12 examples of psychological violence (explained)

Violence between individuals can manifest itself in many ways and one of the most common is psychological.

Below we can learn more about this phenomenon, its causes and consequences. We will also see a series of examples to better understand the variants of this type of attack through various examples of psychological violence, which some people habitually exercise over others.

• Related article: "The 11 types of violence (and the different types of aggression)"

What is psychological violence

Before immersing ourselves fully in the different examples of psychological violence, it is necessary that we stop to understand in depth the implications of this phenomenon. Psychological violence, also called psychological abuse or emotional abuse, is a conduct by which a person tries to subdue or humiliate another through various practices that do not require physical aggression.

This type of behavior can generate different psychological consequences in the victim, from symptoms of anxiety and / or depression, to post-traumatic stress disorder. There are many examples of psychological violence that these consequences could generate. Logically, depending on their frequency and intensity, as well as the characteristics of the victim, the traumas will be more or less serious.

Emotional abuse addresses so many situations that it is difficult to give a more exact definition. What the professionals are clear about is that these behaviors usually involve three situations, which are the psychological aggression itself, the denial of it or minimization, which generates a second form of victimization in the person attacked, as the harm is not recognized suffered.

Before starting to list the different examples of psychological violence that can occur, we will learn more about this phenomenon. As in all aggressions, this situation is based on an imbalance whereby the aggressor takes a position of power vis-a-vis the victim, who is subordinate and is forced to act under her control.

Although this type of behavior can occur in any context, there are some where it is more common for us to find examples of psychological violence. Some of them are the families themselves, as is logical, where this emotional abuse could occur from one member of the couple towards the other, or towards the children. In some cases it can even come from the children to the parents.

Likewise, children can receive this psychological violence from other children and in fact this frequently occurs. The elderly can also become victims of psychological aggression, either by a family member or even by their caregivers.

Of course, Another of the scenarios where it is easier to find examples of psychological violence is undoubtedly that of work. Although it is a problem that is increasingly trying to act against, workplace harassment, which can lead to emotional abuse, it is still frequent for many people, who are victims of these behaviors by their superiors or even others companions.

Different examples of psychological violence and its characteristics

Once we have concluded the theoretical introduction, we are ready to take a tour of the main examples of psychological violence in order to complete our knowledge about this thematic. Next we will proceed to list the most important ones in order to carry out an analysis of each of them.

1. Intimidation

Bullying is one of the clearest examples of psychological violence. An intimidating attitude towards another person, either through yelling, attitudes such as a threatening body posture, are behaviors that can generate psychological damage in the victim. This effect can be exacerbated if instead of an aggressor there are several, since the effect of intimidation is multiplied by the perception of a much greater risk.

2. Threats

If in intimidation a series of hidden but not explicit threats could be appreciated, here we are talking about clear threatening behaviors. They can be verbal threats or physical behaviors that anticipate imminent assault, such as raising a fist in the air.

Although the physical aggression does not materialize (because then we would already be talking about another type of violence), it is still one of the examples of psychological violence, since the victim is experiencing anxiety and fear.

3. Abuse

Of course, insults are another form of emotional abuse on the person who receives them, since they are denigrated and this generates damage to their self-esteem. Repeated insults can become a form of psychological violence that is really harmful to the victim.

• You may be interested in: "Verbal aggression: keys to understanding this violent attitude"

4. Humiliations

In line with the previous point, humiliations are another of the examples of psychological violence that demonstrate the harm that can be done to a person just by using words. The humiliations can be of many types, from the physical appearance of the person, some behavior that he has carried out, some particular characteristic, etc.

In short, when the aggressor wants to do harm, he will always find a way to achieve it.

5. Rejection

But sometimes emotional damage can be caused not actively, but passively. Extreme rejection is one of these examples of psychological violence. When an individual or group of individuals deliberately decides to isolate another and exclude them from all activities and social relationships, they will end up suffering the psychological consequences of such behaviors.

It is what is popularly known as creating a vacuum, a behavior that some children sometimes perform over other equals, but that can also be observed in adults.

6. Forced isolation

Forced isolation is another form of psychological violence. This particular case, due to its characteristics, it is more common in pairs. In this case, a member of the couple, usually in a subtle way at first but more evident later, begins to restrict the freedom of the other person to interact with others or make certain activities.

Little by little he isolates her until her whole life turns exclusively towards her attacker, paradoxically.

7. Destruction of property

Another example of psychological violence is the damage or destruction of objects that are the property of the victim. It is a form of violence that It involves physical damage, not to the person as such but to an item that is their property and therefore it is causing a loss.

In addition, a veiled threat can also be perceived after this behavior, since the victim may be afraid of also suffering an attack at some point. There is another variant in which the aggressor instead of damaging an object, exerts violence on an animal, because it is the property of the victim. It is an even more cruel and clear form of emotional abuse, in which there is also another living being suffering from it.

8. Authoritarianism

The own imbalance in a relationship between two people can generate authoritarianism in which, through other points that we have been seeing, such as intimidation, the aggressor achieves a position permanent power in which he achieves that all his decisions and mandates are carried out, without taking into consideration the wishes of the victim.

9. Blackmail

Another of the most classic examples of psychological violence is that of blackmail. Through blackmail, the person can exert emotional damage on the other individual to achieve his purposes. A typical case is to question the feelings towards the aggressor if the other person is not willing to carry out a certain behavior.

10. Disproportionate reviews

Constructive and well-founded criticism should never harm the other person. But if the criticism is disproportionate, constant, it is not based on real data and also is used to denigrate the individual, of course it constitutes a clear example of psychological violence.

11. Denial of feelings

Emotional harm can also be done to a person through denial of his or her feelings. If an individual is experiencing a certain emotion, generally negative, such as sadness, and another person, repeatedly, not only does it not validate these emotions but it also despises them and considers that they are not justified, obviously he is exercising a psychological abuse on her.

12. Control

Control would be another example of psychological violence that we could cite. While it may be a mix of some of the types we've already seen, like authoritarianism or forced isolation, control can take other forms and be less obvious. Sometimes translates into a review of the actions of others, like who has he been with, with whom he has spoken, who are on his social networks, etc.

To this day, the control of the telephone, for example in the couple, is another of the most common examples of psychological violence that we can find.

Bibliographic references:

• Larrosa, M.P. (2010). Gender violence: psychological violence. Forum: Journal of legal and social sciences.
• Rodríguez-Domínguez, C., Durán, M., Martínez, R. (2018). Cyberbullies in adolescent dating and their relationship with psychological violence, sexism and jealousy. Health and Addictions.
• Suárez, Ó.A. (2002). Psychological violence in the workplace within the framework of the European Union. Lan harremanak: Journal of labor relations.