How to learn manipulation. How to manipulate people? Practical advice

Every person is a consumer or supplier in any social sphere (trade, communications, family relationships, leisure). Interpersonal interaction (real, virtual) is an area of ​​consumption in which the problem of manipulation is widespread. But regardless of the sphere, all manipulations are based on common psychological mechanisms, which leaves the relevant question: how to protect yourself and learn to resist manipulation and recognize it.

To answer this question, it is necessary to understand the essence of manipulation as a social and psychological phenomenon, to learn about the types and techniques of manipulation, and the principles of influence. And, of course, understand the methods of resistance, choose effective system confrontation.

Every sphere of life and any system of relationships (parent-child, adult-adult, employee-boss, seller-customer) is permeated with manipulation techniques.

• The media voices news about how people against their will take out loans, buy goods, join organizations or follow someone’s recommendations (for example, the sensational activities of A. Chumak in the 80s or “MMM” in the 90s "and similar modern pyramids).
• The urgency of the problem is also determined by the increased risk situation on the Internet among young people. For example, death groups or mobile games based on manipulation of the consciousness of adolescents and psychological effects on the mobile psyche.
• Advertising, fortune tellers, traditional healers - a system of manipulation and suggestion.

Manipulation is the control of consciousness for the benefit of the manipulator. And this happens at every step.

What is manipulation

Psychological manipulation is a control effect on a person and his psyche on the part of the manipulator. In this case, the true goal is hidden, called a false one, and the advantage is achieved at the expense of the victim.

The victim of a manipulator is a person who is influenced against his will to shape his needs and motives.

A manipulator is a person who influences the minds of other people. There are 4 types of manipulators:

• active,
• passive,
• competitive
• indifferent.

At the same time, according to the type of behavior of the manipulator, we can also distinguish:

• dictator
• rag,
• bully,
• judge.

The names of the behavior models speak for themselves.

The opposite of a manipulator is an actualizer. In psychology, it is generally accepted that both opposites are inherent in a person, but, as always, the one that he feeds more wins. The task of a person in order to become a person is to learn to be an actualizer.

The comparative characteristics of the manipulator and the actualizer are as follows (table below).

Basis of manipulation

Manipulation, as T.V. Barlas notes in his work, is based on a person’s motives, or more precisely, the influence on motives.

• Usually several motives are involved, for example, in the world of work it is the motive of earnings, prestige, personal growth, the motive of interest in the work itself.
• However, as a rule, one of them prevails.

There is an opinion that a person begins to manipulate someone in the event of his own internal conflict of motives.

Signs of manipulation

We are manipulated when:

• forced to do something we don’t want or didn’t plan;
• our contribution to the common cause is greater than that of our opponent;
• the interlocutor is not interested in our well-being.

Types and techniques of manipulation

There are several options for manipulation. For example, we can distinguish indirect and direct.

Direct manipulation

Involves influencing consciousness with rational arguments, that is real characteristics product (deed, action). This is relevant in the case when a person has decided that he needs it, but does not have specific guidelines (for what and what exactly).

Indirect impact

It is used in the case when a person does not intend to acquire a thing (act in any way), but they want to force it on him through psychological manipulation. Two techniques are common in this context: missed opportunity and exclusivity.

• The first is based on the fear that what is missing will become more valuable. In trading, these are promotions, discounts, “last hours”, “last days”, “last goods”. In relationships, these are phrases like “If we don’t go to the resort, then I will leave you.”
• The exclusivity technique affects the consumer's self-esteem. That is, a feeling of self-satisfaction and dignity when purchasing a VIP (premium) product or marrying a girl for whom “a crowd of suitors was running after.”

Impact on the subconscious

This is perhaps the most effective and favorite (especially by advertisers) method. These techniques are usually used in advertising, media, or product presentations from fraudulent companies.

Associations

The principle of this technology is based on building connections. For example, in advertising, where chocolate helps you meet people. At the subconscious level, this will remain as an attitude to buy this product. That is, we are talking about creating associative connections between the product and personal value or pleasure:

• prestige and status;
• love and marriage;
• sexuality and attractiveness;
• family well-being;
• luck;
• comfort (moral and material);
• history and culture (national values);
• elimination of illness and pain.

Trance

This technique includes:

• abundance of personnel, frequency of their changes, that is, overload of consciousness;
• visual demonstration of a trance state (freezing in one position, without speech or movement);
• ridiculous phrases and contradictions, blunders (the consciousness understands, the subconscious absorbs);
• growing tension with an unexpected outcome.

Game as manipulation

At the level of intimate-personal communication, manipulations and motives are carried out in the form of a game, for example, according to E. Berne, the most common is a quarrel (scandal). Its components include:

• trick (discussion of a sore subject in an inappropriate situation);
• vulnerable spot (urgent need, important motive, which is constantly in the attention of the second “player”);
• interactions (replicas gradually gaining volume and scope);
• stupefaction and denouement (temporary or final quarrel);
• gain (existential, that is, confirmation of one’s belief, or psychological, that is, the achievement of an unconscious motive).

The same game scheme, by the way, can be found in trading:

• the seller throws a trick (“This model is the best, but it’s more expensive”);
• a person feels a blow to a vulnerable spot (wealth);
• buys an item (resolution);
• and then regrets the purchase and doesn’t understand how it happened.

However, games in close interpersonal relationships are not necessarily manipulative and are somewhat different from overt manipulative games.

• In personal games, both participants must be active, they are usually not aware of their true motives, both participants win, but the winning has no practical implementation, the game lasts a long time.
• During manipulation, one participant is active, his motives are conscious, the gain is practical, and the manipulation is short.

Tricks and manipulations in communication

In the sphere of communication, R.V. Kozyakov identifies tricks and manipulations. There are 3 groups in total.

Organizational and procedural

Suitable for heating up the atmosphere during discussions, negotiations, conversations (more relevant for business communication). These include:

• formation of a primary attitude (tuning the partner in the manner desired by the manipulator);
• provision of materials the day before;
• avoiding repeated discussion;
• the atmosphere is heated by the aggressors of the dispute;
• primary continuity in voting;
• suspending the discussion on the desired option;
• selective loyalty in compliance with regulations;
• pseudo-decision making;
• break in discussion;
• letting off steam on unimportant issues;
• accidental lack of documents;
• excessive information;
• loss of documents;
• ignoring suggestions;
• abrupt change of topic.

brain teaser

These include:

• uncertainty of thesis;
• failure to comply with the law of sufficient cause;
• vicious circle of evidence;
• cause-and-effect syllogism;
• incomplete refutation;
• wrong analogies.

Psychological

The widest group, used for any type, style and form of communication:

• irritation of the opponent;
• use of unclear words and terms;
• unexpectedly fast pace of discussion;
• turning the dispute into speculation;
• reading thoughts for suspicion;
• reference to higher interests without deciphering them;
• judgments like “this is banal”;
• accustoming to a specific thought;
• understatement with a hint of special motives;
• reference to authority;
• accusation of utopian ideas;
• flattery or compliment;
• false shame (sometimes with reproach);
• belittlement by irony;
• demonstration of resentment;
• the authority or frankness of the statement;
• double-entry bookkeeping;
• apparent inattention;
• misunderstanding or miscommunication;
• practical unacceptability;
• reliance on a past statement;
• labels;
• substitution of information;
• visible support;
• linguistic cosmetics;
• reducing fact to personal opinion;
• argument selection;
• ridicule;
• Trojan horse;
• boomerang;
• silence;
• half-truth;
• lie;
• carrot and stick;
• multi-questioning;
• “Do you have something against it?”

What does the success of manipulation depend on?

Not every impact on the psyche is successful. Why some people are easily manipulated, while others are not at all; Why is it easy to manipulate a person in one situation, but difficult to manipulate in another? Not every condition ensures the success of manipulation. The manipulation is successful:

• with the authority of the manipulator;
• when the victim is ill or weak;
• in an appropriate setting (for a fortune teller it is important to fill the room with mysticism);
• when the victim’s personal qualities are favorable for the manipulator (uncertainty, modesty, timidity);
• with developed abilities and education of the manipulator (in matters of techniques);
• with competent influence of the manipulator on the motives and interests of the victim;
• when the victim is uneducated in the matter of manipulation.

Methods and techniques for resisting manipulation

Manipulation is counteracted by internal natural and conscious techniques used by a person.

Analysis of the situation

Before choosing a resistance technique, it is necessary to analyze the game (manipulation) according to the following plan:

1. Identify the main feature: the obvious contradiction between the real result and the put forward goals of interaction.
2. Determine the specific type (game or manipulation) and possible winnings. If one participant gets a practical gain, it’s manipulation, but if the other gets a psychological gain, it’s a game. If there is no practical gain at all, it’s a game.
3. Reveal the true motives and goals of the participants. They are the ones who determine the outcome. Or determine a specific form of manipulation from those mentioned earlier.

Resistance

Resistance to manipulation can be passive or active.

Passive resistance

It is characterized by:

• delayed spontaneous reactions to provocations;
• attack speed limit;
• analysis of the situation;
• forcing the manipulator to abandon his plans or reveal them.

This type of resistance is effective when the victim is confused or does not want to spoil the relationship with the manipulator.

Forms of passive protection include:

• ignoring (complete or partial) words (lack of reaction);
• unexpected but tactful silence;
• imitation that what was said was not heard;
• agreement with everything (“yes, you are right, I’m wrong”);
• repeating the manipulator's request, but with a questioning intonation.

As a rule, the manipulator does not expect such a reaction or quickly recognizes this resistance and then retreats.

Obviously, these forms require great self-control from the potential victim. This can be achieved using certain techniques:

1. Looking. Focusing not on the words of the manipulator, but on his face (moreover, his gaze should be as independent and calm as possible) or on the surrounding environment.
2. Observation. Presenting the manipulator in a different form (shorter, fatter, naked, gray or too bright) or morally superior to him (sincere understanding that aggression follows because of the deep unhappiness of the manipulator), detachment (pauses necessary to select a worthy and tactful response) .
3. You should not try to insult the manipulator.

Active resistance

Involves the opposite behavior: exposure and retaliation. You can use 4 methods:

1. Before the conversation (discussion, interaction), open discussion of the inadmissibility of manipulation. However, this technique can rarely be planned and is often violated.
2. Then it is recommended to pay attention to revealing the essence of the trick. Tell everyone publicly about the specific type of manipulation identified, its author, his actions and intentions (“Are you trying to fool us all here, Ivan Ivanovich”).
3. A repeated reminder of the inadmissibility of manipulation. It is enough to hint to the manipulator that he has been exposed.
4. Counter ploy. The last option is active resistance, which represents a clear confrontation and competition in the skill of manipulation. But the winner is usually the one who was able to retreat in time.

Subconscious defenses

Each person who suspects manipulation in his address usually turns on subconscious basic defenses:

• care,
• exile,
• blocking,
• control,
• fading,
• ignoring.

Sometimes there is a complex reaction of several basic ones. But usually this is not the best outcome for resolving a manipulation situation, that is, the option of “walking away and slamming the door” does not relieve a person from the position of a victim. That is why specific methods of resistance, conscious and controlled, specially learned and practiced, are more effective.

Does the manipulator give himself away?

Manipulation is closely related to lying (withholding information or presenting incorrect facts). Therefore, we can safely say that a nonverbal manipulator, like a liar, is a nonverbal manipulator. This means that you can suspect manipulation if you are careful.

• Common to all people are increased breathing or blinking when lying, a feeling of a lump in the throat, tension in the facial muscles, reddening of the cheeks, and changes in the pupils.
• Another indicator is a change in voice (timbre and tempo, intonation).
• Of course, there are more individual indicators that can only be recorded from a person you know well. Read more about this in the article.
• At the same time, you can manipulate using well-known gestures, for example, open palms - a sign of honesty and openness.
• But on the other hand, it also works in the opposite direction. The more a person repeats this gesture, the less he lies and the less people lie to him. This is how our subconscious works.
• Another gesture characteristic of manipulators is putting your right leg forward when greeting and trying to place your palm on top. By detecting this gesture and turning the manipulator's hand over, you can accidentally hint at your strength and thus take a dominant position. But the ideal is to achieve equal status (respect for oneself and others).

Nonverbal signs should be taken into account at the second stage of the manipulation detection algorithm. And after that, depending on personal abilities, you can resort to passive or active forms of resistance.

Let's consider psychological techniques for manipulating the mental consciousness of a person and the masses. For convenience, we will divide the proposed methods into eight blocks, each effective individually and together.

The life of any person is multifaceted in the life experience that this person has, in the level of education, in the level of upbringing, in the genetic component, in many other factors that must be taken into account when influencing a person psychologically. Mental manipulation specialists (psychotherapists, hypnologists, criminal hypnotists, scammers, government officials, etc.) use many different technologies that allow them to control people. It is necessary to know such methods, incl. and in order to counter this kind of manipulation. Knowledge is power. It is knowledge about the mechanisms of manipulating the human psyche that allows one to resist illegal intrusions into the psyche (into the human subconscious), and therefore protect oneself in this way.

It should be noted that there are a very large number of methods of psychological influence (manipulation). Some of them are available for mastery only after long practice (for example, NLP), some of them are freely used by most people in life, sometimes without even noticing it; It is enough to have an idea about some methods of manipulative influence in order to protect yourself from them; To counteract others, you yourself need to have a good command of such techniques (for example, gypsy psychological hypnosis), etc. To the extent that such a step is permissible, we will reveal the secrets of methods for controlling the mental consciousness of a person and the masses (team, meeting, audience, crowd, etc.).

It is worth noting that only recently has it become possible to openly talk about previously secret techniques. At the same time, in our opinion, such tacit permission from the supervisory authorities is completely justified, since we are convinced that only at a certain stage in life is some part of the truth revealed to a person. By collecting such material bit by bit, a person is formed into a personality. If for some reason a person is still ready to comprehend the truth, fate itself will lead him astray. And even if such a person learns about some secret techniques, he will not be able to understand their significance, i.e. this kind of information will not find the necessary response in his soul, and a certain stupor will turn on in the psyche, due to which such information simply will not be perceived by the brain, i.e. will not be remembered as such a person.

We will consider the manipulation techniques outlined below to be blocks of equal effectiveness. Despite the fact that each block is preceded by its inherent name, it should nevertheless be noted that the specific techniques of influencing the subconscious are very effective on everyone without exception, regardless of the specific target audience or typical features the personality of a person. This is explained by the fact that the human psyche, in general, has common components, and differs only in insignificant details, and hence the increased effectiveness of the developed manipulation techniques that exist in the world.

The first block of manipulation techniques.

Methods of manipulating human mental consciousness (S.A. Zelinsky, 2008).

1. False questioning, or deceptive clarifications.

In this case, the manipulative effect is achieved due to the fact that the manipulator pretends that he wants to better understand something for himself, asks you again, but repeats your words only at the beginning and then only partially, introducing a different meaning into the meaning of what you previously said, thereby changing the general meaning of what was said to please oneself.

In this case, you should be extremely attentive, always listen carefully to what they are telling you, and if you notice a catch, clarify what you said earlier; Moreover, clarify even if the manipulator, pretending not to notice your desire for clarification, tries to move on to another topic.

2. Deliberate haste, or skipping topics.

In this case, the manipulator, after voicing any information, strives to quickly move on to another topic, realizing that your attention will immediately be reoriented to new information, which means that the likelihood increases that the previous information, which has not been “protested,” will reach the subconscious listener; if information reaches the subconscious, then it is known that after any information ends up in the unconscious (subconscious), after a while it is realized by a person, i.e. passes into consciousness. Moreover, if the manipulator has additionally strengthened his information with an emotional load, or even introduced it into the subconscious using the coding method, then such information will appear at the moment the manipulator needs, which he himself will provoke (for example, using the principle of “anchoring” from NLP, or, in other words, by activating the code).

