Crab mentality entails tearing down anyone who has or is likely to achieve more success than oneself (Asuncion, 2018). This attitude is common among Filipinos, especially when they are feeling insecure. Filipinos prefer to take their time criticizing and taunting rather than doing things that could help others prosper. It is a strategy for diverting people's focus away from their own shortcomings by dwelling on the inadequacies of others (Savillo, 2020). According to studies in human behavior, crab mentality is induced by lack of self confidence or low self-esteem, which is frequently unbeknownst to the individual, thus the possibility that the feelings of contempt, envy, and animosity are warranted (Peres de Tagle, 2021). This apparent attitude is one of the principal factors why the Philippines is not making progress, since it does not endorse union, modesty, or personal accountability. According to ethical egoism, an individual is morally obligated to act in a certain way if and only if it substantially benefits them and maximizes their ego (Shaver, 2019). Furthermore, it is the ethical view that promoting one's personal interest is morally acceptable (Mosely, n.d). Crab mentality and ethical egoism are comparable in that they each have the idea that everything they are doing should serve their own self-interest, which is why crab mentality could be argued that it would not be a negative attitude after all. However, it is brought into question in the case that crab mentality would allow an
individual to deliberately drag people down out of selfishness which is discouraged by ethical egoism so that only they can prosper more than others or ensure that others do not find success which is what then makes it ethically wrong.
Keywords (at least 3): Crab Mentality, Ethical Egoism, Selfishness, Insecurity
Author: Gabrielle Alyssa M. King
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