We talked about the “judge role” and the “judge frames” many times across this website.

And for good reasons: judges are central figures of power dynamics -the emotional side of power dynamics-.
Judges are relevant in all realms of human socialization, from general social dynamics to relationship power dynamics, to manipulation, to dating power dynamics.

Understanding the judge role and mastering judge frames is a crucial step towards your personal empowerment.

A Quick Recap

First, a quick recap on where and when we discussed judges:

• Women relationship control: most women control intimate relationships by holding the judge role. Most men naturally feel responsible for women’s happiness and well-being, and women reinforce the frame by directly or indirectly judging men as worthy/unworthy. 
• Covert aggression: a good chunk of covert aggression is based on sending out judgemental signals that “you’re not good enough”. An eye-roll, a headshake, looking away while speaking to someone, they all say: “you’re not good enough (for me)”
• Shit tests: shit tests are judge tools. It’s the judge, as the most powerful party, who sizes up others. A focus on passing those tests only confirms that frame (it’s better to address the issue at its roots instead, doing the judging yourself or changing the frame)
• Shame attacks: shame attacks are purely based on judge frames (ie.: you’re not good enough as a human being). Shame attacks can be covert, but can also be delivered as scathing, hyper-aggressive attacks to recruit the public opinion as a big judge
• A tool for abuse and control: at the extreme, the judge role becomes a tool for emotional abuse, quasi-total mind control, and behavior control (the abuse-based bond between the judge and judged at these extremes is an example of traumatic bonding)

Now let’s proceed with a definition.

What’s A Judge

The judge is defined as:

The judge is the individual who assesses other people’s worthiness, dispenses emotional punishments and rewards, and exercises power and influence over others through emotional control

The judge role has its roots in the parent role of transaction analysis (Harris, 1967).
The concept of “the judge” build on that original insight by adding “judge frames”, plus expanding its use cases to include manipulation, interpersonal power dynamics, as well as intra-personal dynamics.

The judge is usually the party with the most power in social relationships.
It operates mostly at an emotional level but, like any other expression of soft-power, it also overlaps with more obvious expressions of direct power and control, including physical power, financial power, official rank/authority, hierarchical status, etc.

As a matter of fact, albeit it operates at a mental level, a judge role is often enough to invert more direct expressions of power and control -including physical power-.
In simpler words: a less powerful individual assuming the judge role can control what would otherwise be more powerful individuals.

Who Are Judges (& Examples)

Judges are high-power roles that take many forms in life and socialization.

Here are some of the most common ones:

1. Mothers / Fathers

Obviously.

Mothers and fathers are the ultimate judge figures. 

Evolutionary psychology teaches us that, for their own survival, children come to life mentally predisposed to crave parent’s approval.
For survival reasons, children are hypersensitive to what their parents think and feel about them, which gives parents immense power over children.
That power can be misused and easily harm children.

Great parents provide a baseline of love and acceptance for their children.

Poor parents only provide love and emotional rewards when the child makes them feel good. For example, emotional rewards for good grades, being just like their parents, or making them proud for others to see -a sign of narcissism, also see the book “Will I Ever Be Good Enough“-.

And the worst parents never provide any love, but only parent and direct through anger, commands, and perennial disappointment -an example of an abusive judge-.

2. Mother / Father Figures

Mother and father figures have the same, and sometimes even more power than actual mothers and fathers.

That’s all the truer if:

• The biological mother/father was absent
• The biological mother/father was a poor parent
• The mother/father figure is high-value person you can look up to

Here is a great example of a father figure who was more powerful and influential than a biological parent:

Tyson: My joy was when I make Cuss D’amato happy 

In another documentary Tyson even says “I was madly in love with Cuss D’amato, I became totally in love with him, I became his slave”.

Cuss D’Amato was Tyson’s trainer, and he became a father figure for Tyson. Later, we will see that D’Amato was also an example of a positive judge role.

3. Older Brothers / Sisters

See Michael Jordan:

Brother: Get back in the house with your mom, boy, you’re never going to be anything
Michael: (commenting on video) when you go through it, it’s traumatic. Because I want that approval 

As we will see later, part of Jordan’s life and success has been driven by a judge-based self-motivation.
I believe Michale Jordan is a highly-sensitive person, who was also high in power. He was then able to turn the emotional pain of a negative judge into the motivation to win and dominate. 

