Good day, dear friend!

Today we will look at some types of psychological influence. Including controversial ones. Just a review without abstruse comments or lengthy discussions.

Influencing a person in order to stimulate certain actions or attitudes towards something. In this case, no argument is used

Emotional contagion

Broadcasting your emotional state and passing it on to your interlocutor. The mechanism can work both consciously and unconsciously. Your partner adopts your condition most often unconsciously.

Facilities

Eye contact, passion, positive attitude, high energy of one’s own state, frankness.

Building Favor

Ability to shape positive impression About Me.

Facilities

Plays a key role. Self-presentation. Attention and compliments that do not turn into outright flattery. Seeking advice. Playing along with psychological complexes, such as the need to feel important.

Challenge the urge to imitate

Influence to create a desire to be like oneself. It can be carried out both consciously and unconsciously.

Facilities

Publicity, demonstration of one’s skills and abilities, examples of actions that are attractive to others.

Request

Appeal to a person with the aim of causing certain actions.

Facilities

Politeness, showing signs of respect for a person, seeking advice.

Ignoring

Deliberate behavior that is expressed in inattention to the interlocutor. Often in an emphasized form. Sometimes ignoring is appropriate as a way to “forgive” the stupidity or tactless behavior of the interlocutor.

Facilities

Silence, “turning a deaf ear” to what the interlocutor is saying. A blank look, Unexpected demonstrative change of topic

Self-promotion

Open demonstration of one’s qualities, professionalism, and qualifications. Or your company. The usual goals of self-promotion are to gain competitive advantages, winning the sympathy of a partner.

At negotiations, at interviews, and just at meetings, almost every action we take is essentially a way of self-promotion. Willingly or unwittingly.

Facilities

A story or story about yourself. Demonstration of your skills and abilities. . Presentation of recommendations, social confirmation of your words. Provide evidence of your achievements.

I think I won’t reveal a secret if I say that all of the above is not news and is in every person’s arsenal. Or almost everyone. Another thing is that these types of psychological influence are used unconsciously.

And I think it won’t hurt to sort it out on the shelves. Well, for the sake of understanding. You look and an idea comes to you.

Have a nice day!

Psychological means = verbal signals + paralinguistic signals + non-verbal signals.

Verbal signals are words, and above all their meaning, but also the nature of the words used, the choice of expressions, the correctness of speech or different types its wrongness.

Paralinguistic signals are features of the pronunciation of speech, individual words and sounds.

Nonverbal signals - the relative position of the interlocutors in space, postures, gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, appearance, touch, smells.

Types of psychological influence

Type of influence	Definition
1. Persuasion	Conscious reasoned influence on another person or group of people, aimed at changing their judgment, attitude, intention or decision
2. Self-promotion	Declaring your goals and presenting evidence of your competence and qualifications in order to be appreciated and thereby gain advantages in elections, when appointed to a position, etc.
3. Suggestion	Conscious unreasoned influence on a person or group of people, aimed at changing their state, attitude towards something and predisposition to certain actions
4. Infection	The transfer of one’s state or attitude to another person or group of people who in some way (not yet explained) adopt this state or attitude. The state can be transmitted both involuntarily and voluntarily, and acquired - also involuntarily or voluntarily
5. Awakening the impulse to imitate	The ability to evoke the desire to be like oneself. This ability can either manifest itself involuntarily or be used voluntarily. The desire to imitate and imitation (copying someone else's behavior and way of thinking) can also be either voluntary or involuntary
6. Building Favor	Attracting the involuntary attention of the addressee by the initiator demonstrating his own originality and attractiveness, expressing favorable judgments about the addressee, imitating him or providing him with a service
7. Request	Appeal to the addressee with an appeal to satisfy the needs or desires of the initiator of the influence
8. Coercion	The threat of the initiator using his control capabilities in order to achieve the required behavior from the addressee. Controlling capabilities are the powers to deprive the recipient of any benefits or to change the conditions of his life and work. The most severe forms of coercion may involve threats of physical harm.
9. Destructive criticism	Expressing disparaging or offensive judgments about a person’s personality and/or rude aggressive condemnation, slander or ridicule of his deeds and actions. The destructiveness of such criticism is that it does not allow a person to “save face”, distracts his energy to fight the negative emotions that have arisen, and takes away his faith in himself
10. Manipulation	Hidden encouragement of the addressee to experience certain states, make decisions and/or perform actions necessary for the initiator to achieve his own goals

The above classification meets not so much the requirements of logical correspondence as the phenomenology of the experience of influence on both sides. The experience of destructive criticism is qualitatively different from the experience that arises in the process of persuasion. Anyone can easily remember this difference in quality. The subject of destructive criticism is the recipient of the influence, the subject of persuasion is something more abstract, removed from him, and therefore not so painfully perceived. Even if a person is convinced that he has made a mistake, the subject of discussion is that mistake, not the person who made it. The difference between persuasion and destructive criticism is thus at issue.

