Self Hate
Feeling devalued in society creates self hate. Denied the love of others, a person’s self-love, or soul, like money in a savings account, slowly but surely begins to wane, says Dr. Gilligan.
One of the other negative thought processes identified by Dr. Firestone was “self-depreciating voices that make violent individuals feel that they are unlovable, and that no one will love or care about them. This may also be identified as self-hate. These thoughts promote isolation and encourage a person to attack other people they see as rejecting.”
Young boys who have learned to hate themselves may develop false sense of pride or an over-inflated ego to compensate. Challenges to this exaggerated self-image cannot be tolerated by the individual who possesses it.
Dr. Firestone writes: “Self-aggrandizing voices can be a precursor of violence as well because they promote a view that a person is superior to others and deserves to be treated as such. They support an inflated self-image that functions to compensate for deep-seated self-hatred. When the aggrandized sense of self is threatened, for example by slights or perceived disrespect, a person often reacts violently in an effort to regain the aggrandized self-image. Research that links high self-esteem in adolescents to violence actually measured inflated self-esteem or vanity.”
