Changes in self-perceptions as a result of successfully persuading others

Cart we change other people without changing ourselves as well? To test thi s question, participants used one of three techniques-door-in-the-face, aut horitative influence, and rational arguments-to convince a confederate to a ttend a campus meeting that favored an issue opposed by the confederate, bu t supported by the subject. Following the confederate's compliance, partici pants evaluated their perceptions of their performance and the performance of the confederate. Participants using rational arguments described themsel ves as intelligent and friendly, participants using authoritative influence described themselves as dominant and unfriendly, and participants using do or-in-the-face described themselves as submissive. As predicted from an ear lier study (O'Neal, Kipnis, & Craig, 1994), the use of the three influence techniques also caused systematic changes in participants' evaluations of t he target. Because the use of certain behavior techniques (e.g., controllin g, deceptive) can cause users to devalue themselves and others, it is recom mended that ethical safeguards governing the use of these techniques should be considered.