Repeating “Yes” in a first request and compliance with a later request: The four walls technique

• Nicolas Guéguen

  University of South Brittany

• Robert-Vincent Joule

  University of Provence

• Didier Courbert

  University of Provence

• Séverine Halimi-Falkowicz

  University of Provence

• Marie Marchand

  University of Provence

The commitment/consistency principle for compliance implies that people act in ways consistent with their previous behavior. Cialdini and Sagarin (2005) have stated that, according to this principle, asking individuals questions to which they would be expected to say “yes” could be associated with achieving greater compliance with a subsequent request. However, this procedure, referred to as the four walls technique, has never been tested experimentally. In this study, we conducted an experiment in which participants were first asked to answer several questions that required “yes” or “no” responses. Then, the participants were asked to comply with an additional request. It was found that saying “yes” several times beforehand is associated with greater compliance with a subsequent request than is saying “no” beforehand or when no first request was made.

1. Nicolas Guéguen, University of South Brittany
   Department of Social Sciences
2. Robert-Vincent Joule, University of Provence
   Department of Social Psychology
3. Didier Courbert, University of Provence
   Department of Social Psychology
4. Séverine Halimi-Falkowicz, University of Provence
   Department of Social Psychology
5. Marie Marchand, University of Provence
   Department of Social Psychology

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