{"id":10723,"date":"2026-07-27T21:14:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T18:14:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/why-are-they-turning-me-against-other-people-the-dark-psychology-of-triangulation\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T11:14:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T08:14:27","slug":"why-are-they-turning-me-against-other-people-the-dark-psychology-of-triangulation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/why-are-they-turning-me-against-other-people-the-dark-psychology-of-triangulation\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Are They Turning Me Against Other People? The Dark Psychology of Triangulation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group psychology-article-intro has-background\" style=\"background-color:#f7f3ed\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Triangulation occurs when a conflict between two people stops being addressed directly and a third person is drawn in, not to genuinely improve communication, but to carry messages, take sides, apply pressure, or create alliances. It can appear in families, friendships, and romantic relationships, and may be used deliberately as a form of control or emerge more subtly from fear of confrontation, insecurity, or difficulty expressing needs directly. When it becomes a repeated pattern, the result is often the same: confusion, jealousy, misunderstanding, rivalry, and relationships organised around who is aligned with whom rather than around the issue that actually needs to be addressed. The familiar roles of \u201cvictim,\u201d \u201crescuer,\u201d and \u201cpersecutor\u201d can keep this dynamic going, while in families it may take the form of the \u201cgolden child\u201d and the \u201cscapegoat,\u201d creating deep relational imbalances.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Triangulation becomes particularly damaging when it is used to control how someone is perceived, shift responsibility, or provoke enough emotional distress that another person reacts impulsively. Stepping out of the pattern requires a return to direct communication, clearer boundaries, and the ability to recognise when an emotional conflict is not entirely ours, but part of a wider relational system pulling us in. Real strength lies in refusing roles that have been assigned to us, avoiding indirect alliances, and speaking with the person the issue actually concerns. The more triangles a relationship creates, the harder it becomes for the truth of the original relationship to be heard.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<p class=\"wp-container-content-9cfa9a5a wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The full article was originally published on the Psychology Portal \u2013 Psychology.gr.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.psychology.gr\/psychologia-sxeseon\/9260-giati-me-strefei-apenanti-stous-allous-i-skoteini-psyxologia-tis-trigonopoiisis.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read the full article<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n    <section class=\"anna-related-services-block\">\n        <h3 class=\"anna-related-services-block__title\">Related services<\/h3>\n\n                    <p class=\"anna-related-services-block__intro\">You can read more about related services:<\/p>\n        \n        <div class=\"anna-related-services-block__buttons\">\n                            \n                <a class=\"anna-related-services-block__button\" href=\"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/services\/couples-therapy\/\">\n                    Couples Therapy                <\/a>\n                            \n                <a class=\"anna-related-services-block__button\" href=\"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/services\/family-therapy\/\">\n                    Family Therapy                <\/a>\n                            \n                <a class=\"anna-related-services-block__button\" href=\"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/services\/parent-counseling\/\">\n                    Parent Counseling                <\/a>\n                            \n                <a class=\"anna-related-services-block__button\" href=\"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/services\/individual-therapy\/\">\n                    Individual Therapy                <\/a>\n                            \n                <a class=\"anna-related-services-block__button\" href=\"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/services\/organizational-psychology\/\">\n                    Organizational Psychology                <\/a>\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n    \n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Triangulation occurs when a conflict between two people stops being addressed directly [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10722,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[306,303,308,301],"tags":[322,363,383,424,366,450],"class_list":["post-10723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-relationships-and-communication","category-family-and-parenthood","category-mental-health-mental-disorders-and-resilience","category-self-awareness-and-personal-development","tag-boundaries","tag-communication","tag-family-relationships","tag-manipulation","tag-romantic-relationships","tag-triangulation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10723"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10723\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10755,"href":"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10723\/revisions\/10755"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}