Influence:The Invisible Weapon. What We Should Know About Influence and How To Fight Back.

People have a tendency for searching for ways to look stronger.
Through continuous dedication, almost as a ritual, some people exercise their bodies and minds to achieve desired body strength. As other people, solely exercise their minds in an effort
to influence others. As a perception, strength or influence is relative to competitive others.
–Danilo Avalos

Introduction

During my lifetime, I had encountered times where certain behavior seemed suspicious to me, but I couldn’t decipher it without the proper knowledge. It is for this reason that after studying the book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, I have been able to understand why I always failed to recognize between what is fake and what is real. Without doubt, my life has been enriched as the life of thousands of readers who previously took advantage of the prodigal material written by PH.D. Robert Cialdini.
During the process of reading the book, I realized we share similarities in the behavior of other animals, but because we have larger brains, we can analyze deeper our responses and evaluate within a range of solutions. As rational animals, we are insatiable in trying to comprehend the why, when, and how of every pattern and characteristics of everything in our space-time. But, as nature keeps teaching us, nothing follows a sequence permanently, or animals necessarily behave within certain frame. But one thing is clear, we respond to pre-programmed shortcuts given to us as legacy from our parents and society.
Unfortunately, those shortcuts are being used as weapons against us, by unscrupulous people that profit from our necessity of using shortcuts in our decision making and evaluation.
Even though we have the ability to calibrate, and overrule pre-programmed commands, most of the time we are easy prey from other people who understand how to influence our behavior to their advantage. In order to get around their attack, we must practice continuous observation and even sometimes follow hunches; when it’s uncomfortable to comply with certain requests. I am very thankful; I was given the opportunity to complete this essay, which I hope can summarize my understanding and opinions on the book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.

Chapter I: About Weapons of Influence

We must realize in which situations we are under attack with weapons of influence; such attempts against our free will, can make us comply with usurious requests. Thus, if we do not realize how to overcome unscrupulous attacks, our pre-programmed responses
will, “Make us terribly vulnerable to anyone who does know how they work” says Cialdini. (8)
There are many ways we behave in a pre-programmed mode, but a good example I though can illustrate this theory has its origins in China. The Shao-Lin monks developed complex fighting techniques that require complete dedication in mind and body to the students.
In order to learn these fighting techniques, a student must be exposed to daily tedious exercise routines, and pain and suffering goes hand to hand with exercises. For example, In order to master a proper fighting position a Shao-Lin student must be able to turn its feet 180 degrees,
thus gymnastic exercises must be learned at a very young age while body flexibility can be reached at its maximum. But, how can an individual accept this continuous pain and suffering voluntarily, and expose his own life to the dangerous routines of Kung-Fu? The answer lies in the ideas of indestructibility and physical power the monks have linked to Shao-Lin Kung-Fu.
It sounds complex, but it is not. The Kung-Fu masters make demonstrations to attract students. I watched a documentary made by The National Geographic called; THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE FIGHT Uncover the Truth behind Ancient Fighting Techniques, where I observed
a monk breaking a wooden stick with its head. This image is very powerful, because it links the idea of indestructibility and power to the eyes of the observer. Thus, if you want to break a wooden stick or a concrete bar with your head, all you need to do is hit your skull against a sandbag twice a day per two hours. Thus, it is crystal clear the monks tell their prospect students, indestructibility and power = Kung-Fu. They don’t say, we will make you hit your skull against a sandbag twice a day per two hours during two years. The same explanation can be done to explain the sensationalism created by Kung-Fu demonstrations around the world.
But there are more factors involved that trigger automated responses; some key words can make us agree with someone else’s statements unconsciously. In the book the word ‘because’ is linked to unconscious agreeability. I personally tried this one, and it seems to work to a point. I had to have my car inspected, so I went to a mechanic shop where I can get a State’s vehicle emission inspection, and before delivering the keys to the mechanic I said, I should give the key to you because I may lose it. The sentence itself didn’t make sense, but the mechanic agreed with me. What I realized was that the degree of agreeability was biased by the belief of the employee that customers are always right—it was obvious, because it was written in the wall of the shop. However, after explaining unnecessary reasons to the mechanic about why I needed the car tested before I pay for the service; the mechanic gave me a free computer diagnostic. Seems everybody needs a reason for an expected response; which proves the key word theory truly indeed.
Other examples can be found in some behavior patterns of animals, which tell us that an algorithm of movements can trigger certain behavior. The way a woman look at you at a club, or the way she dances with you; tells pretty much how you should behave. In other animals, this sequence of movements can be lethal. In the book there is an example I believe it is worth to quote at length, Somehow, the Photuris female has cracked the Photinus courtship code. By mimicking the flashing mating signals of her pray, the murderess is able to feast on the bodies
of males whose triggered courtship tapes cause them to fly mechanically into death’s, not love’s embrace. (8)

