Cherry Moriones Doromal, Editor, MB Online

MANILA, Philippines -- An achievement, no matter how gigantic or undersized, adds to one’s self satisfaction, offers some sort of self-actualization and usually drives a person to aspire for more or reach for better goals.

Achievement equals pride, and pride entails pleasure on the part of the achiever. Self-actualization is a human need; accordingly, it is normal. For sure, Abraham Maslow, Kurt Goldstein, Carl Rogers and some other  pillars of human psychology  will agree with it.

How happy are you observing others achieve their goals? How do you feel seeing people flourish in their endeavors?  Do you appreciate the accomplishments of people around you?  Are you glad with someone else's success?

Whether we accept it or not, if we self-assess today and think that we actually or secretly  feel bad about seeing nice things happening to people, chances are, we are guilty of the loathsome trait of crab mentality!

I did research online on the concept and roots of crab mentality and it is so disgusting that “crab mentality” is often associated with Filipinos worldwide. This metaphor is believed to have been derived from a phenomenon which occurs in a bucket of crabs. If any crab attempts to flee from a bucket of live crabs, the other crabs will pull it back down and will not allow the co-crab to escape. Occasionally, the crabs seem almost nasty, waiting until the fellow crab has almost escaped before tugging it back into the bucket.
 
Have you experienced situations where people whom you trust most pull you down, silently or blatantly? He could be a friend, a best friend, a neighbor, a relative, an officemate or a family member.

Was there an instance in your life calling for a celebration --as when you passed the board exams, got a promotion, appointed to an office, offered a high salary, received an award, discovered the Philippines (kidding),or won in the lottery -- and someone obviously pretended to ignore such fact or deliberately took no notice of the festivity? Instead, he thought of unconstructive stuff to divert people’s attention to intrigues unrelated to the issue at hand?  Congtatulations, you have just been a certified victim of crab mentality!

The term “crab mentality” is used to describe a category of selfish attitude which literally means, “if I can't have it, neither can you.” While this term is widely used generally among Filipinos, I believe, this is prevalent among any other nationalities in the world. Take for example the racists who could not admit that our professionals are more clever than their people. They simply hire Filipino workers in their country but do not admit the ingenuity of Filipino talents.  Oh, well, perhaps in the real world, Filipino is the lone breed who had the nerve and honesty to vocally admit that he has this trait, that’s why crab mentality is often linked on Filipinos.

Crab mentality is in the air, domestically and globally. In the government, when one refuses to support certain initiatives in a way which ultimately drags the whole country down, that is crab mentality. In office environments, crab mentality can be predominantly upsetting when officemates criticize at each other, rather than pass on good wishes to someone who earns a commendation.

Indeed, an accusation of having a crab mentality is a pitiable reflection of one's character whether you are a Filipino or not.  It is rooted out of envy and false pride and can strike at all levels of life from our workplace, to our community, to our homes, to the government, in private institutions, in churches and in any organization.  .

Leave the crab behind! If by now you have identified the crabs around you, keep distance from them without being uncivil.  However, when you feel that you are the crab in your environment, recognize such fact and transform .

You may send  your thoughts to:

Email:  cherrydoromal@gmail.com

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