Resistance To Persuasion, Or How To Avoid Manipulation

Resistance to persuasion is an attitude intended to prevent a person from being a victim of deception or manipulation. This concept has become relevant in the world due to the large amount of information that a person receives, much of which lacks validity or tries to mold a false consciousness of reality.

Almost everyone has been exposed at some time to news or information that they have believed to be true, without being it. Ideas on which one or more schemes can be established that later will not be easily detached ; as a rule, it will take a fair amount of evidence to the contrary for you to discard them.

Such false information, and especially false information structures, are not a game. Their effect is not only to believe in false data, but they can cause  serious distortions in the perception  of what happens, what exists and what does not exist. That’s where persuasion resistance comes into play.

Resistance to persuasion

People are very vulnerable to influence for a variety of reasons. There are a number of cognitive biases and one of them manifests itself in the so-called “third person effect”. This makes most people think that others are influenced, but not them – a phenomenon that occurs with most of the characteristics that we consider a defect.

In other words, they rely too much on their own autonomy of thought. However, much of what people believe has not come from their own analysis and verification, but from the transmission of others. Many times those others are not the most reliable source.

It is clear that it is impossible to verify all information that comes to us. However, this limitation should not lead to the opposite extreme : to believe in anything that is said because many say it, or because it is said by someone who apparently has authority, or for similar reasons. Resistance to persuasion is that attitude that allows the necessary filters to be made in all this.

Mechanisms of resistance to persuasion

Generally speaking, the more knowledge a person has about a topic, the less manipulable they are in that area. Therefore, a first way of resisting persuasion is to document oneself, to illustrate oneself on a subject, if possible from several perspectives.

Additionally, there are other mechanisms that allow to develop this resistance to persuasion. The following are three of them.

Contrast the information

This mechanism is based on what has come to be called the “inoculation theory. ” This was proposed by McGuire and compares false information with a virus and resistance to persuasion with a vaccine. As is known, a traditional vaccine introduces the same virus that harms, but very limited in its ability to harm.

In turn, what the vaccine does is prepare the immune system to fight the virus. Moving this to the realm of information and belief, McGuire proposes that one’s vision must be “exposed” or confronted.

That is, not to lose the opportunity to take what is thought or believed to the field of open debate with other ideas and beliefs. If that body of ideas, which would come to be the immune system proves to be solid, it means that there is immunity. If you do not have it, exposure to the virus, that is, false information, will operate as a way to immunize yourself.

Be on the lookout for distracting factors

Distraction usually comes wrapped in a very attractive package. What reveals the fact that it is not something relevant, but an accessory, if not a smokescreen, is the power of its effect and the arguments that support it.

Regarding the effect, the question is: what observable consequences does this have for me or for society? Trivial consequences speak of a distracting effect. Uncommon and very shocking consequences suggest a lie.

As for the arguments that support information, what must be evaluated is the degree of coherence they have in themselves. It should also be checked for consistency with what is already known or established. A low consistency, in both cases, tells us about distractions or lies.

Activate prevention

As a general rule, it is advisable to be attentive  to information that radically changes the way you see reality. That they are very disruptive does not mean that they are false, but there is a tendency to lie through exotic or bizarre versions of reality.

The novelty is accompanied by doubts, but also by evidence and a minimum level of consensus. A theory that no scientist supports will always be suspect. Also those that are subscribed by the name of a scientist with no experience in the subject.

Resistance to persuasion is a way of defending autonomy against attempts to manipulate consciousness, which are many today. It is a healthy attitude that, in addition, makes us shuffle more solid ideas.