Foot in the door technique-Human tendency

As per the definition- Foot in the door technique

"Foot-in-the-door (FITD) technique is a compliance tactic that involves getting a person to agree to a large request by first setting them up by having that person agree to a modest request. The foot-in-the-door technique succeeds owing to a basic human reality that social scientists call "successiveapproximations"."

In the book-seeking wisdom from Darwin to Munger by Peter Bevelin

"How do people seduce us financially, politically or sexually? They make us first

agree to a small request, so small that no one would refuse. This way they create

a commitment. Then they make a second and larger request (the one they wanted

all along). We are then more likely to comply. This "foot-in-the-door technique"

is based on the principle that if people ask us to make a small commitment, we

are more likely to agree to a larger request because we want to appear consistent."

In our day to day life we find the Foot in the door technique present everywhere from small task to bigger task. people use this technique for their benefits. They start with small and end up with bigger requests.

There are many examples, as below:

ex1-Suresh is completing a science project, which requires him to design and create a model of the solar system. He asks his mother, Priyanka, to help him create a design for his project. Priyanka draws a sketch and gathers the supplies for Sam. Sam then asks his mother to help him glue the pieces together, which she does. In the end, Priyanka ends up constructing the entire science project with little help from Suresh. Priyanka wonders how this happened. Suresh used the foot-in-the-door technique to get his mother to complete his science project.

ex2- Boni wants Chloe to take care of her dog for the entire day, but she knows that there are chances she will be turned down if she makes this request. So, she'll start by asking if Chloe would come over and look after her dog for about an hour while she goes to the market. Once Chloe agrees and comes over, Boni asks her whether she would feed her dog as well. Then Boni calls her from the market and says that she's stuck in traffic and she will be delayed, and requests her to take her dog for a walk. The requests could go on piling with things like 'Could you bathe the dog once you are back from the walk' or 'Could you play catch with him while I'm back.

there are many real-life situations where the FITD is used by people for their advantage and what we have to learn here is to avoid such situations by saying NO politely.

Learn to say NO is very important because it saves you from many real-life troubles.

Keep reading and keep learning.

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Thanks & Regards,

Mahesh