
Professor Dennis Regan at Cornell created a study to test reciprocity. People who take without giving tend to be judged negatively and shunned socially.

In pretty much all human cultures, this is a universal moral rule: Thou shalt reciprocate.

Reciprocity means we have a natural urge to pay back gifts and favours we have received. The first principle is called reciprocity. In this book, Cialdini will explain six major principles of influence.

Reciprocity: We feel obligated to pay back gifts and favours For example, adding the single word “because” to a request caused 33% more people to say yes.Ģ. Usually these mental shortcuts help us make the right decisions, but sometimes they can be hijacked. We sometimes rely on automatic triggers to make decisions. Learn more in our summary of Cialdini’s newest book Pre-Suasion The news features violence and natural disasters because we are wired to survive, which means paying close attention to possible danger. Sexual and violent stimuli are prime examples because of their connections to our fundamental motivations to reproduce on the one hand and to avoid harm on the other-life and death, literally.”įor example, advertisements feature attractive people because we are wired by evolution to be on the lookout for sexual stimuli. Those that do so most powerfully are linked to our survival. He wrote, “Certain cues seize our attention vigorously. And the best way to get someone’s attention is through cues related to sex, danger or novelty. In Professor Cialdini’s newest book Pre-Suasion, he says before we can influence someone, we first have to get their attention. People simply like to have reasons for what they do. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make some copies?” This time 93 percent of people said yes! The single word “because” caused almost everyone to say yes, even when the reason given was empty!Ī well-known principle of human behavior says that when we ask someone to do us a favor we will be more successful if we provide a reason. Then they tried asking “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine?” and 60 percent of people said yes. First they tried asking: “Excuse me, I have five pages. A study by Ellen Langer tested how many people would let someone cut into the fron of a line to use a photocopy machine. Usually they are shortcuts that help us make the right decisions, but sometimes these triggers can be hijacked so we make decisions against our best interests.įor example, adding the single word “because” to a request makes a lot more people say yes to it. Well, humans also have similar triggers that are automatic and irrational.