In addition, as a result of haste and skipping topics, it becomes possible to “voice” a large number of topics in a relatively short period of time; which means that the censorship of the psyche will not have time to let everything through, and the likelihood increases that a certain part of the information will penetrate into the subconscious, and from there it will influence the consciousness of the object of manipulation in a manner beneficial to the manipulator.

3. The desire to show one’s indifference, or pseudo-inattention.

In this case, the manipulator tries to perceive both the interlocutor and the information received as indifferently as possible, thereby unconsciously forcing the person to try at all costs to convince the manipulator of his importance to him. Thus, the manipulator can only manage the information emanating from the object of his manipulation, obtaining those facts that the object had not previously intended to publish. A similar circumstance on the part of the person at whom the manipulation is directed is embedded in the laws of the psyche, forcing any person to strive at all costs to prove that he is right by convincing the manipulator (without suspecting that he is a manipulator), and using for this the available arsenal of logical controllability of thoughts - that is, the presentation of new circumstances of the case, facts that, in his opinion, can help him with this. Which turns out to be in the hands of the manipulator, who finds out the information he needs.

As a counteraction in this case, it is recommended to strengthen your own volitional control and not succumb to provocations.

4. False inferiority, or imaginary weakness.

This principle of manipulation is aimed at the desire on the part of the manipulator to show the object of manipulation his weakness, and thereby achieve the desired, because if someone is weaker, the effect of condescension is activated, which means the censorship of the human psyche begins to function in a relaxed mode, as if not perceiving what is coming from manipulator information seriously. Thus, the information emanating from the manipulator passes directly into the subconscious, is deposited there in the form of attitudes and patterns of behavior, which means the manipulator achieves his goal, because the object of manipulation, without knowing it, over time will begin to carry out the attitudes laid down in the subconscious, or, in other words, fulfill the secret will of the manipulator.

The main way of confrontation is complete control of information emanating from any person, i.e. Every person is an opponent and must be taken seriously.

5. False love, or letting down vigilance.

Due to the fact that one individual (the manipulator) acts out love, excessive respect, veneration, etc. in front of another (the object of manipulation). (i.e. expresses his feelings in a similar way), he achieves incomparably more than if he openly asked for something.

In order not to succumb to such provocations, you should have, as F.E. Dzerzhinsky once said, a “cold mind.”

6. Violent pressure, or excessive anger.

Manipulation in this case becomes possible as a result of unmotivated rage on the part of the manipulator. The person at whom this kind of manipulation is directed will have a desire to calm down the one who is angry with him. Why is he subconsciously ready to make concessions to the manipulator?

Methods of counteraction may be different, depending on the skills of the object of manipulation. For example, as a result of “adjustment” (the so-called calibration in NLP), you can first stage in yourself a state of mind similar to that of the manipulator, and after calming down, calm the manipulator. Or, for example, you can show your calmness and absolute indifference to the manipulator’s anger, thereby confusing him and therefore depriving him of his manipulative advantage. You can sharply increase the pace of your own aggressiveness using speech techniques simultaneously with a light touch of the manipulator (his hand, shoulder, arm...), and additional visual influence, i.e. in this case, we seize the initiative, and by simultaneously influencing the manipulator with the help of a visual, auditory and kinesthetic stimulus, we introduce him into a state of trance, and therefore dependence on you, because in this state the manipulator himself becomes the object of our influence, and we We can introduce certain attitudes into his subconscious, because It is known that in a state of anger, any person is susceptible to coding (psychoprogramming). You can use other countermeasures. It should be remembered that in a state of anger it is easier to make a person laugh. You should know about this feature of the psyche and use it in time.

7. Fast pace, or unjustified haste.

In this case, we must talk about the desire of the manipulator, due to the imposed excessively fast pace of speech, to push through some of his ideas, achieving their approval by the object of manipulation. This also becomes possible when the manipulator, hiding behind the alleged lack of time, achieves incomparably more from the object of manipulation than if this happened over a long period of time, during which the object of manipulation would have time to think about his answer, and therefore not become a victim of deception ( manipulations).

In this case, you should take a time out (for example, refer to an urgent phone call, etc.) in order to knock the manipulator off the pace he set. To do this, you can pretend to misunderstand some question and “stupidly” ask again, etc.

8. Excessive suspicion, or causing forced excuses.

This type of manipulation occurs when the manipulator feigns suspicion in some matter. As a response to suspicion, the object of manipulation has a desire to justify himself. Thus, the protective barrier of his psyche weakens, which means that the manipulator achieves his goal by “pushing” the necessary psychological attitudes into his subconscious.

An option for defense is to become aware of yourself as an individual and willfully resist the attempt of any manipulative influence on your psyche (i.e. you must demonstrate your own self-confidence and show that if the manipulator suddenly gets offended, then let him be offended, and if he wants to leave, you don’t run after him; this should be adopted by “lovers”: do not let yourself be manipulated.)

The manipulator with his entire appearance shows fatigue and the inability to prove anything and listen to any objections. Thus, the object of manipulation tries to quickly agree with the words given by the manipulator, so as not to tire him with his objections. Well, by agreeing, he thereby follows the lead of the manipulator, who only needs this.

There is only one way to counteract: do not succumb to provocations.

This type of manipulation comes from such specific features of the individual’s psyche as worship of authorities in any field. Most often, it turns out that the very area in which such an “authority” achieved results lies in a completely different area than his imaginary “request” now, but nevertheless, the object of manipulation cannot help himself, since in his soul the majority people believe that there is always someone who has achieved more than them.

A variant of opposition is belief in one’s own exclusivity, super-personality; developing in yourself the conviction of your own chosenness, that you are a super-man.

11. Courtesy provided, or payment for assistance.

The manipulator conspiratorially informs the object of manipulation about something, as if advising in a friendly manner to make this or that decision. At the same time, clearly hiding behind an imaginary friendship (in fact, they may be meeting for the first time), as advice, he inclines the object of manipulation towards the solution option that is primarily necessary for the manipulator.

You need to believe in yourself, and remember that you have to pay for everything. And it’s better to pay immediately, i.e. before you are asked to pay as a thank you for the service provided.

12. Resistance, or acted out protest.

The manipulator, using some words, awakens feelings in the soul of the object of manipulation aimed at overcoming the barrier that has arisen (censorship of the psyche), in an effort to achieve his goal. It is known that the psyche is structured in such a way that a person mostly wants what is either forbidden to him or what requires effort to achieve.

Whereas what may be better and more important, but lies on the surface, in fact is often not noticed.

The way to counteract is self-confidence and will, i.e. You should always rely only on yourself and not give in to weaknesses.

13. Factor of particularity, or from details to error.

The manipulator forces the object of manipulation to pay attention to only one specific detail, without allowing him to notice the main thing, and on the basis of this to draw appropriate conclusions, which are accepted by the consciousness of that person as the non-alternative basis for the meaning of what was said. It should be noted that this is very common in life, when most people allow themselves to make their own opinion about any subject, without actually having either facts or more detailed information, and often without having their own opinion about what they judge using the opinions of others. Therefore, it is possible to impose such an opinion on them, which means the manipulator can achieve his goal.

To counteract, you should constantly work on yourself, on increasing your own knowledge and level of education.

14. Irony, or manipulation with a grin.

Manipulation is achieved due to the fact that the manipulator chooses an initially ironic tone, as if unconsciously questioning any words of the object of manipulation. In this case, the object of manipulation “loses his temper” much faster; and since critical thinking is difficult when angry, a person enters ASC (altered states of consciousness), in which consciousness easily passes through previously forbidden information.

For effective protection, you should show your complete indifference to the manipulator. Feeling like a super-human, “chosen one” will help you to tolerate attempts to manipulate you as child’s play. The manipulator will intuitively immediately feel such a state, because manipulators usually have well-developed senses, which, we note, allows them to sense the moment to carry out their manipulative techniques.

15. Interruption, or escape of thought.

The manipulator achieves his goal by constantly interrupting the thoughts of the object of manipulation, directing the topic of conversation in the direction desired by the manipulator.

As a counteraction, you can ignore the interruptions of the manipulator, or use special speech psychotechnics to make him ridiculed among the listeners, because if they laugh at a person, all his subsequent words are no longer taken seriously.

16. Provoking imaginary or false accusations.

This kind of manipulation becomes possible as a result of communicating to the object of manipulation information that can cause him anger, and therefore a decrease in criticality in assessing the alleged information. After which such a person turns out to be broken for a certain period of time, during which the manipulator achieves the imposition of his will on him.

Protection is to believe in yourself and not pay attention to others.

17. Trapping, or imaginary recognition of the opponent’s benefit.

In this case, the manipulator, carrying out the act of manipulation, hints at more profitable terms, in which the opponent (the object of manipulation) is supposedly located, thereby forcing the latter to make excuses in every possible way and become open to manipulation, which usually follows this from the manipulator.

Protection is the awareness of oneself as a super-personality, which means a completely reasonable “elevation” over the manipulator, especially if he also considers himself a “nonentity.” Those. in this case, you should not make excuses that say, no, I am not now higher than you in status, but admit, grinning, that yes, I am you, you are in my dependence, and you must accept this or... Thus, faith in yourself, belief in your own exclusivity will help you overcome any traps on the way to your consciousness from manipulators.

18. Deception in the palm of your hand, or imitation of bias.

The manipulator intentionally places the object of manipulation in certain specified conditions, when the person chosen as the object of manipulation, trying to ward off suspicion of excessive bias towards the manipulator, allows manipulation to take place over himself due to the unconscious belief in the good intentions of the manipulator. That is, he seems to give himself an instruction not to react critically to the words of the manipulator, thereby unconsciously giving the opportunity for the words of the manipulator to pass into his consciousness.

19. Intentional misconception, or specific terminology.

In this case, manipulation is carried out through the use by the manipulator of specific terms that are not clear to the object of manipulation, and the latter, due to the danger of appearing illiterate, does not have the courage to clarify what these terms mean.

The way to counteract is to ask again and clarify what is unclear to you.

20. Imposing false stupidity, or through humiliation to victory.

The manipulator strives in every possible way to reduce the role of the object of manipulation, hinting at his stupidity and illiteracy, in order to thus destabilize the positive mood of the psyche of the object of manipulation, plunge his psyche into a state of chaos and temporary confusion, and thus achieve the fulfillment of his will over him through verbal manipulation and ( or) coding of the psyche.

Defense - don't pay attention. It is generally recommended to pay less attention to the meaning of the manipulator’s words, and more to the details around him, gestures and facial expressions, or generally pretend that you are listening, and think “about your own things,” especially if in front of you is an experienced fraudster or criminal hypnotist.

21. Repetition of phrases, or imposition of thoughts.

With this type of manipulation, through repeated phrases, the manipulator accustoms the object of manipulation to any information that he is going to convey to him.

A defensive attitude is not to fixate your attention on the words of the manipulator, listen to him “with half an ear,” or use special speech techniques to transfer the conversation to another topic, or seize the initiative and introduce the attitudes you need into the subconscious of your interlocutor-manipulator, or many other options.

22. Erroneous speculation, or involuntary reticence.

In this case, manipulations achieve their effect due to:

1) deliberate omission by the manipulator;

2) erroneous speculation by the object of manipulation.

Moreover, even if deception is detected, the object of manipulation gets the impression of his own guilt due to the fact that he misunderstood or did not hear something.

Protection - exceptional self-confidence, education of super-will, formation of “chosenness” and super-personality.

In this situation, the object of manipulation falls into the trap of the manipulator, who plays on his own supposed inattention, so that later, having achieved his goal, he refers to the fact that he allegedly did not notice (listen to) the protest from the opponent. Moreover, as a result of this, the manipulator actually confronts the object of manipulation with the fact of what has been accomplished.

Defense - clearly clarify the meaning of the “agreements reached.”

24. Say “yes”, or the path to agreement.

Manipulations of this kind are carried out due to the fact that the manipulator strives to build a dialogue with the object of manipulation so that he always agrees with his words. Thus, the manipulator skillfully leads the object of manipulation to push his idea, and therefore to carry out manipulation over him.

Defense - to disrupt the direction of the conversation.

25. Unexpected quotation, or words of an opponent as evidence.

In this case, the manipulative effect is achieved through the manipulator unexpectedly quoting the opponent’s previously spoken words. This technique has a discouraging effect on the selected object of manipulation, helping the manipulator achieve results. Moreover, in most cases the words themselves may be partially made up, i.e. have a different meaning than the object of manipulation previously said on this issue. If he spoke. Because the words of the object of manipulation may simply be completely made up, or have only a slight similarity.

Defense is also to use the technique of false quotation, choosing in this case the allegedly spoken words of the manipulator.

26. Observation effect, or search for common features.

As a result of preliminary observation of the object of manipulation (including during dialogue), the manipulator finds or invents any similarity between himself and the object, unobtrusively draws the object’s attention to this similarity, and thereby partially weakens the protective functions of the psyche of the object of manipulation, after which pushes his idea.

Defense is to sharply highlight in words your dissimilarity from your manipulative interlocutor.

27. Imposition of choice, or the initially correct decision.

In this case, the manipulator asks the question in such a way that it does not leave the object of manipulation the opportunity to make a choice other than the one voiced by the manipulator. (For example, do you want to do this or that? In this case, the key word is “do”, whereas initially the object of manipulation may not have intended to do anything. But he was not given the right to choose other than the choice between the first and the second.)

Defense - not paying attention plus strong-willed control of any situation.

28. Unexpected revelation, or sudden honesty.

This type of manipulation consists in the fact that after a short conversation, the manipulator suddenly confidentially informs the object he has chosen for manipulation that he intends to tell something secret and important, which is intended only for him, because he really liked this person and he feels that she can trust him with the truth. At the same time, the object of manipulation unconsciously develops trust in this kind of revelation, which means we can already talk about the weakening of the protective mechanisms of the psyche, which, by weakening censorship (the barrier of criticality), allows lies from the manipulator into the conscious-subconscious.

Defense - do not give in to provocations, and remember that you can always rely only on yourself. Another person can always let you down (consciously, unconsciously, under duress, under the influence of hypnosis, etc.)

29. Sudden counterargument, or insidious lie.

The manipulator, unexpectedly for the object of manipulation, refers to words allegedly said earlier, according to which the manipulator simply develops the topic further, starting from them. After such “revelations,” the object of manipulation begins to feel guilty; in his psyche, the barriers put forward in the way of those words of the manipulator, which he previously perceived with a certain degree of criticality, must finally break down. This is also possible because the majority of those targeted by manipulation are internally unstable, have increased criticality towards themselves, and therefore, such a lie on the part of the manipulator turns in their minds into one or another fraction of the truth, which as a result and helps the manipulator get his way.

Protection is the development of willpower and exceptional confidence and self-respect.

30. Accusation of theory, or alleged lack of practice.

The manipulator, as an unexpected counterargument, puts forward a demand according to which the words of the object of manipulation he has chosen are good only in theory, while in practice the situation will supposedly be different. Thus, unconsciously making it clear to the object of manipulation that all the words just heard by the manipulator represent nothing and are good only on paper, but in a real situation everything will turn out differently, which means, in fact, it is impossible to rely on such words.

Defense - do not pay attention to the conjectures and assumptions of other people and believe only in the power of your mind.

The second block of manipulation techniques.

Ways to influence mass media audiences through manipulation.

1. The principle of first priority.

The essence of this method is based on the specifics of the psyche, which is structured in such a way that it accepts on faith the information that is the first to be processed by consciousness. The fact that we can obtain more reliable information later often does not matter.

In this case, the effect of perceiving primary information as truth is triggered, especially since it is impossible to immediately understand its contradictory nature. And after that it is already quite difficult to change the formed opinion.

