Concept creep

Concept creep is the process by which harm-related topics experience semantic expansion to include topics which would not have originally been envisaged to be included under that label.[1] It was first identified by Nick Haslam in 2016, who identified its effects on the concepts of abuse, bullying, trauma, mental disorder, addiction, and prejudice.[2] Others have identified its effects on terms like gaslight[3] and emotional labour.[4] The phenomenon can be related to the concept of hyperbole.[5]

It has been criticised for making people more sensitive to harms[6] and for blurring people's thinking and understanding of such terms, by categorising too many things together which should not be, and by losing the clarity and specificity of a term.[4]

References
  1. Haslam, Nick; Tse, Jesse S. Y.; De Deyne, Simon (2021). "Concept Creep and Psychiatrization". Frontiers in Sociology. 6: 806147. doi:10.3389/fsoc.2021.806147. ISSN 2297-7775. PMC 8716590. PMID 34977230.
  2. Haslam, Nick (2016-01-02). "Concept Creep: Psychology's Expanding Concepts of Harm and Pathology". Psychological Inquiry. 27 (1): 1–17. doi:10.1080/1047840X.2016.1082418. ISSN 1047-840X. S2CID 147479811.
  3. "Concept Creep, Or "You Keep Using That Word. I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means."". Poly Land. 2018-11-30. Retrieved 2022-03-14.
  4. Beck, Julie (2018-11-26). "The Concept Creep of 'Emotional Labor'". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2022-03-14.
  5. Haslam, Nick; Vylomova, Ekaterina; Zyphur, Michael; Kashima, Yoshihisa (September 2021). "The cultural dynamics of concept creep". American Psychologist. 76 (6): 1013–1026. doi:10.1037/amp0000847. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  6. Friedersdorf, Conor (2016-04-19). "Why Americans Are So Sensitive to Harm". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2022-03-14.
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