There are situations when a person feels insecure in communicating with others, or he lacks the knowledge and skills of how to convey his will to his interlocutor. In such cases, effective methods of psychological influence on the interlocutor help. This article describes in detail how to influence people using psychology and what not to do.
Psychological influence helps to assert oneself in society
Methods of psychological influence on people in social advertising: examples
Commercial advertising differs from social advertising; its main goal is the slogan “Buy!” Social advertising has other goals:
- Awareness;
- Achieving target behavior;
- Formation of approved submissions;
- Assimilation of information;
- Recommendation of behavior models.
To have a psychological impact on people, social advertising must have such a concept as emotionality . That is, advertising should evoke emotions. These emotions can be both negative and positive. Positive emotions, for example, encourage a person to follow an example, to act one way and not another. Negative ones, on the contrary, lead a person to the realization that there is no need to do this.
Important: A person’s emotional memory is the strongest. Even if a person is not affected by advertising settings, he will still remember it if it is emotional. However, if the advertisement does not contain strong emotions, it will not attract the viewer's attention.
Social videos where the main characters are children, people with disabilities, and the elderly have a special emotional effect.
We offer an example of social advertising with a strong psychological impact in the video at the end of the article.
Now you know what techniques and methods of psychological influence on people are available. You can try to apply them in practice, it is much more interesting than reading theory.
Minor types of psychological influence
One of the frequently used methods of influence is rumors. These are messages that come from a specific person. They are usually false and used to humiliate another individual. Often they are not supported by any facts. People perceive rumors because they want to quickly get the information they need.
Building Favor
This technique is often used by traders and sellers to sell their goods. They make favorable judgments about a person, especially about his appearance. They can additionally use imitation, copying a person’s behavior, his gestures, facial expressions, and manner of communication.
The communicator does this to create a positive impression of himself. In the process of forming favor, the following techniques are used:
- attention;
- compliments;
- seeking advice;
- playing along with identified complexes, etc.
The success of this type of influence depends on the first impression. The second important key to success is self-presentation.
In order for the formation of favor to have the desired effect, you need to have excellent communication skills. You need to be able to find an approach to a person, see his weaknesses and put moral pressure on them.
Request
A situation where a communicator makes a request to someone. He can do this calmly or obsessively. The result of influence depends on the relationship between individuals.
Often this is an appeal with a desire to satisfy the needs of the communicator. The secret weapons are a gentle voice, a calm tone, a smile and maximum sincerity and openness.
The ability to say “no” is important. Having this ability will help avoid conflict situations and relieve a person from having to justify his choice. There will be no shouting at each other either.
Self-promotion
This is an open type of influence. Designed to show your best qualities, professional skills and abilities. This method is used by people with a sense of self-worth. In the process of influence there is an open demonstration of professionalism and qualifications.
A common goal of self-promotion is to gain the competitive advantage necessary to achieve one's own goals. It can happen voluntarily or involuntarily.
Self-promotion is often implemented on:
- conferences;
- meetings;
- negotiations;
- interviews;
- public speaking.
This influence technique is often used by politicians when running for a certain position. Their goal is to gain recognition from citizens.
Compulsion
This type of influence is needed to force people to work or perform certain actions. Forms of coercion may include threats, blackmail, and imprisonment. The most brutal forms are physical harm, violence, restriction of freedom of action.
In addition to physical means, moral ones can be used. These are humiliations, insults, subjective criticism in a rude form.
The victim perceives coercion as strong psychological pressure and the taking away of necessary goods for a normal life. The threat can be deadly or precautionary. This implies the possibility of social sanctions or physical beatings.
Attack
One of the forms of releasing emotional tension. A sudden, deliberate attack is carried out on a person's psyche to make him irritable, nervous and aggressive.
This type of influence is often used by athletes, especially when the sport involves physical contact between 2 or more people. Speaking of attack, it should be said that resistance to other people's influence is resistance to the influence of suggestion.
The main tools of influence during an attack:
- negative statements;
- rude, offensive judgments;
- ridicule of life or certain qualities;
- a reminder of defeats or shameful incidents from the biography.
The person using the attack may impose his opinion on the communicator or give him advice. Often such an individual gets pleasure because he hurt another.
Argumentation
Usually used to convince a person that his thoughts are wrong. The speaker, by presenting specific arguments, tries to convince a person to change his decision.
Main requirements for argumentation:
- accuracy;
- correctness;
- reinforcement with proven and recognized facts;
- brevity.