A similar principle is quite successfully used in political technologies, when some incriminating material (compromising material) is sent to a competitor (via the media), thereby:

a) forming a negative opinion about him among voters;

b) forcing you to make excuses.

(In this case, the masses are influenced by widespread stereotypes that if someone makes excuses, it means they are guilty).

2. “Eyewitnesses” of events.

There are supposedly eyewitnesses of the events who, with the necessary sincerity, report information conveyed to them in advance by manipulators, passing it off as their own. The name of such “eyewitnesses” is often hidden, allegedly for the purpose of conspiracy, or a false name is given, which, along with falsified information, nevertheless achieves an effect on the audience, since it affects the unconscious of the human psyche, causing in him an intensity of feelings and emotions, in as a result of which the censorship of the psyche is weakened and is able to pass information from the manipulator without identifying its false essence.

3. Image of the enemy.

By artificially creating a threat and, as a result, intense passions, the masses are immersed in states similar to ASCs (altered states of consciousness). As a result, such masses are easier to manage.

4. Shift of emphasis.

In this case, there is a conscious shift in emphasis in the presented material, and something not entirely desirable for the manipulators is presented in the background, but is highlighted on the contrary - something they need.

5. Use of “opinion leaders”.

In this case, manipulation of mass consciousness occurs on the basis that when performing any actions, individuals are guided by opinion leaders. Opinion leaders can be various figures who have become authoritative for a certain category of the population.

6. Reorientation of attention.

In this case, it becomes possible to present almost any material without fear of its undesirable (negative) component. This becomes possible based on the rule of attention reorientation, when the information necessary for concealment seems to fade into the shadow of seemingly randomly highlighted events that serve to distract attention.

7. Emotional charge.

This manipulation technology is based on such a property of the human psyche as emotional contagion. It is known that in the course of life a person builds certain protective barriers to receiving information that is undesirable for him. To bypass such a barrier (censorship of the psyche), it is necessary that the manipulative influence be aimed at feelings. Thus, by “charging” the necessary information with the necessary emotions, it becomes possible to overcome the barrier of the mind and cause an explosion of passions in a person, forcing him to worry about some point of the information he heard. Next, the effect of emotional charging comes into play, which is most widespread in the crowd, where, as we know, the threshold of criticality is lower.

(Example: A similar manipulation effect is used during a number of reality shows, when participants speak in a raised tone and sometimes demonstrate significant emotional arousal, which makes them watch the ups and downs of the events they demonstrate, empathizing with the main characters. Or, for example, when performing on television in a series especially ambitious politicians who impulsively shout out their ways out of crisis situations, due to which the information affects the feelings of individuals, and the audience is emotionally contagious, which means that such manipulators can force people to pay attention to the material being presented.)

8. Showy issues.

Depending on the presentation of the same materials, you can achieve different, sometimes opposing, opinions from the audience. That is, some event can be artificially “not noticed,” but something else, on the contrary, can be given increased attention, and even on different television channels. At the same time, the truth itself seems to fade into the background. And it depends on the desire (or not desire) of manipulators to highlight it. (For example, it is known that many events take place every day in the country. Naturally, covering all of them is physically impossible. However, it often happens that some events are shown quite often, many times, and on various channels; while something else , which probably also deserves attention - no matter how deliberately noticed.)

It is worth noting that presenting information through such manipulative techniques leads to artificially inflating non-existent problems, behind which something important is not noticed that can cause the anger of the people.

9. Inaccessibility of information.

This principle of manipulative technologies is called information blockade. This becomes possible when a certain piece of information, undesirable for manipulators, is deliberately not allowed on the air.

10. Strike ahead.

A type of manipulation based on the advance release of information negative for the main category of people. At the same time, this information causes maximum resonance. And by the time the information subsequently arrives and the need to make an unpopular decision, the audience will already be tired of the protest, and will not react too negatively. Using a similar method in political technologies - first they sacrifice insignificant incriminating evidence, after which, when new incriminating evidence appears on the political figure they are promoting, the masses no longer react that way. (They get tired of reacting.)

11. False passion.

A method of manipulating the mass media audience, when a false intensity of passions is used by presenting supposedly sensational material, as a result of which the human psyche does not have time to react properly, unnecessary excitement is created, and the information presented later no longer has such an impact, because criticality decreases , put forward by the censorship of the psyche. (In other words, a false time limit is created within which the information received must be evaluated, which often leads to the fact that it enters the individual’s unconscious, practically uncut by consciousness; after which it influences consciousness, distorting the very meaning of the information received, and also taking place to receive and appropriately evaluate information that is more truthful (Moreover, in most cases we are talking about influence in a crowd, in which the principle of criticality is difficult in itself).

12. Credibility effect.

In this case, the basis for possible manipulation consists of such a component of the psyche when a person is inclined to believe information that does not contradict previously existing information or ideas on the issue under consideration.

(In other words, if through the media we encounter information with which we internally disagree, then we deliberately block such a channel for obtaining information. And if we come across information that does not contradict our understanding of such a question, we continue to absorb such information, which reinforces the earlier formed patterns of behavior and attitudes in the subconscious, which means acceleration for manipulation becomes possible, since manipulators will consciously wedge into information that is plausible for us false, which we seem to automatically perceive as real. Also, in accordance with a similar principle of manipulation, it is possible to initially present information that is obviously unfavorable for the manipulator (allegedly criticism of oneself), due to which the audience’s faith increases that this mass media source is quite honest and truthful. Well, later the information needed for manipulators is included in the information provided.)

13. The effect of “information storm”.

In this case, we should say that a person is bombarded with a barrage of useless information, in which the truth is lost.

(People who have been subjected to this form of manipulation simply get tired of the flow of information, which means that analyzing such information becomes difficult and manipulators have the opportunity to hide information that they need, but do not want to be shown to the general public.)

14. Reverse effect.

In the case of such a fact of manipulation, such an amount of negative information is released towards a person that this information achieves the exact opposite effect, and instead of the expected condemnation, such a person begins to evoke pity. (An example of the Perestroika years with B.N. Yeltsin, who fell into the river from a bridge.)

15. An everyday story, or evil with a human face.

Information that may cause an undesirable effect is pronounced in a normal tone, as if nothing terrible is happening. As a result of this form of presentation of information, some critical information, when penetrating into the consciousness of listeners, loses its relevance. Thus, the criticality of the human psyche’s perception of negative information disappears and addiction to it occurs.

16. One-sided coverage of events.

This method of manipulation is aimed at one-sided coverage of events, when only one side of the process is given the opportunity to speak, as a result of which a false semantic effect of the information received is achieved.

17. The principle of contrast.

This type of manipulation becomes possible when the necessary information is presented against the background of another, initially negative, and negatively perceived by the majority of the audience. (In other words, against the background of black, white will always be noticeable. And against the background of bad people, you can always show a good person by talking about his good deeds. A similar principle is widespread in political technologies, when a possible crisis in the camp of competitors is first analyzed in detail, and then demonstrated the correct nature of the actions of the candidate desired by the manipulators, who does not and cannot have such a crisis.)

18. Approval of an imaginary majority.

The use of this technique of manipulating the masses is based on such a specific component of the human psyche - as the admissibility of performing any actions after their initial approval by other people. As a result of this method of manipulation, the barrier of criticality in the human psyche is erased after such information has received approval from other people. Let us remember Le Bon, Freud, Bekhterev and other classics of mass psychology - the principles of imitation and contagion are actively operating in the masses. Therefore, what one does is picked up by the rest.

19. Expressive strike.

When implemented, this principle should produce the effect of psychological shock, when manipulators achieve the desired effect by deliberately broadcasting the horrors of modern life, which causes the first reaction of protest (due to a sharp increase in the emotional component of the psyche), and the desire to punish the guilty at all costs. At the same time, it is not noticed that the emphasis when presenting material can be deliberately shifted towards competitors that are unnecessary for the manipulators or against information that seems undesirable to them.

20. False analogies, or sabotages against logic.

This manipulation eliminates the true reason in any matter, replacing it with a false analogy. (For example, there is an incorrect comparison of different and mutually exclusive consequences, which in this case are passed off as one. For example, many young athletes were elected to the State Duma of the last convocation. In this case, merits in sports in the minds of the masses replaced the opinion about whether 20-year-olds are really athletes can govern the country. It should be remembered that every State Duma deputy has the rank of federal minister).

21. Artificial “calculation” of the situation.

A lot of different information is deliberately released onto the market, thereby monitoring public interest in this information, and information that is not relevant is subsequently excluded.

22. Manipulative commenting.

This or that event is highlighted through the emphasis required by the manipulators. Moreover, any event undesirable for manipulators when using such technology can take on the opposite color. It all depends on how the manipulators present this or that material and with what comments.

24. Admission (approximation) to power.

This type of manipulation is based on such a property of the psyche of most individuals as dramatic change their views in the event that such a person is endowed with the necessary authority. (A fairly striking example is D.O. Rogozin, who was in opposition to power - let’s remember Rogozin’s statement in connection with the Central Election Commission’s ban on registering V. Gerashchenko as a presidential candidate, let’s remember the hunger strike in the State Duma demanding the resignation of the ministers of the socio-economic block of the government, let’s remember other statements by Rogozin, including about the party in power and about the president of the country - and let us remember Rogozin’s speeches after his appointment as Russia’s permanent representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Brussels, i.e. a major official representing Russia in an enemy organization. )

25. Repetition.

This method of manipulation is quite simple. It is only necessary to repeat any information multiple times in order for such information to be deposited in the memory of the mass media audience and be used in the future. At the same time, manipulators should simplify the text as much as possible and make it receptive to a low-brow audience. Oddly enough, practically only in this case can you be sure that the necessary information will not only be conveyed to the mass viewer, reader or listener, but will also be correctly perceived by them. And this effect can be achieved by repeated repetition of simple phrases. In this case, the information is first firmly fixed in the subconscious of the listeners, and then will influence their consciousness, and therefore the commission of actions, the semantic connotation of which is secretly embedded in the information for the mass media audience.

26. The truth is half.

This method of manipulation consists in the fact that only part of the reliable information is presented to the public, while the other part, explaining the possibility of the existence of the first part, is hidden by the manipulators. (An example from the times of Perestroika, when rumors were first spread that the Union Republics supposedly supported the RSFSR. At the same time, they seemed to have forgotten about Russian subsidies. As a result of deceiving the population of republics friendly to us, these republics first seceded from the USSR, and then part of their population began to come to earnings to Russia.)

The third block of manipulation techniques.

Speech psychotechnics (V.M. Kandyba, 2002).

In the case of such influence, it is prohibited to use methods of direct information influence, spoken by order, replacing the latter with a request or proposal, and at the same time using the following verbal tricks:

1) Truisms.

In this case, the manipulator says what it really is, but in fact, a deceptive strategy is hidden in his words. For example, a manipulator wants to sell a product in a beautiful package in a deserted place. He doesn't say "buy"! And he says: “What a cold! Great, very cheap sweaters! Everyone is buying them, you won’t find such cheap sweaters anywhere!” and twirls bags of sweaters in his hands.

As noted by Academician V.M. Kandyba, such an unobtrusive offer to purchase, is more addressed to the subconscious, works better, since it corresponds to the truth and passes the critical barrier of consciousness. It’s really “cold” (this is already one unconscious “yes”), the package and the pattern of the sweater are really beautiful (the second “yes”), and really very cheap (the third “yes”). Therefore, without any words “Buy!” the object of manipulation appears, as it seems to him, to be an independent decision, made by himself, to buy an excellent thing cheaply and for the occasion, often without even opening the package, but only asking for the size.

2) The illusion of choice.

In this case, as if in the usual phrase of the manipulator about the presence of some product or phenomenon, some hidden statement is interspersed, which reliably acts on the subconscious, forcing the will of the manipulator to be carried out. For example, they don’t ask you whether you will buy or not, but they say: “How pretty you are! And it suits you, and this thing looks great! Which one will you take, this one or that one?”, and the manipulator looks at you with sympathy, as if the question of you buying this thing has already been resolved. After all, the last phrase of the manipulator contains a trap for consciousness that imitates your right to choose. But in fact, you are being deceived, since the choice “buy or not buy” has been replaced by the choice “buy this or buy that.”

3) Commands hidden in questions.

In such a case, the manipulator hides his installation command under the guise of a request. For example, you need to close the door. You can tell someone: “Go and close the door!”, but this will be worse than if your order is formalized with a request in the question: “I beg you, could you close the door?” The second option works better, and the person does not feel deceived.

4) Moral impasse.

This case represents a deception of consciousness; a manipulator, asking for an opinion about a product, after receiving an answer, asks the next question, which contains an instruction to perform the action required by the manipulator. For example, a manipulative salesperson persuades you not to buy, but to “just try” your product. In this case, we have a trap for consciousness, since nothing dangerous or bad seems to be offered to it and complete freedom of any decision seems to be preserved, but in fact, it’s enough to try, and the seller immediately asks another tricky question: “Well, did you like it? Did you like it?”, and although we are talking about the sensations of taste, in reality the question is: “Are you going to buy it or not?” And since the thing is objectively tasty, you cannot answer the seller’s question and say that you didn’t like it, and answer that you “liked it,” thereby, as it were, giving involuntary consent to the purchase. Moreover, as soon as you answer the seller that you liked it, he, without waiting for your other words, already weighs the goods and it’s as if it’s already inconvenient for you to refuse the purchase, especially since the seller selects and puts on the best that he has (from that , which is visible). Conclusion - you need to think a hundred times before accepting a seemingly harmless offer.

5) Speech technique: “then... - the...”.

The essence of this speech psychotechnics is that the manipulator connects what is happening with what he needs. For example, a seller of hats, seeing that the buyer is turning the hat in his hands for a long time, wondering whether to buy or not to buy, says that the client is lucky, since he found exactly the hat that suits him best. Like, the more I look at you, the more convinced I am that this is so.

6) Coding.

After the manipulation has worked, manipulators code their victim for amnesia (forgetting) of everything that happened. For example, if a gypsy (as an extra-class specialist in waking hypnosis and street manipulation) took a ring or chain from the victim, then she will definitely say the phrase before parting: “You don’t know me and have never seen me! These things - the ring and the chain - are strangers! You've never seen them! In this case, if the hypnosis was shallow, the charm (“charm” - as an obligatory component of suggestion in reality) wears off after a few minutes. With deep hypnosis, coding can last for years.

7) Stirlitz method.

Since a person remembers better the beginning and end of any conversation, it is necessary not only to enter the conversation correctly, but also the right words, which the object of manipulation must remember - put at the end of the conversation.

8) Speech trick “three stories”.

In the case of such a technique, the following technique of programming the human psyche is carried out. They tell you three stories. But in an unusual way. First, they start telling you story No. 1. In the middle, they interrupt it and start telling story No. 2. In the middle, they interrupt it, and they start telling story No. 3, which is told in full. Then the manipulator finishes story No. 2, and then completes story No. 1. As a result of this method of programming the psyche, story No. 1 and No. 2 are realized and remembered. And story No. 3 is quickly forgotten and unconscious, which means that, having been repressed from consciousness, it is placed in the subconscious. But the point is that just in story No. 3, the manipulators laid down instructions and commands for the subconscious of the object of manipulation, which means you can be sure that after a while this person (object) will begin to carry out the psychological instructions introduced into his subconscious, and at the same time will consider that they come from him. Introducing information into the subconscious - reliable way programming a person to carry out the settings required by manipulators.

9) Allegory.

As a result of such influence of consciousness processing, the information the manipulator needs is hidden among the story, which the manipulator presents allegorically and metaphorically. The point is that the hidden meaning is the thought that the manipulator decided to plant in your consciousness. Moreover, the brighter and more picturesque the story is told, the easier it is for such information to bypass the barrier of criticality and introduce information into the subconscious. Later, such information “will begin to work” often precisely at the moment the occurrence of which was or was originally intended; or a code was laid, activating which the manipulator each time achieves the desired effect.

