Introduction
In human communication, people use varied communication strategies as a way of interaction. These communication practices change from one historical context to another mainly due to scientific and educational advancements. Human communication is vital as far as coexistence is concerned.
Both psychologists and communication experts do agree that human communication sometimes involves three elements, which include persuasion, manipulation, and seduction. Unlike other animals, human beings communicate verbally. In essence, human communication is a state where one mind influences a certain environment drawing another mind into word exchange or certain adoptions.
A long time ago, in ancient Greece, philosophers identified communication as a submission towards somebody’s feelings. Thus, to them, communication brought all societal members together forming hierarchical powers within the community. However, this was not a genuine verbal human communication simply because; these people communicated for coercion and not a conviction.
To achieve effective human communication, the behavior and attitude of a human being ought to change. Nonetheless, these traits do not bring conviction, but rather coercion. Thus, human communication must result from peer group influence and sometimes one’s sovereignty.
These two traits through persuasion, manipulation, and seduction experienced through language, lead to human communication. The paper will examine seduction, manipulation, and persuasion in human communication. (Seiter & Gass 2004, pp.4-16).
Persuasion
In human communication, persuasion is an art employed by an individual towards others to convince them on a certain issue. Persuasion involves the use of language to modify somebody’s behavior and attitude towards something. In this case, someone can exchange personal views to others and if convinced, these people can take them to be personal. What really happens here is that the feelings of other people get conviction either through experiences or through historical contexts.
However, to convince people, one must have a good connection with them and besides, a very powerful convincing language. The good connection might imply that an individual is a no stranger and the people to receive the information are aware of what is happening. Thus, persuasion comprises of both conscious and unconscious communication modes. (The Persuasion and Influence Resource Center, 2009, Para. 1-8).
For example, consider a man at the restaurant. This man may demand attention from a waitress by using a soft language and other persuasive elements like body language. Consequently, the attitude and behavior of an individual can transform through conviction rather than redress hence, communication through persuasion. In modern business environments, people use language to convince minds to buy various goods and receive services.
This is persuasion as one get conviction first in the mind and then takes an appealing step. (Cacioppo, Petty, & Quintanar, 1982, pp.625-634). Persuasive techniques used in modern-day communication include propaganda.
Politicians use propaganda to sell their policies to people-appeal to public attention. In addition to this, business personalities apply repetition tactics to persuade people to buy their commodities. Notably, persuasion attracts emotions based on logicalness and consciousness to create communication between human beings. (Seiter & Gass 2004, pp.23-57).
Manipulation
Manipulation an art of inducing people to think, act and comply with one’s demands without thinking for their own in the first place. Many at times, people consider it an unfair means hence a social oddball. Persuasive techniques like arguments and discussions can lead to oppression-manipulation. For example, on earth live both the rich and the poor.
A poor person might demand some money from a rich person. However, the rich man knows very well that the poor man cannot afford to pay back hence refuses to give in. Nevertheless, if the poor person goes a step further in showing humility and due respect, the rich man might decide to give the money; manipulation. Manipulation unlike persuasion, invoke personal programming perceptions and thinking stereotypes.
Therefore, manipulative tactics can abhor the conscious mind rich in education, culture, and liberty into an unimaginative program triggered easily by even simple languages. Educated human beings can take this as an opportunity to retrieve their tactics into the unconsciousness of other uneducated human beings.
Perhaps the difference between manipulation and persuasion is that, in manipulation, the mind receptors are ready to submit to the manipulator, unlike persuasion where one needs a convincing language to create a communication relationship. Most business enterprise firms and political parties apply manipulation as a technique in human communication. (Cialdini, 2001, pp. 9-12).
Seduction
Seduction is an art of beguiling a person into something. In sociology, seduction primarily implies, enticing somebody into sexual behaviors of course through communication. Many at times, seduction is the opposite of manipulation. The desires of human beings lead to seduction. Therefore, one person can be an object of desire hence seduction. Unlike manipulation and persuasion, seduction is happiness oriented.
In seduction, sign language is dominant and hardly do natural features appear just like in manipulation. Interestingly, like in commercials adverts and movie films, seduction has one disadvantage.
It vows to certain things that it cannot fulfill and this happens without the seducer feeling tired or getting bored. In modern society, human communication is largely by seduction be either in oral, written advertisements or in the movie industry as it seems to be the most effective mean to draw people into certain views. (Baudrillard, 1990, pp.3-26).
Conclusion
Seduction, persuasion, and manipulation are human communication strategies. Each of these has its own mechanism through which communication takes place in human beings. Both seduction and manipulation use the power of language from the speaker as a natural object to create convection. Therefore, these two techniques are conscious as they pose convincing modulators that invoke judgment.
In seduction, however, the mind is ready for language conviction for pleasure and happiness. Though it promises unachievable things, both the victim and the seducer end up being happy and satisfied. Indeed, these three communication imperatives induce ideological concepts necessary in theoretical and practical human communication.
Reference List
Baudrillard, J. (1990). Seduction. Montreal: New World Perspectives.
Cacioppo, J., Petty, R., & Quintanar, L. (1982). Individual differences in relative hemispheric alpha abundance and cognitive responses to persuasive communications. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, 625-634.
Cialdini, R. (2001). Influence, Science and Practice. (4th edition). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Seiter, J., & Gass, R. (2004). Perspectives on Persuasion, Social Influence, and Compliance Gaining. Boston, Massachusetts: Pearson Education.
The Persuasion and Influence Resource Center. (2009). Persuasion, body language and Neuro-linguistic (NLP) secrets: What is Persuasion? Really? Web.