Rigidity in psychology implies the complexity, unpreparedness or complete inability of the subject to change the intended program of activity in new situational conditions. This is the ability of the psyche and character of a person to firmly preserve a given attitude of consciousness.
A rigid person is not inclined to change their habits. He is stubborn, seeks to defend his tactics in solving everyday issues. He is impressive, for a long time retains his emotional state. People around him have to make a lot of efforts to distract or convince him.
Varieties
The following types of rigidity in psychology are distinguished: cognitive, affective and motivational. Cognitive rigidity suggests the complexity of restructuring perceptions and perceptions in changing situational conditions. This is the unwillingness of the subject to create a new conceptual picture of the world surrounding him when new information arrives that does not correspond to the previous one.
Affective rigidity in psychology is expressed in the immutability of responses (affective or emotional) to changing objects of emotions.
Motivational rigidity is manifested in the complexity of restructuring the system of motives in circumstances that require flexibility and behavior change. The rigidity that the subject manifests in a given situation largely depends on the complexity of the task, its attractiveness to him, the presence of danger, and so on.
Emotional rigidity
Lazursky A.F. He called emotional rigidity in psychology the stability of emotions. It is characterized as follows: this is the largest time period for a certain person during which once excited emotion is detected again, despite the fact that the pathogen has ceased to act, and circumstances have changed. Rigidity of thinking is associated with the stability of emotions with the fixation of attention on any important events, objects or circumstances, failures, grievances, and so on.
Feature of rigid individuals
The dictionary of psychology characterizes a rigid person as a subject, little changeable even under the influence of external influences, not capable of independent regulation and correction. A moderately expressed rigidity of an individual expresses the immutability of interests and attitudes that are aimed at upholding one’s opinion, at the activity of a position that is only strengthened by external forces. This is practicality, accuracy, loyalty to its principles. Such people are resistant to stress, as they are less subject to environmental changes.
A more pronounced rigidity in psychology is characteristic of psychopaths with signs of paranoia. Such individuals, as a rule, are characterized by conflict, affective capture by a dominant idea. Correcting the behavior of people with a high level of rigidity is not an easy task. The strategy of interaction with a personality of this type should be based on an implicit belief in the form of a recommendation, so that the individual has the impression that the belief comes from himself, and the psychologist only confirms its correctness.