4. Intimate Partners

Intimate partners are most likely to become judges when they are:

• Smarter / more intelligent (or sounding more intelligent)
• More accomplished
• Older / more experienced (can overlap with father / mother figure)
• Aware and handy with power dynamics (which makes them across as higher power)

Being higher sexual market value, either perceived or real, can also help in acquiring a judge role, albeit it’s not a necessary condition.
Indeed, some Machiavellian players seek a judge role to cancel out the difference in sexual market value, and it can be an effective strategy to land a higher-SMV partner.

As we have seen, in most relationships, it’s the woman who takes the judge role:

Husband: I’m not gonna look for another job, I’m going to pursue my dream
Wife: Listen, inspiration is for strangers. You get your ass out there, work, and pay the mortgage

The wife is taking an indirect judge role on him. The judge position is indirectly communicating:

To be a man means to be a reliable provider. Chasing your dream, you’re not being good enough as a provider (and as a man).

The man feels judged as unworthy for not paying the mortgage, and falls into line.

5. Coaches / Mentors / Sponsors

Mentors tend to possess many of the traits that can make for a judge role:

• Higher station in life
• Higher status
• More life accomplishment
• More knowledge / experience
• Power and influence over the mentee

Strong mentors can easily become “father figures”. 
Indeed, we can see father figures as a sort of “mentors for life”.

Ultimately though the extent to which a mentor becomes a strong judge rests with both the mentor and the mentee.

When the mentee looks up to the mentor, the mentor easily acquires judge powers.
When the mentee does not look up to the mentor, then the mentor has little judge power over the mentee.

6. Bosses

Anyone who has power to direct your work or your life can become a judge.

A boss becomes a judge when judgment is passed over work becomes judgment passed over the whole individual.
Think about that sentence, because it’s important. And because the person-level judgment part is up to you.

You want to be careful who you give judge powers in your life, and you don’t want poor managers to become judges.
But since most people do not separate their results from their ego, it’s actually common for bosses to become judges in people’s lives. It’s also more common for men, since men place a higher value on social status and hierarchies.

This is why mental power is so important for your freedom and personal empowerment.
Until you learn to separate yourself from your results anyone who judges your results will end up controlling you and your emotional well-being.

Also see:

• Anti-fragile ego
• Ultimate Power: a compilation of the best tools to develop mental power

7. Public Opinion

The “judge” is a role.
And roles are not always and necessarily specific people.

Indeed, judges are quite often groups and, equally often, the nameless and faceless collective of people that reside within our own mind.

Overall, it’s a good thing to care about what others think and feel about you. Those who do not care at all are social rejects.
However, there must be a balance. And there is a big difference between caring about what others think, and letting others control us.

And being able to selectively throw off the yoke of what “others” think about us is an extremely important skill to develop in life.

George Simon, author of “In Sheep’s Clothing“, explains this way CEO’s personal success:

CEOs are undeterred by adverse consequences or societal condemnation. 

In short, highly successful people don’t let the societal judge role to control their minds, their actions, and their lives.
This is something you also want to develop.

7. Therapists

Read more here:

• Therapy, effectiveness, and power dynamics

9. Yourself: Your Own Judge

We all have our own judges within ourselves.

When you tell yourself things such as:

You’re worthless

You deserved it

You’re such a pussy

You are often using judge powers against yourself.

As we said before, a harsh judgment sometimes it’s exactly what’s called for. And it can also also be useful, sometimes.
But… Is it always so?
Most people tend to judge themselves too harshly.

As we will see later, a strong internal judge can be used for motivation and dark motivation. 
But in most people’s cases, too strict of an internal judge only serve to decrease their self-esteem and their life contentedness -and doesn’t even spur them into action-.
If that’s the case for you, then you want to pay extra care at how you talk to yourself, and how you judge yourself.

Switching From Negative Judge to Love-Based Motivation?

For a long time, I have mostly used a negative judge style of motivation for myself.

I used super-harsh judgment designed to make me act in order to escape my own emotional punishment. Such as: act, so that you can be “good enough” again.
But I am changing my mind. I think that, for most people, motivation based on self-love is not just more pleasant, but also more effective.

10. In Most Social Dynamics You’ll Find Judges

Most social dynamics have at least a hint of judge dynamics.

