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MENTAL MODEL · M1431

Safetyism

Safetyism
BehaviorHigh supportSocial Psychology
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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-28

CORE DEFINITION

The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure is a 2018 book by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt. It is an expansion of a popular essay the two wrote for The Atlantic in 2015. Lukianoff and Haidt argue that overprotection is harming university students and that the use of trigger warnings and safe spaces does more harm than good.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

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The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure is a 2018 book by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt. It is an expansion of a popular essay

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Treating "safety" (especially emotional safety) as the highest value and viewing people as fragile and in need of protection from discomfort actually deprives them of the opportunity to become antifragile through challenges. Overprotection weakens the mental immune system.

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Source support: Explicit

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    en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Coddling_of_the_American_MindZH · Explicit
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