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Sep 22, 2024 · The emotional and psychological effects on victims of mean behavior can be profound and long-lasting. Repeated exposure to meanness can lead to anxiety, depression, and a host of other mental health issues. It can erode self-esteem, leaving individuals questioning their worth and abilities.
- They Have Low Self-Esteem. Those with higher self esteem have greater success in interpersonal relationships. Someone who does not think very highly of themselves might not be conscious of how their behavior comes across- or they may be more likely to act in unkind ways due to struggling more in interpersonal relationships.
- They Are In an Unfulfilling Relationship. If someone is unhappy in their relationship, this can carry over into their daily life. For example, if someone is in a sexless marriage, this can contribute to resentment and frustration that might recklessly come out at innocent people.
- They Are Struggling Financially. Dealing with something such as financial stress can make a person mean due to the amount of pressure and stress being experienced in their personal life.
- They Struggle to Regulate Their Emotions. Someone who struggles with emotional regulation may become mean to others. This can happen with people with intellectual disabilities or neurodiversity, those who have mental illness or struggle with mental health symptoms.
Aug 28, 2021 · New research supports the value of looking at meanness on its own terms. People who are mean become even meaner due to their inability to show or express the qualities associated with love. You ...
- Positive Distinctiveness
- Downward Comparisons
- Classical Projection
- Ego Threat
- Summary
Social identity theory argues that humans have a basic psychological need for "positive distinctiveness." In other words, people have a need to feel unique from others in positive ways. As humans naturally form groups, this need for positive distinction extends to the groups we belong to. That is, we tend to view our in-groups more favorably than o...
Social comparison theory argues that people naturally make comparisons to other people. And these comparisons often make us feel worse about ourselves or better about ourselves. As we generally prefer to feel good, we are prone to making downward comparisons, or comparisons that enable us to look down on other people. Moreover, research that is bas...
Freudargued decades ago that people cope with negative views of themselves by perceiving other people as having particularly high levels of that same negative view. Basically, say you are feeling dishonest. You are then more likely to see other people as dishonest, and this makes you, in a sense, feel more honest yourself. Research supports this id...
Researchers have discovered that it is threatened self-esteem that drives a lot of aggression. In other words, it doesn't really matter if people feel good or bad about themselves in general. What matters is that people, in the moment, feel worse about themselves than usual. This line of research has found that threatened self-esteem is associated ...
Whether it is as a means of promoting our groups or ourselves, we tend to be more aggressive when our self-worth has been challenged and we are not feeling particularly positive about ourselves. When our self-esteem is threatened, we are more likely to compare ourselves to people we think are worse off than us, to see other people as having more ne...
May 28, 2024 · Using empathy can be a powerful tool when dealing with mean people. Empathy allows you to understand and share the feelings of others, which can help you respond to mean behavior with compassion rather than anger. This approach can defuse tension and potentially lead to more positive interactions.
- Liz Fischer
Aug 13, 2024 · To truly understand why people are mean, we need to look at the psychological factors that drive this behavior. Often, meanness is a defense mechanism—a way for individuals to protect themselves from perceived threats or vulnerabilities. For some, being mean is a way to assert control or power in situations where they feel powerless.
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Dec 12, 2013 · Meanness is shaming, threatening, or both. People can be mean, whether they are children or adults. Obvious meanness may involve bullying, excluding, teasing, disregarding, or criticizing. Less ...
