of a green traffic light than at an older, economy model. The motorists
had little patience with the economy-car driver: Nearly all sounded
their horns, and the majority of these did so more than once; two simply
rammed into his rear bumper. So intimidating was the aura of the
prestige automobile, however, that 50 percent of the motorists waited
respectfully behind it, never touching their horns, until it drove on.^12
Later on, the researchers asked college students what they would
have done in such situations. Compared to the true findings of the ex-
periment, the students consistently underestimated the time it would
take them to honk at the luxury car. The male students were especially
inaccurate, feeling that they would honk faster at the prestige- than the
economy-car driver; of course, the study itself showed just the opposite.
Note the similarity of this pattern to much other research on authority
pressures. As in Milgram’s research, the midwestern hospital-nurses’
study, and the security-guard-uniform experiment, people were unable
to predict correctly how they or others would react to authority influ-
ence. In each instance, the effect of such influence was grossly underes-
timated. This property of authority status may account for much of its
success as a compliance device. Not only does it work forcefully on us,
but it also does so unexpectedly.
HOW TO SAY NO
One protective tactic we can use against authority status is to remove
its element of surprise. Because we typically misperceive the profound
impact of authority (and its symbols) on our actions, we are at the dis-
advantage of being insufficiently cautious about its presence in compli-
ance situations. A fundamental form of defense against this problem,
therefore, is a heightened awareness of authority power. When this
awareness is coupled with a recognition of how easily authority symbols
can be faked, the benefit will be a properly guarded approach to situ-
ations involving authority-influence attempts.
Sounds simple, right? And in a way it is. A better understanding of
the workings of authority influence should help us resist it. Yet there
is a perverse complication—the familiar one inherent in all weapons of
influence: We shouldn’t want to resist altogether, or even most of the
time. Generally, authority figures know what they are talking about.
Physicians, judges, corporate executives, legislative leaders, and the
like have typically gained their positions because of superior knowledge
and judgment. Thus, as a rule, their directives offer excellent counsel.
The trick is to be able to recognize without much strain or vigilance
when authority promptings are best followed and when they should
be resisted.
172 / Influence