What is the difference between hypocrisy and duplicity?

What is hypocrisy?

The word “hypocrisy” first appeared in the era of Ancient Rome. In those days, it was used to refer to stage actors who literally put on masks (faces) to portray various characters on stage.

In the modern interpretation, hypocrisy is the behavior of a person in which his words and actions do not correspond to his true beliefs and feelings. Synonyms of this word in Russian are lies, duplicity, hypocrisy, pretense, slyness, falsehood.

Nowadays, the characteristic “two-faced” is applied to an insincere person who hides his malicious intentions and negative attitude towards others under the mask of external goodwill.

According to psychologists, a modern hypocrite is a skilled manipulator who perfectly senses the weaknesses of his interlocutor and plays on his pain points, fears, and prejudices.

In simple words, this is insincerity in views and judgments. A hypocritical person often changes his views and positions depending on immediate gain. Hypocrisy is based either on fear or on the desire to be better than other people.

Every person (who is this?) has the ability to adapt to the situation . In different situations you need to behave differently. This is a natural instinct and it is this line of behavior that allowed the generation to survive. There's nothing you can do about it.

But the hypocrite raises this natural ability to its apogee and uses it one hundred percent for purely selfish purposes. On the other hand, every person has been two-faced at least once in his life in order to avoid some unpleasant and difficult situations. The main thing is that this does not become your prevailing line of behavior.

What does the word "hypocrisy" mean?

This is how a person behaves inappropriately when he condemns other people for behavior that is not alien to him. In general, this is pretense and deception concerning the concealment of one's true moral and religious beliefs.

The motives for such actions can be different:

1. Conformism. People are very cruel by nature, and the weak of this world are forced to engage in opportunism in order to survive. Often this line of behavior is disgusting to the hypocrite himself, but he cannot do anything about it;
2. Self-deception. The desire to present oneself in a more favorable light than in reality. This is done for the sake of petty selfish interests;
3. Personal immaturity. The worldview of such a person is not yet fully formed, and he may not be fully aware of how badly he is doing.

There are many fables, proverbs and sayings about this undoubtedly negative character trait. But a more rational consideration of this phenomenon began only in the 1980s, when it became one of the central topics in such scientific fields as:

• Cultural Psychology;
• Political sociology;
• Cognitive Sciences;
• Behavioral Economics;
• Ethics;
• Evolutionary psychology.

Attitude towards hypocrisy in society

Society condemns hypocrites because they pose a great potential threat. Communicating with such individuals, each person risks being severely deceived in his feelings and intentions.

The actions of two-faced people are based on carefully hidden purely personal gain. And where lies and self-interest dominate, there is no place for true love (what is this?), strong friendship (what is this?), or true faith.

World religions consider hypocrisy a grave sin:

1. Christianity interprets it as a mental illness sent by the devil, and recommends treatment by confession.
2. In Islam, a special name has been invented for a hypocrite - munafik. Such a person is considered worse than an unbeliever.
3. In Judaism, people convicted of hypocrisy are usually excommunicated from religious sacraments.

Attitudes towards vice in religions

For thousands of years, religion has thoroughly regulated the entire life of man. It provided answers to all the most important moral questions and acted as a kind of code of conduct for ordinary people.

Hypocrisy as a rather serious sin is condemned in all confessions:

• The Bible teaches that such improper behavior is based on a lie. And the latter, as you know, represents the tricks of the Evil One. The Gospel of Matthew contains a rather picturesque metaphor on this matter: “the kingdom in your soul is doomed if it is divided in half”;
• In the Koran, the word “munafiq” denotes a person who is trying with all his might to prove his loyalty to Allah, but behind his feigned impulses there is nothing more than the desire to play in public. In Islam, the most severe punishments in hell are provided for this (even more than for unbelief);
• Judaism's attitude toward the dissonance between reason and words is strongly negative. It amounts to irreligion and blasphemy;
• In Buddhism, too, there is no need to seek protection for one’s weakness. In the sacred book “Dhammapada,” the Buddha condemns the ascetic whose soul indulges in base passions.

Just one glance at almost any Russian politician is enough to fully understand what hypocrisy is. His words do not correspond to his thoughts and actions. And this is not only a problem for the authorities. Many ordinary people are afraid more than anything else to admit their shortcomings and mistakes. In the meantime, cinema and literature will not suffer from a lack of plots.

Who is a hypocrite and how to recognize him

In order to accurately understand who a hypocrite is, one should carefully study his inner nature and behavioral characteristics. As a rule, a two-faced person is a fairly subtle psychologist; he is sensitive to the mood of his interlocutor and skillfully plays along with him.

But no matter how hard the deceiver tries, he cannot fully control his facial expressions and gestures. The following nonverbal manifestations reveal the internal discomfort of a hypocrite:

1. No facial wrinkles around the eyes when smiling.
2. Fixed eyebrows during a conversation.
3. Tense compressed lips.
4. Involuntary hand movements.

