From Harriet Braiker's
The Manipulative Shift
(Pgs 124 – 125)
Generally, the promise of a major gain and/or threat of a major loss represents a kind of end point or goal in the relationship.
On the way to that goal – be it a gain or avoidance of a major loss – the manipulator controls his mark tightly with a smaller, more frequent, and more routine manipulations along the way. It is in the exercise of these frequent manipulations that the mark increasingly loses a sense of control, feels manipulated, is manipulated, and eventually becomes coerced and highly stressed. And if the promised gain never materializes, the mark also will correctly feel deceived, especially when she has been compliant with the demands put on her.
