The Franklin Effect is a psychological phenomenon in which people like someone more after doing them a favor. The explanation for this is cognitive dissonance. People help others because they like others, even if they don't, because their minds have trouble maintaining logical consistency between their actions and perceptions.
In other words, the Franklin Effect is the result of an attack on a person's self-concept. Each person develops a persona that persists because inconsistencies in the personal narrative are rewritten, edited, and misunderstood.
Franklin's Effect Observation
Benjamin Franklin (for whom the effect is named) quoted what he called "an old adage": In his autobiography:
“People who have done you a good thing once are more likely to do it again than people who have done you a favor.”
Franklin explained how he dealt with hostility from rival legislators while serving in the Pennsylvania General Assembly in the 18th century:
Hearing that he had a very rare and curious book in his library, I wrote him a note expressing my desire to read the book and asking him to lend it to me for a few days. He sent it immediately and I sent it back about a week later with another note expressing my fondness for him strongly. When we next met in the House, he spoke to me very politely (something he had never done before). From that time he showed himself willing to serve me on every occasion, and we became good friends, a friendship which lasted until his death.
Research
Jecker and Landy conducted a study on this effect in 1969, in which students were invited to participate in a quiz contest run by the researchers, in which they could win a cash prize.
After this game is over,
- One-third of the students who "won" did so. The researchers approached them and asked them to return the money on the grounds that he had used his own funds to pay the winners and now there was not enough money;
- Another third were asked by the secretary to return the money because it belonged to the psychology department and there were insufficient funds;
- Another third had no contact at all.
All three groups were then asked how much they liked the researcher.
- The second group dislikes him the least
- The first group dislikes him the least
This shows that refund requests from intermediaries decrease their favorability, while direct requests increase their favorability.
In 1971, University of North Carolina psychologists John Schopler and John Compere conducted the following experiment:
They had subjects take a learning test against accomplices posing as other students. Subjects were told that learners would watch the teacher use a stick to tap out long patterns on a series of wooden cubes. Learners are then asked to repeat these patterns. Each teacher will try two different methods on two different people, one at a time. During a round, the teacher provides encouragement when the learner masters the pattern correctly. In another round of experiments, teachers insulted and criticized students when they made mistakes. Afterward, teachers completed a situation report questionnaire that included questions about learner attractiveness and likability. Overall, subjects who were insulted were rated as less attractive than subjects who were encouraged.
The subjects' own behavior toward their accomplices influenced their perceptions of them - "You tend to like people who are nice to you and dislike people who are rude to you."
A newer but smaller study of Japanese and American subjects by psychologist Yu Niiya replicated the results.
Effects as a paradigm of cognitive dissonance
Franklin's view is cited as cognitive dissonance theory, which proposes that people change attitudes or behaviors to resolve tensions or "dissonances" between thoughts, attitudes, and actions. In the case of the Ben Franklin Effect, there is an inconsistency between a subject's negative attitude toward another person and their knowledge that they have done the other person a favor.
Other explanations
Psychologist Yu Niiya attributes this phenomenon to the requestee reciprocating the requester's perceived attempts to ignite rapport. This theory would explain the absence of the Ben Franklin effect when intermediaries are used.
use
In the world of sales, the Ben Franklin Effect can be used to build rapport with customers. Rather than offering unsolicited assistance to prospects, salespeople can ask prospects for assistance: "For example, ask them to share with you what they think are the most compelling product benefits, where they think the market is going, or which products might make you interested." Interested" a few years later. This kind of pure favor, if unrequited, can build goodwill, thereby enhancing your ability to win the customer's time and future investment. "
The Franklin Effect can also be observed in successful mentor-mentee relationships. One source noted that the relationship "is defined by a fundamental imbalance of knowledge and influence." Trying to proactively reciprocate may be counterproductive, as the role reversal and unsolicited help may put your mentor in an unexpected and awkward position.” The Ben Franklin Effect is referenced in Dale Carnegie's best-selling book How to Win Friends and Influence People . Carnegie interpreted requests for favors as "a subtle but effective form of flattery."
As Carnegie suggested:
...When we ask a coworker to do us a favor, we are expressing that we think they have something that we don’t have, whether it’s more wisdom, more knowledge, more skills, or something else. This is another way to show admiration and respect that others may not have noticed before. This immediately improves their opinion of us and makes them more willing to help us again because they enjoy our admiration and actually start to like us.
Psychologist Yu Niiya believes that the Ben Franklin Effect confirms Takeo Doi's "gan" theory, as described in "The Anatomy of Dependence." It states that dependent, childlike behavior can trigger a parent-child relationship in which one partner sees themselves as the caregiver. In effect, "Agan" creates a relationship in which one person feels responsible for the other, who is then free to behave immaturely and make demands.
One commentator discussed the Ben Franklin Effect in relation to dog training, arguing that "it's more about the human side of the relationship than it is about the dog itself." While trainers often distinguish between training methods based on positive and negative reinforcement impact on the dog, but it may also be relevant to "consider the impact both methods may have on the trainer." The Franklin Effect states that how we treat dogs during training affects how we view them as individuals, specifically how much we like or dislike them. When we do nice things for our dogs in the form of treats, praise, petting, and play that reinforce desired behaviors, the treatment may make us like them more. And if we use harsh words, collar yanking, or hitting to try to change our dog's behavior, then we will begin to like our dog less. "
reverse
The opposite happens when we start to hate someone for whom we have done something wrong. We dehumanize them in order to justify the bad things we do to them.
It has been suggested that if soldiers who kill enemy servicemen in combat later come to hate them, it is because this psychological strategy helps "reduce the dissonance of the killing." This phenomenon may also "explain long-standing feuds like Hatfield and McCoy"; or vendettas in different cultures: "Once started, we may not be able to stop and engage in behavior that we would not normally allow." As one As one commentator put it, "Prisoners came to look down upon prisoners; concentration camp guards came to treat prisoners inhumanely; soldiers coined derogatory terms for the enemy. It is difficult to hurt someone you admire. It is even harder to kill a fellow human being. Put yourself in the position of Treat the casualties you cause as something lower than yourself, something worthy of being harmed, so that you can continue to view yourself as a kind and honest person and continue to maintain your sanity.”
