Discuss the use of compliance techniques.

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Compliance Techniques
This essay is about compliance techniques as used in the field of psychology. It will involve the evaluation of such techniques, their definitions, explain their effectiveness, and support thereof from scholars in the field of psychology.
The term compliance refers to the change that occurs in an individual’s behavior due to a request or direction from another person. It occurs when a person alters their behavior to fit into a particular group even though still disagreeing with the group. Compliance does not in any way rely on positions of authority, unlike obedience.
“Compliance is a change in the character requested by another individual; the person acts in a way because others asked him or her to do although he or she is in a position to decline” (Breckler, Olson, & Wiggins 6). Compliance takes many forms from a buddy asking for help sheepishly blanketed by the query “Can you please do me a favor?” Pop-up advertisements on the internet designed to convince one into checking out a commercial site and also the high convincing intonation of a sales person for a good business deal set by the luring words “Have I got a deal for you!” (Breckler, Olson, & Wiggins 6) The request here can be direct or may possess manipulation. The compliance techniques come in many forms, but I will only discuss two, namely: The “Door-in-the-Face” and the “Foot-in-the-Door” technique.
Firstly, the foot in the door technique is built on the assumption that the agreement to a minute request would increase the chances of agreement to a bigger request shortly.

It means that one makes a request that is small to an individual; it would be automatic that the same person will not refuse the other bigger request. The foot-in-the-door technique is anchored on the consistency principle as reiterated by Petrova in the year 2007. It means that provided the bigger request is congruent to the earlier smaller request, the technique will succeed. The technique is effective because . Naturally human beings see themselves as helpful. Therefore, with the acceptance of the smaller request, they would want to continue being seen in that light and will comply with the request (Pascual 46).
The refusal of a larger request raises the probability of agreeing to a second, minute request. Therefore, this technique is inclined towards making a bigger request that a person will likely refuse then you make the intended smaller request. The subject individual in question will not say no it because of the inclination to never say No always. A good example is when bargaining for a pay rise, one makes a request that will be shot down like 30% and then later makes a more realistic one say 20%, which will be accepted. In 1975 a guy called Cialdini asked people to escort some criminals to the zoo, most of them declined. In another group he asked them to spend like two hours a week as counselors to the young thugs, again most declined. After a while the guys were asked to be counselors and later escort children to the zoo, the actual target wanted, and 50% accepted.
This technique usually leads to compliance when the requests were given are similar, and it often works in line with the reciprocity principle. It then works effectively because replying “No” to a bigger request makes the subject person feel like they owe them a favor (Terrier et al. 675). In foot in the door technique, the use of an enticement lessens it, and an interruption in between the two appeals does not impact the outcome size. On paper, compliance should escalate as the greatness of the original request about the second request increases.
The second technique is the door in the face technique. The door in the face technique is different as it requires that the same person makes the requests every time. On paper, the larger the variance between the requests, the more likely compliance becomes. However, thus has not been empirically tested and reinforced. The interval between the requests diminishes the outcome effect.
Case Study
The objective of the study is to support the technique above. A group of individuals wanted to come up with ways to make the university students conserve water in their hostel’s ablutions. They asked them to append their signatures on a poster that stated “take a shorter time in the shower. If I can do it, you can too!” Later they asked them to undertake research to make them give a thought about their water conservation and later the shower times were monitored.
The results were that among the students who undertook the research took an average of 4 minutes, the shortest time recorded in the whole hostel.
Conclusively, the guys who participated had committed to the intention of the research. The connection to the study being, the smaller request being the poster signing. The bigger request one being the research. Therefore, this proves the authenticity of the technique with the participants conserving water via shorter times in the showers.
The little research sought to prove the effectiveness of the compliance techniques. As clearly seen from the conclusion, the compliance techniques can be very effective. The average shower times were greatly reduced.
It goes without say, however, that this research faced its challenges just like any other research would. For instance, the reduced shower times could be subjective to the research. When people are aware that they are being monitored, they tend to change their behavior. The accuracy of the research and the chances of the students maintaining this behavior may not be entirely be relied upon.
Since the research was done in school and it did not involve issues that could bring the morality of the subjects and their behavior in question, the ethical considerations for the research could not be given much, though. However, the anonymity of the subjects was maintained throughout the research period, and no names were mentioned in the report as well.
In conclusion, it is clear that the compliance techniques are very effective. Whether it is the door in the face or the foot in the door form of compliance technique, the level of compliance is only determined by the requester and the recipients of the request. In the door in the door, enticement is used while in the door in the face; the compliance is most effective when the requests are given from the same person within a short timeframe of each other. All in all, it is evident that the compliance techniques are effective, the case study helps in strengthening this conclusion.
Works Cited
Terrier, Lohyd, Bénédicte Marfaing, and Marc-Olivier Boldi. “Door-In-The-Face: Is It Really Necessary That Both Requests Be Made By The Same Requester?.” Psychological Reports 113.2 (2013): 675-682
Pascual, Alexandre, et al. “Foot-In-The-Door and Problematic Requests: A Field Experiment.” Social Influence 8.1 (2013): 46.