Scientists Unravel Secrets of How Gaslighting Really Works

A new model suggests that gaslighters manipulate their targets by exploiting a learning process.

Gaslighting can occur to anyone who places trust in the wrong individual, according to a McGill University researcher.

Willis Klein, a PhD candidate in the Department of Psychology, collaborated with colleagues at McGill and the University of Toronto to create a new theoretical model that explains how manipulators gradually lead their victims to doubt their own perception of reality.

Although gaslighting has been widely discussed in popular culture in recent years, Klein noted that it has not yet received sustained attention in scientific research.

Gaslighting as a learning process

Klein, the lead author of the study, proposes that gaslighting can be understood as a learning process shaped by prediction error minimization (PEM). PEM refers to the brain’s tendency to build internal models of the world, use those models to anticipate future events, and then adjust expectations and responses when predictions do not match reality. Until now, most discussions of gaslighting have relied on a psychodynamic perspective, but this framework is rarely applied in contemporary psychological research in North America, he explained.

“When you trust or you love somebody, you expect them to behave in a particular way. Gaslighters, in our view, are behaving in an atypical way, one that is somewhat surprising, and they’re making use of that surprise to direct the learning of the people they target,” explained Klein.

In addition to behaving in a way that violates your expectations, a gaslighter will, according to the researcher, suggest that the cause of your surprise has something to do with your general grip of reality, making you feel what he calls “epistemically incompetent.”

“This is repeated over and over, until the target has really integrated the idea that they don’t actually have a good grasp on reality,” said Klein.

The role of trust and close others

The model also relies on the idea that we depend on others – especially close others – to form our sense of self and reality. This, combined with the view of gaslighting as a learning process, means that anyone could fall victim to gaslighting, according to Klein.

“In our model, there’s not necessarily anything specific about the target of gaslighting that makes them particularly vulnerable to it. In essence, it could happen to anyone, so long as they’re trusting the wrong person,” he explained.

Klein said he thinks future inquiries into this subject could, however, reveal that some personal characteristics can affect a person’s susceptibility to being gaslit, like certain attachment styles or a history of trauma. He said he hopes future research can also validate various components of the model and lead to better support for people who have been victims of gaslighting.

Reference: “A Theoretical Framework for Studying the Phenomenon of Gaslighting” by Willis Klein, Suzanne Wood and Jennifer A. Bartz, 3 June 2025, Personality and Social Psychology Review.
DOI: 10.1177/10888683251342291

The research was supported by the Fonds de Recherche du Québec – Société et Culture (FRQSC), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (CRSNG) and the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

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