What is the psychology of influence, its methods and a brief description of Cialdini’s book “Convince, Influence, Defend”

Techniques of influence: features, hidden capabilities, precautions

Psychological influence has one goal - to force a person or group of people to comply with a requirement or change their mind. Many people use means of influence in everyday life unconsciously, focusing on their needs. Therefore, the influence can be positive, useful for a person, or negative - destructive.

Parents instill in their children the rules of behavior in society, trying to raise them to be law-abiding people. The director influences his subordinates in order to obtain a cohesive team ready to work on a common task. Advertising creators use techniques similar to hypnosis to encourage customers to buy a product that they did not initially need. Interpersonal influence, unlike group influence, is rarely destructive. It is not authoritarian in nature, it is easier to get rid of it.

A striking example of the dangerous influence of group psychological influence is the recruitment of people into the ranks of terrorist organizations. To instill in a person thoughts of the need to commit mass murder, it is necessary to completely change his personality. People are reduced to the state of zombies who are no longer able to think critically.

Every person who uses suggestion techniques in everyday life must understand the degree of responsibility. If psychological influence is used unsuccessfully or too often, it is possible to put a person into a state of artificial depression and suppress his will. It is easiest to convince a person with low self-esteem and who does not have an opinion of something. Those at risk include children, the elderly, and people with undeveloped critical thinking.

This book will help you find answers to the following questions:

The most common tricks of sellers - see Chapter 2

Successful negotiations using the “refuse-then-retreat” technique - see Chapter 2

How to avoid falling victim to the rule of “equal exchange” - see Chapter 2

“Chinese tactics” - the easiest way to control people - see chapter 3

How to instill in your child a desire to do the right thing - see Chapter 3

Manipulation of conscience. The Art of Commitment - see Chapter 3

Laughter behind the scenes: the dangers of copying the behavior of other people - see Chapter 4

How to ask for help correctly - see Chapter 4

Who are Buyers from Mars - see Chapter 4

"I like you!" How to win people over - see Chapter 5

You have been charmed: know how to say “no” - see Chapter 5

When to Submit and When to Rebel: Understanding Authority— See Chapter 6

Instant Impact – See Chapter 7

How does psychological influence work?

To achieve the desired result, you need to influence a person constantly and persistently. The best example of such an influence on consciousness is advertising. In the 20th century, its means were posters and signs, which were easy to ignore. But with the development of television and other media, advertising has become a separate art form.

Commercials not only demonstrate the qualities of a product, they shape people’s worldview and attitude towards a certain situation. Through a short video you can shape public opinion, cause joy, anger, and mistrust. These types of advertising include political and social. They influence the subconscious, appealing to emotions. Repeated repetition of commercials makes viewers doubt their own opinions and act as the advertisement suggests. Manipulation of public opinion allows you to gain the support of people in a non-violent way, simply by presenting information in such a way that they see benefit in it for themselves.

Influencing a person for your own benefit

It turns out that positive and negative influence on people occurs for the sake of profit, but how then can these two influences be distinguished? If we take ordinary office work and, accordingly, subordinates as an example, we can see the following picture. The fact is that the positive influence of a manager on an employee increases good results, which the employee himself can feel (monetary rewards, time off, bonuses for good work).

Negative influence is beneficial only to the dominant party, and the victim at this moment is only a means to achieve the goals of the manipulator through deception.

For example, an employer, leaving an employee to work overtime, may not pay him the corresponding amount, but pay him much less, but at the same time, the employer is able to influence, claiming that this is the highest payment possible at the moment, and in the future the conditions may change.

Just expectations of improvement can be the “carrot” that a naive employee will chase for quite a long time.

The psychology of influence is a very broad topic that you can talk about for hours, but the important component remains that the person who has the skills and methods of manipulation is able to influence . Basically, as mentioned earlier, you can manipulate or control a person by providing him with a reward for this, instilling certain information, and also instilling fear, which psychologists generally do not welcome.

Read on the topic: Robert Cialdini “Psychology of influence”

The book by an American professor of psychology and sociology may not be new, but it is one of the fundamental books on this topic; it will be especially useful for those who are actively influenced or those who influence, so to speak, in an official manner - teachers, politicians, media persons .

