Why do people mock others?

[Anonymous]

I've often wondered why people would rather get a good laugh out off someone's bad experience, rather than take a more mature approach and teach someone the skills that the bad experience is supposed to teach?

Examples of situations:

* you don't talk much so people start using words with dual meaning and mock you if you don't follow up on the jokes.



etc...you get the idea

[Anonymous]

I think it's because they are trying to make your current circumstances uncomfortable - forcing you to change.

If you're a quiet person who doesn't interact with the group, but they want you to, they may start mocking your quietness in order to force you to take part.

It's similar to how a bunch of kids go swimming. They all dive in, except one kid who is on the edge afraid to jump. The kids in the water have two options, pleading encouragement and support, or mockery and ridicule. Girls tend to do the former. Boys tend to do the latter.

Either way when the kid jumps in, he gets cheers for finally taking the plunge.

"rather than take a more mature approach and teach someone the skills that the bad experience is supposed to teach?"

You might be the exception, but usually when someone has failed to learn a lesson from a bad experience, they react very negatively and hostile to someone who tries to patiently teach them. They perceive it as patronising and insincere and generally lash out.

For examples on GAG, just look at any of the male virgin types who hate on girls. Any time someone tries to patiently help them... oh boy.

[Asker]

Wow, Never thought that people whould pressure for comformity with ridicule. It's sucks when you're the odd one.

[Opinion Owner]

It does, but remember we're basically hairless apes. Experiments have shown how chimps can use violence to pressure other apes into conformity. Humans are just a little bit better, but the instinct is still there.

Read this : (Even if the original experiment never happened, it's informative.)

link

[standUP]

Listen man if you cannot laugh at mistakes or shortcomings of your own then you are forgetting the purpose of a lesson well learned.

How many times have you laughed at an idiot on TV acting or real?SAME THING ,

Just happens to be us with the "fail" at times.

Look they got their message across to you by you posting this Q .THAT WAS the taught lesson. Yet you are choosing to internalize it even MORE ! rather than accepting that your actions needs to have a different outcome. So to prevent that . What do you need to do differently?

[523206720]

I think they do it because it makes them feel powerful or because they don't care about others and thus find anything unexpected (such as a person failing or not being attractive) to be humorous. I agree it's wrong.

[April187]

usually people with self-esteem issues do that to feel better about themselves or appear more powerful/confident than they really are.

[thebestest123]

Not everyone wants to be mature all the time. If the topic isn't even that serious who cares..

[Cromartie]

The victim, of course.

[ArabianPwincess197]

makes them feel better about themselves - raises their self-esteem cause they are not seeing themselves as a failure etc

[kangaru]

they think they are better off than others...

or they think it is only a joke (in their own view)

[Rogue2]

It's a means of escape from their own insecurities for some and others just do it for sheer enjoyment. Sucks, but that's the way it is.

[Cromartie]

Mockery is enjoyable. It is that simple.

[Anonymous]

Because they truly believe it helps them with their miserable lives

[Anonymous]

Most people just don't care.