Considering that some public relations experts use manipulation techniques to achieve communication goals, there is a need to explore this problem from the perspective of future public relations practitioners. For this reason, a survey was conducted with the aim of identifying the attitudes of students towards the use of manipulation in public relations. The convenience sample includes Public Relations and Media Studies students at the VERN' University of Applied Sciences (n=100). Research findings have shown that respondents believe manipulation is inevitable in public relations and is mostly expressed in the politics sector. It can also be concluded that respondents are inclined to instrumentalize the media. The solution to the problem is the intensification of ethical principles of public relations and statutory regulation. Further research should include a sample of students from other public relations studies in the Republic of Croatia and determine whether there is a difference in student attitudes towards public relations manipulation related to work (in)experience in the field of PR.