

The participants explained to the people who they approached that they were playing a prank on a friend. In one study, participants were given a mockup of a library book and instructed to ask library patrons to vandalize it. The researchers even found this effect when the request was unethical. “The target of the request is likely to comply,” Bohns says.…“Email doesn’t have the same properties as a face-to-face request." This may mean that if you’re involved in a conflict with someone, the best way to heal the rift may be to ask that person for help. “Across the board we find people think others are more likely to say no than they actually are,” says Bohns. In actuality, they had to ask an average of 6.2 people-one out of every two people they approached agreed to let them use their phone. In the case of the cell phone request, participants predicted they’d have to approach 10.1 people in order to get three strangers to allow them to use their phones. Before carrying out their task, the participants had to estimate how likely people were to agree to the request. The studies focused on different requests for instance, in one study, participants had to ask to use a cell phone. Participants are told they must go to a designated public place and make a specific request of random strangers. Together with Frank Flynn at Stanford Graduate School of Business, she has conducted a series of studies testing participants’ intuitions about whether or not they can persuade other people. So we say yes, even when we don’t want to.” Persuading Othersīohns studies social influence, specifically how much more likely people are to do things than we think they are. You feel that you’re insinuating something about the person who is asking if you say no.

“When someone is standing in front of you, asking you for something, it is very awkward to refuse. “People tend not to recognize how difficult it is to say no to someone,” says Vanessa K.

Do you think a random stranger will let you use her cell phone? If you’re like most people, you expect the stranger to say no to your request, yet in actuality, the odds are that she will allow you to use her phone. Consider a situation where you’ve lost your cell phone at the mall, and you need to make a phone call. You have more influence over others than you think you do. 2022 Research Stats & Faculty Distinctions.Find a Center, Institute, Lab or Program.Converging Humanities & Social Sciences.
