The Psychology of SalesmanshipAtkinson, William Walker
Science
The Psychology of Salesmanship
Atkinson, William Walker
Selling -- Psychological aspects
And, as for physical attitudes, etc., hear what several eminent
psychologists tell us. Prof. Halleck says: "By inducing an expression we
can often cause its allied emotion." Prof. James says: "Whistling to
keep up courage is no mere figure of speech. On the other hand, sit all
day in a moping posture, sigh, and reply to everything with a dismal
voice, and your melancholy lingers. There is no more valuable precept in
moral education than this: If we wish to conquer undesirable emotional
tendencies in ourselves we must assiduously, and in the first instance
cold-bloodedly, go through the _outward movements_, of those contrary
dispositions which we wish to cultivate. Smooth the brow, brighten the
eye, contract the dorsal rather than the ventral aspect of the frame,
and speak in a major key, pass the genial compliment and your heart must
indeed be frigid if it does not gradually thaw."
Dr. Woods Hutchinson says: "To what extent muscular contractions
condition emotions, as Prof. James has suggested, may be easily tested
by a quaint and simple little experiment upon a group of the smallest
voluntary muscles of the body, those that move the eyeball. Choose some
time when you are sitting quietly in your room, free from all disturbing
thoughts and influences. Then stand up, and assuming an easy position,
cast the eyes upward, and hold them in that position for thirty seconds.
Instantly and involuntarily you will be conscious of a tendency toward
reverential, devotional, contemplative ideas and thoughts. Then turn the
eyes sideways, glancing directly to the right or to the left, through
half-closed lids. Within thirty seconds images of suspicion, of
uneasiness, or of dislike will rise unbidden to the mind. Turn the eyes
on one side and slightly downward, and suggestions of jealousy or
coquetry will be apt to spring unbidden. Direct your gaze downward
toward the floor, and you are likely to go off into a fit of reverie or
abstraction." Maudsley says: "The specific muscular action is not merely
an exponent of passion, but truly an essential part of it. If we try
while the features are fixed in the expression of one passion to call up
in the mind a different one, we shall find it impossible to do so."
In view of the above statements, we may readily see the importance of
cultivating those outward expressions which are co-related to desirable
mental states or feelings. By so doing we arouse in our minds those
particular states or feelings. And, moreover, we tend to impress others
with the possession on our part of the co-related mental qualities.
One's outward expression is a powerful instrument of suggestion to
others, and people are unconsciously and instinctively affected by it,
to our benefit or detriment. Let us therefore consider, briefly, the
general principles underlying personal expression along the lines
indicated.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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