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Emotional Regulation as an Overlooked Dimension of Information Manipulation Resilience
Updated: 2 days ago
In her article, Tamara Klevova identifies a gap in influence defense and counter-FIMI practice: existing approaches emphasize awareness and critical-thinking skills but give too little attention to crucial emotion-based prerequisites.
According to Klevova, recognizing a manipulation technique does not guarantee that someone can apply what they have learned, when experiencing fear, anger, or grief. Klevova argues that this gap reflects the effects of emotional pressure on judgment, rather than a failure to learn the relevant skills.
Drawing on neuroscience and psychology, the article explains how strong emotions can impair deliberate evaluation and increase reliance on rapid, automatic responses. Malign influence operations can exploit this vulnerability through emotionally charged content that spreads widely online. Although some frameworks identify emotional manipulation as a tactic, they offer limited guidance on helping audiences manage their reactions.
Klevova therefore proposes “emotional readiness” as a measurable, trainable component of cognitive and societal resilience. She recommends teaching people to recognize content designed to provoke emotion, introducing brief emotional check-ins before fact-checking exercises, and recording the emotions targeted by hostile influence campaigns in threat analysis.
Author: Tamara Klevova (The author’s name has been changed at their request to protect their privacy. The author’s identity has been verified by the CRC’s editorial board)
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