ency to be consistent really strong enough to compel us to do what we
ordinarily would not want to do? There is no question about it. The
drive to be (and look) consistent constitutes a highly potent weapon of
social influence, often causing us to act in ways that are clearly contrary
to our own best interests.
Take, as proof, what happened when psychologist Thomas Moriarty
staged thefts on a New York City beach to see if onlookers would risk
personal harm to halt the crime. In the study, a research accomplice
would put a beach blanket down five feet from the blanket of a ran-
domly chosen individual—the experimental subject. After a couple of
minutes on the blanket spent relaxing and listening to music from a
portable radio, the accomplice would stand up and leave the blanket
to stroll down the beach. A few minutes later, a second researcher,
pretending to be a thief, would approach, grab the radio, and try to
hurry away with it. As you might guess, under normal conditions,
subjects were very reluctant to put themselves in harm’s way by chal-
lenging the thief—only four people did so in the twenty times, that the
theft was staged. But when the same procedure was tried another twenty
times, with a slight twist, the results were drastically different. In these
incidents, before taking his stroll, the accomplice would simply ask the
subject to please “watch my things,” which each of them agreed to do.
Now, propelled by the rule for consistency, nineteen of the twenty
subjects became virtual vigilantes, running after and stopping the thief,
demanding an explanation, and often restraining the thief physically
or snatching the radio away.
To understand why consistency is so powerful a motive, it is import-
ant to recognize that in most circumstances consistency is valued and
adaptive. Inconsistency is commonly thought to be an undesirable
personality trait. The person whose beliefs, words, and deeds don’t
match may be seen as indecisive, confused, two-faced, or even mentally
ill. On the other side, a high degree of consistency is normally associated
with personal and intellectual strength. It is at the heart of logic, ration-
ality, stability, and honesty. A quote attributed to the great British
chemist Michael Faraday suggests the extent to which being consistent
is approved—sometimes more than being right. When asked after a
lecture if he meant to imply that a hated academic rival was always
wrong, Faraday glowered at the questioner and replied, “He’s not that
consistent.”
Certainly, then, good personal consistency is highly valued in our
culture. And well it should be. It provides us with a reasonable and
gainful orientation to the world. Most of the time we will be better off
if our approach to things is well laced with consistency. Without it our
lives would be difficult, erratic, and disjointed.
Robert B. Cialdini Ph.D / 45