Unraveling the Motivations for Manipulation in Human Behavior

Extract

[...] Manipulation is an act of controlling something. A manipulative person can be unbearable in doing whatever it takes to get what he or she wants. The cause of repetitive manipulative behavior can be unique for each person and his or her story, and then there is a reason. Childhood is a time during which a pattern of manipulation often forms, according to Dr. Lee Phillps, a psychotherapist and certified sex and couple's therapist in Virginia and New York. For example, if someone learns very early on that they cannot get their needs met directly, they may have to source other ways of feeling emotionally safe, physically safe and beyond. [...]

[...] Manipulation carried out by such people typically tends to be calculated and exploitative, but on the behalf of the manipulators, and typically for the cost of another. This aspect gives rise to the ethical questions of the nature of such behavior. Hypothesis Manipulative behavior has a connection with a number of dimensions of maladaptive personalities including Machiavellianism or psychopathy, in their pervasiveness and intensity. C. Social Skill In a sense from a more subtle point of view, manipulation could be considered one aspect of social skill-a positive skill used to activate changes in others. [...]

[...] The neo-Marxist tradition and a general shock about the past effectively earmarked it as an accusation that a devilish manipulator is influencing an agent in a reprehensible manner by deceiving and subverting rationality, which led to 'manipulation' having (negative) moral connotations. Why, then, still speak of 'manipulation'? There are some reasons to keep the term but also to refine its understanding. First of all, proposals not to speak of 'manipulation' anymore also put the question whether it is possible to meaningfully speak about the phenomenon without this term. Readers would just not know anymore what we are talking about. There seems at any rate to be no other everyday-language term that pinpoints the modulation of our affective states. [...]

[...] Unraveling the Motivations for Manipulation in Human Behavior - Abstract This theory states that manipulation is a multifaceted construct encompassing three dimensions: psychological disorder, character type, and social skill. The examination of the dimensions of manipulation should lead humans towards understanding the motivations, behaviors, and consequences involved in manipulative activities within personal as well as professional relations. This framework should provide a basis for further empirical research and practical applications in a range of fields including psychology, conflict resolution, and interpersonal communication. [...]

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