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Victim mentality is an acquired (learned) personality trait in which a person tends to regard him or herself as a victim of the negative actions of others, and to think, speak and act as if that were the case — even in the absence of clear evidence. It depends on habitual thought processes and attribution. Victim mentality is primarily learned, for example, from family members and situations during childhood. It contrasts with the psychologically better-researched traits of neuroticism Neuroticism may be defined as general emotional instability or a generally enhanced tendency to experience negative emotions. Psychoticism is characterised by hostility and aggression. What victim mentality, neuroticism and psychoticism have in common is a relatively high frequency of negative emotional states such as anger, sadness, and fear. But these three traits are also partially independent: for example a given individual may have a high degree of victim mentality and a low degree of neuroticism, in which case a clinical psychologist is unlikely to regard her or him as needing treatment. Conversely, a given individual may have a high degree of neuroticism and a low degree of victim mentality. ==Foundations == In the most general sense, a victim is anyone who experiences injury, loss, or misfortune as a result of some event or series of events.〔K. Aquino and K. Byron, ‘Dominating interpersonal behavior and perceived victimization in groups: Evidence for a curvilinear relationship’,Journal of Management, Vol. 28, No. 1, 2002, p. 71.〕 This experience, however, is insufficient for the emergence of a sense of victimhood. It has been suggested that individuals define themselves as a victim if they believe that: * they were harmed; * they were not responsible for the occurrence of the harmful act; * they were under no obligation to prevent the harm; * the harm constituted an injustice in that it violated their rights (if inflicted by a person) and/or in that they possessed qualities (''e.g.'', strength or goodness of character) making them persons whom that harm did not befit * they deserve sympathy.〔C. J. Sykes, ''A nation of victims: The decay of the American character,'' St. Martin’s Press: New York, 1992〕 The desire of sympathy is crucial in that the mere experience of a harmful event is not enough for the emergence of the sense of being a victim. In order to have this sense there is the need to perceive the harm as undeserved, unjust and immoral, an act that could not be prevented by the victim. The need to obtain empathy can then emerge.〔http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?jid=IRC&volumeId=91&seriesId=0&issueId=874〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Victim mentality」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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