It has been known that when a terrible happening occurs, individuals tend to find someone or something to blame instead of themselves. Even when the facts are known to themselves, which in most cases happen to be true, they dismiss their behavior. Why is it then that we blame external entities? In my deduction, the answer is simple; it is more pleasant and much easier to exist believing that everything ill-fated occurring around us and those close to us occur due to unavoidable circumstances. We, therefore, result into the conclusion that actions of other people or some event could not be avoided, thus, the excuse “I could not have done anything”.
The guilt conscience comes in when we know we could have averted a situation if we made the right decision, and we are not blamed for not making a decision. Some people deal with guilt by persuading themselves – and I presume that it is an ultimate goal of this course of action of self-delusion. Nonetheless, although it is much more difficult to acknowledge one’s own liability for one’s doings and what ensues as a result. The perks associated with shifting blame to an external entity are illusory – it is a measure of calming oneself instead of one facing the facts and accepting personal fault.
When people lose control of a situation, they panic and try to regain the sense of being in control and blame others. They do this due to fear and try to suppress the feeling by finding a scapegoat to blame. Others use the technique of control: by blaming others, we gain control over them – we blame others to get them to side with us through making them feel bad. Some of us have adapted to blaming others as a result of leniency from parents or guardians. They continue to fail at making us accountable. For most of us, we refuse to admit responsibility and we opt for blaming others for our own shortcomings rather than admitting to them.
When we do not accept the outcome of a situation as we had anticipated, we blame others for the failure. One excuse we tell to ourselves when we blame others is that others are bad. Not only does being bad intentionally transgress values, but in repeating the same without care for others only calls for blame. Some of us will blame the state of being bad to being a permanent state and therefore, we can indulge in blaming others. We can carry on the blaming game with no fear of having others pointing fingers at us from this perspective.
Most individuals have a deep need to be identified. Ways in which we do this might be through contrasting ourselves against others and social comparison. Thus, we place ourselves up in the societal order. With this new found status, we gain a sense of control and look down upon those who do not befit our status. Blame is one of our stronghold policies in perpetrating our new status in the society, by making others feel bad and making ourselves feel good.
References
“Deductive Essay on Why People Tend to Blame Others | Essay “Custom Paper Writing Service. Web. 9 Apr. 2013 http://www.paperwritings.com/free-examples/deductive-essay-om-why-people-tend-to-blame-others.html>.
“Why We Blame Others- Changing Minds and Persuasion—How We…”To Know Myself. Web. 9 Apr. 2013 http://changingminds.org/explanations/behaviors/blame/why_blame_others.htm>.
“ Why Do Some People Blame Others and Claim to be Victims.” Answers. Web. 9 Apr. 2013 http://wiki.answers.com?Q?Why_do_some_people_blame_others_and_claim_to_be_victims.