NationStates Jolt Archive

A friend tried it on me a few days ago, telling me to do the opposite of what he wanted me to do... and in retrospect, it's a bit amusing.

For some reason, I never fell for it. I never fell for people trying to get me on indirect insults either ("Oh, you wouldn't dare anyway"), but I've employed that strategy successfully on a large number of family members and friends.

It seems to work better on kids, but the main factor I think is just pure stubborness. If you refuse to listen to one opinion, it's not very likely that you'll listen to the opposite, either, is it?

Do you sometimes fall for it? Or do you use it yourself?

It doesn't work with my kids :( they pick up on it super quick and do the exact opposite of what you were trying to manipulate them into doing.

It works on other people's kids though like a charm.

It doesn't work with my kids :( they pick up on it super quick and do the exact opposite of what you were trying to manipulate them into doing.
so use double reverse psychology next time: try to dupe them into doing what you don't want them to do ;)

so use double reverse psychology next time: try to dupe them into doing what you don't want them to do ;)
I tried that too. :p The results were not as expected.:(

My kid is too small to understand it. She's still figuring out direct requests. Other people's kids, yes, I've been known to use it, but not very often. I'm more the type to say what I want, and let them know I expect them to do it, and without delay. I find most kids repond very well to being treated with respect and with high expectations. Even the most recalcitrent miscreants will usually respond to being treated as if they were respectable adults. I'm not sure why it works so well for me, it just does. Only when it fails do I try reverse psychology.

My mother would skip right from direct request to guilt trip, so I never had much experience with reverse psychology.

However, I am direct to a fault, so I neither try reverse psychology, nor does it work on me.

It works wonders while playing checkers.

My mother would skip right from direct request to guilt trip, so I never had much experience with reverse psychology.
my family was big on guilt trips, they never started at a direct request. It was never "Clean up your room"
it was always "Go ahead, watch TV, don't pick up your room, I will probably die soon anyway, all I ever asked was that you would pick up your stuff, but that's too much, no, I will just die unhappy, it's okay, I understand how much more important your happiness is than mine, it's fine really........."

those don't work on my kids either. My mom tried once "don't worry about putting your dish in the sink, I will do it later, after my feet quit hurting, it's not enough that I feed you, I have to put up your dishes too, it's okay I know that your happiness is more important than my health"
to which my kid says "okay, I was going to do it, but if you really want to...." and then turned back to the TV.;)

Oh, I hate fucking guilt trips. My mom does those all the fucking time. argh.