Psychologists Roy Baumeister and Mark Leary’s influential review of research on belonging found that the drive to form and maintain stable, positive relationships is a fundamental human motivation. People from the general population may view this need as a personality trait that some people have more of than others, but a baseline need that shapes…

Every year, ICAM opens with the same word, because it’s the one most people misunderstand: manipulation. And we’re not talking about a stranger with a slick pitch. We’re talking about the ordinary, incremental kind that builds trust first and asks for something only once that trust is in place. This week traces how that process…