Some people oddly find enjoyment in humiliating those close to them. They seem to derive pleasure from verbal jabs that they either say out loud, without realizing how it is hurting the other person.
This was the scene at a gathering among friends when a man began mocking her wife for reading adult novels. It created instant awkwardness and ruined the vibe for everyone, prompting one of their friends to speak out harshly.
While the person who intervened had good intentions, some people in their friend group didn’t see it that way. Scroll down for the entire story.
A man seemingly had a penchant for mocking his wife and her enjoyment of adult novels
Image credits: Lenin Estrada / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
It had been an ongoing issue where he had some choice words for his spouse’s reading pleasure
Image credits: The Yuri Arcurs Collection / freepik (not the actual photo)
The situation reached its boiling point during a gathering between friends
Image credits: karlyukav / freepik (not the actual photo)
The man who confronted the husband had no regrets, but still wondered if he had gone too far
Image credits: Best-Pirate5073
Everyday sadism is typically rooted in low self-esteem and other mental health issues
The man’s seeming intent to embarrass his wife in front of everyone was disturbing and infuriating to some degree. He appears to possess a personality trait that experts refer to as everyday sadism.
According to University of Massachusetts Amherst professor Susan Krauss Whitbourne, everyday sadism is a type that is “hiding within the recesses” of an individual’s personality, wherein they may not realize they are expressing it.
“You’re taking pleasure from ordinary experiences in which the cruelty is vicarious,” Whitbourne noted, stating examples such as cheering for a melee during a hockey game or enjoying gory battles the most when watching an action movie.
But unlike a narcissistic or bipolar personality, everyday sadism is not a mental health disorder. According to clinical and forensic psychologist Joni E. Johnston, it is a byproduct of low self-esteem and other issues like anxiety or depression.
As she noted, an everyday sadist would think, “It’s your problem, not theirs.”
What may have prompted the author's heated response was the husband’s apparent callousness. Worse, it wasn’t the first time he mocked his wife in such a way.
Any reasonable person would find the husband’s actions abrasive. Unfortunately for him, one of their companions at the gathering was gutsy enough to call him out, which he deserved.
The author went on to address some of the comments
