Victim blaming allows people to believe that such events could never happen to them.
At a Glance
Blaming the victim is an unfortunate yet common phenomenon.
It often happens because people make faulty attributions to explain events.
Alberto Ruggieri / Illustration Works / Getty Images
What Causes Blaming the Victim?
Victim-blaming can be confusing.
What is behind this tendency to blame the victim?
Ifyouwere to fail a test, however, what would you blame your poor performance on?
In many cases, people blame their failings on external sources.
And this isnt just something that happens when we are looking at things such as rape or assault.
When someone becomes ill, people often seek to blame past behaviors for a persons current state of health.
Social psychologists refer to this tendency as thejust-world phenomenon.
Yes, even you, your friends, your family, and your other loved ones.
No matter how cautious and conscientious you might be, bad things can and do happen to good people.
Lack of Empathy
Victim blaming can also stem from alack of empathyfor others.
People who lack empathy are often extremely critical of others.
They are also less likely to offer to help.
You may have dismissed someone’s experience and believed that it was their own fault.
Rather than blame the victim, try putting yourself in that persons shoes and perhaps try a littleempathyinstead.
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