To Become Super-Likable, Practice “The Ben Franklin Effect”
The 18th-century observation later confirmed by science
When Ben Franklin sought to transform an adversary into a supporter, he turned to an unusual approach. He later described it in his autobiography as an old maxim.
In 1969, researchers would confirm his maxim. Today, we call it “The Ben Franklin Effect.”
I’d first heard of it during a sales training years ago, and would learn more about it from Franklin’s autobiography. In it, he writes a story about an adversary of his in the Pennsylvania legislature.
Franklin wished to befriend or at least neutralize this adversary, so Ben asked him for a favor — to borrow a rare book. The adversary sent it, and Franklin returned it a week later with a note expressing his gratitude. When they next spoke, it was with great civility, a departure from their previous encounters. In time, they became lifelong friends.
He summed it up this way.
He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged — Ben Franklin