At the core, deciding who’s more powerful between two people is a way of deciding “who is judging who”. 
And the individual that comes out on top is usually the one who exerts a stronger emotional influence over the other (ie.: the one who takes a judge role over the other).

Overall, if you want to get good at social skills, but also at life in general, you need to understand and control the dynamics of the judge role, including judge frames.

Judge Frames

Judge frames come in different flavors:

• Direct judge frames: judges directly seek to frame the interaction as them judging you. 
  For example:
  
  • “great job” / “I’m disappointed” 
  • “you are very smart” / “you’re dumb”
  • “I’m proud of you” / “I expect better from you”
  • “you’ll be a great success” / “you’ll never amount to anything”
• Covert judge frames: the judge has no official authority and does not assess you or your work, but you still feel the need to make them happy
  • Wife’s happy, husband feels good / wife is unhappy, husband feels a failure
• Authority spillovers: when judgment is the natural consequence of explicit authority, and that authority spills into emotional control
  • Bosses
  • Interviewers
  • Feedback sessions
  • Coaches / mentors 
  • Captors: the “Stockholm Syndrome” is an example of extreme judge role turning into traumatic bonding

When Win-Lose Judges Exploit Judge Frames

This is crucial to understand:

yes, sometimes the judge’s role goes to the person who has more value within an interaction or within a certain realm of life.
But often the judge role goes to the person who first starts using judge frames, independently of value.

That’s why you must be careful when people start judging you, be it with approval or, even worse, disapproval.
The natural tendency of people is to seek more praise and to try to turn the disapproval into approval. When you give in to that tendency, you are confirming the frame, you are giving power to the judge, you are subordinating yourself to the judge and, most of all, you are letting the judge control you.

The Most Powerful Judge Frames

The most powerful judge frames go at the roots of people’s sense of worth, which includes:

• Being good / not good enough: this is the basic, bread and butter judge frame. Many judge frames ultimately are variations of being good / not good enough for someone specific, or for a group
• Being good / not good enough as a human being: there are values that most people consider as “making a good human being” and “making an effective human being”. Judging others against those traits make for easy judge frames. 
  They include:
  • Winner / loser (effective / ineffective)
  • Pro-social / antisocial 
  • Keeping one’s word / lying
  • Good or poor Morals / ethics / values
• Being good / not good enough as a woman: since so many people build their identities around their genders, attacks to “what it means being a  woman” tend to very effective.
  They include:
  • Power / dominance: women should be feminine and submissive. Women who are too powerful are more like men, and “not good enough” to be dated. This is what feminists resent: the judge power of men who consider them as “less of a woman”
  • Mothering: not being good enough at one of their supposedly most important biological task. “Spinster” judges women at a dual level: for not being mothers and for not being “good enough” to be dated
  • Household skills: unluckily, I know this all too well. Before I became aware of power dynamics and started using them for better causes, making fun of my mom’s poor cooking skills was an easy way of gaining power (eggs on me)
• Being good / not good enough as a man: Same as above, and it works better with men, since men need to “earn” their men card (Bosson and Vandello, 2011). There are countless ways to attack manhood.
  Some of them are:
  • Not providing for the family
  • Not attracting mates
  • Small dick
  • Fearful
  • Weak
  • …

Loser = not effective in life = “not good enough”

It’s easy to fall for judge frames when it comes to basic requirements of “being good humans” or “being effective man/women”.
Why so?
Because judge frames that attack people’s core values of worthiness leverage internalized rules. 
We were both born and culturally reared to value our worthiness as human beings and as men and women. That’s why applying judge frames on them tends to be very effective.

There is a corollary for this phenomenon.
When a judge attacks rules that have been internalized, then the judge doesn’t even need to be a high-value person to make others feel unworthy. 
That’s why an anonymous troll on the Internet can make even high-quality people feel bad: that anonymous troll is objectively low value, but he’s leveraging internalized rules.

The Fairness & Manipulation of “Judge Frames”

Note:

Judge frames can be used for fair and value-adding goals, or for selfish, manipulative, and potentially harmful goals.

Sometimes, that’s up to interpretation and it can be a grey area.
But, as for most things, there is no room for infinite relativism.
For example: most sensible people would agree that a child-rapist judged as “not good enough as a human being” had it coming.

