10 ms·

Gaslighting, Narcissist, and More Psychology Terms You're Misusing

• mindcrime 4y ago
  Calling "gaslighting" a "psychology term" seems a bit disingenuous to me, considering that the term originated as a colloquialism derived from the name of a play[1] and couple of subsequent movie adaptations[2][3]. In 1965, twenty-eight years after the stageplay was written, writers began denominalising the film's title and using it as a verb, "gaslighting". Gaslighting, in this context, is a colloquialism that loosely means to manipulate a person or a group of people in a way similar to the way the protagonist in the play (Bella) was manipulated. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_Light https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_Light [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslight_(1940_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslight_(1940_film) [3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslight_(1944_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslight_(1944_film)
  • m-watson 4y ago
    "The word gaslighting (referring to the behavior described in the above amateur psychology section) is occasionally used in clinical literature, but is considered a colloquialism by the American Psychological Association.[0]" I think APA considering it a colloquialism would count here as a psychological term. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslighting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslighting
  • jstarfish 4y ago
    It was definitely appropriated, but "inducing cognitive dissonance" rolls off the tongue like a mouthful of cotton.