Is it possible to magically turn a rival into a supporter simply by inducing them to do you a favor? This sounds far-fetched but turns out it shares a lot with psychology of attitudes and worked for Ben Franklin. In his autobiography, Franklin narrates how he dealt with hostility of a contending legislator by requesting him to do him a favor (lending out his book). The next time Franklin met the legislator, he spoke to him for the first time with great graciousness and they even became friends.
Attitudes are thought to stem from actions that led to observations that they finally formed beliefs. This then concludes that what one does creates the things that they believe. To explain this is the psychological phenomenon dubbed the Ben Franklin Effect. From how Franklin dealt with his contender, he explains that a person who performs a favor for another is more likely to do so again for that same person than they would be if they had instead received a favor from that person.
An experiment revealed that partners that go out of their way to perform acts of kindness are more attracted to their mates than those who don’t. This effect teaches couples the need to invest equally as much in a relationship other than having one partner on the receiving or giving end always. People adjust their attitudes and behaviors to dissolve tension, or conflict between their feelings, attitudes, and actions.
So, when a person gets their partner to do them a favor, it resolves the feeling of dissonance as the partner feels that since they did the other a favor, they actually might like them more than they initially thought. The cliché that love is all about give and take is evident and proved with this effect.
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