Guilt tripping is a form of
emotional blackmail
The term emotional blackmail was popularized by psychotherapist Susan Forward about controlling people in relationships and the theory that fear, obligation and guilt (FOG) are the transactional dynamics at play between the controller and the pe ...
that is often designed to
manipulate other people by preying on their emotions and feelings of guilt or responsibility. This can be a form of toxic behavior that can have detrimental effects on a person's well-being as well as their relationships.
Overview
Creating a guilt trip in another person may be considered to be manipulation in the form of
punishment
Punishment, commonly, is the imposition of an undesirable or unpleasant outcome upon an individual or group, meted out by an authority—in contexts ranging from child discipline to criminal law—as a deterrent to a particular action or beh ...
for a perceived transgression.
interprets the guilt trip as a special kind of
intimidation
Intimidation is a behaviour and legal wrong which usually involves deterring or coercing an individual by threat of violence. It is in various jurisdictions a crime and a civil wrong (tort). Intimidation is similar to menacing, coercion, terro ...
tactic. A manipulator suggests to the conscientious victim that they do not care enough, are too selfish or has it easy. This usually results in the victim feeling bad, keeping them in a
self-doubting, anxious and submissive position.
There are limited studies examining guilt trips, and those studies tend to focus on guilt trips in parent–child relationships.
See also
References
Further reading
Academic articles
* Baldassar L (2015). "Guilty feelings and the guilt trip: Emotions and motivation in migration and transnational caregiving". ''Emotion, Space and Society'', vol. 16, Aug 2015, pp. 81–89.
* Kezar D (2000). "Shakespeare's Guilt Trip in Henry V". ''
Modern Language Quarterly'', vol. 61.3, pp. 431–461.
Books
* Hesz A, Neophytou B (2009). ''Guilt Trip: From Fear to Guilt on the Green Bandwagon''.
*
Scottoline L, Serritella F (2014). ''Have a Nice Guilt Trip''.
External links
{{wiktionary, guilt trip, guilt-trip
*
Turndorf J (2014
How to Not Get Taken on a Guilt Trip* Turndorf
How to Stop Getting Taken on Guilt Trips''
Psychology Today
''Psychology Today'' is an American media organization with a focus on psychology and human behavior.
The publication began as a bimonthly magazine, which first appeared in 1967. The print magazine's reported circulation is 275,000 as of 2023. ...
'' 08 Apr 2014
Guilt
Deception
Psychological manipulation