this is
covert and quite often the person upon whom it is exerted remains unsuspecting beyond the
fact that he knows he is very unhappy. This is the coward's method of
domination. The person using it feels that he is less than the
individual upon whom he is using it and has not the
honesty or fortitude to admit the
fact to himself. He then begins to
pull the other
individual "down to size," using small
carping criticisms. The one who is seeking to dominate
strikes heavily at the
point of
pride and capability of his
target and yet, if at any
moment the
target challenges the
nullifier, the person using the
mechanism claims he is doing so solely out of assistance and friendship or disavows completely that it has been done.
(SA, p. 167)