compliance

Meaning: Compliance is changing your behavior because someone made an explicit request, even if your private beliefs stay the same. The requester typically has no formal power over you, so the pressure comes from the request itself. Common compliance techniques are foot-in-the-door (a small request is accepted, then a larger one is made), door-in-the-face (a large request is refused, then a smaller one is made), and lowballing (agreement is won, then the cost is raised). In physiology, compliance has a different meaning: how easily lungs stretch, ΔV/ΔP.

On the MCAT: Passages describe a salesperson, a charity appeal, or an experiment and ask you to name the technique or classify the behavior. Typical cues: an explicit request from a peer or stranger points to compliance; unspoken pressure to match a group points to conformity (Asch line studies); a command from an authority points to obedience (Milgram).

Common confusion: Students often lump the three together as conformity. Ask two questions: was there a direct request, and did it come from an authority? Foot-in-the-door and door-in-the-face are also easy to swap: the first starts small and builds up, the second starts large and retreats.