Chapter II: Reciprocation as a Rule of Compliance

There is a Peruvian proverb that says, “Metiendo aguja y sacando barreta”. The translation reads; putting a needle and pulling a bar stick. It is hard to give it a proper translation, but what it means is to give something of inferior value with the expectation of receiving something of greater value. This quotation seems very appropriate for what PH.D. Cialdini explains as the exploitation of the reciprocation rule. This rule is not very complicated to understand, but it can be devastating if we fail to recognize when it is being abused.
One of the reasons we are able to evolve as society remains hidden in the power of this rule. The feeling we have to reciprocate to a favor is the base of our civilization. “We are human because
our ancestors learned to share their food and their skills in an honored network of obligation,”
explains Richard Leakey. (18) Every time we apply for a credit card, we are expected to pay back and our degree of obligation is measured by credit scores in our credit report.
The problem of the reciprocation rule is encountered in the degree of exploitation the rule can trigger. Some people can manipulate our pre-programmed behavior in an attempt to obtain
unfair exchanges. There are several examples that can illustrate this principle, but I like the example of the dojo slaves. Dojo slaves are called to martial art students who serve their master-mentors and agree with all of his or her requests.
This behavior is triggered by the transformation of healthy martial arts exercises into a cult. My cousin was in charge of developing a website and administration program for martial arts master Kalazhan, and while working with my cousin I realized Mr. Kalazhan didn’t have a vehicle, bought food, or carry money. I asked my cousin Federico how Mr. Kalazhan moves around Connecticut, and he answered me, “His Dojo slaves drive him around, and woman brings him food. Of course he paid pretty good to have this program developed.
I am not a fool.” I didn’t realize until now, that Kalazhan’s disciples dedicated some part of their lives to him in exchange for learning Kung-Fu techniques and reach higher understanding of life—from his point of view of course. After all, it seems insignificant dedicating hours of their busy schedule in addition to membership fees, if kalazhan’s disciples will reach body power and higher meaning to their lives. As the book explains, “Paradoxically, the rule developed to promote equal exchanges between partners, yet it can be used to bring about decidedly unequal results.” (33) Another way the reciprocity rule is exploited can be found in the power of concessions. It is clear that we are favorable to accept a request that seems smaller to a first bigger request. We do it all the time. I noticed while at work some employees were choosing
their days off. One of the days an employee was requesting to be off duty was a busy day of the week, so the manager was in a crucial situation. After noticing the manager concern, the employee was able to trade the day he requested, if he was given another day he asked. To my surprise the manager accepted. I asked him if he really needed that day, because I thought we could trade days, but he answered me that the day he got was the day he needed it. He clearly used the rule of concession effectively in order to get the Thanksgiving Day off. “However, with the rule in effect, we can feel safe making the first sacrifice to our partner, who is obligated to offer a return sacrifice.” Cialdini says.
Some of techniques we can use to avoid being a victim of the unfair exchange triggered by the reciprocation rule are explained by PH.D. Cialdini. But one of the techniques I like is the one I prefer calling the receive-keep approach. It is highly encouraged do not to agree or reciprocate
to the conspicuous request we are asked by salespeople. In other words, “It advises us to accept the desirable first offers of others but to accept those offers only for what they fundamentally
are, not for what they are represented to be.” (52) Thus, if you are approached by a sales representative of some company; be polite, accept the sample, and tell him you are busy and he needs to leave. “After all, the reciprocity rule asserts that if justice is to be done, exploitation
should be exploited.” (55)

