Gaslighting, Narcissist, and More Psychology Terms You're Misusing

time.com

2 pointsjstarfish3 comments

Calling "gaslighting" a "psychology term" seems a bit disingenuous to me, considering that the term originated as a colloquialism derived from the name of a play[1] and couple of subsequent movie adaptations[2][3].

In 1965, twenty-eight years after the stageplay was written, writers began denominalising the film's title and using it as a verb, "gaslighting". Gaslighting, in this context, is a colloquialism that loosely means to manipulate a person or a group of people in a way similar to the way the protagonist in the play (Bella) was manipulated.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_Light

[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslight_(1940_film)

[3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslight_(1944_film)

"The word gaslighting (referring to the behavior described in the above amateur psychology section) is occasionally used in clinical literature, but is considered a colloquialism by the American Psychological Association.[0]"

I think APA considering it a colloquialism would count here as a psychological term.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslighting

It was definitely appropriated, but "inducing cognitive dissonance" rolls off the tongue like a mouthful of cotton.

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