Cialdini's Six Principles Of Social Influence

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One of the primary goals that social psychologists have always worked towards is understanding the process of social influence. More specifically, how one individual can influence the attitudes, behaviors, and thoughts of another individual. This goal has been continuously researched for many years, and multiple social psychologists have developed theories that explain how individuals motivate, influence, and alter other individuals’ behaviors, attitudes, and thoughts. Although numerous theories exist, Cialdini’s six principles of social influence is a prominent and well-researched theory that is used to explain the process of social influence. Therefore, each of the six principles will be described in detail, along with their application to clinical psychology and ethical implications of their use in practice. The first of the six principles is reciprocation, which is where person A does something for person B, which makes person B feel obligated to do something for person A (Cialdini & Griskevicius, 2010). Moreover, Cialdini and Griskevicius, (2010) argued that this principle is …show more content…
Both groups were required to complete a questionnaire, but one group (group A) received twenty dollars with the questionnaire and the other group (group B) was told they would receive twenty dollars after they completed the survey. Therefore, Berry and Kanouse (1897) measured the extent to which payment time (before or after completing the survey) affected the response rate. The results indicated that timing had a significant effect on participants’ response rates (Berry and Kanouse, 1987). Specifically, group A’s response rate was 78%, whereas group B’s response rate was 66%. Despite being somewhat outdated, the results of this study indicated how influential the reciprocation principle can

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