The Art and Science of Persuasion

The Art and Science of

Persuasion

Week 3 Assignment

PSY 301

Elisa Fleming

Dr. Thomas King

Date: 7-27-20
 In this paper I will be discussing Psychologist Dr. Robert Cialdini’s 6 principles of persuasion. The

one I feel I mostly relate to is reciprocity. I chose this because I believe when we do go for others we get

our blessings back in return in one way or another. So I have found myself helping out those less

fortunate without even thinking of getting anything in return. It is such a good feeling. I have received

many blessing in many ways as well. I do believe in good karma and bad karma when you do good

things, good energy you will receive. But if you do bad things, bad energy or bad karma you will receive.

So I always felt in my heart it was the right thing to help someone else. This is a very good thing when it

comes to treating people the way I want to be treated. Part of it has to do with my cultural upbringing as

well. Feensta (2020). For this paper I put more of an emphasis on homelessness when it comes showing

examples of the principles. This was something I was able to relate to because I was once in this

situation with my own family when I was younger. Now that I am an adult and in a much better situation

I have been paying it forward to those less fortunate. I have focused on ways to help the homeless in

every way I can. I was always taught by my parents to treat your neighbor the same way you would treat

yourself. I believe when you do good by people you will get your blessings back in return. When I do

things for people I don’t do it because I am looking for them to do it for me I just do it. I love to help the
homeless and give them food. I remember when I was 7 or 8 back home in Jamaica when me and my

brothers were young my mom and dad had lost the house times were hard. We ended up living in my

dads car. This was before he became a medical doctor that he is today. My dad always said he wanted

to be a doctor to save lives and help people. When I see homeless people in the street I feel it is my duty

or obligation to give back to those less fortunate because I know what it feels like to not have a place to

live or food to eat. Feenstra ( 2020) It makes me feel good to help others. We also learn to appreciate

life so much more. I also grew up in a Christian household where we prayed a lot and we believed that

god was our savior. When it comes to this is the process to exchange something to receive something in

return. Its Reciprocity is a process of exchanging things with other people in order to gain. Reciprocity

may be looked at as a social norm where if someone does something for you, you may feel obligated to

return the favor. Feenstra (2020)

his picture you see posted below Is a picture of man who was homeless at the time named Elmer

Alverez and real estate broker named Roberta Hoskie they were brought together because the

homeless man thought it was the right thing to bring the lost check he found to its rightful owner.

Roberta Hoskie was homeless at one point herself so she felt the need to pay it forward and help

someone else. When Alvarez was asked what made him return the check he said that “he was taught

not to steal and knew it was the right thing to do” Alverez (2017) And because he did so the woman

you see with him gave him a job, a house and some money to start him off with. He was blessed in

returned. This is a good example of treating people the way you want to be treated. The love was

reciprocated between the two parties as you can see.

This picture that you see below is a picture of a man named Billy Ray Harris. At the time he was

homeless but his life soon changed when he returned a $4000 diamond ring to the woman named

Sarah Darling in 2013. Ms. Darling dropped her engagement ring in his cup while giving him some
money. In return she was able to raise 190,000 for Billy to get a home, buy a new car, as well as to

start his own house painting company. This is an example of reciprocity. When you treat people the

way you want to be treated. This is proof that the love was given right back. He was blessed

tremendously. When asked why did he give the diamond back to the woman he said “ It was the right

thing to do”. Harris (2013)

This is a picture of a man below just helping someone with a pair of shoes. It could have been very

cold that day. This man was trying to pay it forward to someone because someone did the same for
him when he was homeless. This was another example of reciprocity.
 As you can see these are all acts of reciprocation one hand washes the other. They all looked out for

each other in one way or another.

When it comes to Dr. Robert Cialdini article called Harnessing The Science Of Persuasion he

expresses the many ways persuasion can help us in our persona and professional lives. He expresses

that some of us are naturals when it comes to persuasion. We are just born with the gift to easily

convince others to believe in what we want them too. Sometimes it can work in our favor if done right.

