Six Degrees of Social Influence

"A fascinating and fitting tribute to one of social psychology's true pioneers." -Daniel Gilbert, Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of Stumbling on Happiness "This delightful book contains a wide range of pithy, insightful essays on social influence. The volume epitomizes Bob Cialdini's concept of full-cycle psychology by moving between ideas, methods, and applications. This open-minded triangulation across diverse types of research has fostered the impressive body of knowledge on social influence that appears in this volume." -- Alice Eagly, James Padilla Chair of Arts and Sciences, and Professor of Psychology, Northwestern University "Robert Cialdini is the Benjamin Franklin of research on influence-- a keen observer of human nature, great writer, minter of pithy phrases, and clever experimenter who's able to capture lightning in a jar. This collection of essays, written by his fellow researchers in his honor, testifies to his wide and deep influence on the practice of social psychology." -- Chip Heath, Professor, Stanford Graduate School of Business and author of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die and Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard "Six Degrees of Social Influence is an eminently readable and endlessly fascinating journey through a world of intellectually and socially important ideas about social influence. Both a tribute to Robert Cialdini, a remarkable social psychologist, and a great review and overview of important research and concepts, this book is as delightful and important as the person and ideas it honors." -- Jeffrey Pfeffer, Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior and author of Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don't "It's difficult to imagine putting Bob Cialdini between the covers of a book, but here he is. The chapters, all by leading experts in influence and social perception, present classic and novel examples of research informed by Cialdini's work. These include full-cycle social psychology, cleverly phrased influence requests that can trigger automatic acquiescence, activation of social norms, prosociality, and the ways in which understanding the weapons of influence can empower us all. This book offers an excellent introduction for those few readers not yet familiar with Cialdini's brilliant insights into social psychology. And for everyone else already familiar with his approach, the book provides an engaging, useful analysis of his major contributions." -- Wendy Wood, Provost Professor of Psychology and Business, University of Southern California