REALITYWIPE

RESEARCHERS

The Science of Workplace Gaslighting: Why Self-Doubt Isn't a Character Flaw

3 the researchers behind it — When a boss denies what they said, a coworker backs the boss's version, and HR treats your paper trail like an inconvenience, the confusion you feel i

University of Oregon

Jennifer J. Freyd

Known for:Betrayal trauma theory, institutional betrayal, and the DARVO framework

Key findings

  1. 1996

    Proposed betrayal trauma theory: dependence on a betraying person or system motivates the mind to stay unaware of the betrayal, in order to preserve a needed relationship. ↗

  2. 2014

    Co-authored the formalization of 'institutional betrayal' as harm an institution causes by failing to prevent or supportively respond to wrongdoing — separate from and compounding the original harm. ↗

  3. 2017

    Co-authored the first empirical test of DARVO, finding about 72% of confronted wrongdoers denied, attacked, and reversed victim and offender roles together, and that heavier use predicted more self-blame in the confronter. ↗

University of Oregon (Freyd Dynamics Lab)

Sarah J. Harsey

Known for:Empirical research establishing DARVO as a measurable perpetrator strategy and testing its effects on observers

Key findings

  1. 2017

    Found DARVO's three components — deny, attack, reverse victim and offender — co-occurred in about 72% of real confrontations, and that heavier DARVO use predicted greater self-blame in the person who confronted the wrongdoer. ↗

  2. 2020

    Found that observers exposed to a perpetrator's DARVO response — versus denial alone — rated the perpetrator as more credible and the victim as less credible. ↗

University of Michigan

Paige L. Sweet

Known for:Sociological theory reframing gaslighting as a structural, power-based process rather than an individual manipulation tactic

Key findings

  1. 2019

    Argued gaslighting is a structural process built on gendered and institutional power, not simply an individual manipulator's tactic — whoever controls credibility controls what counts as 'reality.' ↗

  2. 2019

    Based on interviews with survivors, found that gaslighting worked less through individual psychological tricks and more through abusers leveraging institutions — courts, doctors, employers — structurally predisposed to believe them over the person they targeted. ↗

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