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The complete bibliography of the psychologist who turned persuasion into a science
Robert Cialdini is the reason “social proof” and “reciprocity” entered everyday business vocabulary. A social psychologist who spent nearly three years going undercover as a salesperson, fundraiser, and marketer to study persuasion from the inside, he turned that research into Influence — a book that has sold more than seven million copies in over 40 languages and is still assigned in psychology courses and sales trainings alike, four decades after it was published.
Below is his complete bibliography in chronological order, with my honest take on each one, a quick-reference box for his principles, and a recorded talk if you’d rather hear him explain the research himself. If communication and influence interest you more broadly, I’ve also written about Marshall Rosenberg, whose Nonviolent Communication approaches persuasion from almost the opposite direction — through empathy rather than psychological triggers.
Robert Cialdini’s most famous book is Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (1984), which introduced his six principles of influence — reciprocity, commitment/consistency, social proof, authority, liking, and scarcity — and has sold over 7 million copies in 44+ languages. His full bibliography spans six books published between 1984 and 2021, including the academic textbook Influence: Science and Practice, the tactics-focused Yes! and The Small BIG (co-authored with Noah Goldstein and Steve Martin), Pre-Suasion (2016), and the 2021 revised edition Influence, New and Expanded, which added a seventh principle: unity.
“Our typical reaction to scarcity hinders our ability to think.”
— Robert B. Cialdini, on the scarcity principle, in Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
The 7 principles at a glance
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
Drawing on his research inside sales and fundraising organizations, Cialdini identifies six psychological principles — reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, authority, liking, and scarcity — that reliably move people to say yes. It has been listed on the New York Times Business Best Seller list and named one of the 100 Best Business Books of All Time.
This is the one to start with, full stop. What makes it hold up forty years later is that Cialdini didn’t theorize from an armchair — he spent nearly three years training as a salesperson, fundraiser, and telemarketer to see manipulation tactics from the inside. That fieldwork gives the book a texture most psychology bestsellers lack: it reads like reporting, not a lecture.
Influence: Science and Practice
The academic counterpart to Influence, written for university psychology and marketing courses. It covers the same six principles in more rigorous detail, with citations to the underlying peer-reviewed research and discussion questions for classroom use.
Skip this unless you are actually studying the subject formally. It says little the trade edition doesn’t, just with more footnotes and a textbook price tag. Worth knowing it exists mainly so you don’t accidentally buy it thinking it’s a sequel.
Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive
Fifty short, standalone chapters, each built around a single research finding and a concrete tactic for applying it — from how a British tax office increased compliance by adding one sentence, to why hotel towel-reuse signs work better when they mention what other guests do. A New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestseller.
This is Influence broken into fridge-magnet-sized pieces. Genuinely useful if you want to apply one idea to one email today rather than absorb a whole framework. The tradeoff is that the individual examples age — some of the studies cited are decades old now — so treat it as a demonstration of principles, not a manual of current best practices.
The Small BIG: Small Changes That Spark Big Influence
A follow-up to Yes!, organized around a single question: what is the smallest change to a request or proposal that produces the largest increase in compliance? Case studies include a UK tax office raising collection rates by adding a single social-proof sentence, and a clinic cutting missed appointments by having patients write down their own follow-up date.
The strongest of the three co-authored “applied” books, because the case studies are more recent and more clearly tied to measurable business or policy outcomes — tax collection rates, no-show percentages, actual pounds and dollars. If you only read one of Cialdini’s shorter, tactics-first books, make it this one.
Sequel, 32 years later
Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade
Cialdini’s first solo book in over thirty years argues that the moment before a request is made matters as much as the request itself: what a listener is paying attention to right before you ask determines how receptive they’ll be. Named a Best Business Book of 2016 by the Financial Times.
This is the Cialdini book I’d actually recommend to someone who has already read Influence and wants something new rather than a repackaging. The idea that attention itself can be primed — before any persuasive argument is even made — changed how I think about the order in which I present things, not just the content. Denser than Influence, and worth the extra effort.
Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion
A full revision of the 1984 original, adding a seventh principle — unity, the sense of shared identity between persuader and persuaded — along with new research, digital-age examples, and a chapter on defending against unethical persuasion attempts.
If you are choosing between editions, buy this one rather than the 1984 original. The seventh principle, unity, is a genuinely useful addition rather than padding — it explains why appeals from in-group members land differently than identical appeals from outsiders, which the original six principles didn’t fully capture.
Watch: Robert Cialdini on Pre-Suasion
A recorded talk co-hosted by the Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Association, in which Cialdini discusses the research behind Pre-Suasion and how the moment before a request shapes whether people say yes.
Frequently asked questions
What is Robert Cialdini’s most famous book?
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, first published in 1984, is Cialdini’s most famous work. It introduced the six principles of influence and has sold over 7 million copies in more than 40 languages.
What are Cialdini’s six (now seven) principles of influence?
The original six principles from Influence (1984) are reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, authority, liking, and scarcity. The 2021 revised edition, Influence, New and Expanded, added a seventh: unity, the sense of shared identity between the person making a request and the person receiving it.
Did Robert Cialdini write Pre-Suasion?
Yes. Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade was published in 2016 and was Cialdini’s first solo book in over thirty years, focused on how priming attention before a request increases the odds of a “yes.”
What order should I read Robert Cialdini’s books in?
Start with Influence (1984 original or the 2021 New and Expanded edition), since it lays out the core framework. Follow with Pre-Suasion if you want a deeper, more recent argument. Yes! and The Small BIG work well as quick-reference companions once you know the underlying principles, and Influence: Science and Practice is only necessary if you need the academic citations for formal study.
Is Robert Cialdini’s research still considered credible?
Yes, though with the same caveats applied across social psychology after the 2010s replication crisis. Several of Cialdini’s original studies have since been re-examined, and some smaller effects have not always replicated at the same size reported in 1984. Cialdini himself has acknowledged this in later editions and added updated citations and caveats in Influence, New and Expanded (2021). Forbes has a good overview of which principles have held up best.
