When a person with such symptoms appears in a work team, everyone tries to stay as far away from him as possible. It is unlikely that a hypocrite can have real friends, because no one ever knows what to expect from such a person. Now we propose to understand what hypocrisy is and what it means to be a hypocrite.
Hypocrisy - what is it?
Each of us has our own ideas about what hypocrisy is and what is good and what is immoral. This quality of human hypocrisy is one of the worst in all religions and cultures. Hypocrisy is usually called a negative moral quality, consisting of committing immoral acts for inhumane purposes and selfish interests. In such situations, a person can say one thing and do something completely different. You never know what to expect from a hypocrite, because such people are often unpredictable to others.
Hypocrisy - psychology
Before judging someone for their behavior, it is important to understand and understand why the person acts one way or another. Perhaps he has his own reasons for immoral acts. Although there is no need to justify such actions. There are reasons for such immoral behavior. Psychology knows why people are hypocrites:
- Fear. It often becomes the cause of hypocrisy, because it forces a person to adapt to life and be a hypocrite.
- The desire of a person to appear better to others than he really is. Such people rarely express personal opinions. With their own judgments they want to please someone.
- Not quite formed views on life. It happens that a person does not yet have certain principles of life, and he himself does not know what he wants. For this reason, he has to be a hypocrite.
Who is a hypocrite?
Many people know what hypocrisy can be like in modern society. People with such moral qualities can often change their own life views and positions depending on the benefit. The concept of hypocrisy has many synonyms - deceit, double-mindedness, duplicity, crookedness and pretense. Interestingly, the very concept of hypocrisy comes from the word “actor”. A hypocrite seems to put on a “mask” when he is in a certain situation. Such people always look for benefits for themselves in everything, even if they don’t need it at all.
Is being a hypocrite good or bad?
The answer to the question, is hypocrisy good or bad, is unequivocal - bad. If you wish, you can find a lot of excuses for such behavior. All people periodically, depending on the situation, tend to change their behavior, speaking rudely to some and kindly to others. However, hypocrisy forces people to put on “masks” and do only what they need in a given situation. We can say that such people betray themselves. No one likes living with a constant sense of duplicity. In their hearts, every person would like to be themselves and not try on other people's roles.
Hypocrisy - signs
When they say one thing to your face and whisper behind your back, such behavior can hardly be called favorable. It is not so difficult to understand that a person is a hypocrite. To do this, it is important to know the main signs of impartial behavior in society:
- Deceit. So if a person has been caught cheating more than once, then there is no doubt that he is a real hypocrite, from whom you need to stay as far away as possible.
- Inability or unwillingness to keep your promises. When a person cannot keep his word, then with such behavior he exposes the one who believed and trusted him. Sometimes there are situations in which it is not easy to fulfill what was promised, but in many cases the hypocrite cannot keep his word due to laziness or his own duplicity.
- Perfidy. When a person consciously wants to deceive someone, then he commits a treacherous act. Such people are often called traitors because they failed to remain true to their oaths and actions.
- Hypocrisy and pretense. Hypocritical people often want to appear better than they really are. Thus, such individuals pretend and deceive others.
Hypocrisy and duplicity
We often wonder what hypocrisy is in our lives and how it differs from duplicity. These two qualities are negative and at the same time opposite to honesty, sincerity and frankness. However, there are differences between them. Duplicity is defensive in nature and is often considered a refuge from trouble. As for hypocrisy, it is understood as the desire to benefit from a certain situation and put oneself above others.
Hypocrisy and hypocrisy
No team accepts those who can be called hypocrites and hypocrites. Everyone wants to stay as far away from such people as possible. The concepts of hypocrite and bigot are equally immoral and negative in everyone human society. However, they have many differences. Hypocrisy is understood as covering up insincerity, maliciousness, sincerity and virtue. Hypocrisy is a form of piety and piety, expressed in a demonstrative denial of immorality.
Hypocrisy - how to fight
Everyone knows that hypocrisy is a vice and must be fought against. That is, it is impossible to leave everything as it is and continue to live like this. However, even if desired, the owner of such quality is unable to do anything to change. To get rid of such a negative quality you need:
- Control your own actions and words. It is necessary to analyze all actions and at the same time avoid lying.
- Stay honest always and in everything. It is necessary to understand that hypocrisy is a manifestation of momentary weakness. Your own position is one of the important differences.
