A masterclass in human manipulation

TV: The Traitors
BBC

In December 2022, a TV gameshow, The Traitors, gripped the nation. A modern twist on wink murder, 22 strangers arrived at a Scottish castle for two weeks of fun and games to build up a cash prize, with three of the players being secretly chosen as Traitors. Their role? Simple – murder (eliminate) their fellow game players who were not Traitors – the Faithfuls. The Faithfuls' role was to identify and eliminate traitors from the game, at the end of which, either surviving Traitors or surviving Faithfuls win the accumulated cash prize. Over 12 episodes, players offered a masterclass in behavioural manipulation, social dynamics, and many psychological phenomena. 

Even those without a psychology background will analyse and question players' behaviour, trying to guess their next moves by employing predictable psychological principles.

In an interesting twist, players were introduced to each other (and viewers) before being labelled as a Faithful or a Traitor, allowing viewers to make first impressions and players to form connections with each other before the game truly began. Rapidly, viewers witnessed a series of psychological phenomena play out, one of the most obvious being players' adoption of the characteristics they associated with their labelled roles. They also formed trust circles based on stereotypes and subsequently looked for behavioural signs to justify their beliefs in another player as a Faithful or Traitor. For example, the youngest and most energetic of the group were perceived by other players to be strong and physically able, whilst a 54-year-old female was viewed as a trustworthy mother figure. Agility and ability were quickly characterised as Traitor characteristics, whilst being trustworthy was associated with being a Faithful – the words chosen as labels (traitors and faithfuls) also likely carrying preconceived notions of how those characters would behave. This was also illustrated by a 73-year-old female being seen as a grandmother who just couldn't be a Traitor, regardless of her demonstrations of physical strength, a trait initially associated with Traitors. These notions of stereotyping, along with changing responses to situational demands, played out in challenges, within armoury tasks where challenge winners further competed for a protective shield of immunity, and most evidently at the daily elimination round table.

It was during discussions at this table that social psychological and cognitive biases came to the fore. One player, Maddy, provided repeated examples of a confirmation bias by focusing others' Traitor suspicions on a given player and then evoking conformity by showing others how to interpret everything the suspect did as evidence of traitor-ness. The benefit of strong leadership styles was clear to see, especially for those labelled trustworthy, when they were afforded blind trust, which led to them verbally coercing other players to a) believe they were Faithfuls, and b) accuse players of being Traitors. In doing so, they provided a demonstration of cognitive and behavioural shifts through classic layers of obedience, compliance, and, ultimately behavioural, if not internalised conformity in the hope of eliminating traitors. A rare opportunity to witness this coerciveness being championed in the name of entertainment, when these behaviours would typically be viewed harshly in real world settings and relationships.

Sitting on the edge of your seat, possibly shouting at the TV, and engrossing yourself in social media debates during and after watching the Traitors, one thing is a given: Even those without a psychology background will analyse and question players' behaviour, trying to guess their next moves by employing predictable psychological principles, leading themselves to wonder just how far the average human being would go in the name of financial gain.   

About the author

Reviewed by Dr Ashleigh Johnstone, Arden University and Dr Alison Attrill-Smith, University of Wolverhampton.