Psychological knowledge 02 -The house splitting effect

The house splitting effect

It means that people are always willing to choose a compromise. It is called "house splitting effect" in psychology to put forward big requirements first, and then put forward smaller and fewer requirements.

The “house splitting effect” comes from a speech delivered by Mr. Lu Xun, a great writer of modern China. In his speech, he depicted the Chinese people as a nation likes to reconcile and compromise. For example, if you tell others in the same room that it is too dark and suggest to open a skylight, all of them will say no; however, when you threaten to demolish the roof, they will rush to make a concession and tell you that the skylight is not a bad idea. “Opening a skylight” seems like the goal to be achieved, while “demolishing the roof’ is a higher or unreasonable requirement. From a psychological perspective, the reason why the “house splitting effect” could be achieved is that when you put forward an unreasonably high requirement, the other party will immediately weigh the gains and losses, and then adjust his psychological expectations to plan for the worst.

How to use it

If you want the other party to agree to your request, you can make a larger or unreasonable request before making this request.For example, if you directly ask your husband to wash the dishes, he may find various reasons not to. Try to put forward a series of requirements to him: first wash the dishes, then wash the clothes, sweep the floor, mop the floor and throw away the garbage. If he doesn't agree, compromise and say: it's OK to wash the dishes. He would probably be very happy to say yes.

Usually people are reluctant to refuse the same person twice in a row, so the second smaller request can often be met.

In the course of trading, the seller will quote a high price at the beginning, and then wait for you to bargain and clinch a deal.