On the other hand, in form, destructive criticism is often indistinguishable from the formulas of suggestion: “You are an irresponsible person. Everything you touch turns into nothing.” However, the initiator of the influence has as its conscious goal “improving” the behavior of the recipient of the influence (and the unconscious goal is liberation from frustration and anger, a manifestation of force or revenge). He does not at all have in mind the consolidation and strengthening of those models of behavior that are described by the formulas he uses. It is characteristic that consolidation negative models behavior is one of the most destructive and paradoxical effects of destructive criticism. It is also known that in the formulas of suggestion and auto-training, preference is persistently given to positive formulations rather than the negation of negative ones (for example, the formula “I am calm” is preferable to the formula “I am not worried”).

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1. Conviction. Conscious, reasoned influence on another person or group of people, with the goal of changing judgment, attitudes, intentions or decisions.

2. Self-promotion. Declaring your goals and presenting evidence of your competence and qualifications in order to be appreciated and thereby gain advantages in a selection situation (appointment to a position, etc.).

3. Suggestion. Conscious unreasoned influence on a person or group of people, aimed at changing their state, attitude towards something and predisposition to certain actions.

4. Infection. The transfer of one’s state or attitude to another person or group of people who in some way (not yet explained) adopt this state or attitude. This state can be transmitted both involuntarily and voluntarily and can also be acquired (involuntarily or voluntarily).

5. Awakening the impulse to imitation. The ability to create a desire to be like you. This ability can manifest itself both involuntarily and voluntarily. The desire to imitate and imitate (copying someone else's behavior and way of thinking) can also be voluntary or involuntary.

6. Building favor. Attracting the involuntary attention of the addressee to oneself by demonstrating one’s own originality and attractiveness, expressing favorable judgments about the addressee, imitating him or providing him with a service.

7. Request. An appeal to the addressee to satisfy the needs or desires of the initiator of the influence.

8. Coercion. The threat of the initiator using his control capabilities in order to achieve the required behavior from the addressee. Controlling capabilities are the powers to deprive the recipient of any benefits or to change the conditions of his life and work. The most severe forms of coercion may involve threats of physical harm. Subjectively, coercion is experienced as pressure: by the initiator - as his own pressure, by the addressee - as pressure from the initiator or “circumstances”.

9. Destructive criticism. Expressing disparaging or offensive judgments about a person’s personality and/or rude aggressive condemnation, slander or ridicule of his deeds and actions. The destructiveness of such criticism is that it does not allow a person to “save face”, diverts his energy to fight the negative emotions that have arisen, and takes away his faith in himself.

10. Manipulation. Hidden encouragement of the recipient to experience certain states, make decisions and/or perform actions necessary for the initiator to achieve his own goals.

Kinds psychological impact

Name	Definition	Application
Information and psychological impact (informational and propaganda, ideological)	this is the influence of words, information	The main goal of such influence is the formation of certain ideological (social) ideas, views, and beliefs. At the same time, it evokes positive or negative emotions, feelings and even violent mass reactions in people, and forms stable images and ideas.
Psychogenic effects	this is a consequence of: physical or shock effects of environmental conditions or some events on the brain, as a result of which there is a disruption of normal neuropsychic activity	As a result of a brain injury, a person loses the ability to think rationally, he loses memory, etc. Or he is exposed to such physical factors(sound, lighting, temperature, etc.), which through certain physiological reactions change the state of his psyche. An illustrative case of psychogenic influence is the influence of color on the psychophysiological and emotional state of a person. It has been experimentally established that when exposed to purple, red, orange and yellow flowers the person’s breathing and pulse become more frequent and deepen, their arterial pressure, and green, blue, blue and purple colors have the opposite effect. The first group of colors is stimulating, the second is calming

