Emotional Manipulation Techniques
Emotions are an essential part of our existence as humans. Whatever attempts the majority of us make to build a strong and powerful persona in the dog-eat-dog world, we are still experiencing things. We are all affected.
Many people make decisions based on their emotions rather than rational reasoning. People that are emotionally manipulative have a tendency to use a variety of strategies, tactics, and strategies.
The most effective emotional manipulation tactics are subtle; that is, they are designed to alter your behavior, character, and attitudes without your knowledge. These are subtle strategies that are so effective that they routinely invade your mind, reaching the subconscious level.
Be wary of persons who appear attractive and likable in your presence. They could be your supervisor, an employee, a friend, or even a loved one, and your relationships with them may appear to be normal, but you must be aware.
Emotional manipulation comes in a variety of forms and can be used in a variety of ways. Here are a few of the most powerful emotional manipulation techniques.
Negative Reinforcement
Have you ever been in a scenario when someone did something to you that they knew you didn’t like? Did you feel compelled to give them something they didn’t want as a reward in this case?
The underlying premise is that the person manipulating knows that if they do something you don’t want to pay back for something you’ve done, the chances of you making a decision in their favor in the future increase.
Consider having a sibling who allows you to use his automobile for a weekend side venture. This sibling then does something that upsets you, and you go to the bar without him for happy hour drinks.
This sibling then becomes nasty, refusing to hand up his car keys until you apologize and do something he enjoys, such as promising a larger portion of the money you make by driving his car or doing his laundry.
The method is simple. The manipulator knows that if they keep up their nasty behavior, you will eventually cave in and comply with their demands. They not only force you to do anything they want, but they also increase the likelihood that you will repeat the same action in the future.
Premature Disclosure
Assume you’re working in an office and a new employee has recently joined the team. As an employee, you must be cautious about the types of conversations you have at work and especially cautious about topics that are not linked to your job.
The new colleague approaches you and starts an unexpected chat after hearing that you’re top of the team for a specific area that can considerably increase the quality of her work.
This new associate, on the other hand, comes to you and engages you in an unexpected chat after hearing that you’re the best on the team which might considerably improve her output.
She invites you to a cup of coffee and breakfast and discusses a personal matter with you. She tells personal stories about her hopes, dreams, fears, shames, and loves and dislikes.
You’re shocked by the notion that someone you’ve just had the pleasure of speaking with about such personal topics as making a phony gesture of closeness, and you sense the weight of trust she’s placed on your shoulders.
That’s what the manipulator is hoping for. You’re hesitant to speak, but you feel it’s okay to tell her some of the things you know because she’s shown such vulnerability towards you. You’re scared at first that she won’t understand your point of view or believe your story is accurate. She will, however, go on to say that she has had similar situations and feels the same way you do.
This manipulator established an invalid connection. It’s likely she did this by fooling you by bragging about her successes and awards, leading you to believe she’s a valuable employee. All she wants to do is exploit this artificial “relationship” to extort certain favors from you, knowing that you are the only one who can provide them.
Guilt
It’s a sign that you still have a sense that you can feel guilty. You will make mistakes in your quest to be a good person, and you will feel bad about it. Because guilt is an unpleasant feeling linked to shame and fear, it might be distressing, but that doesn’t make it a flaw. It’s a part of who you are. Only when emotional manipulators use it to dominate you then it becomes an issue.
You’ve felt guilty because of the expectations of family or society, religion, and other forms of morality, especially when you fear you’ve wounded someone with your acts.
If you’re feeling guilty, you’ll want to restore your relationship with the injured person by apologizing or apologizing. This drive for revenge is diverted by the manipulators in order to force you to comply with their demands.
You’re unable to realize that the manipulator has forced you to do something you don’t want to do because your thoughts have been clouded by guilt, and you’re instead focused on solving problems.
Empty Words
A number of emotional manipulators are good at manipulating their tongues. With their words, they can build castles in the sky and take you to galaxies. Most people have a natural urge for recognition from others, which these manipulators take advantage of.
People enjoy being told how much they are loved, adored, respected, and valued. Manipulators encourage you to lower your guard by using meaningless words to fill this need, allowing them to take control of your life.
It’s not enough for someone to express their gratitude. If their acts do not reflect or demonstrate their love for you, they are not doing a good job. Most likely, they’re simply inflating your ego in order to convince you to do something. If you’re ever confused about someone’s motives, you should judge them only on their behavior. You’ll figure it out.
Gaslighting
You could be a victim of gaslighting if you find yourself continuously apologizing, feeling stunned or insecure, or unable to make the proper decisions.
When a manipulator uses gaslighting, he or she contradicts your perception so aggressively that you begin to distrust your own thoughts and feelings. They invalidate an obvious reality by denying it.
Something happens, and they claim you it never happened, or that it was all in your mind, or that your memory is playing tricks on you, or that they even doubt where you got the notion. They do this to the point where you begin to doubt your sanity as a result of your lack of knowledge of events and perception of reality.
Gaslighting is a fact that should be obvious to everyone; however, skilled manipulators typically start small and gradually increase the extent of their manipulation as time goes on, incorporating other manipulation techniques that challenge victims’ perceptions so frequently and in such a way that they lose confidence in their beliefs.
They lose their autonomy and become reliant on the manipulation’s interpretations of reality. The manipulator has already seized control at this point. After weakening the victim’s self-confidence, the manipulator has the capacity to entirely control the victim.
Rationalization
A man slaps his wife, then returns minutes later to apologize: “I’m really sorry I hit you.” I lost control after you pressed so many buttons. Please accept my apologies.”
This is a very sincere and heartfelt message, yet it could also appear to be the product of an emotional manipulator. When we love or trust someone, we constantly want to present them in the best light possible.
This is why, even if they do something wrong, we are inclined to forget about it if they can come up with a rationale that makes sense and touches some of our heartstrings. They take advantage of this.
While what they did was wrong, they come up with some excuse that appears reasonable and rational, and therefore their bad behavior is reduced till it isn’t so horrible anymore, and then they can persuade you to forget about it and move on with their lives.
Creating Fear
This trait can be seen in manipulative individuals near to your heart, such as loved ones or family members. They know how much you value your relationship with them and how essential their relationship is to you, so they’ll use it against you to push you to do what they want.
They manipulate you into doing things you would not normally do by planting the thought in your mind that they will end or dilute their relationship with you if you take certain activities.
The fear of losing a loved one is terrifying anxiety that no one wants to go through again. As a result, the strategy of instilling fear keeps you where the manipulator of your emotions wants you to be: a victim. It’s made worse by the fact that the person who instilled the fear in you is also the person who will be able to exorcise it by taking complete control of the situation.
Conclusion
Emotional manipulators come in a variety of shades and disguises, and they use a variety of strategies in addition to those listed above. However, the main point is for you to gain an awareness of their methods and plans and to realize that they might be anyone.
Who knows, maybe you’ve been a victim of emotional manipulation for years and aren’t even aware of it. You now have everything you need to remove the puppet strings and rewrite the story.