Manipulation of consciousness and manipulation of behavior: a socio-philosophical analysis

Annotation

In modern socio-humanitarian literature, there is a large number of studies on manipulation of consciousness. Manipulation of the behavior of social groups and institutions seems to us an interesting and insufficiently studied subject in social and political philosophy. The purpose of the article is to identify the differences and features of manipulation of consciousness and manipulation of behavior, to analyze the factors that increase the effectiveness of manipulation of consciousness and behavior. Both consciousness and human behavior are the totality and the result of social relations. The article analyzes features of activity and changes in consciousness. The connection between consciousness and behavior is explicated. Barriers between consciousness and behavior are analyzed. Socialization forms consciousness, activity determines behavioral patterns and perceptual schemes, which in turn mediate subsequent behavior. Manipulation of consciousness does not lead to an unambiguous change in behavior. For effective manipulation of behavior it is necessary to be involved in the training process, which will form new perceptual schemes and behavioral patterns. Involving an individual in activities according to new schemes causes resistance due to the need to conserve energy and the unwillingness to spend resources on learning new things. There are two ways of such involvement, creating favorable conditions for social manipulation. The first soft one is “marketing temptation”. The second is the destruction or discrediting of established behavioral patterns and perceptual schemes in the mind. This happens as a result of changing social conditions. The way of life, formed in certain social conditions, determines both consciousness and behavior of a person. Changing of social relations and social structure change the way of life and is a necessary condition for changing mental and behavioral activities, which in turn provide the possibility of manipulating social behavior.

Keywords

• socialization
• social conditions
• public relations
• manipulation of consciousness
• behavior manipulation
• lifestyle
• behavior patterns
• perceptual patterns
• principle of unity of consciousness and activity
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