Have you ever quarreled with your loved one? Have you ever done something after such a quarrel that you later regretted? Are you familiar with the situation when you thought about an idea for a long time in order to then voice it, for example, to your boss at work, but after a conversation with him you left the office squeezed like a lemon, and even with the need to carry out a completely different project? Have you ever made unnecessary promises or taken on ridiculous obligations while communicating with someone?
If you answered positively to at least one of the proposed questions, it means that you have experienced from your own experience that this is psychological pressure. Unfortunately, communication with people around us, including even those closest to us, is not always free from manipulation and attempts to influence us. Knowing how to withstand psychological pressure is not a whim or upgrading your skills, but a real necessity of life.
What is psychological pressure
Psychological pressure is the influence that a person exerts on others to change their judgments, beliefs, opinions and decisions.
At first glance, this looks like an act of good intentions, which can only be carried out by strong and independent individuals. But such people are able to express their opinions directly, without any tricks.
But the methods of psychological pressure are used precisely by people who are unsure of themselves and have no real power. Such pressure makes the victim feel vulnerable and brings anxiety. It is very undesirable to use such techniques also because they bring only a temporary effect. Everything indicates that this is an extremely negative phenomenon. But everyone should know what it is and how to resist psychological pressure in order to be able to resist the manipulations of others.
Types of psychological pressure
Before considering ways to protect against psychological pressure on a person, you should consider what types and methods of psychological pressure exist. This is what determines what behavioral strategy the victim should choose in order to resist the manipulator.
Compulsion
This form is used when one person has more influence in some area than another. For example, psychological pressure often arises at work when a boss forces a subordinate to do something that he does not want and is not even obliged to do, but cannot refuse without any consequences. Any subordinate needs to know about coercion in order to know how to resist psychological pressure at work.
One can confuse coercion with manipulation, but the difference between the former is that the provocateur does not need to come up with any conditions or pretexts to provide information.
Humiliation
This is a way to morally crush a person with the help of unpleasant comments and statements about his appearance, character and actions. After all, it is criticism of personal qualities that hurts the most and negatively affects self-esteem.
As soon as you hear something unpleasant about yourself, you immediately have a desire to refute and prove to others that in reality everything is completely wrong. The aggressor takes advantage of this and offers to do what is beneficial to him. The victim of the situation, of course, agrees.
Avoidance
One of the most sophisticated types of psychological violence. Sometimes, in order to avoid manipulation, one of the participants immediately tries to clarify awkward moments and asks questions head-on, but the interlocutor cleverly avoids them, changes the topic, or simply ignores statements that are inconvenient for him. It gets to the point that this person begins to be indignant at why they are slandering him and twisting his words.
The victim falls into a stupor: everything seems to be going well, but inside there remains a feeling of confusion and anxiety.
Suggestion
Many people have met in their lives such masters of words who were able to instill in them completely ridiculous and unnecessary things. This is not easy to achieve, but aggressors cleverly gain the trust and respect of the listener. After this, you can put any pressure on the person.
The most obvious example of this type of violence is hypnosis, with the help of which gypsies extort money from passers-by. But it is worth noting that there are people who cannot be hypnotized, so this type of psychological pressure will not work with them.
Belief
In appearance, this is a very rational way to persuade your interlocutor to do something. The initiator presents weighty arguments, facts, and consistently presents all the information - it is difficult to resist such logical arguments. In addition, the victim is very flattered that she is considered a deeply educated and intelligent person.
But as soon as you make some mistake or inconsistency of facts, the whole strategy becomes useless. This type is one of the main forms of psychological pressure of a teacher. For a student in elementary school, the teacher is the unconditional authority. Often, in conversations with parents, the child relies on the words of the teacher: “And Maria Ivanovna says that you need to do this.”
A teacher who works without desire and inspiration can use this for his own selfish purposes.
Manipulation
This is one of the main types of psychological pressure on a person, which can be applied in various ways. Its distinctive feature is that the aggressor tries to exert psychological pressure and gain personal benefit at the expense of others in such a way that they are not aware of the true motives. In this regard, not every manipulator can use this method: you need to be not just calculating, but also a cold-blooded person who well understands the psychology of people.
