ABSTRACT
Compliance-gaining research focuses on choices people make about what to say when trying to persuade others to behave in predetermined ways. Compliance-gaining techniques (CGTs) do not formally constitute a scale or an index but exist as a format for creating one. In using CGTs, a scenario is presented to respondents, who are asked to indicate their degree of likelihood of using each of 16 compliance-gaining strategies (created to reflect the techniques) on a 6-point scale, ranging from definitely would use to definitely would not use. Few researchers have examined the internal consistency of CGTs. Compliance-gaining research has focused on discovering antecedent variables that might help predict strategy selection. Compliance-gaining techniques make up a highly controversial system. Prosocial strategies are chosen more often than antisocial strategies. Researchers should familiarize themselves with the issues involved in scale use and with the procedural options available in the literature.