This type of influence is often used by teachers in educational institutions. Trying to convince a student of his mistake, they begin to make a lot of arguments. The right to answer is usually given when a person has already thought about everything and is ready to voice a counterargument.
Another option for using argumentation is in the field of advertising. It is carried out together with persuasion. Initially, advertisers describe a product or service, and the need for its purchase is proven using arguments. They are a detailed description of the advantages of the advertised object.
Manipulation
One of the most frequently used influence techniques in everyday life. Manipulations are hidden incentives to experience certain states.
With the help of certain phrases, the communicator tries to influence the choice and decision-making of another person. He does this for selfish reasons to achieve his own goals.
Basic goals
The purpose of psychological influence comes down to the desire to subordinate a person to existing attitudes, requirements, and laws. Using the example of a team director, we can say that he influences his subordinates so that their actions bring positive results. Parents, while raising a child, influence him in order to raise a worthy person.
The psychology of influence is of interest to active people who have a need to influence their environment. The other category is of little interest in the topic of transformation. They are puzzled by the question of how to protect themselves from the influence of others.
Psychological influence can be unintentional and intentional. Intentional influence is determined by a purpose, unintended influence occurs unintentionally. N. Triplet's experiment, in which children participated, is indicative. He studied cycling data in competition and in private. Competitive indicators are higher. It follows that the presence of other people changes the effectiveness of an individual. The individual reacts to the presence of individuals nearby, and his behavior changes.
Types of psychological resistance to influence
The first type is ignoring. This is deliberate inattention, absent-mindedness in relation to the interlocutor. Characterized by a lack of reaction to any actions of another person.
It is perceived as a sign of disrespect on the part of the interlocutor. In certain cases, it is the only correct behavior in an awkward situation. Used to forgive tactlessness on the part of others.
Other types of psychological resistance to influence:
- Constructive criticism. Used in a controversial situation to prove one’s own rightness. With the help of criticism, they justify the incorrectness of actions, thoughts or goals. Must be supported by facts. Otherwise, it will not be constructive criticism, but an obsessive subjective opinion.
- Counterargumentation. This is an attempt to persuade someone with the support of certain facts. Used to challenge someone else's opinion, which completely contradicts the thoughts of the interlocutor. A prerequisite is support by scientific or internationally recognized facts.
- Confrontation. This is a direct opposition of thoughts. It is carried out in a direct (hard and verbal) form or in a hidden form with the introduction of non-verbal techniques. Often used by psychologists when conducting cognitive behavioral therapy.
- Refusal. A specific indication by the interlocutor of his dissatisfaction or disagreement. Usually taken with the purpose of refusing to fulfill another person's request. May be spoken in a soft and calm tone. In another case - in an authoritative, menacing voice. Helps to avoid the fact of dismissal or beatings.
- Psychological self-defense. Specific designation of your boundaries without listening to others. Helps prevent controlling behavior. In the process, verbal and nonverbal techniques are introduced in the form of verbal formulas and intonations. The purpose for which psychological self-defense is used is the need to eliminate oneself from participating in conflicts and maintain calm. This way a person gets additional time to think about the criticism and manipulations he has heard.
- Creation. Creating a way of thinking can also be arbitrary. It involves the implementation of previously unused decisions and unpredictable actions. It manifests itself as a desire to be unique and not to fit in with others. Used against imitation. Formed under the influence of a craving for self-expression.
- Evasion. This is the desire to avoid any form of interaction with the initiator. The reasons may be personal hostility or a negative attitude towards such an interlocutor. Any meetings are avoided. There is a reduction in time regulations and conditions for conducting a conversation. Such an attitude of a partner towards another in attempts to avoid meetings is necessary for personal peace of mind.
Another frequently used method of confrontation is energy mobilization. It manifests itself as resistance to attempts at suggestion, transmission, imposition of certain actions, patterns of behavior, type of thinking and other factors.
This is the transformation of any negative emotions into anger, rage and aggression. Sometimes this happens because a person does not know how to react to a certain situation due to his lack of information. This helps to tone up your emotional state.
Entrepreneurs often use a counter-influence technique called creativity. This gives them a competitive advantage over others and allows them to create unique products. Imitation is something that a young entrepreneur needs to get rid of first.
The relationship between persuasion and suggestion
Methods of suggestion and persuasion - what is the relationship between them? Sometimes it seems that in both cases someone else’s thoughts or feelings are being imposed on a person. Is there a difference between the two methods and what is it?
