PSYCHOMANIPULATION - Tomasz Witkowski

of this phase, the manipulative technique has been formulated as a rational and precise type of
interactive behaviour – and that is the end of the role of the researcher.
Another pre-conception which many people have about manipulation goes something
like this: nobody is able to manipulate me. It is a prejudice which I have often encountered. I
once had an experience which clearly demonstrates the falsity of this conviction: a government
institution responsible for inspecting companies commissioned me to run a training course for its
inspectors, concerning psychological methods of increasing the effectiveness of their work. The
choice of the detailed content of the course was left to me. It had emerged from previous
conversations with the inspectors that they were often exposed to strong influences from the
persons under their supervision, and therefore I felt it would be useful to acquaint them with the
problems of manipulation, so that they could protect themselves more effectively from various
forms of pressure from others. However, during the course, I encountered considerable
resistance from the participants. According to them: - suspicion is in our blood. We were brought
up not to believe anybody. Nobody can manipulate us. You can go and talk about it to students,
not to us. We have to deal with it every day at work, people are always trying to manipulate us,
but we’re completely immune to it. I had often encountered similar claims of immunity, most of
which turned out to be unfounded. Nevertheless, I began to wonder if it might not be true in this
case. I thought that this group might be an exception, as a result of the exceptional nature of their
work. I decided to perform an experiment. On the morning of the second day (it was a two-day
course) I gave them a fairly simple task. It was an exercise involving a certain amount of
emotion, due to the pressure of time, and the desire to perform well in relation to others in order
to have a positive opinion of oneself. These two aspects resulted in the participants working
more quickly and automatically. They began to perform commands which, in a normal situation,
without pressure, they would have ignored. I must admit that when I gave them the instructions
for the exercise, I doubted that the manipulation which I had prepared would succeed. To my
amazement, all the inspectors – without exception – began to perform the foolish commands I
had given them! Since then I have been strongly disinclined to believe anyone who claimed not
to be vulnerable to manipulation.
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