Chapter III: Escalation of Commitment and Foolish Consistency

What is the power that keeps us going day after day on any activity or compromise? The evidence in the studies made by various scholars points to the degree of commitment and consistency every human have. Of course there are other factors that affect our daily decision making and behavior, but the most recognizable patterns are consistency and commitment. Then, how can we explain that this force is also the cause of many of our failures? As humans, we have a tendency for taking wrong decisions if we fail to analyze our choices. Also, the environment may play an important role while interacting in our diverse environment.
In the book, evidence shows how people who know about these rules can utilize it against us. One of the better examples about these concepts happens all the time, and sometimes is so evident that we hear about nationwide on the media. In the business world, CEOs are obligated to take quick decisions and face with complicated situations. However, let’s assume that a business executive invested in an oil field that the company analyst assured him had high rate of success. If it turns to be the opposite and no oil is found, the executive is faced with the choices of keep digging or deal with the loss. Is in this situation when most of the times escalation of commitment happens and executives keep investing money in what now is a high risk project with the overly optimist hope of finding oil. What triggers the behavior obviously is the concentration of decision power in few individuals, but also the rationalization that the investment lost is a sunk cost and further investment can achieve a return if oil is found.
In my last example, Shao-Lin Kung-Fu students after allowing voluntarily other students to hit their skulls over and over are willing to hang their selves from a rope few minutes a day in order to achieve neck strength. It seems that after complying with one request is very likely they will continue with the exercises, since their rationalization could be that after years of tough exercises they cannot afford to live the Shao-Lin temple, and their aspirations
now are to become Shao-Lin monks. Unless they are preparing for war, or mercenaries I cannot find a rational explanation for being able to fight somebody without going to jail.
PH.D. Cialdini believes if we follow hunches; which can be physical manifestations in our stomachs, we can realize we are being victims of negative compliance techniques. In this moment we can avoid to be trapped if we tell them what they are doing. In the book Cialdini explains. I just tell them exactly what they are doing. It works beautifully.
Most of the time, they don’t understand me; they just become sufficiently confused to want to leave me alone. I think they suspect lunacy. (107)
In my opinion, another way to avoid being trapped in a clear unfair situation is by extending the period of decision making, sharing the problem for further analysis with a group, or merely
consulting the situation with other members of our family. We just need to allow some time to analyze before buying or accepting a proposal. I used it when I was pressured to buy a melaleuca
membership from some door-to-door salespeople. I was pressured to buy the membership and I couldn’t say no after falling by my own words of valuing a clean environment and health, so I asked them to give me the forms and call me next day. I didn’t purchase the product, neither talked to them again. It seems the jujitsu approach the Cialdini talks about in his book can be used against the unscrupulous merchants as well.

Chapter IV: Our Need for Social Proof

The famous phrase word-of-mouth is an important guidance in today’s society. People tend to leave feedback posted in virtual boards in the cyberspace in order to pass previous experiences
to other people. This feedback is very influential, since we tend to look for social proof if we cannot arrive to a solution or we want to be sure our decision is appropriate. A good example of how this rule works can be seen in the operation’s mode that made Ebay a very successful business. As an Ebay member I can testify how a positive or negative feedback record can be decisive to consumers in their decision to buy goods or services. But as any rule of compliance, we can be fooled if we are not cautious.
Since sporadic generation occurred, the most successful species has been the ones that can effectively utilize resources for their survival. In our position as rational animals, our society has evolved through the years due to our increased span of control over resources and capacity
for rationalization. However, time constrain in modern society make us more dependent than ever in our nature to look for shortcuts in order to make things done efficiently. As a result of this innate mechanism, managers today can take diverse and more complicated decisions than ever; people can text-message, talk, an have video conferencing with more than one person about different issues at the same time. This multitask environment of today, make us relay on shortcuts addictively. Then, how can we become victims of a pre-programmed
mechanism so important in our evolution? The answer is that every mechanism has a weakness, and if we cannot recognize when we are being incoherent in our decisions; we will face an unfavorable outcome or even a devastating end as Jonestown residents faced when Reverend Jim Jones called for a mass suicide. Cialdini explains this even in more detail. Given the conditions, I suspect that what occurred was a large-scale instance of the pluralistic
ignorance phenomenon that frequently infects onlookers at emergencies. Each Jonestowner looked to the actions of surrounding individuals to assess the situation and—finding seemingly
calm because everyone else, too, was surreptitiously assessing rather that reacting—“
learned” that patient turn taking was the correct behavior.
Such misinterpretation but nonetheless convincing social evidence would be expected to result precisely in the ghastly composure of the assemblage that waited in the tropics of Guyana for businesslike death. (155,156)
If we want to defeat a compliance technique based on this powerful rule, we must rationalize
the situation. It is a difficult rule to defeat, but we must practice. Yes, practice makes the master, so we must prepare our senses to recognize wrongful information and influences.
The fact that everybody does it doesn’t mean we have to do the same. This principle was passed from generations, and I still remember my parents telling me the same thing over and over, because they realized teenagers are influenced by the behavior of other classmates. One of the advantages of our society is the abundance of information that allow us to verify data, so we must question a behavior if it seems suspicious or we will be fooled by fake social proof. We must remember the old proverb; one bad apple can spoil the entire barrel. PH.D. Robert Cialdini explains further in detail.
Our best defense against these disadvantages is to recognize when the data are in error. If we can become sensitive to situations where the social-proof automatic pilot is working with inaccurate information, we can disengage the mechanism and grasp the controls when we need to. (157)
Thus, next time we hear canned laughter in a bad joke on television, or have Jehovah Witnesses
on our doors talking to us about the end of the world. We should change the channel, or tell them we are busy respectively.

