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Scarcity in Social Psychology is one of Robert Cialdini's six key principles of persuasion. The other principles include reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, authority, and liking. According to Cialdini's Scarcity principle, people automatically assign more value to things when they are less available. The principle of persuasion is used for profit and can be seen in compliance techniques such as the "limited number" and "deadline" tactics, where the profiteer tries to convince us that what they are offering is restricted by an amount or time.

The scarcity principle works for two reasons. The first being that when things become difficult to attain, they are typically more valuable. The uncertain availability of an item or activity can serve as a shortcut to its quality. Secondly, as things become less accessible, we lose our freedoms. We respond to the loss of our freedoms by wanting them more than ever. Psychological reactance is present throughout our lives, but is more apparent during a pair of ages. It is especially evident during the terrible twos and teenage years, due to the importance of control, rights, and freedom during those periods. These age groups are extremely sensitive to these restrictions, and in-turn scarcity.

The scarcity principle is more likely to stand true when there are optimizing conditions. These conditions include when the scarcity of items is new and when we have been recently constricted of our freedoms. We are most attracted to scarce resources when we are competing with others for them. The scarcity principle also applies to the way information is evaluated. When information is hidden or the access to the information is constricted, we desire it even more. This can be seen in the case of censorship. Also, when a message has been received, it's most effective when thought to be exclusive.

It is difficult to defend ourselves completely from this principle, although there are certain techniques. We should alert ourselves after any sense of emotional-arousal in any situation involving scarcity.