Minimisation or minimization is an action where an individual intentionally downplays a situation or a thing. Minimisation, or downplaying the significance of an event or emotion, is a common strategy in dealing with feelings of guilt.Robert Hoyk/Paul Hersey, The Ethical Executive (2008) p. 68
Understatements
Understatement is a form of speech which contains an expression of less strength than what would be expected. A related term is euphemism, where a polite phrase is used in place of a harsher or more offensive expression.Euphemism Webster's Online Dictionary.
Self-esteem/depression Redefining events to downplay their significance can be an effective way of preserving one's self-esteem.E. R. Smith/D. M. Mackie, Social Psychology (Hove 2007) pp. 136–139 One of the problems of depression (found in those with clinical, bipolar, and chronic depressive mood disorders, as well as cyclothymia) is the tendency to do the reverse: minimising the positive, discounting praise,Paul Gilbert, Overcoming Depression (London 1999) pp. 63, 98 and dismissing one's own accomplishments.Jacqui Lee Schiff, Cathexis Reader (New York 1975) pp. 84–85 On the other hand, one technique used by Alfred Adler to combat neurosis was to minimise the excessive significance the neurotic attaches to his own symptoms—the narcissistic gains derived from pride in one's own illness.Otto Fenichel, The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis (London 1946) p. 462
Social minimisation Display rules expressing a group's general consensus about the display of feeling often involve minimising the amount of emotion one displays, as with a poker face.Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence (London 1995) p. 113 Social interchanges involving minor infringements often end with the 'victim' minimising the offence with a comment like 'Think nothing of it',Erving Goffman, Relations in Public (1972) p. 177 using so-called 'reduction words',Robert Hoyk/Paul Hersey, The Ethical Executive (2008) pp. 68–69 such as 'no big deal,' 'only a little,' 'merely,' or 'just', the last particularly useful in denying intent.N. Symington, Narcissism (1990) p. 116 On a wider scale, renaming things in a more benign or neutral form—'collateral damage' for death—is a form of minimisation.
As a form of manipulation
Minimisation may also take the form of a manipulative technique: observed in abusers and manipulators to downplay their misdemeanors when confronted with irrefutable facts.Minimization: Trivializing Behavior as a Manipulation Tactic observed in abusers and manipulators to downplay positive attributes (talents and skills etc.) of their victims.
Typical psychological defences exhibited by stalkers and guilty criminal suspects include denial, rationalisation, minimisation and projection of blame onto the victim.Abby Stein, Prologue to Violence (2006) p. 6
A variation on minimisation as a manipulative technique is "claiming altruistic motives" such as saying "I don't do this because I am selfish, and for gain, but because I am a socially aware person interested in the common good".
School bullying School bullying is one form of victimisation or physical abuse which has sometimes been unofficially encouraged, ritualised or even minimised as a sort of prank by teachers or peers. The main difference between pranks and bullying is establishment of power inequity between the bully and the victim that lasts beyond the duration of the act.
See also Discrediting tactic Half-truth Mind games
References
Further reading Henning, K & Holdford, R Minimization, Denial, and Victim Blaming by Batterers Criminal Justice and Behavior, Vol. 33, No. 1, 110–130 (2006) Rogers, Richard & Dickey, Rob (March 1991) Denial and minimization among sex offenders Journal Sexual Abuse Vol 4, No 1: 49–63 Scott K Denial, Minimization, Partner Blaming, and Intimate Aggression in Dating Partners Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Vol. 22, No. 7, 851–871 (2007)