A Tale of Two Legacies Behind Mass Manipulation: From Commercial PR to Totalitarian Propaganda
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Level 5 by design analogy; narrative historical and conceptual analysis with no empirical human data.
OpenAlex W4417479162 · doi:10.33423/jop.v25i4.8019
What was done
This was a conceptual and historical analysis comparing the psychological mechanisms used by Edward Bernays in commercial public relations ("engineering of consent") with their adaptation by Joseph Goebbels for political propaganda and totalitarian control.
What was found
The abstract reports no empirical data or quantitative findings. It presents a narrative synthesis detailing how both figures utilized unconscious emotional drivers, media channels, and symbolic events to shape collective behavior and public opinion.
Why it matters
The paper frames the shared psychological lineage between corporate public relations and totalitarian propaganda, raising ethical concerns for organizational psychology regarding communication strategies designed to manipulate mass attitudes.
Limits
This is a non-empirical, narrative historical commentary without experimental design, quantitative metrics, or systematic review methodology. No original human data were collected or analyzed.
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