New Model Reveals How Gaslighters Manipulate Targets

Gaslighting could happen to anyone who trusts the wrong person, a McGill University researcher says. Willis Klein, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Psychology, was part of a team from McGill and the University of Toronto that developed a new theoretical model with which to understand how manipulators are able to make their targets question their sense of reality over a period of time.

Though gaslighting has been a popular topic of discussion in the public sphere for the last few years, it has not been thoroughly investigated from a scientific point of view, according to the researcher.

Klein is lead author of a paper that suggests gaslighting can be viewed as a learning process, using the concept of prediction error minimization (PEM). PEM describes how the mind maps out the input it receives from the world, and strives, based on this information, to predict the future, adjust its expectations and respond to the environment. Up to now, gaslighting has mostly been examined through a psychodynamic lens, but that analytical framework is no longer widely used in North American scientific psychology, he said.

The paper, "A Theoretical Framework for Studying the Phenomenon of Gaslighting," is published in Personality and Social Psychology Review.

Gaslighting as a learning process

"When you trust or you love somebody, you expect them to behave in a particular way. Gaslighters, in our view, are behaving in an atypical way, one that is somewhat surprising, and they're making use of that surprise to direct the learning of the people they target," explained Klein.

In addition to behaving in a way that violates your expectations, a gaslighter will, according to the researcher, suggest that the cause of your surprise has something to do with your general grip of reality, making you feel what he calls "epistemically incompetent."

"This is repeated over and over, until the target has really integrated the idea that they don't actually have a good grasp on reality," said Klein.

The role of trust and close others

The model also relies on the idea that we depend on others—especially close others—to form our sense of self and reality. This, combined with the view of gaslighting as a learning process, means that anyone could fall victim to gaslighting, according to Klein.

"In our model, there's not necessarily anything specific about the target of gaslighting that makes them particularly vulnerable to it. In essence, it could happen to anyone, so long as they're trusting the wrong person," he explained.

Klein said he thinks future inquiries into this subject could, however, reveal that some personal characteristics can affect a person's susceptibility to being gaslit, like certain attachment styles or a history of trauma. He said he hopes future research can also validate various components of the model and lead to better support for people who have been victims of gaslighting.