Acceptance technique: the [door in the face]

The "door in the face" technique is another social influence strategy that seeks to increase the likelihood of a person agreeing to a moderate request by first presenting a much larger, exaggerated initial request that is very likely to be rejected.

After the first large request is rejected, the second, smaller request, which was the real goal all along, is then presented.

Psychological Basis: Contrast and Reciprocity

This technique operates through several psychological mechanisms:

• Perceptual Contrast Principle: The second, smaller request seems much more reasonable and manageable compared to the first large, exaggerated request. This contrast makes the actual request seem less demanding.

• Norm of Reciprocity: When the requester "gives in" or reduces their initial demand (going from the large request to the small one), the person being asked may feel socially obligated to make a concession in return by agreeing to the second request. It's as if the requester has done a favor by reducing the demand, and the other person feels indebted.

Illustrative Example: Youth Volunteering

A classic study illustrates this technique. A group of college students were asked if they would be willing to volunteer to mentor juvenile delinquents for two hours a week for two years.

As expected, most (virtually all) of the students refused this large request.

Immediately following this refusal, they were asked a second, more moderate request: whether they would be willing to accompany a group of juvenile delinquents on a two-hour visit to the zoo.

In this condition, a significantly higher percentage of students (about 50%) agreed to the second request, compared to a control group that was only asked the small request directly (where the acceptance was much lower, about 17%).

Conditions for Effectiveness

For the door-in-the-face technique