Ben Franklin effect

Overview

The Ben Franklin effect (also called the Benjamin Franklin effect) is a psychological phenomenon in which, when you ask someone for a favor, the person who was asked comes to feel goodwill toward the person who asked. It comes from an anecdote in which Benjamin Franklin asked a political rival to lend him a book, and the rival afterward became friendly toward Franklin. The theory of cognitive dissonance explains it as the mind making things add up: "I did something for this person, so I must like them."

Question boxes and the Ben Franklin effect

Sending a question to a question box is the same as asking someone for a favor: "Please answer this." According to the Ben Franklin effect, by answering the question (agreeing to the favor), the person answering comes to like the sender more.

In other words, sending a question is itself a chance to improve your relationship with the other person. Some people worry that "sending a question might be a bother," but according to the Ben Franklin effect it's the opposite: sending a question makes the other person more likely to feel goodwill toward you.

Tips for making the most of the effect

To maximize the Ben Franklin effect, it's important to send questions the other person finds easy to answer. Questions that are too hard or awkward to answer put a heavy burden on the person answering.

Questions the other person can enjoy answering, like "What's your favorite X?" or "What are you into lately?", are a good fit. The same goes for questions that let them talk about their area of expertise, and if the act of answering itself becomes a fun experience, the Ben Franklin effect is thought to get even stronger.