Research Paper
The International Journal of Indian Psychology
ISSN 2348-5396 (Online) | ISSN: 2349-3429 (Print)
Volume 8, Issue 4, Oct- Dec, 2020
DIP: 18.01.156/20200804, DOI: 10.25215/0804.156
http://www.ijip.in
© 2020, Mohan V. & Kaur H.; licensee IJIP. This is an Open Access Research distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution License (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any Medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Assessing the effectiveness of foot-in-the-door technique of
compliance in Indian context
Dr. Vidhu Mohan
1
*, Hatinder Kaur
2
ABSTRACT
The present study was designed to assess the effectiveness of the Foot in the door technique
of Compliance. In compliance, a small and innocuous request is first presented which is then
followed by a larger one. The objectives of the present experiment were to investigate the
effect of Foot-In-The-Door Condition (small and large request) on Compliance Rate along
with assessing the effect of Gender. It was hypothesized that the Compliance Rate in the
Foot-In-The-Door Condition would be higher than the Controlled Condition and that there
would be significant gender differences in compliance rate. Significant difference between
two percentages was calculated. 200 participants (100 males & 100 females) studying in
different educational institutions were contacted. Each participant was assigned to different
experimental conditions. In each experimental condition, the participants were presented with
different kinds of request. The dependent variable in the present study was the subjects’
compliance rate to the request. It was measured by the number of participants who agreed to
fill the longer questionnaire. The findings showed that the Compliance Rate in the Foot-In-
The-Door Condition was significantly higher than that of the Controlled Condition. Also,
compliance rate among males was higher than that of the females. The findings have been
discussed on the basis of previous researches.
Keywords: Compliance, Compliance Rate, Foot-In-The-Door Technique, Small, Large
Request
he witty foot-in-the-door technique of compliance is one of the earliest and most
extensively researched compliance procedures explored by social psychologists. It
has been shown repeatedly that people who are induced to comply with a small
request are much more likely to comply with a subsequent (critical) request of greater
magnitude than would be the case if there had been no preliminary request (Freedman &
Fraser, 1966; Cann, Sherman, & Elkes, 1975; Pliner, Hart, Kohl, & Saari, 1974; Seligman,
Bush, & Kirsch, 1976; Snyder & Cunningham, 1975). It is a general tendency of people to
get their target request accepted by first presenting a meager request which no body will
decline. It is quite commonly seen in day-to-day interactions. Compliance is a powerful
process of social influence.
1
Associate Professor, Dept. Of Psychology, Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab, India
2
Research scholar, Dept. Of Psychology, Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab, India
*Responding Author
Received: November 06, 2020; Revision Received: December 23, 2020; Accepted: December 31, 2020
T