Trick to appear sympathetic: this is how the “Benjamin Franklin effect” works

We often avoid asking other people for help. Often we are just too shy or even too proud. The “Benjamin Franklin Effect” is based on this simple human action. Franklin discovered that some people were nicer to him after helping him. This means that the likelihood of appearing sympathetic increases if, for example, you want to borrow something from someone or ask them for general help. Why does this trick work? There are two reasons:

• First of all, many people simply enjoy helping others. It is one of the most important building blocks of a community, because without the willingness to help others, there would be no nurses or police. Many describe helping others as a pleasant feeling. According to this, someone associates this good feeling with you as soon as they have helped you.
• Second, by asking for help, you are also signaling some openness to friendship and trust in the person. It makes it much easier for people to like you because some connection has already been established.