Techniques of Social Influence

This accessible text provides an overview of different social influence techniques, which people use in order to make others meet various requests, suggestions and commands. Author Dariusz Dolinski does not merely describe these techniques, but also explores the research behind them: how do we know that they work, and under what conditions are they more or less likely to be effective. A perfect introduction for psychology graduates and undergraduates studying social influence and persuasion, this original text will also appeal to scholars and students in neighboring disciplines, as well as interested practitioners in the field of sales and marketing

The Smolensk Disaster and the Dynamics of Death-Related Thoughts Accessibility

The article describes a study concerning death-related thoughts following the crash of the Polish Tu-154M plane with the Polish president and other members of an official Polish delegation on-board. In the study, the DRT (Death Related Thoughts) scale was used. The results showed that thoughts about death in a sample of Polish students (N=120) increased immediately after the plane crash, and after a few weeks the level measured was even higher. The obtained results also show a relatively strong positive correlation between the results of the DRT scale and the amount of information about the presidential plane crash presented in the massmedia

Is Product Placement Really Worse Than Traditional Commercials? Cognitive Load and Recalling of Advertised Brands

Considering the large number of adverts inundating the average consumer every day, the marketing industry is seeking methods to reach clients in a more subtle manner than traditional marketing messages. One such tool is product placement. The article addresses issues of effectiveness of product placement in comparison to a traditional commercial. The objective of the study was to check how participants would recall the content of persuasive messages in conditions of artificially inducted cognitive load (in conditions of traditional advertisement and product placement). Two studies were conducted – a pre-study intended to assess the usefulness of the selected stimuli, and the main experiment. The experiment devoted to this question was planned using an ANOVA scheme 2 (Type of advert: traditional vs. product placement) × 2 (neutral conditions vs. cognitive load). It turned out that the commercial was better retained in neutral conditions than in conditions of cognitive load. The traditional commercial was remembered better than product placement. From the perspective of the study’s ecological validity, of importance is also comparison of retention of brands viewed in a traditional commercial in conditions of cognitive load with retention of brands in conditions of product placement without load. These comparisons indicate the superiority of product placement – brands presented in this manner were more frequently recalled by viewers

I Like the Food You Made! Overly Positive Feedback Is Most Likely Given to Those That Want to Excel in a Task and Handle Failure Badly

In this article, we focus on how people resolve the dilemma between honest feedback and a prosocial lie depending on the context. In a pre-registered study (N = 455), we asked participants to choose between telling the blatant truth or lying prosocially regarding a dish made poorly by a stranger. The results showed that participants were most eager to pass on overly positive feedback when the stranger cared about cooking and was very sensitive to negative feedback. Perceived harm in truth telling mediated the relationship between desire to excel in a task with high ability to handle failure and choosing a prosocial lie

Consequences of Sisyphean Efforts: Meaningless Effort decreases motivation to engage in subsequent conservation behaviors through disappointment

This paper explores consequences of engaging in conservation efforts that later appear purposeless. Specifically,we tested the model in which disappointment lays at the root of decreased motivation in such situations. In Study 1 and 2, participants (n = 239 and n = 283) imagined that they had recycled plastic bottles for a week and that an assistant had collected their garbage in either separate bags (meaningful condition) or only one bag (meaningless condition). Half of participants imagined that they had put plastic bags and screw caps into separate containers (low-effort condition), the other half imagined that they had torn off the label bands (high-effort condition). In Study 3, a longitudinal field experiment, participants (n = 286) took part in a real situation that followed the procedure from Study 1 and Study 2. Altogether, we confirmed the moderating effect of effort on relationship between meaninglessness and motivation through experienced disappointment. We discuss consequences of efforts wasted for beliefs, intentions and behaviors affording sustainable solutions

Two for the seesaw: requester and requested

Research on emotion conducted so far has usually ignored situations where the person experiences a certain emotion, but where the external stimulus that evoked and upholds this emotion suddenly disappears. This kind of situation, however, is relatively common in everyday life. This article attempts to recognize certain consequences of those conditions under which the stimuli justifying our experience of such emotional states as fear or anxiety suddenly disappear. Research done to data by the author and his colleagues indicates increased compliance of the subject when addressed with various requests, commands or suggestion in the situation termed here “emotional see-saw” or “fear-then-relief”

Unrealistic Optimism in the Time of Coronavirus Pandemic: May It Help to Kill, If So—Whom: Disease or the Person?

