Gaslighting: Transformation of Manipulation from the Particular to the General in the Practice of Modern Media

Abstract

The problem of manipulating the consciousness of the media audience today is a key one in analyzing the adequacy of the reflection of reality in media practice. Which determines the relevance of the theoretical understanding of the phenomenon of gaslighting. The article examines the practice of modern media as a sphere of introducing the gaslighting format as a multifunctional method of influencing the collective consciousness of the perceiving media audience. The author considers this phenomenon in the perspective of the history of its origin and the introduction of art into the field of practical psychology, interpreting everyday behavior in society exclusively of individuals. The author suggests interpreting this term not only as a way of influencing an individual but also as a concept that is an integral part of information warfare. The article also examines the evolution of such concepts as fake and post-truth, which together predetermined the reincarnation of gaslighting in the activities of individual media representatives and media structures as a whole. In addition, the article examines the ambivalence of this term, which defines the subjects of the gaslighting process as equal participants in manipulation. This creates double standards in the interpretation of information, especially in the context of psychological confrontation in the context of a bilateral conflict. The complexity of the study of the problems stated in the article lies in the original idea of analyzing the phenomenon of gaslighting as a phenomenon characteristic of mass consciousness, primarily taking into account such manipulation with the active participation of the media of all types and statuses. At the same time, theoretical developments concerning this problem are mainly related to personal psychology. However, the situation requires a more active study of the current media situation.

Keywords

• gaslighting
• media
• audience
• manipulation
• psychology of the masses
• fakes