science

Ingratiation

Ingratiation is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Ingratiation rather than just read about it. In short: Ingratiating is a psychological technique in which an individual attempts to influence another person by becoming more likeable to their target. This term was coined by social psychologist Edward E.

Key takeaways

Ingratiation belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Ingratiation to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Ingratiation from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Ingratiating is a psychological technique in which an individual attempts to influence another person by becoming more likeable to their target. This term was coined by social psychologist Edward E. Jones, who further defined ingratiating as "a class of strategic behaviors illicitly designed to influence a particular other person concerning the attractiveness of one's personal qualities." Ingratiation research has identified some specific tactics of employing ingratiation:

Complimentary Other-Enhancement: the act of using compliments or flattery to improve the esteem of another individual. Conformity in Opinion, Judgment, and Behavior: altering the expression of one's personal opinions to match the opinion(s) of another individual. Self-Presentation or Self-Promotion: explicit presentation of an individual's own characteristics, typically done in a favorable manner. Rendering Favors: Performing helpful requests for another individual. Modesty: Moderating the estimation of one's own abilities, sometimes seen as self-deprecation. Expression of Humour: any event shared by an individual with the target individual that is intended to be amusing. Instrumental Dependency: the act of convincing the target individual that the ingratiator is completely dependent upon them. Name-dropping: the act of referencing one or more other individuals in a conversation with the intent of using the reference(s) to increase perceived attractiveness or credibility. Research has also identified three distinct types of ingratiation, each defined by their ultimate goal. Regardless of the goal of ingratiation, the tactics of employment remain the same:

Acquisitive ingratiation: ingratiation with the goal of obtaining some form of resource or reward from a target individual. Protective Ingratiation: ingratiation used to prevent possible sanctions or other negative consequences elicited from a target individual. Significance ingratiation: ingratiation designed to cultivate respect and/or approval from a target individual, rather than an explicit reward. Ingratiation has been confused with another social psychological term, Impression management. Impression management is defined as "the process by which people control the impressions others form of them." While these terms may seem similar, impression management represents a larger construct of which ingratiation is a component. In other words, ingratiation is a method of impression management.

Edward E. Jones: the Father of Ingratiation Ingratiation, as a topic in social psychology, was first defined and analyzed by social psychologist Edward E. Jones. In addition to his pioneering studies on ingratiation, Jones also helped develop some of the fundamental theories of social psychology such as the fundamental attribution error and the actor-observer bias. Jones' first extensive studies of ingratiation were published in his 1964 book Ingratiation: A Social Psychological Analysis. In citing his reasons for studying ingratiation, Jones reasoned that ingratiation was an important phenomenon to study because it elucidated some of the central mysteries of social interaction and was also the stepping stone towards understanding other common social phenomena such as group cohesiveness.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Ingratiation

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Ingratiation claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Ingratiation before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Ingratiation ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Ingratiation

In research: Ingratiation appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Ingratiation in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Ingratiation is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Conformity, Persuasion techniques, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Ingratiation outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Ingratiation in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Ingratiation means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Ingratiation out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ingratiation in simple terms?

Ingratiating is a psychological technique in which an individual attempts to influence another person by becoming more likeable to their target. This term was coined by social psychologist Edward E.

Why does Ingratiation matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Ingratiation?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Ingratiation.