Psychological manipulation is when mind games are used to control a relationship. There's a secondary goal too: to undermine, confuse and bring down the targeted person. These tactics sit at the core of emotionally abusive relationships — and of bullying behaviour.
Some examples of mind games in relationships include playing hard to get, being mean for no reason, leading someone on, or controlling attitudes. These are some of the common signs of mind games in relationships.
Manipulative play refers to activities where children move, order, turn or screw items to make them fit.
People who manipulate others attack their mental and emotional sides to get what they want. The person manipulating — called the manipulator — seeks to create an imbalance of power, and take advantage of a victim to get power, control, benefits, and/or privileges at the expense of the victim.
While most people engage in manipulation from time to time, a chronic pattern of manipulation can indicate an underlying mental health concern. Manipulation is particularly common with personality disorder diagnoses such as borderline personality (BPD) and narcissistic personality (NPD).
People manipulate others to get what they want. This type of behavior may have a number of causes including interpersonal dynamics, personality characteristics, a dysfunctional upbringing, attachment issues, or certain mental health conditions.
Manipulative people tend to sway personal opinions, always see their side of the situation, and may never let you have your own opinion because they are always pushing theirs. These toxic individuals tend to play the victim, never taking responsibility for their actions or any actions for that matter.
“I didn't say/do that” or “It wasn't my idea, it was yours” When things don't go too well, manipulators put all the blame on you: They didn't even mention that subject. You did not understand them.
Manipulation is generally considered a dishonest form of social influence as it is used at the expense of others. Manipulative tendencies may derive from personality disorders such as borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, or antisocial personality disorder.
Ask questions that really put their manipulative language under a microscope, so they're forced to take accountability for their actions. For instance, you can say something like, “Do I have a say in this decision?” or “Are you asking my permission or just telling me?”
However, ongoing mind games after a relationship is established, are a red flag that shouldn't be ignored. Being on the receiving end of them is far but fun and is an indication that your partner doesn't respect you enough to be clear and direct about their intentions with you.
Emotional manipulation occurs when a manipulative person seeks power over someone else and employs dishonest or exploitive strategies to gain it. Unlike people in healthy relationships, which demonstrate reciprocity and cooperation, an emotional manipulator looks to use, control, or even victimize someone else.
Is it best to ignore a manipulator? Yes, you should ignore your manipulator and not react to everything they are saying. They have studied your triggers and expect you to respond to their bait. If you continue ignoring them, they will eventually come around or go away from your life.
They are afraid of vulnerability. Manipulators seldom express their needs, desires, or true feelings. They seek out the vulnerabilities in others in order to take advantage of them for their own benefits and deflect their true motives. They have no ability to love, empathy, guilt, remorse, or conscience.
Understanding this dynamic can help emotionally intelligent people spot narcissistic tendencies before investing in a relationship. There are four phases of narcissistic manipulation: attraction, feeling small, sabotage, and countering manipulation with kindness.
They undermine your faith in your grasp of reality. Emotional manipulators are incredibly skilled liars. They insist an incident didn't happen when it did, and they insist they did or said something when they didn't. The trouble is they're so good at it that you end up questioning your own sanity.