		End of table 5.1
Psychoanalytic (psychocorrective) influence	this is the effect on a person’s subconscious by therapeutic means, especially in a state of hypnosis or deep sleep	In the process of sound control of the psyche of people and their behavior, verbal suggestions (commands) in encoded form are output to any medium of audio information (audio cassettes, radio or television programs, sound effects). A person listens to music or the sound of the surf in the rest room, follows the dialogues of the characters in the film and does not suspect that they contain commands that are not perceived by the conscious mind, but are always recorded by the subconscious, forcing him subsequently to do what is prescribed
Neurolinguistic impact(NLP - neurolinguistic programming)	introduction of special linguistic programs into the consciousness that change people’s motivation	The main means of influence are specially selected verbal (verbal) and non-verbal linguistic programs, the assimilation of the content of which allows you to change the beliefs, views and ideas of a person (both an individual and entire groups of people) in a given direction. Psychoanalytic and neurolinguistic types of influence are useful when they are used for humane purposes. If they are used to conquer and ensure dominance over other people, then they represent means of psychological violence
Psychotronic (parapsychological, extrasensory) influence	this is an influence on other people carried out by transmitting information through extrasensory (unconscious) perception	If, during the course of a film, another one is added to twenty-four frames per second - the 25th - with completely different information, then the audience does not notice it, but it has a noticeable effect on their emotional state and behavior. This is the “phenomenon of the 25th frame,” which is explained by the fact that a person has not only a sensory (conscious) range of perception, but also a subsensory (unconscious) range, in which information is absorbed by the psyche, bypassing consciousness
Psychotropic effects	this is an effect on the psyche of people with the help medical supplies, chemical or biological substances	Some odorous substances have a strong effect on the psyche. American psychiatrist A. Hirsch found that certain odors cause specific human actions and behavior. He started with a simple but very profitable business. He distributed the essence he had specially developed to various sections of stores and found that there was a sharp increase in sales of goods compared to unpollinated sections. Odors also affect productivity. With the help of smells you can increase or decrease blood pressure, slow down or speed up your heartbeat, excite or, conversely, put you to sleep.

There is another approach to identifying ways in which partners influence each other. These include: infection, suggestion, persuasion and imitation.

Infection. In general general view it can be defined as an unconscious, involuntary susceptibility of a person to certain mental states. It manifests itself through the transmission of a certain emotional state or, in the words of the famous psychologist B.D. Parygin, mental attitude.

Examples include applause at the performance of a popular actor, which, acting as an impulse, “infects” the hall with the general mood, “cheering” in stadiums during sports competitions. Formal and informal leaders of any team, as a rule, represent a model of an amplifier of a certain mental mood that can arise in a group.

It has been experimentally established that the higher the level of personality development, the more critical is its attitude to the impact and thus the weaker the effect of the “contagion” mechanism.

Suggestion. This is a purposeful, unreasoned influence of one person on another. When suggested ( suggestions) the process of transmitting information is carried out, based on its uncritical perception. The phenomenon of resistance to suggestive influence is called counter-suggestion. Suggestion is made by directly instilling mental states, and does not require evidence or logic. Suggestion is an emotional-volitional influence. The effect of suggestion depends on age and condition: children are more suggestible than adults. Tired, physically weakened people are more suggestible. It has been experimentally proven that decisive condition Effective suggestion is the authority of the suggestor. I distinguish 3 types protection against suggestion :

Avoidance. This means avoiding sources of influence and avoiding contact with a partner.

Misunderstanding. It is not always possible to identify the source of information as dangerous, alien or unauthorized and thus protect yourself from unwanted influence. Quite often, some potentially dangerous information for a person can come from people whom we generally trust. In this case, the defense will be a kind of misunderstanding of the message itself. You can learn about what levels of misunderstanding exist and how to overcome them from the material devoted to the communicative side of communication.

Belief. It is built on using logical justification to achieve agreement from the person receiving the information. Persuasion is an intellectual influence on the consciousness of a person through an appeal to his own critical judgment.

Imitation. Its specificity, in contrast to infection and suggestion, is that it involves not simply accepting the external features of another person’s behavior, but reproducing the features and images of the demonstrated behavior. Since we are talking about the assimilation of proposed models of behavior, there are two plans for imitation, or to a specific person, or norms of behavior developed by the group.

In addition to the psychological impact, communication also implies interaction , which is always present in the form of two components:

2) style interactions (how a person interacts with others).

