Door In Yo Face!

We’ve all heard of the term compliance before and we’ve all complied with numerous requests, but were we complying because we honestly wanted to or were we being tricked into doing things for someone else?

The term compliance means changes in behavior that are brought forth by direct request (Cialdini, 2007). People can manipulate others into compliance with their request by employing a number of different techniques. The strategy I chose to focus on is the door-in-the-face technique. The door-in-the-face technique is a two-step process in which the influencer opens with a large initial request that is sure to be rejected, followed by the real request which is much more reasonable (Cialdini et al., 1975). It is really quite simple.

The following video clip is demonstration of how the door-in-the-face technique really works. Be sure to pay attention to the initial large requests and how it is followed up by a much more realistic request. And notice the behavior elicited!

Let’s walk through the situation demonstrated in the video. Miranda, the influencer, only ever wanted Sara to hand her the drink that she left sitting on the counter. Basically, she felt like being lazy and did not want to have to get up and get it herself. Instead of just asking Sara to please hand her the drink, Miranda wanted to ensure that Sara wouldn’t call her out on being lazy so she used the door-in-the-face technique. Her initial request was for Sara to please go get her bag out of her car. Miranda never needed her bag. As you saw, Sara refused to go get Miranda’s bag and told her she could do it herself. So instead Miranda asked Sara if she could hand her her drink from the counter. And what did Sara do… hand her her drink from the counter. Success for Miranda!

It seems too simple, right? And you may be wondering why it works. One explanation involves the idea of perceptual contrast (Cialdini et al., 1975). To the person who was asked the first, very large request, the second request appears to be much smaller: this is perceptual contrast (Cialdini et al., 1975). However, a second explanation plays an even more significant role. Reciprocal concession refers to the pressure to react to changes when in a bartering position (Cialdini et al., 1975). When the influencer backs down from a larger request to smaller one, people take that as a concession that they, in turn, should duplicate with their compliance (Cialdini et al., 1975). This explains why the technique only works if the same person makes both requests, because they feel as if they owe you for your “gracious” behavior in lessening the request. That has also been explained by O’Keefe and Figge (1997), who suggest that by denying to help with your first request they may generate feelings of guilt leading them to comply with your second request. One final note to be aware of is that you must be careful to not make too extreme of a first request because it only works if it is taken as a sincere offer (Schwarzwald et al., 1979).

That’s the door-in-the-face technique! Now everyone can be lazy like Miranda and trick other people into fulfilling your requests!

Cialdini, R. B. (2007). Influence: The psychology of persuasion. New York: HarperCollins.

Cialdini, R. B., Vincent, J. E., Lewis, S. K., Catalan, J., Wheeler, D., & Darby, B. L. (1975). Reciprocal concessions procedure for inducing compliance: the door-in- the-face technique. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 31, 206-215.

O’Keefe, D. J., & Figge, M. (1997). A guilt-based explanation of the door-in-the-face influence strategy. Human Communication Research, 42, 191-212.

Schwarzwald, J., Raz, M., & Zvibel, M. (1979). The applicability of the door-in-the-face technique when established behavioral customs exists. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 9, 576-586.