Working with Collegiate Drinkers: The Art of Gentle Persuasion

Initiating conversations with contemporary college students is not as difficult as some may imagine. A number of essays published on this blog have addressed how to increase the likelihood that students will actually talk with and listen to “nonstudents,” A.K.A., counselors, coaches, faculty, parents, health educators, and ‘miscellaneous others.’” This essay will consider employing simple techniques based on principles of social psychology and designed to persuade students to consider acting on our suggestions once we have engaged them in conversation.

We human beings are fascinating creatures. Unique in the animal kingdom for a number of reasons but none more pronounced nor as universally accepted as the presence of our “big brains.” Our ability to think and reason sets us apart from almost all other creatures and our sentience or sense of self-awareness coupled with the ability to grasp our position in the space-time continuum has enabled us to not only think and reason but to connect the past with the future by means of the “thinking” we do in the present. Our ability to do so, as some will surely agree, makes us wonderful storytellers. Some therapists actually refer to the counseling they provide as presenting individuals with a means by which to rewrite their stories thereby making therapy a proactive quest for solutions rather than a reactive post-mortem on problems.

College students, like all of us, are “storytellers,” although frequently they view their lives as a collection of independent short stories rather than an epic novel where each story is but another chapter that contributes to overall plot development. Persuading students to modify their stories in such a way as to reduce the likelihood that the protagonist…our student-hero…avoids experiencing untoward consequences during her or his quest through life helps students avoid writing a tragedy rather than the intended drama. Fortunately, social psychology has provided us with numerous helpful insights to human nature that can guide our work with students.

This first essay in what I intend to be a series concerns itself with two of these insights, the Foot in the Door (FITD) and Door in the Face (DITF) principles of human behavior. Each principle works on the unconscious and tends to affect how we respond to a request received from another. Consequently, understanding these principles and then employing them properly can prepare those who work with college students to persuade students to choose lower-risk options during their collegiate experience. NOTE: The focus is on student choice rather than practitioner coercion.

FITD suggests that by making a small request first, the likelihood that agreement with a subsequent larger request will follow. For example, providing a neighbor with a ride to the local bus stop when asked may result in agreeing to a subsequent request to pick the neighbor up at the airport 20-miles away. This particular persuasive technique might be used by a health educator who is interviewing a college student. Obtaining the student’s permission to conduct a routine health screening as part of an intake may result in the student agreeing to maintain a drinking or smoking log during the time between appointments.

The DITF suggests that when receiving a particularly large request that is refused, a subsequent smaller request, the one the petitioner actually desires, may well be granted. For example, your neighbor asks if he can borrow your car for several hours to drive into the city; you decline. He/she then asks if you will provide a ride to the local metro stop to catch the train and you agree. This persuasive technique might be employed by a counselor in the college counseling center whose client has just acknowledged engaging in unsafe sexual practices. The counselor asks the student if he/she will abstain from sex; the student declines. The counselor then asks if the student will use or insist on the use of a condom; the student agrees.

A case in point: I once saw a graduating senior who opted to meet with me following a minor alcohol violation rather than pay a $200 fine. The student was on the dean’s list, graduating on time, and was offered a position at the company where he did his co-op where his starting salary would be more than I was making with a Ph.D. after 30 years! This student did not have an alcohol problem. That said, he was a very risky drinker. When outlining his risk and suggesting that he reduce his 10-beers, 3X/week to 2 beers on each of no more than 2 outings per week, he respectfully declined. When asked if he would cut his drinking in half—especially after we calculated the number of calories he was consuming when drinking 30 12-oz beers per week—he agreed and together we worked out a plan to accomplish this reduction.

When treated with respect by practitioners who understand some of the basic principles of social psychology, persuading college students to “do the right thing” does not have to be as daunting as it may seem. Although not every student will yield to every technique, strategy, or approach that we employ, enough will so as to make the investment of time and planning worth the effort.

Dr. Robert