Psychological Pressure: Don’t Let Yourself Be Pushed Around

Do you feel like you’re often under psychological pressure? If you’re a calm and confident person, you might want to say that you rarely encounter it. But think again! There are many different methods of influence, and often the “victim” doesn’t even realize they’ve just been pressured. Yet, this can have a huge impact on your life! If you want to avoid falling into this trap, read our article and use this knowledge for your own psychological self-defense.

Types of Psychological Pressure

Psychological pressure is the act of influencing others to change their beliefs, opinions, judgments, or decisions. It might seem like only strong, results-driven people use it, but that’s not true. A truly confident person acts openly and directly, not by making others uncomfortable through indirect means. There are many types of psychological pressure you’ve probably encountered in your life:

1. Coercion – This is direct, overt pressure on another person.
   It’s only used when there’s some kind of power involved—otherwise, no one would comply. This power could be physical strength, authority, money, or information. The person being coerced is aware of what’s happening—unlike with manipulation. You can try to defend yourself by hinting to the “pressurer” that they’re being aggressive—some people don’t like to admit this. However, if the person isn’t bothered by it, it’s very hard to resist this kind of pressure.
2. Humiliation
   Another form of psychological pressure, where the aggressor tries to “crush” the victim morally. In this situation, you might hear a lot of unpleasant things about yourself: that you’re stupid, ugly, clumsy, untalented, disorganized, and so on. When you’re in a state of psychological confusion, you lose control of the situation, making it easy for someone to pressure you: “Can’t you at least do this?” The idea is that, in your right mind, you’d never agree, but your personal defense mechanisms and desire to prove your worth kick in. This tactic works mainly because of self-doubt.
3. Deflection
   This type of psychological pressure stands apart from the rest because it’s about wearing you down. When someone tries to pressure you and you want to clarify things, they start changing the subject or go on the defensive: “What are you talking about?” Or they ask why you’re always saying bad things about them. In this case, you need to catch every attempt to deflect and bring the conversation back: “We’ll talk about me later, right now we’re talking about you.” If you stay firm, there’s a chance the aggressor will back off.
4. Suggestion – This is a type of psychological influence where a person starts to uncritically “swallow” information imposed from outside.
   The person using this method must be an authority to their victim, or it won’t work. The extreme form of suggestion is hypnosis, but it can also happen while awake, using voice, intonation, and other semi-conscious cues. Interestingly, some people are completely immune to suggestion—if you’re one of them, consider yourself lucky.
5. Persuasion
   The most rational type of psychological pressure. It appeals to reason and logic. That’s why it only works on people with a normal level of intelligence and thinking—others simply won’t understand what’s being said. Persuasive speech is usually logical, consistent, and evidence-based—if the victim’s mind detects any inconsistencies, the whole structure falls apart.

A Few Words About Manipulation

Manipulation deserves special attention, as it’s the most common form of psychological pressure. Its essence is to change another person’s behavior, worldview, or perception using hidden, forceful, or deceptive strategies.

Usually, the manipulator’s interests are served at the victim’s expense, which is why manipulation is considered unethical. Psychologists have different views on this. Some believe the ends sometimes justify the means—for example, when a doctor convinces a patient to take medication, or a mother asks her child, “Which hat will you wear—the red or the blue one?” without giving a real choice. Others believe people should be given all the information and their freedom of choice should be respected, even if we disagree with their decision.

In any case, manipulations that (even indirectly) benefit the “victim” are extremely rare. Usually, it’s about personal gain at someone else’s expense. Manipulation is a hidden form of psychological pressure—the person doesn’t understand the manipulator’s true motives or even that they’re being influenced. The benefit is entirely one-sided.

Manipulating people isn’t easy—it requires psychological knowledge, the ability to sense others’ weak spots, cold-bloodedness, and calculation. Someone who chooses to do this is usually quite ruthless and unconcerned about harming the victim.

Manipulators use various foundations to control people’s minds. Needs and desires have been used for psychological influence since ancient times. For example, the well-known Russian passion for “getting something for nothing”—the desire to get the most with the least effort—has made many scammers rich.

We all live by certain ideals and values, such as ideas about good and evil, right and wrong, and so on. By appealing to these, it’s easy for someone else to manipulate us. For example, giving money to a beggar seems like an act of kindness and compassion, even though it’s well known that most of these donations go to scammers.

Intellect and logic can also be manipulated. For example, using complex, lengthy schemes with lots of numbers and cause-and-effect relationships. Network marketing professionals often use this: “Invest just a few dollars, and you’ll get huge profits from these sources…” Usually, these schemes contain several logical errors that make you see the result the manipulator wants.

It’s also easy to manipulate someone’s irrational beliefs—ideas disconnected from reality that are formed over a lifetime and are hard to change. We all have plenty of these, for example:

• I must take responsibility for everything myself;
• If someone asks for help, I must help;
• I must always sympathize with and help others;
• Every favor must be repaid;
• Everyone around me must love me;

A manipulator only needs to “press” one of these “pain points,” and the person becomes almost completely compliant. The power of these beliefs is huge, and they can be used to make us do almost anything, no matter how unpleasant or inconvenient.

