11 Psychological Manipulation Tactics Used By Business People

In this article, I will reveal some of the main psychological manipulation tactics that manipulators usually use to subdue people to their will.

As you know, one of the most difficult sciences related to interpersonal relations is psychology.

Manipulation of people serves as an excellent example of psychological impact on a person, which, at times, is very difficult, almost impossible to avoid.

Some people who manipulate others don’t even feel remorseful about doing it.

Others even do it almost unintentionally, because it has become their way of life.

Especially, business people, some of them believe if the manipulation is done appropriately, the benefits of the outcome can be mutual.

So, for business people, the question isn’t if you manipulate people – but instead how well do you manipulate them?

The psychological manipulation tactics explained in this article will provide answers to the following questions;

• Can you manipulate people into doing business with you?
• Are you being manipulated into doing business with people?
• How do you manipulate and subdue people into doing your will without being malicious?
• Why do people manipulate you into doing their will without feeling remorseful?

11 MAIN PSYCHOLOGICAL TACTICS OF MANIPULATION USED IN MANIPULATING PEOPLE

The manipulation tactics list below reveals the 11 popular psychological tactics of manipulation that manipulators usually use to subdue people to their will.

Manipulation tactics list:

1. Manipulation using double-dealing
2. Manipulation using seduction and temptation
3. The carrot and stick manipulation
4. Manipulation using love
5. Manipulation using blackmail
6. Manipulation using pity
7. Manipulation using irritation
8. Manipulation using fears
9. Manipulation using flattery
10. Manipulation using guilt
11. Manipulation using care and attention

The top 11 psychological tactics of manipulation are explained below:

• DOUBLE-DEALING MANIPULATION TACTICS

Unfortunately, this psychological manipulation tactic is the most widespread maneuver. After all, to make a person believe something, the easiest way is to deceive them.

Manipulators passing off a deliberate lie as the truth. Some “experts” get used to the image so much that they themselves begin to consider their deception as an immutable truth.

However, to use this method of manipulation, at a minimum, you must have an excellent memory, so as not to get confused in the testimony, but, at the maximum, have excellent acting skills.

• MANIPULATION USING SEDUCTION AND TEMPTATION

Few people today can boast that they have never succumbed to temptation.

Let’s consider this psychological manipulation tactic as an example of a life situation.

You have planned to join a webinar about online sales to learn tips on how to close more business, after which you decided you will read a few articles on sales and watch sales videos on YouTube.

Then a friend’s call came in, inviting you to visit a new supper market in town (they say it is “awesome” there and things are very cheap).

This call puts you in a dilemma: stick to your plan or, spit on all things and succumb to temptation.

If your friend turns out to be a talented manipulator, she will increase the pressure on your psyche with the promise to take all costs for your shopping on herself. When you get there, she may end up borrowing some money from you and never pay or make you buy something she will earn commission on.

• THE CARROT AND STICK MANIPULATION TACTICS

Much can be achieved from a person by alternating dosed encouragement with punishment. When scolding him for misconduct, do not forget to praise the achievements.

This is useful for small businesses, it’s a very productive human resource management strategy if used properly.

• MANIPULATION USING LOVE

The ability to understand and use human feelings correctly allows you to skillfully manage other people’s desires. There are three known love based psychological manipulation tactics that a talented manipulator uses to achieve his goal:

3 Psychological manipulation tactics based on love;

1. Mutual love – This is a give-and-take psychological tactic of manipulation where both parties try to love equally. Using feelings, it is easy to get a person to fulfill your desires, even if they do not correspond to their intentions.
2. Unrequited love – This is one-sided. Only one person loves the other and the second, being a skillful manipulator, allows himself to be adored. This is a manipulation tactic that has been debugged for centuries, but it still works perfectly to this day. It should be noted that a loving person is well aware of his complete dependence on the manipulator, however, does not dare to refuse him, fearing losing his favor.
3. Dominant-submissive love – Option for girls hunting for rich grooms or guys hunting for rich brides. In this case, they blend the first two tactics occasionally, they try to make their “victim” fall in love with themselves and continue to act according to the tactics that will bring the result they desire. This is better if both parties are good manipulators.

