Tuesday, May 17, 2022

Handling insults

I am wondering how could some people seem do not affected by any insults. I am sure they knew that there are the target of insults and mockery. I am talking about opposition throwing insults to the President. It appears to me that this lowly political strategy does not work at all.  However still I wonder what are the tricks to handle insult. 

In a verbal society, such as the human one, physical aggression is less often used to settle issues of status: These are mostly deferred to verbal interactions. An insult can thus be interpreted as an attempt to reduce the social status of the recipient and raise the relative status of the insulter.

The purpose of a put-down is to reduce someone else in the imaginary status hierarchy. So it is hardly surprising that insults will often refer to a person's social status in terms of ancestry, lack of prestige, or membership in a despised out-group. Otherwise, the content of insults across the ages is monotonously predictable: Many insults feature a sexual component. In addition to status and sexuality, insults inflict shame by mentioning unappealing traits—fatness, shortness, baldness, spottiness, and contagious diseases.

Another way of taking a person down is by questioning their intelligence or general mental competence; for insult purposes, recipients are invariably "stupid" or "crazy."

So, what’s the best way of dealing with insults ?

Acceptance may seem weak but can be the strongest response of all. When someone insults us, we ought to consider three things: whether the insult is true, who it came from, and why. If the insult is true or largely true, the person it came from is reasonable, and his or her motive is worthy, then the insult is not an insult but a statement of fact, and, moreover, one that could be very helpful to us. Hence, we seldom take offence at our parents, teachers, or friends, who, by telling us the truth, are trying to help rather than hinder or harm us. if you think that the person who insulted you is unworthy of your consideration, you have no reason to take offence, just as you have no reason to take offence at a naughty child or a barking dog.

Humor, if successful, can be an especially effective response. Make a mockery of the insult and, by extension, of the insulter. Humor, unfortunately, has some of the same downsides as returning the insult: Your reply has to be funny, and it has to be well-timed and well-delivered

Ignoring the insult is much easier, and, in fact, more powerful. Ignoring the insult works well with strangers but may not be a sensible or viable strategy when it comes to people with whom we have an ongoing personal or professional relationship. 

We need never take offence at an insult. Offence exists not in the insult but in our reaction to it, and our reactions are completely within our control. It is unreasonable to expect a boor (=ill-mannered person) to be anything but a boor; if we take offence at his bad behaviour, we have only ourselves to blame.

Avoid returning insults. It can be tempting to match insult for insult. Ultimately, though, it is best refusing to engage whomever insulted you. "The best way to upset this person is not to insult them in return, but to let them know their words have no impact on me."



References
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-human-beast/201611/the-psychology-insults
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201302/how-deal-insults-and-put-downs
https://www.wikihow.com/Be-Confident-when-Someone-Insults-You

No comments:

Post a Comment