# Why do some people try to "get in the head" of others? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 15, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-try-to-get-in-the-head-of-others/668935 "2013-09-15T22:04:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![8Ball](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/8/bbe5ce/32.png) [@8Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/8Ball)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-try-to-get-in-the-head-of-others/668935/21 "2017-11-02T00:13:13Z")
Maybe i should add the fact that she was i guess"sad" and asked if i could record more , she also told me that she watched the video and didnt see nothing wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-try-to-get-in-the-head-of-others/668935/22 "2017-11-02T00:48:36Z")
> [@One\_Love](#): > > I personally never had that motivation, so I’m wondering what drives people to “get in the head” of other people. > > Can someone explain this to me? Just an example, but your playing poker and you want to try and predict if your opponents are going call, buy the pot, bluff etc. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-try-to-get-in-the-head-of-others/668935/23 "2017-11-02T01:23:45Z")
OP, like others have said, this is very confusing. Do you mean 1. Trying to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and understand their thinking process and what makes them tick, or 1. Get in someone’s head in a negative way, a way that throws them off their game, leaves them unsettled and psychologically upset? ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-try-to-get-in-the-head-of-others/668935/24 "2017-11-02T01:32:23Z")
Well, I’m a writer. So yeah. Because my own head is boring. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-try-to-get-in-the-head-of-others/668935/25 "2017-11-02T01:47:08Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > OP, like others have said, this is very confusing. Do you mean > > 1. Trying to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and understand their thinking process and what makes them tick, > > or > > 1. Get in someone’s head in a negative way, a way that throws them off their game, leaves them unsettled and psychologically upset? It’s clearly 2. Getting into someone’s head can have varied motivations. It could come from a desire to gain an edge in some form of competition or simply getting some degree of pleasure from being able to control another person. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-try-to-get-in-the-head-of-others/668935/26 "2017-11-02T01:59:08Z")
> [@One\_Love](#): > > Sorry, I didn’t mean trying to understand others. I meant trying to invade someone’s thoughts, similar to what Orr, G. said but outside of sports. Be it sports, work or whatever ----- I have three to five plans in mind. If I can figure out your plan and/or influence it I can decide just what tactic or approach I want to take with you. It doesn’t always mean I want to “win” - it just means I was as little direct confrontation or strife as I can manage. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-try-to-get-in-the-head-of-others/668935/27 "2017-11-02T14:11:08Z")
This is a zombie thread guys, and it looks like the necromancer is more in need of help than the OP. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-try-to-get-in-the-head-of-others/668935/28 "2017-11-02T14:22:58Z")
> [@One\_Love](#): > > I personally never had that motivation, so I’m wondering what drives people to “get in the head” of other people. > > Can someone explain this to me? Hard to eat their brains if you can’t get inside their heads. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-try-to-get-in-the-head-of-others/668935/29 "2017-11-02T19:46:18Z")
> [@naita](#): > > This is a zombie thread guys, and it looks like the necromancer is more in need of help than the OP. :smack: > [@gnoitall](#): > > Hard to eat their brains if you can’t get inside their heads. 😃 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-try-to-get-in-the-head-of-others/668935.md?page=1)