10) The “as soon as... then...” method.

A very interesting method. This is how V.M. describes it. Kandyba: “The technique “as soon as... then...” This speech trick consists in the fact that a fortuneteller, for example a gypsy, foreseeing some certain upcoming action of the client, says, for example: “As soon as you see your line life, you will immediately understand me!” Here, with the subconscious logic of the client’s gaze at her palm (at the “life line”), the gypsy logically adds building confidence in herself and everything she does. At the same time, the gypsy deftly inserts a trap for consciousness with the end of the phrase “you will immediately understand me,” the intonation of which denotes another real meaning hidden from consciousness - “you will immediately agree with everything that I do.”

11) Scattering.

The method is quite interesting and effective. It consists in the fact that the manipulator, telling you a story, highlights his attitudes in some way that breaks the monotony of speech, including placing so-called “anchors” (the “anchoring” technique refers to the techniques of neurolinguistic programming). It is possible to highlight speech by intonation, volume, touch, gestures, etc. Thus, such attitudes seem to dissipate among other words that make up the information flow of this story. And subsequently, the subconscious of the object of manipulation will react only to these words, intonations, gestures, etc. In addition, as academician V.M. Kandyba notes, hidden commands that are dispersed throughout the conversation turn out to be very effective and work much better than those expressed in a different way. To do this, you need to be able to speak with expression, and emphasize - when required - the necessary words, skillfully highlight pauses, and so on.

The following methods of manipulative influence on the subconscious are distinguished in order to program human behavior (object of manipulation):

Kinesthetic methods (the most effective): touching the hand, touching the head, any stroking, patting the shoulder, shaking hands, touching the fingers, placing brushes on top of the client’s hands, taking the client’s hand in both hands, etc.

Emotional ways: increasing emotion at the right moment, decreasing emotion, emotional exclamations or gestures.

Speech methods: changing the volume of speech (louder, quieter); changing the pace of speech (faster, slower, pauses); change in intonation (increase-decrease); accompanying sounds (tapping, snapping fingers); changing the localization of the sound source (right, left, top, bottom, front, back); change in voice timbre (imperative, commanding, hard, soft, insinuating, drawn-out).

Visual methods: facial expressions, widening of the eyes, gesticulation of the hands, movements of the fingers, changes in body position (tilts, turns), changes in the position of the head (turns, tilts, lifts), a characteristic sequence of gestures (pantomimes), rubbing one’s own chin.

Written methods. Hidden information can be inserted into any written text using the scattering technique, while the necessary words are highlighted: font size, different font, different color, paragraph indentation, new line, etc.

12) The “old reaction” method.

According to this method, it is necessary to remember that if in some situation a person reacts strongly to any stimulus, then after some time you can again expose this person to the action of such a stimulus, and the old reaction will automatically work in him, although the conditions and situation may differ significantly from the one in which the reaction first appeared. A classic example of the “old reaction” is when a child walking in the park is suddenly attacked by a dog. The child became very frightened and subsequently in any, even the safest and most harmless, situation, when he saw a dog, he automatically, i.e. unconsciously, the “old reaction” arises: fear.

Similar reactions can be pain, temperature, kinesthetic (touch), gustatory, auditory, olfactory, etc., therefore, according to the “old reaction” mechanism, a number of basic conditions must be met:

a) The reflective reaction should be reinforced several times if possible.

b) The stimulus used must match its characteristics as closely as possible with the stimulus used for the first time.

c) A better and more reliable stimulus is a complex one that uses the reactions of several senses simultaneously.

If it is necessary to establish the dependence of another person (object of manipulation) on you, you must:

1) in the process of questioning, evoke a reaction of joy from the object;

2) consolidate such a reaction using any of the signaling methods (the so-called “anchors” in NLP);

3) if it is necessary to encode the object’s psyche, “activate” the “anchor” at the required moment. In this case, in response to your information, which in your opinion should be deposited in the memory of the object, the person chosen for the role of the object will have a positive associative series, which means the barrier of criticality of the psyche will be broken, and such a person (object) will be “programmed” to implement what you intended after the encoding you entered. In this case, it is recommended to first check yourself several times before securing the “anchor”, so that you can check your facial expressions, gestures, changed intonation, etc. remember the object’s reflexive reaction to words that are positive for its psyche (for example, pleasant memories of the object), and select a reliable key (by tilting the head, voice, touch, etc.)

Fourth block of manipulations.

Manipulation through television. (S.K. Kara-Murza, 2007).

1) Fabrication of facts.

In this case, the manipulation effect occurs as a result of small deviations used in the supply of material, but always acting in the same direction. Manipulators tell the truth only when the truth can be easily verified. In other cases, they try to present the material in the way they need. Moreover, lying becomes most effective when it is based on a stereotype embedded in the subconscious.

2) Selection of reality events for material.

In this case, an effective condition for programming thinking is control of the media in order to present uniform information, but in different words. At the same time, the activities of opposition media are allowed. But their activities must be controlled and not go beyond the scope of broadcasting permitted by them. In addition, the media use the so-called. the principle of democracy of noise, when a message unnecessary by the manipulator simply must die under a powerful release of diverse information.

3) Gray and black information.

In the second half of the twentieth century, the media began to use psychological warfare technologies. The 1948 American Military Dictionary defines psychological warfare as: “It is a systematic propaganda effort to influence the views, emotions, attitudes, and behavior of enemy, neutral, or friendly foreign groups in support of national policy.” The manual (1964) states that the purpose of such a war is “to undermine the political and social structure of the country ... to such a degree of degradation of national consciousness that the state becomes incapable of resistance.”

4) Major psychoses.

The secret tasks of the media are to transform the citizens of our country into a single mass (crowd), with the aim of generally regulating the spread of the flow of information that processes the consciousness and subconscious of people. As a result, such a crowd is easier to control, and the average person unquestioningly believes the most ridiculous statements.

5) Affirmation and repetition.

In this case, information is presented in the form of ready-made templates that actively use stereotypes existing in the subconscious. Assertion in any speech means a refusal to discuss, since the power of an idea that can be discussed loses all credibility. In human thinking, Kara-Murza notes, the so-called mosaic type of culture. The media is a factor in strengthening this type of thinking, teaching a person to think in stereotypes and not to use the intellect when analyzing media materials. G. Lebon noted that with the help of repetition, information is introduced into the depths of the subconscious, where the motives for subsequent human actions arise. Excessive repetition dulls consciousness, causing any information to be deposited practically unchanged in the subconscious. And from the subconscious, after a certain period of time, such information passes into consciousness.

6) Fragmentation and urgency.

In this method of manipulating the media used, integral information is divided into fragments so that a person cannot connect them into a single whole and comprehend the problem. (For example, articles in a newspaper are divided into parts and placed on different pages; a text or television program is broken up by advertising.) Professor G. Schiller explains the effectiveness of this technique: “When the holistic nature of a social problem is deliberately avoided, and fragmentary information about it is offered as reliable “information”, then the results of this approach are always the same: misunderstanding... apathy and, as a rule, indifference.” By tearing information about an important event into pieces, it is possible to sharply reduce the impact of the message or completely deprive it of its meaning.

7) Simplification, stereotyping.

This type of manipulation is based on the fact that man is a product of a mosaic culture. His consciousness is created by the media. The media, unlike high culture, are intended specifically for the masses. Therefore, they set strict limits on the complexity and originality of messages. The justification for this is the rule that a representative of the masses is able to adequately assimilate only simple information, therefore any new information is adjusted to a stereotype so that a person perceives information without effort and internal analysis.

8) Sensationalism.

In this case, the principle of such presentation of information is preserved, when it is impossible or very difficult to form a single whole from individual parts. At the same time, some kind of pseudo-sensation stands out. And under the guise of it, truly important news is hushed up (if this news for some reason is dangerous for the circles that control the media).

The continuous bombardment of consciousness, especially with “bad news,” performs an important function of maintaining the necessary level of “nervousness” in society, draws the attention of Prof. S.G. Kara-Murza. Such nervousness, a feeling of continuous crisis, sharply increases the suggestibility of people and reduces the ability to critically perceive.

9) Changing the meaning of words and concepts.

In this case, media manipulators freely interpret the words of any person. At the same time, the context changes, often taking the exact opposite or at least distorted form. A striking example is given by Prof. S.G. Kara-Murza, saying that when the Pope, during a visit to one of the countries, was asked how he felt about brothels, he was surprised that, supposedly, they really exist. After this, an emergency message appeared in the newspapers: “The first thing dad asked when he set foot on our land was, do we have brothels?”

Fifth block of manipulations.

Manipulation of consciousness (S.A. Zelinsky, 2003).

1. Provoking suspicion.

The manipulator initially puts the subject in critical conditions when he confidently puts forward a statement like: “Do you think I will persuade you?..”, which implies the so-called. the opposite effect, when the one being manipulated begins to convince the manipulator of the opposite, and thereby, by repeating the installation several times, unconsciously leans toward the opinion that the person who convinced him is honest about something. Whereas by all conditions this honesty is false. But if, under certain conditions, he understood this, that in this situation the line between lying and the receptivity of truth is erased. This means the manipulator achieves his goal.

Protection is not to pay attention and believe in yourself.

2. False benefit of the enemy.

The manipulator, with his specific words, initially casts doubt on his own arguments, referring to the supposedly more favorable conditions in which his opponent finds himself. Which, in turn, forces this opponent to justify his desire to convince his partner and remove suspicion from himself. Thus, the one over whom the manipulation took place unconsciously removes from himself any attitude towards censorship of the psyche, towards defense, allowing attacks from the manipulator to penetrate into his now defenseless psyche. The words of the manipulator, possible in such a situation: “You say that because your position now requires it...”

Defense - words like: “yes, I say this because I have such a position, I am right, and you must listen to me and obey me.”

3. Aggressive manner of conversation.

When using this technique, the manipulator takes on an initially high and aggressive tempo of speech, thereby unconsciously breaking the will of the opponent. In addition, the opponent in this case cannot properly process all the information received. Which forces him to agree with the information from the manipulator, unconsciously also wanting all this to stop as soon as possible.

Defense - make an artificial pause, interrupt the fast pace, reduce the aggressive intensity of the conversation, transfer the dialogue to a calm direction. If necessary, you can leave for a while, i.e. interrupt the conversation and then - when the manipulator calms down - continue the conversation.

4. Imaginary misunderstanding.

In this case, a certain trick is achieved as follows. The manipulator, referring to finding out for himself the correctness of what he just heard, repeats the words you said, but adding your own meaning to them. The spoken words may be something like: “Sorry, did I understand you correctly, you are saying that...”, and then he repeats 60-70% of what he heard from you, but distorts the final meaning by entering other information, information he needs .

Defense - a clear clarification, going back and re-explaining to the manipulator what you meant when you said such and such.

5. False agreement.

In this case, the manipulator seems to agree with the information received from you, but immediately makes his own adjustments. According to the principle: “Yes, yes, everything is correct, but...”.

Protection is to believe in yourself and not pay attention to manipulative techniques in a conversation with you.

6. Provocation to scandal.

By saying offensive words in a timely manner, the manipulator tries to provoke anger, rage, misunderstanding, resentment, etc. in you with his ridicule in order to piss you off and achieve the intended result.

Protection - strong character, strong will, cold mind.

7. Specific terminology.

In this way, the manipulator seeks from you an unconscious belittlement of your status, as well as the development of a feeling of inconvenience, as a result of which, out of false modesty or self-doubt, you are embarrassed to ask again the meaning of a particular term, which gives the manipulator the opportunity to turn the situation in the direction he wants by referring to the need for your supposed approval of the words he said earlier. Well, belittling the status of the interlocutor in a conversation allows you to find yourself in an initially advantageous position and ultimately achieve what you need.

Defense - ask again, clarify, pause and go back if necessary, citing the desire to better understand what is required of you.

8. Using the effect of false suspicion in your words.

By using such a position of psycho-influence, the manipulator initially puts the interlocutor in the position of being on the defensive. An example of the monologue used: “You think I will persuade you, convince you of something...”, which already seems to make the object want to convince the manipulator that this is not so, that you are initially well disposed towards him (the manipulator), etc. p. Thus, the object, as it were, reveals itself for unconscious agreement with the words of the manipulator that will follow after this.

Defense - words like: “Yes. I think that you should try to convince me of this, otherwise I won’t believe you and further continuation of the conversation will not work.”

The manipulator uses quotes from the speeches of famous and significant people, the specifics of the foundations and principles accepted in society, etc. Thus, the manipulator unconsciously lowers your status, saying, look, all respected and famous people say this, but you think completely differently, and who are you, and who are they, etc. - approximately a similar associative chain should unconsciously appear in the object of manipulation , after which the object, in fact, becomes such an object.

Protection is the belief in one’s exclusivity and “chosenness.”

10. Formation of false stupidity and failure.

A statement like - this is banal, this is complete bad taste, etc. - should form in the object of manipulation an initial unconscious belittlement of his role, and form an artificial dependence on the opinions of others, which prepares the dependence of this person on the manipulator. This means that the manipulator can almost fearlessly promote his ideas through the object of manipulation, pushing the object to solve the problems necessary for the manipulator. That is, in other words, the ground for manipulation has already been prepared by the manipulations themselves.

Defense - do not succumb to provocations and believe in your own mind, knowledge, experience, education, etc.

11. Imposition of thoughts.

In this case, through constantly or periodically repeated phrases, the manipulator accustoms the object to any information that it is going to convey to it.

The principle of advertising is built on such manipulation. When at first some information repeatedly appears in front of you (and regardless of your conscious approval or denial of it), and then, when a person is faced with the need to choose a product, unconsciously, from several types of goods of unknown brands, he chooses the one that he already knows about. I heard it somewhere. Moreover, based on the fact that through advertising an exclusively positive opinion about a product is conveyed, there is a much higher probability that an exclusively positive opinion about this product has been formed in the person’s unconscious.

Defense is the initial critical analysis of any incoming information.

12. Lack of evidence, with hints of some special circumstances.

This is a method of manipulation through a special kind of omissions that form in the object of manipulation false confidence in what was said, through his unconscious conjecture of certain situations. Moreover, when in the end it turns out that he “understood it wrong,” such a person practically does not have any component of protest, because unconsciously he remains confident that he himself is to blame, because he misunderstood. Thus, the object of manipulation is forced (unconsciously - consciously) to accept the rules of the game imposed on him.

In the context of such a circumstance, it most likely makes sense to divide into manipulation, taking into account both unexpected for the object and forced, when the object ultimately understands that he has become a victim of manipulation, but is forced to accept it due to the impossibility of a conflict with his own conscience and some inherent into his psyche with attitudes in the form of norms of behavior based on certain foundations of society, which do not allow such a person (object) to make a reverse move. Moreover, the agreement on his part can be dictated both by a false sense of guilt evoked in him, and by a kind of moral masochism, forcing him to unconsciously punish himself.

In this situation, the object of manipulation falls into the trap of the manipulator, who plays on his own supposed inattention, so that later, having achieved his goal, he refers to the fact that he allegedly did not notice (listen to) the protest from the opponent. At the same time, he actually confronts the object with the fact of the perfect.

Defense is to clarify and ask again what you misunderstood.

14. Downplaying irony.

As a result of thoughts expressed at the right moment about the insignificance of his own status, the manipulator seems to force the object to assert the opposite and elevate the manipulator in every possible way. Thus, subsequent manipulative actions of the manipulator become invisible to the object of manipulation.

Protection - if the manipulator believes that he is “insignificant” - it is necessary to continue to submit his will, strengthening such a feeling in him, so that he no longer has the thought of manipulating you, and when he sees you, the manipulator has a desire to obey you or avoid you .

