Compliance is a response—specifically, a submission—made in reaction to a request. The request may be explicit (e.g., foot-in-the-door technique) or implicit (e.g., advertising). The target may or may not recognize that they are being urged to act in a particular way.Cialdini, R. B, & Goldstein, N. J. (2004) "Social influence: Compliance and conformity." Annual Review of Psychology, 55: 591–621.
Compliance psychology is the study of the process where individuals comply to social influence, typically in response to requests and pressures brought on by others. It encompasses a variety of theories, mechanisms, and applications in a wide range of contexts (e.g. personal and professional). Compliance psychology is essential to understand across many different fields. Some of various fields include healthcare, where patients adherence to medical advice is necessary, furthermore, marketing where consumer behavior is prioritized strategies can be developed.
Social psychology is centered on the idea of social influence. It is the effect that words, actions, or mere presence of other people (real or imagined) have on our thoughts, feelings, attitudes, or behavior. Social influence is the driving force behind compliance. It is important that psychologists and ordinary people alike recognize that social influence extends beyond our behavior—to our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs—and that it takes on many forms. Persuasion and the compliance techniques are particularly significant types of social influence since they utilize the respective effect's power to attain the submission of others. Compliance is significant because it is a type of social influence that affects our everyday behavior—especially social interactions. Compliance is a complicated concept that must be studied in depth so that the uses, implications, theoretical, and experimental approaches may be better understood.Aronson, Elliot, Timothy D. Wilson, and Robin M. Akert. Social Psychology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2010. Print.
Compliance Techniques The following techniques have been proven to effectively induce compliance from another party.
Foot-in-the-door
In utilizing this technique, the subject is asked to perform a small request—a favor that typically requires minimal involvement. After this, a larger request is presented. According to "successive approximations", because the subject complied with initial requests, they are more likely to feel obligated to fulfill additional favors.Burger, J. M. (1999) "The foot-in-the-door compliance procedure: A multiple-process analysis and review." Personality and Social Psychology Review, 3: 303–325.
Door-in-the-face
This technique begins with an initial grand request. This request is expected to be turned down; thus, it is followed by a second, more reasonable request. This technique is decidedly more effective than foot-in-the-door since foot-in-the-door utilizes a gradual escalation of requests.Burger, J. M. (1986) "Increasing compliance by improving the deal: The that's not-all technique." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51: 2, 227–283.
Low-ball
Frequently employed by car salesmen, low-balling gains compliance by offering the subject something at a lower price only to increase the price at the last moment. The buyer is more likely to comply with this price change since they feel like a mental agreement to a contract has occurred.Guéguen, N., Pascual, A., & Dagot, L. (2002) "Low-ball and compliance to a request: An application in a field setting." Psychological Reports, 91, 81–84.
Ingratiation
This attempt to obtain compliance involves gaining someone's approval so they will be more likely to appease one's demands. Edward E. Jones discusses three forms of ingratiation:Burnstein, Eugene (1966). "Book review: Ingratiation: A Social Psychological Analysis by Edward E. Jones". The American Journal of Psychology 79 (1): 159–161.Gordon, R. A. (1996) "Impact of ingratiation on judgments and evaluations: A meta-analytic investigation." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71: 1, 54–70.Yukl, G., & Tracey, J. B. (1992) "Consequences of influence tactics used with subordinates, peers, and the boss." Journal of Applied Psychology, 77: 4,525–535. flattery opinion conformity and self-presentation (presenting one's own attributes in a manner that appeals to the target)
Norm of reciprocity
This technique explains that due to the injunctive social norm that people will return a favor when one is granted to them; compliance is more likely to occur when the requestor has previously complied with one of the subject's requests.Burger, J. M., Sanchez, J., Imberi, J. E., & Grande, L. R. (2009) "The norm of reciprocity as an internalized social norm: Returning favors even when no one finds out." Social Influence, 4: 11–17.
Compliance gaining
Estimation of compliance Research also indicates that people tend to underestimate the likelihood that other individuals will comply with requests—called the underestimation of compliance effect. That is, people tend to assume that friends, but not strangers, will comply with requests to seek assistance. Yet, in practice, strangers comply with requests more frequently than expected. Consequently, individuals significantly underestimate the degree to which strangers will comply with requests.
