Lecture on emotional manipulation

The pragmatics of emotional manipulation in cases of gender-based violence

Guest lecturer: Victoria Guillen Nieto, the author of "The Language of Harassment"

In psychology, ‛manipulation' is an attempt to subtly or deceitfully influence or control another person’s behaviour, thoughts, or emotions. Emotional manipulation is a common and powerful form of this, particularly in instances of gender-based violence. It involves leveraging a person’s emotions to sway their behaviour or decisions. For example, the manipulator might appeal to the target victim’s feelings to persuade them to undertake actions they would not normally consider. Emotional manipulation can take many forms, including guilt manipulation, victimhood, or emotional blackmail.

Emotional manipulation has not garnered considerable attention as a scientific subject in linguistic research.(...) Victoria Guillen Nieto argues that emotional manipulation is a communicative strategy whereby a speaker (the manipulator) aims to make the addressee (the target victim) perform action p by stating a proposition (a distractor proposition) that appeals to their emotions while not wishing to be held accountable for communicating p. Hence, in emotional manipulation, the speaker’s primary intention is covert and must be conveyed implicitly and indirectly.