To command or to ask? Gender and effectiveness of “tough” vs “soft” compliance‐gaining strategies

Abstract

On the basis of the experiments by Carli (1990) on the determinants of persuasion efficiency, we predicted that women are more effective using direct strategies in social influence to address women, and indirect strategies to address men; however, men's efficiency should not depend on strategy. Two field experiments presented in this article did not confirm these assumptions. Our data suggest that both sexes are more successful when asking their own sex, but commanding members of the opposite sex. Our warm thanks are extended to Anthony Pratkanis, the editor of the journal, and three anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on earlier version of this paper. We also thank Karl Dach?Grushow for his helpful advice and great help in improving the language of this article.