He said that it amazes him how someone who uses charisma and eloquence to the best of their ability

can convince so many to believe what it is that person is trying to convey. Cialdini (2001). Persuasion

seems to work better when it comes to certain needs or drives of the people. If they feel this relates to

their liking they may gravitate more to that person who shares their interest or beliefs. Cialdini (2001)

There are many factors that can come into play when it comes to persuasion. The main two are

similarity and praise. Cialdini (2001). Dr. Cialdini had 6 principles of persuasion. They were Liking,

Reciprocity, Consistency, Authority, Social proof, scarcity. When it comes to Liking this meant the more

you like someone the more you can be persuaded by what they are putting out there to you. So how

important is it to like someone ? This is something you might ask. And this can be very important when

you want to persuade a person or an audience to like something or believe what it is that you have

brought to their attention. Just like I had mentioned before based on Dr. Cialdini’s principle when I

mentioned liking, This has to do with the sharing of similar or relatable interests or the physical

attractiveness.

“Characteristics that have received a great deal of attention from researchers are credibility,

attractiveness, and likability”. Feenstra (2020) When it comes to my favorite which is reciprocity this
basically means when you give a something you will get back something in return. This is the reciprocal

behavior that a lot of humans can relate to. We tend to feel obligated to help someone in need because

we feel it is just our duty to help someone. Cialdini (2001). For example when I help someone who is

homeless it makes me feel good. Knowing that someone is out there hungry and is depending on a

person like me with a heart to help them makes me feel more obligated to do so. You will get something

good in return one way or another. When it comes to consistency people like a person who is shows a

great deal of commitment, They want someone who is consistent and committed to their shared beliefs

and values. If people feel that you care for them and your consistent with your word and show real

action they will gravitate more towards you. And they will support you as well. When it comes to social

proof when it comes to social proof if someone feels something may be good for them based on a trac

record of a restaurant or certain hair care products for women like me we may be more interested in

giving it a try as well. Its all about validation. Cialdini (2001) We need to see valid social proof. We want

to hear what others are saying to help us make a determination on what we should do next.

When it comes to authority this can be someone you may be or have been obedient to. This is someone

who shows authority in someway shape or form. It could be a teacher, your boss, a parent, the mayor,

the president, or a police officer to name a few. This can be an expert in a certain field as well. When

someone shows authority such as an expert for example it can be easy for them to persuade someone

because they give the impression that they know what they are talking about. So we may tend listen and

believe what they may say most of the time. They may seem educated enough or have certain

qualifications to may them look more reliable for credible information. When it comes to scarcity this is

when you know or believe that something may be limited and because of this you may want it even

more. Cialdini(2001) For example when COVID-19 hit back in march people were leaving shelves empty
of toilet paper. I remember going to Walmart to get some and even BJs and it was all gone. I was in

shocked. It made me want to find some and stack up the way tissue was disappearing. I had some at

home already but I was running low. So I can definitely relate to what it means for something to be

limited. I feel people were buying so much tissue because they were scared to come outside. They

wanted to grab all they could because they did not know what was going to happen next. I can

understand But I was so shocked. I never been to a store where they were out of all the tissue. This was

the first. This paper shows how we can be manipulated in a good or a bad way when it comes to the

power of persuasion. I never really realized how important persuasion was until I read Dr. Cialdini’s

article. We can easily use it without consciously being aware the importance of it. Or even really

realizing all that hard work it took to convince someone that day. I will only use persuasion if I feel the

need to do so. It has to be very important. If I had credible proof that could potentially save a persons

life I would do it.

Many times the power of persuasion may get overlooked. Persuasion plays a major part in our everyday

lives. We may unconsciously not know it at the time when it is actually happening. It can be so easy for

a person to get their way and why do you ask ? This is because most likely that person may have

convinced someone to do something based on their persuasion tactic. They may seem to be believable

or trust worthy at the time. Feenstra (2020) I have heard many people say that oh you have a way with

words. I think we have all heard this saying at least once in our lives. When we are home watching tv,

and then a commercial comes on that shows ads to get you to buy something this is all persuasion. Also

when I am outside I may see billboards with ads about skin care products or even about clothes that

may be on sale. Don’t get me wrong it can be so tempting at times but I am the type to have

intrapersonal conversations within myself and I am able to rationalize that I may not actually need it at
the time. But If I am trying to save money it would not be good for me to pursue that desire at the time.

