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Lifting the lid on the science of persuasion

Cajole your boss into giving you a raise, win someone round to your point of view, or persuade your partner it’s their turn to put out the trash – getting people to do what you want can be very handy. Persuasion is a key element of all human interaction, from politics to marketing to everyday dealings with friends, family and colleagues. “Persuasion is a basic form of social interaction,” says Eric Knowles, emeritus professor of psychology at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. “It is the way we build consensus and a common purpose.”

Unfortunately persuasion is both notoriously difficult to pull off and almost impossible to resist when done well. Psychologists have long been fascinated by persuasion – why some people are more persuasive than others and why some strategies work where others fail. Over the next six pages we bring together some recent insights into the science of persuasion.

For those who don’t want to be persuaded, there are lessons here too. Knowing the strategies charmers and advertisers adopt can help you resist their guile.

1 Be a mimic

WHEN you’re aware of it, it’s one of the most infuriating behaviours imaginable. Yet mimic someone’s mannerisms subtly – their head and hand movements, posture and so forth – and it can be one of the most powerful forms of persuasion. That’s the conclusion of a number of recent studies.

William Maddux at the INSEAD business school in Fontainebleau, France, explored the effect of mimicry on 166 students in two role-play experiments, one involving negotiation between job candidates and recruiters, the second between …