End-Game Thinking
Disturbed characters tend to feel so entitled to whatever they desire that they believe the ends always justifies the means they employ to secure their wishes.
Some of the “thinking errors” I’ve addressed already in this series on the erroneous ways disordered characters tend to think include unreasonable thinking, possessive thinking, combative thinking, and prideful thinking:
- “The Unreasonable Thinking of Disturbed Characters”
- “Possessive Thinking and the Disturbed Character”
- “Having to Win: Combative Thinking and Character Disturbance”
- “Impression Management and Arrogance: The Prideful Thinking of the Disordered Character”
Disordered characters also are forever thinking about outcomes. For the most part, they are very goal-oriented. That in itself is not so bad. The problem is that they don’t give much thought to how they’re going about getting the things they want. They tend to feel so entitled to whatever they desire that they believe the ends always justifies the means they employ to secure their wishes. End-game thinking is like tunnel-vision. As long as a person confines his thinking solely to achieving a goal or effecting a certain outcome, he’s likely to give insufficient attention to the right or wrong way to go about it.
Because of their other characteristics, disordered characters will often con, cheat, steal, and manipulate to reach their objectives. The way they see it, if others are so gullible or so weak that they can be easily taken advantage of, they consider it a fair victory. After all, for the disturbed character, it’s all about winning.
End-game thinking is just one of the thinking errors that over time promotes the development of an antisocial attitude. Thinking only about what one wants and not giving enough thought to how it’s best to go about it or who might be impacted is a sure prescription for antisociality.
Other articles by Dr George Simon, PhD
This article was last reviewed by on Monday, 12th January 2009. You can leave a reply below.
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