Character assassination is an attempt to tarnish a person's reputation. It may involve exaggeration or manipulation of facts to present an untrue picture of the targeted person. It is a form of defamation and can be a form of ad hominem argument.
For living individuals targeted by character assassination attempts this may result in being rejected by his community family or members of his or her living or work environment. Such acts are often difficult to reverse or rectify and the process is likened to a literal assassination of a human life. The damage sustained can last a

lifetime or for historical figures for many centuries after their death.
In practice character assassination may involve doublespeak spreading of rumors innuendo or deliberate misinformation on topics relating to the subject's morals integrity and reputation. It may involve spinning information that is technically true but that is presented in a misleading manner or is presented without the necessary context. For example it might be said that a person refused to pay any income tax during a specific year without saying that no tax was actually owed due to the person having no income th

at year or if a person was sacked from a firm even though they may have been made redundant rather than actually fired. In politics
In politics perhaps the most common form of character assassination is the spread of allegations that a candidate is a liar. Other common themes may include allegations that the candidate is a bad or unpopular member of his family has a bad relationship with his spouse or children is disrespected by his former co-workers or routinely engages in disturbing socially unacceptable behavior such as sexual deviancy.
Charging an opponent with character ass

assination may have political benefits. In the hearings for Clarence Thomas' nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States supporters claimed that both Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill were victims of character assassination.1 See also Mudslinging Fair Game (Scientology) Pittura infamante References Walkowitz Rebecca L.; Garber Marjorie B.; Matlock Jann (1993). Media spectacles. New York: Routledge. pp. 32. ISBN 0-415-90751-9.  v  d  e Abuse Types Anti-social behaviour  Bullying  Child abuse  Child sexual abuse&#

160; Domestic abuse  Elder abuse  Harassment  Humiliation  Institutional abuse  Intimidation  Neglect  Personal abuse  Professional abuse  Psychological abuse  Physical abuse  Sexual abuse  Spiritual abuse  Stalking  Structural abuse  Verbal abuse  more... Related topics Complex post-traumatic stress disorder  Dehumanization  Denial  Exaggeration  Grooming (adult  child)  Lying  Manipulation  Minimisation  Personality disorders  Psychological projection&

#160; Psychological trauma  Psychopathy  Rationalization (making excuses)  Victim blaming  Victim playing  Victimisation v  d  e Bullying Types Cyber-bullying  Emotional blackmail  Hazing  Military bullying  Mobbing  Passive aggression  Political bullying  Psychological abuse  Rankism  Relational aggression  School bullying  Sexual bullying  School pranks  Verbal abuse  Workplace bullying Elements Ad hominem  Character assassination  Defama

tion  Gossiping  Humiliation  Insulting  Intimidation  Psychological manipulation  Rudeness  Smear campaign  Social rejection  Taunting  Teasing  Whispering campaign  Yelling Organisations Act Against Bullying  Beatbullying  Bullying UK  Kidscape Campaigners Andrea Adams  Louise Burfitt-Dons  Tim Field  Andy Hickson  Heinz Leymann  Gary Namie  Kenneth Westhues Other Anti-Bullying Day  Anti-Bullying Week  international STAND UP to Bullying Day Notable

suicides Ryan Halligan  Megan Meier  Phoebe Prince  Dawn-Marie Wesley  Kelly Yeomans Related topics Complex post-traumatic stress disorder  Personal boundaries  Personality disorders  Psychological projection  Psychological trauma  Psychopathy  Scapegoating  Self-esteem  Sycophancy  Victim blaming  Victim playing  Victimisation v  d  e Psychological manipulation Positive reinforcement Attention Flattery Giving gifts Giving money Grooming (adult child) Ingratiatio

n Love bombing Praise Seduction Smiling Superficial charm Superficial sympathy Negative reinforcement Anger Character assassination Crying Emotional blackmail Frowning Glaring Guilt trip Inattention Intimidation Nagging Nit-picking criticism Passive aggression Punishment Relational aggression Shaming Silent treatment Sulking Swearing Threats Victim blaming Victim playing Yelling Other techniques Deception Denial Deprogramming Disinformation Distortion Diversion Evasion Exaggeration Gaslighting Indoctrination Lying Minimisation Rationaliz

ation (making excuses) Contexts Abuse Advertising Bullying Confidence trick Media manipulation Mind control Mobbing Propaganda Scapegoating Smear campaign Spin Whispering campaign Related topics Assertiveness Blame Dumbing down Enabling Impression management Fallacy Narcissism Personal boundaries Personality disorders Persuasion Projection Psychopathy Self-esteem Sheeple Sycophancy Vulnerabilities Weasel words Whistleblowing This sociology-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v  d  e