What is Gaslighting?
Gaslighting refers to the psychological manipulation of an individual’s thoughts, beliefs, perceptions, experiences, and understanding of events. To gaslight someone in a professional setting is when managers, peers, colleagues, supervisors, or others manipulate the employee’s thinking, by deceiving facts, altering elements, and making them believe they are mistaken or misremembering things. This act or form of psychological toxicity causes negativity in the work environment and targets the proficient employees’ capabilities and mental health affecting their job performance.
The term has its origin in a British play “Gaslight” in 1938 in which the husband manipulates his wife for his benefit, making her think she is crazy. The gaslighting technique is corrosive and causes individuals to lose their mental stability and cognitive understanding. It deteriorates their confidence as it belittles their feelings and experiences, making them feel that their feelings are overblown and irrational.
The gas lighter withholds important information and lies about facts to make the victim believe the false narrative and get them confused with their conscience. The gas lighter in the act of gaslighting convinces the victim that only they are the right source of information for them and others are vague and lies, hence creating a cognitive dependency in the mind of the victims.
Example- Sheena is a project manager in a project and Jason is her supervisor.
- Jason blames Sheena for overbudgeting in the project which is caused due to the last-minute changes done by Jason.
- Jason instructs Sheena to follow a specific procedure for a project. Later, when issues arise, he claims he told her to use a different approach.
- Jason gives Sheena incomplete information about a client’s needs, leading to an unsatisfactory presentation, etc.
These are the gaslighting acts that cause Sheena to doubt her capabilities, memory, and decisions. As a result, her selfesteem diminishes making her feel unworthy, stressed, unsupported, and dissatisfied at the workplace.
