You can’t expect a positive outcome afterspreading rumorsabout someone. The offended person may bite back harshly or exact petty revenge that may be as damaging.
Seemingly reeling fromthe nostalgia, the author recently shared his story with the Reddit community. You’ll find the entire text below.
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Spreading rumors about someone never ends well for the offending person
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This man recalled an incident during his high school years when he caused a female schoolmate to harbor hatred towards him
Image credits:Zen Chung / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits:Phạm Anh / Pexels (not the actual photo)
His plot worked well for him, as he continues to relive the moment like it happened yesterday
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People may badmouth others to gain a reputation
When the author released his parody, Martina lost some of her shine as the school paper editor. She likely felt the need to get back on top, which may have pushed her to spread those rumors.
“It’s socially risky to mess with bad-mouthers, and they capitalize on this fact,” he wrote.
Others may also resort to putdowns to exude confidence, Dr. Geher notes. It fast-tracks them to social success, placing them in a more advantageous position.
“Putting others down as a strategy to benefit oneself may well turn up leadership opportunities, which increase the power of the bad-mouther,” he stated.
Regardless of Martina’s motive, things backfired on her. She had to live through the rest of her student life with an unpleasantlyfunny nickname, which may have followed her way beyond high school.
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The manner of responding to gossip matters heavily
Focusing on what is within your control is always a good way to handle a difficult situation. In the author’s case, it is how he responded to the situation.
Experts like Stanford University researcherRobb Willersuggest taking the high road and approaching the situation sympathetically and non-confrontationally. As he explained inan interviewwith Psychology Today, the goal is to win the other person’s sympathy.
Disassociating yourself from the situation is another way to handle someone spreading lies about you. Yale University psychology professorMichael Krausemphasizes the importance of realizing that these problematic behaviors aren’t about you.
A person may badmouth to feel good about themselves and, as Krause states, “protect their fragile selves.”
Besides, it happened in high school, when such juvenile behavior was more acceptable. However, issuing such a response as a full-grown adult is an entirely different situation that shouldn’t happen.
Many commenters approved of his reaction
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