Logical Levels of Psychological Influence

In NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), there is a fascinating systemic model developed by Robert Dilts called the logical levels (sometimes referred to as neuro-logical levels). The logical levels model describes the structure of how living systems—such as a person, a company, or a society—are organized. Like any good “caliper,” it has many practical uses, one of which is identifying levels of hierarchy. We’ll use this feature to visualize the hierarchy of manipulations.

If you look at the logical levels model as a whole, it appears as a pyramid, where each higher “floor” is hierarchically above and controls the ones below:

• Mission
• Identity (personal uniqueness)
• Beliefs
• Capabilities, possibilities
• Behavior (actions)
• Environment (things, people, places, time)

To make it easier to understand, imagine a person as a system taken as the starting point.

Environment and Behavior

A person’s environment includes objects, people, places, dates, deadlines—everything that surrounds us. This is what we manipulate in our daily activities.

Behavior (actions) is the person’s actual activity. Since actions are performed on or with something (with something, somewhere, or at some time), this logical level inherently includes the lower level—environment.

Most workplace manipulation (orders from management, commands, instructions, etc.) occurs at these two logical levels. Requests and demands to do something, give something (or take something) also belong here.

Ultimately, our lives play out at the levels of behavior and environment. These levels are where all our goals boil down to (money, sex, pleasure, emotions, communication, learning something interesting).

That’s why most manipulations happen at these logical levels—they’re the simplest and most natural way to get what you want right away. However, for the same reason, manipulations at the behavior and environment levels are the most noticeable and, therefore, often meet resistance. That’s why hypnosis uses trance and distraction of conscious attention to bypass this resistance.

Capabilities and the Power of “Relativization”

It’s quite difficult to make suggestions solely at the behavioral level without the person noticing, unless they’re in a deep trance. That’s why Ericksonian hypnosis uses a technique called “relativization,” which operates from a higher logical level—the level of capabilities. The technique is almost laughably simple but incredibly effective because it works from a higher logical level.

The essence of relativization is to offer possibilities to perform an action instead of direct commands. For example, instead of saying, “Go into trance right now,” the hypnotist says, “You can go into trance right now.” It’s a kind of permission. And people are more likely to take advantage of permission than to follow a command! You can try this yourself.

Seriously, try using relativization for a day when communicating with people. Prepare a few phrases in advance. Start your sentence with “you can,” then give a detailed (as much as needed) description of what to do, with what, where, and when.

“You’ll be able to sign the contract as soon as we discuss all the details.” I’m not even suggesting it—I’m just saying it’s possible to do it right away!

This is the power of the logical level of capabilities over the level of behavior!

Why? Because of the same principle of “nesting”—the behavior level is a component of the capabilities level. After all, the possibility of an action can only be applied to an action. Or it might not be applied, and another possibility might be used instead. Then, a whole class of actions is closed off, and another class of actions is opened up.

The dependence of one logical level on another is similar to how a single finger depends on the hand, and a hand depends on the whole body.

Manipulations at the level of capabilities and possibilities are, in most cases, not consciously recognized. That’s what makes them effective. However, they are still directly connected to the behavioral level, and this connection limits the possibilities for manipulation. The behavior and environment levels represent our experience (“We sold $10,000 worth of ads.”). The capabilities level is more about assumptions about possible experiences, built in our minds based on what we’ve lived through, seen, or heard (“You’re capable of selling $20,000 worth of ads”). And although assumptions about experience are not the same as the experience itself, the assumed experience is still referenced. That’s why it’s quite difficult to make manipulation at the capabilities level completely hidden.

Beliefs, Identity, and Mission: The Highest Levels of Manipulation

This is where the logical levels of beliefs, identity, and mission come to the rescue! From a manipulation standpoint, these are a goldmine. All of humanity’s greatest manipulations are built at these logical levels—from raising children (“what’s bad, and why it’s good when you grow up,” and “why you can’t do this, but dad can”) to advertising, the October Revolution and its 70-year aftermath, and even the laughably silly but incredibly profitable Y2K computer bug.

The beauty of beliefs is that, despite their apparent reality and certainty (“You can buy anything with money. Even the most beautiful women, a new kidney, and public respect.”), they are, in most cases, completely disconnected from real experience (“But you can’t buy an athletic body like John’s, a silver tongue like Peter’s, or a quick mind like Fred’s, as life shows. You have to learn and train for that yourself.”).

But people aren’t in the habit of looking at things from at least two points of view (and even if they are, they rarely use it). That’s why beliefs are such fertile ground for manipulation.

By nature, beliefs help people conveniently structure and systematize accumulated experience, managing classes of possibilities (this is dangerous, this is better done this way, this is useful for that). But people are not perfect in their behavior, and often act unconsciously. So, as they age (by about 18), a huge number of these “crutches” for experience end up so far from their original support point that people start taking them as the real foundation, living as if they were true, without even checking. (Although checking wouldn’t help much with only one point of view!)

But there are people who know where the “crutch” is and where the real support is. At some point, they learned to see and distinguish this, and then to use it. These are political technologists, advertisers, PR specialists, leaders of various movements, some religious gurus, professional marketers, and everyone else who skillfully manipulates mass (or individual) consciousness, creating culture and rules that determine how people live, what they do, and who and what they pay for. Sometimes they’re professionals serving the authorities, sometimes natural leaders or “gray cardinals,” sometimes just businesspeople living freely for their own pleasure. These are people who know where the line is between the reality we live in and the actual reality around us. And these are people who know how to create our “reality” from the building blocks of our own beliefs. Until we learn to juggle beliefs and values at even a quarter of their skill, all we can do is watch their game in fascination and dance to their tune. Or develop ourselves.

Identity and Mission

The logical level of identity, or personal uniqueness (which is essentially the same thing), is just beliefs about the person as a whole. (Or about an organization, if we’re looking at a company as a system.) Manipulation at this level is even tougher and more hidden. You’ve probably used it unconsciously more than once (“What, you’re not a man if you can’t fix the faucet at home?” “Why are you pouring so little, are you not Russian?”). It’s another thing to use it consciously—if, of course, you don’t want to be at the beck and call of those who can.

Did you notice the example of its use in the previous two sentences?

The final logical level is the level of mission. This is the meaning of a person’s life or even of all humanity. In marketing, it’s the main function of a company in the market. All ideological manipulations are built at the mission level, like communism “for the bright future” or religious “for the salvation of the soul.” The mission level stands above the level of personality because it’s a goal that unites more than just the interests or even the life of one person. That’s why people are willing to give up their lives for a worthy (for example, sacred) mission. It’s a powerful thing, though in essence, it’s just beliefs, but in a systemic bundle.

Conclusion

As you can see, manipulation at higher logical levels is much more effective than simple manipulation at the “make them do it” level. You can force someone with a gun or blackmail, but manipulating beliefs has its own aesthetic beauty. It’s an art. The art of persuasion.