obra-writing-skills/persuasion-principles.md

Persuasion Principles for Skill Design

Overview

LLMs respond to the same persuasion principles as humans. Understanding this psychology helps you design more effective skills - not to manipulate, but to ensure critical practices are followed even under pressure.

Research foundation: Meincke et al. (2025) tested 7 persuasion principles with N=28,000 AI conversations. Persuasion techniques more than doubled compliance rates (33% → 72%, p < .001).

The Seven Principles

1. Authority

What it is: Deference to expertise, credentials, or official sources.

How it works in skills: - Imperative language: "YOU MUST", "Never", "Always" - Non-negotiable framing: "No exceptions" - Eliminates decision fatigue and rationalization

When to use: - Discipline-enforcing skills (TDD, verification requirements) - Safety-critical practices - Established best practices

Example:

✅ Write code before test? Delete it. Start over. No exceptions.
❌ Consider writing tests first when feasible.

2. Commitment

What it is: Consistency with prior actions, statements, or public declarations.

How it works in skills: - Require announcements: "Announce skill usage" - Force explicit choices: "Choose A, B, or C" - Use tracking: todos for checklists

When to use: - Ensuring skills are actually followed - Multi-step processes - Accountability mechanisms

Example:

✅ When you find a skill, you MUST announce: "I'm using [Skill Name]"
❌ Consider letting your partner know which skill you're using.

3. Scarcity

What it is: Urgency from time limits or limited availability.

How it works in skills: - Time-bound requirements: "Before proceeding" - Sequential dependencies: "Immediately after X" - Prevents procrastination

When to use: - Immediate verification requirements - Time-sensitive workflows - Preventing "I'll do it later"

Example:

✅ After completing a task, IMMEDIATELY request code review before proceeding.
❌ You can review code when convenient.

4. Social Proof

What it is: Conformity to what others do or what's considered normal.

How it works in skills: - Universal patterns: "Every time", "Always" - Failure modes: "X without Y = failure" - Establishes norms

When to use: - Documenting universal practices - Warning about common failures - Reinforcing standards

Example:

✅ Checklists without todo tracking = steps get skipped. Every time.
❌ Some people find a todo list helpful for checklists.

5. Unity

What it is: Shared identity, "we-ness", in-group belonging.

How it works in skills: - Collaborative language: "our codebase", "we're colleagues" - Shared goals: "we both want quality"

When to use: - Collaborative workflows - Establishing team culture - Non-hierarchical practices

Example:

✅ We're colleagues working together. I need your honest technical judgment.
❌ You should probably tell me if I'm wrong.

6. Reciprocity

What it is: Obligation to return benefits received.

How it works: - Use sparingly - can feel manipulative - Rarely needed in skills

When to avoid: - Almost always (other principles more effective)

7. Liking

What it is: Preference for cooperating with those we like.

How it works: - DON'T USE for compliance - Conflicts with honest feedback culture - Creates sycophancy

When to avoid: - Always for discipline enforcement

Principle Combinations by Skill Type

Skill Type	Use	Avoid
Discipline-enforcing	Authority + Commitment + Social Proof	Liking, Reciprocity
Guidance/technique	Moderate Authority + Unity	Heavy authority
Collaborative	Unity + Commitment	Authority, Liking
Reference	Clarity only	All persuasion

Why This Works: The Psychology

Bright-line rules reduce rationalization: - "YOU MUST" removes decision fatigue - Absolute language eliminates "is this an exception?" questions - Explicit anti-rationalization counters close specific loopholes

Implementation intentions create automatic behavior: - Clear triggers + required actions = automatic execution - "When X, do Y" more effective than "generally do Y" - Reduces cognitive load on compliance

LLMs are parahuman: - Trained on human text containing these patterns - Authority language precedes compliance in training data - Commitment sequences (statement → action) frequently modeled - Social proof patterns (everyone does X) establish norms

Ethical Use

Legitimate: - Ensuring critical practices are followed - Creating effective documentation - Preventing predictable failures

Illegitimate: - Manipulating for personal gain - Creating false urgency - Guilt-based compliance

The test: Would this technique serve the user's genuine interests if they fully understood it?

Research Citations

Cialdini, R. B. (2021). Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (New and Expanded). Harper Business. - Seven principles of persuasion - Empirical foundation for influence research

Meincke, L., Shapiro, D., Duckworth, A. L., Mollick, E., Mollick, L., & Cialdini, R. (2025). Call Me A Jerk: Persuading AI to Comply with Objectionable Requests. University of Pennsylvania. - Tested 7 principles with N=28,000 LLM conversations - Compliance increased 33% → 72% with persuasion techniques - Authority, commitment, scarcity most effective - Validates parahuman model of LLM behavior

Quick Reference

When designing a skill, ask:

1. What type is it? (Discipline vs. guidance vs. reference)
2. What behavior am I trying to change?
3. Which principle(s) apply? (Usually authority + commitment for discipline)
4. Am I combining too many? (Don't use all seven)
5. Is this ethical? (Serves user's genuine interests?)