Autor: Robert Cialdini
Get book!Review: Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
Robert Cialdini’s Influence is one of those rare books that bridges psychology, marketing, and leadership in a way that feels both accessible and unsettling. The “new and expanded” edition updates examples for our digital world, but its core insight remains timeless: human behavior is shaped less by rational thought than by predictable psychological triggers.
The Six Principles of Influence
Cialdini outlines six principles — reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, authority, liking, and scarcity. For me, these principles go beyond sales or marketing; they illuminate the subtle forces that shape organizational life. When a leader leverages authority, or when team members follow social proof in decision-making, they’re not necessarily choosing rationally — they’re responding to these ingrained psychological cues.
Power and Ethics
What I find most compelling is the ethical tension. Persuasion can be used to manipulate, but it can also be used to empower. In my leadership studies, this mirrors conversations about power and subjectivity: influence is never neutral. Cialdini challenges me to think critically about how persuasion operates in organizational cultures — whether in onboarding, conflict resolution, or change management.
Personal Reflection
As a professional navigating analytics and leadership, I can’t ignore how often these principles show up in subtle ways. Scarcity drives urgency in projects. Reciprocity shapes collaboration. Authority and social proof influence how ideas are received, sometimes more than their actual merit. Reading Influence has sharpened my ability to notice these patterns, both in myself and in the systems I’m part of.
Why It Matters to My Work
For organizational psychology, Influence is not just a book about persuasion; it is a handbook for decoding behavior. It reminds me that data, arguments, or strategies rarely persuade on their own — they must be embedded in human psychology. Cialdini’s work gives me tools not only to recognize influence but also to question its use: when does it serve growth, and when does it cross into manipulation?