And there are a few more grey areas that are closer to manipulation than fairness.
For example:

• A man frames a woman at work as “too aggressive”: that might or might not be true. But if they are competing for a promotion, chances are he’s doing it to ruin her reputation, turn people against her, and make her feel self-conscious in an effort to take out an opponent for promotions
• A woman frames a man as unworthy for pursuing his entrepreneurial dreams: The woman might have a second motive to make his man feel bad for not providing at the level they are used to and keep him in his job. Abandoning his dream will come at the price of his happiness, though, so I’d consider this closer to manipulation

Also see:

Manipulation: Techniques, Strategies, & Ethics

How to Spot Judges

How do you spot if someone is having judge powers over you?

Well, if the judges are using direct frames, it’s somewhat easier.
You hear keywords such as “disappointed”, or you see them shake their heads, and your “judge” alarm bells should go off.

But it can be more difficult with judges who are not so obvious. So here are a few signs to spot judge dynamics:

• You fear someone’s judgment
• You care a lot about what someone thinks
• What someone does or says can easily hurt you
• What someone does or says makes you feel good

A disgusted facial expression is the ultimate signal of negative judges. It says: “so unworthy to be disgusting”

Exaggerated facial expressions can also be the sign of a manipulator. 
Are you really that disgusting that one has to make a disgusted facial expression? Chances are that you’re not. 
So if they’re showing exaggerated signs of judgment chances are that they want to emotionally unsettle you and gain judge powers over you.
The manipulation works like this: if they are disgusted, then it means you are unworthy to them, hence: you need to change your behavior -or who you are- in order to please them (your answer: fat chance, bitch/asshole!).

Women tend to play this game more often than men. 
Take it as a red flag.

Value-Adding Judges

Judges follow the same general rule of power:

Power is neutral. It can be used for bad causes, or for good causes.

For the latter, think again of that relationship between Mike Tyson and Cuss D’Amato.
D’Amato used his strong influence over Tyson to turn a boy without direction in life into one who was driven to reach the pinnacle of his sport. 
Tyson was honest and aware enough to admit that he wanted to win for D’Amato, and that it was D’Amato who developed his hunger for winning. 

Value-adding judges are a positive force in this world, and they can even save lives.
So albeit you always want to be careful about whom you elevate to a judge in your life, a value-adding judge can help you grow and develop.

And the opposite is true: being a judge comes with a responsibility. Almost any good leader in this world is also likely going to be a mentor and/or judge to someone. 
Using that power for good causes elevates and improves people’s lives. Misusing causes sorrow and pain. Read here a great analysis by Ali Scarlett for a real-life example.

Note: value-adding judge does not equal positive feedback:
As a last note, don’t confuse value-adding judges with “flattering judgment” (or “flattering verdict”, as per Stef’s sharp correction).
Yes, it’s true: on average, perennially critical judges tend to be value-taking judges, while value-adding judges prefer to use more positive motivation. But a value-adding judge can also use negative or critical judgment to spur people into positive action.

Value-Taking Judges

Value-taking judges -“bad judges”, for brevity-, use their power in ways that harm others.

Examples of bad judges include:

1. Abusive Judges

I define abusive judges as:

Abusive judges use their power in ways that lead the target to indulge in harmful or self-destructive behavior to gain the judge’s approval

Some abusive judges aren’t even getting anything out of their abuse, but they enjoy seeing the effects of their power and control over their victims. The simple fact that their victims are suffering makes the judge feel powerful -and good-.
As Stefano suggested, we may call these judges “sadist judges”.

Here is an example of an abusive judge:

Mary Cain: In my own, sad, never-fully healed heart, I wanted Alberto to still take me back. Because when we let people emotionally break us, we crave more than anything their very approval.

It’s either Mary Cain was impressively self-aware, or she did some therapy that helped her understand the dynamics at play, because she was exactly right.
Alberto, Nike’s trainer, kept Cain in fear of his judgment through little rewards and much emotional punishment.
Exactly what abusive, POS judges do.

How to spot abusive judges:

• He is impossible to please: the stereotypical bad boss / abusive partner
• He always criticizes you: it’s either you do everything wrong (unlikely), or the judge enjoys seeing you squirm
• You always end up doing favors that benefit him: the most Machiavellian judges are more subtle. If you realize you’re always acting in a way that benefits the judge, that’s a strong cue of subtle manipulation

Also read:

• Types of abusive men
• Nasty games women play to become the relationship prize

2. Moralizing Judges (to limit your freedom & power)

There is a great song by an Italian songwriter.
A left-wing songwriter (well, nobody’s perfect).

