How to Identify Emotional Manipulation?

Emotional manipulation is something that manipulative people use in order to have control over another individual by using deceptive or exploiting tactics. An emotional manipulator usually seeks to exploit, manipulate, or even deceive someone else to achieve their personal gain.

On the other hand, it is some person’s nature to pathologically manipulate others and this type of person should be treated with caution. This type of person is also known as Machiavellian. It refers to someone who engages in emotional manipulation regularly. During the 16th century, Niccol Machiavelli, the author of The Prince, suggested the political leaders to practice manipulative techniques in order to thrive in the political realm.

Signs of Emotional Manipulation

Emotional manipulation takes various forms, but the following are the eight common methods used by emotional manipulators:

1) Passive Aggressive Behavior

The manipulator does not express any hostile sentiments or frustrations toward the individual during their interactions. Rather, they practice subtle methods to vent their frustrations and weaken the other person. Emotional manipulators use a variety of passive-aggressive strategies, including:

2) Bullying on a social and emotional level

Bullies do not always resort to physical harm. Emotional bullying includes continuous criticizing and threatening. Bullying can take the form of spreading rumors or purposeful isolating their victim from others.

Bullying may be in many different types, including intellectual and bureaucratic bullying.

Intellectual bullies act like they are experts in any subject matter in order to make others feeling inferior and reliant on them for knowledge. Bureaucratic bullies practice rules, regulations, or paperwork — to either destroy or sabotage others

3) Gaslighting

The manipulation of facts or other information is another method utilized by emotionally manipulative persons. In certain circumstances, the manipulator will completely lie or act as if they are unaware of a situation. Gaslighting is a more sophisticated kind of deception in which a manipulator infuses self-doubt in another person, causing them to doubt their own intentions or abilities. Gaslighting is a common occurrence in work environments.

4) Guilt and Sympathy

Many people are prone to feelings of guilt and will even punish themselves for imagined transgressions. Emotional manipulators exploit this type of vulnerability. They will more likely to pretend to be the victim or prompt you of previous favors, generating a sense of responsibility or pity that will help them obtain what they want.

5) Silent Treatment

This type of manipulation occurs when someone tries to punish you by disregarding you, which is the most obvious type of emotional manipulation. But, there are more destructive kinds of withdrawal. When you expect affection or acceptance from a certain someone but that person purposely withholds it, thus, it causes a power imbalance and making you seek the return of admiration or intimacy.

6) Comparison tactic

To provoke you, a manipulative individual may compare you with another person. They may always exploit a certain someone to make you feel agitated and insecure about yourself. They may even enlist the help of other people to persuade you to feel or act a specific way.

7) Manipulation of Circumstance

In business decisions, this is a popular technique. It might be something like insisting on meeting you at their home or their preferred place, where they are most comfortable and powerful. They might also impose a limit, for instance a deadline, in order to force you to make a hasty choice.

8) Love — bombing

An emotional manipulator may use fabricated vulnerability or a fake relationship to emotionally attach you to them. Showering with admiration and affection on a new victim, often known as “love-bombing,” is a popular emotional manipulation method used by cults.

Bottom line

Emotional manipulators will make you question your own sanity and weaken your sense of self. But you have to remind yourself that no one can have any power over you without your permission and without you participating in their emotional manipulation tactics.

Thank you for reading ❤

Disclaimer: The original version of this story was published on another platform.

Link to original version: https://medium.com/know-thyself-heal-thyself/how-to-identify-emotional-manipulation-c69e2a4b2798

References:

Bagley, D. (2020, September 21). How to deal wisely with manipulative people. Focus on the Family. https://www.focusonthefamily.com/get-help/how-to-deal-with-manipulative-people/

Centers, P. R. (2021, October 25). Effects of psychological and emotional manipulation. Peaks Recovery Centers. https://peaksrecovery.com/blog/mental-health-blogs/effects-of-psychological-emotional-manipulation/

Holland, K. (2018, February 13). How to recognize the signs of emotional manipulation and what to do. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/emotional-manipulation

Laderer, A. (2021, November 19). 9 tell-tale signs that you’re being emotionally manipulated, according to couples therapists. Insider. https://www.insider.com/signs-of-manipulation

WebMD Editorial Contributors. (2020, November 25). Signs of emotional manipulation. WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/signs-emotional-manipulation