Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion · chapter 2 · id influence-c2-05-cialdini-argues-that-the-water

“Cialdini argues that the Watergate break-in was a product of the rejection-then-retreat technique: G. Gordon Liddy's initial outrageous $1 million plan made the eventual $250,000 break-in plan seem reasonable by comparison.”

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Receipts

Cialdini, Vincent, Lewis, Catalan, Wheeler & Darby (1975), Reciprocal Concessions Procedure, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 31(2)source alive

When a requester first asked for an extreme favor (which was refused) and then for a smaller favor, this procedure produced more compliance with the smaller favor than asking solely for the smaller favor.

Cialdini et al. (1975), Reciprocal Concessions Procedure for Inducing Compliance: The Door-in-the-Face Technique, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 31(2)FLAGGED: DOI not in registry

Subjects who first refused a large request were significantly more likely to comply with a subsequent smaller request than subjects who received only the smaller request.

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