Reverse Psychology

Hi,

This week’s email is about a social manipulation technique that people use in many situations.

The information here is from my article on this topic.

Here are the key practical points you should know:

• Reverse psychology is a manipulation technique that involves getting people to do something by supposedly discouraging it.

• This technique can take various forms, including forbidding a target behavior, questioning a person's ability to perform it, and encouraging its opposite.

• For example, a parent might use reverse psychology on their child by saying “you probably can't eat all this broccoli”.

• Reverse psychology works primarily because when people feel pressured to act a certain way, they sometimes do the opposite to assert their autonomy and feel in control.

• This technique can cause significant issues, especially when it harms relationships or leads people to engage in the undesirable behavior that it seemingly supports.

As always, I'm happy to hear your thoughts.

Have a great week,
Itamar