Victimhood is defined in negative terms: “the condition of having been hurt, damaged, or made to suffer.” Yet humans have evolved to empathize with the suffering of others ( https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093625 ) , and to provide assistance so as to eliminate or compensate for that suffering. Consequently, signaling suffering to others can be an effective strategy for attaining resources. Victims may receive attention, sympathy, and social status, as well as financial support and other benefits. And being a victim can generate certain kinds of power: It can justify the seeking of retribution ( https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1088868312440048 ) , provide a sense of legitimacy or psychological standing ( https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0065260110430038 ) to speak on certain issues, and may even confer moral impunity by minimizing blame ( https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103110002805?casa_token=lcT50_aIYZoAAAAA:koczwa8oIlWHkIjG4QHxQ1Ltg0EltUy24q28kFnXAyT6SPNq2wVOBliZwBRelyDuckaGMil9tg ) for victims’ own wrongdoings.
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