15. Focus on the positives.

In this case, the manipulator concentrates the conversation only on the positives, thereby promoting his idea and ultimately achieving manipulation over the psyche of another person.

Defense - make a number of contradictory statements, be able to say “no,” etc.

Sixth block of manipulations.

Personality manipulation (G. Grachev, I. Melnik, 1999).

1. “Labeling”.

This technique consists of choosing offensive epithets, metaphors, names, etc. (“labels”) to designate a person, organization, idea, or any social phenomenon. Such “labels” evoke an emotionally negative attitude from others, are associated with low (dishonorable and socially disapproved) actions (behavior) and, thus, are used to discredit a person, expressed ideas and proposals, an organization, a social group or a subject of discussion in the eyes of the audience.

2. "Shining Generalizations".

This technique consists of replacing the name or designation of a certain social phenomenon, idea, organization, social group or specific person with a more general name that has a positive emotional connotation and evokes a friendly attitude from others. This technique is based on the exploitation of people’s positive feelings and emotions towards certain concepts and words, for example, such as “freedom”, “patriotism”, “peace”, “happiness”, “love”, “success”, “victory”, etc. etc. These kinds of words, which carry a positive psycho-emotional impact, are used to push through decisions that are beneficial for a specific person, group or organization.

3. “Transfer” or “transfer”.

The essence of this technique is a skillful, unobtrusive and imperceptible for most people extension of the authority and prestige of what they value and respect to what the source of communication presents to them. Using “transfer”, associative connections of the presented object with someone or something that has value and significance among others are formed. In addition, a negative “transfer” is also used to create associations with negative and socially disapproved events, actions, facts, people, etc., which is necessary to discredit specific individuals, ideas, situations, social groups or organizations.

The content of this technique consists in citing statements of individuals with high authority or, conversely, those that cause a negative reaction in the category of people on whom the manipulative influence is directed. The statements used usually contain value judgments regarding people, ideas, events, etc., and express their condemnation or approval. Thus, a person, as an object of manipulative influence, initiates the formation of an appropriate attitude - positive or negative.

5. “Game of common people”.

The purpose of this technique is to try to establish a trusting relationship with the audience, as with like-minded people, on the basis that both the manipulator himself and the ideas are correct, since they are focused on common man. This technique is actively used in advertising and information promotion and various kinds of propaganda to form the chosen image - “a man of the people” - to build trust in him on the part of the people.

6. "Shuffling" or "playing the cards".

7. "Shared Car".

When using this technique, a selection of judgments, statements, phrases is made that require uniformity in behavior, creating the impression that everyone does this. A message, for example, may begin with the words: “All normal people understand that...” or “not a single sane person would object that...”, etc. Through a “common platform” a person is given a feeling of confidence that the majority of members of a certain social community with which he identifies himself or whose opinion is significant to him, accept similar values, ideas, programs, etc.

8. Fragmentation of information delivery, redundancy, high pace.

Such techniques are used especially often on television. As a result of such a massive bombardment of people’s consciousness (for example, violence on TV), they cease to critically perceive what is happening and perceive incidents as meaningless. In addition, the viewer, following the rapid speech of the announcer or presenter, misses references to the source of information and in his imagination already connects everything and coordinates the inconsistent parts of the perceived programs.

9. "Mockery".

When using this technique, both specific individuals and views, ideas, programs, organizations and their activities, various associations of people against whom the struggle is being carried out can be ridiculed. The choice of the object of ridicule is carried out depending on the goals and the specific information and communication situation. The effect of this technique is based on the fact that when individual statements and elements of a person’s behavior are ridiculed, a playful and frivolous attitude is initiated towards him, which automatically extends to his other statements and views. With the skillful use of this technique, it is possible to form behind a specific person the image of a “frivolous” person whose statements are not trustworthy.

10. “Method of negative assignment groups”.

In this case, it is argued that any set of views is the only correct one. Everyone who shares these views is better than those who do not share (but share others, often opposite ones). For example, pioneers or Komsomol members are better than informal youth. Pioneers and Komsomol members are honest and responsive; if Komsomol members are called up to serve in the army, they are excellent in combat and political training. And informal youth - punks, hippies, etc. - not good youth. In this way, one group is pitted against another. Accordingly, different accents of perception are highlighted.

11. “Repetition of slogans” or “repetition of cliched phrases.”

The main condition for the effectiveness of using this technique is the correct slogan. A slogan is a short statement formulated in such a way as to attract attention and influence the imagination and feelings of the reader or listener. The slogan must be adapted to the mental characteristics of the target audience (i.e., the group of people who need to be influenced). Using the technique of “repetition of slogans” assumes that the listener or reader will not think about the meaning of individual words used in the slogan, nor about the correctness of the entire formulation as a whole. To the definition of G. Grachev and I. Melnik, we can add on our own that the brevity of the slogan allows information to freely penetrate the subconscious, thus programming the psyche, and giving rise to psychological attitudes and patterns of behavior, which subsequently serve as an algorithm of actions for a person (mass, crowd) received such installations.

12. “Emotional adjustment.”

This technique can be defined as a way of creating a mood while simultaneously conveying certain information. Mood is induced among a group of people through various means (external environment, certain time of day, lighting, mild stimulants, music, songs, etc.). Against this background, relevant information is transmitted, but they strive to ensure that there is not too much of it. This technique is most often used in theatrical performances, game and show programs, religious (cult) events, etc.

13. “Promotion through mediators”.

This technique is based on the fact that the process of perceiving significant information, certain values, views, ideas, and assessments has a two-stage nature. This means that effective information influence on a person is often carried out not through the media, but through people who are authoritative for him. This phenomenon is reflected in the two-stage communication flow model developed in the mid-50s in the USA by Paul Lazarsfeld. In the model he proposed, the highlighted two-stage nature of the mass communication process is taken into account, firstly, as the interaction between the communicator and “opinion leaders,” and secondly, as the interaction of opinion leaders with members of microsocial groups. Informal leaders, politicians, representatives of religious denominations, cultural figures, scientists, artists, athletes, military personnel, etc. can act as “opinion leaders.” In the practice of information and psychological influence of the media, this has led to the fact that information, propaganda and advertising messages have become more focused on individuals whose opinions are important to others. (i.e., product evaluations and promotions are carried out by “movie stars” and other popular individuals). The manipulative effect is enhanced by inclusion in entertainment programs, interviews, etc. direct or indirect assessments of such leaders of any ongoing events, which helps to exert the desired influence on the subconscious level of the human psyche.

14. “Imaginary choice”.

The essence of this technique is that listeners or readers are told several different points of view on a certain issue, but in such a way as to quietly present in the most favorable light the one that they want the audience to accept. To achieve this, several additional techniques are usually used: a) include so-called “two-sided messages” in propaganda materials, which contain arguments for and against a certain position. This “two-way message” is preempted by the opponent’s arguments; b) positive and negative elements are dosed. Those. in order for a positive assessment to look more believable, a little criticism must be added to the characteristics of the described point of view, and the effectiveness of a condemning position increases in the presence of elements of praise; c) selection of facts of strengthening or weakening of statements is carried out. The conclusions are not included in the text of the above messages. They must be done by those for whom the information is intended; d) comparative materials are used to enhance the importance, demonstrate trends and scale of events and phenomena. All factual data used are selected in such a way that the necessary conclusion is sufficiently obvious.

15. “Initiation of an information wave”.

An effective technique of information influence on large groups of people is the initiation of a secondary information wave. Those. an event is proposed that will clearly be picked up and replicated by the media. At the same time, the initial coverage in one media outlet can be picked up by other media outlets, which will increase the power of informational and psychological impact. This creates the so-called “primary” information wave. The main purpose of using this technique is to create a secondary information wave at the level of interpersonal communication by initiating relevant discussions, assessments, and rumors. All this allows us to enhance the effect of information and psychological influence on target audiences.

Seventh block of manipulations.

Manipulative techniques used during discussions and debates. (G.Grachev, I.Melnik, 2003)

1. Dosing of the initial information base.

Materials necessary for discussion are not provided to participants on time, or are provided selectively. Some participants in the discussions, “as if by accident,” are given an incomplete set of materials, and along the way it turns out that someone, unfortunately, was not aware of all the available information. Working documents, letters, appeals, notes and everything else that can affect the process and results of the discussion in an unfavorable direction are “lost.” Thus, some participants are not fully informed, which makes it difficult for them to discuss, and for others it creates additional opportunities for the use of psychological manipulation.

2. " Over-information."

Reverse option. The point is that too many projects, proposals, decisions, etc. are being prepared, the comparison of which during the discussion turns out to be impossible. Especially when a large volume of materials is offered for discussion in a short time, and therefore their qualitative analysis is difficult.

3. Formation of opinions through targeted selection of speakers.

The floor is first given to those whose opinion is known and suits the organizer of the manipulative influence. In this way, the desired attitude is formed among the participants in the discussion, because changing the primary attitude requires more effort than its formation. In order to formulate the attitudes that manipulators need, the discussion can also end or be interrupted after the speech of a person whose position corresponds to the views of the manipulators.

4. Double standard in the standards for assessing the behavior of discussion participants.

Some speakers are strictly limited in observing the regulations and rules of relationships during the discussion, while others are allowed to deviate from them and violate the established rules. The same thing happens with regard to the nature of permitted statements: some people do not notice harsh statements about their opponents, others are reprimanded, etc. It is possible that the regulations are not specifically established, so that a more convenient line of behavior can be chosen along the way. In this case, either the opponents’ positions are smoothed out and “pulled” to the desired point of view, or, conversely, the differences in their positions are strengthened to the point of incompatible and mutually exclusive points of view, as well as the discussion is brought to the point of absurdity.

5. “Maneuvering” the discussion agenda.

In order to make the “necessary” question easier to pass, first they “let off steam” (initiate a surge of emotions among those gathered) on minor and insignificant issues, and then, when everyone is tired or under the impression of the previous skirmish, an issue is brought up that they want to discuss without increased criticism.

5. Managing the discussion process.

In public discussions, the floor is alternately given to the most aggressive representatives of opposition groups, who allow mutual insults, which are either not stopped at all, or are stopped only for appearances. As a result of such a manipulative move, the atmosphere of the discussion becomes critical. In this way, discussion of a current topic can be stopped. Another way is to unexpectedly interrupt an unwanted speaker, or deliberately move on to another topic. This technique is often used during commercial negotiations, when, at a pre-agreed signal from the manager, the secretary brings in coffee, an “important” call is organized, etc.

6. Limitations in the discussion procedure.

When using this technique, proposals regarding the discussion procedure are ignored; unwanted facts, questions, arguments are avoided; The floor is not given to participants whose statements could lead to undesirable changes in the course of the discussion. Decisions made are strictly recorded; returning to them is not allowed, even when new data important for making final decisions arrives.

7. Abstracting.

A brief reformulation of questions, proposals, arguments, during which the emphasis shifts in the desired direction. At the same time, arbitrary summarization can be carried out, in which, in the process of summing up, the emphasis in the conclusions, presentation of the opponents’ positions, their views, and the results of the discussion changes in the desired direction. In addition, during interpersonal communication, you can increase your status with the help of a certain arrangement of furniture and resorting to a number of techniques. For example, place the visitor on a lower chair, have a lot of diplomas from the owner on the walls of the office, and demonstratively use the attributes of power and authority during discussions and negotiations.

8. Psychological tricks.

This group includes techniques based on irritating the opponent, using a sense of shame, inattention, humiliation of personal qualities, flattery, playing on pride and other individual psychological characteristics of a person.

9. Irritating your opponent.

Unbalancing him with ridicule, unfair accusations and other means until he “boils”. In this case, it is important that the opponent not only gets into a state of irritation, but also makes a statement that is erroneous or unfavorable for his position in the discussion. This technique is actively used in an explicit form as belittling an opponent or in a more veiled form, in combination with irony, indirect hints, and implicit but recognizable subtext. Acting in this way, the manipulator can emphasize, for example, such negative personality traits of the object of manipulative influence as lack of education, ignorance in a certain area, etc.

10. Self-praise.

This trick is an indirect method of belittling an opponent. It just doesn’t say directly “who you are,” but based on “who I am” and “who you are arguing with,” a corresponding conclusion follows. Expressions such as: “...I am the head of a large enterprise, region, industry, institution, etc.”, “...I had to solve major problems...”, “...before applying for this... you need to be a leader at least...", "...before discussing and criticizing... you need to gain experience in solving problems at least on a scale...", etc.

11. Using words, theories and terms unfamiliar to the opponent.

The trick succeeds if the opponent is embarrassed to ask again and pretends that he accepted these arguments and understood the meaning of terms that are unclear to him. Behind such words or phrases is the desire to discredit the personal qualities of the object of manipulation. Particular effectiveness from the use of slang that is unfamiliar to most occurs in situations where the subject does not have the opportunity to object or clarify what was meant, and can also be aggravated by the use of a fast pace of speech and many thoughts that change one another during the discussion. Moreover, it is important to note that the use of scientific terms is considered manipulation only in cases where such a statement is made consciously for a psychological impact on the object of manipulation.

12. " Buttering” arguments.

In this case, manipulators play on flattery, vanity, arrogance, and increased self-esteem of the object of manipulation. For example, he is bribed with the words that he “... as a perceptive and erudite person, intellectually developed and competent, sees the internal logic of the development of this phenomenon...” Thus, an ambitious person is faced with a dilemma - either accept this point of view, or reject a flattering public assessment and enter into a dispute whose outcome is not sufficiently predictable.

13. Failure or avoidance of discussion.

Such a manipulative action is carried out with the demonstrative use of resentment. For example, “... it is impossible to constructively discuss serious issues with you...” or “... your behavior makes it impossible to continue our meeting...”, or “I am ready to continue this discussion, but only after you put your nerves...", etc. Disruption of a discussion using provoking conflict is carried out through the use of various techniques to infuriate the opponent, when the discussion turns into an ordinary squabble completely unrelated to the original topic. In addition, such tricks can be used as: interrupting, interrupting, raising the voice, demonstrative acts of behavior that show reluctance to listen and disrespect for the opponent. After their use, statements are made like: “... it is impossible to talk with you, because you do not give a single intelligible answer to a single question”; “...it is impossible to talk with you, because you do not give the opportunity to express a point of view that does not coincide with yours...”, etc.

14. The “stick arguments” technique.

It is used in two main varieties, differing in purpose. If the goal is to interrupt the discussion by psychologically suppressing the opponent, a reference is made to the so-called. higher interests without deciphering these higher interests and without arguing the reasons why they are appealed to. In this case, statements like: “Do you understand what you are trying to do?!...”, etc. are used. If it is necessary to force the object of manipulation to at least outwardly agree with the proposed point of view, then such arguments are used that the object can accept out of fear of something unpleasant, dangerous, or to which he cannot answer in accordance with his views for the same reasons . Such arguments may include judgments such as: “... this is a denial of the constitutionally enshrined institution of the presidency, the system of supreme bodies of legislative power, and an undermining of the constitutional foundations of the life of society...”. It can simultaneously be combined with an indirect form of labeling, for example, “...it is precisely such statements that contribute to provoking social conflicts...”, or “... such arguments were used by the Nazi leaders in their vocabulary...”, or “... You deliberately use facts that contribute to inciting nationalism, anti-Semitism...”, etc.

15. “Reading in the hearts.”

