cialdini was born on April 27, 1945
1963-67 Undergraduate study in Psychology at the University of Wisconsin
1967 Bachelors of Science University of Wisconsin
1967-70 Graduate study in Social Psychology at the University of North Carolina
1970 Ph.D at the University of North Carolina
1970-71 Postgraduate study in Social Psychology at Columbia University.
1971-75 Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Arizona State University.
1973-74 Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology, Social Psychology Doctoral Program, OSU.
1974-76 Member, Board of Consulting Editors, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
1975-79 Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Arizona State University.
1976-79 Associate Editor, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
1978 Visiting Scholar, Department of Psychology, University of California at San Diego.
1979-pr. Professor, Department of Psychology, Arizona State University.
1983-pr. Member, Board of Advisory Editors, Applied Social Psychology Annual.
1984-85 "Altruism or the elimination of negative affect." College of Liberal Arts and Sciences research award.
1985-86 Graduate College Distinguished Research Professor, Arizona State University.
1986 Visiting Professor of Psychology, University of California at Santa Cruz.
1987-88 Visiting Scholar, The Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Southern California.
1988-pr. Arizona State University Regents' Professor.
1989-pr. Member, Board of Directors. Society for the Study of Social Influence.
1990-pr. Member, Editorial Advisory Board, Cultic Studies Journal.
1991-92 Visiting Professor, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University.
1993-94 Visiting Scholar, Department of Psychology and Graduate School of Business, Stanford University
1993-pr. Member, Board of Consulting Editors, Basic and Applied Social Psychology.
1994 G. Stanley Hall Lecturer at the 1994 meetings of the American Psychological Association.
1996 Distinguished Alumnus Award. University of North Carolina. Department of Psychology.
1996-97 President, Society for Personality and Social Psychology and the Division of Personality and Social Psychology (Div. 8) of the American Psychological Association.
1997 Fellow, American Psychological Society.
1999-pr. Member, Board of Advisors, Yaffe Center for Persuasive Communication, University of Michigan
2000 Recipient, Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award of The Society of Consumer Psychology
References
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