We can talk about productive or unproductive style of interaction. Each situation dictates its own style of behavior and action: in each of them, a person “presents” himself differently, and if this self-presentation is not adequate, interaction is difficult. If a style is formed on the basis of actions in a specific situation, and then mechanically transferred to another situation, then, naturally, success cannot be guaranteed.

To assess interaction style, the following criteria exist:

1) the nature of activity in the partners’ position;

2) the nature of the goals put forward;

3) nature of responsibility;

4) the nature of the relationship that arises between partners;

5) the nature of the functioning of the identification mechanism.

In addition to species, there are usually several types of interaction The most common is their division by performance focus: on cooperation and competition.

Cooperation – This is an interaction in which its subjects reach a mutual agreement on the goals pursued and strive not to violate it as long as their interests coincide.

Competition – This is an interaction characterized by the achievement of individual or group goals and interests in conditions of confrontation between people.

In both cases, both the type of interaction (cooperation or competition) and the degree of expression of this interaction (successful or less successful cooperation) determine the nature of interpersonal relationships.

In the process of implementing these types of interaction, as a rule, the following leading strategies of behavior in interaction appear (Fig. 5.4):

1. Cooperation is aimed at the participants in the interaction fully satisfying their needs without infringing on the interests of the other (the motives of cooperation or competition are realized).

2. Rivalry(reaction) involves focusing exclusively on one’s own goals without taking into account the goals of communication partners (individualism).

3. Compromise is realized in the private achievement of partners’ goals for the sake of conditional equality.

4. Compliance (device) involves sacrificing one’s own goals to achieve the goals of a partner (altruism).

5. Avoidance represents a withdrawal from contact, a loss of one’s own goals to exclude the gain of another.

Fig.5.4. Basic strategies of behavior in the interaction process

One of the most famous attempts to develop a typology of interaction belongs to R. Bales. He developed a scheme that makes it possible to register according to a single plan different kinds interactions in the group. R. Bales recorded, using the observation method, those real manifestations of interactions that could be seen in a group of children performing some joint activities. The initial list of such types of interactions turned out to be very extensive (about 82 items) and therefore was unsuitable for constructing an experiment. R. Bales reduced the observed patterns of interactions into categories, suggesting that, in principle, each group activity can be described using four categories in which its manifestations are recorded: the area of positive emotions, the area negative emotions, the area of problem solving and the area of posing these problems. Then all recorded types of interactions were classified into four headings (Table 5.2).

Table 5.2

Main areas of interaction

and corresponding behavioral manifestations (according to R. Bales)

The resulting 12 types of interaction were left by R. Bales, on the one hand, as the minimum that is necessary to take into account all possible types interactions; on the other hand, as the maximum that is permissible in the experiment.

R. Bales's scheme has become widespread, despite a number of significant criticisms made against it. These comments boil down to the fact that: there is no logical justification for the existence of exactly twelve possible types of interaction; there is no single basis on which the communicative manifestations of individuals (for example, expressing an opinion) and their direct manifestations in “actions” (for example, pushing away another when performing some action, etc.) were identified; the characteristic of the content of general group activity is completely omitted, i.e. only formal moments of interaction are captured.

When studying “dyadic interaction” (it was studied in detail by American social psychologists J. Thibault and G. Kelly), the “prisoner’s dilemma” proposed on the basis of mathematical game theory is used (Andreeva, Bogomolova, Petrovskaya, 1978). The experiment sets up a certain situation: two prisoners are in captivity and are deprived of the opportunity to communicate. A matrix is constructed that records possible strategies for their interaction during interrogation, when each will answer without knowing exactly how the other behaves. If we accept two extreme possibilities of their behavior: “confess” and “not confess,” then, in principle, everyone has exactly this alternative. However, the result will be different depending on which answer option everyone chooses. Four situations can arise from combinations of different strategies of the “prisoners”: both confess; the first confesses, the second does not confess; the second confesses, but the first does not; Both don't confess. The matrix captures these four possible combinations. In this case, the winnings that will be obtained with various combinations of these strategies for each “player” are calculated. This winning is the “outcome” in each model of the gaming situation (Fig. 5.5).

Rice. 5.5. Prisoner's dilemma

The application in this case of some provisions of game theory creates a tempting prospect of not only describing, but also predicting the behavior of each participant in the interaction.

