I have spent much time pondering the character makeup of the goons as well as the higher-ups who comprise the cult-gang. To me, it seems that some of them really get off on their deceit. In their article, Beware the “Duper’s Delight”!, the Mind Tools Content Team says, “The duper’s delight is an emotional boost, or thrill, that some people get when they successfully cheat or deceive another person or organization.” The motivational thrill can spread, too. If other people collaborate with a cheater, or gain from the cheater’s misdeeds, they can share in the high.
They continue, “And as the rewards of cheating become more widely known, the cheating itself can become more widespread, too. This ripple effect can lead to an organizational culture that tolerates dishonesty.” I learned there is also something called a duper’s smile of delight. The video below, which comes with a trigger warning for verbal depictions of gore, provides an example. Watch with the volume off if needed.
The Duper’s Smile of Delight
Interestingly, much of my learning associated with the interpretation of facial expressions and body language happened after the age where it is believed the brain learns the easiest. I was seven years old when I saw an eye doctor for the first time. My mother could not believe I was legally blind in one eye and had poor vision in the other. I had so overdeveloped my other senses that nobody had noticed I could barely see. I could make out the outline of a person’s body but I couldn’t see any facial features unless they were in close proximity.
Even after corrective lenses and later, surgeries, my recognition of facial features and expressions lagged behind. But eventually, I made a conscious effort to pay attention to what I hadn’t learned unconsciously in my earlier formative years. And that intentional noticing helped me recognize the duper’s smile as I stood one day in the HR lady’s office. She was in charge of issuing computers and iPads to the staff who made home visits. She was also the person who set up the usernames and granted access to the digital medical record.
The majority of the time that I worked at that job, I could not access my patients’ records beyond a certain page. Repeatedly, I asked her to fix my permissions in the settings. She insisted I already had full access. Randomly, the issue would resolve only to soon reappear. Except for when I was sleeping, I spent nearly all of my off time trying to access the part of the chart where I needed to document. I emailed her and added all my supervisors by cc. She sent darling replies about how sorry she was for the inconvenience.
With soupy sweet overtones, she said she could only imagine how frustrating this must be for me. And yet the problem persisted. Then, when I was in her office one day, I told her how I had to spend all my free time trying to enter notes. And that is when I noticed the unmistakable duper’s smile of delight creep across her face. In that moment, I knew my suspicion that the problem had been created intentionally was likely accurate. The video below provides an exact example of what I saw on her face. It couldn’t be more identical.