Master suppression techniques

The master suppression techniques (in Norwegian: hersketeknikker) is a framework articulated in the late 1970s by Norwegian social psychologist Berit Ås. Building upon earlier work using the term hersketeknikker by Ingjald Nissen, Harriet Holter and others, Ås described five techniques for indirectly suppressing and humiliating opponents: making invisible, ridiculing, withholding information, double bind and shaming. Ås developed the framework in a feminist context as a practical tool for women to recognise and resist men's attempts to manipulate them, for example in political debates. The framework is now used more broadly in Scandinavian society, for example in discussions of mental health or workplace bullying.

Master suppression techniques are defined as strategies of social manipulation by which a dominant group maintains such a position in an (established or unexposed) hierarchy. They are very prominent in Scandinavian scholarly and public debate, where the expression is also used to refer to types of social manipulation not part of Ås's framework. Master suppression techniques are sometimes called domination techniques.