The approach to analyzing the situation depending on the positions occupied by partners is developing in line with transactional analysis - a direction that has gained enormous popularity throughout the world in recent decades. Suffice it to say that E. Berne’s books “Games People Play. People Who Play Games” by T. Harris “I’m OK – You’re OK” and M. Jays and D. Jonjeval “Born to Win”, dedicated to the theory and practice of transactional analysis, sold millions of copies. Perhaps the basis for such enormous popularity of this trend was its logic, apparent obviousness and openness to non-specialists, not to mention the fact that learning to communicate using transactional analysis really contributes to people’s ability to interact.

The scheme developed by E. Bern is widely known and most widely used, in which the main concepts are states of the Self and transactions, i.e. units of communication. E. Bern divided the repertoire of these states into the following categories:

1) states of the Self, similar to the images of parents, I–Parent;

2) states of the I, aimed at an objective assessment of reality, I– Adult;

3) states of the ego, still active from the moment of their fixation in early childhood and representing archaic remnants, I–Child (I–Child).

These positions are in no way necessarily related to the corresponding social role: this is only a purely psychological description of a certain strategy in interaction. The Child’s position can be defined as the “I want!” position, the Parent’s position as “I must!”, the Adult’s position as the combination of “I Want” and “I must.” In Fig. Table 5.6 presents images of these personal positions; to get a more complete picture of our current state and position and the current state and position of our interlocutor, use the data in Table. 5.3.

Rice. 5.6. Basic characteristics of I-positions according to E. Bern

Interaction is effective when transactions are “complementary” in nature, i.e. coincide: for example, if a partner addresses another as an Adult, then he also responds from the same position (Fig.). If one of the participants in the interaction addresses the other from the position of an Adult, and the other responds to him from the position of a Parent, then the interaction is disrupted and may stop altogether. IN in this case transactions are “overlapping” (Figure 5.7).

At equal In relationships, partners are in the same positions and respond exactly from the position from which the partner expects. That is why this subtype can be called communication with complete mutual understanding.

Unequal communication can be illustrated as follows.

The manager says: “You’ve messed up again - you can’t be entrusted with anything!”, and the subordinate replies: “Well, what can you do, I’m generally incapable.” Here the actions do not consist in transmitting information, but most often in assessing communication partners (Fig. 5.7).

Table 5.3

Basic characteristics of the positions of parent, adult and child

Main characteristics	Parent	Adult	Child
Characteristic words and expressions	“Everyone knows that you should never..”; “I don’t understand how they allow this...”	"How?"; "What?"; "When?"; "Where?"; "Why?"; "Maybe..."; "Probably..."	"I'm angry with you"; “That’s great!”; "Great!"; "Disgusting!"
Intonation	Blaming Condescending Critical Suppressing	Related to reality	Very emotional
State	Arrogant Over-correct Very decent	Mindfulness Information Search	Awkward Playful Depressed Depressed
Facial expression	Frowning Dissatisfied Worried	Open eyes Maximum attention	Depression Surprise
Poses	Hands at sides Pointing finger Hands folded across chest	Leaned forward towards the interlocutor, head turns after him	Spontaneous mobility (clench fists, walk, pull a button)

The following type of transaction is intersecting interaction. Elements of this communication are much less common. Essentially, an overlapping interaction is a “wrong” interaction. Its incorrectness lies in the fact that partners, on the one hand, demonstrate an inadequate understanding of the position and actions of the other participant in the interaction, and on the other hand, clearly demonstrate their own intentions and actions.

Rice. 5.7. Main types of transactions

For example: a husband asks: “What time is it?”, and the wife answers: “Can’t you look at your watch?” In this situation, one interlocutor wanted to receive information, but the other did not understand him or did not want to understand. If they do not find mutual understanding and the communication does not turn into additional interaction, then such a conversation is potentially conflicting.

The third type of transaction is hidden interactions. These are interactions that simultaneously include two levels: explicit, expressed verbally, and hidden, implied. Let's imagine that two employees are sitting at a very boring meeting and the following conversation takes place between them.

“Don’t forget, customers will come to us at four,” says the first employee.

“Yes, I guess I’ll have to leave now,” the second one answers him. (This is an example of explicit interaction.)

- Wild boredom. Maybe we can run away? - suggests the first employee.

- Well done, good idea! - the second one answers him. (This is an example of hidden interaction.)

In this case, what is openly said is a cover for what is implied. Overt and covert interactions occur from different positions. Explicit - from the position of “adult - adult”, and hidden - from the position of “child - child”.

