Use Humor. Try deflecting belittling behavior with humor. Respond with humor or exaggerate the belittling comment and make a joke out of it. Doing this could help someone to realize the outrageousness of what they have said if it is not based on solid facts or evidence.
They are trying to make themselves feel more powerful or important by putting someone else down. They have low self-esteem and need to build themselves up by making others feel inferior. They may be insecure in the relationship and need to control the other person to maintain their status or power within it.
The following are examples of what belittling looks like: Yelling or screaming at you to get a reaction. Insulting you — calling you fat, ugly or stupid — or criticizing your parenting skills or intelligence. Ignoring how you feel, disregarding your opinion or failing to recognize your contributions.
What is belittling? Belittling is the intentional act of making another feel worthless, empty, and dismissed. It is one of many forms of psychological and emotional abuse.
Some common synonyms of belittle are decry, depreciate, and disparage.
Narcissists belittle others because they have their own insecurities, fears and flaws, and are afraid of having them exposed to others. In making hurtful comments to others, they reinforce their own feelings of importance and hide the low self-esteem and self-worth that may be lurking within.
A narcissist will manipulate and control others to feel good, which is why they can be abusive in relationships. They can use aggression and be rude, offensive, and belittling towards their partners to wear down their self-worth. This can turn into a sadistic, abusive relationship.
Emotional and psychological abuse can take many forms, including belittling, which can manifest as judging, humiliating, criticizing, trivializing or telling hurtful jokes. But belittling is no joking matter. It's a tactic often used by abusers to make their victims feel small, unimportant or disrespected.
Demeaning behavior is that which is intended to cause a severe loss in the dignity and respect of someone; words or actions intended to debase, lower, degrade, discredit or devalue a person.
There can be many different reasons why a person may feel the need to put others down. Some possible reasons can include low self-esteem, childhood trauma, being bullied themselves, or a lack of empathy.
belittle usually suggests a contemptuous or envious attitude.
It is a way of making the partner feel insignificant to cut down their confidence. It may also be a kind of manipulation. A person may often use belittling comments to manipulate the other one into making them more dependable on someone so that the person loses confidence.
Insecure people may also belittle others to protect themselves from being vulnerable or rejected by others. This is especially common when the person belittling others has low self-esteem and frequently faces rejection or disapproval from those around them.
Leaders who like to harass or belittle can create a dark ethos, when the act becomes a habit. The antidote to acts of harassment or belittling is to elevate oneself, to respect differences, to value the uniqueness and talent of each person and to encourage them to value themselves.
Aggression such as shouting, yelling and belittling comments are all obvious signs of condescension. However, people are sometimes condescending in more subtle ways, such as talking about people behind their backs or making fun of colleagues in the form of jokes.
Examples include intimidation, coercion, ridiculing, harassment, treating an adult like a child, isolating an adult from family, friends, or regular activity, use of silence to control behavior, and yelling or swearing which results in mental distress. Signs of emotional abuse.
Narcissists are hurt by challenges or threats to their superior and grandiose self-image (also known as narcissistic injury). Their sense of entitlement and lack of empathy means they will attempt to destroy the culprit by any means necessary.
In narcissistic individuals, the preponderance of their critical inner voices is directed at others and putting others down to make them feel better about themselves.
To belittle means to put down, or to make another person feel as though they aren't important. Saying mean things about another person literally makes them feel "little." To belittle someone is a cruel way of making someone else seem less important than yourself.
A person who enjoys turning others against another person is often referred to as a "manipulator" or "manipulative perso.