Objective: The results of numerous empirical studies have showed the occurrence of so-called unrealistic optimism. Thus, we aimed to investigate whether in the situation of an imminent coronavirus pandemic, people would still perceive themselves as being less exposed to the disease than others. Methods: Survey studies were conducted to examine the level of unrealistic optimism. Participants (n = 171, 67.3% of women) in a subjective way judged the risk of their coronavirus infection and the likelihood that this would happen to an average student of the same sex from their class. The survey was conducted in three waves: prior to the announcement of the first case of coronavirus (2–3 March), immediately after that announcement (5–6 March), and a few days later (9–10 March). Results: We showed that women estimated the chances of being infected as significantly higher (M = 4.52, SD = 2.079; t = 2.387; p = 0.018; Cohen’s d = 0.393) than men (M = 3.71, SD = 2.042). The phenomenon of unrealistic optimism was observed especially in men (as compared to other male participants) as it appeared in all three measures (M (you) = 3.95 vs. M (other male student) = 4.63; M = 3.71 vs. M = 4.68, and M = 4.46 vs. M = 5.38 in phase one, two, and three, respectively; p ≤ 0.006 for all comparison), but also in women in the last two measures (M (you) = 4.55 vs. M (other female student) = 4.95, and M = 4.99 vs. M = 5.38 in phase 2 and 3, respectively; p ≤ 0.012 for both comparisons). Conclusions: The study revealed a fairly general occurrence of unrealistic optimism, which was mainly observed in men as it appeared in all three measures, but also in women in the last two measures. This result is important for health experts who are responsible for making people comply with regulations concerning social distancing, putting masks on to stop infection, and staying at home. It is possible that unrealistically optimistic people will behave much less in line with the aforementioned recommendations, causing coronavirus to spread widely

Techniques of Social Influence

This accessible text provides an overview of different social influence techniques, which people use in order to make others meet various requests, suggestions and commands. Author Dariusz Dolinski does not merely describe these techniques, but also explores the research behind them: how do we know that they work, and under what conditions are they more or less likely to be effective. A perfect introduction for psychology graduates and undergraduates studying social influence and persuasion, this original text will also appeal to scholars and students in neighboring disciplines, as well as interested practitioners in the field of sales and marketing

Male homophobia, touch, and compliance: A matter of the touched, not the toucher

Numerous studies have shown that people are more likely to fulfill requests made by a stranger when he or she touches their arm or forearm slightly while asking. In Poland, however, where male homophobia is widespread, interpersonal touch decreases compliance when man touches another man. It has also been demonstrated in previous studies that highly homophobic male participants are especially unwilling to fulfill requests while touched. In this paper the hypothesis that also confederates’ homophobia create an additional factor inhibiting compliance with request formulated by men touching other men was tested in two experiments. No relations, however, was found between confederates’ level of homophobia and participants’ reaction

To command or to ask? Gender and effectiveness of ''tough'' vs ''soft'' compliance-gaining strategies

On the basis of the experiments by In action films, comedies, sitcoms, and soap operas, women and men use completely different social influence methods in order to achieve their goals. Men typically use direct measures, give straightforward commands, or use physical strength, while women tend to demonstrate their helplessness, cry, or hint to get their way The tendency of men, as compared to women, to apply the direct and ''tough'' strategies of social influence, and the tendency of women rather than men to choose the indirect, ''softer'' strategies, have been demonstrated in several empirical studies (se