The use of hidden transactions requires either deep knowledge of the partner or greater sensitivity to non-verbal means of communication - tone of voice, intonation, facial expressions and gestures, since they most often convey hidden content.

Communication styles. In communicating with the outside world, a person accumulates life experience, gets the opportunity for self-realization. Finding ourselves in a given situation, each of us looks for a way to “present” ourselves. What guides us when choosing this or that manner of communication?

Communication styles qualitatively reveal a person’s behavior in his relationships with others. The choice of style is determined by a number of factors:

1. What is the purpose of communication we pursue? If in the process of communication it is important for us to know ourselves more deeply, then we will make every effort to make our relationships trusting and objective. Sometimes there is a need to influence the consciousness of others. Even when discussing a book we have read that has excited us, we are not indifferent to the opinions of our opponents. Is this movie worth watching? Why should preference be given to your candidate when applying for a job? The result of communication will depend on the persuasiveness of our arguments.

2. The situation in which it is carried out. In informal home environment We hardly want to discuss global scientific or political problems with an old childhood friend. The same cannot be said about the members of the symposiums.

3. Status, personal qualities, worldview and position of the interlocutor influence those communicating. Using the language of aphorisms, we can say this: “A diplomat will think twice before saying nothing.”

There are various communication styles in psychology, but the main ones are: ritual, humanistic, manipulative, imperative(Table 5.4).

Table 5.4

Basic interaction styles

Ritual style

The ritual style is usually determined by some culture. A person accustomed to a different ritual, having received such a response that goes beyond his cultural understanding, will be puzzled as to how to interact further. This style is usually determined by the culture in which a person lives. In it we realize ourselves as a product of society. The main task of this type of communication is to maintain connection with the environment, maintaining the idea of us as members of society. At the same time, we need a partner as an attribute to perform a certain ritual. For example, saying hello, saying goodbye, asking a friend on the way: “How are you?” – we just adhere to the traditional foundations of society, which by and large do not oblige us to anything

	End of table 5.4
Imperative style	This is an authoritarian, directive form of interaction. It combines authoritarian and liberal communication. The goal of the imperative style is to achieve control over the behavior of another, over his attitudes or coercion to certain actions and decisions. Orders, regulations and demands are used as means of exerting influence. Areas where imperative communication is used quite effectively are “superior-subordinate” relationships, military regulations, work in extreme conditions
Manipulative style	The manipulative style of action will manifest itself in building relationships in which the partner is assigned the role of a rival who needs to be beaten and deceived. If the goal of imperative communication is to achieve control over the behavior and thoughts of another person, it is not veiled in any way, then when using a manipulative style, the influence on the interlocutor is carried out covertly. In manipulative communication, the interlocutor is perceived not as a complete person, but as a bearer of certain qualities that the manipulator needs. In this case, the interlocutor is shown only what will help in achieving the goal. The winner will be the one who turns out to be the most inventive manipulator. Good knowledge of the partner, understanding of goals, and mastery of communication techniques can help with this. Most professional tasks it is possible to solve if you successfully use a manipulative communication style. At the same time, a person who has chosen a manipulative style of communication as the main style of communication, over time begins to perceive himself in fragments, switching to stereotypical forms of behavior. Moreover, the use of manipulative skills in one area (for example, business) usually ends with the transfer of these skills to all other areas of a person’s life
Humanistic style	The humanistic style of action presupposes communication based on the equality of partners, presupposes a high culture of communication and communicative competence. This is a personal attitude that allows you to satisfy human need in understanding, empathy, sympathy. The success of communication in this case largely depends on individuality. These are equal interactions that allow us to achieve mutual understanding through a dialogic relationship. This style includes all types of dialogic communication: this is equal interaction, the goal of which is mutual knowledge, self-knowledge. An example here could be intimate communication, communication between a doctor and a patient, and pedagogical communication. The humanistic style of communication is devoid of imperative and allows you to achieve deep mutual understanding

The listed communication styles are just a tendency, an orientation towards certain relationships. But this does not mean that only with the help of one of them a person is capable of self-realization.

It’s unlikely that anyone wants to take actions and make decisions subject to the influence of other people. The loss of autonomy and independence is frightening and seems unacceptable to us. And we defend our freedom with all our might, building barriers around ourselves, doing things despite outside influence, and sometimes common sense. But at the same time, we are not at all averse to finding out effective methods which can be used to influence other people.

