This is one of Captain Awkward’s catch phrases, and I think it’s a really useful way of thinking about a lot of situations.  But I think that sometimes, people do for instance express their emotions at people.  “I am unhappy and it’s your fault, now fix it in the way I choose,” is a way of manipulating people.  So is “Do what I want you to, or I will make a huge scene out of my upset feelings that will have bad consequences for you.”  This is something that’s hard to identify, of course, since the same actions can be manipulative or just sincerely upset depending on the intentions of the person doing them.  And I think some people are more likely to feel like they’re being manipulated this way than others, since some people are more sensitive than others to the emotions of people around them.  So a particular emotional reaction can look like Serious Scary Consequence to one person (causing them to feel pressured) but look like nothing special to another (and so not have a manipulative effect on them).

I don’t know, maybe this isn’t the best way to think about it/ term to use for it.  It’s just what came to mind for me, to describe a couple of situations I’ve been in.  Thoughts?