What is Karma – Not From an Eastern Perspective, But From a Psychological Point of View
Understanding Karma from a Psychological Perspective: The Weight of Your Actions
Primary Category: Scam Victim Recovery Psychology
Intended Audience: Scam Victims-Survivors / Family & Friends
Authors:
• Vianey Gonzalez B.Sc(Psych) – Licensed Psychologist Specialty in Crime Victim Trauma Therapy, Neuropsychologist, Certified Deception Professional, Psychology Advisory Panel & Director of the Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc.
• Tim McGuinness, Ph.D. – Anthropologist, Scientist, Director of the Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc.
About This Article
From a psychological perspective, karma reflects the mental and emotional consequences of actions, inactions, choices, and decisions, particularly bad ones, which can linger like a shadow. This exploration delves into how behaviors can generate guilt, shame, or anger that can accumulate, creating a “dark cloud” of negativity, cynicism, or depression if unresolved, especially for scam victims unable to release their rage, as well as for perpetrators avoiding accountability.
The process can create a feedback loop where chronic shame darkens your outlook, impacting self-esteem and emotional well-being. Yet, the idea of a mind becoming “nothing but black” oversimplifies human resilience, and through accountability, such as offering a sincere apology or aligning future actions with your values, you can mitigate this burden.
By confronting your choices, practicing self-compassion, and seeking forgiveness, you transform psychological karma into an opportunity for growth. This approach clears the mental fog, ensuring that your past actions don’t define your future, empowering you to foster clarity and emotional balance.
Understanding Karma from a Psychological Perspective: The Weight of Your Actions
When you hear the word “karma,” you might picture a cosmic balance sheet tallying your deeds, or a great cosmic wheel rotating in the heavens, a concept rooted in spiritual traditions. But we are interested in a different angle—karma viewed through a psychological lens, where it’s not about divine retribution but the internal consequences of your actions or those of another person.
From this perspective, karma is the mental and emotional impact of your or anyone’s behaviors, particularly in the case of bad deeds, which can linger in your mind like a shadow, potentially darkening your outlook over time. Does this mean that accumulated wrongdoings create a “dark cloud” over your mind, eventually turning it “nothing but black”? Let’s explore how actions shape the psyche, whether guilt and shame can compound into a pervasive negativity, and how you can manage this psychological weight to find clarity and growth.
This is especially relevant for scam victims as so many are unable to let go of the crime and criminal, and transform that into anger, rage, and hate, darkening their souls in the process.
This article is written both about the criminals in scams and also for the victims who will not seek the help they need.
Karma as a Psychological Process
From a psychological standpoint, karma isn’t a mystical force but the way our actions influence our mental state and behavior over time. When you engage in behaviors you perceive as wrong—lying, manipulating, or harming others—you often experience internal consequences like guilt, shame, or anxiety, but also anger and hate. These emotions act as your mind’s feedback system, signaling that your actions conflict with your values or sense of self. I knew it was wrong, but I did it anyway, you might reflect after a deceitful act, feeling a pang of remorse that lingers.
A 2018 study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that guilt can motivate corrective behavior, like making amends, but when unresolved, it can fester, impacting your mood and self-esteem profoundly.
This feedback loop is the essence of psychological karma. Each bad deed adds to an internal ledger, not as a supernatural tally but as a memory or emotional residue that shapes how you see yourself and the world.
If you repeatedly act against your moral compass—say, by deceiving others for personal gain—these experiences can accumulate, creating a sense of unease or negativity. But it can also accumulate when you do not do what you know to be the right thing to do. It’s not a literal “dark cloud” but a psychological burden that colors your thoughts, making you more cynical, mistrustful, aggressive, or defensive. For anyone, this means that karma is less about cosmic justice and more about how your choices echo within you, influencing your mental clarity, stability, and emotional well-being. It can be the lever that induces trauma, too.
The Dark Cloud: Does Bad Karma Blacken the Mind?
A Survivor recently asked whether accumulated bad deeds translate into Karma, which we interpret as more of a “dark cloud” over the mind, eventually turning it “nothing but black.”
