A blame shifter is someone who habitually avoids responsibility for their actions by redirecting fault onto other people, circumstances, or external events.
Instead of asking, “What part did I play?”,
The blame shifter tends to ask, “Who can I make responsible for this?”
Common signs:
- Deflects responsibility: “It wasn’t my fault.”
- Counterattacks: When confronted, they bring up your mistakes instead.
- Externalizes problems: “You made me do it.”
- Changes the subject: Avoids the original issue by introducing unrelated accusations.
- Minimizes their behavior: “You’re making a big deal out of nothing.”
- Reverses victim and offender roles: They portray themselves as the injured party.
- Rarely apologizes genuinely: Apologies may contain conditions, “I’m sorry, but you…”
- Rewrites events: Their account changes to avoid responsibility.
Blame shifting vs. healthy accountability
Healthy accountability:
“I was wrong. I understand how my behavior affected you. Here’s what I’ll do differently.”
Blame shifting:
“I only did that because you pushed me into it. If you hadn’t acted that way, none of this would have happened.”
Why some people blame shift
Blame shifting may serve as a psychological defense mechanism. It may protect someone from shame, guilt, embarrassment, loss of status, or the discomfort of acknowledging mistakes. It may also become a learned interpersonal pattern.
Importantly, one instance of blaming someone else doesn’t make a person a “blame shifter.” The meaningful distinction is a persistent pattern of avoiding appropriate responsibility.
A useful response
Don’t get pulled into an endless argument about who’s “really” at fault. Try:
“We may discuss my part separately. Right now, I’m addressing what happened and your responsibility for your part.”
That keeps the conversation focused on behavior, evidence, responsibility, and repair rather than accusation and counteraccusation.
Shervan K Shahhian
LIBERTY PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION 