Siege mentality
Collective mindset, shared feeling of victimization and defensiveness
In sociology, siege mentality is a shared feeling of victimization and defensiveness—a term derived from the actual experience of military defences of real sieges. It is a collective state of mind in which a group of people believe themselves constantly attacked, oppressed, or isolated in the face of the negative intentions of the rest of the world. Although a group phenomenon, the term describes both the emotions and thoughts of the group as a whole, and as individuals.
The result is a state of being overly fearful of surrounding peoples, and an intractably defensive attitude.
The related term bunker mentality may be used in the context of businesses facing competition or downsizing, with a similar paradigm applying to some religious groups.
Characteristics
Among the consequences of a siege mentality are black and white thinking, social conformity, and lack of trust, but also a preparedness for the worst and a strong sense of social cohesion.
Examples
Historically, siege mentalities existed in the Soviet Union, Communist People's Socialist Republic of Albania, Rhodesia, Apartheid South Africa, Northern Ireland during The Troubles, and Tudor England as a result of ideological or political isolation.
In the present day, siege mentalities have also been described with regards to countries such as Israel and North Korea; in the latter it is arguably encouraged by the government to help justify their continuance in power. Further contemporary examples of states in which a siege mentality is prevalent may include Russia under Vladimir Putin Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (see Cyprus conflict), Republic of China (see due to its facing an existential threat from the Communist mainland), Venezuela under the Bolivarian leaders Chavez & Maduro and (to a lesser extent), Iran (see 1979 Islamic revolution), Cuba since Communist rule (see Cuban Revolution) and India under the Narendra Modi led BJP government (see Hindutva).
Within the United States, the siege mentality has been used to describe conservative Southerners following the American Civil War, and later on the Southern Strategy and supporters of Donald Trump, especially towards the federal government.
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This entry incorporates text from “Siege mentality” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.