Continuing the topic of psychology of influence, you can watch a video about the manipulation of consciousness:

Types of ways to influence the perception of the interlocutor

A person can be influenced by choosing one of the main strategies: aggressive or passive. An aggressive strategy requires the manipulator to be able to confidently and easily build logical chains and consciously replace facts with fiction. While conducting a discussion, an aggressive manipulator forces his opponent to constantly object, lose the flow of the conversation, and, ultimately, agree with the arguments presented. But this effect can only be achieved if the interlocutor has a desire to engage in a lengthy discussion. To do this, you need to provoke him, captivate him with the subject of conversation, and create a desire to argue. An unconvincing and insufficiently persistent manipulator simply will not be able to generate the required level of interest.

The passive form is suitable for closer communication with a person whom the manipulator knows well. The structure of the conversation should be trusting, persistent, but not active. You need to slowly lead your interlocutor to the desired conclusions, choosing analogies that are understandable to him, giving suitable examples from life. It is important to ensure that the arguments do not contradict each other, but work towards the same idea. The more the interlocutor trusts the manipulator, the faster he will agree with the arguments presented.

Fighting manipulation

It’s not for nothing that the book is called: Psychology of influence, persuade, influence, defend. Each control tool can be noticed and can be prevented from being manipulated. For example, if we are talking about the principle of consistency, then you should always listen to your own feelings and evaluate the path you have traveled. If you notice that you are making decisions to your detriment, then you need to stop and analyze.

Basic rules of psychological influence

The best way to develop manipulative skills is constant practice. It is also important to follow the basic rules that make psychological influence effective:

• confident tone;
• gradual impact;
• consolidation of intermediate results;
• alternation of management methods;
• strengthening the authority of the manipulator;
• focusing on the needs of the interlocutor;
• use of illustrative examples.

It is also important to consider the characteristics of the person or group being influenced. So, for a girl you should choose some methods, for a guy - others.

A little about the author

Robert Cialdini was born on April 24, 1945.
He studied at the University of Wisconsin and North Carolina and was a graduate student at Columbia University. Throughout the study, Cialdini worked at the University of Arizona. The psychologist was invited to Ohio University, a California institution.

Since 1996, the author of the book has served as president of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. He received various awards.

Since 2009, he stopped doing scientific research. An experimental social psychologist studied the principles of compliance. He analyzes the effect of requests and demands on a person.

Important!

All studies are based on the author’s personal experience and observations of his own behavior.

What methods of influence are used in psychology?

In a situation where it is necessary to influence, replacing the very essence of views, one should use methods of psychological influence on a person’s consciousness:

1. Psychological pressure. An intense form of influence that works on the basis of submission to authority. You should speak not just in a convincing tone, but choose an intonation that does not allow for objections. She must subjugate the will of the listeners and force them to perform the required actions. This method is used by leaders; it is typical for the army and police institutions.
2. Psychological attack. It is a series of techniques. A rapid change in methods of influence includes changes in tone, body position, and tempo of speech.
3. Manipulation. To achieve an effect, the manipulator must evoke dual images in the listener that will make him doubt his own opinion. Under pressure from the manipulator, he changes his mind, accepting the imposed ideology, perceiving it as truthful, even if it is not.
4. Programming. The constant repetition of the same expressions during a conversation pushes the interlocutor to accept the position of the manipulator as his own.

A conversation between a manipulator and suggestible people is similar to a cat playing with a caught mouse. The main task of the cat is to allow the prey to think that it can escape at any moment, but not to allow it to run away too far.

The principle of social proof

We determine what is right based on what other people think is right.

Factors that enhance the influence of this principle on people: 1) similarity with the people around us (if people similar to us behave in a certain way, then we think that this is correct - it is actively used in sales) 2) situations in which we feel uncertain (in unfamiliar situations, where uncertainty rules, we tend to look at others and consider their actions to be correct)

The following situation is very interesting. If a person doubts some of his ideas, then public dissemination in order to find like-minded people is a manifestation of his uncertainty and the need for social proof of his ideas. Thus, by finding like-minded people, the ideologist himself becomes more and more convinced of the correctness of his ideas/hypotheses; otherwise, the opposite process is observed. At the same time, the acceptance or rejection of ideas is often influenced to a greater extent by social factors than by the actual usefulness/fidelity of the ideas.

