The Ben Franklin Effect

Of our Founding Fathers, Ben Franklin, is probably my favorite. His accomplishments speak for themselves, but there are two anecdotes that stand out. The first is an editing change to the Declaration of Independence. Apparently, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “we hold these truths to be sacred” and Franklin changed sacred to self-evident. His reasoning was that sacred had a religious meaning and the Declaration was not religious at all. Rather, Franklin wanted the document to rest on science and reason. Human rights must be available to everyone regardless of faith.

The second is the counterintuitive example that a person likes someone more after doing them a favor. One would think it should be the other way around: we like someone when they do something nice for us. 

Franklin said something to the effect that an acquaintance who was not friendly with him was in the possession of a rare book. Franklin asked to borrow it and the book was sent over. A week later Franklin returned the book with a very nice note. Afterwards, the man was cordial and eventually they became friends for the rest of their lives. The “effect” is even named after him.

For example, if we ask someone for a favor, we are indicating that we think they have something we do not. It could be expertise or skills, or pretty much anything. By asking, we show that we have respect for them and that usually raises their opinion of us which in turn makes them more willing to help us. 

It’s strange, but The Franklin Effect basically says: We don’t like people who are nice to us. We like people who we are nice to.