description Robert Cialdini Overview
Robert Cialdini is an American social psychologist known for studying persuasion, compliance, and the conditions that shape agreement with requests. His 1984 book Influence described six principles: reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, authority, liking, and scarcity. A later edition added unity as a seventh principle. His work is used in psychology, communication, marketing, and negotiation education.
insights Ranking position
Robert Cialdini ranks #64 of 228 in the Psychologist ranking, behind Donald Winnicott, ahead of Steven Pinker.
help Robert Cialdini FAQ
What are Cialdini's original six principles of influence?
Influence originally presented reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, authority, liking, and scarcity. Cialdini later added unity as a seventh principle in Pre-Suasion and newer editions of his work.
What does Cialdini mean by social proof?
Social proof is the tendency to treat other people's behavior as evidence of what is correct, especially when a situation is uncertain. Cialdini illustrates it with examples such as testimonials, crowd behavior, and messages about what similar people commonly do.
How is Pre-Suasion different from Influence?
Influence examines principles that make requests more persuasive. Pre-Suasion, published in 2016, focuses on how attention and context can prepare an audience before the request itself is made.
Did Cialdini study persuasion only in university experiments?
No, he also used what he called participant observation, entering settings such as sales and fundraising organizations to study persuasion practices. He combined those field observations with findings from social psychology.
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