Brainwashing: coercive persuasion techniques

There are several films that tell us about brainwashing, such as those that show how the communists in Vietnam brainwashed American soldiers. However, far from the dramatization of these films, Brainwashing is better understood if we call it coercive persuasion., which consists of influencing, forcing. This type of persuasion is the strongest and most invasive, generally practiced by sects, totalitarian states, terrorist organizations and kidnappers, among others.

Brainwashing a person, or more correctly, exercising coercive persuasion, is not easy. For an individual to change their entire belief system, their way of thinking, feeling and acting, several techniques must be used. These coercive persuasion techniques can be divided into four types: environmental techniques, emotional techniques, cognitive techniques and those that induce dissociative states.

Environmental techniques

These types of techniques intervene on the environment or environment of the subject, controlling or manipulating it. Its task is to weaken resistance to facilitate persuasion. Some of the environmental coercive persuasion techniques are set out below:

Isolation: serves to make persuasion more effective and consists of encapsulating the subject from the psychic, social and physical world. In other words, isolate it completely.Information control: The control and manipulation of information constitutes a form of isolation. With less information, the consequence will be that you have fewer alternatives when choosing and less critical thinking.Creation of a state of existential dependence: consists of making a person’s existence dependent on another person, usually a leader. Its practice consists of satisfying primary and secondary needs until creating total dependence.Psychophysical weakening: a physical weakening is associated with a psychological weakening, which, in turn, leads to a weakening of the ability to resist persuasion techniques.

Emotional techniques

Motivations are emotionally conditioned, so If emotions can be influenced, they will influence motivations and, in turn, behaviors.. Below are two emotional coercive persuasion techniques:

emotional activation of joy: consists of moving pleasantly. It is used to attract followers, to capture them.Emotional activation of fear, guilt and anxiety: Through the use of rewards and punishments, emotional responses of fear, guilt and anxiety are established. These emotions foster dependency and submission.

Cognitive techniques

These types of coercive persuasion techniques are mediated by the previous techniques. A physically weakened subject with a feeling of guilt is perfect for cognitive persuasion. Some of these techniques are described below:

Denigration of critical thinking: consists of showing the invalidity of following your own thoughts. Every time they suffer, they are repressed or denigrated.Use of lies and deception: consists of distorting reality and information through concealment, lying or deception.Demand for condescension: establishing group thinking or conforming to what the group decides is another strategy. In other words, develop a habit of compliance and submission.Identification with the group: identity has to become collective so that each individual loses his personality and adopts that of the group. This pressure can cause individuals to deindividualize, losing those identity factors that distinguish them.Attention control: By manipulating the presentation of stimuli, attention to points of persuasion can be controlled.Control over language: By controlling language you can reduce freedom. By deleting words you can avoid certain questions or evaluations.Alteration of sources of authority: Once all of a person’s principles of authority have been torn down, total authority is exposed. This authority figure collects all the power and the others are subject to them.

Techniques for inducing dissociative states

Dissociation corresponds to trance states that arise from the intensification of an experience. These states lead to momentary loss of consciousness and identity, and are more likely in totalitarian environments. Furthermore, these states of consciousness make adepts more vulnerable, so they can be directed by limiting the possible options and reducing their ability to evaluate them.

In short, coercive persuasion, also known as brainwashing, consists of manipulating the environment to weaken the subjects. From there, heCognitive and emotional persuasion will change the way you think and feel to finally take you to trance states in which it is easier to persuade.

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