Psychologically, this metaphor captures the potential for negative actions to compound into a pervasive sense of darkness, but it’s not an inevitable outcome. When you engage in repeated harmful behaviors against others or yourself without addressing the resulting guilt or shame, these emotions can build, creating a feedback loop that reinforces negative self-perception.
I’m just a bad person, you might start to believe after multiple deceptions, internalizing your actions as a reflection of your character.
A 2020 study in Emotion found that chronic shame can lead to depressive symptoms, reducing your ability to experience positive emotions and clouding your mental outlook.
However, the idea that this cloud becomes “nothing but black” oversimplifies the complexity of the human psyche. Your mind has a remarkable capacity for resilience and growth, even after significant wrongdoing. While unresolved guilt can darken your perspective, making you feel weighed down by regret or paranoia about being found out, it doesn’t erase your ability to change.
The “dark cloud” is real in the sense that it can manifest as anxiety, self-doubt, or a negative worldview, but it’s not permanent or all-consuming unless you allow it to be. For you, this suggests that bad deeds don’t doom your mind to darkness; instead, they create challenges that require active effort to address, such as confronting your actions and seeking redemption or forgiveness.
The Role of Guilt and Shame: The Mind’s Internal Judge
Guilt and shame are the primary mechanisms through which psychological karma operates, acting as your mind’s internal judge.
Guilt arises when you recognize a specific action as wrong—I shouldn’t have lied to my friend—prompting you to make amends or change your behavior.
Shame, on the other hand, is more global, attacking your sense of self—I’m a terrible person for lying.
A 2019 study in the Journal of Clinical Psychology found that shame is particularly corrosive, often leading to avoidance behaviors, such as withdrawing from relationships or denying responsibility, which can deepen the psychological burden of your actions.
If you accumulate bad deeds without resolving these emotions, they can create a cumulative effect, like a cloud gathering over your mind.
For example:
If you repeatedly deceive others in small ways—say, exaggerating your accomplishments or manipulating colleagues—you might start to feel a persistent unease, fearing exposure or questioning your own integrity. This isn’t a supernatural punishment but a natural consequence of living out of alignment with your values. Over time, this misalignment can make you more defensive or cynical, as you project your internal discomfort onto others, assuming they’re just as dishonest. For you, this highlights the importance of addressing guilt and shame early, before they grow into a heavier psychological weight that distorts your perspective.
This can also arise from failing to do the things you need to do, such as let go and move forward with your own recovery – a form of self-deception.
Does the Darkness Consume You?
The notion of your mind becoming “nothing but black” suggests a point of no return, where bad deeds overwhelm your capacity for redemption or happiness. Psychologically, this is unlikely unless you actively resist change or live in extreme isolation from accountability or support. The human mind is dynamic, capable of self-reflection and transformation even after significant wrongdoing. A 2021 study in Personality and Social Psychology Review found that people who engage in moral repair, such as apologizing, making restitution, or seeking therapy, can significantly reduce the psychological impact of their actions, restoring a sense of self-worth and clarity.
However, if you ignore or suppress the guilt from your deeds, the “dark cloud” can grow, manifesting as chronic stress, depression, or a pessimistic worldview.
For instance:
If you’ve scammed someone and avoid confronting the harm you caused, you might live with a nagging fear of retribution, which taints your interactions and makes trust feel impossible. I can’t let anyone get too close—they’ll see who I really am, you might think, isolating yourself further. This isn’t a blackened mind but a burdened one, where the weight of your actions limits your emotional freedom. For you, this means that while bad deeds can cast a shadow, they don’t have to consume you—active steps toward accountability and growth can dispel the darkness.
Also, if you are a victim and you allow your anger or denial to keep you trapped in the past, or in avoidance and resistance, but you know you need to move forward, this creates a conflict that can also create this kind of psychological karma.
Strategies to Clear the Cloud: Managing Psychological Karma
To prevent the accumulation of these deeds from darkening your mind, you can take proactive steps to manage the psychological karma they create.
First, confront your actions or inactions honestly. If you’ve wronged someone—perhaps by lying or manipulating—acknowledge it to yourself and, if possible, to the person affected. I was wrong to deceive you, and I’m sorry, you might say, taking responsibility to lighten the emotional load.
A 2020 study in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships found that sincere apologies can reduce guilt and improve mental well-being for both the giver and receiver.
