Drinking the Kool-Aid: "Influence: Science and Practice" by Robert B. Cialdini - A Review

"Influence: Science and Practice" by Robert B. Cialdini (Source: Amazon.com)

          Most people would be shocked to discover the extent to which their emotions, opinions and attitudes are manipulated in every facet of life. From their political affiliations to mundane decisions on which vacuum cleaner to purchase, people are barraged continually by tactics tailored to shape and drive human behavior and decision making. According to Robert Cialdini, a social psychologist and author of “Influence: Science and Practice”, these tactics are successful in large part because they prey upon fundamental psychological principles that are present in each of us. In the hands of a master manipulator aware of these vulnerabilities, these techniques can yield “purchases, donations, concessions, votes, or assent” in individuals and groups (See Cialdini, Robert p XI).

          Cialdini focuses on the psychology of compliance; how people influence others to act in a way in which they would not normally act. While much of Cialdini’s book is targeted to marketing and sales, his theories are readily applied to the arena of politics. The 2008 Obama presidential campaign applied these theories to create the successful “Get Out The Vote” campaign and later to influence his campaign for change in the healthcare system and the economy (See Grunwald, Michael). Initially written as a classroom text, Cialdini’s book has become a pop culture phenomenon in large part because it not only outlines methods of persuasion but also provides useful guidance on how to recognize and avoid these persuasion methods.

          Cialdini suggests that humans have fixed, involuntary and automatic patterns of behavior which have been acquired since childbirth. When triggered, these “fixed action patterns” also referred to as human automatic actions (See Cialdini, Robert p6) begin a sequence of predictable behavior from start to finish. These automatic actions are useful to humans because they provide “judgmental heuristics” (a term of art meaning mental shortcuts) that allow us to rapidly perform a shallow analysis of a complex environment. Examples of judgmental heuristics are stereotypes, analogies, metaphors, rules of thumb and other constructs that enable human beings to quickly classify something and then act according to that general classification. Interestingly, the use of metaphors as assessment tools is similar to cognitive linguist George Lakoff’s theories on framing and metaphor. In Lakoff’s model, metaphors are conceptual building blocks that people use as the basis of how to think and act (See Lakoff, George) whereas Cialdini sees metaphor as one tool among many to evaluate a situation. An instance of judgmental heuristics that Cialdini cites is the stereotype “expensive = quality” whereas "cheap = low quality". Lakoff suggests an interesting parallel where across all human cultures the direction of "up" is a metaphor for more and "down" for less.

          These automatic stereotyped behaviors are very efficient in allowing human beings to process information at a high level but they leave us vulnerable to “profiteers” (individuals that use compliance techniques to influence others [See Cialdini, Robert p9]). An unscrupulous compliance professional who understands these mental shortcuts can mimic “trigger features” that elicit an automatic complying response in the individual. Cialdini indicates that these techniques are not infallible, but they work in many, many cases and are often unnoticed by the targeted subjects. For example, there are instances where a manufacturer has increased price without changing the product and subsequently increased sales, because of a resulting perception among consumers of a higher quality product. Lakoff’s work on framing taps into this idea of being able to influence opinion by presenting narratives that appeal to the metaphors that underpin the thought processes existing in the psyche. The business of politics is the stuff of metaphor and stereotype. For example one side uses the frame of “tax burden”, suggesting the image of a crushing weight on the shoulders of hard working Americans depleting their hard-earned resources, will, and strength. The other side frames taxes as “what you pay to be an American, to live in a civilized society that is democratic and offers opportunity…” (Powell quoting Lakoff, See Powell, Bonnie). The facts relating to an issue do not change with framing, but voters' attitudes and perception of issues are heavily influenced by how that issue is framed.

