persuasion Consequently, those who want us to comply with their wishes can accomplish that purpose by appearing similar to us in a variety of ways. Studies show that we tend to like and are more attracted to those who are like us and with whom we can relate. If you watch people a party, you will see them instantly gravitate towards people who seem to be similar to themselves. I can remember walking in a foreign country, taking in the unfamiliar sights and sounds, and then running into someone from my own country. We could have been from opposites sides of the nation, but there was an instantaneous bond between us, all because we had something in common in a mutually unfamiliar place. Have you ever heard the saying, "People buy from people they like"? This is true even in the judicial system. If jurors feel that they share some common ground with you and, better yet, like you-even subconsciously- for that similarity, then you will have a markedly better chance of winning your case. Anytime we establish something about ourselves that others will identify with, we increase our persuasive powers. In one particular study, antiwar demonstrators were more inclined to sign petitions of those similarly dressed, and often didn't even bother to read the petition before signing!8 Similarly, we gravitate toward people who dress like us. In the 1970s, when young people tended to dress in either "hippie" or "straight" fashion, researchers studied the effects of clothing styles. Experimenters donned hippie or straight attire and asked college students on campus for a dime to make a phone call. When the experimenter was dressed in the same way as the student, the request was granted in more than two thirds of all instances; when the student and requester were dissimilarly dressed, the dime was provided less than half the time.9 Numerous studies conclude that your audience is most responsive to individuals who dress and act similarly to them. An especially apt illustration can be found in a study done by psychologists at Columbia University. Researchers placed wallets on the ground containing $2.00 in cash, a check for $26.30, the "owner's" ID, and a letter giving evidence that the wallet had already been lost before. The letter was written to the owner from the original finder, expressing his intentions to return the wallet as soon as possible. The letter was sometimes written in perfect English, while other times it was written in poor English, as though created by a foreigner. Researchers wanted to see whether the wallet would be returned more frequently when finders felt some commonality with the writer of the letter. The study found that only 33 percent of the respondents returned the wallet when the person who wrote the letter was seen as dissimilar, while 70 percent returned the wallet when they thought they were similar to the letter writer.1" Do you remember all the "cliques" in junior high, high school, or even college? People associate and interact with those they view as similar to themselves. persuasion