Second, align your actions with your values moving forward. If you’ve acted dishonestly, commit to greater integrity in your daily life—small, consistent choices to be truthful or kind can rebuild your self-image and dispel negativity. If you have failed to act for your own good, take action to correct this. Reflect on what drives your bad deeds—fear, insecurity, or greed—and address those root causes, perhaps through journaling or professional support. Finally, practice self-compassion. I made a mistake, but I’m capable of change, you can remind yourself, countering shame with the understanding that everyone errs.
A 2018 study in Self and Identity showed that self-compassion reduces the psychological impact of guilt, helping you maintain a clearer, more balanced mind. For you, these strategies offer a path to manage the weight of your actions or inactions, ensuring they don’t overshadow your mental clarity.
Balancing Actions and Mindset for Growth
Psychological karma isn’t about punishment but about learning from your actions/inactions (meaning choices) to grow as a person. While these deeds and decisions can create a sense of darkness—guilt, shame, or mistrust—they don’t have to define your mind’s future.
By confronting your mistakes, aligning with your values, and practicing self-compassion, you can clear the metaphorical cloud, recreating a mindset that’s resilient and open to positive change.
I’m not perfect, but I’m working to be better, you might say, embracing the journey of self-improvement.
This approach transforms karma into a tool for growth, helping you navigate the complexities of your actions without letting them cast a permanent shadow over your life.
Seeking Forgiveness: A Key to Lifting the Psychological Weight
When you’ve committed bad deeds, made bad choices, acted or inacted—whether it’s a small thing or a larger betrayal (even a betrayal to yourself)—the guilt and shame can linger, casting a shadow over your mind that feels like an impossibly heavy burden. Seeking forgiveness, both from others and yourself, is a powerful way to lighten this load and restore clarity to your mental landscape.
You must understand the emotional toll of your choices and decisions, and this principle can guide you in helping yourself and others navigate their psychological karma. By acknowledging your mistakes and earnestly asking for forgiveness, you open the door to healing, breaking the cycle of negativity that unresolved actions create. For you, this process isn’t just about making amends—it’s about reclaiming your sense of integrity and rebuilding healthier connections with those around you.
The act of seeking forgiveness starts with genuine accountability. When you approach someone you’ve hurt (even if it is yourself), admitting, “I was wrong to to do that, and I’m truly sorry”, you take responsibility for your actions, which can reduce the guilt that weighs on you.
A 2020 study in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships found that sincere apologies not only alleviate the giver’s emotional burden but also rebuild trust with the recipient, creating a pathway for mutual healing. For you, this might mean reaching out to a friend you misled during your scam or a colleague you wronged, offering a heartfelt apology without excuses. This vulnerability can be daunting, but it’s a crucial step in dissolving the shame that festers when you avoid confronting your mistakes.
Of course, for the criminal scammers, when they apologize, it is usually just a tactic to get more money. Very few criminals will voluntarily apologize to their victims.
Equally important is forgiving yourself, which can be harder than seeking forgiveness from others. If you dwell on your bad deeds and decisions, thinking, “I’ll never be better than this”, you risk internalizing shame that darkens your outlook. Instead, practice self-compassion, recognizing, “I made a mistake, but I’m learning and growing”.
A 2018 study in Self and Identity showed that self-forgiveness reduces the psychological impact of guilt, helping you move forward with a clearer mind. By combining apologies to others with kindness toward yourself, you transform psychological karma into an opportunity for growth, ensuring that your past actions don’t define your future. For you, sharing this approach can empower others to seek forgiveness, lifting their own dark clouds and building resilience against the emotional weight of their deeds.
Conclusion: Psychological Karma and Its Impact on Your Mind
From a psychological perspective, karma is the internal consequence of your actions, inactions, choices, and decisions, where the choices and deeds generate guilt and shame that can linger like a dark cloud over your mind, as you might reflect, I knew it was wrong, but I did it anyway.
Our understanding of these emotions, supported by research, shows that they can accumulate if unresolved, fostering negativity, cynicism, or depression, but they don’t inevitably turn your mind “nothing but black.” Your psyche’s resilience, shown in studies, allows growth through moral repair, such as apologies or restitution, reducing the burden of guilt, as you might affirm, I was wrong, and I’m sorry.