The most obvious example of manipulators is scammers. They have a clear strategy on how to gain benefit from those around them, and skillfully put pressure on the most vulnerable places. Giving alms to the poor is a manipulation of the kindness, compassion and empathy of most people. Big winnings in lotteries and online casinos are a manipulation of people hungry for easy money.
The same type of psychological violence is used in network marketing: cunning methods of calculation show numbers that are attractive to victims, which can be achieved with a minimum of effort.
Manipulators actively put pressure on the victim through attitudes and beliefs that are formed in most people: “You must sympathize and help others,” “You must be responsible for everything that happens,” “Any service must be paid with gratitude,” and others.
But everyone’s most vulnerable place is their own emotions and feelings. And manipulation of them is so widespread in society that many may not even realize that they are engaging in psychological pressure. Parents influence children (it is easiest to exert psychological pressure on a child), men influence women and vice versa. For example, many partners ask their other half for a favor using the phrase: “Don’t you love me?”
All this is manipulated in other areas: at work, in business, in politics, in advertising. Therefore, almost everyone experiences psychological pressure.
Required thanks
A form of psychological pressure in which the manipulator thinks through his actions several steps ahead. He provides an unsuspecting victim with some kind of help or service that no one asked for, as if with the best intentions. This can go on for quite a long time until a person gains trust.
But at some point the manipulator asks for help and pressures him that it’s time to repay the debt. If the victim is not tormented by conscience and does not agree immediately, then such requests can turn into real threats.
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How to resist psychological pressure
If you notice that someone is putting psychological pressure on you, then you should remember that manipulators resort to such measures for a reason. Often these people are not able to bear the burden of their psychological problems and cannot withstand stress. They try to shift responsibility from themselves to strangers in order to feel comfortable.
There may be several reasons for this behavior:
- a model of upbringing in a family in which everyone encourages the child’s infantilism;
- sharply negative memories of a difficult childhood and more.
The first thing you need to do to resist psychological pressure is to give a straightforward rebuff. The victim must calmly and directly inform the manipulator that his demands will not be met because they have a selfish goal. This will confuse some people and the situation will be over. But especially sophisticated people can continue their actions, this time in a more sophisticated way. And among the victims there may be those who do not know how to openly resist someone; such a conversation can increase their feelings of guilt and make them become even more bogged down in the situation.
A more environmentally friendly way to deal with manipulators is to work on your self-esteem. Its level is directly related to the degree of susceptibility to psychological pressure: the lower a person’s self-esteem, the easier it is to force him to do something he doesn’t want. To improve it, it is necessary to do a lot of work even at the level of thinking. This is especially difficult to do if your environment, including family and friends, consists of toxic individuals. In this case, it is best to seek help from a specialist.
Psychotypes and manipulation
In fact, the strengths we cherish can become weaknesses. Because of them, we act according to a pattern, depending on what psychotype we belong to. There are four of them in total; knowing the characteristics of psychotypes, the manipulator can trigger one or another reaction:
- Hedonist. He can be asked to be visible. The main pleasure for him is publicity, the main hormone is serotonin, which is responsible for receiving pleasure.
- The caring person will be vulnerable through the vector of relationships and social mutual exchange. These people cannot be “divorced” by numbers or fame. They will only act for someone else's good.
- An independent person needs recognition of his uniqueness, flattery, and confirmation of his intellectual status.
- A traditionalist is not interested in anything new. He aims at the bird in his hands, this is his life strategy for survival.
Psychological pressure: protection against manipulation in several steps
Overcoming psychological pressure can be much easier than protecting yourself from it in time. After all, recognizing this phenomenon is sometimes very difficult; the manipulator can choose the most sophisticated types and types of actions.
But if there is even a suspicion of such actions, then you need to use techniques to protect yourself from psychological pressure.
