The Most Notable Manipulation Techniques: Is It Better To Be Loved Or Feared?

There are many different ways to get someone to do what you want, or in other words to manipulate them. Because influencing people may be easier than it seems. A look, a gesture or a few words can be enough to make another person dance to your liking. But a person can also manipulate others by reinforcing someone else’s fear or by exchanging favors. There are many techniques. In this article, we discuss the most notable manipulation techniques.

In general, two striking manipulation techniques stand out from the others. One technique revolves around coercion. The other has to do with indulgence. They are quite different from each other. Each technique also has its pros and cons.

The use of one or the other technique will depend on the skills of the person applying it. The person they want to influence and the environment will also be decisive. Moreover, the social situation will also be a decisive factor.

One of the most notable manipulation techniques uses coercion

Sometimes coercion is the goal of manipulation. You want to show that you are above others and that they should obey you. In this case, there are two useful processes for manipulating others. Let’s take a look at those now.

Obedience

When we obey something that goes against our wishes, we do so because not following the orders will produce consequences that we want to avoid. To obey is to submit to the will and authority of another person.

But we don’t just obey people. We also do this with ideas, doctrines and ideologies. Not obeying then means that we will have to pay a price. This can be in the form of a punishment or by not getting a reward. It is a technique that is often used in parenting.

submission

Submitting to someone means doing whatever they ask. The difference between submission and obedience is that submission involves total dependence. Because when someone submits, they don’t criticize the orders. They accept them as normal.

Moreover, non-compliance is not an option. Obviously, these two processes work on the basis of fear. People who fear the consequences will be manipulated and coerced. For this reason, we consider coercive manipulation to be an intrusive technique.

A second kind of conspicuous manipulation techniques uses indulgence

Nicolas Machiavelli wondered which is better: to be loved or feared? The mechanisms of coercion make us feared. But there are also striking manipulation techniques that achieve the same result while ensuring that the manipulator is loved. Because there are processes that are based on permissiveness. We describe them here:

Convince

Persuasion is the use of words to convey information, feelings, or reasons. Through words, one tries to change other people’s attitudes, feelings, or actions. To manipulate someone else with conviction, you have to know them. You need to know what his ideas, interests and needs are. Based on this knowledge, one will use logic, rhetoric, emotions, body language and many other techniques to convince another.

To tempt

We can think of seduction as the art of driving a person crazy. But a more accurate description is that seduction is the process by which one person convinces and influences another in an emotional way. The goal is to make the person fall in love with them or do them favors.

One of the best known mechanisms of seduction is what we call “indirect play”. It alludes to a sense of attraction without showing it directly. That way, interest and attraction increase. As a result, the other person takes the first step.

acquiesce

Resignation refers to systematic consent, acceptance or approval. In psychology, resignation refers to the person who answers in the affirmative without thinking about it first. From the perspective of permissiveness, resignation consists in giving an affirmative answer to every question.

To exchange

In exchange, one gives something with the intention of receiving something in return. If we want someone to do something, then it is good to start by doing something for them. According to Cialdini’s persuasion techniques, reciprocity refers to the need that exists in social relationships to restore balance.

Revealing a personal testimony leads them to tell us something personal. Giving a gift increases the chance that they will give us something in return. Giving unexpectedly or unsolicited can therefore convince the person receiving the gift to give something in return.

These permissive manipulation techniques are less coercive. With these techniques you are able to manipulate others without them realizing it. In this case, fear is not the motivator that makes them obey.

However, these techniques become more difficult to maintain over time. Both coercion and indulgence can be helpful. Both manipulation techniques have their own advantages and disadvantages. Everything depends on what the objective is.