Available methods of mind manipulation for beginners

To use psychological techniques to influence a person, it is not necessary to become a professional psychologist. In everyday communication, anyone can use the following methods:

1. Suggestion. An authoritative person can use this method. By choosing the right phrases and constructing his speech, he inspires people with the necessary information. This method will only work if the manipulator is able to speak confidently. Slurred speech is subconsciously rejected by the listener and perceived as unreliable.
2. Infection. A way of transmitting emotional mood to other people based on a chain reaction. In a dangerous situation, a person prone to panic infects other people with it. A provocateur in a crowd specifically increases the aggressiveness of people, increasing the overall level of aggression. Positive emotions can also be transmitted: if someone in a group starts laughing, his laughter will be picked up by others.
3. Imitation. An effective method if the targets are children or poorly educated people. The need for a role model pushes them to copy the behavior and way of thinking of an authority figure.
4. Belief. This technique is suitable for persuading a person with a high level of education. The manipulator must withstand a high level of discussion, present truthful arguments, allowing the interlocutor to come to the necessary conclusions himself.

Manipulative influence is possible only if the level of intelligence of the manipulator is higher than that of the interlocutors. Otherwise, a smarter interlocutor can intercept the conversation and control the manipulator itself.

Psychology of communication

"Psychology of Consent"

New from the author of the legendary “Psychology of Influence”! Robert Cialdini talks about a revolutionary technique for obtaining consent from the interlocutor even before persuasion begins. You will find: 117 inspiring examples from real business practice, 7 principles of influence and persuasion mechanisms, and 1 big idea based on many years of observations.

"Games People Play. Psychology of Human Relationships"

A cult book on the psychology of communication! Eric Berne has developed a system that can teach you to play less in your relationships with yourself and others, help you find true freedom and encourage personal growth. Lots of useful tips: how to understand the nature of human communication, the motives of one’s own and others’ actions, and the causes of conflicts.

"Kremlin School of Negotiations"

The Kremlin school of negotiations is one of the toughest negotiation schools in history. This book will teach you how to emerge victorious from any negotiation, control your emotions and manipulate the emotions of your opponent. The entire theory is supported by real-life examples and tested by the author himself, Igor Ryzov, a leading Russian expert in the field of negotiations.

“No compromises. Win-win negotiations with extremely high stakes. From a top FBI negotiator"

Don't compromise! Use the 9 principles of negotiations from the FBI, outlined by the author of this book, a top FBI negotiator with 24 years of experience. This book is a fascinating and at the same time simple guide to any negotiations. Whether it's buying a multinational corporation or repairing a washing machine, Chris Voss's method will teach you how to achieve your goals.

How to control your interlocutor during a conversation

During a conversation, you should alternate psychological techniques so as not to arouse suspicion among people. To cause location, you need:

• address the interlocutor by name;
• smile slightly, but make sure that it does not look like a mockery;
• when meeting, say hello first, looking into the eyes of your interlocutor;
• start communication with an unobtrusive compliment;
• repeat facial expressions and gestures of partners.

During communication, it is important to monitor the reactions of your interlocutors. You cannot turn a conversation into an interrogation or an endless monologue, from which people will quickly get tired. To understand how a person relates to the manipulator and other interlocutors, you need to pay attention to his posture. If he sits freely, with his body turned towards his interlocutors, without crossing his legs, he feels comfortable and will be easily influenced. If the toes of the shoes are pointed inward or to the side, the person wants to end the conversation. He needs to be helped to feel free, to be allowed to speak out.

During an argument, you should not raise your voice. The louder a person speaks, the less people listen to him. The interlocutor will try not to convince, but to shout down the other. You need to allow him to speak loudly and emotionally, without trying to stop or respond to accusations. When a person speaks out, he will feel devastated and guilty. In such a situation, it is easier to manage it and bring it to the necessary conclusions. When talking to a liar, you cannot put pressure on him, forcing him to confess. You need to speak slowly, pausing. The interlocutor will try to fill the pauses himself and let it slip against his will.

To obtain consent, a proposal must begin with an affirmation. Speak insinuatingly, but do not fuss. You cannot start a sentence with an apology - this immediately puts the person in the position of a subordinate. When using arguments, you should start with the strongest, supplementing it with average degrees of conviction. You also need to end with a compelling argument. You can force your interlocutor to agree unwittingly using the “three yeses” technique. You need to ask two questions to which a person is guaranteed to answer with consent, and then ask the main one. By inertia, the interlocutor, without hesitation, agrees.

The principle of contrast, described in the book “Psychology of Influence”

The principle of contrast affects the perception of difference between things presented one after another.

For example, after purchasing some expensive item, we may be offered accessories to go with it. We will be weakly receptive to their prices, because against the background of the completed purchase, the expenses will seem insignificant.

