The best way to overcome all the toxic elements of adversarial gaming is to play cooperative games. This style previously did not exist but has become popular in recent years. It’s nicer to work together and interesting to see how people (mostly men) adapt to this style of play by continuing to compete in an environment where that causes the team to lose. Much like the English national football team of eleven adversaries Vs the German team.
Fear of rejection can manifest in this way. We can’t be rejected if we sabotage the relationship before the person finds out who we really are. It’s a sign of low self esteem and depression.