          Cialdini has extensively studied consumer psychology, finding that marketeers and sales people draw heavily on six categories of "compliance tactics": reciprocation, consistency, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity. Reciprocation is the feeling of a person who has been given something of an obligation to repay the debt that was created. Metaphors such as “tit for tat” or “one hand washes to the other” draw on deeply-rooted notions of fairness and equity. Consistency refers to the innate desire of most people to act and think in ways that are consistent with their own belief system. Consistency is a valuable an sought after trait. A person consistent in values, beliefs and previous decisions is thought to be “reliable” and “good” (See Cialdini, Robert p94). Once a person has been persuaded to commit to an idea or action, they are predisposed to behave consistently thereafter, often following through with additional demands associated with the previous commitment in an effort to remain consistent even if the initial commitment is found to be wrong. A classic example is doomsday cult followers who choose to remain within the cult even though doomsday has come and gone numerous times. Authority is the psychological principle that there is a tendency to obey or heed the teaching of those who represent authority. An example of this is former talk show diva Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club. Formerly obscure and struggling book titles would instantly be catapulted to bestseller status after being recommended by Oprah. Out of 70 recommended titles during a 15-year period, over 50 books made it on bestseller lists. Oprah not only influenced her listeners to buy books, but also influenced her followers on political and cultural issues so much so that the phrase the “Oprah Effect” was coined (See Jacobson, Murrey). Liking is simply the principle that we are more likely to help and say yes to someone that we like and know versus someone who is unknown. Social proof or imitation is the idea that people will act, do or believe in something based on what other people are doing or saying, particularly if those people are similar to them. Scarcity is the idea that when something such as an opportunity is presented as less available, it is perceived as more desirable and valuable. For example, ads on television proclaiming “Act Now”, “Limited Quantites” or “Limited Time Offer” are all tactics used to instill a sense of scarcity and therefore an urgency which incites people to buy.

Consumerism as an alturistic act for loved ones or manipulation? (Source: Pierre Bourgeault-noistar.com)

          Cialdini offers many real world examples to support his 6 categories of compliance. He cites “possibly (the) most spectacular act of compliance of our time,” (See Cialdini, Robert p127) the “Jonestown Massacre” to support the category of social proof (See “Jonestown”). Beginning in 1977, members of the religious cult “Peoples Temple” began migrating from the United States to Jonestown, Guyana to escape perceived religious persecution and to create a “socialist paradise” in the jungle (See “Peoples Temple”). In 1978, 907 members of the Peoples Temple, among them 276 children committed mass suicide. Forming in orderly queues, they drank cyanide and sedative laced Flavor Aid (often referred to incorrectly as kool-aid) at the behest of their leader, the reverend Jim Jones. According to Cialdini, under conditions of uncertainty and the unknown, in the wilderness of a foreign country far away from home and family, members willingly and calmly dosed themselves and their children with poison because, “they looked to the actions of others to guide their own actions” (See Cialdini, Robert p129), a herd mentality that demonstrates the influence of social proof.

          Uncertainty and looking to what other people were doing may have played a role in Jonestown. However, it seems to me to be quite a stretch to assume that social proof and uncertainty were a more significant driving force in the behavior of members than being dependent upon the organization of the Peoples Temple for sustenance and survival, the fear of an unbalanced and megalomanical Jim Jones, his gun toting acolytes and an overall feeling that there was no viable choice other than to “drink the kool-aid” (a commonly used metaphor derived from the Jonestown Massacre referring to beliefs held without any critical examination [See “Drinking the…”]).

Did they want to "drink the kool-aid" or were they coerced? (Source: AP)

          Human beings actions and ideas are shaped and manipulated everyday often unknowingly. Cialdini’s focus is on applications and behavioral patterns that can be manipulated. In contrast scientists like Lakoff (metaphor is the basic process of how people evaluate the world in moral terms), John Zaller (people obtain their political and social beliefs from elites) and John Turner (Social identity theory) are focused on the fundamental aspects and theories of human personality at a more granular, deeper level. Cialdini’s analysis is more superficial, but in a way also more useful because he describes many specific tools that are used in manipulating individual and group behavior. His book also serves to make people aware of such practices so they will be more able to read between the lines, form, and adopt informed opinions and judgments on issues that are important to them while avoiding manipulative influence.