The notion of a permanently blackened mind oversimplifies your capacity for change—chronic shame can darken your outlook, but self-compassion and accountability, like saying, I’m capable of change, can clear it. For you, this view of karma emphasizes educating yourself and others to confront their choices early, align with integrity, and seek support to manage guilt, preventing a cycle of negativity.
By applying these strategies, you can ensure that bad deeds don’t define your mental landscape, using psychological karma as a path to clarity and personal growth rather than a descent into darkness.
Reference
Philosophers Who Explored the Psychological Weight of Actions
As you delve into the psychological perspective of karma, where bad deeds, choices, or decisions create an internal burden like a dark cloud over the mind, you’re tapping into a timeless question about how your actions shape your inner world.
Several philosophers have explored these issues in ways that align with this view, focusing on the emotional and mental consequences of your choices without relying on spiritual frameworks. Thinkers like Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Albert Camus offer insights into how guilt, shame, and self-awareness interact with your moral decisions, providing a philosophical lens for understanding the psychological karma you’re examining.
For you, their ideas can deepen your approach to healing from your scam experience and helping to educate others about the impact of deception and the path to mental clarity.
Søren Kierkegaard, a 19th-century Danish philosopher, emphasized the personal anguish that comes from living out of alignment with your true self. In works like The Sickness Unto Death (1849), he describes despair as a state where you fail to integrate your actions with your sense of identity, particularly when you betray your moral ideals. The most common form of despair is not being who you are, Kierkegaard writes, suggesting that repeated bad deeds—like deceit or manipulation—create a dissonance that clouds your mind with guilt and self-alienation. For you, this resonates with the idea of a dark cloud: each wrong act pulls you further from authenticity, creating a sense of inner turmoil. Kierkegaard’s solution lies in confronting this despair through honest self-reflection and striving for a life aligned with your values, a process that can help you lift the psychological burden of your actions.
Friedrich Nietzsche, in his 1887 work On the Genealogy of Morality, takes a different angle, exploring how guilt and shame arise from societal constructs like morality. He argues that guilt is a psychological mechanism that emerges when you internalize external judgments, particularly after actions society deems wrong. Man, the animal with the longest memory (other than elephants), wounds himself with his own guilt, Nietzsche observes, pointing to how your actions, inactions, and choices can fester as self-punishment if you accept blame without questioning its source. This suggests that the “dark cloud” isn’t just from your actions but from how you interpret them through cultural lenses (similar to psychological trauma). Nietzsche encourages you to re-evaluate these judgments, focusing on creating your own values to mitigate guilt’s hold, ensuring that your mind doesn’t spiral into darkness but instead finds strength in self-defined purpose.
Albert Camus, a 20th-century French philosopher, approaches the issue through his concept of the absurd in The Myth of Sisyphus. He sees life as inherently meaningless, yet your actions—good or bad—create a personal sense of purpose or burden. When you commit wrongs, like harming others or yourself, you might feel guilt that seems to darken your existence, as Camus notes, Man feels an alien, a stranger, when his actions betray his heart. But he rejects despair, advocating for rebellion against this darkness by embracing life’s absurdity and choosing to act with integrity despite it. Camus’s philosophy offers hope: even if bad things cloud your mind, you can clear them by living authentically, accepting your imperfections, and finding joy in small acts of goodness, preventing your psyche from becoming “nothing but black.”
These philosophers align with the psychological view of karma by framing your actions, inactions, or choices as sources of internal conflict—guilt, shame, or estrangement—that can weigh heavily if ignored. Kierkegaard’s focus on authenticity, Nietzsche’s challenge to societal guilt, and Camus’s embrace of absurd resilience provide tools for you to manage this burden. By reflecting on their ideas, you can help yourself and others understand that these actions shape the mental landscape, but through self-awareness and purposeful change, they can lift the cloud, enabling a clearer, more balanced mind.
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This is a completely different perspective of karma, that I wasn’t familiar with. I always thought of it as: you reap what you sow – do bad deeds, suffer for them; do good deeds, you’re rewarded.
This explains how you can apply certain strategies to redefine your mental health and put yourself on. a path of clarity and growth. You can turn yourself around if you do the work.