Brainwashing: Coercive Persuasion Techniques

There are several movies that talk about brainwashing, such as those that show how communists did it on American soldiers in Vietnam. However, away from these films drama, the  brain washing can be better understood if we call the coercive persuasion consisting of influence 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, it is necessary to use several techniques.

These coercive persuasion techniques can be divided into four types : those of the environmental type, those of the emotional type, those of the cognitive type and those that induce dissociative states.

Techniques for establishing brainwashing

Environmental type techniques

This type of technique intervenes in the subject’s surroundings or environment, controlling or manipulating it. Its purpose is to weaken resistance to facilitate persuasion. Some of the coercive persuasion techniques of the environmental type are as follows:

• Isolation : serves to make persuasion more effective and consists in isolating the subject from the psychic, social and physical world.
• Information control: the control and manipulation of information constitute a form of isolation. With less information, the consequence will be reduced alternatives when choosing and less critical thinking.

• Creation of a state of existential dependence : it consists in making one person’s existence dependent on another, usually a leader. Its practice involves satisfying primary and secondary needs until it creates total dependency.
• Weakening  psychophysical : a physical weakening is associated with a psychological weakness which, in turn, leads to a weakening of the resilience of persuasion techniques.

Emotional Type Techniques

Motivations are emotionally conditioned, so  when you manage to influence emotions, they will influence motivations and, consequently, behaviors. The following are two emotional-type coercive persuasion techniques:

• Emotional activation of joy : it consists in moving pleasantly. It is used to attract followers, to captivate 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 encourage dependency and submission.

Cognitive type techniques

This type of coercive persuasion technique is mediated by the above techniques. A physically debilitated subject with a sense of guilt is perfect for being subjected to cognitive persuasion. These are some of these techniques:

• Invalidation of critical thinking : consists in showing the invalidity of following your own thoughts. Every time they suffer, they are repressed or disqualified.
• Use of lies and deception : consists in distorting reality and information through concealment, lying or deception.

• Demand for Condescension : Establishing groupthink 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 be collective, so that each individual loses his/her personality and adopts that of the group. This pressure can make individuals de-individualize themselves, lose the identity factors that distinguish them.
• Control of attention : by manipulating the presentation of stimuli, one can control attention to points of persuasion.
• Control over language : controlling language can reduce freedom. By suppressing words, you can avoid certain questions or assessments.
• Altering sources of authority : once all of a person’s principles of authority are overturned, total authority is exposed. This authority figure assumes all power and others are subject to it.

Dissociative State Induction Techniques

Dissociation corresponds to trance states that arise from the intensification of an experience. These states lead to a momentary loss of consciousness and identity, and are more likely in totalitarian environments.

Furthermore, these states of consciousness transform the most vulnerable into adherents, so they can be influenced by limiting the possible options and reducing their ability to evaluate them.

In short, coercive persuasion, also known as brainwashing, is manipulating the environment to weaken individuals. From there,  cognitive and emotional persuasion will change the way you think and feel  to eventually lead to trance states where it is easier to persuade.