Chapter V: The Tramp behind Our Likes

There are several biases we fall for every time we our in a decision making process. Some of the biases mentioned in the book, Influence: The psychology of persuasion, are physical attractiveness, similarities, compliments, and association. I will briefly describe each one of these biases and the possible solution to break these rules of compliance. Physical appearance is a recognized bias in today’s society.
We have a tendency for creating stereotypes on people, because it gives a shortcut to determine future behavior. Thus, physical attractiveness can be erroneously understood as a more desirable characteristic, because we could believe physical attractive people are amiable, loyal, and hold a higher degree of integrity. Of course, this could be a clear misrepresentation of the individual’s real character. Another bias is similarity, we tend to be more amiable and agreeable with someone is similar to us. It can be culture similarities, physical similarities, or mere appearance. I can relate an experience I had at Taco Bell. I was hanging around with my friends at Taco Bell and I was the only one of Latino heritage in the group. The Mexican workers in the food line were not only more amiable with me, but my burritos were bigger and after a small conversation in Spanish I even got a free drink. I haven’t heard of somebody who doesn’t like compliments, but compliments can be manipulated to make us vulnerable to the hidden intentions behind the compliments of merchants, or salespeople. Some management theories call ingratiation to the ability of some workers to compliment the manager to gain favoritism. But, compliments are not always favorable, in some situations compliments are not effective, but gave us a bad image among coworkers. On the other hand, salespeople use compliments efficiently in order to gain our favoritism, because we buy from who we like.
Association can be one of the most controversial rules ever examined, but even such a powerful rule as association have a way out. The book explains this rule by explaining the behavior of sport’s fans, but among sports I consider the Soccer World Cup a great example. Every four years, thousands of people mobilize to a different country to see their countries battling against other countries for the big prize; the right to display per four years the precious golden FIFA World Cup Trophy that weights 11 lb made with 18 carat 75% solid gold. Did I do a mistake? Did I say countries battling against other countries? Aren’t soccer teams playing against other foreign soccer teams? Here is where the rule of association takes place, people tend to associate with teams, because their similarities. Plus, victories made by chosen teams will give the sensation of personal victory to the person associated. “All things being equal, your root for your own sex, your own culture, your own locality … and what you want to prove is that you are better than the other person. Whomever you root for represents you; and when he wins, you win.” (198)
In order to avoid falling into these biases, we must separate the seller from the product being offered, and recognize that we are unique individuals. Our preferences cannot overrule reality, and the cause-effect principle should be taken in consideration. The dancing of an Indian doesn’t cause rain, but nature. Thus, before we take a shortcut; we should take a moment to analyze and calibrate information. Even though we cannot do it all the time, we should at least use our ability of evaluation and calibration in crucial situations.
We will realize our rate of success will increase each time we attempt in taking a right choice by using contra-techniques against compliance manipulators.

Works Cited

1.- Cialdini, Robert. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. New York: Quill, 1993.


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