ancient philosopher Epictetus rested his career on the idea that it is not events that determine your state of mind, but how you decide to
feel
about the events. This secret is shared by all happy people, yet it is a skill that can be learnt by anyone.
David D. Burns
Burns attended Amherst College and received his MD from Stanford University. He completed his psychiatric training at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was Acting Chief of Psychiatry of its Medical Center. In 1975 he won the A. E. Bennett Award for research on brain chemistry from the Society for Biological Psychiatry
.
Burns has been a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Medical School, and is currently Adjunct Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine
.
Feeling Good
has sold over four million copies. As well as the successful spinoff
The Feeling Good Handbook,
Burns has published
Love Is Never Enough,
on relationships,
Ten Days to Self-Esteem,
and
When Panic Attacks.
1984
Influence
âJust what are the factors that cause one person to say yes to another person? And which techniques most effectively use these factors to bring about such compliance? I wondered why it is that a request stated in a certain way will be rejected, while a request that asks for the same favor in a slightly different fashion will be successful.â
âWhen viewed in this light, the terrible orderliness, the lack of panic, the sense of calm with which these people moved to the vat of poison and to their deaths, seems more comprehensible. They hadnât been hypnotized by Jones; they had been convincedâpartly by him but, more importantly, also by the principle of social proofâthat suicide was correct conduct.â
----
In a nutshell
Know the techniques of psychological influence to avoid becoming their victim.
In a similar vein
Gavin de Becker
The Gift of Fear
(p 20)
Malcolm Gladwell
Blink
(p 124)
Eric Hoffer
The True Believer
(p 152)
Stanley Milgram
Obedience to Authority
(p 198)
Barry Schwartz
The Paradox of Choice
(p 248)
----
CHAPTER 10
Robert Cialdini
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
has sold more than a million copies and been translated into 20 languages. In his introduction, Robert Cialdini admits he had always been an easy mark for salespeople, peddlers, and fundraisers. It had never been easy for him to just say ânoâ when asked to donate money. An experimental social psychologist, he began wondering about the actual techniques that are used to make a person agree to do something when normally they would not be interested. As part of his research, Cialdini answered newspaper ads for various sales training programs so that he could learn at first hand about persuasion and selling techniques. He penetrated advertising, public relations, and fundraising agencies in order to glean the secrets of the âpsychology of complianceâ from its professional practitioners.
The result is a classic work of both marketing and psychology that shows us why we are so vulnerable to persuasion, in the process telling us much about human nature.
Getting our tapes to play
Cialdini starts by discussing the mothering instinct of turkeys. Mother turkeys are very protective, good mothers, but their mothering instinct has been found to be triggered by one thing and one thing only: the âcheep-cheepâ sound of their chicks. The polecat is the turkeyâs natural enemy, and when a mother turkey sees one she instantly goes into attack mode; she will do so even at the sight of a stuffed version of a polecat. But when the same stuffed polecat is made to make the same âcheep-cheepâ sound that her chicks make, something strange happens: The mother turkey becomes a devoted protector of the polecat!
How dumb are animals, you may be thinking. Press a button, and they act in a certain way, even if those actions are ridiculous. But Cialdini tells us about turkey behavior only to
feel
about the events. This secret is shared by all happy people, yet it is a skill that can be learnt by anyone.
David D. Burns
Burns attended Amherst College and received his MD from Stanford University. He completed his psychiatric training at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was Acting Chief of Psychiatry of its Medical Center. In 1975 he won the A. E. Bennett Award for research on brain chemistry from the Society for Biological Psychiatry
.
Burns has been a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Medical School, and is currently Adjunct Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine
.
Feeling Good
has sold over four million copies. As well as the successful spinoff
The Feeling Good Handbook,
Burns has published
Love Is Never Enough,
on relationships,
Ten Days to Self-Esteem,
and
When Panic Attacks.
1984
Influence
âJust what are the factors that cause one person to say yes to another person? And which techniques most effectively use these factors to bring about such compliance? I wondered why it is that a request stated in a certain way will be rejected, while a request that asks for the same favor in a slightly different fashion will be successful.â
âWhen viewed in this light, the terrible orderliness, the lack of panic, the sense of calm with which these people moved to the vat of poison and to their deaths, seems more comprehensible. They hadnât been hypnotized by Jones; they had been convincedâpartly by him but, more importantly, also by the principle of social proofâthat suicide was correct conduct.â
----
In a nutshell
Know the techniques of psychological influence to avoid becoming their victim.
In a similar vein
Gavin de Becker
The Gift of Fear
(p 20)
Malcolm Gladwell
Blink
(p 124)
Eric Hoffer
The True Believer
(p 152)
Stanley Milgram
Obedience to Authority
(p 198)
Barry Schwartz
The Paradox of Choice
(p 248)
----
CHAPTER 10
Robert Cialdini
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
has sold more than a million copies and been translated into 20 languages. In his introduction, Robert Cialdini admits he had always been an easy mark for salespeople, peddlers, and fundraisers. It had never been easy for him to just say ânoâ when asked to donate money. An experimental social psychologist, he began wondering about the actual techniques that are used to make a person agree to do something when normally they would not be interested. As part of his research, Cialdini answered newspaper ads for various sales training programs so that he could learn at first hand about persuasion and selling techniques. He penetrated advertising, public relations, and fundraising agencies in order to glean the secrets of the âpsychology of complianceâ from its professional practitioners.
The result is a classic work of both marketing and psychology that shows us why we are so vulnerable to persuasion, in the process telling us much about human nature.
Getting our tapes to play
Cialdini starts by discussing the mothering instinct of turkeys. Mother turkeys are very protective, good mothers, but their mothering instinct has been found to be triggered by one thing and one thing only: the âcheep-cheepâ sound of their chicks. The polecat is the turkeyâs natural enemy, and when a mother turkey sees one she instantly goes into attack mode; she will do so even at the sight of a stuffed version of a polecat. But when the same stuffed polecat is made to make the same âcheep-cheepâ sound that her chicks make, something strange happens: The mother turkey becomes a devoted protector of the polecat!
How dumb are animals, you may be thinking. Press a button, and they act in a certain way, even if those actions are ridiculous. But Cialdini tells us about turkey behavior only to
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