You’re Less Persuasive Than You Think
Psych 🧠 - 314/500
Reader,
You’d be surprised to know how often we underestimate a favour from strangers.
What is it?
This research paper examines how people's confidence in their ability to persuade others differs depending on whether they make requests face-to-face or over email.
The authors found a surprising reversal of a previously established effect.
Major findings:
Face-to-face underestimation: In line with previous research, people underestimated how likely strangers were to comply with their requests when making those requests in person.
Email overestimation: However, when making requests over email, people overestimated how likely others were to comply.
Perspective-taking failure: This overestimation in the email condition seems to be driven by a failure to appreciate how suspicious and untrustworthy email requests from strangers can appear.
Trust and empathy are key: The authors suggest that the implicit trust conveyed in face-to-face interactions, which fosters empathy for the requester, is lost over email. This lack of trust and empathy leads to lower compliance rates for emailed requests.
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What do I need to know:
While email is convenient, it might be less effective than face-to-face communication for certain types of requests, particularly those requiring trust and empathy.
Email is less persuasive than we think: People overestimate the effectiveness of email requests, which can lead to less successful persuasion than expected.
Communication medium matters: The way we communicate significantly impacts how our requests are perceived and ultimately influences compliance rates.
Consider the target's perspective: It's important to step outside our own perspective and consider how our message might be interpreted by the receiver, especially in digital communication where non-verbal cues are missing.
Source:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002210311630292X