the next time you're riding an elevator and someone gets on watch what they do I bet they do what pretty much everyone does when they get into an elevator that already has people in it in general they choose a spot for themselves then turn around like clockwork to face the elevator doors it's a little strange since there's nothing to see there but that's what most people do and in some ways we can't help it since the 1890s scientists from across the fields of psychology and biology have studied the different ways that people and other animals tend to react automatically to their environment generally speaking this can happen in two ways the first is through a fixed action pattern which is an instinctive behavioral sequence basically a hardwired automatic Behavior determined by genetics the second way is through learning we associate information in a particular environment or situation with a behavior then unconsciously do that thing whenever we're in that situation like Dr Pavlov and his dogs does that ring a bell and if you just rolled your eyes that might be just an automatic response to hearing this psych 101 joke for the umpteenth time so between instincts and forming associations a lot of our behavior is automatic made up of a combination of instincts and learned associations which means many of our decisions and actions are influenced by environmental and social cues often in ways we aren't conscious of and that can be a good thing it's really helpful that we can do some things on autopilot like stand in an elevator unconscious shortcuts and influences like these spring up all over they make us fall in line or choose a particular product often without us even noticing and the trick to identifying them and being even a little more conscious of our own choices comes down to exploring the Art and Science of persuasion though I'm still not going to stand with my back to the elevator doors I'm Cassandra Ryder and this is study hall intro to human communication [Music] last episode we discussed how persuasion is communication that's intended to influence choices but how that communication happens and what form it takes on can be complicated especially since persuasion can influence us consciously and unconsciously so to get a handle on the many ways persuasion is woven into daily communication it's helpful to think in terms of categories like the original six categories social psychologist Robert cialdini uses to divide up the principles of persuasion his book is respected and influential in the field of communication in fact it's literally called influence the psychology of persuasion and while chaldini isn't the only person to divide up ways persuasion works his work has been influential in the world of communication and his categories allow us to see how persuasion Works more precisely today we'll dig into three of those principles that specifically show how our relationship to a person impacts whether they're successful in persuading us we use the principles in order to better understand the ways persuasion can sneakily and not so sneakily show up in our lives first up is liking which we're doing all the time with thumbs hearts and double Taps on social media right well not exactly when we're talking about communication and persuasion in chaldini's categories liking refers to how people we approve of or prefer can more easily persuade us for me this happens every year when it's time to buy Girl Scout cookies sure I could buy knockoff Thin Mints at the grocery store but I love buying cookies from that group of Scouts selling cookies in front of Aldi to dig deeper into liking we can then talk about why we like certain people and not others it often comes down to a few reasons first if we see a person as physically attractive we often assume there are a whole bunch of other things too like talented kind smart and honest this is part of why some physically attractive people with lots of Charisma but bad ethics get away with charging big money for things like say fancy beach music festivals sold as the height of luxury that turn out to be rain-soaked basic cheese sandwich disasters assuming physically attractive people also have all these virtuous traits as a result of the halo effect which is a bias we have where we think that something with one positive characteristic has other positive traits too we covered it before in this series and with the halo effect we like one thing about someone and are more likely to automatically assume they're qualified to do lots of other unrelated things too culturally valued traits aren't the only reason we like people though we also automatically tend to like people who are similar to us so that doesn't mean I unconsciously only pick friends who have green eyes but when someone has a similar background to us like they're from the same place or studied the same thing in school we may end up liking them more than someone else who has a different background and before everyone starts yelling at me about how Opposites Attract yes of course it's possible to like people for the ways they are different from us but when it comes to people more broadly a number of studies show that sharing similarities with someone biases us towards liking them we see this play out in a phenomenon sociologist called homophily which is when people tend to associate and bond with others who are similar to them another reason we might end up liking someone actually has more to do with us than them turns out when people compliment us we also tend to like them like when a stranger on campus compliments me on my outfit I can't help but think that they're a fabulous person with a great taste in clothing and finally we tend to like people we interact and cooperate with like if you only know someone over email and don't talk to them much it can be hard to imagine them as a complex person in fact more contact and more familiarity actually breeds liking as advertisers have discovered even an ad that annoys us can eventually grow on us like if we see a commercial of a giant anthropomorphic picture of punch breaking through the wall for the umpteenth time we may start to appreciate the humor in it or make jokes about the commercials tagline with our friends and eventually remember it as a fond part of our youth oh yeah so there are lots of reasons we might like someone but regardless of the reason once we like someone there's a greater chance we'll agree with them that means they have more influence over us and liking is one way persuasion shows up in our lives now there's nothing inherently wrong with people we like having greater influence over us but we don't want that influence to be used against us so being aware of the liking phenomenon is like having a pair of sunglasses that lets us see through the Rosy Glow of the halo effect once we put the shades on we can tell if we're excited about an idea or product because of its merits and not because of the person explaining it to us in their persuasive communication if someone we approve of or prefer is more likely to persuade us how about someone with accomplishments and Power that