Works Cited:

Cialdini, Robert. (1985). “Influence: Science and Practice.” Glenview: Scott, Foresman and Company.

“Drinking the Kool-Aid.” (n.d.) Wikipedia. Retrieved December 17, 2012 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drinking_the_Kool-Aid

Grunwald, Michael. (April 2, 2009). “How Obama Is Using The Science Of Change.” Time Magazine. Retrieved December 16, 2012, from: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1889153,00.html

Jacobson, Murrey. (May 25, 2011). "The Oprah Effect, By The Numbers." PBS News Hour. Retrieved December 16, 2012, from: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2011/05/the-oprah-phenomenon---by-the-numbers.html

“Jonestown.” (n.d.) Wikipedia. Retrieved December 17, 2012 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonestown_massacre

Lakoff, George & Mark Johnson. (1980). “Metaphors We Live By.” Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

“Peoples Temple.” (n.d.) Wikipedia. Retrieved December 17, 2012 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peoples_Temple#San_Francisco_Temple

Powell, Bonnie. (October 27, 2003). “Framing The Issues: UC Berkeley Professor George Lakoff Tells How Conservatives Use Language To Dominate Politics.” UC Berkeley News. Retrieved December 16, 2012, from: http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2003/10/27_lakoff.shtml

Meet the New Boss...Same as the Old Boss?

One of numerous posters comparing President Morsi to Former President Mubarak. The Arabic reads "Mohammed Morsi Mubarak" (Source: Mohammed Abd El Ghany-Reuters)

The current power struggle playing itself out in Egypt demonstrates the visceral and emotional power of framing in politics. On November 22^nd, in a move that shocked the international community and left many Egyptians with a sickening sensation of déjà vu, the first freely democratically elected leader of Egypt, President Mohammed Morsi bestowed upon himself sweeping and unrestricted executive powers by rendering impotent the Egyptian judiciary branch and circumventing the system of checks and balances (See Hume, Tim). While President Morsi presented 7 edicts, the two that drew the most criticism were Article 2- the pronouncement that all presidential decrees were exempt from judicial review and Article 5- the judiciary branch would have no ability to dissolve the upper house of parliament (the Shura Council) or the Constituent Assembly. Egyptian courts had previously dissolved the first Constituent Assembly along with the Parliament and rumors suggested that the Supreme Constitutional Court was “poised to dissolve the existing [largely Islamist] assembly in a ruling next Sunday” (See Kirkpatrick, David). With these decrees, a dead letter Egyptian constitution, a defanged judiciary and non-existent legislature, President Morsi’s executive power is now supreme and exceeds even that of his predecessor, ousted former President Hosni Mubarak.

The president maintains that this state of affairs is only temporary and necessary to preserve democratic gains made during the Egyptian Revolution of 25 January and to ensure the creation of a constitution which will be unhindered by anti-democratic and former regime elements still present in the judiciary and government. Regardless of his rationale, the President’s decision was immediately barraged with criticism from the judiciary and brought thousands of protestors as well as counter-protestor supporters of the President to the streets of every major city in Egypt. In the days since, violent clashes have erupted between Muslim Brotherhood (MB)/Morsi supporters and protestors, leaving a number of Egyptians dead and wounded. Elements of the judiciary, including the Supreme Court, have gone on strike paralyzing the court system across the country. Outside of Egypt, the perceived “power grab” by President Morsi has drawn condemnation from the United Nations Human Rights commissioner Navi Pillay as undermining the precepts of liberty, social justice and freedom that were the bedrock ideas of the Egyptian Revolution (See “Egypt: UN Human Rights…”). It is interesting that Western powers including the United States remain reticent to publicly condemn President Morsi’s actions (See Knox, Olivier).

