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When in a click, whirr mode, we are often as vulnerable to the symbols of authority as to the substance.
It was found that with each increase in status, the same man grew in perceived height by an average of a half inch, so that as the “professor” he was seen as two and a half inches taller than as the “student.”
This is precisely why con men, even those of average or slightly above-average height, commonly wear lifts in their shoes.
in the face of a physician’s directives, the nurses unhooked their “professional intelligences” and moved to a click, whirr form of responding.
second kind of authority symbol that can trigger our mechanical compliance is clothing.
another kind of attire that has traditionally bespoken authority status in our culture: the well-tailored business suit.
Everything about his clothing sends a message of propriety and respectability.
motorists would wait significantly longer before honking their horns at a new, luxury car stopped in front of a green traffic light than at an older, economy model.
A fundamental form of defense against this problem, therefore, is a heightened awareness of authority power. When this awareness is coupled with a recognition of how easily authority symbols can be faked, the benefit will be a properly guarded approach to situations involving authority-influence attempts.
Thus, as a rule, their directives offer excellent counsel. The trick is to be able to recognize without much strain or vigilance when authority promptings are best followed and when they should be resisted.
The first is to ask, when we are confronted with what appears to be an authority figure’s influence attempt, “Is this authority truly an expert?”
Before submitting to authority influence, it would be wise to ask a second simple question: “How truthful can we expect the expert to be here?”
keep in mind a little tactic compliance practitioners often use to assure us of their sincerity: They will seem to argue to a degree against their own interests.
