The Moralization of Discomfort: Victimhood, Retaliation, and the Boundary of Proportionality

This working paper examines a recurring pattern in interpersonal conflict: the conversion of subjective discomfort into moral condemnation of another person. The central argument is that discomfort does not constitute evidence of the other party's wrongdoing. The paper analyzes the cognitive and moral mechanisms through which felt discomfort escalates into attribution of malicious intent, victimhood becomes grounds for retaliatory license, and compliance demands are deployed as a form of social control. Key concepts introduced include compliance demand and the distinction between causal responsibility and response responsibility. Version 1.1 adds a new section on the asymmetry of discomfort as evidence, and expands theoretical connections to include self-serving attribution bias, the bias blind spot, and moral hypocrisy research. This paper was written with AI assistance.