Good cop, bad cop, also informally called the Mutt and Jeff technique,The Phrase Finder

/ref> is a psychological tactic used in

interrogation Interrogation (also called questioning) is interviewing as commonly employed by law enforcement officers, military personnel, intelligence agencies, organized crime syndicates, and terrorist organizations with the goal of eliciting useful informa ...

and

negotiation Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more people or parties to reach the desired outcome regarding one or more issues of conflict. It is an interaction between entities who aspire to agree on matters of mutual interest. The agreement c ...

, in which a team of two people take opposing approaches to the subject. One interrogator adopts a hostile or accusatory demeanor, emphasizing threats of punishment, while the other adopts a more sympathetic demeanor, emphasizing reward, in order to convince the subject to cooperate. It is an instance of the

Reid technique The Reid technique is a method of interrogation. The system was developed in the United States by John E. Reid in the 1950s. Reid was a psychologist, polygraph expert, and former Chicago police officer. The technique is known for creating a high ...

. The "good cop, bad cop" strategy in business negotiation involves one negotiator adopting a threatening, hostile, and uncompromising stance to apply pressure, while the other negotiator takes a non-threatening, friendly, and sympathetic approach to offer relief and appear more reasonable, thereby encouraging the counterpart to make concessions.

Technique

The "bad cop" takes an aggressive, negative stance towards the subject, making blatant accusations, derogatory comments, threats, and in general creating

antipathy Antipathy is a dislike for something or somebody, the opposite of sympathy. While antipathy may be induced by experience, it sometimes exists without a rational cause-and-effect explanation being present to the individuals involved. Thus, the ori ...

with the subject. This sets the stage for the "good cop" to act sympathetically, appearing supportive and understanding, and in general showing

sympathy Sympathy is the perception of, understanding of, and reaction to the distress or need of another life form. According to David Hume, this sympathetic concern is driven by a switch in viewpoint from a personal perspective to the perspective of ano ...

for the subject. The good cop defends the subject from the bad cop. The subject may feel able to cooperate with the good cop, either out of

trust Trust often refers to: * Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality It may also refer to: Business and law * Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another * Trust (bus ...

or out of fear of the bad cop and may then seek protection by the good cop and provide the information the interrogators are seeking. When this technique is used as a negotiation tactic outside of the interrogation context, the good cop attempts to convince the counterpart to cut a deal by implying that the bad cop will return if no agreement is reached. The order can also be reversed. In this scenario, the good cop does most of the talking, while the bad cop intervenes only to apply pressure and make the counterpart more willing to comply. The disadvantage of this technique is that it can be easily identified, and the "bad cop" may alienate the subject.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Good cop bad cop Deception Interrogation techniques Law enforcement techniques Stock characters Psychological manipulation Dichotomies

Technique

See also

References

External links