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⬅️ Previous: Consistency Persuasion/Manipulation
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Description
- Emotional persuasion consists of getting someone to change their actions by either changing their emotions, or by the manipulator displaying emotions themselves;
- When emotion is used to make the person take an action that severely hurts them, it becomes emotional manipulation;
- It can be used in both positive and negative manners. Positive emotions, such as hype, can be forged to create impulsive actions, and negative emotions, such as shame, guilt and panic can be used to induce errors;
How It Works
- Emotional manipulation changes the person’s actions through one of two attitudes:
- The person feels guilty or shamed for taking an action, and doesn’t take it. Bullying does this, but also does mercy and clemency;
- The person is placed in an impulsive state, leading them to act without thinking. Hype and anticipation do this, but so do fear and panic;
- Emotional manipulation works because the target person associates their actions with the other side’s consequences. In other words, they think someone else’s problem is their problem, too;
How to Protect Yourself from It
- Protection against emotional manipulation is all about becoming immune to others’ emotions, and there are two key mindsets for this:
Techniques That Cause It
- Hype, desire, anticipation
- Twisting the knife and illustrating negative scenarios
- Bullying, pressuring, threatening the person
- Eliciting mercy, compassion, clemency, sympathy
Examples
In How Manipulation Works
All Other Examples
Persuasionverse Relationships
Executive Presence
How Manipulation Works
Fundamentals of Story Selling
Ultimate Persuasion Psychology
Present in Courses
Additional Materials
Best Entertainment Representations
Billions S03E07, “Not You, Mr. Dake”
Billions S03 Analysis
00:31:35 Wendy seducing Mafee
- Summary: Mafee may testify against Wendy, which would put her in legal trouble, she knows he likes her, and she seduces him to persuade him to protect her;
- We see an interesting example of two different types of emotional manipulation being used here, actually;
- So, the first type is seduction. Wendy knows that Mafee likes her, so she’s dressing seductively and touching his leg, and so on, to literally seduce him into protecting her;
- Then, we also see pity and clemency here. That is, she says that things can get really bad for her, that it wasn’t her fault, that she was just following someone else’s recommendations, and so on;
- Overall, a ruthless combination of emotional manipulation;
Succession S01E10, “Nobody Is Ever Missing”
Succession S01 Analysis
00:05:35, Stewy and Kendall on the “unarmed soldier”
- Summary: Kendall is approaching his father with a hostile takeover document. Kendall is in a suit, looking professional, but he’s approaching his dad who is just out of bed, in a t-shirt, defenseless. Power difference due to the context;
- So, Kendall and Stewy here are discussing if Kendall has the courage to “attack” his father with the offer while he is unarmed. That is, if Kendall and Logan were both in the company, suited up, in equal circumstances, they would have equal power. But Kendall is showing up in a suit, with an “official” takeover offer, and going to Logan who is just out of bed, in his t-shirt, in his bathroom;
- It’s a good example of a contextual power difference (Kendall using the context to gain an advantage). It’s also an example of emotional manipulation, through mercy and clemency (Logan is defenseless, and that’s precisely why Stewy is asking Kendall if he has the courage to “attack” him in that state);