{{short description|Attitude characterised by distrust}}
{{Redirect|Cynical|the classical philosophy|Cynicism (philosophy)|other uses|Cynic (disambiguation){{!}}Cynic}}

'''Cynicism''' is an [[attitude (psychology)|attitude]] characterized by a general [[distrust]] of the motives of others and a lack of faith in other human beings, in the belief that humans are selfish by nature.<ref>{{cite book|last=Navia|first=Luis E.|title=Classical Cynicism: A Critical Study|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=khpY2fQaIg0C|series=Contributions in philosophy|volume=58|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|date=1996|page=1|isbn=9780313300158|access-date=2013-11-26|quote=For the cynic, accordingly, hypocrisy and deceitfulness, primitive selfishness and unbounded egoism, and gross materialism and disguised ruthlessness(Rojo, Man Utd) are the hidden characteristics of all human behavior.}}</ref> A cynic may have a general lack of [[faith]] or [[hope]] in humanity in general or in people motivated by ambition, desire, [[greed]], gratification, [[Economic materialism|materialism]], change, goals, and opinions that a cynic perceives as vain, unobtainable, or ultimately meaningless. The term originally derives from the [[ancient Greek philosophers]], the [[Cynicism (philosophy)|Cynics]], who rejected conventional goals of wealth, power, fame, and honor.  They practiced shameless nonconformity with social norms in [[religion]], morality, law, manners, housing, dress, or decency, instead advocating the pursuit of [[virtue]] in accordance with a simple and natural way of life.

By the 19th century, emphasis on the [[ascetic]] ideals and the critique of current civilization based on how it might fall short of an ideal civilization or [[Antipositivism|negativistic]] aspects of [[Cynicism (philosophy)|Cynic philosophy]] led the modern understanding of cynicism to mean a disposition of disbelief in the sincerity or goodness of human motives and actions.{{citation needed|date=November 2013}} Modern cynicism is a distrust toward professed [[ethics|ethical]] and social values, especially when there are high expectations concerning [[society]], institutions, and authorities that are unfulfilled. It can manifest itself as a result of frustration, disillusionment, and distrust perceived as owing to organizations, authorities, and other aspects of society. 

Cynicism is often confused with [[pessimism]] or [[nihilism]], perhaps due to their shared association with a lack of faith in humanity. The differences among the three is that cynicism is a distrust by prudence; while due to a sense of defeatism, pessimism is the distrust of potential success. Nihilism on its part is the general distrust cast upon the belief that anything in life (including life itself) has any valuable meaning.

==Overview==
Modern cynicism has been defined as an attitude of distrust toward claimed ethical and social values and a rejection of the need to be socially involved.<ref>{{cite book|first=Luis E.|last=Navia|year=1999|title=The Adventure of Philosophy|page=141}}</ref> It is pessimistic about the capacity of human beings to make correct ethical choices; in this aspect, [[naiveté]] is an [[antonym]].<ref name=Encarta>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://encarta.msn.com/thesaurus_561570272/cynicism.html|title=Synonym for cynicism (n) – antonym for cynicism (n) – Thesaurus – MSN Encarta|publisher=[[Encarta]]|access-date=2010-05-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100423214534/http://encarta.msn.com/thesaurus_561570272/cynicism.html|archive-date=2010-04-23|url-status=dead}}</ref> Modern cynicism is sometimes regarded as a product of [[mass society]], especially in those circumstances where the individual believes there is a conflict between society's stated motives and goals and actual motives and goals.<ref>{{cite book|first=Jeffrey C.|last=Goldfarb|year=1991|title=The Cynical Society: The Culture of Politics and the Politics of Culture in American Life|url=https://archive.org/details/cynicalsocietycu0000gold|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/cynicalsocietycu0000gold/page/30 30]|publisher=University of Chicago Press|quote=Cynicism promotes and is a product of mass society. It makes economic, political, and cultural domination invisible, and casts serious doubts on cultural and political alternatives.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Timothy|last=Bewes|year=1997|title=Cynicism and Postmodernity|page=3|publisher=Verso|quote=...cynicism appears in the space left empty by mass culture's retreat from politics itself. Political engagement has no option, apparently, but to be cynical...}}</ref>

