Mind Games

Playing mind games

Playing mind games is that the largely conscious struggle for psychological one-upmanship, often employing passive–aggressive behavior to specifically demoralize or dies-empower the thinking subject, making the aggressor look superior; also referred to as power games and head games.
It also describes the unconscious games played by people engaged in ulterior transactions of which they are not fully aware, and which transactional analysis considers forming a central element of social life all over the world.
The first known use of "mind game" is in 1963.The first known use of "head game" is in 1977
Mind games within the sense of the struggle for prestige; appear in lifestyle within the fields of office politics, sport, and relationships.
Played most intensely perhaps by personalities, office mind games are often hard to spot clearly, as strong management blurs with over-direction, and healthy rivalry with manipulative head-games and sabotage.
The wary salesman are going to be consciously and unconsciously prepared to satisfy a spread of challenging mind games and put-downs within the course of their work.
The serious sportsman also are going to be prepared to satisfy a selection of gambits and head-games from their rivals, attempting to tread the fine line between competitive psychology and paranoia.