Noun
siege mentality (uncountable)
A collective feeling of victimization and defensiveness, in which a group of people believe themselves to be constantly attacked, oppressed, or isolated in the face of the negative intentions of the rest of the world.
Actors want to impress at the beginning, so you take advantage of that by suddenly saying, 'Right, you're here for two weeks.' What you're doing is creating a siege mentality. Danny Boyle