Secret Weapon In Getting What You Want From People

We humans prefer to be addressed in our right ear and are more likely to perform a task when we receive the request in our right ear rather than our left. In a series of three studies, looking at ear preference in communication between humans, Dr. Luca Tommasi and Daniele Marzoli from the University "Gabriele d'Annunzio" in Chieti, Italy, showed

We humans prefer to be addressed in our right ear.

Need Something? Talk To My Right Ear!

So if you need to get what you want – ask the person, addressing playfully or tenderly to his or her right ear.

A friend of mine, who depends on her husband’s money, had been using this trick for many years.

When she wants something, she writes down her wish. For instance: “I need to have his car at my disposal, whenever I want”.

Then she turns the sentence into command:

“Jack (his name) is giving his car to … (her name) with pleasure,

each time she needs it.”

She prepares some tasty dinner (or invites friends), makes him drunk. Then she waits until her husband falls asleep. When she is sure, she tenderly whispers the prepared phrase into his right ear. After that, she tells that he is a very good boy, and she is very much pleased with him. Then she kisses his right ear, caresses him and goes to sleep herself, satisfied.

As far as I know, he had never refused her, except for the moments, when the roads were icy or snowy.

Journal Reference:

Marzoli et al. Side biases in humans (Homo sapiens): three ecological studies on hemispheric asymmetries. Naturwissenschaften, 2009; DOI: 10.1007/s00114-009-0571-4

Love,

Natalia Levis-Fox