De Andre’ talks about “Bocca di Rosa”, a woman who enjoys sleeping around.
Her carefree attitude is scaring the local wives though, who start plotting on how to get rid of her.
And that’s when an older and woman in the village tells them that adultery is a crime, and if they mob the police to take action, they can win.
Then sings De Andre’:

You know that people give good advice 
Feeling like Jesus in the temple /
When they can’t set the bad example anymore

-Fabrizio De Andre’

That’s what manipulative judges also try doing.
Whenever someone’s freedom hurts or makes the judge feel bad, manipulative judges start judging others as a way to limit their freedom.

• She parties and enjoys life too much? Slut! 
• He sleeps around and has more than one partner? Immature! Liar! 

These are all truly selfish strategies of sexual manipulation, but they all hide behind the guise of a (fake) indignant judge.

In truth, like De Andre’ sings, many others would like to do those same things. 
But either because they can’t, because of fear, or because other people’s freedom limits their own sexual options, bad judges seek to shame others into giving up their freedom and power.

Luckily most people reading here are cool guys and gals who focus on their self-development and have little time for moralizing judgments. But sometimes, it happens.
See here an example from a customer:

Understand this: people who have no personal stake at play will rarely go out of their way to judge and criticize you.
It’s only people with a second motive or vested interest that go out of their way to take moralizing judge roles against you, your values, and/or your life decisions.

Just to be clear, it’s not always and necessarily envy or jealousy, or shrinking options for them.
Sometimes it might also be that different ways of living make them uncomfortable and doubtful. They don’t want to wonder “oh my God, did I miss something? Should I make drastic changes to my life now, all of a sudden? Nah, I better shame that guy, instead”.
And so they shame-on to re-establish their values as the “only” way of living.

In either case, whenever you see someone moralizing a bit too strenuously for things that are not really hurting anyone, always think: what is the real motive of this judge?
Once you know the real motive, you can go meta on them and dismantle their judge frame.

Virtue-Signaling: When shaming you makes me look good

Finally, there are Social Justice Warrior judges.

Virtue signaling can be harmless and, at times, even fair self-promotion and value-adding.
But it can turn nastier when the virtue signaling is accompanied by judge-role one-upping, and sham attacks.

SJW judges sometimes care about the causes they champion. But, just as frequently, they attack others to look good and pure by comparison.
The game is: I pretend to be disgusted by your (supposedly) immoral behavior, so that I can look like a better human being.

Also read:

• Virtue signaling is a sexual strategy, more than a movement for a better world

3. Dark Psychologist Seducers

The judge role can be used for seduction.

When Robert Greene in “The Art of Seduction” advises acting as a therapist would, he is advising to take a parental figure role in the target’s mind. 

Being distant and stand-offish can also function as a dark-psychology technique for seduction. By being distant, the seducer is sub-commutating that the target is “not good enough for his full attention”, which can lead the target to seek his approval.
Some women enter relationships with these types of men and end up doing the impossible to please their impossible partners (see “Women Who Love Too Much“).

Also see:

• Mother figure seduction: the female equivalent of the father figure seduction. Please note though that mother and father figure seductions and relationships are not necessarily abusive

In more benign ways, the concept of “validation” that some pick-up artists and dating coaches teach is also based on the judge role.
Validation means making other feel good -or bad- depending on your opinion.
When dating coaches talk about “not being validated by the woman” , they are saying to refuse the woman’s judge role. And when they advise men they should validate women, are recommending to become judge of the interaction.

3.2. Pedophiles / Groomers

Online pedophiles target young kids who struggle with social and self-acceptance.

The pedophile’s initial fake support, compliments and esteem make the victim feel appreciated and “good about themselves” for the very first time.
And the more the victim struggles with her social life and self-esteem, the more power a “good” pedophile can gain.
The victim’s real-life struggles and online success set up a self-reinforcing dynamic where the victim more and more isolate from real life while getting closer and closer -and more dependent- on her groomer(s).

Eventually, the victim can come to depend on the groomers for their validation and emotional well-being.
At that point, the judge/groomer can start using that leverage to control their victims.