• MANIPULATION USING BLACKMAIL

Blackmail is a psychological method of influencing the human personality and it is a scheme that is familiar to everyone from childhood. This is a maneuver widely used even by criminals.

Blackmail is a scheme where the manipulator mounts pressure by threatening to reveal considerably genuine or false information about a victim if certain requests of the manipulator are not met.

A simple example; You break a glass while doing dishes, your sibling asks for a favour to keep the matter from your parent. When your parent starts looking for that glass in the future, they still confess after taking the favour.

Another example; When a girl promises unearthly pleasure in exchange for an expensive gift, the guy often agrees, not suspecting that he involuntarily fell victim to manipulation. This is not just blackmailing, but with seduction and temptation.

• MANIPULATION USING PITY

Undoubtedly, strong and confident people do not seek to be pitied. This is the lot of losers, making them ideal prey for manipulators. By showing pity for such people, you can later twist ropes from them.

Therefore, be extremely careful with those who pity you, perhaps they are pursuing their own goals, and you will imperceptibly find yourself at the mercy of a manipulator.

• MANIPULATION USING IRRITATION

One of the most effective ways to manipulate a person is to unbalance the person. As you know, in anger, people are much worse at controlling their emotions and are quite capable of saying too much, not to mention rash actions.

Pay attention if someone is diligently trying to calm you down, although they previously became the cause of your irritation. Perhaps, in this way, a skillful manipulator lures you into a skillfully prepared trap.

• MANIPULATION USING FEARS

Fear of something usually leads to a loss of self-control and acting purely on emotions. This technique of human manipulation consists of a thorough study of the victim’s personality and their main fears, in order to understand which lever should be pressed at the right moment.

Such a psychological tactic of manipulation is most often used in business to coerce partners to invest in the desired project on the pain of bankruptcy.

If you follow digital trends, you should know something about the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO).

• MANIPULATION USING FLATTERY

It is used to manipulate people with extremely high self-esteem. A significant disadvantage of this method is that blatant flattery is easily recognized. Nevertheless, narcissistic people listen with great pleasure to the praises in their honor, perfectly aware of their insincerity. (The proud rich guy is the main victim of this psychological tactic of manipulation)

• MANIPULATION USING GUILT

Sometimes the most effective way to get something out of a person is to make them feel guilty about something.

Boys are blamed for impregnating girls who got pregnant after having mutual carnal pleasure with consent, since is not the deliberate or intentional goal of the meeting, blaming one person is manipulation using guilt.

These are also the feelings a baby experiences when standing in a corner in front of their peers because of some kind of offense.

Ashamed of such public punishment, the child will subsequently diligently avoid committing such misconduct. What is this if not manipulation of children’s consciousness?

At work, bosses can also be victimized using this tactic by manipulative subordinates. Fire a master of this psychological tactic of manipulation for misbehaving at work and they will make you support them financially till they get another job.

• MANIPULATION USING CARE AND ATTENTION

If suddenly they start to take care of you, do not relax. Most likely, they are trying to manipulate you politely.

So, for example, a caring spouse who freed his wife from household duties on her day off and took these worries on himself, in fact, is not as disinterested as it seems at first glance. His goal may as well be the desire to go with his friends to a pub or to go hang out with another lady.

Women also use this method to manipulate their husband when they need a favour.

CONCLUSION

I believe you learned something useful from these common psychological manipulation tactics for manipulating people. However, the diversity of human characters makes it possible to invent more and more new ways to control human actions.

If you own a business, manipulation is something you need to understand.

Try to be conscious and keep learning about human behaviour, because people do business with those they like and trust.

In business, manipulation is synonymous with communication, negotiation, and marketing.

Influencers use it to gather raving fans, gain their trust and sell products and services to them.

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