7 Forms Of Manipulation We Are Not Aware Of

We all want to influence the behavior of others in one way or another. However, we sometimes reach extremes where we are not just trying to exert influence, but also to control. It is then that forms of silent manipulation are put into practice.

These mechanisms are not complex or complicated. Most of them correspond to everyday behaviors that go unnoticed. Precisely for this reason they are so problematic, because they are there without you realizing it.

In almost all cases, they resort to the contagion or provocation of basic emotions such as fear, anger or sympathy. They manipulate by awakening these feelings and emotions in you, without a real reason for it. That’s why it’s good to know them and identify them. These are 7 forms of manipulation that we are often not aware of. Are you ready to meet them?

1. Blaming, one of the forms of silent manipulation

Guilt is an emotion that can be very intense and can cause unreasonable actions. It creates an unpleasant feeling, because it basically confronts the individual with a code of ethics or customs that he accepts and values. In other words, confront him with himself.

You are manipulated through guilt when others appropriate the right to judge your behavior and determine whether what you do is good or bad. When you don’t have your own criteria, falling into this game is very easy. In this way, they manage to get you to speak or do something that perhaps only benefits others, but at the same time you see it as a benefit, because it frees you from the feeling of guilt.

2. Make you feel insecure

Insecurity is another of the feelings involved in silent forms of manipulation. These are situations in which the other detects weaknesses in their convictions, or in their self-love, and takes advantage of them for their benefit.

Negative criticism of what you do or say, ridicule or disqualification are ways to manipulate you  through insecurity. This also happens when they try to confuse you. They turn your simple mistakes into complex ones, or make you believe they know more about you than you do.

3. Compassion

There are those who make victimization their main tool for manipulating others. They appear, often without being aware of it, as someone fragile or in a state of need. They intend to arouse compassion in the other and give rise to a feeling of guilt.

This posture of someone with a permanent need for help and consideration from others is one of the main forms of manipulation. You end up acting because you feel sorry for the other person, not realizing that you have been trapped in a network in which they are controlling your behavior.

4. Feed narcissism

We must not always believe in flattery. Sometimes the intention is not really to highlight your virtues, but rather to bend your defenses and your will, so that you are more manageable. The one who praises you earns your good disposition, but often does not do it with good intentions.

The best antidote to this is getting to know yourself well. No one knows their strengths or weaknesses better than we do. This ensures that these effusive expressions of admiration or flattery do not take us by surprise or “soften” us.

5. Subtly intimidate

To intimidate others it is not necessary to yell or make direct threats. Manipulators are experts at sowing fear in others, often unnoticed. It is simply a matter of subtly announcing dangers in the face of certain behaviors.

People manipulate, for example, when they say you “must” act in a certain way, or risk an undesirable situation. Apparently they are appealing to reason, but deep down they only try to condition it through fear.

6. Create false disagreements

People who make disagreements about everything are almost always manipulating you. They are the ones that, for minimal reasons, light up and dim. They end up making others believe that they should be treated in a special way, in exchange for having conflict at all times.

This type of person manipulates because that way they get many to refrain from making a complaint or pointing out a fault. Others come to believe that it is they, not this person, who are responsible for the conflicts. The manipulator always ends up getting what he wants.

7. Make a fool of yourself

Those who pretend a disability that they don’t really have are fooled. They are the ones who delegate hard work to others because “they do it better”. That is, they charge others and remain free and calm, supposedly because “they are worse than others”.

They also pretend they don’t understand what you say, don’t understand the consequences of your actions, or don’t feel involved in their problem. In this way, they abuse others, almost always with impunity.

All these forms of manipulation are harmful to both you and those who use them. They only give rise to false and abusive links. Under no circumstances should they be tolerated, because nothing good comes of it.