martyr complex
Victimhood as virtue
A martyr complex is a pattern of behavior where someone habitually sacrifices for others while dwelling on how unappreciated they are.
The person seeks recognition for suffering, sometimes creating or exaggerating hardships to gain sympathy or moral superiority: She has such a martyr complex—she volunteers for everything then complains no one helps.
The term is usually critical, implying the suffering is partly self-inflicted or performative.
- victimOne harmed by another
- sufferingSustained experience of distress
- self-pityExaggerated focus on own suffering
- sacrificeGiving up something precious
- persecutionSystematic mistreatment of groups
playing the victim · guilt-trip · guilt trip · manipulation · resentment · doormat · savior · burden · wounded · blame · selfless · exhaustion · passive-aggressive · saint · noble · unappreciated · long-suffering · enabling
- Codependencycodependency, enabling, enmeshment, people-pleasing, caretaking
- manipulation tacticsgaslighting, guilt trip, guilt-tripping, guilt tripping, emotional blackmail
- complexes
- rescuingwhite savior, knight in armor
- self-deceptiondenial, delusion, wishful thinking, rationalization, willful blindness
- tribalismtribalism, in-group, out-group, outgroup, ingroup
martyr complexstoicism
Uncomplaining acceptance of difficulty
resilience · self-effacement · self-awareness · stiff upper lip · emotional honesty
martyr complexhumble service
Unassuming work for others
selflessness · unsung hero · grace under pressure · modesty · self-effacement
martyr, complex, martyrs, martyred, martyrdom, martyring, complexes, complexion, complexions