The Power of Others: Social Influence & Persuasion (Summer 2021)

PSYC-S 1509
The Power of
Others: Social
Influence and
Persuasion

Course Basics How does social psychological research
contribute to our understanding of courtroom
7-week course decisions, shopping habits, and guide
effective leadership?

Time: Tue & Thu 8:30-11:30am ET

What are the key ingredients of
Instructor: Emily J. Hangen, PhD
effective persuasion?


Course website: https://
canvas.harvard.edu/courses/87656


Contact Information This course centers on the powerful impact
other people have on our thoughts, attitudes,
Email: and behaviors. Students in this course will
[email protected]
gain familiarity with a breadth of scientific
findings on influence such as framing,
I regularly check and reply to emails within 24 reciprocity, social proof, and commitment. In
hours on weekdays.(I do not respond to addition to developing a deeper
emails on the weekends.) understanding of the science of persuasion,
student will use this empirical basis to
Office hours: deliberate on how to leverage and resist
social influences in their everyday lives.
Sign up for office hours
using this link. Benefits of taking this course

I encourage you to come to office hours! This Knowledge: Gain a broad familiarity with
is a time to ask questions, discuss ideas that research on persuasion and persuasion tactics

interest you in greater depth, learn more
about pursuing a degree in psychology, etc. I Scholarly reasoning: Practice critical thinking
look forward to getting to meet each one of skills by evaluating, appreciating, and critiquing
you throughout the semester! original scholarly work


Required Materials Application: Identify practical implications and
extensions of research findings

Link to purchase books via the Harvard Coop
Adaptable communication: Practice engaging in
1. Cialdini, R. B. (2008). Influence: scholarly dialogue with peers and refine your
Science and Practice. **4th or 5th edition written communication through writing exercises
can be used. and working on a final paper.

2. Cialdini, R. (2016). Pre-suasion: A
revolutionary way to influence and
persuade. Simon and Schuster.

In addition to the books above, readings will
include original scholarly work (i.e. peer-
reviewed articles, reviews, and chapters),
which are provided on the course website.







Final Paper: Literature review (25%)

Purpose: The purpose of the final review paper is to provide you an opportunity to dig deeper
into a topic interest, to gain experience with the scholarly work involved in reviewing an area of
research, and to refine your writing and revising skills.


Details: Choose a specific sub-topic of interest related to persuasion. Conduct an extensive
literature search to find at least 10 relevant articles and synthesize key findings in a 6-9 page
review paper that follows APA formatting (See tutorial on APA style). Importantly, in your review
paper you need to do more than simply describe the individual articles, you need to offer some
sort of overarching analysis about the articles as a whole.


Potential overarching analyses include:

Describe the historical development of a theory (How has our understanding on the topic
has changed overtime?)


Identify patterns that emerge across the articles (Which findings are consistent? Which
findings are there mixed results?)


Identify gaps in the research and why those areas are important for to study in future
research (What questions have remained unanswered? What are good next steps for
researchers to take on this topic?)


Deadlines

• Bibliography & Thesis statement— Thursday, July 15
• Outline — Thursday, July 22
• Full draft — Thursday, July 29
• Peer feedback — Tuesday, Aug 3
• Final Paper — Thursday, Aug 5

Week Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
4
Bibliography &
5 Thesis
(Jul 15)
6
Outline
7 Peer feedback (Jul 22)
(Aug 3)
Full draft
(Jul 29)

FINAL PAPER
(Aug 5)









Week
Mon Jul 5 DUE by 8am: Deep Engagement response for Class 5 (see below)
Tue Jul 6
3 Class 5 — Reciprocity

Book Chapter
1. Ciladini, Influence, Chapter 2 Reciprocation: The Old Give and Take.

. .and Take

Articles
2. Burger, J. M., Sanchez, J., Imberi, J. E., & Grande, L. R. (2009). The

norm of reciprocity as an internalized social norm: Returning favors
even when no one finds out. Social Influence, 4(1), 11-17.

3. Keysar, B., Converse, B. A., Wang, J., & Epley, N. (2008). Reciprocity
is not give and take: Asymmetric reciprocity to positive and negative
acts. Psychological Science, 19(12), 1280-1286.


*Optional Podcast*
Brainfluence with Roger Dooley: Nine Ways to Ask For a Favor. . .And

Get It!

Thu Jul 8 *Optional Readings*
1. Happ, C., Melzer, A., & Steffgen, G. (2016). Trick with treat–

Reciprocity increases the willingness to communicate personal
data. Computers in Human Behavior, 61, 372-377.

2. Burger, J. M., Ehrlichman, A. M., Raymond, N. C., Ishikawa, J. M., &
Sandoval, J. (2006). Reciprocal favor exchange and
compliance. Social Influence, 1(3), 169-184.

Class 6 — Writing workshop

Week
Mon Jul 12 DUE by 8am: Deep Engagement response for Class 7 (see below)

4 Tue Jul 13 Class 7 — Commitment & Consistency

Book Chapter
1. Cialdini, Influence, Chapter 3 Commitment and Consistency:

Hobgoblins of the Mind


Articles
2. Cialdini, R. B., Cacioppo, J. T., Bassett, R., & Miller, J. A. (1978).

Low-ball procedure for producing compliance: commitment then
cost. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36(5), 463-476.

3. Ajzen, I., Czasch, C., & Flood, M. G. (2009). From Intentions to
Behavior: Implementation Intention, Commitment, and
Conscientiousness 1. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 39(6),
1356-1372.

Class 7 continued on next page