The MB has had a loud and physical stage presence in the tumult of daily protests and growing political instability, framing President Morsi’s decrees as the only viable solution to combat the “enemy within” the political system- i.e., Mubark era judiciary appointees who were “part and parcel” of his autocratic policies (See Hendawi,Hamza) and whom President Morsi claims are the real obstacles to the creation of a legitimate constitution. Nobel Laureate and Egyptian liberal opposition leader Mohammed ElBaradei tweeted "(They) are currently staging a coup against democracy...regime legitimacy fast eroding," (See Spencer, Richard). ElBaradei later called for more protests, and in response a MB senior member commented, “He’s Western” (See Rohde, David).

The importance of framing ideas as a powerful tool to establish or delegitimize ideas, movements and political actors, is on full display in this clarifying moment of the Egyptian Revolution. It is well established that logical argument based on facts is usually a miserably ineffective political strategy. Human beings adopt and evolve political views in ways which have very little to do with factual analysis or reasoned comparisons of issues. There are several overlapping models which attempt to describe political socialization, such as research showing that people acquire political views from elites (See Zaller, 1992), that people self-identify with a group (See “Social Identity…”) and afterwards internalize the normative views of that group, media and communication such as television ads which use framing and narrative, and linguistic models which emphasize filtering (See Herman & Chomsky, 2002) and metaphor (See Lakoff, 1980). Identity and moral sense are fundamental ideas underlying several models of political socialization. Lakoff, for example, believes that human beings at a young age develop a library of moral metaphors which serve as the framework in later years for political, religious and moral belief (See Lakoff, 1980).

A classic example of the political power of framing is the "It's Morning Again in America" frame, communicated iconically in a Ronald Regan presidential re-election campaign television commercial with soft, warm images of an idealized America, such as picket fences, beautiful children, strong brave men leading happy families, weddings and the like. This framing consolidated the success of the Southern strategy popularized by President Richard Nixon's campaign in the late 1960s. How can one rebut an argument which is not an argument, but rather is a highly emotional feeling? This requires counter-framing.

                By framing ElBaradei as "Western", the MB is attempting to associate its opponents, without ever having to prove any factual charges or even make any specific accusations, with aspects of Western culture and foreign policy which are hugely unpopular in Egypt and the Arab world. The not-so-subtle implication is that the largely young, educated often English speaking Egyptians who took the streets against Mubarak and actually initiated the Revolution are useful idiots-- tools of America and Europe acting as a naïve, or even traitorous Fifth Column, manipulated by The West. There are a number of connotations to this descriptor: exploitive, colonial, conspiracy, rapacious, war, consumerism, anti-Islam and support of Israel among them. This is one of the fundamental frames that the MB invokes against the liberal opposition. Ironically, the MB senior leadership were wary to support the revolution in its early stages allowing only their youth wing to be involved- true to their chameleon political history. Another irony is that the MB itself has a long history of accommodating and working with the Mubarak, Sadat and Nasser regimes.

A pawn of the West? (Source: Reuters- Mohammed Salem)

              Contrastingly, the liberal opposition frames this current struggle as Mubarak part deux or the rise of a “new Pharaoh” (See Hendawi, Hamza), referring to Mubarak’s failed attempts to cast himself as a modern day Pharaoh of Egypt (See Fein, Judie). This is powerful framing because the memory of the Mubarak dictatorship is still fresh in everyone's minds, mindful of the Egyptian historical cycle of revolution and liberation, followed by the imposition of authoritarianism in the name of a temporary emergency, which remains in place indefinitely.

President Mohammed Morsi depicted as the "new Pharaoh" of Egypt (Source: AP)

                President Morsi’s ascension to the presidential seat was filled with hope for a brighter future and in the intervening time he has made great strides in a number of areas relating to foreign policy. He has secured vital loans from a number of countries, ensured continuing tithes from the U.S., acted as a mediator for the Israeli-Hamas cease fire and cemented Egypt’s role as an important and necessary actor within the region. However, little has actually changed in the daily lives of Egyptians. Unemployment is still rampant, fundamental government services like water and electricity spotty, increasing prices on staple goods, a stalled constitution and an overall unease among many urban Egyptians as to the ultimate goal of the MB affiliated President Morsi. While he did win the presidency, he was considered by many moderate Egyptians to be the lesser evil, the best candidate among two bad choices. Even then he won by a narrow margin of 3%, 51.7% to 48.3% (See “Muslim Brotherhood backed…”). This most current unrest only heightens the fears of an Islamization/Brotherhoodization of the state and a return to an authoritarian regime.

