A form of cognitive dissonance where people come to like people that they do nice things to, and dislike those that they do bad things to. In other words, our behavior towards somebody shapes our attitude, rather than the commonly held belief that our attitude towards somebody will then influence our behavior.

The name comes from the multitalented social engineer Benjamin Franklin who was known to exploit this effect to win people over. A famous example is when he asked an enemy of his who ran a library to do him a huge favor in lending him a rare and prized book. The enemy did as such, and the two then became friends. As Benjamin had coerced his enemy into doing a favor for him, the enemy was then forced to subconsciously and retrospectively analyze his relationship with Benjamin.

This effect is an extension of the self perception theory, which states that humans are constantly observing their own actions and modifying their behavior based on these observations.