Review of Related Literature

Foreign

Urban Dictionary (2002) stated that “Crabs inside a bucket

can escape easily from it one at a time, but instead of doing that,

they tend to pull each other down whenever one reaches the top -

thus insuring their collective demise.” This situation is

analogous to the behavior of a person who tries to pull down

someone who achieved something or is about to attain success

greater than their own.

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Crab%20Mentality

retrieved February 16, 2019

Stone (2013) stated that instead of congratulating other and

seeing them as role models, we tend too look at the smaller picture

to find some way to put them down. This kind of attitude should

stop. It has plenty of similarity towards Filipinos having crab

mentality towards other’s success or anything else.

Stone, K. (2013). The Filipino crab mentality, United States of

America

Soubhari and Kumar (2018) in their study “The CRAB - Bucket

Effect and Its Impact on Job Stress– An Exploratory Study With

Reference To Autonomous Colleges” argued that an accusation of

having this type of mentality is a poor reflection of someone's

personality. This concept is universal and a timeless neighborhood

rivalry. There is no separate training needed for personnel of

such behavior. It‘s not a problem or a psychic disorder. It‘s

merely a reflection of the past experiences in one‘s own sub-

conscious mind.

International Journal on Recent and Innovation Trends in Computing

and Communication ISSN: 2321-8169 Volume: 2 Issue: 10 3022 – 3027

retrieved February 16, 2019

According to a recent study at the University of California

at Berkeley (2012), researchers discovered that hermit crabs

congregate together, not for protection or mating, but to trade

their shell in hopes of finding a roomier one. The crabs all line

up in a row, from smallest to largest, with each crab grabbing a

hold of the one in front of it. They then go at it – trying to

uproot each other from their homes with the goal of moving into

better real estate, which in hermit crab terms is a larger shell.

This kind of mentality can strike at any levels of life. Some

charitable organizations are often accused of it, having the

members of the organization failed to think ahead or refusing to

support the initiatives in a way that it ultimately drags the whole

charity down. In office environments, having a crab mentality can

be potentially devastating, as co-workers snipes each other down,

rather than congratulating the one who earns the promotion.

 This sort of thinking reflects the famous remark “we all like

to see our friends get ahead, but not too far ahead from us.” Those

who learn to notice it within themselves can often find ways of

compensating for it, which is a better idea, in special for those

who work and live in a highly competitive atmosphere.

https://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-crab-mentality.htm

Retrieved February 16, 2019

According to Spacey (2015) in his study “Crab Mentality,

Cyberbullying and “Name and Shame” Rankings”, crab mentality is a

behavior wherein someone tries to pull down those who are

performing better than them. The term was derived with crabs in a

fisherman’s bucket. The fisherman can leave the bucket without a

lid secure in the knowledge that every time a crab makes progress

towards its escape, the others will go out of their way to pull it

back into the bucket.

∗S. Spacey is with the Computer Science Department of the

University of Waikato in New Zealand (email:

sspacey@waikato.ac.nz).

https://www.srl.to/u5e2dNha/Crab%20Mentality,%20Cyberbullying%20

and%20Name%20and%20Shame%20Rankings.pdf

Retrieved February 16, 2019

Crab mentality can be observed as an envy and often

pertains to as the “tall poppy syndrome” originated from the

story of the Roman King Tarquin who was said to have cut the

heads off the tallest poppies in his garden as a sign to his son

that he should set about secretly assassinating those of

achievement around him to ensure his own success (Livius, 2010).

Livius, T. (2010). The history of rome. In 1.54. Digireads.com

Publishing.

Crab mentality exists in different forms and also in many

communities. Pulling each other down so that they won’t reach

what they want to attain. But with these thinking, no one could

ever prosper thus, just keeping himself to move forward. It is

still better to ignore this type of mentality and shift to its

opposite, “the turtle mentality”. The turtle mentality was

derived from the situation that the baby turtles were in. They

help each other dig out from a pile. Those who are in the

bottom, push the those who are in the top so that they could

easily come out. Even though it takes a long time, at least no

one was left behind because camaraderie and trust was there

(Peng, 2016).

