Have you ever wondered why some people are more influential than others? What if there were a secret to becoming more persuasive?
According to Robert Cialdini, unity is a powerful tool for influence. He argues that people are more susceptible to persuasion from those they feel connected to. He shares valuable insights on unity through identity and activity.
Keep reading for fascinating insights into human behavior and persuasion that you can apply in your own interactions from Cialdini’s book Pre-suasion.
Robert Cialdini on Unity
According to Robert Cialdini, unity is one of several ways you can direct your audience’s attention. That’s because unity—just like consistency, authority, and likability—is something people prefer. Although consistency, authority, and likability are all potent preferences, Cialdini argues that unity is even stronger. He writes that individuals are especially susceptible to influence from people with whom they feel connected. He explains that this takes two forms: unity through identity and unity through activity.
Form #1: Unity Through Identity
Cialdini contends that people feel deeply connected with fellow members of a shared identity group, or “in-group,” such as their family, country, or religion. He relates that this unity has an evolutionary origin: Because humans are programmed by natural selection to pass down their genetic material, they automatically favor those who share this genetic material—that is, their families. In fact, Cialdini notes that neuroscientists have even found that people tend to project their own personality traits onto other in-group members, suggesting that they consider those who share their identities as extensions of themselves.
(Shortform note: According to experts, the evolutionary roots of our sense of shared identity with our family also gave rise to tribalism, an unflinching loyalty toward our in-group that causes hostility toward perceived members of the out-group. They contend that this tribalism is especially prominent in politics, where conservatives and progressives don’t merely disagree with one another, but often disdain one another to the point of hostility.)
Given the importance of shared identity, Cialdini suggests that we should direct our audience’s attention toward any mutual aspects of identity to pre-suade them. For example, an Italian politician giving a speech on the eve of election day could begin the speech with, “As your fellow Italian,” to underscore the identity that they share with voters. Alternatively, a corporate executive could use language likening the company to a family to foster a sense of unity among employees.
(Shortform note: One institution well-known for cultivating a shared identity is the US military, whose members often report a deeply ingrained interconnectedness with one another. This sense of interconnectedness is crucial in wartime, when the ability to function as a coherent unit is essential to creating effective units. Leaders interested in using Cialdini’s principle of unity for pre-suasion could begin by studying how the US military builds such a strong sense of shared identity.)
Form #2: Unity Through Activity
What if you want to pre-suade someone but you don’t share an identity with them? Cialdini suggests that we can manufacture a sense of unity through collective action, citing an array of studies to show as much.
For instance, in one study, researchers separated participants into two teams—one that walked in lockstep and one that walked out of sync—before having the teams play a game in which they chose between maximizing self-interest versus maximizing collective success. These researchers found that participants whose teams walked in lockstep were significantly more selfless (and thus more connected) during the subsequent game, whereas participants whose teams walked out of sync played more selfishly.
(Shortform note: In addition to making individuals more selfless, marching in lockstep also increases confidence. In one study, men were asked either to walk alone, at their own pace, or synchronously with a partner. Afterward, the participants were shown a picture of a criminal and asked to assess the criminal’s physical stature. These researchers found that individuals who marched in lockstep evaluated the criminals as significantly smaller and weaker, suggesting that marching synchronously had increased their confidence.)
Of course, Cialdini doesn’t recommend asking people to march in lockstep with you to win them over. But he does note that, in the workplace, you can implement unifying activities by designing projects that require collaboration between team members. He explains that because employees feel a sense of ownership over projects they partake in, allowing employees to jointly participate in projects can instill a sense of mutual ownership and unity. Thus, creating collaborative projects could make employees more influenceable, as we’re more susceptible to influence from those with whom we feel connected.
(Shortform note: Many companies foster a sense of unity by offering equity compensation to their employees, which typically involves compensating them with shares of company stock in addition to their base salary. According to experts, equity compensation can make employees feel more connected to their company’s mission, which fosters a sense of belonging at the company.)
