Gaslighting is the act of influencing another person to doubt their experiences, perceptions, or understanding of events.
In the past, the term referred to extreme manipulation that led to severe mental illness but the term has become a part of popular culture and can refer to less severe but still harmful examples of manipulation.
Inducing doubt can be subtle at first but if the challenges to reality persist, then the target of gaslighting can begin to question many of the things they thought were true about themselves and the world.
When gaslighting is a pattern of manipulation that impairs other people's lives, then it may be associated with antisocial personality disorder. An older term for people with antisocial personality disorder is psychopath. Gaslighting is a form of emotional abuse, which can be severe.
Gaslighting can occur in relationships.
An abusive parent can gaslight a child.
An abusive adult can gaslight an elderly parent.
An abusive spouse can gaslight their spouse.
An abusive boss can gaslight employees.
An abusive politician can use their position to gaslight the people they govern.
Recognizing people who gaslight.
People skilled in gaslighting or manipulating others may be recognized by those "Dark Triad" traits of Narcissism, Psychopathy, and Machiavellianism. See the Dark Triad Scale.
The term "gaslighting" is derived from the title of a 1938 British play called Gaslight by playwright, Patrick Hamilton (see Guardian).
Cite this page
Sutton, G. W. (2021, January 3). Gaslighting. SuttonPsychology. https://suttonpsychology.blogspot.com/2021/01/gaslighting.html?
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