brings us to Authority in the context of chaldini's work a person with authority has both expertise and a subject and a position of power because they're an expert most of us have a lot of automatic reactions to Authority like deferring to expert opinions is just one of the many unconscious ways persuasive communication is affecting us even subconsciously and as children and young adults we get messages from our parents and teachers about respecting Authority we're also surrounded by lots of situations where people are responding to Authority and from that we learn the benefits of different responses and in those situations Authority is often represented to us through certain signals one of those signals is a title like doctor or president it usually takes a lot of time and hard work to truly earn professional and governmental titles so when they're granted legitimately they're seen as markers of authority these folks are worthy of being respected because they've mastered certain knowledge or skills another thing that can signal Authority is some sort of outward physical sign like clothing think of a police officer's uniform or clothes and objects that we think seem expensive or formal can also convey Authority like if someone is dressed in a designer business suit steps out of a luxury car we might assume they're a corporate executive or lawyer and view them as having a degree of authority in certain contexts but we can't only rely on outward signals and titles as a way to determine who has Authority titles can be faked or obtained from dubious institutions and people can wear expensive clothing that has no connection to their status in an organization so it can be important to put effort into finding out if someone has legitimate Authority and if someone's Authority is not legitimate we owe it to ourselves to seek better sources of information now that we've talked about persuasion in the context of people we prefer and people with power let's talk about people generally the final principle of persuasion we'll discuss today is social proof which is when we assume the actions of others reflect the correct way to behave in a given situation a good example of social proof is canned laughter you know that Phantom laughter you hear in a sitcom when something funny happens Studies have shown that people laugh along with the laugh track because it signals to them that other people find the show funny and they should too while social proof can convince us to act in other situations it can also convince us not to act according to studies in social psychology if we see people not helping someone in need we're less likely to help that person so for social proof the main things to guard against are doing something we don't actually believe in and not doing something we do believe in ideally when it comes to evaluating persuasive communication we should think of social proof as useful information but not the only piece of evidence we need using these principles to categorize the ways we experience persuasion in Daily communication can be a lot to process but discussing these three principles of persuasion brings a lot of what is usually unconscious to the surface and that allows us to see what's influencing us more clearly particularly how relationships and respect are involved in Persuasion that's especially important when people are trying to actively influence us to achieve their goals or if we're trying to persuade them for instance when people and organizations want to make a positive impact they have to Marshal multiple principles of persuasion to find a way to change minds and behavior local food waste reduction organizations save our scraps knows they have a challenge on their hands food is wasted for a lot of different reasons and because it makes people feel bad to be wasteful it's hard to get people to pay attention believe and start using the tips that SOS offers so SOS rolled out short videos on social media as a way to reach people one absent-minded internet scroller at a time first SOS uses the principle of liking by choosing to feature people who reflect many members of their communities SOS creates videos with these people describing the simple steps they take to reduce food waste for instance Monroe is a high school sophomore who talks about how he carries a clean food container in his backpack in case he or his friends have food left over from a meal that can safely be used as a snack later and Quan is a sharply dressed grocery store owner who shows how they use special discount stickers to encourage people to buy food that is still fresh but nearing its expiration date that prevents the store from throwing out food that's expired SOS is banking on Monroe and Quan being liked by their communities but SOS is also using other persuasion principles too for instance SOS is hoping that Monroe is likable to other teens and offers social proof that teens do care about food waste it's not just an issue for adults and Quan's pressed shirt and tailored Blazer make them seem like they're successful and well put together which is an appeal to their Authority in the food business there's something authoritative about their willingness to reduce prices and cut into their profits just to avoid throwing out good food any individual viewer may only find one video persuasive but by using the principles of liking Authority and social proof across their videos SOS has a good chance of getting members of the community to think about ways they can cut down their food waste though we discussed the remaining principles of persuasion in another video we're already getting the sense that various factors in the world around us can influence the choices we make there's so much going on in our lives and the easiest thing to do is often to go on autopilot doing whatever appeals to us and relying on cultural expectations of authority and social behavior recognizing when these factors affect us helps us to take a second look at anything that might automatically persuade us and see if we need more information before being convinced as we've seen throughout the course we're more similar than we are different and understanding the patterns that guide our Behavior can help us to better know ourselves in addition to communicating more effectively so it's okay that we automatically turn turned to face the door in an elevator because that's what everyone does but if we want to understand more about ourselves and other people we need to understand why we do these things the principles of persuasion help us tell what's influencing us especially in situations with people we like or respect and that in turn gives us the chance to make deliberate decisions that help us understand and relate to others through communication thanks for watching study hall intro to human communication which is part of the city hall project a partnership between ASU and crash course if you like this video and want to keep learning with us be sure to subscribe you can learn more about City Hall and the videos produced by crash course in ASU in the links in the description see you next time