Psychology and on the Subtopic of Persuasion.

¶ … psychology and on the subtopic of persuasion. This author has decided to pursue this topic because of the importance of understanding the subject of persuasion. It is used in everything from sales to simply convincing someone of your opinion. While the works of individuals like Robert B. Cialdini have been trailblazers in our historical memories, it is the opinion of this author that in many ways Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People is still one of the best. While not a clinical psychologist, Carnegie was self-taught in many ways in psychology and like Cialdini gathered his observations from years of on the job and on the spot observations that are attested to by the continued reliance upon his book and principles as taught worldwide by the Dale Carnegie Institute.

Recent Discoveries/Developments

Robert B. Cialdini and Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

One of the most influential psychology text on the art of persuasion was by Robert B. Cialdini in Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. In three years that Dr. Cialdini spent researching and writing the book, he went "undercover" applying for training and jobs and training at used car dealerships, telemarketing companies and fund-raising organizations in order to observe many real-life situations of persuasion in order to put together a set of commonalities upon which to establish a group of universal principles. Additionally, the book reviews some of the most important experiments theories and experiments in social psychology (Cialdini, 2006, xi-xiv). In the book, he posits six universal laws of persuasion. These principles may work independently, together or at different rates during the persuasive relationship.

These laws are as follows:

1) Reciprocity-People feel a sense of obligation to give back to other people who have benefited or given to them (ibid., 17). This sense of obligation can be exploited to keep the person coming back by continually benefiting them.

2) Social Proof-People decide what they should or will do by duplicating and observing the conduct of other people (ibid., 114). This is sort of like "keeping up with the Jones family" and is a status issue.

3) Authority-People rely upon those who have perceived superior knowledge in the way of guidance regarding what decision(s) should be made. These kind of people need to be told what to do by someone they see as an expert.

4) Consistency-Once a person has made a choice or taken a stand, they encounter personal and interpersonal pressure to behave consistently with that commitment of purpose (ibid., 57). Most people will not resist this pressure and are convinced after the initial persuasion.

5) Scarcity-Opportunities will appear more valuable to a person when they are less available to them as choices (ibid., 237). Absence does seem to make the heart grow fonder, even if outside of romance.

6) Liking-People often prefer to say "yes" to those they know and like in their lives (ibid., 167). As we will see earlier, this is spot on in terms of the approach of Dale Carnegie.

One might think that such prognostications about persuasive psychology would simply be the province of American business schools. However, it was the subject of a 2012 course at the James Boswell Institute of the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands. The description of the course "From delivering the most engaging speech in the limelight to brokering the best possible deal behind the scenes to inspiring your audience, you need to be able to do it all if you ever want to reach the top.

How do you get other people to do what you would like them to do? This course focuses on everything from personal speaking skills to mediation and from negotiation to inspirational leadership. Learn how to become a leader in discussions and debates, and bring people together in a common vision.

After completing this program you will be a better speaker, a more formidable negotiator and a leader who can inspire others." While this is for an English course, most of the same principles are happening as there was in Cialdini's research, so it does appear that there are commonalities that can be applied across the spectrum ("Powers of persuasion," 2012).

Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People

While all of the of this very cutting edge research, in the opinion of this author, one should not overlook a classic of personal persuasion that has guided persuaders literally for decades In a section of his classic book entitled How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie laid out universal principles of how to persuade and to be liked by people that have stood the test of some eight decades. They are still the engine and the basis for the continued activities of the Dale Carnegie Institute in its ongoing activities involving the training of business professionals worldwide in these techniques to enable their sales and marketing staffs to succeed beyond their wildest dreams. Primarily, boiled down, Mr. Carnegie's philosophy revolves around a person truly being interested in the welfare of the person who is targeted for persuasion or sales. Amazingly, Mr. Carnegie uses the example of the common dog to illustrate his point. The common canine is universally liked because all it is interested in is the welfare of its owner. It never lacks for friends or companionship. Building upon this, Carnegie maintains that interest in the person's welfare is shown by the mastery of and the frequent use of the person's name in conversation. This shows interest and when one prompts further, the person will tell one about their favorite conversational topic which is themselves (Carnegie, 1936, 17-20). The fantastic volumes about the success of this approach are worldwide and well documented and are must reading for sales and marketing professionals in almost every company in the western world.

Personal Opinion of this Author on the Topic