If you cannot assess the degree of truthfulness of your interlocutor based on non-verbal signs, you should carefully monitor his actions . As a rule, in a hypocrite they very often differ from their words. Typical examples of the behavior of a two-faced person in different areas of life:

1. Proclaims pompous speeches, but does not back them up with real actions.
2. He prays and gives alms for show.
3. He judges other people for the same offenses that he commits himself.
4. He says one thing to his face, and another behind his back.

In general, if you know what it is, then it will not be difficult to expose the hypocrite. And this is very important, because such people need to be known and understood who they are so as not to become their victims.

How is partiality different from subordination?

Subordination implies the form and framework of official subordination. This subordination is based not on personal bias, but on the rules of official discipline. Without subordination, no structured organization can function.

Discretion is associated with the voluntary ingratiation of one person to another (motives may be different). Quite often such ingratiation is accompanied by flattery and hypocrisy, while the rules of subordination can be followed without flattery and hypocrisy.

Flattery and hypocrisy contribute to the development of such an ugly quality as pseudo-humility (see also: Humility). The flip side of ingratiating yourself with useful people is often disdain for useless people (outsiders). And this, in turn, contributes to the formation of arrogance.

Reasons for hypocrisy

The reasons why a person resorts to duplicity are not always on the surface. Often society itself pushes him to put on one mask or another. Psychologists identify several reasons for insincere behavior :

1. Fear of judgment, desire to please.
2. Lack of own moral guidelines.
3. Self-interest.
4. Malice.

Every society has certain moral norms and standards of behavior. However, not every person can fully comply with them. For this reason, many people prefer to pretend . Duplicity allows you to achieve public recognition, avoid condemnation, and hide the unsightly sides of your personality.

The cause of immoral behavior may be moral instability and low self-esteem . A person who is in search of himself tries on different masks and models of behavior, many of which he does not like. This phenomenon is sometimes observed during adolescence.

Often the cause of hypocrisy is self-interest and malicious intent. In order to translate his aggressive plans into reality, the deceiver pretends to be a well-wisher, ingratiates himself, makes false promises, and demonstrates excessive compliance.

In relation to such people they use the phraseology (what is this?) “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

Where do hypocrites meet?

It must be admitted that hypocrites have infiltrated almost all areas of our lives. To achieve their goals, they use the most effective levers of influence:

1. Television and advertising.
2. Power and politics.
3. Church and religion.

The main target for hypocrites is human relationships. They cruelly manipulate loved ones, friends, and work colleagues to achieve their base (selfish) goals.

Sometimes, it is those people whom we trust unreservedly who can cause irreparable harm, inflict the most severe wound.

Punishment for a hypocrite

Reading these lines, you involuntarily feel the desire to identify the hypocrite in your environment as quickly as possible and teach him a lesson. But first, it doesn’t hurt to analyze your own actions.

At the same time, almost everyone will be forced to admit that they have repeatedly resorted to hypocrisy in certain situations. And to judge another for deception, while being insincere yourself, is the height of hypocrisy!

As for punishment, the very need to lie and pretend is a rather heavy burden for any person.

A hypocrite is doomed to experience constant mental discomfort due to the discrepancy between his external manifestations and his inner beliefs and true feelings.

In psychology, this phenomenon is called “cognitive dissonance.” A person subject to such a state cannot be truly happy , and this is the highest punishment for him.

How to resist two-faced people?

The fight against hypocrisy should begin with yourself first . Perhaps it will be useful for everyone to adhere to the following rules:

1. Be yourself in any situation.
2. Defend your own value system.
3. Work on increasing your self-esteem.
4. Be consistent in words and actions.
5. Be sincere towards others.

A spiritually mature, truthful person with adequate self-esteem attracts similar people into his life.

But for hypocrites he is of no interest.
Cunning pretenders, accustomed to playing on the weaknesses of others, become powerless in front of an open, positive person. Good luck to you! See you soon on the blog pages KtoNaNovenkogo.ru

How is hypocrisy different from partiality?

Through hypocrisy, a person puts himself in a favorable light, strives to evoke in others such an attitude towards his person, under which he, in fact, selects an appropriate external mask (mask).

Discrimination is characterized by an attitude towards people depending on their position, rank, status, rank, material capabilities, etc. A biased attitude towards a person, shown with special helpfulness, politeness, attentiveness, caring, etc., can also be called partiality.

Discretion may or may not be associated with hypocrisy.

For example, if a judge judges some people strictly, and others (on whom he depends in some way or with whom he does not want to quarrel) unnaturally softly, then this is partiality. If in both the first and second cases he shows himself to be an impartial and fair judge, then, in addition to dishonesty, he is a hypocrite.

If a person, singling out some from among others and expressing a favorable attitude towards the first and an alien one towards the second, does this without hypocrisy, he is not showing partiality in a hypocritical way.

Let us note that in some groups or collectives such ugly norms of internal etiquette may exist that partiality is almost replaced by the concept of “subordination.”