It is used in two main versions (the so-called positive and negative forms). The essence of using this technique is that the audience’s attention moves from the content of the opponent’s arguments to his supposed reasons and hidden motives for why he speaks and defends a certain point of view, rather than agreeing with the arguments of the opposite side. It can be intensified by the simultaneous use of “stick arguments” and “labeling”. For example: “...You say this while defending corporate interests...”, or “... the reason for your aggressive criticism and irreconcilable position is obvious - this is the desire to discredit progressive forces, the constructive opposition, to disrupt the democratization process... but the people do not will allow such pseudo-defenders of the law to interfere with the satisfaction of his legitimate interests...”, etc. Sometimes “reading in hearts” takes the form of finding a motive that does not allow speaking in favor of the opposite side. This technique can be combined not only with “stick arguments”, but also with “greasing the argument.” For example: “...your decency, excessive modesty and false shame do not allow you to admit this obvious fact and thereby support this progressive initiative, on which depends the solution to the issue, eagerly and hopefully awaited by our voters...”, etc. .

16. Logical-psychological tricks.

Their name is due to the fact that, on the one hand, they can be built on violating the laws of logic, and on the other, on the contrary, use formal logic to manipulate an object. Even in ancient times, a sophism was known that required a “yes” or “no” answer to the question “have you stopped beating your father?” Any answer is difficult, because if the answer is “yes,” it means he beat him before, and if the answer is “no,” then it means the object beats his father. There are many variants of such sophistry: “...Are you all writing denunciations?..”, “...Have you stopped drinking yet?..”, etc. Public accusations are especially effective, where the main thing is to get a short answer and not give the person the opportunity to explain himself. The most common logical-psychological tricks include the conscious uncertainty of the thesis put forward, or the answer to the question posed, when the thought is formulated vaguely, vaguely, which allows it to be interpreted in different ways. In politics, this technique allows you to get out of difficult situations.

17. Failure to comply with the law of sufficient cause.

Compliance with the formally logical law of sufficient reason in discussions and debates is very subjective due to the fact that the conclusion about the sufficient basis of the thesis being defended is made by the participants in the discussion. According to this law, valid and relevant arguments may be insufficient if they are of a private nature and do not provide grounds for final conclusions. In addition to formal logic, in the practice of information exchange there is the so-called. “psycho-logic” (theory of argumentation), the essence of which is that argumentation does not exist on its own, it is put forward by certain people under certain conditions and it is also perceived by specific people who have (or do not have) certain knowledge, social status, personal qualities, etc. Therefore, a special case, elevated to the rank of a pattern, often passes if the manipulator, with the help of side effects, manages to influence the object of influence.

18. Changing emphasis in statements.

In these cases, what the opponent said regarding a particular case is refuted as a general pattern. The reverse trick is that general reasoning is contrasted with one or two facts, which in fact may be exceptions or atypical examples. Often during a discussion, conclusions about the problem under discussion are made on the basis of what “lies on the surface,” for example, side effects of the development of a phenomenon.

19. Incomplete refutation.

In this case, the combination of a logical violation with a psychological factor is used in cases where, from the positions and arguments put forward by the opponent in his defense, they choose the most vulnerable one, break it down in a harsh manner and pretend that the remaining arguments do not even deserve attention. The trick fails if the opponent does not return to the topic.

20. Requirement for an unambiguous answer.

Using phrases like: “don’t evade..”, “tell me clearly, in front of everyone...”, “tell me straight...”, etc. - the object of manipulation is asked to give an unambiguous answer “yes” or “no” to a question that requires a detailed answer or when an unambiguous answer can lead to a misunderstanding of the essence of the problem. In an audience with a low educational level, such a ploy may be perceived as a manifestation of integrity, determination and directness.

21. Artificial displacement of the dispute.

In this case, having begun to discuss any position, the manipulator tries not to give arguments from which this position follows, but suggests immediately moving on to refuting it. In this way, the opportunity to criticize one’s own position is limited, and the dispute itself is shifted to the argumentation of the opposite side. If the opponent succumbs to this and begins to criticize the position put forward, citing various arguments, they try to argue around these arguments, looking for shortcomings in them, but without presenting their system of evidence for discussion.

22. “Multiple questions.”

In the case of this manipulative technique, the object is asked several different questions on one topic at once. In the future, they act depending on his answer: either they accuse him of not understanding the essence of the problem, or of not answering the question completely, or of trying to mislead.

Eighth block of manipulations.

Manipulative influences depending on the type of behavior and emotions of a person. (V.M.Kandyba, 2004).

1. First type. A person spends most of his time between the usual state of consciousness and the state of normal night sleep.

This type is governed by his upbringing, character, habits, as well as a sense of pleasure, the desire for security and peace, i.e. everything that is formed by verbal and emotional-figurative memory. For most men of the first type, the abstract mind, words and logic prevail, while for the majority of women of the first type, common sense, feelings and fantasies prevail. Manipulative influence should be aimed at the needs of such people.

2. Second type. Dominance of trance states.

These are super-suggestible and super-hypnotizable people, whose behavior and reactions are controlled by the psychophysiology of the right hemisphere of the brain: imagination, illusions, dreams, dreamy desires, feelings and sensations, belief in the unusual, belief in someone’s authority, stereotypes, selfish or selfless interests (conscious or unconscious ), scenarios of events, facts and circumstances occurring to them. In case of manipulative influence, it is recommended to influence the feelings and imagination of such people.

3. Third type. Dominance of the left hemisphere of the brain.

Such people are controlled by verbal information, as well as principles, beliefs and attitudes developed during a conscious analysis of reality. The external reactions of people of the third type are determined by their education and upbringing, as well as by a critical and logical analysis of any information coming from the outside world. In order to effectively influence them, it is necessary to reduce their analysis of the information presented to them by their left, critical, hemisphere of the brain. To do this, it is recommended to present information against the backdrop of trust in you, and information must be presented strictly and balancedly, using strictly logical conclusions, supporting facts exclusively with authoritative sources, appealing not to feelings and pleasures (instincts), but to reason, conscience, duty, morality, justice, etc.

4. Fourth type. Primitive people with a predominance of right-brain instinctive-animal states.

For the most part, these are ill-mannered and uneducated people with an undeveloped left brain, who often grew up with mental retardation in social dysfunctional families(alcoholics, prostitutes, drug addicts, etc.). The reactions and behavior of such people are controlled by animal instincts and needs: sexual instinct, the desire to eat well, sleep, drink, and experience more pleasant pleasures. When manipulating such people, it is necessary to influence the psychophysiology of the right brain: the experiences and feelings they have previously experienced, hereditary character traits, behavioral stereotypes, the currently prevailing feelings, mood, fantasies and instincts. It is necessary to take into account that this category of people thinks mainly primitively: if you satisfy their instincts and feelings, they react positively, if you do not satisfy them, they react negatively.

5. Fifth type. People with an “expanded state of consciousness.”

These are those who managed to develop a highly spiritual person. In Japan, such people are called “enlightened”, in India - “Mahatmas”, in China - “perfectly wise Tao-people”, in Russia - “holy prophets and miracle workers”. The Arabs call such people “saint Sufis.” Manipulators cannot influence such people, as V.M. Kandyba notes, since “they are inferior to them in professional knowledge of man and nature.”

6. Sixth type. People with a predominance of pathological conditions in their psychophysiology.

Mainly mentally ill people. Their behavior and reactions are unpredictable because they are abnormal. These people may perform some actions as a result of a morbid motive or while in captivity of some kind of hallucination. Many of this type of people become victims of totalitarian sects. Manipulations against such people must be carried out quickly and harshly, inducing fear in them, a feeling of unbearable pain, isolation and, if necessary, complete immobility and a special injection that deprives them of consciousness and activity.

7. Seventh type. People whose reactions and behavior are dominated by a strong emotion, one or more of the main basic emotions, for example, fear, pleasure, anger, etc.

Fear is one of the most powerful hypnogenic (hypnosis-generating) emotions that always arises in every person when there is a threat to his physical, social or other well-being. When experiencing fear, a person immediately falls into a narrowed, altered state of consciousness. The left brain with its ability for a reasonable, critical-analytical, verbal-logical perception of what is happening is inhibited, and the right brain with its emotions, imagination and instincts is activated.

© Sergey Zelinsky, 2009
© Published with the kind permission of the author

Every person wants life to proceed according to his rules. But not always those around you agree to live at the instigation of an outsider. In this case, you can try to force, convince a person to act as he needs, and not as he wants.

What is manipulation

This technique is especially familiar to parents. Here's an example: a child doesn't want to go to bed. His mother scares him and says that Baba Yaga takes away children who do not sleep. The child is afraid and tries to fall asleep quickly so as not to fall into the hands of a folklore character. Mom’s actions are called manipulation (in this case, they are manipulated by fear).

In general, the very concept of “manipulation” is any personal influence on another. It is widely used in medicine or in everyday life. For example, when working with a keyboard, a person manipulates it. But this article refers to manipulation during communication. In this sense, it means implicitly influencing a third party in order to convince him to perform the action desired by the manipulator. Moreover, there is not a single person who is not subject to this technique, regardless of his age, status, social status, or distance between interlocutors. Everyone can be manipulated. The peculiarity of this psychological technique is not just to convince a person to do what is necessary, but to make him want to do so. He has one limitation - his manipulator abilities.

One of the characteristic features of those who have been subjected to manipulative influence is that they do not want to admit it. This is considered a weakness; in the end, a person will do everything to prove that this is his personal, but not imposed from the outside, choice.

Important! Admitting vulnerability to manipulation is not weakness, but protection. Denying manipulation means increasing its power. For an ordinary person, such denial is harm to oneself, bad. But for the manipulator it’s just the opposite.

Is it possible to learn to manipulate

Competent manipulation of people makes the life of the manipulator easier, which is why it is so important to have this skill. American psychologist Everett Shostrom called it a pseudo-philosophy with which you can control both yourself and others.

Forcing others to do as an individual wants is an art that needs to be studied and mastered. At birth, a child, without knowing it, has high skills - any crying makes the parents fuss. But not a single adult can master this technique just like that, without training.

The modern repository of any information is the Internet, it can help you learn basic manipulation techniques. You can watch many videos online, listen to audio books, not miss a single lesson, and practice your knowledge on your loved ones. You cannot use such information without understanding its essence:

1. A lot depends on the presentation. The lecturer can explain even the simplest topic in such a way that the listener will not understand anything. After all, manipulation is a rather complex topic.
2. The manipulative technique must be hidden, otherwise there is no point in it. Society is developing, and yesterday’s subtle methods of influence are today becoming visible and ridiculous. Therefore, manipulation also needs continuous adaptation and improvement. This topic needs to be studied constantly.
3. Manipulation cannot be applied blindly. This is a delicate instrument and must be used wisely. Otherwise, even the most hidden technique will be noticeable to others. People generally do not like being forced to do things contrary to their wishes. It’s not enough to just memorize the book “Human Psychology, How to Manage People,” you need to understand the essence of what you’ve learned.

It turns out that managing people can be mastered, but you have to do it correctly:

• You need to study constantly, in large quantities;
• The information should be provided by an experienced person who has tested his techniques;
• The acquired knowledge needs to be practiced.

Interesting. The most effective techniques for managing others are known to intelligence officers and diplomats. These are real manipulation professionals. Their secret is difficult to find out; usually their skill is not disclosed, being an effective weapon. However, such large-scale impacts are not required for everyday life.

Methods of manipulation

How exactly are people managed? There are many ways of manipulation. All of them are based on the same principle of cunning: touching on the target - a topic that is important for another, otherwise there will be no response from the controlled.

The most common methods of manipulation are:

• Ostensible indifference. One person treats the opinion of another somewhat dismissively, and that person begins to doubt whether he is right.
• Quoting the interlocutor. A frequent technique during which the words previously spoken by the manipulated are slightly distorted by the manipulator and take on a different meaning.
• Imaginary weakness. Usually girls resort to this method, flaunting their helplessness in an attempt to get help.
• Pseudo-love and pseudo-friendship. Declaring love or acting out friendship (imaginary) helps to achieve a completely different level of relationship, greater indulgence.
• Fast pace of communication. The manipulator talks actively and a lot. An excess of information arises; a person does not have time to carefully monitor everything, missing the influence of the manipulator.
• Imaginary fatigue. Sometimes you don’t want to disturb a tired loved one, you have to rather agree with his opinion. Manipulators take advantage of this.

• Attention to detail. By isolating one detail from a large-scale event, taking it out of its original context, you can present information to your interlocutor in a distorted way.
• Irony, mockery. If you ironically communicate with a person, allow him to mock his words a little, you can force him to have an emotional outburst. At this time, the state of consciousness changes, people become more susceptible to outside influence.
• False benefit. The manipulator may express the opinion that his opponent benefits more from a particular situation. To do this, he usually diminishes his share. This is usually followed by the interlocutor’s desire to equalize the benefits.
• Hastily changing the topic of conversation. Jumping from topic to topic can be discouraging and cause confusion, which gives the manipulator the opportunity to influence the opponent.
• Anger, aggression. By acting out a strong angry outburst, you can provoke the interlocutor’s desire to quickly calm down the angry manipulator. That's all he needs.

There are very, very many ways to manipulate. Manipulation, as human psychology, is not allowed to stand still; it develops along with the world around people.

What to watch out for when manipulating

The most important condition for manipulation is secrecy. As soon as the manipulated person realizes that he has come under someone else's influence, the influence stops. In addition, the disclosure of secret control most often leads to a deterioration in relations. So the main caution is to hide the manipulation.

What is also important to consider: in addition to the process of manipulating people itself, there is the psychology of communication associated with other areas of this science that cannot be ignored. If you want to become a successful manipulator, you need to not just be specifically interested in this or that control technique, but also study the human psyche in a comprehensive manner. It’s not for nothing that experts in this business have been doing it all their lives.

Impact with words

Speech is one of the most important communication channels. Non-verbal communication also plays a large role, but it is words in the human universe that are given special importance as the most understandable way of interaction.

Interesting. Karl Marx, a German writer, philosopher, sociologist of the 19th century, called people slaves of words precisely because of their increased attention to them.

The surprising thing is that even the same thought, expressed in different words, will be perceived by listeners in completely different ways. Even replacing one component of an entire sentence changes its meaning. Words that came into the Russian language not so long ago, having a meaning similar to the original, but still slightly distorting it, are called amoebas.

Let’s say that in politics the expressions voters and electorate are often used. The meanings of these two similar words are identical at first glance, but in reality they are slightly different. Voter is the one who elected driving force. The electorate is more likely to be perceived as “subordinates.” This is how replacing one word can directly manipulate consciousness.

“Faceless” amoeba words are used for the same purpose. Thus, when using the expression “hired killer,” a person’s consciousness draws association pictures and scraps of news before his eyes. Having heard “killer” in speech, this does not happen; a person perceives the information more calmly. The psychology of manipulation is based precisely on removing a person from the true meaning of what was said to him. This is often used in the media: television, news feeds, newspapers.

Moreover, there is an element of voluntariness here. By using similar replacements of familiar words with so-called amoebas in his everyday speech, the speaker seems to be backing up his narrative with science. In fact, he himself lends himself to manipulation.

Manipulation techniques

There are several manipulation techniques that a person can use:

• Infection. This is the imposition of one’s psycho-emotional state or attitude towards a particular situation on the opponent. In this case, the manipulator often behaves confidently, strives to take a dominant position in the conversation, and force the interlocutor to unconsciously copy his behavior. For example, one of the friends is angry with the third, in communicating with the second she infects her with anger, after which she attracts her to her side in the conflict.
• Suggestion. This concept means instilling your interlocutor with your views. The peculiarity is in peaceful conversation, non-conflict. This technique works if the other participant in the conversation is upset and depressed, and the manipulator has great knowledge or authority. For example, a mother, consoling a sad daughter, can instill in her her vision of a particular situation, gently leading the conversation towards this.

