Victim Mentality

A Victim Mentality is a Personality Trait that ...

• See: Desire to be Rescued, Trait Theory, Attribution (Psychology).

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References

2016

• (Wikipedia, 2016) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/victim_mentality Retrieved:2016-11-25.
  • Victim mentality is an acquired (learned) personality trait in which a person tends to regard themselves as a victim of the negative actions of others, and to behave as if this were the case even in the lack of clear evidence of such circumstances. Victim mentality depends on habitual thought processes and attribution. In some cases, those with a victim mentality have in fact been the victim of wrongdoing by others or have otherwise suffered misfortune through no fault of their own; however, such misfortune does not necessarily imply that one will respond by developing a pervasive and universal victim mentality where one frequently or constantly believes oneself to be a victim.

    The term is also used in reference to the tendency for blaming one's misfortunes on somebody else's misdeeds, which is also referred to as victimism. Victim mentality is primarily learned, for example, from family members and situations during childhood. Similarly, criminals often engage in victim thinking, believing themselves to be blameless and engaging in crime only as a reaction to external pressures and furthermore believing that police are unfairly singling them out for persecution.

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