Where did the term "gaslighting" come from?

[CatWoman]

I really don't understand it.

Feeling stupid lately.

[DonaldsRump]

1. The movie "Gaslight"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslighting

[50 Shades Of Blue]

2. From this movie...

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036855/

[Kali]

3. ...

The term originated from the 1938 play Gas Light and its 1940 and 1944 film adaptations (both titled Gaslight).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslighting

[Squinch]

4. The movie "Gaslight" with Ingrid Bergman. Great movie. You should watch it.

It's about a husband who intentionally drives his wife insane.

It took place during the period when people used gaslights and part of the thing was that he would make the lights flicker and go on and off and then when she commented on it, he would tell her that nothing of the kind was happening.

[CatWoman]

9. ah haaaaaaaaaaaaa

thanks and I will watch the movie

thanks to all of you

[FiveGoodMen]

5. The term originates ...

in the systematic psychological manipulation of a victim by her husband in the 1938 stage play Gas Light,[4] and the film adaptations released in 1940 and 1944.[5] In the story, the husband attempts to convince his wife and others that she is insane by manipulating small elements of their environment and insisting that she is mistaken, remembering things incorrectly, or delusional when she points out these changes. The play's title alludes to how the abusive husband slowly dims the gas lights in their home, while pretending nothing has changed, in an effort to make his wife doubt her own perceptions. He further uses the lights in the sealed-off attic to secretly search for jewels belonging to a woman whom he has murdered. He makes loud noises as he searches, including talking to himself. The wife repeatedly asks her husband to confirm her perceptions about the dimming lights, noises and voices, but in defiance of reality, he keeps insisting that the lights are the same and instead it is she who is going insane.[6]:8 He intends on having her assessed and committed to a mental institution, after which he will be able to gain power of attorney over her and search more effectively.[citation needed]

The term "gaslighting" has been used colloquially since the 1960s[7] to describe efforts to manipulate someone's perception of reality. The term has been used to describe such behaviour in psychoanalytic literature since the 1970s.[8] In a 1980 book on child sexual abuse, Florence Rush summarized George Cukor's Gaslight (1944) based on the play and wrote, "even today the word [gaslighting] is used to describe an attempt to destroy another's perception of reality."[9]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslighting

[OneBlueDotBama]

6. Could be the film, Gaslight

Gaslight is a 1944 American psychological-thriller film, adapted from Patrick Hamilton's 1938 play Gas Light, about a woman whose husband slowly manipulates her into believing that she is going insane. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Screenplay; winning two for Best Actress and Best Production Design.

The 1944 version was the second version to be filmed, following the British film Gaslight, directed by Thorold Dickinson and released in 1940. This 1944 version was directed by George Cukor and starred Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, Joseph Cotten, and 18-year-old Angela Lansbury in an Oscar-nominated screen debut (Supporting Actress). Gaslight had a larger scale and budget than the earlier film, and lends a different feel to the material. To avoid confusion with the first film, this version was originally given the title The Murder in Thornton Square in the UK.[2] This film features numerous deviations from the original stage play, though the central drama remains, of a husband trying to drive his wife insane in order to distract her from his criminal activities.

In 2019, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[3]


Gaslight as expression

The psychological term gaslighting, which describes the form of psychological abuse in which the victim is gradually manipulated into doubting his or her own sanity, originated from the play and its two film adaptations. The fictional work is also the first artistic portrayal of this type of psychological abuse.[7][8]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslight_(1944_film)

[LuckyCharms]

7. It was from some old movie...

I'm a little foggy on this...but it was something like the husband was trying to make the wife think she was going insane my adjusting the intensity of the light coming from the gaslight. Ie: dimming the lights up and or/down.

[emmaverybo]

8. The play and then movie in which a husband tries to drive his wife crazy, by the same name.

I forget how, but actual gaslights involved in the plot. Like you lit those and she didn’t.

Charles Boyer Ingrid Bergman

[Cary]

10. An old movie

Gaslighting is a malicious tactic to try to convince someone that they're crazy.

[Maribelle]

11. From the 1944 movie "Gaslight" ...

After the death of her famous opera-singing aunt, Paula (Ingrid Bergman) is sent to study in Italy to become a great opera singer as well. While there, she falls in love with the charming Gregory Anton (Charles Boyer). The two return to London, and Paula begins to notice strange goings-on: missing pictures, strange footsteps in the night and gaslights that dim without being touched. As she fights to retain her sanity, her new husband's intentions come into question.

He was doing strange things to have her declared legally insane and get her money.

[sagesnow]

12. The methods Narcissists use to psychologically abuse their victims

From Wikipedia:
Signs and methods
As described by Patricia Evans, seven "warning signs" of gaslighting are the observed abuser's:[23]

Withholding information from the victim;
Countering information to fit the abuser's perspective;
Discounting information;
Using verbal abuse, usually in the form of jokes;
Blocking and diverting the victim's attention from outside sources;
Trivializing ("minimising&quot the victim's worth; and,
Undermining the victim by gradually weakening them and their thought processes.
Evans considers it necessary to understand the warning signs in order to begin the process of healing from it.[23]

The psychologist Elinor Greenberg has described three common methods of gaslighting:[18]

Hiding. The abuser may hide things from the victim and cover up what they have done. Instead of feeling ashamed, the abuser may convince the victim to doubt their own beliefs about the situation and turn the blame on themselves.
Changing. The abuser feels the need to change something about the victim. Whether it be the way the victim dresses or acts, they want the victim to mold into their fantasy. If the victim does not comply, the abuser may convince the victim that he or she is in fact not good enough.
Control. The abuser may want to fully control and have power over the victim. In doing so, the abuser will try to seclude them from other friends and family so only they can influence the victim's thoughts and actions. The abuser gets pleasure from knowing the victim is being fully controlled by them.
An abuser's ultimate goal, as described by the divorce process coach Lindsey Ellison, is to make their victim second-guess their choices and to question their sanity, making them more dependent on the abuser.[24] One tactic used to degrade a victim's self-esteem is the abuser alternating between ignoring and attending to the victim, so that the victim lowers their expectation of what constitutes affection, and perceives themselves as less worthy of affection.[24][verification needed]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslighting

[FM123]

13. Please, don't feel stupid. All of us wonder from time to time what the heck people are talking about

I first heard the term in relation to an old movie called Gaslight "about a woman whose husband slowly manipulates her into believing that she is going insane. " Trump gaslights us every day by twisting things with his lies and makes us wonder if we can even believe our own ears and eyes when the facts are right there in front of us.

[jpak]

14. There is no play or movie called "Gas Light"

[Wounded Bear]

15. I see what you did there...

[Hermit-The-Prog]

16. The term gaslighting is used by people to make others wonder what gaslighting is.