‘Throning’ is a fairly new term for an old social dynamic. Find out more about throning and its impact on mental health below.
What Is ‘Throning’ in Social Dynamics?
Throning refers to the act of engaging in a relationship with someone with the primary goal of boosting your own standing. For example, throning in dating involves one person seeking a romantic partnership with another person because they perceive a social benefit from that relationship.
It’s referred to as throning because one person metaphorically puts the other person on a throne or pedestal in a relationship. This is partly to show off the other person as a social acquisition and partly because the “throned” person is seen as better in some way than the individual doing the throning.
While the term throning has become common in 2024 in the dating circles of younger generations, the practice isn’t new. The idea that a relationship with another person might benefit you in some way, including raising social standing, has existed for centuries. It was a primary consideration in many historical marriages, for example, especially among royalty and nobility.
Psychological Impact of Power Struggles
While throning can work in a relationship if both individuals are honest about their goals and motives — as evidenced by the high rate of arranged marriages that still occur in certain cultures — it can also lead to inappropriate power struggles. When power becomes a critical factor in relationships and social circles, the negative outcomes can range from individuals feeling isolated or unhappy to outright emotional and physical abuse.
Research published by the National Library of Medicine notes that unchecked or unhealthy power dynamics are a corrupting force, negatively impacting both parties in a relationship. In fact, according to this research, power and powerlessness can impact the human body and brain in the same way chemical substances like drugs might. This can create an addiction that causes people to seek similar power dynamics in future relationships or other areas of their lives, even if those dynamics result in unhealthy outcomes.
Some findings of this research include:
- Powerlessness can negatively impact someone’s executive functioning, making it more difficult for them to make decisions or advocate for themselves.
- Feelings of dominance can lead to an increase in dopamine, rewarding someone with motivation and pleasant feelings — but also leading to the need for increasing dominance to achieve the same level of “reward.”
- A perceived loss of social status can reduce certain functionality in the brain, particularly with regard to predicting and responding to reward.
- Power, and the lack of it, can also impact someone physically, as subordination is linked to higher stress and power is linked to higher testosterone production.
Effects on Relationships and Emotional Well-Being
One of the negative outcomes that can come from a poor power dynamic — and the potential addiction and mental health impacts that come with it — is abuse. Someone seeking increasing levels of dominance may knowingly or unknowingly abuse a partner emotionally or physically, and someone seeking a relationship to improve their own social standing may fall into a pattern of allowing such abuse. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 60 million women and 50 million men in the United States report having experienced some form of psychological aggression from a romantic partner. In a relationship with a skewed power dynamic, that type of aggression is more likely.
Throning and mental health are related in other ways. Some other impacts on relationships and emotional well-being that can occur when people engage in throning include:
- Individuals can get so caught up in competitive behavior — always trying to find the next step in life that will bring them greater social standing — that they engage in risky or otherwise uncharacteristic activity.
- Ever-shifting power dynamics can leave people insecure about themselves and unable to work toward healthy personal or career goals with confidence.
- Constantly feeling like you can lose social standing with a change in relationship or a poor relationship choice can create chronic stress, anxiety, depression and other mental health challenges.
- When climbing the social ladder is the only purpose — or a main driver — to relationships, personal connections may not be authentic, leading to feelings of isolation and loneliness.
Recognizing Toxic Patterns in Competitive Behavior
While the term may prove to be a fad addition to the dictionary, the concept of throning has survived centuries and is unlikely to go away in the near future. It also serves some positive purposes — for instance, career networking is just a professional version of throning. However, understanding how to recognize when competitive or other relationship behavior becomes toxic is critical to avoiding negative mental health outcomes related to throning.
Some signs of toxic patterns in competitive behavior include:
- Being the best, winning or having power is all that matters. If you find yourself making decisions solely based on these goals without consideration for other long-term outcomes or mental or physical health, you may have taken throning to a toxic level.
- You start sabotaging others. Entering a relationship to gain social prominence is one thing. Spreading rumors or otherwise sabotaging other people to help make your social ladder climb easier, however, is indicative of toxic patterns.
- You fixate on comparisons. When everything in your life is a measure of how much social power you have, you may have crossed a line into a toxic area.
- You exaggerate your own achievements. Telling little white lies or overselling your own achievements or activities on a regular basis to stand out, seem more powerful or otherwise increase your social ranking can be a door to increasing toxic behaviors.
- Your risk-taking increases. If you find yourself taking unwise financial, physical or emotional risks simply to get ahead socially, you may be putting too much emphasis on social standing.
All these go the other way, too. You may see patterns in how someone else acts toward you that indicate they’re engaging in toxic relationship behavior to assert their power or dominance or increase their perceived social standing.
Strategies for Managing Mental Health Amid Social Games
Setting boundaries and being self-aware can help you avoid getting caught up in throning. Assess your personal values and work to remain grounded in them by avoiding toxic relationships and cultivating healthy ones. If you’re struggling with mental health due to social stresses or an inability to remain true to yourself, consider seeking professional help. Connect with the team at Restore Mental Health now via phone or online.
