4 Common Manipulation Techniques to Watch Out For
You are likely to meet quite a bit of people in your lifetime, and not all of them are going to have a positive effect on you. Certain people find a way to manipulate their way into your life just to fill you with self doubt.
What makes the presence of these toxic people even worse, is that often times you don't even realize they have worked their way into your life until it's too late.
It may even be someone who has become very close to you like a co worker, your partner, or one of your best friends. These people have a variety of manipulation techniques that they use to maintain control of your life.
However, making yourself aware of some of their tactics could make them easier for you to see through, and break free from their manipulative spell. Let's take a look at a few of the most popular ones.
1. They find a way to make everything your fault.
You can try as hard as you want, but people like this will always find a way to put the blame back on you.
If you tell a toxic person something critical they are likely to respond with a harsh, uncalled for attack on your character. It can start feeling like an infinite game of hot potato throwing the blame back and forth to each other.
2. They knew you were going to do say that.
Another way toxic people attempt to manipulate you is by trying to convince you that they've got you all figured out. Everything you do has just become so predictable to them.
When they start saying things like "I knew you were going to say that," "I don't know why I should be surprised," they are just trying to find a way to get into your head without using any reasoning or logic.
3. Making a word salad.
This tactic seems to be a favorite among toxic people to get around questions that they don't want to answer. To do this they often give long complex answers that end up confusing you, rather than giving you the answer you wanted.
To find out if someone is doing this to you stay focused on what they were saying, and see if they stay on one topic, or constantly bounce around to random things that are unimportant and unrelated to the conversation.
4. The three stages of gaslighting.
The process of manipulating another person to the point that they begin questioning their sanity, and even their own rights is known as gaslighting and is presented in three different stages.
The toxic person begins by doing something to put their victim in an uncomfortable situation, known as the disbelief stage, in order to make them enter the disbelief stage.
Once the victim reacts to the unusual behavior, the toxic individual will often tell them that they are "acting crazy," or "being over emotional."
If they keep it up for long enough the victim will actually begin to believe that are acting overly emotional and crazy, which eventually leads to the depression stage.
Article Source: http://www.higherperspectives.com/toxic-people-2044294457.html?page=1
Image Source: https://image.slidesharecdn.com/socialandpsychologicalmanipulation-withcoverpic-140818093257-phpapp01/95/social-and-psychological-manipulation-1-638.jpg?cb=1408354781
VOCABULARY WORDS:
1. Manipulate (v.) - control or influence (a person or situation) cleverly, unfairly, or unscrupulously
2. Self-doubt (n.) - lack of confidence in oneself and one's abilities.
3. Tactic (n.) - an action or strategy carefully planned to achieve a specific end.
4. Spell (n.) - is a series of words that has magical powers. If you're under a spell, then what you do is out of your control — your thoughts and actions are dictated by the spell. Spell can refer to the magic words you say, or it can describe being under the influence of those words, in this instance, manipulative words..
5. Harsh (adj.) - cruel or severe
6. Uncalled for (adj. phrase) - (especially of a person's behavior) undesirable and unnecessary.
7. Infinite (adj.) - limitless or endless in space, extent, or size impossible to measure or calculate
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. What does WORD SALAD mean?
2. What are the three stages of GASLIGHTING?
3. Who has the capacity to manipulate you? Among the 4 techniques in the article, which techniques have they used on you?
4. Have you tried manipulating people, too? Who? Which techniques have you tried? Which ones were effective?
5. Do you notice when people try to manipulate you? How do you deal with them? How about those who you know manipulated you before? How do you deal with them?