Therefore, traders first offer and try to sell the most expensive items, and then sell accessories for them. Real estate agents take us to an “average” apartment and inflate its price, and then they take us to the one that they have prepared for us and tell us its regular price, which already seems much more profitable to us.

To experience the effect of the principle of contrast, fill three pans with hot, warm and cold water. Place one hand in hot water, the other in cold water, then after a certain time, simultaneously lower your hands into a pan of warm water.

Why do influence methods fail to produce results?

Even experienced psychologists are not always able to choose a method of influencing a person. The reason for this may be:

1. Depleted personal resource. If the manipulator is tired, irritated, and cannot concentrate, he will not be able to maintain a leadership position. In such a situation, he himself may become an object of influence. It is better to reschedule the conversation, otherwise it may lead to irreparable results.
2. Psycho-emotional instability. If the target has mental illness, manipulation may backfire. Instead of calming down, a mentally unstable person will experience an attack of aggression. This must be taken into account when choosing a management technique. It is important to remember that a sociopath cannot be controlled because he himself has an innate ability to manipulate.
3. Lack of self-confidence. When a leader does not believe in himself, the target feels it too. Then the desire to subjugate will lead to the manipulator becoming more disappointed in his abilities.
4. Incorrectly selected method of influence. If the technique does not work, the exposure must be stopped.
5. The target is not defined. When a manager does not see the result and uses influence techniques just like that, they will be ineffective.

The main thing a manipulator should strive for is not to allow the objects of influence to understand what is happening. If a person notices that he is being used, the consequences can be dire.

We are more willing to comply with the demands of those we like, and some people find it easy to please us.

We are more loyal to people we like. Compliance professionals know what reasons make us fall in love with a person:

1. Physical attractiveness . We tend to consider people we like to be smart, kind and honest. We also tend to vote for more attractive candidates in political elections.
2. Flattery . We like people who are connected to us, at least indirectly. Sellers often praise us and indicate some kind of connection with us: “What a beautiful tie, blue is also my favorite color.”
3. Interaction for some common purpose. The good cop/bad cop interrogation method takes advantage of this factor: after the suspect is verbally abused by the bad cop, the understanding good cop defends the suspect as a friend and loved one, thereby encouraging a confession.
4. The attractiveness of things that we associate with people. The weather forecaster is associated with bad weather. For accurately forecasting bad weather, he may receive death threats. If we hear about something during a delicious dinner, we tend to associate this issue with positive emotions about the dish.

Ask yourself: did you really fall in love with this person or did it happen unexpectedly and abruptly, in a short time. Don't be manipulated.

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Features of subordination

To understand how and what control methods to choose, you need to know the peculiarities of how the psyche works. The manipulator must:

1. Radiate positive energy. A friendly person causes a response - those around him are unconsciously drawn to him. The opinion of a positive person is perceived favorably, even if he expresses controversial things.
2. Don't show excitement. Even in a situation of heated dispute, one must remain calm. This will confuse the opponent and show the manipulator as a strong person. If a dispute has witnesses, they will remember who was in a more advantageous position.
3. Manage your time, be able to plan things. You cannot learn to influence other people if you cannot manage your own priorities. You need to get rid of meaningless activities.
4. Always make eye contact. When an individual hides his eyes, he is treated with suspicion. A leader always looks in the face and does not look away. If you feel uncomfortable looking into your eyes, you can look at the point between your eyebrows.
5. Don't be afraid to enter into conflict. Fear of conflict is a serious obstacle to learning management techniques. Conflict is a clash of interests. You need to learn to defend your opinion. Of course, this will displease your opponents, but you cannot adapt to them, otherwise you will not be able to influence the situation.
6. Develop strengths. You need to use and develop your advantages. If an individual tries to develop weaknesses, he wastes time on this that he could spend on strengthening strong skills. You need to upgrade the skills you already have - this will allow you to quickly increase your level of efficiency.
7. Make a positive first impression. Correcting a bad first impression is difficult and it is better to avoid it. In order for the object of manipulation to form positive associations, you need to prepare for the first meeting. Find out what he likes, choose a cafe with a suitable atmosphere. Give a small gift. It does not oblige you to anything, but will be a good sign of attention.

When confident behavior becomes habitual, you can move on to honing manipulation techniques.

Prohibited items and information are considered more desirable

People want what they can't get. When Dade County, Florida, made it illegal to add phosphate to laundry detergents, residents not only began smuggling and stockpiling the product, but began to think phosphate-based detergents were better than before. Parents observe such rebellious behavior in their children: any toy will become much more attractive if the child is strictly forbidden to play with it.

