You want to do WHAT?!

The door in the face technique is a technique used by salespeople and others to convince people to comply with them. The door in the face technique involves proposing a completely outlandish idea to someone which you know they will reject, and then putting forth the idea you actually want them to comply with (Cialdini, 2007). This technique works for two reasons, the first of which is perceptual contrast (Cialdini, 2007). The larger, outrageous request makes the smaller request seem menial by comparison, so the person is much more likely to consider compliance. The second reason the door in the face technique works is the idea of reciprocal concessions (Cialdini, 2007). Because it appears that the person using the door in the face technique is making a concession in what they want, the person who it is being used on is more likely to make a concession of their own and accept the smaller proposal(Cialdini, 2007).

I have used this technique before on my parents on many occasions, but one which sticks out the most is when i wanted to get my parents to accept me wanting to major in Psychology. You see, my family is very, very math and science heavy. My dad programs for IBM, my mom has two math degrees, i have three architect uncles and an aunt with a Ph.D in Biochemistry. At this point my parents thought i was going to go into engineering, and had gotten me transfered to the school which offered engineering classes. Needless to say, i wasn't totally convinced my parents would initially approve of me doing Psychology, since their vision of psychology at the time was definitely not one of a hard science. In order to garner this approval, i first told my dad that i wanted to be a history major. That really didn't go over well. After letting that stew for a couple of minutes, i told him "well, maybe i could do a social science like, i dunno, Psychology". At this point, anything using the word science was a better option that history, and he was much less reticent of my decision than i think he would have been if i had just told him straight up that i wanted to do Psychology.

Cialdini, R.B. (2007). Influence: The psychology of persuasion. New York: HarperCollins.