Ethics and Influence (Eric Dodge)

Manipulation and influence are similar in many ways, but they differ in a few key areas. These differences are what make influencing people much more acceptable than manipulating people. I feel like the key difference between manipulation and influence is that when you manipulate someone you get them to do or feel something that they really do not want. Manipulation toys with someone's emotions and beliefs in order to achieve something that the person would never choose otherwise. Many times there are threats, or other unfavorable consequences associated with manipulation.

Influence is similar to manipulation in that many times it does involve bringing someone's emotions and other beliefs into the equation. But with influence, you try to convince someone that a certain choice or action is the best one for them. Influencing does not involve threatening people. Instead it involves showing them that the most favorable outcome will result from a specific course of action. Sometimes influence can be used for more unethical reasons, and this is when influence turns into manipulation. When someone is being influenced they still have the final say in what they will do. But when someone is being manipulated they lose that final say because their thoughts and ideas have been corrupted in some way by the manipulator.

In some situations it can become hard to distinguish between manipulation and influence. At work it is important to play the politics game, so that you can make allies and make sure not to upset the wrong people. But this is different than intentionally misleading people for your own personal gain. For me the line between influence and manipulation is the point where the person being influenced is no longer thinking for themself. As long as the person being influenced still makes his or her own decision at the end of the day, then it is completely ethical. But when that person's decision is severely affected by thoughts planted in their head by others, ethics become a concern.

One of the most important core values to me is that I do not want to make anyone do anything that they really do not want to do. So manipulating someone would be strongly against my core values. Despite this, I feel like I am pretty good at influencing people when I want them to see something in a different way. When I influence people I try to make them see a situation from a different point of view, and hope that this could start the process of changing their mind. I may try to use someone's emotions to help this process, but I never try to make someone do something that they do not think is a good idea themselves. As a result I feel like I stay true to my core values, even when I try to influence people to see things differently.