Censorship - prohibited information is considered more valuable than freely available information. Research has shown that when college students were told about the ban on the “Against Coed Dorms” report, they became more favorable towards it without even hearing a word!

In courtrooms: Jurors may be influenced by “forbidden” information. When they know the insurance company will pay the bill, they award large damages to the plaintiffs. And they award even higher damages if the judge specifically told them to ignore the fact that the defendant has insurance. “Forbidden” information seems more meaningful to them and causes them to overreact.

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Methods and methods of influence depending on the abilities of the manipulator

The choice of the appropriate method of influence depends on the goal, the character traits of the people who are to be convinced, and the moral values ​​of the manipulator. You can influence through physiological needs and emotions.

Visual influencers

A leader must take care of his appearance. People study and evaluate each other based on their appearance, since the main channel for receiving information is vision. A respectable appearance inspires respect and emphasizes high social status. For men the following are required:

• business suit;
• neat strict haircut;
• no stubble;
• expensive accessories;
• impeccable posture.

Women can wear a business dress instead of a suit. Makeup is light, almost invisible. This type of appearance arouses interest and a desire to listen to words.

Visual aids also include additional materials that accompany the speech: posters, videos, tables and graphs. Presentations and mock-ups are used during negotiations.

Acoustic influences

Impact using speech features also gives good results. You need to watch your voice: speak measuredly. It should sound friendly, but not ingratiating. You can’t speak too quickly - it’s annoying and takes away interest in the words.

Popular speech techniques of influence:

• repeating the last phrase after the interlocutor;
• offering two options to choose from, both of which are beneficial to the manipulator;
• leading questions that encourage you to express your true desires.

To get a positive response from a skeptical interlocutor, you need to create or wait for the right situation. A noisy place with a large crowd of people is suitable for conversation. In such a situation, the object of manipulation will want to end the conversation as quickly as possible and will quickly agree to the proposed conditions.

People feel an urgent need for mutual exchange

The rule of “mutual exchange” - we feel an obligation to give back to other people what they gave to us. This tendency is the basis of any society. It allowed our ancestors to share resources on a mutual basis. We feel psychologically burdened by not returning someone's favor.

Briefly exists thanks to advertising:

As a society, we treat those who do not reciprocate with contempt. We call them beggars or ungrateful individuals and are afraid of being in their place. Experiments have shown that people are so eager to get rid of the burden of debt that they will give back even more than they received.

Example. The researcher bought the subjects a cheap Coca-Cola as an unsolicited favor. Then he asked them to buy lottery tickets from him. Most subjects reciprocated by purchasing tickets for 50 cents each. When the researcher did not buy the subjects a Coca-Cola, the number of tickets purchased was halved. He made people feel a sense of duty by buying them Coca-Cola and prescribed his own method of reciprocity for them.

Members of the Krishna Society successfully used this tactic when they gave flowers to passers-by on the street. Even people annoyed by this often made donations to satisfy their need to reciprocate the flower.

You cannot withhold all pleasantries in order to repel attempts to exploit the reciprocity rule. Instead, look for the fundamental basis of the offers: whether they are a genuine courtesy or an offensive manipulative tactic. And only then reciprocate accordingly.

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Useful literature

You can learn to manipulate people on your own by reading special books. For beginners, it is better to choose authors who clearly explain control techniques without delving into complex terminology:

1. Z. Freud “Analysis of the human self and mass psychology.” The father of psychoanalytic theory examines in detail the features of relationships between relatives, friends, and colleagues. The author also gives characteristics of the leader, describing his outstanding qualities.
2. S. Kholnov and V. Shlakhter “The Art of Dominance.” A set of ready-made techniques that can be used in work and personal life.
3. V. Sheinov “The Art of Managing People.” The author uses examples from life to examine hidden techniques of manipulation and protection against them. Provides ready-made methods for conducting negotiations and ways out of conflict situations.
4. R. Cialdini “Psychology of Persuasion.” In the book, the author collected 50 persuasion techniques based on the results of psychological research.
5. H. Fexeus “How to read and control other people’s thoughts.” This book will help you learn to predict the behavior and desires of others and, based on this, build your behavior.
6. R. Levin “Mechanisms of manipulation.” This book contains tips that are suitable for people whose lives are connected with advertising and business: negotiating, signing an agreement, increasing sales.

Learning how to manage people will take time, but with constant practice, selecting the appropriate influence technique will be easy.