Influence: Science and Practice

Influence: Science and Practice (1985), originally published as Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (1984), is a psychology book examining the ways people can be influenced by "compliance professionals". The book's author is Robert B. Cialdini, Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University. The main premise of the book is that in a complex world where people are overloaded with more information than they can deal with, people fall back on a decision making approach based on generalizations. According to the book, these generalizations develop because they allow people to usually act in a correct manner with a limited amount of thought and time. However, they can be exploited and effectively turned into weapons by those who know them to influence others to act certain ways. A seventh lever on "unity" has been added to the most recent edition. To date, the book has sold over two million copies and been published in 25 different languages. The findings in the book are backed up by empirical studies conducted in the fields of psychology, marketing, economics, anthropology and social science. The author also worked undercover in many compliance fields such as car sales and door-to-door sales.