The whole objective is to convince the reader, the audience or the person in general to believe the

message that is being conveyed. A good advertiser would do anything to make their advertisement so

convincing and believable to get the customers attention. Once they get their attention they are almost

to the finish line. Then once the customer makes the purchase the deal is closed then on to the next

one. I personally have witnessed this in my own life several times. For example one time I was on my

way somewhere and I happened to walk pass a man selling women dresses of his truck in the street. The

man seen me and he approached me and he did everything he could to persuade me to buy a dress. He

kept telling me how beautiful I was and that the dress would have looked perfect on me.

I told him I was in a rush to go somewhere. But what made me really know he did not have my best

interest at heart was when he said I could be the next Naomi Campbell. This is when I said I have to go. I

am a curvy but well proportioned woman and I know I was not going to be the next slim Naomi

Campbell. But the point I am trying to make is that people will do all they can to persuade you by telling

you anything that may sound believable. Sometimes they may do it because they have your best interest

at heart but we must also be aware that when people see an opportunity whether it be bad or good this

is something they see can be beneficial in one way or another for them. It may seem selfish but this is

reality. When it comes to “Social psychology this can help us answer these questions by applying the

scientific method to different aspects of persuasion—the persuader, the message, and the audience—as

well as investigating specific persuasion techniques. Knowing more about persuasion may allow us to

better resist being persuaded in the future”. Feenstra (2020) When we perceive information from the

communicator to be accurate we may not feel it is necessary to question their credibility. “Credibility

has two aspects: expertise and trustworthiness” (Hovland, Janis, & Kelley, 1953). A communicator with
expertise is one who appears to have knowledge and is able to communicate it. A communicator with

trustworthiness is one we believe is giving us accurate information. Feenstra (2020) If we feel the

communicator is less trust worthy we may not feel comfortable enough to trust their source of

information. When it comes to the characteristics of the persuader this may play a part as well. Such as

physical characteristics or if the information seems reliable to their liking. “Characteristics that have

received a great deal of attention from researchers are credibility, attractiveness, and likability”.

Feenstra (2020) “Physically attractive communicators are more persuasive than less attractive

communicators or messages where the attractiveness of the communicator is unknown” (Chaiken,

1979; Debevec, Madden, & Kernan, 1986; DeBono & Telesca, 1990; Khan & Sutcliffe, 2014; Peters,

Meshack, & Lin, 2014).

References:

Feenstra, J. (2020). Social psychology (2nd ed.). Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/

Cialdini, R. B., 2001. Harnessing the Science of Persuasion. Harvard Business Review, 79(9), 72-79.

Hovland, C. I., Janis, I. L., & Kelley, H. H. (1953). Communication and persuasion. New Haven, CT: Yale
University Press.

Chaiken, S. (1979). Communicator physical attractiveness and persuasion. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 37, 1387–1397. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.37.8.1387
Debevec, K., Madden, T. J., & Kernan, J. B. (1986). Physical attractiveness, message evaluation, and
compliance: A structural evaluation. Psychological Reports, 58, 503–508.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1986.58.2.503

DeBono, K. G., & Telesca, C. (1990). The influence of source physical attractiveness on advertising
effectiveness: A functional perspective. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 20, 1383–1395. doi:
10.1111/j.1559-1816.1990.tb01479.x

Khan, R. F., & Sutcliffe, A. (2014). Attractive agents are more persuasive. International Journal of
Human–Computer Interaction, 30, 142-150. doi: 10.1080/10447318.2013.839904

Peters, R. J., Meshack, A., & Lin, M.-T. (2014). Smoking cessation recruitment message tailored to
African American high school smokers. American Journal on Addictions, 23, 102. doi: 10.1111/j.1521-
0391.2013.12070.x