Dialogue involvement as a social influence technique

Men a request is preceded by a casual dialogue, the approached person is mo re likely to comply than when the same request follows a monologue. This ef fect appeared to be strong and replicable in a series of field studies. Acr oss experiments, the issues discussed in conversations between the confeder ates and the participants and the nature of the critical request varied, su ggesting that the effect is generalized. In social situations, the two basi c modest of communication (dialogue and monologue) are characteristic of di fferent types of interactions, Dialogue is characteristic of encounters wit h one's friends and acquaintances, whereas monologue is more prevalent in c ontacts with strangers. As a result of social learning, a dialogue makes us prone to treat a stranger as someone we know and thus become more eager to comply with her or his requests. Although the results obtained in the stud ies are consisted with this model, alternative explanations and limitations of the research also are discussed.