==Critical evaluation==
Cynicism can appear more active in [[depression (mood)|depression]]. In ''[[Critique of Cynical Reason]]'' (1983), [[Peter Sloterdijk]] defined modern cynics as "borderline melancholics, who can keep their symptoms of depression under control and yet retain the ability to work, whatever might happen ... indeed, this is the essential point in modern cynicism: the ability of its bearers to work—in spite of anything that might happen."<ref>{{cite book|author-link=Peter Sloterdijk|first=Peter|last=Sloterdijk|year=1987|title=Critique of Cynical Reason|page=[https://archive.org/details/critiqueofcynica00slot/page/5 5]|title-link=Critique of Cynical Reason}}</ref>

One active aspect of cynicism involves the desire to expose hypocrisy and to point out gaps between [[Ideal (ethics)|ideals]] and [[Practice (social theory)|practices]].<ref>{{cite book|author-link=Mary Midgley|first=Mary|last=Midgley|contribution=The problem of humbug|editor=Kieran, Matthew|year=1998|title=Media Ethics|page=37|publisher=Routledge}}</ref> [[George Bernard Shaw]] allegedly expressed this succinctly: "The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who don't have it".<ref>Attributed in {{cite book|last=Schreier|first=Benjamin|title=The Power of Negative Thinking: Cynicism and the History of Modern American Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jw67ZeECiHQC|publisher=University of Virginia Press|year=2009|page=187|isbn=9780813928203|access-date=2013-11-26}}</ref>

==Health effects==
A study<ref>{{cite journal|author=Elisa Neuvonen|author2=Minna Rusanen|author3=Alina Solomon|author4=Tiia Ngandu|author5=Tiina Laatikainen|author6=Hilkka Soininen|author7=Miia Kivipelto|author8=Anna-Maija Tolppanen|name-list-style=amp|title=Late-life cynical distrust, risk of incident dementia, and mortality in a population-based cohort|journal=[[Neurology (journal)|Neurology]]|volume=82|issue=24|pages=2205–2212|publisher=[[American Academy of Neurology]]|year=2014|doi=10.1212/WNL.0000000000000528|pmid=24871875|s2cid=35851646}}</ref> published in ''[[Neurology (journal)|Neurology]]'' journal in 2014 found an association between high levels of late-life "cynical distrust" (interpreted and measured in the study in terms of hostility) and [[dementia]]. The survey included 622 people who were tested for dementia for a period of eight years. In that period, 46 people were diagnosed with dementia. "Once researchers adjusted for other factors that could affect dementia risk, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and smoking, people with high levels of cynical distrust were three times more likely to develop dementia than people with low levels of cynicism. Of the 164 people with high levels of cynicism, 14 people developed dementia, compared to nine of the 212 people with low levels of cynicism."<ref>{{cite news|title=Cynical? You may be hurting your brain health|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140528163739.htm|access-date=14 July 2014|work=[[Science Daily]]|date=28 May 2014|archive-date=26 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190926002627/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140528163739.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Research has also shown that cynicism is related to feelings of disrespect. According to a study published in the ''[[Journal of Experimental Psychology: General]]'' in 2020, "everyday experiences of disrespect elevated cynical beliefs and vice versa. Moreover, cynical individuals tended to treat others with disrespect, which in turn predicted more disrespectful treatment by others."<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Stavrova|first1=Olga|last2=Ehlebracht|first2=Daniel|last3=Vohs|first3=Kathleen|date=2020-01-22|title=Victims, Perpetrators, or Both? The Vicious Cycle of Disrespect and Cynical Beliefs about Human Nature|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/thuq8|access-date=2020-10-21|doi=10.31234/osf.io/thuq8|s2cid=243241890}}</ref>

