5 Warning Sings Of Emotional Manipulation In Relationship

5 Warning Sings Of Emotional Manipulation In Relationship

Emotional manipulation occurs when a manipulative person seeks power over another person and uses dishonest or exploitative strategies to gain it. Unlike people in healthy relationships, which exhibit reciprocity and cooperation, an emotional manipulator looks to use, control, or even harm another person.

Manipulative people underhandedly try to influence someone to reach their ulterior motive. And manipulation involves control and coercion.

• Manipulate: Control or coerce another person by artful, unfair, or insidious (harmful but enticing) ways, especially to one’s own advantage.
• Control: Not allow another person to choose their own action or response by overpowering them in some way.
• Coerce: Achieve one’s own desires by bullying, restraining, or dominating another person.

Why People Manipulate 

.Manipulative people may have different reasons for their actions, but they usually fall into three basic categories or patterns: 

• Master: This person appears as the person in charge, and it is your job to do what they want without question - because, as they say, it is for your benefit. They tend to be opportunistic and easily angered. They are bullies. Force is their primary tactic - but they may also urge you to surrender with enchanting magic

• Savior: (enabler, rescuer). This person has done something for you and thinks that because he “saved” you (of anything), you owe him eternity to be grateful and he is expected to do things his way. To make you feel guilty and submissive, they usually use comments followed by reminders of the things they did for you. And like the master, the savior may also benefit from the phrase, it is in your best interest.

• Victim: This person is often overlooked as being manipulative because they are the poor person to me. Victims know there is a lot of power to appear weak. Yes, something bad could have happened to them - but their primary tactic is to use that as an excuse to get you to surrender to their desires and demands. No matter the style of the manipulator, their script is the same: They command the action you're supposed to take, and they're supposed to do what you want without holding back. If you notice this pattern in any of your interactions, you may be in an unhealthy relationship with a manipulative person.

Here are 5 Warning Sings of Emotional manipulation In Relationship

1- Gas lighting.

Gaslighting is one of the most successful forms of manipulation used by every skilled manipulator. By highlighting you, your manipulator is playing with your mind and confusing you, making you suspicious of your own mind. If your friend uses this emotional manipulation technique, he will always twist his words and yours and try to present a different reality than it really is. 

This guy won't always lie to you directly, but he will go overboard and deny that he said something, trying to convince you that you are fantasizing about things. Over time, his behavior exhausts you, so you start to doubt your awareness of reality and you end up believing everything this guy has to say.

2-Passive aggression.

In the case of passive aggression, the manipulator does not express negative feelings towards any person or problems with him. Instead, they find indirect ways to express their anger and undermine the other person. 

Often emotional manipulators agree to a project or action and then begin to look for aggressive, passive ways to let the other person know that they really don't want to do it. Specific passive aggressive techniques used by emotional manipulators include: 
Depression or cynicism Deliberate mistakes and procrastination Complaints that something has been underestimated or cheated Discontent and secret opposition

3- Distortion

 Another strategy used by emotionally manipulative people is to distort facts, materiality, or other information needed to accurately assess a situation. In some cases, the manipulator simply lies or pretends to be ignorant of something. The most subtle form of distortion is gas manipulation, a tactic in which the manipulator instills self-doubt in another person, causing him to question his rights, motives, or abilities. Gas lighting is a frequent problem in the workplace

4- Guilt tripping

One of the most effective forms of emotional manipulation is the use of guilt. Emotionally manipulative people use guilt as a tool to separate you from your convictions and make you feel bad for having any. Guilt is used to put the blame and responsibility back onto you instead of them for any of their wrong doings. When you request something of them and they don’t follow through, they will put guilt on you for having such expectations.

When you let them know that your feelings were hurt, they will put guilt on you for making them feel bad. There is no winning when one of the mechanisms in an emotionally manipulative relationship is the use of guilt. Learning to take responsibility for yourself and not adopt the emotional responsibility of another takes time. Let go of the guilt and watch the relationship change dramatically.

5- Victim Role

The other thing that most manipulators do is victim. Regardless of the situation and regardless of who caused it, the successful manipulator will always find a way to present himself as a victim. He will rarely take responsibility for his words and actions and will always try to blame you.

For them, they arebehaving perfectly and you are the bad guy who is constantly ruining the relationship between you. Even if he sometimes admits that he said or did something wrong, he will try to convince you that you were the one who pushed him to act this way, so everything is your fault. If you pay attention, you'll notice that this guy never apologized for anything he did. Instead, he will constantly try to justify himself and try to make you feel guilty about everything wrong in your relationship.

How to stop being manipulated

If you face occasional emotional manipulation at work or at home and cannot leave the situation, the following actions may help to counter emotionally manipulative tactics in the moment:

• Avoid people who engage in love-bombing
• Assert yourself and your boundaries out loud, even if it feels rude to do so
• Speak to others about the emotional manipulation and get their validation
• Take your time instead of being rushed into decisions you may regret
• Seek for a professional counseling or a support group.