I first wrote about gaslighting behaviors in connection with workplace bullying in December 2012. Since then, gaslighting has been a recurring topic on this blog. (See below for a list of related pieces.) In preparing an essay I’m writing on the nation’s political psyche during the years 2015-20, I was curious about the degree to which gaslighting has become a mainstreamed concept in our public discourse. I did a quick series of Google searches on “gaslighting” by year, starting in 2012 and going through 2020. Here is what I found:
Google search: “Gaslighting”
Year # “hits”
2012 26,100
2013 29,000
2014 34,500
2015 49,500
2016 320,000
2017 87,000
2018 126,000
2019 155,000
2020 204,000
Several conclusions and informed speculations become evident:
- Clearly, the year-to-year pattern in hits indicates that gaslighting has been increasingly invoked in discussions of relationships, work, and civic life.
- The difference between 2012 and 2020 represents an increase in Google hits by approximately 800 percent.
- The 2016 spike may well have been fueled by that year’s U.S. presidential election, and possibly the 2020 increase was prompted by that year’s presidential election as well.
I’m glad that this term has taken hold, because it helps many workers understand the crazy making dynamics of their workplaces. That’s an important step toward both healing from abusive work experiences on an individual level and reforming workplaces on an institutional level.
RELATED POSTS
On gaslighting specifically
Gaslighting exists, and it’s horrible, so we should invoke the term carefully (2020)
Institutional gaslighting of whistleblowers (2018)
Reissued for 2018: Robin Stern’s “The Gaslight Effect” (2018)
Gaslighting at work (2017, rev. 2018)
Inauguration Week special: “Gaslighting” goes mainstream (2017)
Is gaslighting a gendered form of workplace bullying? (2013)
Gaslighting as a workplace bullying tactic (2012, rev. 2017)
Related posts (most mention gaslighting)
Integrity catastrophes: How lying becomes an organizational norm (2019)
Workplace bullying: Blitzkrieg edition (2017)
Workplace bullying and mobbing: Toxic systems and the eliminationist mindset (2017)
Workplace bullying and mobbing stories: “Do you have a few hours?” (2017)
Workplace mobbing: Understanding the maelstrom (2016)
Workplace bullying as crazy making abuse (2014)
The bullied and the button pushers (2014)
When superficial civility supports workplace abusers (and their enablers) (2014)
Minding the Workplace 