# Compliance techniques

> IB Psychology · IB Psychology 2027 First Assessment
> Source: https://www.owlsprep.com/study/ib-psychology-soc-compliance-techniques/

The role of one or more compliance techniques in changing human behaviour.

## Learning objectives

- The role of one or more compliance techniques in changing human behaviour.

## Core concept

Compliance techniques are specific tactics that make people more likely to say yes to a direct request. The foot-in-the-door technique opens with a small request almost no one refuses, so that agreeing to a much larger request later feels consistent with what you have already done. The low-ball technique gets someone to commit to an attractive offer and only then reveals a hidden cost — yet the commitment tends to hold. Both work by exploiting our wish to act consistently, not by force or reward.

## Key studies

IB Psychology answers must be supported by named studies. Learn these to cite as evidence:

**Freedman and Fraser (1966)** — Women who first agreed to a small request (answering a few questions about household soaps) were more than twice as likely to later agree to a large, intrusive request (a two-hour home survey). — *Anchors the FOOT-IN-THE-DOOR technique — a tiny first 'yes' sharply raised compliance with a much bigger second request.*

**Cialdini et al. (1978)** — Students asked to join a study, and only then told it started at 7 am, were more likely to take part — and to actually turn up — than students told the early time upfront. — *Anchors the LOW-BALL technique — a commitment made before the hidden cost was revealed still held.*

## Evaluation (AO3)

**Strength — tested in real field settings** — The effects appear in genuine door-to-door and sign-up situations, giving them ecological validity rather than only lab support.

**Limitation — bounded effect and ethics** — Compliance depends on context (size of request, who asks) and can fail; and deliberately steering people's choices raises consent and deception concerns.

## Scope

> **note**
>
> Request-based persuasion tactics are the focus. Group-pressure influence is conformity (SOC_3); the internal consistency drive behind these tactics is dissonance (SOC_1).

## Common pitfalls

- **Wrong:** Compliance is the same as conformity or obedience.
  - Why it fails: A frequently penalised misconception in IB Psychology exams.
  - Correct: Compliance is a change in behaviour in response to a direct REQUEST (which you can refuse). Conformity is matching a group's norm; obedience is following an authority's order. Match the term to the situation.

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