Explaining Self- Destructive Behaviors  From PsychWiki - A
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Defining Self-Destructive Behavior  Self-defeating behavior is
the idea that sometimes people knowingly do things that will
cause them to fail or bring them trouble. It is defined as “any
deliberate or intentional behavior that has clear, definitely or
probably negative effects on the self or on the self’s projects”
(Scher & Baumeister 1988). Many theories as to why humans
sometimes behave in a self destructive ways have been examined
by many psychologists. One proposed theory that answers this
question is the Freudian argument, which states that “people
have an innate death drive that impels them to pursue their own
downfall and death”. This argument also concludes that people do
harm themselves deliberately, even though they sometimes are not
conscious of this. “Self defeating behaviors are especially
common when people feel that others view them less favorably
than the people desire” Psyc