Fractured Selves: A Conceptual Model of Verbal Abuse, Gaslighting, and the Erosion of Self-Concept Clarity and Decision Making in Adults
Abstract: Verbal abuse and gaslighting are pervasive but often invisible forms of psychological maltreatment that reshape how individuals come to know and trust themselves, yet existing scholarship on their psychological consequences remains fragmented across disciplines and constructs. This paper presents a conceptual, theory-building synthesis that addresses that fragmentation. Drawing on four foundational psychological theories (Self-Concept Clarity Theory, Cognitive Dissonance Theory, Learned Helplessness Theory, and Social Cognitive Theory), three original, interlinked conceptual models are developed: the Gaslighting-Induced Epistemic Erosion (GIEE) Model, the Self-Concept Fracture Spiral (SCFS), and the Cognitive Autonomy Recovery Framework (CARF). Together, the models reframe gaslighting as an epistemic injury and offer an integrated, testable account of how psychological abuse erodes self-concept clarity and decisional autonomy, and how that erosion may be reversed.
Keywords: gaslighting, verbal abuse, self-concept clarity, decision making, epistemic injury, conceptual model, psychological recovery
How to Cite?: Lakshmi Sirisha Bacchu, "Fractured Selves: A Conceptual Model of Verbal Abuse, Gaslighting, and the Erosion of Self-Concept Clarity and Decision Making in Adults", Volume 15 Issue 10, October 2026, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Pages: 1372-1376, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=SR261021000308, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/SR261021000308