← all facts
persuasion
Asking why makes you more stubborn than asking how.
A 2013 study found that asking someone to explain 'why' they hold a position strengthens their opposition.
When forced to justify 'why', people double down on their emotional commitment. Asking 'how' a plan would work forces them to realize the practical gaps in their own logic.
You talk people into deeper trenches by asking for their reasons.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Fernbach et al., 2013, Psychological Science
- What the check found
- The claim accurately reflects the findings of Fernbach et al. (2013) regarding the distinction between mechanistic 'how' explanations and reason-based 'why' explanations.
- 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.