==In politics==
{{Globalize|section|USA|2name=the United States|date=November 2014}}
In a 1996 paper, J. N. Cappella and K. H. Jamieson claimed that "healthy skepticism may have given way to corrosive cynicism".<ref>{{cite journal|author=J. N. Cappella|author2=K. H. Jamieson|name-list-style=amp|year=1996|title=News Frames, Political Cynicism, and Media Cynicism|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249666213|journal=[[The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science]]|volume=546|issue=1|pages=71–84|doi=10.1177/0002716296546001007|s2cid=145453273|quote=The media framing of political news is implicated in  "activating,  if not creating,  cynicism about campaigns,  policy, and governance."}}</ref> Cynicism regarding government or politics can logically lead to political withdrawal and effective political helplessness. In 2013 conservative politician and political theorist [[William J. Bennett]] warned that the United States could "crumble from within; that we would become cynical and withdraw".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/357656/we-are-not-helpless-william-j-bennett|title=We Are Not Helpless|last=Bennett|first=William J.|date=5 September 2013|newspaper=[[National Review#National Review Online|National Review Online]]|author-link=William Bennett|archive-date=18 November 2016|access-date=15 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118040143/http://www.nationalreview.com/article/357656/we-are-not-helpless-william-j-bennett|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Possible effects===
A 2004 experiment and paper called ''The Effects of Strategic News on Political Cynicism, Issue Evaluations, and Policy Support: A Two-Wave Experiment''  found that the way the news media presents the news can cause political cynicism. The experiment also demonstrated "a negative relation between efficacy and cynicism suggesting that efficacious citizens were less likely to be cynical about politics". It was found that straight dry, "issues-based" news did not cause political cynicism, but that "Strategic News" and "game news"  did. The latter two types of news presentation emphasize:
{{cquote|...the horse race,  strategy,  and tactics of politics,"..."news coverage of candidate motivations and personalities,  focus on disagreement between parties,  candidates or voters,  and the presence and emphasis on polls in the news,''"  or  "''positioning the electorate as spectators and candidates as performers."<ref>Claes de Vreese,  2004,  (Cited by 98)  ''The Effects of Strategic News on Political Cynicism,  Issue Evaluations,  and Policy Support:  A Two-Wave Experiment'',  The Amsterdam School of Communications Research,  -  An experimentally manipulated television news story about the enlargement of the European Union was produced in a strategy version and an issue-framed version,  which were embedded in an experimental bulletin of a national news program. [http://www.claesdevreese.com/documents/de_Vreese_Mass_Communication_and_society_2004.pdf Results showed that exposure to  "strategic news"  fueled political cynicism and activated negative associations with the political issue.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120831232412/http://www.claesdevreese.com/documents/de_Vreese_Mass_Communication_and_society_2004.pdf |date=2012-08-31 }}</ref>}}

==Social cynicism==
Social cynicism results from high expectations concerning society, institutions and authorities; unfulfilled expectations lead to disillusionment, which releases feelings of disappointment and [[betrayal]].<ref>Donald L. Kanter and [[Philip H. Mirvis]], (1989). ''The Cynical Americans - Living and Working in an Age of Discontent and Disillusion.'' San Francisco</ref>

In organizations, cynicism manifests itself as a general or specific attitude, characterized by frustration, hopelessness, disillusionment and distrust in regard to economic or governmental organizations, [[Management|managers]] or other aspects of work.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Andersson|first=L. M.|author2=Bateman, T. S.|year=1997|title=Cynicism in the workplace: Some causes and effects|journal=Journal of Organizational Behavior|volume=18|issue=5|pages=449–469|doi=10.1002/(sici)1099-1379(199709)18:5<449::aid-job808>3.0.co;2-o}}</ref>

=== Psychology ===
{{excerpt|Naïve cynicism|only=paragraphs}}

==Legal cynicism==
{{excerpt|Legal cynicism|only=paragraphs}}

==See also==
{{div col}}
*[[Doubt]]
*[[Doomer]]
*[[Fanaticism]]
*[[Human nature]]
*[[Melancholia]]
*[[Misanthropy]]
*[[Moral realism]]
*[[Nihilism]]
*[[Wiktionary:no good deed goes unpunished|"No good deed goes unpunished"]]
*[[Pessimism]]
*[[Pragmatism]]
*[[Resentment]]
*[[Rational choice theory]]
*[[Skepticism]]
*[[Weltschmerz]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
*Mazella, David, (2007), [https://books.google.com/books?id=8zBk8k35SFEC ''The Making of Modern Cynicism''], University of Virginia Press. {{ISBN|0-8139-2615-7}}
*[[Peter Sloterdijk|Sloterdijk, Peter]], (1988), ''Critique of Cynical Reason'', University of Minnesota Press. {{ISBN|0-8166-1586-1}}
*{{cite book|last1=Žižek|first1=Slavoj|author-link1=Slavoj Žižek|title=The Sublime Object of Ideology|date=1989|publisher=Verso Books|chapter-url=http://www.egs.edu/faculty/slavoj-zizek/articles/cynicism-as-a-form-of-ideology|chapter=Cynicism as a Form of Ideology|pages=28–30|title-link=The Sublime Object of Ideology}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|cynicism}}
{{Wikiquote|Cynicism}}
*[https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,,-6328,00.html "Is it worse to be cynical or jaded?"] Retrieved 2008-05-30
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cynicism (contemporary)}}
[[Category:Cynicism| ]]
[[Category:Distrust]]
[[Category:Modernism]]
[[Category:Psychological attitude]]
[[Category:Social theories]]
[[Category:Virtue ethics]]