# Influence by Robert Cialdini

7 Hacker News commenters recommended Influence by Robert Cialdini and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it as a classic on the psychology of persuasion, one that changed how readers see their own decisions and suits sales work. One critic calls the word influence a euphemism for manipulate.

## What people warn about

- Framed as manipulation rather than persuasion (1 comments): "“influence” is a euphemism for “manipulate.”" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48009001))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi](https://hackerapproved.com/p/courage-to-be-disliked.md): 7 recommend
- [The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey](https://hackerapproved.com/p/inner-game-of-tennis.md): 4 recommend
- [The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt](https://hackerapproved.com/p/happiness-hypothesis.md): 3 recommend
- [Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert](https://hackerapproved.com/p/stumbling-on-happiness.md): 3 recommend
- [The Authoritarians by Bob Altemeyer](https://hackerapproved.com/p/authoritarians.md): 3 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1292022299?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9781292022291) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Influence by Robert Cialdini", https://hackerapproved.com/p/influence/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).