Overview of the Door-in-the-Face Technique
This article was published in the “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology” by a team of researchers who conducted three experiments to test the effectiveness of the rejection rather than the moderation procedure (Cialdini et al., 1975). Some techniques used by past researchers were also used. Freedman and Fraser investigated the foot-in-the-door method in 1966. Another work on reciprocation was completed by Gouldner in 1960. It was an investigation of the concept of reciprocation, which explained that this concept exists in approximately all societies. Chertkoff and Conley, in 1967, also conducted an experiment in which the bargaining situation was described and its effect on the opponent’s concessions was examined. In the very next year after this study, Komorita and Brenner also conducted research in which they concluded that if one individual reaches a fair price, the others don’t find it compelling overall to agree on it.
Reciprocal Concessions and Compliance
In a precise explanation, the paper is based on experiments in which the authors conducted three tests. Initially, an extreme favor is asked, which is commonly rejected, and then a smaller favor is requested, which is accepted. This technique is known as the rejection-then-moderation procedure. They verified that understanding the other person’s strategy through self-perception would be useful. Some separate experiments were conducted to help the reader understand the primary purpose of the paper and the tests being performed.
Experiment One on Initial and Smaller Requests
The first experiment was to check the effectiveness of inducing compliance. The main theme of the experiment was that an individual who was initially asked an extreme favor and refused it would be more likely to accept a smaller request than a person who was only asked the more modest request. Seventy-two individuals were included, and both male and female participants were included. Meetings and interviews with university students were conducted (interview technique for the collection of data). The prediction was that the initial central theme would be correct. Results explained that none expressed a positive response toward the extreme favor. 50% refused entirely; there was only 25% of the exposure control, and 16% approved a smaller request.
Experiment Two on Requester Identity
In the second experiment, the scenario was slightly changed. One person would conduct the first request for the extreme favor, and the second person would undertake the second request for the smaller favor. The targeted individual would not perceive enough conceding, and thus, there would be no reciprocation mediated in the tendency. In total, fifty-eight participants contributed to the study. They were all male candidates. Experimenter 1 asked for an extreme favor, and Experimenter 2 asked for a smaller favor. The prediction was similar to Experiment 1, but the results were entirely different. There was rejection-moderation condition compliance at 55%. The two-requester control was 10.5%, and the smaller-request control was also 31%. These results significantly favored the first experiment.
Experiment Three on Control Conditions
The third experiment was different from the first two. In this experiment, the two requests for favors were made in two different tests. Both requests were smaller favors. Seventy-two participants were included in this experiment, and both male and female participants were included. The third experiment yielded results comparatively close to those of the first experiment. Compliance in the rejection-moderation condition was 54%. The equivalent-request control was only 33.3%, and similarly, the smaller-request control was only 33.3%. The results showed that 22 out of 24 subjects responded to both requests similarly.
Comparative Findings of the Experiments
In a general discussion, all the experiments are analyzed and discussed in detail. It is evaluated that all three tests have indicated that the proposal of the extreme request and then moving toward the smaller request after rejection increases compliance with the smaller request as it is easy to handle. This effect is explained to be highly applicable and powerful for inducing compliance (Spielman et al., 2020). The study of Freedman and Fraser conducted in 1966 shows that the tendency seen in the method of the foot-in-the-door is similar to the experiments performed in this study. It is preferred that the critical request be counted as a smaller request than the initial request. The requester would not be entertained for the critical request, mostly, even if it is asked initially. These methods are highly studied and are practiced in the common world. The rejection-then-modification procedure has another benefit in that it is effective and would provide positive results in everyday life.
Psychological Basis of Compliance
The feelings of the targeted person are also discussed as an advantage toward the outcome of the interaction. Benton, Kelley, and Liebling’s study, conducted in 1972, explains that the person who has applied for the request will feel more confident and relaxed with the outcome of the specified techniques. The bargaining is aced by the opponents who demand the maximum, moderate, and failure and get some payoff for themselves in an allocation of the agreement.
Implications for Future Research
The end of the discussion proceeds with future research guidance in which the benefits of operationalization and moderation from more significant and extreme requests to smaller ones are explained. Two concepts are discussed, in which the target will no doubt be perceived, and the second one reveals that they would only be gained by the process discussed above. Further investigation is required to determine whether the aspects of concession that induce compliance involve the granting of something, anything like that, or maybe both.
References
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(2), 206–215. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0076284
Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020). Psychology 2e. OpenStax. https://openstax.org/details/books/psychology-2e
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