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.

What's the difference between commitment and pressure?

Pressure comes from outside the person; commitment comes from inside. Architects ask people what they want and then help them honour that — the anchor is the person's own words, not the Architect's authority.

How do Architects handle changing circumstances?

The best Architects distinguish between a commitment to a goal and a commitment to a specific path. Letting the path change while keeping the goal stable is the Architect's highest skill.

Is this the same as 'foot in the door'?

That technique uses commitment mechanics but at the manipulative end. Ethical Architects make the initial yes something genuinely aligned with the person's interests, so each subsequent step still serves them.

Cialdini principle · Influence Profile

← All principles

Commitment & Consistency

You shape behavior by anchoring people to their own words and values.

Kindred spirits

Ray Dalio (principles-first decision architecture)
Brené Brown (invites public commitments to vulnerability)
Dr. Robert Cialdini himself (architect of the principles)

The tendency to influence others by anchoring them to prior statements, decisions, or identities — making follow-through feel natural. Your default move is to anchor a small, public, freely-chosen step and let consistency do the rest. You think in arcs, not moments — and you are unusually good at converting agreement-in-principle into agreement-in-writing.

Best at

Change management and behaviour change initiatives
Contract negotiation and structured commitments
Coaching — helping clients commit to their own stated goals

Watch-outs

Over-anchoring people to positions they should update as circumstances change
Appearing rigid when the logical consistency you value conflicts with emotional realities
Mistaking compliance for genuine commitment

Tell-tale signs

You keep commitments because breaking them feels genuinely off — not because you fear consequences
You naturally ask others 'so what's the next concrete step?'
You notice when someone contradicts a position they held yesterday

Thrives in

Program design, habit-change work, long-arc projects, coaching

Struggles with

Improvisation, emotional sales moments, last-minute pivots

Related principles

Authority Reciprocity Unity

Take the Assessment

Cialdini principle · Influence Profile

← All principles

Commitment & Consistency

You shape behavior by anchoring people to their own words and values.

Kindred spirits

Ray Dalio (principles-first decision architecture)
Brené Brown (invites public commitments to vulnerability)
Dr. Robert Cialdini himself (architect of the principles)

Best at

Change management and behaviour change initiatives
Contract negotiation and structured commitments
Coaching — helping clients commit to their own stated goals

Watch-outs

Over-anchoring people to positions they should update as circumstances change
Appearing rigid when the logical consistency you value conflicts with emotional realities
Mistaking compliance for genuine commitment

Tell-tale signs

You keep commitments because breaking them feels genuinely off — not because you fear consequences
You naturally ask others 'so what's the next concrete step?'
You notice when someone contradicts a position they held yesterday

Thrives in

Program design, habit-change work, long-arc projects, coaching

Struggles with

Improvisation, emotional sales moments, last-minute pivots

Related principles

Authority Reciprocity Unity

Take the Assessment

Commitment & Consistency

Good things, in formation.

Commitment & Consistency