In order to achieve their goals, people often use the psychology of influence, which helps to manipulate a person. Even in ancient times, one could notice the facts of how the priests controlled the people, instilling in them that religion was harsh, and everyone would be punished if they did not follow the established rules and customs. The psychology of influence has a strong effect on the subconscious, forcing the victim of influence to follow the lead of a skilled manipulator.
Experts say that it is easier to influence or control a person when he experiences fear , or when he himself needs it, for example, he is pursuing his own goal and he is forced to succumb to influence. People with weak character and insufficiently educated people are also susceptible to manipulation.
Influence a person by instilling fear
Often people submit to influence in a state of fear. If we take as an example an ordinary group of young people relaxing in their usual circle, you will notice that there is a certain hierarchy . Someone is higher and has authority, and someone is lower, simply by being in this company.
Those who are lower are subject to the influence of others. They, as a rule, are afraid of falling flat in front of their “friends” and are ready to fulfill their requests because they sympathize with them, or try to imitate their manners and lifestyle. Fear awakens an inferiority complex in a person, as a result of which a person begins to realize that he is worse than others.
Psychological impact on human consciousness
People want to be psychologically higher, stronger than others, sometimes they study how to influence people, or are even interested in how to psychologically break a person.
People often try to influence each other by instilling fear or using “innocent” blackmail from their point of view, because in this way you can not only manipulate a person, but also use him for your own purposes at any convenient moment. Finding themselves in such a trap, many people withdraw into themselves, continuing to doubt their own abilities. This can be seen not only in the example of a youth company, but also in society in general, at work enterprises, etc.
Even elementary criticism can already be considered an element of the psychology of influence; having felt guilty, a person is more likely to make concessions and undergo some coercion. Spreading gossip, rumors, intimidation in any form is also part of the same opera of negative influences on a person.
Read about manipulating human consciousness using NLP in this article.
Fighting Fears
In order to fight phobias and fears, you need to understand what the main reasons for their appearance are. List them for yourself. Sometimes by fear people mean natural, reasonable fear in critical situations.
In order to understand whether fear is groundless, psychologists offer patients several statements:
- I wake up at night with fear and panic attacks;
- I can't concentrate at work due to anxiety;
- I have panic attacks accompanied by suffocation and palpitations.
If a person gives a positive answer to at least one of the statements, then the psychologist can assume the presence of a phobia, and later determine the diagnosis. After this, you can begin to treat fears.
Imaginary fears can lead to nighttime panic attacks
Psychotherapy
In order to get rid of a phobia and break through the barrier that created it, you need to find a qualified specialist. Self-medication in this case will have no result.
Several basic techniques are usually used. They are presented below.
- Psychotherapy for phobias caused by traumatic stress. The psychotherapist, together with the patient, analyzes the past life and tries to find the thread that connects him with the problems in the present. The result of such treatment is quite lasting, but due to emotional shock, a rollback may occur, and the work will have to start all over again.
- Cognitive methodology takes the opposite route. Many experts are forced to admit that regular encounters with an object of fear develop reverse defense mechanisms in the body. The more a person is frightened, the less he reacts to what is happening.
- Hypnosis is an unusual, but quite effective method. It is used to treat adults and children. The specialist programs the patient to have a positive or neutral reaction to a stimulus that causes fear. Provided that the psychotherapist ideally masters the technique of hypnosis, the result will be quick and lasting.
- Rationalization is applicable only with a mild degree of phobia. The method consists in realizing the irrationality of fear and combating it by filling the negative attitude towards the stimulus with a neutral one.
Symptoms of phobia will disappear after several sessions with a psychotherapist, and to consolidate the result, the support of loved ones is necessary. This way the patient can talk about his feelings to someone he trusts.
The time that treatment will take depends on the severity of the phobia and the qualifications of the doctor.
Pharmacotherapy
In addition to psychotherapy, in severe cases, medications that affect the general psychophysical state of a person are also prescribed. Pharmacotherapy gives good results provided that the drugs were selected correctly.
