[B]y Our self-victimizations, we exaggerate others' destructiveness and our own helplessness. Mental health professionals often speak of clients "horribilizing" or "awfulizing" or "catastrophizing" their situations or the conduct of others, or "minimizing" their own contribution to their problems. These invented and admittedly awkward terms attempt to capture the way we exaggerate the distinctiveness of others and the losses we think they are inflicting upon us.
We can see that it costs us a lot to secure evidence of our justification and personal worth. We have got to feel mistreated or inconvenienced or stoop to cowardice or petty self-absorption. The worse we think we're treated or the more we feel put upon or helpless, the more certain we are that we're doing the best that can reasonably be expected of us. FOR SELF JUSTIFICATION, WE ARE WILLING TO PAY ALMOST ANY PRICE – AND VERY OFTEN THE HIGHER THE PRICE, THE MORE JUSTIFIED WE FEEL. that's why we typically do not respond favorably when someone suddenly offers to reduce the price [...]. [... G]ood gestures threaten to deflate our justification; we feel a keen pang of disappointment.
C. Terry Warner, "Bonds That Make Us Free"
