Crab Mentality: When People Pull Down Those Who Get Ahead

Crab mentality is a phenomenon where people react negatively, in terms of their thoughts, statements, or actions, to those who get ahead of them, even though they don’t expect there to be direct benefits to doing so. The name of this phenomenon comes from a story about crabs in a bucket, who keep pulling back any crab who manages to get to the top.

Examples of Crab mentality

An example of crab mentality is someone who spreads malicious rumors in their workplace about a coworker who is up for a promotion, even though they don’t benefit from spreading these rumors

When students expect to be bullied for having higher-than-average achievement in school, they are more likely to do badly on exams, likely to ensure that their grades won’t stand out
Other examples include: finances, physical health, social situation, and the crab-bucket effect

Conclusion Crab mentality is a phenomenon where people react negatively, in terms of their thoughts, statements, or actions, to those who get ahead of them, even though they don’t expect there to be direct benefits to doing so.

To avoid crab mentality, you should first recognize that this is an issue for you, and then try to resolve it by addressing the underlying issues that are causing you to experience it in the first place, by modifying your mindset directly, or by changing your actions to avoid letting this mindset dictate them.

The dangers of crab mentality

Crab mentality is associated with a wide variety of issues, both when it comes to the people who have it and when it is directed against.

Most notably, Crab mentality can harm the performance of the people that it’s being directed against, and can also hurt them in other ways, such as by causing them to feel isolated.

How to deal with crab mentality in others

First, recognize this mentality in them and try to understand how this mentality influences them

Realize that their crab mentality is driven mostly by their own issues, rather than by anything that you did, even if their behavior is directed at you
Forgive other people for engaging in crab mentality, not necessarily because they deserve it, but because that’s the best thing you can do for yourself
Focus on your own progress and accomplishments rather than on other people’s negativity
Refuse to engage in Crab mentality yourself, and even do the opposite, by actively celebrating the achievement of others

Why people have crab mentality

Crab mentality can be attributed to various causes

Emotional motivation: people want to feel better about themselves
Cognitive biases and irrationality: people mistakenly believe that others’ gains will come at the expense of their own
Non-strategic considerations: crab mentality doesn’t apply to behavior that’s driven primarily by strategic considerations

Crab mentality in specific cultures

Crab mentality is often described as being particularly characteristic of certain cultures, and especially Philippine culture.

However, the fact that this phenomenon is often discussed in the context of Philippine culture does not mean that Filipinos are the only ones that display this behavior.
Even if crab mentality is associated with certain cultures more than others, that doesn’t necessarily mean that all members of such cultures display crab mentality.

How to tell if someone has crab mentality

The main sign of crab mentality is that someone often tries to discourage or sabotage others, in cases where there are no direct benefits to doing so.

Other signs include the tendency to speak negatively about others, react negatively to the accomplishments of others, and view others as being in direct competition with oneself, even when that’s not the case.