People with narcissistic personality disorder are extremely resistant to changing their behavior, even when it's causing them problems. Their tendency is to turn the blame on to others.
The psychological term for blaming others is psychological projection, which is a defense mechanism that causes those with this condition to protect themselves by using others as scapegoats.
Psychologically speaking, this mechanism is called projection, and I talk more about it in my article titled 5 Ways Narcissists Project and Attack You.
Persuasive Blamers: (Blamers): Those with life-long personalities of blaming others for all problems, including their own. They most commonly have personality traits associated with the Cluster B Personality Disorders found in the DSM-IV: Borderline, Narcissist, Histrionic, and Antisocial Personality Disorders.
Blame is a natural coping mechanism that begins in toddlerhood. If you go into a room to find a toddler alone with a broken lamp and ask what happened, you'll hear, “He/she did it,” even if he or she is an imaginary friend.
Function of Blaming Others
Blaming is like other formal defense mechanisms–a strategy of deception that we use to help preserve our self-esteem. It encompasses an attempt to disown feelings that we judge to be too uncomfortable or part of ourselves that create within us a sense of shame.
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incorrigible: incapable of being corrected or amended. In context, the word usually implies that the person doesn't respond well to criticism or admit fault.
Gaslighting Is a Common Victim-Blaming Abuse Tactic – Here Are 4 Ways to Recognize It in Your Life. For almost my entire life, I felt as though I couldn't trust my own memory. If something happened that upset me, hurt me, or angered me, my reaction was often met with some variation of “That didn't happen!
Here are some examples of blame-shifting phrases so you can be on the lookout for this tactic from the narcissist: “If you wouldn't have said that then I wouldn't have called you names!” “If you weren't always nagging me then I wouldn't have cheated on you!” “You always do that!”
Children with ADHD may deal with their emotional pain by “externalizing”—blaming others for their problems and taking no personal responsibility. ADHD may overlap ODD with behaviors marked by: Openly defying rules at home or at school. Arguing excessively with authority figures.
According to psychologist, speaker and author Guy Winch, most people who consistently refuse to admit they're wrong do so because they have incredibly fragile egos. They clam up and insist they're right, demonstrating what experts term "psychological rigidity", as a defense mechanism.
Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a long-term, mental health condition.
Due to a fragile ego, some people refuse to admit they are wrong, even in the face of overwhelming evidence. There is professional help available for people with low self-esteem. If a person is unable to cope psychologically with being wrong, they may attempt to deny facts in order to justify their actions or beliefs.
Because narcissists' inner guiding voice is so critical and harsh, narcissists try to avoid all responsibility for anything that goes wrong. In order to avoid self-hatred, they project the blame onto someone else.
It can break down your sense of trust in your partner and replace it with a growing sense of resentment and anger. And, if it persists for a very long time, constant blame in a relationship can be a symptom of emotional abuse.
When a person is inexorable, they're stubborn. When a thing or process is inexorable, it can't be stopped. This is a word for people and things that will not change direction. An inexorable person is hard-headed and cannot be convinced to change their mind, no matter what.
However, when others place responsibility on the narcissist, the narcissist sees this as an attempt to control them. This violates one of their personal mantras: no one will have power over them. So they escape from all liability.
The most common word for this is stubborn.
The reason why people usually blame others is that it's a quick escape from guilt. Blame is an incredibly easy and effortless tactic to use when we feel defensive.
Those who are blamed experience guilt and bitterness towards themselves and others, and over time, their self-esteem drops. Blaming makes it harder to communicate with each other, trust each other, and work together. Blaming also reduces kindness and intimacy.
Victim blaming has severe negative impacts on survivors' healing and can lead to increased experiences of self-blame, shame, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and suicidal ideation. 1 It can also make it less likely for survivors to report, seek support, care, and treatment.
You may never or rarely receive a genuine apology from someone with NPD, for example, or — due to a lack of empathy — they may not be able to consider your needs over theirs. Narcissism is manageable. If you or someone you care about is living with NPD, speaking with a mental health professional can help.