Description
This is the dissonance felt when a slave lack sufficient external justification for having resisted a desired activity or object. This often results in her devaluing the forbidden thing.
Research
Aronson and Carlsmith (1963) threatened children with either mild or severe punishment if they played with favored toys. None of them played with toys, even when left alone with them. Afterwards the children who had only been mildly threatened favored the toys less. Lacking a strong external justification, they had made internal attributions that they actually did not like the toys so much.
Example
Company disciplinary systems often start with a weak dissuasion. This is all that most people need. Before long they not only follow but believe the company line. In slave training, start with weak but consistent dissuasion, You will need a steady stream of dissusions for your slave to keep her in check. Soon she will start to believe your rules and protocols as her own.
So what?
Using it
To stop someone doing something, don’t threaten massive punishment. Threaten only just enough (or use some other minimal technique) to stop them for a while. Eventually, they will give up voluntarily.
See also
References
Inoculation
Description
Like in medicine, this is using a weak dose of a counter-argument to make a person resistant to it.
Inoculation works because it exposes people to arguments, making them think about and rehearse opposing arguments. When they hear the arguments again, even stronger versions, they pay less attention to them, especially if they believe their opposing argument is stronger.
There are three stages to inoculation:
- Warning: Tell the person that it is about to happen so they are forced to get ready.
- Weak attack: Attack them, but weakly so they can easily resist.
- Active defending: The person must actively defend them self (and find it relatively easy to do so).
Example
My child was being verbally abused at school. I play-acted with him the situation. I played the abuser, but with weak and stupid insults. He played himself, laughing them off. When he got to school, he found verbal abuse easy to dismiss.
So what?
Using it
After persuading someone, inoculate them to prevent anyone else later undoing your good work. Tell them about people who will try to persuade them otherwise and help them develop counter-arguments.
Defending
Just because an argument works against something, it does not mean it is valid in other, similar circumstances.
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