"A
victim mentality may manifest itself in a range of different behaviors or ways of thinking and talking:
- Blaming others for a situation that one has created oneself or significantly contributed to. Failing or being unwilling to take responsibility for one's own actions or actions to which one has contributed or for taking action to ameliorate the situation.
- Ascribing non-existent negative intentions to other people (similar to paranoia).
- Believing that other people are generally or fundamentally luckier and happier ('Why me?').
- Gaining short-term pleasure from feeling sorry for oneself or eliciting pity from others. Eliciting sympathy by telling exaggerated stories about bad deeds of other people (e.g. during gossip).
People with victim mentality may develop convincing and sophisticated arguments in support of such ideas, which they then use to convince themselves and others of their victim status."