In any community, there are people who are at the top of the hierarchical ladder. They are respected, influential, and respected. There is also a special role, which is conventionally called the "scapegoat". For someone who, for some reason, falls into this niche, it is not so easy to get out of it. What are the reasons for this role?
Any team is arranged in such a way that to some extent it needs someone to whom it is possible to drain negative emotions and sometimes make them to blame for common problems. This is especially evident in dysfunctional, conflict groups, sometimes in families. A suitable candidate unwittingly gets into certain situations, and the rest of the team, without saying a word, behave accordingly - they blame the person for something and are treated with some disdain. Does the situation sound familiar?
The fact is that such a person is used as a lightning rod for negative emotions and performs, to some extent, an important function for the team. Unfortunately, all people are imperfect and sometimes feel the need to shift some of the responsibility onto another person or circumstance. And here a person arises, whom the community turns into a "scapegoat".
However, not every person can be placed in this role. Sometimes this role sticks to the person, often for a long time, and sometimes a potential candidate for this role does something that pushes him out of this role, despite all the efforts of the team.
Let's see what qualities of a person allow you to place him in this role, and which ones do not.
Low self-esteem
One of the main qualities that can be observed in all scapegoats is low self-esteem. They are, as it were, ready to be treated very disrespectfully, because they feel that way. This may be due to unfavorable family relationships or other traumatic experiences in peer groups.
Hidden ambitions
Any person who has fallen into the role of a "scapegoat", along with the lack of a sense of his own worth, has a very strong desire to occupy a high status in the team, to feel his superiority over others. This desire arises as a counterbalance to the true position among people - rejection, rejection. In other words, this can be called oppressed ambition, when the main need becomes not so much the desire to occupy a high place in the hierarchy, but the desire to surpass others, showing rejection.
And then the most interesting thing happens. How do others relate to someone who, on the one hand, does not value himself, and on the other, wants to feel superior to others? Such a person causes disrespect and a desire to "put himself in his place", which in the future the team is happy to do, already satisfying their needs.
Disrespect for other people
The "scapegoat" is offended by the whole world and the people around him and does not have respect for them, let alone love. This is another characteristic of people caught in this role. They unsuccessfully try to resolve the internal conflict, dreaming of someday treating others the way others are now treating them.
So, in any team, each person enters into certain interactions. The nature of this interaction is determined by the qualities of a person, thanks to which it can be positive or negative.
