I see the Objectives very differently than Hubbard described, and than has been explained here.
If you'll look through the early 1950's "tech" on the Objective processes, when Hubbard first released them, he talked a lot about CONTROL.
This was when he came up with the prestidigitations on "good and bad control", and also set the social standard for Scientologists of "if you are not willing to be controlled, then you are low-toned".
Leon Festinger is a Social Psychologist who began formulating and publishing work on a theory called "Cognitive Dissonance Theory" in 1950. It is a theory which says that the personality is made up of THOUGHTS, EMOTIONS, and BEHAVIOR.
He posited that when these parts of a personality are in conflict, it causes dissonance in the person's "universe", and the person will adjust their thoughts, emotions or behavior to get rid of the dissonance.
Remember reading the issues on the Objectives and seeing the words, usually capitalized, "THOUGHT, EMOTION and EFFORT" all over these issues?
Well, I believe that Hubbard was reading Festinger, and this is where he came up with his "Objective Processes".
Hubbard's first job was to convert the prospect - to get him to give up his old goals, attitudes and behaviors, and adopt new Scientology-based ones.
Festinger and others found that if you could CONTROL one part of a person's personality - say their BEHAVIOR, and keep controlling it, then they would shift their THOUGHT and EMOTIONS to be more in line with their new BEHAVIOR to reduce the dissonance in their "universe".
In this way, you could create a personality shift in the person. Just by controlling them.
Marines and other armed forces use this technology in Basic Training to create trained killers who will follow orders to the death, from normal people.
Hubbard used this technology of CONTROL in the Objectives. You also see it on the Purification Rundown, and other lower-level Bridge steps.
Hubbard needed to produce a personality shift, and the Objective processes, through the theory of Cognitive Dissonance, is what he developed to do it.
It has nothing to do with "being in PT" or anything else like that. This was simply the positive suggestion the PC was given, and what he placed their attention on, while he applied the real process of producing a personality shift in them that would be more Scientology-based.
For more information on Leon Festinger and Cognitive Dissonance - do a web search.
You'll be glad you did.