Difference Between Gaslighting and Lying

A person’s character is determined by moral values and principles. This is something that a person develops from his environment and family members. Sometimes few negatives habits and values lead to negatives characteristics development.

Examples of such habits are gaslighting and lying. Both of them are considered bad habits, and Detroit the person’s image and personality. Both of them have negative effects not only on the individual but also the person around him/her. This habit is not taught or learned. It just develops when a person is unable to face or tell the truth due to any reason under various circumstances.

Gaslighting vs Lying 

The difference between Gaslighting and Lying is that in Gaslighting, a person tries to manipulate others with an agenda of making them feel guilty of the mistake or activity he has done, he does this by manipulating and gaining power over them, whereas in Lying, a person simply tells a lie to rush of a situation or anything.

Gaslighting is a type of abuse. The main agenda of a person is to twist situations in his favor so that he can escape from the responsibility. This is torture for some people on an emotional level as it leads to manipulation and gaining of power by force. It can be cured with the help of a therapist.

Lying is considered a bad habit where a person is unable or intentionally hides the truth. The reason behind this could be anything, but mostly it is due to fear or irresponsible behavior. It does not cause any lethal harm but can lead to a certain unhealthy situation. Lying can be easily avoided.

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Gaslighting	Lying
Meaning	Trying to hold someone else for their action.	Not stating the facts.
Agenda	To twist the situation	To hide the truth
Responsibility	To make someone else responsible	To avoid or hide the responsibility
Manipulation	It includes manipulation	It does not include manipulation.
Gaining power	It includes gaining power	It does not include this.

What is Gaslighting?

It is a type of emotional abuse where the culprit tries to manipulate and make another person feel guilty about some action or thing he has not done. It is due to the defensive nature where an individual finds himself in a situation where he has to defend himself by creating fake scenarios in which mostly the opposite person is the culprit.

It is not very difficult to know if you are a target of Gaslighting. Certain signs are there which specifies if there is such a situation or not, for example:

1. If a person is constantly mocking you or making you feel guilty about something you had not done.
2. If a person is constantly trying to bring you down or insult you in any way.
3. If you are not feeling yourself around any person as he/she always twists things.
4. If you are feeling isolated from your loved ones.
5. If you are constantly making excuses for your partner or friend’s behavior.

Except for all the above, there can be more signs. The basic thing is if you are not feeling yourself or feeling unhappy for quite a long period.

Proper treatment by seeing a therapist must be taken in such a situation as this can lead to a huge mess, and the victim can suffer problems such as depression and other mental health issues.

What is Lying?

It is a situation when a person lies (state the false or hide the truth). It is quite difficult to know if a person is lying or not unless the truth comes out. Most of the time, it depends on the person’s institution, what he feels about the statement (whether it’s a lie or not).

There are many types of lies such as:

1. Error: in this person lying is not aware of the lie. He states what he thinks is true but is not. Therefore in this type of lie guilt level is very less and mostly person is not habitual of lying.
2. Omission: it is when by mistake, an individual left out a specific detail. It can be due to any reason.
3. Restructuring: it is when a person changes few things about an incident, for, e.g., Characters. This is not always intentional; sometimes in excitement also people forget to state the details as it is.
4. Denial: it is the state when an individual refuses to accept the truth and live with the lie. This situation arises when a person finds it easier to live with a lie than to face the bitter and harsh truth.
5. Minimization: it is when a person tries to reduce the effects of a mistake.
6. Fabrication: intentionally making a fake scenario. This is always intentional.

Main Differences Between Gaslighting and Lying

1. Gaslighting is more hideous than lying as in Gaslighting, the main agenda is to twist the situation in the favor to make the opposite person guilty and culprit, whereas in Lying, a person simply lies to hide the truth or reality out of fear or any other reason.
2. In Gaslighting person tries to make someone else responsible for their action or activity by blaming or by falsifying information, whereas, in Lying, the person only avoids taking responsibility by lying.
3. The person who uses Gaslighting is called a gaslighter, and the person who is lying is called a liar.
4. In Gaslighting individual tries to manipulate the situation in his favor so that he can make whole the situation according to him while no such manipulation is done in Lying.
5. Gaslighter tries to gain power while confrontation by twisting the facts and blaming the opposite person making him upset or guilty, while a liar simply states the opposite of the truth.
6. Gaslighter, most of the time, is also a liar, while it is not always that a liar is also a gaslighter.

References

1. https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:428012
2. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/21674086.1981.11926942
3. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/BF00922429.pdf
4. https://www.pdcnet.org/jphil/content/jphil_2009_0106_0001_0029_0056
5. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.0029-4624.2006.00610.x
6. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20009199