Influence in psychology is understood as influencing the human psyche in order to change his beliefs, attitudes, mood and behavior. When it comes to the psychology of influence, many imagine some kind of secret knowledge and techniques that allow you to control another person without his consent or knowledge.

But this is just one of many myths that ordinary people spread about psychology. There is no secret knowledge or forbidden techniques. All mechanisms of psychological influence are familiar to every person since childhood, and each of us is both an object and a subject of influence. We live in a society and are connected with its other members by hundreds of threads. V.I. Lenin was right when he somewhat paraphrased K. Marx’s statement: “It is impossible to live in society and be free from society.”

Influence as a socio-psychological necessity

The mutual influence of people on each other is an integral part of social life, that complex system of interactions and interdependencies that we call society. For example, all parents would like their children to grow up to be worthy people, at least as they themselves understand it. Therefore, in the process they influence children using a variety of ways and methods:

persuasion and coercion;
reward and punishment;
personal examples and outright pressure.

Don't children influence their parents in any way? Of course they do. Even very little babies sometimes demonstrate real talent. Simple: “Mommy, you are my best. I love you so much,” will make any mother’s heart melt. But children say this completely sincerely, and parents, influencing their children, sincerely wish them well.

We influence our friends, sometimes changing them quite a lot, our subordinates and superiors, and just random acquaintances with whom we happen to talk. It’s not for nothing that there is such a saying: “Whoever you mess with, that’s how you’ll gain.”

A person is part of society and is always influenced by it. Even if he finds himself on a desert island or hiding in the remote taiga, he will not get rid of this influence. Because it will continue to live and perceive the world, guided by attitudes and beliefs formed under the influence of other people.

Moreover, having found myself at will evil fate outside human influence, a child will never grow up to be a full-fledged person. This is proven by the examples of the so-called Mowgli children raised in animal communities. Even an adult, socially surrounded, gradually loses his human appearance.

Spheres of influence

The influence affects three areas of the human psyche:

installations,
cognition,
behavior.

An attitude is a perspective of perception of an event, phenomenon, or person. As a rule, an attitude includes emotional and evaluative parts. Thus, by talking about how interesting it is to study at school, parents form a positive attitude towards the future first-grader. school life. Or, for example, while watching a movie, we may form the attitude that the actor playing the villain is a bad person.

Cognitions are knowledge, beliefs, ideas about the world and oneself. They are also largely the result of the psychological influence of other people, or rather, the information they transmit. If we respect the source of information (a person, the media, a social institution) and trust it, then the knowledge it disseminates becomes part of our ideas about the world around us, and we will not even treat it critically, taking it on faith.

It is more difficult to change human behavior, since the influence affects mental processes, and not directly. But it is possible to shape this change, to create a system of incentives that encourages a person to take certain actions. In any case, it is the “tuning” of behavior that is the main goal of influence.

Why are we so afraid of being influenced?

If mutual influence is a natural part of human relationships, then why are we so afraid of becoming the object of influence?

The reason lies in the peculiarities of self-identification, that is, as a separate and independent subject from other people. Awareness of one’s own “I” and separation of oneself from society occurs in a child at the age of 3 years and is one of the main reasons. It manifests itself in demonstrative independence and disobedience to adults. Thus, a three-year-old child, having heard from his mother a ban on walking in puddles, may deliberately start splashing in them, or even sit down in the mud. The child deliberately resists influence, trying to prove his independence.

The crisis of 3 years is successfully overcome, but losing the sense of one’s own “I”, dissolving into a faceless mass, remains for life. That’s why we react so negatively to attempts to impose someone else’s opinion on us and influence our decisions and actions. And by the way, for the same reason we do not notice our own influence on other people. After all, nothing threatens our self-identity here; rather, on the contrary, we assert our own independence by influencing those around us.

Types of influence. Influence and manipulation

A person is constantly in a single field of social interaction, where he acts both as an object and as a subject of influence. It's not just individuals who influence us, social groups and public opinion, but also natural phenomena, things, events that happen to us and to other people. Rain that starts before a walk can ruin our mood and force us to change plans, and an armed incident that occurs hundreds of kilometers away from us can change our worldview.

But here we are considering influences in the sphere of interpersonal relationships. IN social psychology There are several types of them.

Conscious and unconscious influence

About conscious and targeted influence they say when the subject of influence knows exactly what he wants to achieve and how he intends to change the behavior of the object. Conscious influence can be directed both at a person’s views and at his emotional sphere, but the ultimate goal is still certain actions.