Also read more here:

• Groomers’ Modus Operandi

4. “Never Good Enough” Judges

These types of judges are never happy.

And they make it very clear.
As a matter of fact, their main goal in interacting with you is to make you feel like you’re not doing enough for them, and that you’re not good enough for them.

Their goal is to keep you subjugated. And to keep taking more and more.

Some toxic parents behave towards their children like they’re never good enough.
And so do some toxic partners.
This is a painting, but look at the expression:

“Never enough judges” are constantly bitter, angry and unsatisfied.
They’re trying to make you feel they’re unsatisfied because of you.
But never fall for that.
That’s their modus operandi for power.
And unluckily, it often works. People tend to yield, submit, and work harder with never enough judges. But never let it be you. These types of judges are unsatisfiable. Don’t even try. Distance yourself. Do nothing for them. And if they yell and scream, let them.

How to Combat Bad Judges

Good judges are a minority.

And 100% bad judges might also be a minority.

Most judges fall in that grey area and, being human nature more on the selfish side, most judges are slightly more on the value-taking side. 
So, with most judges, to maintain your power and social status, you want to reduce their power.

Here is how:

1. Be aware of judge frames

Any true self-development path starts with awareness.

If you are not aware, the judge can manipulate you as it best suits him. Once you become aware, you take the first step in throwing off that judge yoke.

Even if you don’t react perfectly, being aware of the power dynamics at play is 70% of winning the war.

2. Put your own judgment first

Prioritize your own judgment.

Or, at least, stop subordinating your own judgment to other people’s judgment.
Says clinical psychologist Harriet Braiker:

The most important, effective, and lasting source of approval is the acceptance you give to yourself. Develop a clear sense of your own judgments and values and govern yourself accordingly.

For a grassroots-level intervention, when you got a couple of hours free, read here:

Enlightened Self-Interest: Making of The Ubermensch

3. Avoid rebelling and getting angry

This is more about short-term techniques.

As a general rule, getting angry is not a good option for a simple reason: getting angry confirms the judge’s power. 

Yes, it’s two steps forward from bending over backward to please the judge, and it might be a step forward from getting hurt and doing nothing.

But getting angry also says “yes, you’re getting to me” and “yes, you’re totally touching my hot buttons”.
And usually, you don’t want to give away and publicize your emotional wounds.

See an example from “The Godfather”:

Michael: The ink on your divorce isn’t dry yet and you’re getting married (= you’re a whore). You see your children on weekends (= you’re a bad mother)
Connie: (yelling) Michael, you are not my father!

Connie goes at the core of what Michael was doing. But the fact that she gets angry does not free her emotionally, and it confirms that she feels bad about her own behavior. 
She doesn’t own who she is.

You can also see it with Mike Tyson, a man who after Cuss D’Amato has long been hypersensitive to anyone who acted as a judge:

Interviewer: Mike, why do you have to talk like that (= you’re being improper and “not good enough for a civilized conversation”)
Tyson: fuck off (diverts his gaze)

Mike comes across as getting overly worked up for nothing, and emotionally out of control.

Exceptions: Fixing the Issue With A Single Burst of Anger

If you can resolutely end a fight or argument with one single anger-driven fell swoop, it might work.

Right after you want to go back to normal, just to make a point that you were not emotionally affected.

4. Channel anger constructively

Anger can be a useful emotion.

But the key is channeling that anger in the most effective response possible.

Let’s see how to do it, plus some more effective ways of fighting judge roles and frames, then.

5. Fight it smartly: Frame Control

Example:

Michael: If you marry this man, you disappoint me
Conny: Michael, it’s funny you say that, because I’m actually disappointed that you (tit for that frame control), as my brother, care so little about my well being. Looking at our father I always thought a great Godfather takes care of his family (persuasion power move). 
I love this man, Michael. If you care at all about your own blood, you would support me. You know that I would do the same for you (ends with a collaborative frame and equalizes judge power)

Some smart persuasion techniques there. 
Michael wants to be a Godfather who takes care of the people around him. Connie changes the frame to make him want to support her.