• Inducement. The whole point of this technique is positive motivation. The manipulator convinces the manipulated of his superiority, due to which the possibility of persuasion appears. So, after praise from management, a difficult work task presented to the employee seems not like a punishment, but a recognition of his merits.
• Depreciation. The technique is based on destructive criticism, irony, sarcasm, ridicule of views, and the parallel imposition of one’s own, which are presented as the only true ones and worthy of attention. The manipulated person develops suspicions and doubts, and he grabs the “correct” option. A girl whom a friend invited to choose a dress together may, for her own reasons, ridicule the choice, instead offering another option, describing its merits, for example.
• Ignoring. A person with low self-esteem is more susceptible to outside influence. This is exactly what this technique does. To defiantly not pay attention to your opponent means to generate and cultivate in him a feeling of some inferiority. The manipulated begins to agree with the idea of ​​the manipulator, just to restore his position in his own eyes. This is what parents often do, ignoring their child’s aggressive defense of their position and doing as they see fit.

Manipulation from the point of view of psychologists

The answer to the question of how to manipulate people, psychology as a science is extremely interesting. There is even such a direction - NLP, or neurolinguistic programming. It originated precisely as a scientifically studied method of manipulating words (although now both verbal and nonverbal communication are used in combination).

Except him, different directions psychology is interested in managing people. Manipulation is not a universal evil, but a natural part of communication. It can be used for good. Let's say a psychotherapist often uses the technique of encouragement, in fact, flattery, to motivate his patient to cure.

Psychologists agree on one thing: only positive manipulation should be used in everyday life. After all, we are talking about human mutual respect. A person is not a stepping stone to success for a neighbor, he is a person who demands respect.

Video

Everyone has found themselves in a situation where they want to influence someone else's opinion. This happens at work, at home, in the hospital, in the store - wherever you have to deal with motivations that run counter to yours. At such moments, the question arises of how to manipulate people so that they take the actions that you need. Psychology offers many ways to do this. The problem is different: how ethical will this be in relation to others?

What is manipulation

From a psychological perspective, manipulation is changing the perceptions and behavior of others through covert tactics for personal gain.

For example, a girl sells flowers on the street. She can praise them, smile sweetly and look good, but this will not be manipulation, since she is not targeting anyone in particular. For her, every passerby is a potential buyer, and she does not use clever ways to get her product bought.

But if she changes tactics and approaches a couple sitting in a cafe with a cute bouquet, unobtrusively inviting the man to give it to his beautiful companion, this will be psychological pressure. Refusal for him will mean demonstrating his greed and the fact that the girl means nothing to him and does not even deserve flowers. In 90% of cases, such a story ends with the manipulator (seller) leaving the victim (man) with what she wanted - money from the sale of the bouquet.

The psychology of manipulation has many risks, ranging from failure of the original goal to personality and behavioral disorders that manipulators so often suffer from. There will be no problems if you:

• formulate a specific goal that you will strive for (I want to sell a bouquet to this man);
• consciously choose your tactics (I will put pressure on his male ego);
• do no harm (this is not fraud or theft, since you will give flowers in exchange for money).

A manipulator suffering from a mental disorder behaves differently: he acts unconsciously, most often choosing one victim, who suffers physically and mentally under his influence. This should not be allowed, otherwise you may end up being registered with a psychiatrist and doom yourself to long-term treatment.

We draw a conclusion. Distinguish between manipulating people as an art to achieve goals and as a mental personality disorder that harms both you and others.

Is manipulation good or bad?

If you've set your sights on mastering this art, you should know that manipulating people is ethically an exploitative, violent, and dishonest tactic.

Firstly, it is hidden, that is, it involves partial deception, silence, cunning, and lies. Secondly, its goal is to promote the interests of one person at the expense of another, and the first always wins, and the second, after such manipulations, is devastated and ruined. He is forced to do what he does not need, what he does not want, but at the same time does under pressure. On the one hand, he did it voluntarily. On the other hand, he understands (after a while) that he was psychologically forced to do this.

Despite this, manipulating a person is not always a negative phenomenon. For example, in one of the hospitals a pulmonologist was at the reception. Men with many years of smoking experience often came to him. After the X-ray, he sent them to lie down for a week in the oncology center, supposedly for prevention and additional research. In fact, the goal was different: seeing people in the hospital dying of lung cancer, many of these patients voluntarily quit smoking. If the doctor had used open persuasion tactics, it is unlikely that he would have been able to achieve such success.

In psychology, this phenomenon is treated neutrally, like, for example... a knife. It can become a murder weapon or a faithful assistant in the kitchen - it all depends on whose hands it ends up in. Psychological manipulation is the same as a knife, and you need to handle it carefully so as not to hurt yourself or harm others.

We draw a conclusion. When manipulating people, you need to constantly ask yourself how much the victim will suffer from this. Don't become a monster in achieving your goals.

Goals

To learn how to manipulate, you need to clearly imagine the end result that you want to achieve: for your boss to raise your salary, for your husband to buy something, for your colleague to take over part of your project. The formulation of the goal cannot be too vague and voluminous: I want the respect of my colleagues, the unquestioning submission of my wife, etc. This will be psychological violence, as a result of which both will suffer.

As a basis, you can take ready-made goals, which are most often set to manipulate others.

Goal 1. Educational

Most often used by parents - for children, husband - for wife (or vice versa), boss - for subordinates. This is manipulation for good, since the ultimate goal is to make the other person better.

Mom: “Dress warmly. Otherwise, you’ll catch a cold and have to cancel your trip out of town this weekend.” The goal is to protect the child from colds and teach him to dress according to the weather.

Wife: “Darling, I don’t understand anything about mathematics, you are much stronger than me at it, help your child with his homework.” The goal is to involve the husband in raising children.

Boss: “We didn’t reach our sales target this month. If this happens again, I will have to disband the department.” The goal is to make subordinates work better.

Goal 2. Financial

This goal is set by businessmen and bosses, as they pursue financial gain for themselves. There are a huge number of tools here, ranging from blackmail (“I will deprive you of your salary if you do not increase production efficiency”) and ending with moral destruction (“Your company is unprofitable, cannot withstand competition, so an agreement with us is the only salvation for you”).

Although wives also often manipulate their husbands for this purpose, trying to trick him into expensive gifts or purchases for the home. They don't openly say, "Buy me a dress for $500." Every day they will take him past the display case with him, admire him, say that “Petka (what a great guy!) promised to give him this for his birthday,” cry that she has nothing to wear to the corporate party, etc.

Goal 3. Entertaining

Oddly enough, many people want to manipulate others just because they are bored with life. Eric Burns generally called this phenomenon psychological games. The same intrigues at work, especially in the women's team. Or the desire to diversify the relationship with your significant other (flirt with your husband’s friend in order to make him jealous).

Goal 4. Emotional

In principle, any goal of psychological manipulation can be called this, since it affects precisely the emotional sphere of the victim. But here we mean something else: to force a person to change his feelings or attitude towards something. This is considered aerobatics, but at the same time borders on personality disorders.

Examples can be found both at work and in the family. The new department head cannot openly tell his subordinates: “Fear me!” Through conversations, he learns something unpleasant about each of them and begins to blackmail them. The constant fear of being exposed makes people obey him unquestioningly.

We draw a conclusion. Formulate your goal correctly, try to see the end result. Remember, this is what separates you from a manipulative psychopath.

Who to choose as a victim

Before mastering methods of manipulation, take a close look at the victim to whom your influence will be directed. If this is a strong personality with clear values ​​and life beliefs, the goal may be initially doomed to failure. You need to spend a lot of time studying the characteristics and vulnerabilities of the victim (in psychology they are called “buttons”) that can be pressed to achieve the goal.

An example of such “buttons”:

• passion for pleasure;
• naivety;
• the need for constant approval;
• lack of independence;
• impressionability;
• immaturity in judgment;
• inability to say “no”;
• locus of control (attribute everything to external factors, and not to one’s own responsibility);
• vague personal boundaries;
• excessive altruism (willingness to help others to the detriment of oneself);
• , uncertainty, lack of self-esteem;
• emotional dependence on the manipulator (the wife loves her husband too much);
• gullibility;
• greed;
• loneliness;
• old or young age.

Take a closer look at the person you are going to manipulate. If it has at least one of the above qualities, with the right technique you can achieve anything from it.

We draw a conclusion. In order not to doom your idea to failure in advance, for 2-3 weeks you need to observe the person you are going to manipulate and find vulnerabilities.

Technicians

To manipulate people's consciousness, there are various techniques that you need to be able to use correctly.

Basic techniques

Technique 1. Coercion

Example. The boss orders the employee to do a project. The latter objects that this is not his responsibility. The boss retorts that he will deprive him of his bonus - the problem is solved.

Technique 2. Smoothing

It is used to eliminate an obvious conflict in which the manipulator will obviously lose and will be shown in an unfavorable light. Methods used: demonstrating kindness and gratitude, readiness to help at any moment, excuses, flattery.

Example. The wife nags her husband that his salary is small. In response, he begins to sing her praises about how patient she is, that they have endured so much together, etc.

Technique 3. Evasion

Used in various situations. This is how smart people manipulate, whose main method is logical traps, philosophizing and abstract jokes. The goal is to take the interlocutor away from the topic of conversation, to redirect him in a different direction.

Example. A girl accuses a guy of cheating because he was seen with someone else. The tactician answers with the question: “Do you believe the rumors or me?” Another option: he convinces that he simply had to see that girl off, because she is his sister, boss, brother’s wife.

Review of some techniques

Method 1. False questioning

Refers to an evasion technique. Used to show your partner your fake interest in the subject of conversation. To do this, first after each important statement you need to exclaim: “Amazing!”, “What a thought!”, “What are you saying?”, “How did I not think of this myself?”

The interlocutor melts at how significant his proposals are to you. He loses his vigilance, and then the method of false questioning comes into play. The partner describes how this contract is beneficial for your company. In response: “How-how did you say? Indeed, this contract is primarily beneficial to you” - and stuff like that. As a result, the victim’s head will contain the thoughts that the manipulator instilled in him.

Method 2. Ostensible indifference

An incredibly effective method. Each of us requires respect and attention. If we say something to our interlocutor, we always expect at least some kind of reaction - even if it’s just a simple nod. Pressure on this “button” is often used by spouses.

Example. The wife constantly accuses her husband of cheating. At some point he gets tired of this, since his excuses end in scandals, and he always turns out to be guilty. This is how the technique of ostentatious indifference works in this case. When the wife is in Once again starts a conversation about it, the husband does not react to her accusations. He calmly drinks tea, scrolls through the news feed on his phone.

The wife becomes more and more angry because she does not see the reaction to her words. Indifference brings a person to a state bordering on passion. The manipulator listens carefully to everything and does not miss a word in order to catch the victim in time. Such a moment could be the wife’s recognition that she was accessing his phone without permission. An excellent reason to make her the accused, since the source of all problems is her mistrust.

It is often used to manipulate a loved one so that he does not become jealous, or a colleague so that he does not consider you a rival and loses his vigilance.

This technique can work to your advantage with a man who is pathologically jealous. A woman must constantly convince him that she is ugly, fat, means nothing without him and, apart from him, is of no use to anyone. This is so deposited in the subconscious that there have been cases when a wife cheated on her husband literally under his nose, and he believed in her innocence, despite all the evidence.

You can use this method to manipulate colleagues at work for career advancement. If you and someone else are applying for a high position, it is enough to gain his trust and convince him that he is excellent, you are not his competitor, who cares about him. He loses his vigilance, weakens the race for a position, and makes a competition project carelessly, because he is confident in his victory. At this time, you are carefully preparing for the upcoming tests, doing your job perfectly, and simultaneously treating your boss. Consider the position in your pocket.

Method 4. Fictional love

When deciding on this method, you need to bear full responsibility for the consequences. In this case, you will have to manipulate the feelings of another person. By posing as an ardent lover, you can achieve a lot from the victim. This is often used by subordinates in relation to superiors of the opposite sex in order to ensure career growth or a salary increase.

Expensive gifts, declarations of love, compliments, flattery and other actions disarm. How can you not give a bonus to your mistress or not promote your passionate admirer who is ready to go through thick and thin for you?

This method of manipulation often ends in a marriage of convenience.

Method 5. Surprise attack

An interesting method, the purpose of which is to take a person by surprise, put him in a short-term state of stress and in just a few minutes achieve what he wants, since he will stop reasoning.

Everything happens spontaneously, but the scenario is always the same: without warning, the manipulator rushes into the victim, begins to shout something, speak emotionally, feigning extreme excitement, helping himself with facial expressions and gestures, grabs hands, throws himself on his knees, etc. Understanding little , a person agrees to anything just to calm down and clarify the situation.

Case from practice. After the next medical examination, the wife rushed straight to her husband’s work all in tears, wailing that she would soon die, that she had been diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis and that the only salvation was the mountain, forest air and she urgently needed to undergo rehabilitation there. The husband, understanding only that the situation was extremely serious, was ready to get a ticket to the sanatorium for any money. The wife immediately handed him documents to sign, saying that she had found a way out of this situation.

As a result, the wife became the owner of a breathtakingly expensive house in a mountain resort, the purchase documents of which were signed by her husband without even looking. And fibrosis was a consequence of old bronchitis; she had been living with this diagnosis for a long time. The lump was small, and she knew very well that it would not threaten her with any complications.

NLP techniques

NLP techniques (neurolinguistic programming) are when you manipulate people not only with words, but also with gestures, touches, and facial expressions. According to followers of this trend, it is this that reveals the secrets of a successful life, as it allows you to achieve maximum benefit from others.

When deciding to use them in practice, keep in mind that neurolinguistics requires a long learning curve. And her methods do not work individually, like those discussed above, but in a complex manner.

NLP technique 1. Connection

The main NLP technique, without mastering it you will not be able to manipulate others. The goal is to establish contact with the victim. To do this, you need to use the mirroring technique - unobtrusively, so that she doesn’t notice, copy her gestures, facial expressions, walk step-by-step with her, breathe in the same rhythm, speak with the same intonation.

NLP technique 2. Rapport

After establishing contact, you need to establish a trusting relationship with the victim. Find something in common between you and tell her about it, interest her (the boss is looking for natural honey for his sick wife - you’re right there: “And my father-in-law has his own apiary!”).

Affiliation and rapport are two mandatory NLP manipulation techniques. The rest you select at your own discretion.

NLP technique 3. Three “yes”

And then the real magic begins. This is the culmination of manipulation, the preparation for which must be carefully thought out. The victim is asked three questions, to which she must answer in the affirmative. These can be the most common phrases: “You can’t buy natural honey in the store now - right?”, “You take it for yourself, right?” [you know in advance that he needs honey for his sick wife], “Honey from the apiary is an excellent cure for all ailments. Do you agree?

And then you ask the fourth question, which should solve your problem directly: “Ivan Ivanovich, will you give me three days off? My father-in-law’s apiary is far away, until I get there.” According to NLP psychology, he will not be able to refuse and will answer “yes”.

NLP technique 4. Breaking the pattern

After rapport, a person develops a certain pattern of relationships with you. For example, you met a girl, she is serious, and then you stun her that nothing can happen between you. That is, you are tearing apart a template in her mind, which she will, on a subconscious level, put back together with all her efforts, proving to you that everything is possible. Guys often confuse girls this way. For example, they admit that they are gay (although this is not so) and not a single beauty can seduce them. Or that in the first two months of dating they do not have sex, etc.

NLP technique 5. Switching attention

Consciousness at a particular moment in time can focus on one thing. By distracting the victim from the topic of conversation you want, you weaken his grip in this area. For example, the case of competition at work. Tell the colleague who is competing with you for a position that his wife is cheating on him. Or that they want to blame fire safety in the company on him. In a word, send him to another battlefield, and he will definitely lose to you on this one.

