The Power of Persuasion: How We're Bought and Sold

English | Wiley | ISBN: 0471266345 | 288 pages | PDF | 10,2 MB
This valuable and nonacademic guide reveals the extent to which we are surrounded by persuasion, and how we can resist. Levine (A Geography of Time), a professor of psychology at Cal State Fresno, opens by demonstrating that all of us (including himself) can be persuaded under the right circumstances. He goes on to study financial manipulation and the use of the sense of obligation (which exists in all cultures, even if it is most strongly visible in Japan), and then proceeds to a nuts-and-bolts analysis of salesmanship by describing what he learned and did (and had done to him) as an automobile salesman. He offers an admirably concise and unemotional analysis of the famous Milgram experiment, involving the (claimed) administration of ever-stronger electric shocks to test the impulse to obedience. Inevitably, he moves to cults, the Moonies and the ultimate persuasion horror story, Jonestown. Not so inevitably, he avoids hysteria and demonization, even of Jim Jones, and points out that brute force is required at the extreme end of the persuasion spectrum. Levine's final chapter offers ways of dealing with unwelcome persuasion while remaining part of a society in which some persuasion is part of almost any social interaction. The final results are bout as far as possible from the shrill Hidden Persuaders tradition or the cult deprogrammers who become cult gurus themselves-and quite persuasive about the author's credentials, common sense and ethics.

Review
"Important and very interesting. Both our students and the public should read it." -- Ed Diener, Psychology Department, University of Illinois
"Outstanding and thoroughly engrossing... a must-read survival guide... in the 21st century." -- Harry Reis, Ph.D., Psychology Professor, University of Rochester
"Witty and wise... I couldn't put it down. A great book..." -- David Myers, Hope College, author Intuition: Its Powers and Perils
"Wonderful book... will change the way you think and act in many realms of your life." -- Philip Zimbardo, President, A.P.A.
"Happily, Levine does not write in the academically pretentious style often found in books by college professors...authoritative insights" -- Tulsa World, June 22, 2003
"If you've ever felt manipulated by smooth-talking salesmen, but didn't understand the psychology behind his pitch,you'll be fascinated" by... -- Fresno Bee, April 28, 2003
"Levine puts (his) analysis in the service of his real mission -- to arm the reader against manipulation". -- The Wall Street Journal, July 27, 2003
"Read this book if you’re interested in how to persuade others and reduce your own chances of being manipulated" -- Skeptic News, June 2, 2003

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