Other effective techniques include:

• Ignore
• Ignore verbally and hit back nonverbally (eye-roll, head shaking, throwing under the bus, etc.)
• Judge right back (ie.: fighting for the judge frame)
• Undermine their judge authority (ie.: “you’re not in a position to judge”)
• Head-on attack (ie.: “who the f*ck are you to judge?”)
• Own the accusation with pride (ie.: “yeah, I’m a bad man, and I’m cool with it”, a high-risk, high-reward strategy)
• Go meta: explain what they’re really doing, and what their little dirty motives actually are

See one more example here:

• Fighting judge frame example: an example of being the victim of a judge frame about “what it means to be a man”, plus how he could have controlled it better
• Power University: more examples in the course

6. Develop antifragile ego & growth mindset

Who is more likely to overreact and seek emotional rewards?

It’s usually people with a fragile ego, low self-esteem, and a fixed mindset.

Work on developing a growth mindset, an antifragile ego, and learning to better control your thoughts and mind.
Then any judge who tries to make you feel bad for who you are will be shooting against a concrete armor.

Example:

At the time of writing, the last time someone told me “I’m disappointed” was a girl just a few weeks ago. 
I don’t remember exactly what she was disappointed about, and that says a lot about how it bounced off of me. But I do remember she said that, and I took good note of it.
I liked her a bit less after that and took it as a red flag of a potential game player.

7. Distance yourself from bad judges

Smart judges can be good at frame control as well as manipulation. 

But nobody can manipulate you if you stay out of reach. And they can never touch you again if you remain out of reach.

No matter how good or powerful they can be, or how long you still need to go to master persuasion and power dynamics, if you remove yourself, you can’t be wronged anymore.
This is a trump card that anyone can take advantage of.

8. Cut out game players & manipulators from your life

Most people play some games.

But some people play more games than others, and some play highly manipulative and abusive games.
Those people are better out of your life than in your life.
Instead, seek:

• Seek secure partners for intimate relationships
• Seek people who play for win-win 
• Ruthlessly cut-off manipulators, nasty game players, and low-quality individuals

9. Address childhood traumas

This will not apply to everyone but, to those it applies for, it can be a life-changer.

Says Braiker:

When you hear the commanding should in your thoughts or self-talk, you are hearing the voice of your judging conscience.
(…)
That voice is the amalgamation of your parents, teachers, older siblings, coaches, or other authority figures that, at various points in your life, laid down rules that have stayed with you throughout your life.

One of her clients said:

“What’s really ridiculous is that I’m literally still trying to get my father’s approval. It’s just absurd. He’s 83 years old and as critical and withholding as ever. I keep hoping he’ll let me know that he really loves me before he dies.

And albeit she talks about a father figure, the came can happen with different authority figures in your life.

Here are some questions for a quick self-assessment:

• Authority figure issues: Do you have constant issues with authority figures? If so, you may be a freedom lover or a rebel at heart, but also give too much power to authority figures
• Overlap between authority figures and parents: Do you see bosses as mother or father figures?
• Authority figures hold too much power: Do bosses have an outsized influence on your emotional inner life?
• Parent issue and/or poor parenting: Did you have emotionally distant parents, unusually demanding parents, parents who used your for their own gratification, manipulative parents, or parents who only loved conditionally (ie.: “if you get high grades you’re great” or “if you marry rich you make us happy”)?

If so, it’s possible you are carrying some emotional wounds.
Those wounds can be healed, and therapy can help.

Using Judges For (Dark) Motivation

We mentioned earlier that judges can be used for motivation.

Let’s dig deeper:

Emotional Pain As Motivation

A surprising number of high-achievers have either been hurt, or come from abusive backgrounds.

And a good chunk of these individuals climbed their hierarchies fighting against judges.

Keep in mind that past judges include:

• Exclusions: a way of saying “you’re not good enough” (to be a part of us)
• Bullying: a way of saying “you’re not good enough” (to be part of us and stand up for yourself)

Michael Jordan’s leveraged many judges across his career:

Jordan: He started the whole process with me, because when he made the team and I didn’t, I wanted to prove (…) you made a mistake dude.

Jordan is not the exception. Many high achievers, and many smart coaches who wanted to motivate their teams used negative judges as motivation.

Personally I’m ambivalent about using negative judges for achievement. Negative judges tend to make the process anger-fueled, and the victory a brief moment of vengeance-driven pleasure that soon evaporates (Grover, 2013). That reduces the total happiness and contentedness in life.
And as Tony Robbins said: achievement without fulfillment is the ultimate failure. 
Plus, if you can find motivation within you, without giving away control, it’s even better.

