Betrayal: A psychological analysis

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Abstract

Betrayal is the sense of being harmed by the intentional actions or omissions of a trusted person. The most common forms of betrayal are harmful disclosures of confidential information, disloyalty, infidelity, dishonesty. They can be traumatic and cause considerable distress. The effects of betrayal include shock, loss and grief, morbid pre-occupation, damaged self-esteem, self-doubting, anger. Not infrequently they produce life-altering changes. The effects of a catastrophic betrayal are most relevant for anxiety disorders, and OC D and PTSD in particular.

Betrayal can cause mental contamination, and the betrayer commonly becomes a source of contamination. In a series of experiments it was demonstrated that feelings of mental contamination can be aroused by imagining unacceptable non-consensual acts. The magnitude of the mental contamination was boosted by the introduction of betrayal themes. Feelings of mental contamination can also be aroused in some ‘perpetrators’ of non-consensual acts involving betrayal. The psychological significance of acts of betrayal is discussed.

Introduction

While investigating the phenomenon of mental contamination we encountered numbers of OC D patients whose feelings of contamination emerged after an episode in which they had been betrayed. The link between betrayal and contamination was puzzling because there is no obvious connection between being betrayed and then resorting to washing oneself compulsively. As we studied this link it became evident that there are several types of betrayal. Betrayal has most relevance for anxiety disorders because betrayals can generate or exacerbate OC D and PTSD-like symptoms. It is probable that betrayal can also cause depressive episodes but that connection will not be addressed in the present analysis.

Clinicians are not yet attuned to the potentially damaging effects of betrayal and our prevailing tests and procedures for assessing anxiety disorders do not include inquiries about betrayal. The assessment of PTSD correctly focuses on the known traumatic event and its effects, and the assessment of OC D focuses on compulsive behaviour (mainly checking and cleaning) and intruding obsessions. As will be illustrated in the case-descriptions below, betrayal turned out to be a critical event in the life of most of the patients.

Section snippets

Aim

The aim of the present analysis is to provide a conceptual framework for studying the phenomenon of betrayal and assessing its psychological significance, including the therapeutic implications of betrayal. Betrayals are not uncommon and in some instances have a catastrophic effect on the victim and psychopathological problems emerge. For the most part the present analysis is concerned with betrayals that are catastrophic. In approaching such a complex subject it is necessary to introduce a

Definition

Betrayal is a sense of being harmed by the intentional actions, or omissions, of a person who was assumed to be a trusted and loyal friend, relative, partner, colleague or companion. Many betrayals are unexpected events that come as a surprising shock; not infrequently, the betrayal is disbelieved at first. (Harmful actions by an enemy can be equally damaging but are rarely construed as a betrayal).

The effects of a betrayal tend to be long-lasting, even permanent, and are well-remembered. It

Illustrative cases

Case 1

A patient complained of persisting feelings of dirtiness that led him to wash and shower repeatedly. He was puzzled and annoyed by his inability to use many items of his clothing because they felt dirty. They remained dirty even after dry-cleaning—a classic example of ‘looking clean but feeling dirty’.

The feelings of dirtiness and associated washing and avoidance developed within a few weeks after he discovered that his fiancee had repeatedly been intimate with her former boy-friend while the

Interview material

In addition to these patients who received treatment, some other victims of betrayal were interviewed but therapy was declined or not recommended. Their reactions to the betrayal were illuminating.

A 42-year-old physiotherapist was sexually abused by the local priest on a number on occasions when she was eight years old, but her mother refused to intervene or protect her. Instead the mother blamed the child for being too outgoing and overly friendly, and told her daughter that she would be

Betrayal and psychopathology

The emphasis of the present analysis is on the relationship between betrayal and feelings of pollution and OC D, but betrayals can also generate PTSD-like symptoms. Ehlers, Clark, Hackmann, McManus, and Fennell (2005) and Ehlers and Clark (2000) have set out a pellucid model of PTSD that can provide a framework for accommodating certain of the effects of betrayal, and suggestions for therapy. “PTSD is a…reaction to traumatic events, such as assault, disasters, and severe accidents. The symptoms

The fear of contamination

Research into the fear of contamination has shown that betrayals feature prominently in the lives of numbers of patients suffering from mental contamination (Rachman, 2006). The most familiar form of contamination arises from physical contact with a tangible contaminant—diseased/dirty/dangerous substances, and consists of feelings of dirtiness and discomfort frequently accompanied by fear. Mental contamination shares some of the features of contact contamination but has a different

Experimental inductions of dirtiness/pollution

Fairbrother and Rachman (2004) found strong and common indications of post-assault dirtiness in their study of victims of a sexual assault. Sixty percent of the victims experienced feelings of dirtiness/pollution after the event; 70% of these participants had urges to wash, and 24% washed excessively for one day to a few weeks. Fifteen percent were still washing excessively 6–12 months after the assault. The participants (n = 43) were also asked to take part in a simple experiment designed to

Perpetrators

After it was established that imagining a ‘dirty-kiss scenario’ can arouse feelings of dirtiness and associated negative emotions in the unwilling recipient of the kiss, attention was directed to the effects of the non-consensual kiss on the perpetrators of the action. The dirty-kiss methodology was used in the experiments but the focus shifted to the person doing the unacceptable kissing, the ‘perpetrator’. In these scenarios male participants were asked to imagine kissing an unwilling female

The treatment of OC D in which betrayal is prominent

An awareness of the possible influence of a catastrophic betrayal can improve the therapist's understanding of a patient's OC D. Given the established connection between betrayals and mental contamination, the cases that are most likely to involve feelings of betrayal are those in which the patient has significant symptoms of mental contamination. When treatment fails to take into account a catastrophic betrayal, progress can be hampered. Completing a full assessment of the OC D can require a

Significance

Betrayal is a significant psychological phenomenon, and the supporting references are Shakespeare, Verdi, Tolstoy, Mozart and Dickens. Going back to 1937, the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology has published 1 paper on betrayal, and since 1906 the Journal of Abnormal Psychology has published no papers on the subject.

There is a large gap between the world of literature and the Psychological Bulletin. On reflection, perhaps we should respect that gap.

Studying betrayal is not merely an

Future research

There is a great need for clinical research, quantitative and qualitative, into the nature and types of betrayal. For this purpose suitable assessment techniques have to be developed. A start has been made but the process is inevitably lengthy and slow. The range of betrayals and their effects need to be elaborated. As indicated in this analysis some post-betrayal effects are PTSD-like, and attention is drawn to a range of ‘non-physical’ trauma, such as betrayal, in which there is no injury or

Acknowledgements

I particularly wish to thank Dr. M. Whittal, and other colleagues for their contributions to this work—A. Coughtrey, C. Elliott, N. Fairbrother, A. Hibbert, S. Newth, C. Philips, R. Shafran, A. Radomsky, E. Zysk. An early version of this analysis was presented at the Dutch-Flemish Experimental Psychopathology Society in Utrecht, May 2009.

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    This dirtiness has no localised accessible site and can arise unexpectedly, especially after experiencing thoughts associated with the betrayal. Because of this associated contamination betrayals may trigger episodes of OCD, but the dirtiness has an immoral quality and does not respond to washing or cleaning rituals (Rachman, 2010). This contamination is an example of pre-reflective experience in the I-Self in that it occurs at a sensory rather than an abstract conceptual level.

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