What is social cowardice?
What is social cowardice?
Social cowardice is the fear of openly confronting others, particularly those who are seen as stronger or brighter than oneself.
How do social cowards attack?
Because cowards are afraid to openly confront, they resort to roundabout forms of attack in order to get their own way. Confrontation, especially when done in a measured way, is mature and adaptive. Attack is generally vindictive, mean-spirited, and immature.
Methods used by social cowards.
Surrogates — Cowards find others to do their dirty work.
Indirect disruption — Cowards attempt to exert influence over those they fear through indirect means (see surrogates above).
Gossip — Cowards gossip in order to try to reveal and exaggerate the weaknesses of their perceived opponents.
Manipulation — Cowards try to force the hands of those they perceive to be better than they.
Misattribution — Cowards often invent acts and deeds that have never and will never happen and attribute them to their targets.
Misinformation — Cowards will provide false information in order to get others to act in a certain way.
Anonymity — Because cowards feel they’ll be overwhelmed by the people they’re afraid to confront, they feel compelled to resort to anonymity as their only defense. To be associated with what they’ve done (see indirect disruption above) means they may face retribution from the people they’ve attacked.
Avoidance — Rather than facing a situation directly, cowards will often let family members and friends suffer. It’s easier for a coward to spend every night out on the town than it is to face a serious situation that’s brewing at home.
Never returning — Once having done their dirty work, cowards seldom return to face their perceived betters. It’s easier for the coward to just stay away entirely than it is for her to go back and say she’s sorry or that she may have done wrong.
Herb Guggenheim
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