- Increase self-esteem. If a person is confident that he is right, then he will never be able to be a hypocrite. Such behavior would be unacceptable for him.
Hypocrisy in Christianity
We can definitely say that in Orthodox Christianity, hypocrisy is a sin. “Hypocrisy is based on lies, and the father of lies is the devil” - this is what the Bible says about hypocrisy. It doesn’t matter whether we are talking about the state, the workforce or the family. No community can stand if it is divided internally, since division is a violation of the integrity and strength of such a community. For this reason, we can confidently say that such behavior is unacceptable for all Orthodox Christians.
Such people have been and will always be in society: they have in stock many different faces that they try on depending on a particular situation. But most often in this way they cover up their maliciousness and dishonesty, pretending to be virtuous and sincere. Who is a hypocrite - read in this article.
What does hypocrite mean?
We can say that this is a two-faced, bad and malicious person, but he pretends to be virtuous, sincere and kind. This is exactly the definition given in Ozhegov’s dictionary. In American explanatory dictionary hypocrisy is understood as the falsification of beliefs, virtues and feelings that are not characteristic of a person.
Hypocrisy in various fields human life- Hypocrisy in ethics. Here we are talking about a negative moral quality, which consists in the fact that obviously immoral actions are endowed with a pseudo-moral meaning, they are given sublime motives and are characterized by philanthropy. The meaning of a hypocrite is the opposite of the meaning characteristic of an open and sincere person, whose thoughts and actions coincide with his words.
- Cultural hypocrisy. Here we are talking about a state that society maintains, because each individual of it feels insecure and feels the need to protect his lability by limiting criticism and discussion. This feeling arises due to the fact that society requires each of its members to strive for high ideals of morality, without considering how difficult it is to achieve this. At the same time, society lacks the wealth and organization to reward everyone for complying with this condition. As a result, everyone decides this issue for themselves, but at the same time is forced to experience constant psychological pressure from culture, subject to the dissatisfaction of their desires.
- In Christianity they condemn the hypocrite and pretender and believe that this illness of the human soul is subject to confession. Orthodox believe that the father of lies is the devil and the life of a hypocrite is controlled not by God, but by evil. A two-faced hypocrite has two lives: one of them is on display, and the other is hidden deep inside.
- In Islam hypocrites are called “munafik”, and hypocrisy is called “nifaq”. Accordingly, such a person wants to seem like a devout Muslim, but in reality he is far from the faith. In Islam, hypocrisy is a much worse sin than unbelief. It is believed that after death such people go to the lowest and most painful level of hell. Constantly rushing from one extreme to another, hypocrites weave intrigues and intrigues, creating turmoil around themselves. They ridicule the signs of Allah and pursue only their own interests.
How to recognize a hypocrite?
There are a lot of such people in politics. Hiding behind slogans and high ideals, they think only about themselves and their needs. They are striving for power for the sake of their own enrichment, but they do not care about the people for whom they are supposedly trying. Surely, in every person’s environment there is a unique person who says one thing to his face and another behind his back, trying to slander a person, ridicule him and harm his reputation. It is difficult to say what motivates them, but not philanthropy. Such people do not love anyone but themselves. They don't care about other people's problems and worries. They will never help or lend a helping hand just like that if they do not see some benefit for themselves in this.
It is clear that there is no desire to communicate with such people, much less build any close relationships. And if it turns out that it was not possible to recognize the hypocrite at an early stage, then bitter disappointment comes that you had to spend time and effort on such a person, you feel sorry for your own people and love.
Any person who has at least once experienced the happiness of being in the company of his own kind knows perfectly well what hypocrisy is. Great writers and poets have devoted their works to this vice for many centuries. A whole layer of folk wisdom is devoted to the overthrow of hypocrites. But all this does not help change the world for the better.
What does the word "hypocrisy" mean?
This is how a person behaves inappropriately when he condemns other people for behavior that is not alien to him. In general this is pretense and deception, concerning the concealment of one’s true moral and religious beliefs.
The motives for such actions can be different:
- Conformism. People are very cruel by nature, and the weak of this world are forced to engage in opportunism in order to survive. Often this line of behavior is disgusting to the hypocrite himself, but he cannot do anything about it;
- Self-deception. The desire to present oneself in a more favorable light than in reality. This is done for the sake of petty selfish interests;
- Personal immaturity. The worldview of such a person is not yet fully formed, and he may not be fully aware of how badly he is doing.
