The Voluntariness of Voluntary Consent: Consent Searches and the Psychology of Compliance by Roseanna Sommers, Vanessa K. Bohns :: SSRN

Even though, on the average, they gave the most money to the opponent who used the concessions strategy, the subjects who were the targets of this strategy were the most satisfied with the final arrangement. It appears that an agreement that has been forged through the concessions of one’s opponent is quite satisfying.

Each principle is examined as to its ability to produce a distinct kind of automatic, mindless compliance from people: a willingness to say yes without thinking first. The evidence suggests that the ever-accelerating pace and informational crush of modern life will make this particular

People like to feel like they’re in control—in the drivers’ seat. When we try to get them to do something, they feel disempowered. Rather than feeling like they made the choice, they feel like we made it for them. So they say no or do something else, even when they might have originally been happy to go along.

subjects, even when they were given no subsequent reason to comply. Click, run.

as a way of avoiding the conflict that might arise if they overtly refuse a request, they can often say yes when they mean no. In this way—by passively resisting what others want them to do—they hold on to a sense of independence and avoid being controlled by the desires of others even while seeming to be adaptive and flexible. They may also be una