Criminals are very good at getting you act in ways that go against your self-interest.  Whether it is the archetypal pimp at the bus station offer help to the innocent girl he intends to turn out or the inmate manipulating new jail staff or the sophisticated serial rapist who wants to get his victim alone but make it seem like each step was her idea.
There are tactics for it, and I usually direct people to Gavin DeBecker's "The Gift of Fear" for a pretty good list.
A lot of the tactics are based on social instincts, that gut-level deep-brain tribalism that is so common and seems so necessary to humans.
But people, not just predators or victims, everybody, uses the same tactics on themselves when their identity is threatened.  We all have things we believe, and some of those things are more important than others.  Some are so deep that they impinge on our identity.  Those will be defended, and they will be defended despite all logic, even by extremely intelligent people.
Because of what I try to do with martial arts and self-defense, I'm getting a little obsessed with trying to find a work-around.  Realistically, it's not important.  Violent crime is at an all time low and for almost everyone it is safe to believe any damn thing that makes you happy.
But...Two conversations today, talks where intelligent people lied and math (not fake philosophical math but simple "2x4 is less than 2x8, you realize that, right?" ) was dismissed, and historical documents didn't count.  But the most important thing is realizing, whether in criminals or martial artists or debate, that there is an identifier.  When the other side gets labeled.  When the person says "You are a _________" or "You sound just like___________"  Right there the tribal mind is engaged.  You are no longer reasoning with a human but trying to reason with a monkey (Did I just label right there?  Is this my neo-cortex still firing or did my mid-brain just kick in, convincing me that I am the smartest of all the monkeys?).
With patience and by pretending to not notice dominance games or accepting a label as 'other' I have sometimes given people the space and time to let the monkey brain die down and get back to tangible problems.  But rarely, if ever, when the problem was tied directly to their identity.
I can identify when it happens and have a pretty good idea of how and why... but I don't know if there is a simple strategy.  Maybe not.  More to think on.