Foot in the door technique

The foot in the door technique is one of the most well-known social manipulation techniques. On many occasions we have been victims of it without realizing it. So, what does this technique consist of?

They knock on the door of our house to ask us for a donation to a charity that fights against a rare disease. Maybe we say that at that moment we have no money. Now let’s imagine that the same association calls again to give us a pin. They ask us to wear that pin for a week to raise awareness in society of the importance of raising funds to fight the disease. Two weeks later they come back and ask us for a donation. There’s a good chance we’ll give it away. They just applied the foot-in-the-door technique to us.

There are many psychosocial techniques to manipulate us without us being aware of it. In fact, some people’s job is to design tactics to obtain a specific benefit without us realizing it. The foot in the door technique is one of the best known and most studied in social psychology.

The foot in the door technique

Beaman’s team (1983) defines the foot in the door as a technique that consists of asking a small favor from the person from whom we intend to obtain something. According to Beaman, “starts with inexpensive behavior and in a context of free choice (thus ensuring your affirmative response) and subsequently request a related, larger favorwhich is what we are really interested in achieving.”

The underlying factors that cause the largest subsequent behavior are commitment and consistency.. People who have agreed to carry out a behavior voluntarily accept a subsequent request that goes in the same direction more easily, even if it is more costly (provided they have accepted the previous one).

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For example, if we have positioned ourselves in favor of some type of thought, it will be easier for us to commit to behaviors related to said thought. In this way, we maintain internal and external coherence, that is, in relation to others. Besides, The effectiveness of this technique is greater when: the commitment is public, the person has chosen it publicly or the first commitment made has been costly.

“It is easier to deceive people than to convince them that they have been deceived.”

-Mark Twain-

Feedman and Fraser experiment

Feedman and Fraser (1966) asked a number of people to put up a large, ugly sign in their yard that read: “Drive carefully.” Only 17% agreed to put it in. Another group of people were asked to first sign a document in favor of road safety. Since it was a petition that implied little commitment, the majority signed. Soon, they asked these people to put the big, ugly sign in their yard. What happened? That 55% agreed.

The foot-in-the-door technique and cults

What relationship could exist between this technique and sects? Let’s not forget that this is a persuasion technique. The first contact with the sixths is usually attending small meetings. Afterwards, a small donation is requested. Once we take the first steps, we are more likely to commit to subsequent behaviors.

Behaviors that may include: devoting weekly hours to the cult, increasing donations of money or other assets. In more extreme cases, followers have also been documented who have been forced to perform sexual services and even participate in collective suicides under an apparent mirage of voluntariness.

“Are people crazy? No, people are manipulated.”

-José Luis Sampedro-

Final reflection

Despite going unnoticed, These techniques are used to get something from all of us. When they call us on the phone and ask us if we have internet, our answer is usually affirmative. In this way they predispose us to continue listening. The next question is usually whether we would like to pay less. Our answer is once again affirmative. They already have us caught!

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Another important aspect in some cases is the lack of time to think.. If we look closely, the offers they offer us are for a limited time: “Tomorrow this price will no longer be available”. In this way, the pressure they exert on us is such that we often answer yes without having processed the information.

Without a doubt, learning to say no and detecting all these manipulation techniques is important to prevent them from getting something from us that we were not willing to offer. A small “yes” can turn into a bad decision when we have to reject a subsequent request. So that, The next time we say “yes”, I’m sure we’ll think better of it..