Don't Clip Their Wings

American Enterprise Institute President Arthur Brooks penned a column recently on the culture of victimization. Brooks notes that “‘victimhood culture’ has now been identified as a widening phenomenon by mainstream sociologists.” This culture disempowers the people it victimizes and prevents them from actualizing their potential, argues Brooks.

Brooks cites a 2010 psychological study that found that reminding people of a time they felt victimized can change their behavior. People who wrote a short essay about a time when they were wronged or treated unfairly were more likely to act selfishly than a separate group prompted to write about a time they were bored.