Troubleshooting the Judge

This is a new, later entry to the original article.

The concept of judges has been revolutionary and helped lots of people reach a better understanding, and become more effective social strategies.

Since the concept is new and relatively complex, there have been some misunderstandings.
Let us clarify then.

Judge VS Judging

Judging, “the judge”, and having judge power overlap, but they’re all different.
To clarify:

1. Judging = “I think Mark is not a high-value guy” (but I’m not necessarily expressing this to him, so no judge dynamics are even set in motion)
2. Judge role = “Mark, I expected better from you, and I must say, I’m disappointed” (ie.: I’m judging you as not being good enough)
3. Judge effects = (Mark wants the judge to accept him, feels bad, and tries to prove himself to be good enough)

You can notice that for the “full” judge power, the receiver must grant that power. Without the receiver craving the emotional reward or fearing the emotional judgment, we only have at most an attempt at judge role, but not the judge effect.

Judge VS General Power

I’ve noticed that several guys on the forum sometimes call “judge” what’s actually a simple power move, a one-up, or simply general power dynamics.

So, what’s the difference?

Well, first of all, it’s no wonder some people get confused here, because it’s not so easy to distinguish.

The judge role is about power.
But power is larger, including all different sub-categories such as dominance, authority, status, and rank in dominance hierarchies.

Neither judge attempts, nor judge effects always and necessarily exist in all power relations -or, at least, they’re not the main ingredient-.

The judge is mostly about:

1. Emotional rewards/punishments by the judge: these must be the main ingredient. A simple adjective per se doesn’t always and necessarily turn on the full judge power dynamics
2. Effects of judge rewards/punishments: the receiver must crave/be hurt by those rewards/punishment -judge effect-.
3. Judge premeditation: this optional, but whenever some judges consciously seek to make other happy/unhappy with their judgment, then we’re in front of judge attempts

So watch out for not over-stretching the judge role.
Keep in mind there are also many standard sentences in which adjectives are added as part of the stock sentence or figure of speech -ie.: “keep up the great work”-. Those stock sentences often have little judge power dynamics, and you better not jump to conclusions about the speaker’s intentions.

Judge VS Power Move

On this topic we discussed if a simple adjective such as “Thank you for your great website, Lucio!”, would turn someone into a judge.

And we explained that albeit there are some elements of judge power dynamics, the above example is not so much about judge dynamics, as it is more about power dynamics.

To understand the difference between judge and general power, let’s see an example:

Manager: The customer just asked for some modifications. Please review the email I just forwarded you and amend accordingly. Otherwise, great job.

This is more about (hierarchical) power and tasking. “Great job” is a form of judging the work, but it’s used to soften the blow and make sure the tasking doesn’t come across as a reprimand for his skills and general performance.
There is (likely) no judge attempt here, and unless the employee really craves the manager’s approval, there is little judge effects. So, no real judge dynamics here.

Trump saying “great job” is also a great example of power move, but little judge dynamics:

Trump says great job to Comey to frame the interaction as him as the big boss, and Comey working for him.
Yes, in words, Trump is judging Comey’s work. But in truth, they all know he isn’t: he hated anything to do with the Russian probe.
Trump also implies he needs to be happy with Comey’s job, but this isn’t about judge power dynamics. This more about pure (hierarchical) power, than the emotional component.
Trump is saying “I’m the boss, you toe the line”.

For one more example, see:

• “That’s a good job”

Judge VS Covert Power Move

• “Keep up the great work” – plus my reply below

SUMMARY

The judge role is a concept elaborated by Lucio Buffalmano building on insights from transactional analysis, power dynamics, and insights from dark psychology manipulation.

Judges exert power via emotional control, rather than sheer force or violence and, as such, are an example of soft power in social interactions.

Understanding judge roles and learning to control judge frames will go a long way to help you master power dynamics.

As a rule of thumb, keep this in mind: the more you advance in life, the less you will be judged, and the more you will be the judge.

As usual, my invite to readers is to use power for value-adding purposes.
If you try to abuse of judge powers, you disappoint me and the whole power moves community (punishment-based judge frame). 
If you use it for value-adding causes, you will make us proud and you belong with us (reward-based judge frame).