NLP technique 6. Lead

Not every manipulator will be able to master this technique. It consists of just one phrase. You need to say it in a calm, confident voice, looking straight into the victim’s eyes. It's a kind of hypnosis. The installation consists of two parts: you force the person to do what is needed, and at the same time explain to him that you will not be idle either. He only realizes the last part, that you also will not sit idly by, which means he is obliged to do what you asked him to do in the beginning. Examples of NLP manipulative phrases:

• Wife to husband: “Place the purchase of a sofa, and I’ll go look for a tracksuit for you.”
• Boss to subordinate: “Stay after work today to finish the project, and I’ll find out what can be resolved with your vacation.”
• Mom to son: “Solve the math for now, and I’ll go to the store for something tasty.”

Please note that in the second part there are no specific promises: I will look at the suit, not buy it; I’ll find out about the vacation, but won’t give it to you; I'll go get something tasty, but without specifying.

NLP technique 7. Reframing

This NLP technique is most often used to manipulate oneself, but sometimes it can be included in relationships with others. It is used when the situation gets out of control. For yourself, this is ordinary auto-training, when you understand that you cannot change anything, and say that everything will be fine, that the Universe is on your side. These same phrases can be used to reassure the victim in order to convince him that nothing depends on him.

Case from practice. Two friends competed over a girl. The advantage was clearly on the side of one, but he was a doubtful and unconfident person. One day she didn’t answer his call, he began to beat himself up that she was ignoring him and didn’t want to communicate with him (although she was just busy at that moment). A friend began to reassure him in the spirit of reframing, that there was nothing to be done about it, you need to let everything take its course, let her decide everything herself, you already did everything you could. As a result, the first one gave up, stopped pursuing her, and she chose the second one.

We draw a conclusion. Master the techniques, practice, choose methods of manipulation depending on the “button” of influence on the victim.

Secrets of manipulation

To successfully manipulate people and at the same time not cross the line of what is permitted:

1. Contact by name.
2. Give compliments.
3. Listen carefully.
4. Don't directly state what you need.
5. Don't use negative phrases.
6. Stay calm and don't lose your temper when talking.
7. Look straight into the eyes, don't hide your gaze.
8. Nod your head and non-verbally express agreement with your interlocutor.

We draw a conclusion. The victim needs to be confused, disarmed with a deliberately good attitude, before being manipulated.

Consequences

When deciding to manipulate and not being a psychopath, you must clearly understand not only the end result you are striving for. You must be aware of other consequences of your action. You will force a person to do something that he did not originally want. In most cases, he will understand this deep down, and this will cause a response from him. And you must be ready for it.

How the victim will feel after manipulation:

• lack of trust in you: I was deceived;
• removal, alienation from you: I was forced against my will;
• disappointment both in yourself and in you;
• unpleasant aftertaste: I was used.

In 90% of cases of conscious manipulation (not psychopathic), the victim eventually understands that he was used for selfish purposes. Therefore, the next time she communicates with the person who controlled her, she will again expect deception. A second attempt to do the same thing most often turns out to be a failure.

The most unpleasant consequence of manipulation is loss of trust, which entails problems in relationships. For example, you forced your boss to let you go on vacation outside of your schedule. You achieved your goal and enjoyed your vacation. At this time, he was forced to look for a replacement for you, redo the vacation schedule, re-issue documents and deal with other similar red tape. He will be angry that he followed your lead, will draw conclusions and is unlikely to do the same in the future, no matter what “buttons” you press.

We draw a conclusion. If you are an intelligent person, you will never manipulate your loved ones with whom you value relationships. And if you are forced to do this, you will be able to explain that this will benefit not only you, but also your partner.

Best books

1. Adamchik V. 200 ways to successfully manipulate a person.
2. Gagin T.V., Borodina S.S. Exposing magic, or a reference book for a charlatan.
3. Gegen N. Psychology of manipulation and submission.
4. Carnegie D. How to win friends and influence people.
5. Keith B., Romilla R. NLP Workshop for Dummies.
6. Levin R. Mechanisms of manipulation - protection from foreign influence.
7. Freud Z. Psychology of masses and analysis of the human self.
8. Henrik F. The Art of Manipulation. How to read other people's thoughts and control them quietly.
9. Sheynov V.P. The art of managing people.
10. Shlakhter V., Kholnov S. The art of dominating.

Not everyone can master the art of manipulating people. However, in modern world It can be impossible to do without it. By taking on the role of a constant victim, you may never achieve what you want and never realize your cherished dreams. However, there is no need to make the methods described above a lifestyle, as this is fraught with psychopathic personality and behavior disorders, as a result of which you will lose everything you value.

Ways to manipulate people (what is manipulation- the topic of the previous article) a huge amount. In order to master some of them, long practice is required; most people use some of them freely, sometimes without even suspecting it. It is enough to simply know about some manipulation techniques in order to be able to defend against them, while others must be mastered in order to be able to counteract them.

It is necessary to know the mechanisms of manipulating the human psyche; this allows you to protect yourself from invasion of your psyche and skillfully counteract various techniques and methods of manipulation. It is also necessary to study and know manipulation techniques in order to learn how to skillfully understand them and use them for your own benefit. Without this knowledge it is difficult to achieve great success in life.

When using one or another method of manipulation, one should take into account the fact that a person’s life is multifaceted: by level of education, by life experience, by many other factors. Therefore, in some cases, for a more effective effect, an important point in using various methods of manipulation is preparation for their use.

The first step is to decide on a specific technique that is applicable in this case, and for this you should select a target of influence. Such targets could be:

1. Interests of a person, his needs and inclinations;
2. Beliefs (political, religious, moral), worldview;
3. Habits, behavior style, ways of thinking, habits, character traits, professional skills;
4. Mental and emotional state (both in general and at the moment).

That is, in order for one or another way of manipulation had an effect, it would be good to get to know the recipient of this impact as best as possible and collect more information about him.

Also at the preparatory stage, an experienced manipulator thinks through the places and conditions of his influence. It is important for him to increase the likelihood that the manipulated person will experience the reactions, sensations and emotions he needs. Therefore, creating conditions for increasing suggestibility, he chooses secluded, isolated places (although this is not always the case, sometimes the situation requires the opposite) and only then, without interference, applies the prepared manipulation technique.

The success of any method of manipulation depends on the established contact between people. The ability to make contact and maintain it is given great importance in the literature on business communication; this is not a way of manipulation, establishing contact, this is the basis of communicative communication. A skilled manipulator, acting subtly, knows this, he makes contact and develops it in every possible way (forms trust) with a view to its further use. For him, this is a preparatory stage, during which he adapts in every possible way to the interlocutor, using the joining technique. The essence of this technique is to find common interests and views, create an atmosphere of frankness, and create a favorable impression of yourself. The manipulator sometimes even begins to copy the communication partner’s gestures, facial expressions, takes similar poses, and does everything to win him over.

When all the preparatory stages have been completed, the necessary information has been collected, weak sides, the conditions have been thought out, you can start using techniques and methods of manipulation. Although, to use some techniques, preliminary preparation is not required at all.

Ways to manipulate people

Each method of manipulation given below is accompanied by brief instructions on how to counter it and protect against it.

Before moving on to considering manipulation techniques, I also want to immediately note that manipulation methods are not always used separately; often combinations of techniques and methods are used to ensure effective impact.

FALSE ASKING

This method of manipulation is used to change the general meaning of what was said, changing its meaning to suit oneself. The manipulator, as if for the purpose of clarification, asks again, repeating what you said only at the beginning, then replaces the words and the overall meaning.

Listen very carefully to what they tell you. If you hear a distorted meaning, correct it immediately.

CONSTANTIAL INDIFFERENCE AND INATTENTION

When one person tries to prove that he is right, to convince another of something, he shows his indifference to both the interlocutor and what he says. The manipulator counts on the opponent’s desire to prove his importance at all costs, to use those facts, that information that he had not previously intended to disclose. That is, the necessary information is simply revealed.

Protection against manipulation– do not give in to provocation.

HASTY JUMP TO ANOTHER TOPIC

Having voiced one topic, the manipulator quickly moves on to another, thereby not giving the interlocutor the opportunity to protest the first or somehow doubt it. This is done with the aim of fixing this information (not always true) in the subconscious of the interlocutor. This method of manipulation can be characterized as suggestion with further use.

You should pay attention to what you hear and analyze everything.

QUOTING YOUR OPPONENT'S WORDS

In this case, the manipulator quotes, and unexpectedly, the opponent’s words. In most cases, the words are partially distorted.

While defending yourself, you can respond in kind, invent a phrase and pass it off as the words the manipulator once said to him.

IMAGINAL DAMAGE

The manipulator shows his weakness by seeking a condescending attitude towards himself. At such moments, the manipulated person ceases to take the person seriously as a competitor and rival, and his vigilance becomes dull.

You can not succumb to this method of manipulation only if you always take any person seriously and see in him a strong rival.

FALSE LOVE

Very common manipulation technique. By declaring love, honor and respect, you can achieve much more than just asking.

"Cold Mind" is here to help you.

FURIOUS ANGER AND FURIOUS PRESSURE

With unmotivated anger, the manipulator makes a person want to calm down his interlocutor and expects him to make certain concessions. Just like the previous one, this method of manipulation is quite common.

Counteraction:

1. Do not pay attention to the rage of your interlocutor, do not start to calm him down, but show your indifference to his behavior, this will confuse him;
2. Or vice versa, touching the manipulator (no matter the hand or shoulder) and looking him straight in the eyes, begin to sharply increase your aggressive pace, responding to him. With the help of simultaneous exposure to a visual, kinesthetic and auditory stimulus, the manipulator is introduced into a trance. And you can already set your own conditions for him, introduce your attitudes into his subconscious.
3. You can adjust, evoke a similar state of mind in yourself and gradually begin to calm down, calming the manipulator as well.

FALSE RUSH AND FAST PACE

Manipulation is possible by imposing a very fast pace of speech and pushing your ideas. The manipulator, hiding behind haste and lack of time, chatters up his interlocutor, who, without having time not only to answer, but even to think, thereby demonstrates his tacit consent.

Talkativeness, talkativeness and verbosity The manipulator can be stopped with questions and asking again. For example, a trick like “Sorry, I need to call urgently” will help slow down the pace. Will you wait?"

EXPRESS SUSPICTION AND CAUSE EXCUSES

This way of manipulation used to weaken the protective barrier of the human psyche. The role of the manipulator is to act out suspicion in any matter, the response to which will be a desire to justify himself. This is what he achieves. The protective barrier has weakened, you can “push through” the necessary settings.

The defense here is self-awareness self-confident person. Show the manipulator that you don’t care if you are offended, and you won’t run to catch up if he wants to leave. Lovers, take it upon yourself, don’t let yourself be manipulated!

FALSE FATIGUE

The manipulator makes it clear that he is very tired and is not able to prove anything or listen to objections. And therefore, the manipulated person quickly agrees with his words, and, following his lead, does not tire him with objections.

Don't give in to provocations.

The subtlety of this method of manipulation lies in the specifics of the human psyche - worship and blind trust in authority in any area. A manipulator, using his authority, puts pressure on a person, and often an opinion, advice or request lies outside the scope of his authority. How can you refuse a request or disagree with such a person?

Believe in yourself, in your abilities, in your individuality and exclusivity. Down with low self-esteem!

FALSE LOVE

The manipulator, as if in secret, almost in a whisper, hiding behind imaginary friendship, advises the manipulated person to act in a certain way. He assures of the benefits and benefits of this action, but in reality he pursues his own interests.

We should not forget that free cheese can only be found in a mousetrap; you have to pay for everything.

CAUSE RESISTANCE

It is known that the forbidden fruit is sweet, and the human psyche is structured in such a way that he is often interested in exactly what is forbidden or what requires effort to achieve. The manipulator, like a subtle psychologist, using these features of the human psyche, evokes such desires in the object of his influence. Of course, to please yourself.

Always remember your interests. Make decisions after thinking carefully, weighing all the pros and cons.

FROM PARTICULAR TO ERROR

The manipulator draws the object of manipulation's attention to only one detail, not allowing him to consider the whole picture, and forces him to draw conclusions based on this. Application of this way to manipulate people widespread in life. Many people make conclusions and make judgments about any subject or event without having detailed information and without facts, sometimes even without their own opinion on this issue, they judge based on the opinions of others. Manipulators take advantage of this and thus impose their opinion.

Expand your horizons, develop, work to improve your level of knowledge.

IRONY WITH A SMILE

Manipulator, as if doubting the opponent’s words, deliberately chooses an ironic tone of conversation, provoking him to emotions. In an emotional state, in anger, a person falls into an altered state of consciousness and is more susceptible to suggestion.

An effective defense against this method of manipulation is complete indifference.

KEEP YOUR THOUGHT OFF

The manipulator, in order to direct the conversation in the direction he wants, constantly interrupts the thoughts of the interlocutor.

Ignore this, or, using speech psychotechnics, try to ridicule the manipulator and if you are in a team, no one will seriously pay attention to his interruptions.

FALSE RECOGNITION OF FAVORABLE CONDITIONS

In this case, there is a hint from the manipulator about more favorable conditions in which the object of manipulation seems to be located. The manipulated begins to make excuses and opens up to suggestion, which immediately follows.

There is no need to make excuses; on the contrary, recognize your superiority.

SIMULATED BIAS

The manipulated person is placed in such conditions when he needs to avert suspicion of bias towards the manipulator. And he himself begins to praise him, talk about his good intentions, thereby giving himself the instruction not to react critically to the words of the manipulator.

If you find yourself in such a situation, refute your bias, but without praising the manipulator.

BE MISLEADING BY SPECIFIC TERMINOLOGY

It is carried out through the use of terms unknown to the manipulated by the manipulator in conversation. The latter finds himself in an awkward position, and fearing to appear illiterate, he is afraid of what these terms mean.

Don’t be shy or afraid to clarify a word you don’t understand.

IMPOSION OF FALSE STUPIDITY

In simple terms, this method of manipulation is to lower a person below the baseboard. Hints are used about his illiteracy and stupidity, which leads the object of manipulation into a state of temporary confusion. It is then that the manipulator encodes the psyche.

Don’t pay attention, especially if you know that in front of you is a competent manipulator, an experienced swindler or a hypnotist.

IMPOSING THOUGHTS BY REPEATING PHRASES

With this method of manipulation, through repeated repetition of phrases, the manipulator inspires the object with some information.

You should not pay attention to what the manipulator says. You can change the topic of conversation.

FALSE INATTENTION

The manipulator plays on his own supposed inattention. Having achieved the desired result, he seems to notice that he did something wrong, confronting the manipulated with a fact: “Well, what can you do, I didn’t see, I didn’t hear, I didn’t understand correctly...”

It is necessary to clearly clarify and convey the meaning of the agreements reached.

SAY YES"

Like manipulation technique is carried out by constructing a dialogue in such a way that the manipulated always agrees with the words of the manipulator. This is how the manipulator leads the target to accept his idea.

Change the focus of the conversation.

OBSERVATION AND SEARCH FOR SIMILAR TRAITS

The manipulator invents or finds some similarity between himself and the manipulated, casually draws attention to this, thereby increasing self-confidence and weakening defenses. You can act, promote an idea, instill a thought (using other methods and techniques of manipulation), and ask.

Defense is to sharply tell the manipulator about your differences with him.

IMPOSING CHOICE

The manipulator poses the question in such a way that he does not give the object any other choice of options other than those that he proposed. For example, a waiter in a restaurant, asking, approaching your table, “What wine will you drink today - red or white?”, makes you think about the choice from what he offered, and you, for example, were planning to order yourself some cheap vodka.

Be clear about what exactly you want and not forget about your interests and plans, no matter what it concerns.

The article turned out to be voluminous, although not all techniques and methods of manipulation were considered (but this is already in other articles). It is clear that you will not be able to master it the first time. And it’s wrong to try to immediately apply everything you read and remember. Choose several methods of manipulation (preferably complementary to each other), practice using them, bring the application to perfection (as far as possible), and only then proceed to the next ones. We also recommend reading the article “ Statements of great and successful people about manipulation».

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