Everyday Sadism in the Workplace

"The core feature of sadistic personality disorder is a pervasive pattern of cruel, demeaning, and aggressive behavior, for the purpose of amusement or obtaining pleasure from the suffering of others."

"Leaders may minimize the harm being done, or believe the justifications from the perpetrator, such as 'I was trying to motivate, light a fire, galvanize action.'"

"Sadistic pleasure—the enjoyment of harm-infliction to others—can have devastating interpersonal and societal consequences."

"Sadism was not included as a personality disorder in the DSM, leading even experts to overlook its role in abuse culture."

Sadism in the workplace is characterized by cruel, demeaning, and aggressive behavior aimed at deriving pleasure from others' suffering. Leaders often fail to recognize this behavior, mistakenly believing it to be motivational. Perpetrators typically deny their actions, and the concept of sadism is frequently overlooked in discussions of workplace abuse. Researchers emphasize that sadistic pleasure can lead to severe interpersonal and societal consequences, highlighting the need for leaders to be educated on identifying and addressing such behavior effectively.

Read at Psychology Today