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Interpersonal Influence

Interpersonal influence (also known as social influence) has occurred whenever the actions of one or more individuals influence the behavior or beliefs of one or more other individuals. Relationships thrive or decay according to how well the participants agree with one another about important decisions. Some agreements just luckily happen, but many of them are the result of the participants influencing one another. Knowing the principles described next will make one a better practitioner of influence and also more aware of how one is being influenced. This entry discusses the two major forms of interpersonal influence, followed by an examination of tactics used by compliance professions, such as salespeople.

Informational and Normative Influence

Imagine a long line of people walking down a road toward a crossroad where they must go either left or right. You are standing on a hill watching as every single person goes to the left. You can see no reason for this because the road to the left does not look any more promising than the road to the right. You would probably assume that all these people had information that you didn't have—perhaps a concert is to take place on the road to the left. If you joined the line of people, you would probably also go to the left, making you the target of an instance of interpersonal influence known as informational social influence. In this type of social influence, you assume that the behaviors, beliefs, and opinions of others are based on some sort of correct information, and so you go along unless you have information to the contrary or some reason to doubt the motives of the other people. This type of influence is pervasive and is necessary for survival. To not take cues from others would be to ignore much of the information that is available about the world. When you seek the views of experts, such as movie critics or religious leaders, you are also seeking informational social influence, as you are when asking the advice of a trusted friend.

Sometimes, however, there is a conflict between what other people do or believe and what we see as correct or appropriate for ourselves. In the example of the crossroad, you may discover that the group playing the concert is one you don't like very much, and you start to turn right to look for a restaurant rather than go to the concert. Your friends, however, urge you to join them at the concert, implying that they may not value you as a friend as much if you don't go with them. If you go along with them to maintain the friendship, you have been the target of normative social influence, or conforming to the expectations of others in order to be socially accepted. As the late Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Sam Rayburn, used to tell new members of the House, you have to “go along to get along.”

Influence Tactics of Compliance Professionals

Robert Cialdini, a social psychologist, immersed himself for nearly 3 years in the world of compliance professionals, such as salespeople, fundraisers, and advertisers to discover what they were taught to do to influence people. He found that the majority of tactics fall into six categories, each governed by a psychological principle. Each of these principles—reciprocation, consistency and commitment, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity—is discussed in the following sections.

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