In psychology, there is such a term as neuroticism, the meaning of which is not familiar to everyone, although its role is very important. To have an idea of a person as a person and to understand why he behaves in one way or another, you need to know something about this concept. Today we will talk about what neuroticism is, how it manifests itself and how it is measured.
Definition
Under neuroticism it is customary to understand a personality trait, which is based on emotional susceptibility to external factors and irritability. This is manifested in anxiety, moodiness, anger, fear, depressed mood and so on. At the somatic level, neurotism is expressed in sleep disturbance, mood changes, the appearance of headaches, feelings and fears, and internal anxiety. At the same time, a person develops a low self-esteem, he becomes restless and capable, as they say, to smack a fever.
Neurotics, as these people are called, often interpret ordinary situations as threatening, so they quickly become frustrated and stressed. Most often they are shy, unable to control motives and are characterized by emotional instability.
Neuroticism is a risk factor for the occurrence of mental disorders, such as phobias, depression, neurosis.
Physiology
Neurotism is directly related to the characteristics of the human brain. G. Iseng suggested 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. So, people with a high level of neurotization are endowed with a reactive sympathetic nervous system, so they are more sensitive to external stimuli.
Studying what neuroticism is, genetics came to the conclusion: a certain degree of behavior variation depends on genetic factors. Also, the degree of neuroticism increases with age.
Gender differences
According to the results of the study, a fact was established: women have a higher degree of neuroticism than men. Diagnosis was carried out among residents of fifty-five countries of the world. The results showed that in forty-nine states women have a high degree of neuroticism. Only in two countries the percentage of men is significantly higher (Botswana and Indonesia). Studying what neuroticism is, scientists have found that the southern regions of the world have less gender differences in this matter. And in countries with a high standard of living, men have very low levels of neuroticism.
Psychopathology
During the study of what neuroticism was, its relationship with some personality disorders was proved. So, they include mood disorders, depression, anxiety, hypochondria, dissociative identity disorders , schizophrenia and schizoaffectiveness. The higher the indices of neuroticism, the more pronounced these disorders are.
Self-esteem
Neurotism is one of the four components of the basis of self-esteem, that is, self-assessment along with the locus of control, self-esteem and self-efficacy. In other words, it is closely associated with a belief in the effectiveness of one’s actions, respect for oneself as a person, and also with a tendency to attribute their successes (failures) to external or internal factors.
For the first time this conclusion was made by John Locke. He testified that all of the above components are able to predict the outcome of a person’s work, to determine whether this activity satisfies him or not, and also to predict labor productivity.
Thus, the meaning of the word "neuroticism" became clear. As it turned out, this is a personality trait that has physiological prerequisites and affects its vital activity. Perhaps now many will understand those people whose mood tends to constantly change.