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cognitive dissonance
Asking for a favor can increase someone's affection.
A 1969 study found that participants who were asked for a personal favor by a researcher rated that researcher more favorably afterward.
The human mind struggles to justify performing a task for someone we do not like. To resolve this cognitive dissonance, the brain subconsciously updates our opinion of the recipient to justify our own behavior. We assume we must like them, or we would not have helped.
You gain influence not by doing favors, but by being the recipient.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Jecker & Landy, 1969, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
- What the check found
- The study 'Liking a Person as a Function of Doing Him a Favor' by Jecker and Landy (1969) is accurately cited. It is a foundational experiment in social psychology frequently used to demonstrate the Ben Franklin effect.
- Confidence
- Well replicated
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.