Gutmensch

Gutmensch (German cultural term similar to "do-gooder"; literally good human) is an ironic, sarcastic disparaging term for a person or a group. Those who use the term believe that Gutmenschen have an overwhelming wish to be good and overeagerly seek approval. This comes along with moralising and proselytising behaviour and a dogmatic, absolute perspective, which does not allow deviant views. In political rhetoric Gutmensch is used as a polemic term. See also Stereotype or Personality.

Users of the term believe that people or groups of people with a specific moral attitude show a wrong or problematic behaviour. Therefore, it was used as a popular term in the 1980s for people who valued humanistic, altruistic, but also religious and human goals in life higher than utilitarian ones. They organise their actions, politics as well as their lives accordingly.

The term Gutmensch is also connected to the term political correctness and has been used in a derogatory manner since the mid 1990s. In general language use it is always used as a negatively connotated foreign appellation. A use that is meant in "a nice way" can often be found only in face-to-face conversations, such as the saying "to have a heart of gold", in generosity or in an extreme form of altruism.

The term also hints at the possible difference between "meant well" and "well done". Gutmenschen have good intentions, want to solve specific problems or have the desire to create a better world. Those who use the term Gutmensch in a negative way evaluate the actions of Gutmenschen as not appropriate or unnecessary. This is how the term is used in everyday language. The German dictionary Duden, which included the term in 2000, defines Gutmensch as "a naive person who acts in an uncritical, exaggerated or tedious way while fighting for political correctness."

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