Personality Psychology and Compliance In the study of personality psychology, certain personality disorders are characterized by traits that make individuals more prone to manipulating or coercing others into compliance:Larsen, Randy J., and David M. Buss. Personality Psychology: Domains of Knowledge about Human Nature. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2010. Print. Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD): Individuals tend to display a glibness and grandiose sense of self-worth. Due to their shallow affect and lack of remorse or empathy, they are well suited to con or manipulate others into complying with their wishes. Histrionic Personality Disorder (HPD): Those with HPD often crave to be the center of attention. The need for validation can lead them to form relationships to gain attention and influence others. However, they discard relationships once they no longer serve purpose. Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD): People with NPD have inflated self-importance, hypersensitivity to criticism and a sense of entitlement that compels them to persuade others to comply with their requests.
Social Psychology and Compliance In social psychology, compliance is viewed as a form of social influence. A process in which individuals adjust their behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs to reach goals and attain social or personal gains. Unlike personality psychology that concentrates on an individual's personality or characteristics (that may drive their actions), social psychology takes a broader perspective and examines how social context, group dynamics, and situational factors shape an individual's willingness to comply. Their gaining of or submission to compliance is frequently influenced by construals—i.e. an individual's interpretation of their social environment and interactions.
Construals and Interpretation: A person's construal, or interpretation of the social situation, affects whether they perceive the request in desirable outcome. In some cases they perceive it as a reasonable request in others it can be perceived as manipulative. These perceptions shape the willingness to comply. Situational Factors: External circumstances such as presence of authority figure or perceived consequences. So, factors like power and authority also play a key role in driving compliance. Group Dynamic: People are more likely to comply when they observe others doing so as well. When group pressure is present then others are more likely succumb to conforming.
Evolving theories of compliance
The study of compliance is often recognized for the overt demonstrations of dramatic experiments such as the Stanford prison experiment and the Stanley Milgram shock experiments. These experiments serve as a display of the psychological phenomena of compliance. In those instances, compliance frequently occurred in response to overt social forces. These types of studies have provided useful insight into the nature of compliance. However, today's researchers are inclined to concentrate their efforts on subtle, indirect, or unconscious social influences.
Those involved in this modern social-cognitive movement are attempting to discover the ways in which subjects' implicit and explicit beliefs, opinions and goals affect information processing and decision making in settings where influential forces are present. The social-cognitive movement puts emphasis on the importance of grasping cognitive processes to understand compliance. Researchers within the field study implicit and explicit beliefs and goals influence. In particularly, how they influence the individuals' decisions in social context. Furthermore, it redevelops tradition notions regarding social influence.
Philosophy vs Social Psychology
Philosophers view compliance in the context of arguments. Arguments are produced when an individual gives a reason for thinking that a claim is true. In doing so, they utilize premises (claims) to support their conclusion (opinion). Regardless of utilization of fallacy forms (e.g., apple-polishing, ad hominem) to get their point across, individuals engaged in philosophical arguments are overtly and logically expressing their opinion(s). This is an explicit action in which the person on the other side of the argument recognizes that the arguer seeks to gain compliance (acceptance of their conclusion).Moore, Brooke Noel., and Richard Parker. Critical Thinking. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Education, 2003. Print.
In studying compliance, social psychologists aim to examine overt and subtle social influences experienced in various forms by all individuals. Implicit and explicit psychological processes are also studied since they shape interactions. These processes explain how certain individuals can make another comply and why someone else succumbs to compliance.
As a means of fulfilling needs In complying with the requests of others or by following their actions, we seek to maintain the goals of social influence: informative social influence normative social influence
Informative social influence (goal of accuracy) People are motivated to achieve their goals in the most efficient and accurate manner possible. When faced with information, an individual needs to correctly interpret and react—particularly when faced with compliance-gaining attempts since an inaccurate behavior could result in great loss. With that being said, people attempt to gain an accurate construal of their situation so they may respond accordingly.
Individuals are frequently rewarded for acting in accordance with the beliefs, suggestions and commands of authority figures, or social norms. Among other sources, authority may be gained on the basis of societal power, setting and size. Individuals are likely to comply with an authority figure's (or group's) orders or replicate the actions deemed correct by social norms because of an assumption that the individual is unaware of some important information. The need to be accurate—and the belief that others know something they do not—often supersedes the individual's personal opinion.
Normative social influence (goal of affiliation)