The reasons why one person consciously influences another may be different. If the main one is obtaining personal gain, then such influence is called manipulation. But influence can also serve other purposes. For example, pedagogical influence is aimed at shaping the child. In fact, it does not always benefit the object of influence, but this is precisely what is considered the main task of education.

In the social environment, in the process of interaction between people, many acts of unconscious influence constantly occur. A person not only infects other people with his behavior, but also, without realizing it, adopts their habits, manners, and beliefs. First of all, we unconsciously imitate those whom we sympathize and respect: our friends, parents, teachers, colleagues, movie characters. The more interesting a person is, the more those around him fall under his influence, whether he wants it or not.

Overt and hidden influence

Open influence is a type of influence when the object, or as it is also called, the addressee, understands that he is being influenced by inducing, pushing or forcing him to take some action. This unpleasant feeling, but in this case a person has a choice - to submit to the influence or to evade it, to resist. It can be very difficult to evade if people with power are influencing you. But nevertheless, the addressee can at least try to defend his independence and the right to make his own decisions.

But hidden influence is, on the one hand, a less ethical type of influence, and on the other hand, the most effective. Not knowing that he is being influenced, the object does not even resist and cannot oppose anything to the subject. Conscious, purposeful and hidden influence is manipulation, the most dangerous look impact.

Destructive and creative influence

We are accustomed to thinking that any influence is always bad, since it involves pressure on the individual. Therefore, having realized the impact exerted on us, we begin to actively resist, often doing things “out of spite,” out of spite, committing rash acts, mistakes, and often outright stupidity.

But not every influence is destructive, not every one leads to the infringement of individual rights and freedoms. Often the person influencing is interested precisely in preserving the identity of his addressee, preventing mistakes that he may make, and helping him choose the right path. Parents raising a child, teachers forming a correct picture of the world in a student, relatives and friends who want to save a loved one from - all these are examples of creative influence.

Techniques of psychological influence

Various strategies for influencing people are a product of the long-term development of society. Most of them were not developed purposefully as tools of manipulation, and people also often use them intuitively.

Mental infection is the most ancient method of influence, based largely on reflex reactions. This influence is not realized by either the subject or the object of influence. Mental infection occurs at the emotional level. Most shining example– panic that grips people like a forest fire.
Coercion is a type of influence in which explicit or hidden threat. The threat is not necessarily related to physical violence; it may be related to material well-being, restriction of freedom, deprivation of the opportunity to do what you love, etc.
Request. Unlike coercion, there is no threat in this technique. The instrument of influence here is a call to a specific action that is desired by the subject of influence. Flattery, persuasion, ingratiation, etc. can be used as additional levers.
Persuasion is a conscious and purposeful influence, the main tool of which is rational arguments.
Suggestion differs from persuasion in the absence of arguments and appeals to reason. Suggestion is based on an irrational, uncritical perception of information that comes from an authoritative source. The factor of faith plays a big role in suggestion.
Awakening the need for imitation. Imitating someone often happens unconsciously, but a subject of influence, for example, a teacher or parent, can purposefully create an attractive image in children and students that they want to imitate.
Destructive criticism. This method is aimed at making the target feel dissatisfied with himself and force the person to change his behavior.

These are the basic influence techniques that are most often used in interpersonal relationships. They are often used in combination, supported by the authority of the subject of influence, links to other even more authoritative sources, for example, the media, books, the Internet, etc.

What determines the success of influence?

If influence is such a widespread process, then why are some people able to influence others, while others are not capable of this? The fact is that everyone has the ability to influence other members of society, but the degree of its expression varies. There are several categories of people whose influence is particularly powerful:

Those who have the makings of a leader and have the gift of persuasion and suggestion.
Strong personalities with pronounced charisma, that is, exceptional in terms of charisma, which is complemented by personal charm.
Good psychologists, and not necessarily professional ones. There are people who are very sensitive to all the nuances of mood and mental state their partners. They know which strings can be pulled and, if desired, can find the most effective channels of influence on a person.
Those who have important information that is meaningful to people or who know how to present themselves as such informed individuals.

The effectiveness of influence depends not only on the subject, but also on the object of influence. The less self-confident a person is, the lower his self-esteem, the easier he can become dependent on a manipulator. Therefore, in order to learn to resist the influence of others, you need to start with self-development.