There are many fables, proverbs and sayings about this undoubtedly negative character trait. But a more rational consideration of this phenomenon began only in the 1980s, when it became one of the central topics in such scientific fields as:
- Cultural Psychology;
- Political sociology;
- Cognitive Sciences;
- Behavioral Economics;
- Ethics;
- Evolutionary psychology.
How to get rid of this negative character trait?
The latest achievements of social sciences make it possible to formulate a sequence of steps for self-development and getting rid of this negative quality:
- Clearly define your life guidelines. Sometimes people's eyes dart around like the magnetic needle of a compass at the north pole. The path to self-awareness can be paved through the renunciation of previous ideas (for example, religion);
- Clearly control your words and actions. People don't like those who are unable to stand behind their words;
- Increase your level of self-esteem. Without valuing ourselves, we stop seeing dignity in others. And this can result in everyday lies with or without reason;
- Often hypocrisy goes hand in hand with other negative qualities, such as envy. Then you should first get rid of the root cause and only then deal with the consequence. In Western countries, in order to improve oneself, it is customary to go to a psychologist, but in Russia there is no such tradition, and everyone is left with the flaws of their character alone.
Hypocrisy in simple words
Psychologists from all over the world took part in the study of this phenomenon. As a result, hypocrisy in the scientific understanding has become a complex psychological category. Its essence is not clear to mere mortals.
So, hypocrisy in simple words represents:
- According to Carl Jung: it is the action of a person who knows nothing about his dark side. Beneath Christian love for one's neighbor there may be a base desire for personal power;
- According to Machiavelli: it is a social necessity for successful survival in the complex game of life. Being fair is much more difficult than appearing to be fair. It's all about the lazy nature of a person who prefers image to reality;
- According to Robert Wright (American evolutionary psychologist): people show miracles of ingenuity in persuading others. But they are unable to convince themselves. We judge strangers by their actions. We measure our own actions on a different scale, since we have “special information” about ourselves;
- According to psychologist Robert Kurzban: the root of all evil lies in sexual behavior. Condemning adultery does not at all imply that the condemner himself remains faithful.
To put it in very simple words, hypocrisy is when a person thinks something extremely negative about another person, but in a personal conversation does not express this to him, but on the contrary showers him with compliments.
Duplicity in politics
American historian Martin Jay, in his work “The Virtue of Deception: On Lies in Politics” (2012), noted that hypocrisy is an integral part of the political game.
Let's give specific historical examples which confirm this fact:
- The Act of Toleration, issued in England in 1689, bypassed a number of Protestant movements. Congregationalists and Baptists were deprived of the right to build their own churches. This gave rise to accusations of hypocrisy among the Anglicans, who themselves had recently suffered from oppression;
- The era of the Whigs (the party of the commercial and industrial bourgeoisie), which lasted from 1750 to 1850, was remembered by its contemporaries as an endless festival of bigotry. In order to calm the wave of popular discontent, they shook the air in parliament with heated speeches about democracy. But in reality they followed only the ideals of aristocratic exclusivity;
- During World War II, the Americans forcibly herded the Japanese living in the country into camps. Militarist Japan accused the United States of double standards. Forcible deprivation of liberty under formal democratic principles for all citizens was regarded as profound hypocrisy.
Attitudes towards vice in religions
For thousands of years, religion has thoroughly regulated the entire life of man. It provided answers to all the most important moral questions and acted as a kind of code of conduct for ordinary people.
Hypocrisy like quite a grave sin condemned in all faiths:
- The Bible teaches that such improper behavior is based on a lie. And the latter, as you know, represents the tricks of the Evil One. The Gospel of Matthew contains a rather picturesque metaphor on this matter: “the kingdom in your soul is doomed if it is divided in half”;
- In the Koran, the word “munafiq” denotes a person who is trying with all his might to prove his loyalty to Allah, but behind his feigned impulses there is nothing more than the desire to play in public. In Islam, the most severe punishments in hell are provided for this (even more than for unbelief);
- Judaism's attitude toward the dissonance between reason and words is strongly negative. It amounts to irreligion and blasphemy;
- In Buddhism, too, there is no need to seek protection for one’s weakness. In the sacred book “Dhammapada,” the Buddha condemns the ascetic whose soul indulges in base passions.