In the treatment of fears they use:
- tranquilizers - Afobazol, Phenazepam, Tenoten, Trioxazin;
- antidepressants – “Amizol”, “Reboxetine”, “Autorix”;
- hypnotics - Zopiclone, Relaxone, Zolpidem;
- neuroleptics - “Aminazin”, “Clopixol”, “Eglonil”.
The dosage and duration of the course are determined by the attending physician. It is not recommended to exceed it, since the drugs have many side effects and you quickly get used to them.
In combination with psychotherapy, treatment gives good results.
The tranquilizer "Afobazol" is used to treat fears
Phytotherapy
Herbal medicines have shown excellent results in treating fears in adults and children. They differ from other sedatives in their natural composition and minimal side effects. It is worth noting that herbal medicines are not addictive.
Symptoms of fear, as well as general emotional stress, are relieved by:
- chamomile;
- valerian;
- motherwort;
- yarrow;
- St. John's wort;
- mint;
- Linden;
- Melissa
Decoctions and alcohol tinctures are prepared from these components. There is also a more convenient form of release - tablets. Herbal medicine, unlike medication, does not give immediate results, since the effect of herbs is cumulative.
The behavior of a child with a phobic disorder returns to normal after 2-3 weeks of taking medication. Normalization of sleep and increased appetite are observed.
Yarrow - a natural sedative
About positive influences on a person
We must pay tribute, there is also a positive impact on a person, these are all kinds of requests, admonitions, advice, support, praise. It seems flattering, and you don’t really want to resist such influence. But it still remains a psychological influence on consciousness and can also be used as an element of manipulation of your behavior.
Influence a person by satisfying his needs
It is often possible to observe situations in which the dominant person exerts his influence on the victim only because he, to some extent, provides the victim with what he wants or satisfies a need. Human dependence gives rise to a feeling of inferiority and painful expectation in the victim of such relationships.
You can influence a person in different ways, influence knowing that the person is lower than you in status, weaker in character or financially dependent, and also knowing that the victim will still obey, because she needs something from you.
Experts in the field of adult psychology argue that the social environment is divided into two parts: those who influence and those who are influenced . Recently, using modern technologies, scientists have developed schemes by which one can easily determine which person can be manipulated more and which less.
But let's start with the fact that the influence can be positive and negative. Anything that does not lead a person to a positive result is a negative influence. Thus, the management system has developed some processes that allow you to manage people at a professional level, helping them achieve the best results, and therefore extract maximum profit .
A psychology professor at the University of London found that having power does not mean influencing . A person has his own energy, thinking and vision. A person with power can only demand, but this does not mean that he has influence. To influence means to instill one’s opinion , which means, in a certain way, to impose one’s own conclusions and priorities, to guide a person, to show him the path.
Causes of fear
There are quite a few reasons why a person may experience fear. It all depends on individual characteristics, age, gender and social environment. Even the most irrational fears have reasons for their existence.
Conventionally, the causes of fear are divided into several groups.
- Congenital - phobias associated with the collective unconscious. Over the course of many centuries, humans have developed various fears. They were caused by the instinct of self-preservation and helped the species survive. This is how the fear of predators, fire, water, weather phenomena, etc. appeared. All these fears are in the subconscious of every person, because the experience of our ancestors has not disappeared anywhere. Sometimes innate phobias are determined by social markers. Under favorable conditions, the phobia does not make itself felt.
- Acquired - phobias provoked by some event in the past. Strong fear or negative emotions become a traumatic factor, an “anchor.” This could be a meeting with an animal or an unpleasant person, as well as life-threatening situations.
- Imaginary - fear of something that the subject himself has never encountered. Phobias of this nature develop based on stories from others or reports in the media. Children and very impressionable individuals are susceptible to imaginary fears.
The traumatic factor determines exactly how a person will react in extreme situations. The external manifestation of fears in adults can differ significantly from children’s, which also needs to be taken into account. It may take more than one month of internal struggle with the phobia before the first visible signs of fear appear.
Types of fear
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:
