Motivation and Compliance

Compliance Gaining

  • Definition: Attempts to change overt behavior of others.

    • Techniques include:

    • Promise of Reward: Motivating behavior by offering something desirable.

    • Threat of Punishment: Using potential negative consequences to encourage compliance.

    • Promoting Liking: Building rapport to increase influence.

    • Using Reciprocity: Leveraging the social norm to return favors.

    • Creating Indebtedness: Making someone feel obliged to respond positively to a request.

    • Generating Moral Obligation: Tapping into ethical responsibilities.

    • Promoting Esteem: Boosting or threatening a person’s self-esteem as a lever to gain compliance.

    • Altruism: Expressing how one's actions aid or help the communicator to foster compliance.

Factors Impacting Compliance

  • Type of Relationship: The nature of the relationship impacts the likelihood of compliance (e.g., intimate, friendly).

  • Power Dynamics:

    • Powerful individuals have a greater belief in their legitimacy when requesting compliance.

    • Those in less powerful positions often need to maintain their face.

  • Communicator Characteristics:

    • Influences include gender, personality, culture, and attitude.

Deception

Deception as a Form of Persuasion

  • Motivation for Lies: Understanding the reasons behind deceit (e.g., to affiliate, protect self, or avoid conflict).

  • Strategies for Deception:

    • Distortion, omission, and falsification of information.

Four Factor Model of Deceivers

  1. Arousal: Liars exhibit increased physiological responses.

  2. Behavior Control: Attempt to manage their behaviors consciously.

  3. Negative Emotions: Increased experience of guilt or anxiety.

  4. Cognitive Load: More mental effort required to construct and maintain the lie.

Interpersonal Deception Theory

  • Liars create messages strategically:

    • They manipulate message information.

    • Control their behaviors intentionally.

    • Manage their image while often leaking nonverbal cues.

Influential Factors in Deception

  • Demeanor: Some individuals are more adept at concealing lies, influenced by traits such as Machiavellianism and high self-monitoring capabilities.

  • Prepared vs. Spontaneous Lies: Prepared lies can be caught easily due to emotional content.

  • Behavior Rigidity: Increased motivation to lie leads to more rigid behaviors.

Detecting Lies

  • Detection is challenging:

    • Common stereotypes (e.g., liars don't make eye contact) are often incorrect.

    • Effectiveness of training in lie detection varies.

    • Familiarity with the liar can improve detection accuracy.

Motivational Appeals

External Inducements

  • Defined as emotional catalysts designed to boost an individual's likelihood to take action.

Fear Appeals

  • Most effective when:

    1. Triggers danger control rather than fear control (Witte's Extended Parallel Process Model).

    2. Recommendations are seen as efficacious (self-efficacy and response efficacy).

    3. High perceived vulnerability to consequences.

    4. Level of fear does not exceed perceived efficacy.

  • Note: Ethical implications exist with the use of fear tactics.

Appeals to Pity and Guilt

  • Pity Appeals: Effective for monetary donations but less so for time investments.

  • Guilt Appeals: Can work even if the requester is not directly linked to the source of guilt; framing as promoting self-feelings from doing good is effective.

    • Reactions depend on the perceived controllability of the affected individual's situation.

Humor as Motivation

  • Functions indirectly to influence:

    • Captures attention and distracts from counter-arguments.

    • Increases source likability and perceived credibility, unless expertise is in question.

    • Can be enhanced with self-disparaging humor if credibility is maintained.

Sex Appeal

  • Acts as a peripheral cue, relying on association:

    • Implies using a product will enhance attractiveness and desirability.

  • Potential for backlash or negative consequences exists if poorly executed (context, offense, distraction).

Ingratiation

  • Intentional behavior aimed at gaining favor through strategies such as flattery:

    • Supportive empirical evidence of effectiveness in influence.

    • Transparent attempts are seen as less effective than those that are genuine or well-disguised.

Ingratiation’s Effects

  • Ingratiatory behaviors increase liking and perceived similarity.

  • Can influence perceptions positively through social labeling.