Get People to Do What You Want

Social desires drive people because they want to stand out and to belong.

Like chimps, humans are social animals who need to belong to compatible groups and distinguish themselves as exceptional, or alpha, members. In 1943, psychologist Abraham Maslow wrote about the hierarchy of human needs, plotting them on a pyramid. At the bottom, he put survival and security-related needs, such as food and water. Socially dependent needs for love, belonging, esteem and self-actualization sit above survival needs.

Army interrogators prey on a subject’s socially dependent needs. To do the same, assume that the person you are questioning hasn’t satisfied all of his or her needs for self-actualization. Target the person’s need for self-realization or self-esteem. You can weaken your subjects by attacking their sense of belonging or build them up by enhancing it.

Interrogators gain leverage by manipulating other people’s self-image.

People are either “typical, supertypical” or “subtypical.” Typical people demonstrate qualities and behave in ways that other people in their social ...