5 VOLUME 7 |ISSUE 3 |2016
Six Principles of Influence
The six principles of influence that Cialdini talked about in his
closing session at the ICSA conference in 2005 are as follows:
· Liking. If people like you—because they sense that you
like them, or because of things you have in common—
they’re more apt to say Yes to you.
· Reciprocity. People tend to return favors. If you help
people, they’ll help you. If you behave in a certain way
(cooperatively, for example), they’ll respond in kind.
· Social proof. People will do things they see other
people doing, especially if those people seem similar to
them.
· Commitment and consistency. People want to be
consistent, or at least to appear to be. If they make a
public, voluntary commitment, they’ll try to follow
through.
· Authority. People defer to experts and to those in
positions of authority (and typically underestimate
their tendency to do so).
· Scarcity. People value things more if they perceive
them to be scarce.
Note that Cialdini’s approach to persuasion discourages
lying and promotes an ethical approach to building stronger
and authentic longer-term relationships without the use of
deception.
The excerpts from the original 2005 interview and added
text that follow expand upon the original content to offer
additional perspective on topics discussed in the original
conversation. The order of questions and responses has been
altered, and some revisions to the text have been made.
2005 Interview, Updated*
CM:1 What brings you to this conference on psychological
manipulation and cultic studies?
RC: Well, you know my research has always been on the
psychology of influence and persuasion. I have recognized
that influence and persuasion are a central part of the way
that cultic groups operate in order to recruit and retain
their members, and so I was invited to speak of the overlap
between these factors.
__________________
*In the following text, the CM stands for Cathrine Moestue
and RC for Robert Cialdini. Updated commentary within the
interview is indicated by Moestue 2016 and is highlighted with
this tan.
I have been researching to understand how people are
persuaded in all facets of their experience, and how they
are persuaded into cults and persuaded to stay in those
sometimes unhealthy and destructive environments.
CM: Do you think cults use those same tactics and principles
that you have described in your book?
RC: I am convinced of it. Along with the respected Spanish
psychologist Carmen Almendros and my US-based colleague
Noah Goldstein, I have recently done some research,
which shows that former cult members not only report
being influenced by the same six principles, but they also
report being influenced much more intensively in their cult
experiences than other individuals in noncult groups.
CM: How are terrorists using the principles of persuasion
against us?
RC: …they are using these principles to recruit terrorists who
are indoctrinated to believe that their ultimate goals will be
served by taking actions that are reprehensible to the rest of
the world. But inside that small group, inside that context,
they can be made to believe that this is not only acceptable,
but [also] commendable behavior for them.
Moestue 2016: As noted earlier, jihadist recruiters have a
new 51-page handbook, A Course in the Art of Recruitment,
attributed to Abu ‘Amr al-Qa‘idi (a pseudonym) (2009/2010),
to guide them through the art of radicalizing. Abdullah Warius
and Brian Fishman wrote about this handbook in the CTC
Sentinel, a publication of the Combating Terrorism Center at
West Point (Warius &Fishman, 2009). In our discussion on
mechanisms, social influence, and the similarities between
cultic groups and terrorist groups, I want to show how the
cynical advice from the manual taps into Cialdini’s principles.
Because surprisingly little research or analysis has been
conducted on terrorist recruitment (Borum, 2010), this manual
is a valuable resource for our understanding. More specifically,
how the manual shows recruitment exploits our human
need to gain social approval and to manage our self-image
and its application of the principles of reciprocity, liking, and
consistence is especially useful, as the following descriptions
reflect.
Social psychologists ask not who
becomes radicalized, but rather
how that radical change in values
and identity is facilitated.
Six Principles of Influence
The six principles of influence that Cialdini talked about in his
closing session at the ICSA conference in 2005 are as follows:
· Liking. If people like you—because they sense that you
like them, or because of things you have in common—
they’re more apt to say Yes to you.
· Reciprocity. People tend to return favors. If you help
people, they’ll help you. If you behave in a certain way
(cooperatively, for example), they’ll respond in kind.
· Social proof. People will do things they see other
people doing, especially if those people seem similar to
them.
· Commitment and consistency. People want to be
consistent, or at least to appear to be. If they make a
public, voluntary commitment, they’ll try to follow
through.
· Authority. People defer to experts and to those in
positions of authority (and typically underestimate
their tendency to do so).
· Scarcity. People value things more if they perceive
them to be scarce.
Note that Cialdini’s approach to persuasion discourages
lying and promotes an ethical approach to building stronger
and authentic longer-term relationships without the use of
deception.
The excerpts from the original 2005 interview and added
text that follow expand upon the original content to offer
additional perspective on topics discussed in the original
conversation. The order of questions and responses has been
altered, and some revisions to the text have been made.
2005 Interview, Updated*
CM:1 What brings you to this conference on psychological
manipulation and cultic studies?
RC: Well, you know my research has always been on the
psychology of influence and persuasion. I have recognized
that influence and persuasion are a central part of the way
that cultic groups operate in order to recruit and retain
their members, and so I was invited to speak of the overlap
between these factors.
__________________
*In the following text, the CM stands for Cathrine Moestue
and RC for Robert Cialdini. Updated commentary within the
interview is indicated by Moestue 2016 and is highlighted with
this tan.
I have been researching to understand how people are
persuaded in all facets of their experience, and how they
are persuaded into cults and persuaded to stay in those
sometimes unhealthy and destructive environments.
CM: Do you think cults use those same tactics and principles
that you have described in your book?
RC: I am convinced of it. Along with the respected Spanish
psychologist Carmen Almendros and my US-based colleague
Noah Goldstein, I have recently done some research,
which shows that former cult members not only report
being influenced by the same six principles, but they also
report being influenced much more intensively in their cult
experiences than other individuals in noncult groups.
CM: How are terrorists using the principles of persuasion
against us?
RC: …they are using these principles to recruit terrorists who
are indoctrinated to believe that their ultimate goals will be
served by taking actions that are reprehensible to the rest of
the world. But inside that small group, inside that context,
they can be made to believe that this is not only acceptable,
but [also] commendable behavior for them.
Moestue 2016: As noted earlier, jihadist recruiters have a
new 51-page handbook, A Course in the Art of Recruitment,
attributed to Abu ‘Amr al-Qa‘idi (a pseudonym) (2009/2010),
to guide them through the art of radicalizing. Abdullah Warius
and Brian Fishman wrote about this handbook in the CTC
Sentinel, a publication of the Combating Terrorism Center at
West Point (Warius &Fishman, 2009). In our discussion on
mechanisms, social influence, and the similarities between
cultic groups and terrorist groups, I want to show how the
cynical advice from the manual taps into Cialdini’s principles.
Because surprisingly little research or analysis has been
conducted on terrorist recruitment (Borum, 2010), this manual
is a valuable resource for our understanding. More specifically,
how the manual shows recruitment exploits our human
need to gain social approval and to manage our self-image
and its application of the principles of reciprocity, liking, and
consistence is especially useful, as the following descriptions
reflect.
Social psychologists ask not who
becomes radicalized, but rather
how that radical change in values
and identity is facilitated.