Straightforwardness
You can directly state to your interlocutor’s face that he is behaving too assertively and aggressively; such behavior does not allow him to weigh everything and make a choice. Some manipulators retreat when faced with resistance, but with others you have to use other techniques.
Closed poses
Crossed arms or legs, chin down - all this reduces the degree of psychological pressure. Such poses at the subconscious level give a signal to your partner that you are not ready to cooperate and perceive information.
Mental barriers
Sometimes ordinary thoughts and images give you greater confidence in yourself and your abilities. It’s enough to imagine that there is an insurmountable barrier between you and the manipulator: an invisible wall, a deep ditch, a fiery barrier, an impenetrable dome or a spacesuit.
Distraction
To confuse your opponent, you can distract him in various ways: coughing, yawning, tapping on the table, turning pages, straightening clothes or hair. Any physical activity will attract the eye, but it is important that it looks natural and is not repeated too often.
Where to contact
An employee can file a complaint about forced dismissal of his own free will either to the prosecutor's office, or to the court, or to the labor inspectorate. A complaint is sent to the prosecutor's office and inspection, and a statement of claim is sent to the court.
Before dismissal (that is, before the resignation letter is signed by the employee), the court or prosecutor's office may issue a warning to the employer - if, of course, they consider the evidence provided by the employee to be sufficient. But the warning itself is not a guide to action for the employer - it is not a court order. If coercion takes extreme forms: threats to the life and health, reputation or property of an employee, he has the right to appeal to the court and the prosecutor's office with appropriate statements.
How to get out of pressure
There are several techniques that will help you take control of the situation and protect yourself from other people’s pressure:
- Start asking questions. You can ask yourself: “Do I need to do this? If I want to? Will I benefit? Can I refuse? The answers will help you get into a defensive position if necessary. And clarifying questions to your opponent will help you gain time and identify weak points. It is important to carefully monitor his non-verbal gestures. A person can give up his selfish intentions when he hears confident questions: “Why should I take on such responsibility?”, “Why are you sure that I will agree?” and so on.
- Determine the advantage that the partner enjoys. This will help you find your strengths in contrast to his words. If the manipulator puts pressure on him with his experience and knowledge, then he should mention his strong professional qualities and merits. If one hides behind someone’s authority, then one can question it and say that it is a subjective thing. And an unexpected and urgent request can be considered by referring to busyness and more important matters.
- Find a way to use your advantages. As stated above, you need to find the same strategy that the interlocutor uses. It is only important to build your defense and not go too far.
- Wait until the forces are equal. It is from this moment that you can take the following actions. If you rush and move straight to the next point, your opponent may view this as weakness. And a clear advantage in your favor can contribute to even greater conflict.
- Find a compromise and move on to cooperation. At a time when your partner is no longer so confident in his abilities, you can dictate your terms and look for a solution that will be convenient for both. Sometimes you can calmly walk away from interaction with such a person.
Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
Falsification of election documents, referendum documents, deliberately incorrect counting of votes or deliberately incorrect determination of the results of elections, referendums, violation of the secrecy of voting, if these acts were committed by a member of the election commission, initiative group or commission for holding a referendum, are punishable by a fine in the amount of five hundred to seven hundred minimum wages. the amount of remuneration or in the amount of wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of five to seven months or by imprisonment for a term of up to four years.
1. Illegal use of objects of copyright or related rights, as well as appropriation of authorship, if these acts caused large-scale damage, is punishable by a fine in the amount of two hundred to four hundred times the minimum monthly wage, or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of two to four hundred times the minimum wage. four months, or compulsory labor for a term of one hundred eighty to two hundred and forty hours, or imprisonment for a term of up to two years.
TRANCE
One of the oldest ways to influence the human psyche. It plunges our consciousness into a special state in which the ability to analyze information and make informed decisions is lost. Perception focuses on one thing, naturally beneficial to the manipulator. Trance can be introduced in different ways - most often monotonous stimuli are used, for example, monotonous speech, rapidly changing pictures, swinging a pendulum, etc. ... In such a state, the consciousness is especially vulnerable to pressure, so they can verbally suggest something to you or provoke you into unwanted actions.