Low Robin Boon Peng (2016). Good Intentions Are Not Enough: Why

We Fail at Helping Others. World Scientific. p. 104. ISBN 978-

981-320-059-3.
Local

Crab mentality: We all love to see our friends prosper, but

not too far ahead of us. “If I can't have it, then neither can

you." as this popular statement goes. Furthermore, the metaphor

refers to a pot of crabs. Individually, the crabs could easily

escape from the pot, but instead, they grab at each other in a

useless "king of the hill" competition which prevents any from

escaping and ensures their collective demise. The analogy in human

behavior is that members of a group will attempt to "pull down"

any member who achieves success beyond the others, out

of envy, conspiracy or competitive feelings (Amante, 2014).

https://www.studymode.com/essays/The-Competition-And-The-Roots-

Of-57003822.html Retrieved February 16, 2019

According to the book The Filipino Mind, by Mercado (1994)

stated that “People who have crab mentality attitude are all around

us. We all go through this, the gossip and backstabbing, one way

or the other. Cutting that kind of people in our lives proves to

be a great solution.”

Mercado, L.N. (1994). The Filipino mind. The Filipino values and

behavior. United States of America. Retrieved February 16, 2019

The Philippine Star (2005) in their website, they stated that

during the 21st Century, pulling each other down is still a game

of choice of the Filipinos. Because of this, most Filipinos never

prospered or achieved what they wanted because they are still

trapped within the walls of the Republic of Talangkas.

The origin of Filipino Crab mentality can be traced during

the Spanish regime when the peninsulares would have a talk after

dinner, criticize and say foul words to other people without

looking at their positive sides. Worse, they believed that they

are a gift of the Almighty to the country because they were legends

in their own minds. Until, the conquistadores used the divide-and-

conquer strategy to make regions go against regions and provinces

go against other provinces in order to prevent a united revolt. As

a result, Filipinos became generally bitter and skeptical of one

another. This contributed to the efflorescence of the crustacean

sensibilities.

Wars brought out the worst kind of crab mentality from

Filipinos because they degenerated into traitors. It adversely

affected the Filipino psyche and character and perhaps never

recovered since. Today, we see the same things with politicians

still trying to outdo each other and pulling themselves down and

worse together with them – the country.

https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2005/02/06/268226/filipino-crab

Retrieved February 16, 2019

According to a research conducted by Filipino website

Filipiknow (2018) in their article “12 Annoying Attitudes of

Filipinos We Need to Get Rid of’, crab mentality ranked 1st among

others. Thus, for the betterment of everyone’s self and the

country, Filipinos must discard this kind of attitude.

https://filipiknow.net/negative-traits-of-filipinos/

retrieved January 27, 2019

Abrugar (2014) stated in his article “The 10 signs that a

person has a crab mentality”, this kind of attribute is also one

of the major causes why the Philippines is not progressing. It

doesn’t promote unity, humility and responsibility. The very first

step to blot out this negative trait from the Filipinos is to be

aware of it.

Furthermore, Abrugar (2014) stated the following as signs of

having a crab mentality: They are too proud of themselves and treat

others as inferior beings; They panic when their comrades are happy

and improving; Their motto in life is “if I can’t have it, neither

can you”; They are full of positivity for themselves but full of

negativity for others; They blame their comrades for their

failures rather than help them; They treat their comrades as

competitors; They don’t know a thing about compassion; Yet they

act like they know everything; They spend most of their time

talking about people rather than discussing ideas and solutions;

They will never admit that they have a crab mentality. If people

will stick with this mentality, then they will never grow as a
person. And definitely, we will not grow as a nation. Therefore,

while it’s still early, everyone must be aware of this negative

attitude. Filipinos must get rid of it, not only for ourselves,

but also for the whole nation and the next generation.

https://faq.ph/10-signs-that-a-person-has-a-crab-mentality/

retrieved February 16, 2019

Tan (1997) argued that instead of being open-minded and

supportive, others would often belittle one’s newly acquired

knowledge to avoid him on achieving the goals he want to attain.

Filipinos have often been characterized as having "crab mentality"

wherein those who try to get ahead are pulled back by the others.

Allen L. Tan Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic

Viewponts vol. 45, no. 4 (1997): 560–569 Copyright © Ateneo de

Manila University