Minimisation orminimization is an action where an individual intentionally downplays a situation or a thing.[1][2] Minimisation, or downplaying the significance of an event or emotion, is a common strategy in dealing with feelings ofguilt.[3]
Understatement is a form of speech which contains an expression of less strength than what would be expected.[4] A related term iseuphemism, where a polite phrase is used in place of a harsher or more offensive expression.[5]
Redefining events to downplay their significance can be an effective way of preserving one's self-esteem.[6] One of the problems ofdepression (found in those withclinical,bipolar, andchronic depressive mood disorders, as well ascyclothymia) is the tendency to do the reverse: minimising the positive, discounting praise,[7] and dismissing one's own accomplishments.[8] On the other hand, one technique used byAlfred Adler to combat neurosis was to minimise the excessive significance the neurotic attaches to his own symptoms[9]—thenarcissistic gains derived from pride in one's own illness.[10]
Display rules expressing a group's general consensus about the display of feeling often involve minimising the amount of emotion one displays, as with apoker face.[11] Social interchanges involving minor infringements often end with the 'victim' minimising the offence with a comment like 'Think nothing of it',[12] using so-called 'reduction words',[13] such as 'no big deal,' 'only a little,' 'merely,' or 'just', the last particularly useful in denying intent.[14] On a wider scale, renaming things in a more benign or neutral form—'collateral damage' for death—is a form of minimisation.
A variation on minimisation as a manipulative technique is"claimingaltruistic motives" such as saying "I don't do this because I am selfish, and for gain, but because I am a socially aware person interested in the common good".[19]
School bullying is one form ofvictimisation orphysical abuse which has sometimes been unofficially encouraged, ritualised or even minimised as a sort of prank by teachers or peers. The main difference between pranks and bullying is establishment ofpower inequity between the bully and the victim that lasts beyond the duration of the act.[20]
^Goldsmid, S.; Howie, P. (2014). "Bullying by definition: An examination of definitional components of bullying".Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties.19 (2):210–225.doi:10.1080/13632752.2013.844414.S2CID145146347.
