#837 Vanessa Bohns: You Have More Influence Than You Think
Dr. Vanessa Bohns is a social psychologist and a Professor of Organizational Behavior at Cornell University. Her research focuses broadly on social influence and the psychology of compliance and consent. She is the author of You Have More Influence Than You Think: How We Underestimate Our Power of Persuasion, and Why It Matters.
In this episode, we focus on You Have More Influence Than You Think. We discuss how much we impact other people, and go through topics like compliments; expressing gratitude; the invisibility cloak illusion, and the spotlight effect; what people really pay attention to; audience tuning, and the “saying-is-believing effect”; behavioral contagion; first impressions; assertiveness; the domains where people think they are below-average; how people react to requests; why it’s hard to say “no”; why people in positions of power underestimate the negative impact they have on others; and other topics. We talk about ways by which we can become more aware and mindful of our influence on others. Finally, we discuss if influencers and gurus are preying on our insecurities to sell their products.
Time Links:
Intro
How is the impact we have on other people studied?
Do people like compliments?
Expressing gratitude
The invisibility cloak illusion, and the spotlight effect
What do people really pay attention to?
What happens when we share experiences with other people
When we say what other people want to hear - audience tuning, and the “saying-is-believing” effect
Behavioral contagion
Do we usually leave negative impressions on other people?
Being assertive
When people think they are below-average
How do people react to requests?
Why it’s hard to say no, and the MeToo movement
Why people in positions of power underestimate the negative impact they have on others
Questions that should not be asked in job interviews
Can we become more aware and mindful of our influence on others?
Are influencers and gurus preying on our insecurities to sell their products?
Follow Dr. Bohns’ work!
Follow Dr. Bohns’ work:
Faculty page: http://bit.ly/4004Dwp
Website: http://bit.ly/3ZCCGev
You Have More Influence Than You Think: https://bit.ly/3JctO82
Twitter handle: @profbohns