And the most fertile ground for manipulation is our feelings and emotions. When someone stirs your emotions, it’s very easy to use that for their own benefit. Women manipulate men, men manipulate women, parents manipulate children, and vice versa. For example: “You love me, so you won’t let me take public transportation.” This can go on forever, as emotions are an endless source of energy.

It’s worth noting that we’re manipulated almost everywhere—at work, in politics, advertising, relationships, and everyday life. If you see someone is manipulative in one area of life, they’re likely to do the same in others.

Methods of Psychological Influence

Psychological pressure can take many forms—it all depends on the aggressor’s imagination. However, everyone should know the main methods of manipulating consciousness in order to resist them. As the saying goes, forewarned is forearmed, and that’s especially true when it comes to psychological pressure. So, what do people who like to influence others’ minds use most often?

• Trance
  One of the oldest ways to influence the human psyche. It puts our consciousness into a special state where we lose the ability to analyze information and make conscious decisions. Our attention focuses on something that benefits the manipulator. Trance can be induced in many ways—most often with repetitive stimuli, like monotone speech, rapidly changing images, swinging a pendulum, and so on. In this state, the mind is especially vulnerable to pressure, so you can be verbally influenced or provoked into unwanted actions.
• Use of Trigger Words
  These are words that carry an important emotional meaning for the “victim.” Salespeople often use them to sell products: “Buy a more reliable TV, a more elegant coat, trendier shorts…” These words reflect qualities or values the “victim” wants to have.
• Mirroring
  This means copying certain aspects of your behavior: intonation, breathing rhythm, posture, manner of speaking, gaze, walk, and so on. It might seem harmless, but after mirroring comes direct psychological influence. Once you’re “on the same wavelength,” it’s much easier for the person to lead you in the direction they want.
• Appeal to Authority
  When you need to convince someone, it’s often enough to refer to an expert in the field, and that’s it—you’ve won. This is a classic form of psychological pressure. Strangely, authorities can be wrong too, but that’s usually ignored.
• Psychological “Games”
  These aren’t fun exercises, but rather manipulation schemes. There are many of them. For example, a well-behaved child occasionally does something outrageous—not just to be naughty, but because they want to be praised for good behavior, which adults see as normal. After misbehaving, the chance of getting praise increases, as parents notice the contrast. Another example: at work, a boss asks an employee to do a huge amount of work by tomorrow. The employee is shocked, so the boss says, “Okay, just do this part.” The employee happily agrees, even though they wouldn’t have agreed to it at first.
• Exchange of Favors
  This tactic involves someone doing you a small favor (which you may not have even asked for), then strongly hinting that you should return the favor.
• “I Dare You”
  We all know this tactic from childhood: you’re given a choice—either do what’s asked, or you’re “bad.” Everyone uses it: men, colleagues, bosses, friends, salespeople. Strangely, it works!
• Image of a Desired Future
  You’re shown a vivid picture of what will happen if you do what’s being asked. Our minds are wired to seek happiness and comfort, and we’ll do almost anything to achieve them. Any possible inconvenience is simply ignored.
• Scary Scenarios
  If the above methods don’t work, someone can show you how bad things will be if you don’t comply. For example, a boss says, “If you don’t finish the report, the company will be fined.” Fear wins, and you agree.

How to Resist Psychological Pressure

Surprisingly, it’s much easier to resist psychological pressure than to apply it. The first step is to realize you’re being manipulated. You might notice your partner using some of the tactics described above. Persistent focus on certain aspects of a problem while ignoring others should also alert you—as should generous promises that seem too good to be true. When you’re being manipulated, you might feel unexplained sympathy for the person, sudden mood swings, a sense of urgency, guilt, or obligation—all of these are signs you’re being manipulated.

Next, let your conversation partner know you’re onto them. You can question the logic or necessity of the actions or decisions they’re demanding. Then, suggest your own way of interacting—one that works for you.

Of course, the manipulator will resist. In this case, it helps to ask clarifying questions: what do they mean by the problem, what are the objective conditions and limitations, what should be done to improve the situation, and so on. Ask why the manipulator chose you and why now—this helps you see what the aggressor is trying to “press.”

And most importantly—just “use your head.” As mentioned above, the manipulator’s main goal is to activate your emotions and irrational beliefs, because those make you believe their words. But as soon as you step back and analyze the situation rationally, everything changes. The urgency disappears, and you no longer feel so guilty. So, if you think you’re being manipulated—start thinking hard. Always ask for time to think things over—this helps you step outside the situation and see it objectively.

In today’s world, it’s very important to know how to fight psychological pressure. We’ve almost stopped using weapons and physical force, so these are the main tools left to our “enemies.” To live happily, you need to recognize these tactics and protect yourself and your loved ones from such crude psychological interference.