The tendency of victims to blame themselves is described as which?

• A. A natural reflex
• B. A learned behavior
• C. An unavoidable fate
• D. A sign of resilience

Answer: (B)

The idea here is that self-blame is something people learn over time, not something that happens automatically. Victims often absorb messages from others, culture, and past experiences that they could have prevented the harm or that they’re to blame, so they start attributing the wrongdoing to their own actions. This pattern is reinforced if they repeatedly receive or internalize those cues, becoming a habitual way of thinking rather than a natural reflex or an inevitable fate. It isn’t a sign of resilience, which would involve coping in adaptive ways and moving forward; rather, it’s a maladaptive attribution that can hinder recovery. Recognizing it as a learned behavior helps explain why it persists and points to approaches like cognitive restructuring and supportive counseling to shift blame away from the victim and toward the responsible party.