Just one glance at almost any Russian politician is enough to fully understand what hypocrisy is. His words don't match his thoughts and actions. And this is not only a problem for the authorities. Many ordinary people are afraid more than anything else to admit their shortcomings and mistakes. In the meantime, cinema and literature will not suffer from a lack of plots.
Video: briefly about hypocrisy
In this video, Maria Volnova will tell you how not to become a hypocrite:
A hypocrite is a cunning and insincere person.
He pretends to be kind and enjoys the trust of others.
Such a person is sincere with some people, but laughs evilly at others. Likes to gossip behind one's back.
Ostentatious simplicity is refined hypocrisy.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
How to understand that you are a hypocrite?
No person likes to be deceived or taken advantage of. Therefore, let’s figure out how to distinguish a hypocritical person from a sincere one. What points should you pay attention to?So, a hypocrite is a person who:
- Gossips a lot about others. A hypocritical person only says bad things about the people around him. He is trying to condemn them in order to look better against this background. Hypocrites are stingy with praise, but generous and rich in criticism.
- Doesn't have a sincere smile. Even when a two-faced person smiles, his eyes remain glassy, his facial muscles are tense, and his skin turns red.
- The timbre of his voice may give him away. Such people often stumble, stutter, and take long pauses in conversations.
- They curry favor with the powers that be. To bosses, officials or teachers, hypocritical people will emphasize their respect. But behind their backs, they will actively criticize the actions of their authority.
- He often deceives. If a person has been caught lying several times, then you have a hypocrite. It is better to stay as far away from such people as possible.
- He cannot and does not want to keep his promises. They do this because of their duplicity or basic laziness.
How to react to a hypocritical person?
You should never condemn such a person, because everyone can remember a situation in their life when they tried to hide their sincere feelings from their interlocutor. It’s not for nothing that they say that “the whole world is a stage and the people in it are actors.”
Most often, people act hypocrites out of fear. They have low self-esteem, so they are afraid that they are not good enough, do not know how to do something, or have not achieved great heights. Therefore, they boast and attribute various skills and abilities to themselves.
A person is also a hypocrite because he does not feel safe. You just need to behave carefully with such people, do not tell him the details of your personal life. On the contrary, try to get him into a frank conversation, so you will understand why he does this.
In addition, unexpected questions can throw anyone off balance, so most likely he will begin to behave naturally.
There are, of course, dangerous hypocrites who lie in order to gain profit. He puts himself in the best light, trying to achieve his goal. And sometimes people simply do not have life values, they themselves do not understand where their sincere “I” is and where the mask is. It is better to behave with such people using their own methods. This is how a person sees himself from the outside, and this can discourage him from further such behavior.
If you feel insincerity on the part of a close relative, then analyze what gave him a reason to behave this way. By speaking insincerely, a person may be protecting you, trying to avoid a scandal, or at this moment he simply needs your approval.
Always remember that most often a lie is defensive reaction. For this reason, do everything so that to a loved one was comfortable with you, change your actions towards him.
How to deal with hypocrisy within yourself?
What if there were notes of hypocrisy within us? How to eradicate them? Let's pay attention to some aspects that need to be worked on:
- It is worth recognizing your uniqueness and not “bending” to the opinions of others. You need to have your own moral and spiritual guidelines and always follow them. Play sports, because integrity of character is the basis of physical health. Emerson noted: "Every man is sincere to himself; hypocrisy begins when someone else comes into the room."
- Take responsibility for your actions. Hypocrisy arises from fear of the opinions of others. Don't be afraid to have your own point of view on a particular issue. And stop being afraid of failure.
Remember: all people make mistakes, this is quite normal. There are no problems in the world that cannot be solved. - Engage in self-development. Constant development gives you your own values and helps you achieve internal self-control. In this way, unshakable principles will appear that will not be allowed to be betrayed.
- Give yourself the right rating. Respect from others is easier to achieve for a person who respects himself. Therefore, you need to accept yourself as you are. Each person has their own pros and cons. There is no need to be afraid to show your own “I”. Hypocrites are afraid of public opinion, so they hide their essence.
These include:
- disgust on the part of others;
- the emergence of double standards;
- destruction of personality and relationships with others;
- complete moral bankruptcy.
It is impossible to completely eradicate hypocrisy, from yourself or society. Sometimes a white lie is simply necessary.