Psychology about what neuroticism is

In psychology there is a term like neuroticism, the meaning of which is far from familiar to everyone, although its role is very important. To have an idea of a person as an individual and understand why he behaves in one way or another, something must be known about this concept. Today we will talk about what neuroticism is, how it manifests itself and how it is measured.

Definition

Under neurotism, it is customary to understand the personality trait, which is based on the emotional Susceptibility to external factors and irritability. This manifests itself in anxiety, capriciousness, anger, fear, a depressed mood and so on. At the somatic level, neuroticism is expressed in sleep disturbances, mood changes, the appearance of headaches, experiences and fears, in inner anxiety. In this case, a person develops low self-esteem, he becomes restless and able, as they say in the people, to piss off a fever.

Neurotics, they call such people, often interpret ordinary situations as menacing, so they are quickly disappointed and exposed to stress. Most often they are shy, do not know how to control motives and are characterized by emotional instability.

Neurotism is a risk factor for the onset of mental disorders, for example, phobias, depression, and neuroses.

Physiology

Neurotism is directly related to the characteristics of the human brain. H. Eyseng put forward the hypothesis that this is a function of the activity of the brain system, which takes part in the regulation of emotions, instinctive behavior, memory, smell, sleep and wakefulness. Thus, people with a high level of neuroticism are endowed with a reactive sympathetic nervous system, so they are more sensitive to external stimuli.

Studying what neurotism is, genetics came to the conclusion: some degree of variability of behavior depends on genetic factors. Also the degree of neuroticism increases with age.

Sexual differences

According to the results of the study, a fact was established: women have a higher degree of neuroticism than men. Diagnosis was conducted among residents of fifty-five countries. The results showed that in forty-nine states, women have a greater degree of neuroticism. Only in two countries the percentage of men is much higher (Botswana and Indonesia). Investigating what neurotism is, scientists have established that the southern regions of the world have less sex differences in this issue. And in countries with a high standard of living, men have very low rates of neuroticism.

Psychopathology

During the study of what neuroticism is, his connection with certain personality disorders was proved. So, they include mood disorders, depression, anxiety, hypochondria, dissociative identity disorders , schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder . The higher the rates of neuroticism, the more pronounced these disorders.

Self-assessment

Neurotism is one of the four components of the basis of self-esteem, that is, evaluating oneself along with a locus of control, self-esteem and self-efficacy. In other words, it is closely connected with the belief in the effectiveness of their actions, respecting oneself as a person, and also with a tendency to attribute their successes (failures) to external or internal factors.

This conclusion was first made by John Locke. He testified that all of the above components are able to predict the outcome of a person's work, determine whether it is satisfied with this activity or not, and also to predict labor productivity.

Thus, the meaning of the word "neuroticism" became clear. As it turned out, this property of a person, having physiological prerequisites and influencing his life activity. Perhaps now many will understand those people whose mood tends to change constantly.