Weapon Four: Liking

"We most prefer to say yes to the requests of someone we know and like."

The factors that reliably cause liking are:

• Physical Attractiveness: we automatically assign favourable traits such as talent, kindness, honesty and intelligence to good-looking individuals.
• Compliments: even if it is known the flatterer stands to gain something.
• Contact: or, familiarity.
• Cooperation: working towards a common goal.
• Association: the opposite of the tendency to dislike someone who brings us bad news. The positive connection does not have to be logical.