crab mentality

English

Etymology

From the metaphor in which a pot of crabs, one crab attempts to escape over the side, but is relentlessly pulled down by the others in the pot.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

crab mentality (plural crab mentalities)

1. (idiomatic) A phenomenon in which a person or a group of people attempt to hinder the progress or success of others, even if such success does not directly affect their own well-being.

   Synonym: crab bucket syndrome

Usage notes

• A way of thinking that is best described by the phrase "If I can't have it, neither can you."

Translations

if I can't have it neither can you

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 魚蛋論 / 鱼蛋论 (jyu⁴ daan^6-2 leon⁶)

  Mandarin: 螃蟹心態 / 螃蟹心态 (pángxiè xīntài), 螃蟹精神 (pángxiè jīngshén), 螃蟹心理 (pángxiè xīnlǐ)

• Dutch: krabbenmentaliteit f
• Finnish: keskinäinen kateus, raputeoria
• Hungarian: dögöljön meg a szomszéd tehene is (literally “[if my cow has died] let the neighbor’s cow die too”)
• Indonesian: mentalitas kepiting
• Malay: mentaliti ketam
• Polish: mentalność psa ogrodnika f
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Latin: da komšiji crkne krava

• Spanish: cangrejismo m, mentalidad de cangrejo f
• Tagalog: isip-alimango, isip talangka, kaisipang talangka

See also

• tall poppy syndrome