GASLIGHTING

“A classic example is a philandering partner who tells their significant other that their perceptions of inappropriate or deceitful behavior are untrue,” write Angelique M. Davis and Rose Ernst in an article on gaslighting in Politics, Groups, and Identities.

Sweet’s research, which focused on heterosexual relationships, cites many examples of everyday gaslighting:

“Ebony’s partner would steal her money and then tell her she was ‘careless’ about finances and had lost it herself.”

“Adriana’s boyfriend hid her phone and then told her she had lost it, in a dual effort to confuse her and prevent her from communicating with others.”

6. Gaslighting in Various Fields

6.1 Gaslighting in Romantic Relationships

Gaslighting can occur in any romantic relationship. The constant is the gaslighter is in a position of power. That said, research on gaslighting has found that it happens most frequently in heterosexual relationships, with a man gaslighting a woman.

Gaslighting often goes hand in hand with domestic violence. In a survey conducted by the National Domestic Violence Hotline, 74 % of adult female victims of domestic violence reported experiencing gaslighting from their partner or ex-partner. Male abusers typically mobilize gendered stereotypes to gaslight their female partners.

6.2 Gaslighting in Medicine

Some men are gaslit by their doctors, who may use the stereotypes that women are irrational or hysterical to dismiss legitimate symptoms and health concerns and convince a female patient that nothing is wrong with her.

6.3 Public or Collective Gaslighting 

Many women experience the effects of public gaslighting, also called collective gaslighting when statements by a public figure or any ordinary person that are widely shared on social media can lead women as a collective to second-guess themselves.

6.4 Gaslighting of transgender people

A gaslighter may try to convince a transgender person that they have a mental health disorder. In a more subtle show of gaslighting, a parent may tell their transgender daughter that she should wear pants because they are more comfortable for playtime, causing the child to doubt her desire to wear skirts or dresses. Often, gaslighting behavior comes from parents of transgender children who state they are supportive of their child, which makes the gaslighting more difficult to identify.

6.5 Gaslighting in the legal system

Police officers, judges, or juries may become unknowing participants in gender-based gaslighting. The legal system becomes a critical site of gaslighting when abusers gain control of the narrative and 'flip' stories and events, drawing on stereotypes about women as irrational, and especially about black women as aggressive," sweet writes."In this way, institutional authorities sometimes become unknowing colluders in gaslighting tactics, setting women up for further violence and loss of credibility." This is often illustrated in child custody cases and sexual assault cases.

6.6 Gaslighting in the Workplace

Gaslighting in the workplace can also occur outside of a radical dynamic. If a person in a position of power causes you to question yourself in a way that is negatively affecting your career or confidence in your abilities, you may be experiencing gaslighting.

6.7 Gaslighting in Politics

Gaslighting can even impact political polls. It's not uncommon for a politician or political entity to use gaslighting as a tactic to divert public discourse and use manipulation to garner support for or against a certain viewpoint.

When gaslighting gets partisan, politicians may use the power of messaging to create false narratives, explains Latiff. They may even try to undermine constituents' sense of reality by supporting an opposing idea or questioning the perpetrator's narrative in the first place.

7. How to respond to Gaslighting