A belief is an element of a person’s worldview that motivates them to act in a specific way (for example, not agreeing to intimacy on the first date because good girls behave that way). Influencing a person in this case means conveying a worldview to another person (convincing a friend that there is no sex on a date, because that’s the right thing to do). Suggestion does not affect a person’s belief system. Let's look at this in more detail.
Methods of protection
Psychological influence is often used for bad reasons. International terrorism testifies to this. People are being zombified and they are doing monstrous things. People who are insecure, with low self-esteem, and who think stereotypically are more susceptible to the influence of others.
In order not to depend on the influence of others, it is necessary to develop critical thinking, expand your horizons, learn, and be aware of your desires and aspirations. It is necessary to strive to do no harm when influencing and to do so effectively.
It is important to consider that each person sees circumstances differently. Respecting your partner’s opinion, his vision of the situation, and refusing to put pressure is the right strategy for fruitful interaction in the context of the psychology of influence.
Attention capture technique
The main task is to capture the attention of the interlocutor. You capture the attention of another person through the channels of perception. A person can visually perceive information by ear and body (sensations). And the more channels you use, the stronger the capture will be. Those. if you look your interlocutor in the eyes, speak loudly and shake his shoulders at the same time, then the grip will be very strong.
Basic gripping techniques:
- Eye contact. Before you talk to a person, make sure they can see you.
- Voice greeting.
- Ask some question. Can be applied to both an acquaintance and a stranger.
- Unobtrusive kinesthetics - touch. You can touch unfamiliar people in neutral zones: the outer part of the shoulder or forearm, the outer side of the arm.
- Join your interlocutor's action. Thus, you automatically fall into the person's area of attention.
Read more: Excessive gullibility: how to understand that they are “sitting on your neck”?
Suggestion: characteristics of the method
Suggestion underlies the appeal to the emotional-unconscious sphere of a person. It is verbal in nature, which means it is carried out using words.
The information that is intended for suggestion should be very short, but with maximum meaning and richness. And also use the moment of expression so that the person instantly believes in what he is being told. In addition, the influencing person should not be in an emotional trance, but must be of sound mind and feel confident, since the authority of the source of information is the basis of suggestion. If the influencer (suggestor) does not have authority for the perceiver (suggested), then the session will not end successfully.
It is important to remember that the effectiveness of suggestion may depend on the intonation of a person's voice. It should show confidence, authority and importance of words.
Other techniques
Open Loop and Fractal Loop Techniques
These techniques make a person susceptible to influence, manipulation, and suggestion.
Open loop technique. The purpose of this technique is to interest and arouse curiosity. Those. you create within a person an internal need to somehow either communicate with you further, or find out something about your question, or find out something about a specific product.
The essence of the technique is open cycles. The human brain has such a property that it tries to finish any thought it starts. For example, it makes you watch an uninteresting movie or finish reading a boring book (you want to know how it ends at the end).
And we can exploit this thing. We create an open loop and some kind of distraction in the interlocutor’s head (examples: “We need to talk, but not here and not now, let’s do it later,” “I know something about you, but it’s better to talk about it somewhere else in private.” ). And the interlocutor’s brain tries to close this cycle. And the interlocutor himself will initiate a continuation to close the cycle.
Depending on your goals, you can close this cycle or extend it further. You can stall for time so that the interlocutor himself asks you.
Classic examples of the use of technology:
- This is how Apple products are sold. First there are news, expectations, reviews, pre-orders, and then the product is released onto the market (iPhones, iPads).
- Trailer before the release of the new film.
- Almost any series. For example, “Breaking Bad”, “Game of Thrones”. Each episode ends with an open loop.
If you leave the loop too long, or open too many loops and don't close them, you can get the opposite effect, loss of interest or aggression.
To make the technique work even more powerfully, create open loops that will be interesting to your interlocutor.
Conclusion: these open loops force our interlocutor to initiate what we want. Those. we want him to be interested in something, we create an open cycle for him on this topic, and he himself asks us about it. This works great to create curiosity and interest.
Fractal loop technique. Very similar to the previous one, but there are differences. The essence of the technique: you open a phrase without finishing it, start the next phrase without finishing the second, start a third, and so on in a spiral.
At the same time, the interlocutor’s brain tries to maintain several open cycles at the same time. And this is where it burns out.
