Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion · chapter 2 · id influence-c2-03-the-door-in-the-face-ditf-tech

“The door-in-the-face (DITF) technique -- making a large request first, then retreating to a smaller one -- reliably increases compliance through reciprocal concessions.”

needs contextconfidence: medium⚠ extracted by pipeline, re-audit pending

Receipts

Cialdini et al. (1975), Reciprocal Concessions Procedure, JPSP 31(2)DOI registry: valid

Participants who first refused a large request (chaperone juvenile delinquents for 2 years) were 3x more likely to agree to a smaller request (one trip to the zoo) than control participants.

Feeley, Anker & Aloe (2012), The Door-in-the-Face Meta-Analysis, Communication Monographs 79(3)FLAGGED: DOI not in registry

Meta-analysis of the first 35 years of DITF research showed a reliable but small effect. The size of the initial request does NOT moderate the effect, contradicting reciprocal concessions theory.

Dolinski et al. (2020), Direct Replication of Cialdini et al. (1975) DITF in Germanypaywalled — manual check queued

The door-in-the-face effect replicated in Germany in 2021 with effect size comparable to the 1975 original, but the reciprocal concessions explanation was not supported as the mechanism.

This claim is a stable, citable object. If you can falsify a verdict, tell us — corrections are loud here.