What is the Influence Gap Analysis?

The Influence Gap Analysis (IGA) is a free 5-minute assessment that measures your personal influence style across Dr. Robert Cialdini's seven universal principles of persuasion — reciprocity, commitment, social proof, authority, liking, scarcity, and unity — plus contrast, the meta-principle that amplifies every other principle. You receive a signature combining your primary and secondary principles and can unlock a deeper Mastery quiz to test your knowledge of ethical influence.

How long does the Influence Gap Analysis take?

The basic Influence Gap Analysis takes about 5 minutes. It is a 24-question forced-choice test that produces your influence signature: a primary principle paired with a secondary principle, drawn from Cialdini's seven principles plus contrast.

What are Cialdini's seven principles of influence?

Dr. Cialdini's seven principles are reciprocity (we repay what we receive), commitment and consistency (we honor our prior choices), social proof (we follow what others do), authority (we defer to credible experts), liking (we say yes to people we like), scarcity (we want what is rare), and unity (we say yes to those we share an identity with). The Influence Gap Analysis also measures contrast — the amplifier that makes each of the seven land harder.

Is the Influence Gap Analysis free?

Yes. The basic Influence Gap Analysis is completely free and does not require an account or email to receive your signature. An optional paid Mastery quiz unlocks a deeper 64-question knowledge test plus a personalized influence report.

Is this the official Cialdini test?

Yes. The Influence Gap Analysis is built on the published research of Dr. Robert Cialdini, the Regents' Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University and the world's most-cited social psychologist on persuasion. It uses Cialdini's seven principles plus contrast as its measurement framework.

What does my influence signature mean?

Your signature is a pairing of your primary influence principle (the lever you reach for first) and your secondary principle (the lever you use to back it up). For example, an Authority+Reciprocity signature describes someone who leads with credibility and reinforces it with generous gestures, while a Liking+Social-Proof signature describes someone who leads with warmth and reinforces it with what others are doing.

Can I share my Influence Gap Analysis result?

Yes. Every result has a unique share link and downloadable signature image, so you can compare results with colleagues, friends, or your team. Team accounts also produce an aggregate radar so you can see how a whole team's influence style is distributed.

How is the Influence Gap Analysis different from a personality test?

Personality tests like Myers-Briggs, Big Five, or DISC measure stable traits (e.g. introversion, conscientiousness). The Influence Gap Analysis measures something different: which of the seven Cialdini levers you naturally reach for when you want to persuade, negotiate, or lead. It is a behavioral influence-style assessment, not a personality test.

How is authority different from arrogance?

Authority is earned and acknowledged; arrogance is asserted and imposed. Sages cite their work; arrogant people cite themselves. Ethical authority welcomes scrutiny because the credentials stand up.

What if I'm an expert but come across as cold?

The single highest-leverage upgrade for Sages is adding a layer of Liking — warm openings, genuine questions, visible care. It doesn't dilute the authority; it makes it reachable.

Does titular authority still work?

Less than it used to. Functional authority (demonstrated expertise, public work) outperforms titular authority (credentials alone). Sages who only have the title without the work struggle.

Cialdini principle · Influence Profile

← All principles

Authority

You lead with earned expertise and speak with the confidence it deserves.

Kindred spirits

Dr. Atul Gawande (physician-writer; authority earned by precision)
Warren Buffett (decades of track record speak on their own)
Dr. Robert Cialdini (the academic authority on influence itself)

The tendency to influence others by establishing or leveraging expertise, credentials, and demonstrated competence. Your first move is credibility — credentialed, specific, and stated without apology. You believe people deserve to know who is talking and why their opinion should carry weight. When the room cannot independently evaluate the claim, your authority is what does the work.

Best at

High-stakes advisory, medical, legal, and financial contexts
Thought leadership and long-form content
Board-level decisions and crisis leadership

Watch-outs

Feeling distant or intimidating in informal settings
Losing rapport by leading with credentials before connection
Over-extending expertise into adjacent areas you don't fully know

Tell-tale signs

You cite sources and research the way others cite opinions
You hesitate to speak until you know the topic genuinely well
Your authority feels earned — and losing it would feel worse than losing most other things

Thrives in

Expert sales, medicine, regulated industries, technical advising

Struggles with

Peer dynamics, informal networks, reading emotional rooms

Related principles

Commitment & Consistency Social Proof Scarcity

Take the Assessment

Cialdini principle · Influence Profile

← All principles

Authority

You lead with earned expertise and speak with the confidence it deserves.

Kindred spirits

Dr. Atul Gawande (physician-writer; authority earned by precision)
Warren Buffett (decades of track record speak on their own)
Dr. Robert Cialdini (the academic authority on influence itself)

Best at

High-stakes advisory, medical, legal, and financial contexts
Thought leadership and long-form content
Board-level decisions and crisis leadership

Watch-outs

Feeling distant or intimidating in informal settings
Losing rapport by leading with credentials before connection
Over-extending expertise into adjacent areas you don't fully know

Tell-tale signs

You cite sources and research the way others cite opinions
You hesitate to speak until you know the topic genuinely well
Your authority feels earned — and losing it would feel worse than losing most other things

Thrives in

Expert sales, medicine, regulated industries, technical advising

Struggles with

Peer dynamics, informal networks, reading emotional rooms

Related principles

Commitment & Consistency Social Proof Scarcity

Take the Assessment

Authority

Good things, in formation.

Authority