  It seems at this point President Morsi has perhaps been overly ambitious in attempting to consolidate political power to advance his vision of an Islamic democratic nation. This has triggered massive protests by the Arab Street that was responsible for the Egyptian Arab Spring in the first place and the ouster of Mubarak. It is too early to predict what will happen in the coming days for Egypt, but since the fundamental issue is political legitimacy, whoever wins the framing battle is likely to prevail.

Works Cited:

“Muslim Brotherhood-backed Candidate Wins Egyptian Presidential Election.” (June 24, 2012). Fox News. Retrieved December 1, 2012, from: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/06/24/egypt-braces-for-announcement-president/

Cartalucci, Tony. (November 23, 2012). “Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood Challenged in Egypt.” Retrieved December 1, 2012, from: http://beforeitsnews.com/middle-east/2012/11/morsi-the-muslim-brotherhood-challenged-in-egypt-2446140.html

Clemons, Steve. (November 25, 2012). “Mohammed Morsi: Abe Lincoln in Disguise or Another Mubarak?” The Atlantic. Retrieved December 1, 2012 from: http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/11/mohammed-morsi-abe-lincoln-in-disguise-or-another-mubarak/265557/

Herman, Edward and Noam Chomsky. (2002). “Updated Edition: Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media.” New York: Pantheon Books.

“Egypt: UN Human Rights Chief Calls on Egypt’s President to Roll Back Powers of Recent Decree.” (November 30, 2012). All Africa. Retrieved December 1, 2012, from: http://allafrica.com/stories/201212010476.html

Fein, Judie. “Mubarak: Modern-Day Pharaoh of Egypt.” (February 3, 2011). Huffington Post. Retrieved November 26, 2012 from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/judie-fein/mubarak-modernday-pharoah_b_816944.html

Hendawi, Hamza. (December 2, 2012). “Egypt’s Anti-Morsi Rebellion of Judges is Complete.” Bloomberg Business Week. Retrieved December 2, 2012 from: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-12-02/egypt-islamists-protest-ahead-of-court-ruling#p2

Hume, Tim. (November 30, 2012). “Q & A: What’s Driving Egypt’s Unrest?” CNN. Retrieved December 1, 2012, from: http://beforeitsnews.com/middle-east/2012/11/morsi-the-muslim-brotherhood-challenged-in-egypt-2446140.html

Kirkpatrick, David. (November 24, 2012). “Egyptian Judges Challenge Morsi Over New Power.” The New York Times. Retrieved November 29, 2012, from: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/world/egyptian-judges-challenge-morsi-over-new-power-663501/

Knox, Olivier. (November 26, 2012). “White House Cites ‘Concerns’ Over Egypt, Won’t Criticize Morsi.” Yahoo! News. Retrieved November 29, 2012, from: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/white-house-cites-concerns-over-egypt-won-t-211632449--politics.html

Lakoff, George & Mark Johnson. (1980). “Metaphors We Live By.” Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Rohde, David. (November 24, 2012). “Morsi’s Power Grab: ‘There Was a Disease But This Is Not The Remedy.” The Atlantic. Retrieved November 29, 2012, from: http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/11/morsis-power-grab-there-was-a-disease-but-this-is-not-the-remedy/265555/

“Social Identity Theory.” (n.d.) Wikipedia. Retrieved October 2, 2012 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Identity_Theory

Spencer, Richard. (November 30, 2012). “Egypt: Mohammed Morsi Criticised by UN.” The Telegraph. Retrieved December 1, 2012, from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/9715314/Egypt-Mohammed-Morsi-criticised-by-UN.html
Zaller, John. (1992). “The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion.” Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.