Throughout our lives we will encounter people who are somewhat difficult to get along with and it is always better to be prepared. At Psychology-Online we want to talk to you about the authoritarian people, what they are like and how they usually behaveso that the relationship you have with them does not negatively affect you.
What is an authoritarian person
The authoritarian people are those that, as a general rule, want impose your ideas and his will to those around him. They have the need to control everything and everyone, and when you ask them for an explanation they usually answer: “because I said so.”
Authoritarian people are not usually born with this personality trait as is, but rather its appearance is closely associated with the education received. They likely grew up in an environment where controlling others is frowned upon. Therefore It’s a learned trait. and it seems quite stable because it usually occurs in various areas (family, work, social…). Colloquially they are sometimes spoken of as “bossy people“.
Not all authoritarian people behave in exactly the same way, but they do have some common characteristics that we will see below.
Characteristics of authoritarian people
As I said, not all authoritarian people present all the characteristics or with the same intensity, but surely if you know someone you will identify them with several to a greater or lesser extent.
- They are demanding. They tend to be hard-working people who like to do things well. This in itself is not negative, the problem is that they are also demanding of others. Here you will find .
- Aggressiveness. They are aggressive to provoke fear and thus get them to obey them. They are more aggressive towards those who do not obey them or try to change their minds.
- Extremism. They tend to be extremist people, black or white, but they do not move in shades of gray. In addition to being extremists, they understand that their ideas are correct and they despise the opinions of others.
- His achievements are greater. Your achievements or merits are greater and better than the achievements of others. This is how they justify that they are the ones who should command and control. Since their achievements are better, they belittle the achievements of others, which will never be as good as theirs.
- Leaders. Authoritarian people appoint themselves leaders without asking anyone. They are antidemocratic and understand that things must be done their way, so they organize and command others. And not precisely to do things as best as possible, but to do them the way they want them to be done.
- Aggressive communication style. His way of communicating is accusatory, reproving and blunt. They do not take into account the wishes and opinions of others, which is why they do not show the slightest empathy. In this article you can see the.
Can an authoritarian person be empathetic?
Authoritarian people as a rule lack empathy. By considering that his ideas are correct and belittling those of others, it is difficult for them to put themselves in their place. Normally they do not come to think that another person could be right and they are wrong and they do not usually understand why they do not think like they do. Although they frequently blame it on the lack of intelligence, knowledge or logic of others.
Besides, empathy can and should be worked on in these cases, because its lack can hinder their social and work relationships, to the point that people distance themselves from them. Here we talk about.
How to treat an authoritarian person
To deal with an authoritarian person you must know what they are like. Once you know how they act and how they got to be like this, you will understand that you are not the cause of his/her behavior but it is a
Even if the way he treats you irritates you, don’t respond aggressively because it will make things worse. Try to be assertive. Here you will find .
You can explain that you don’t like being treated the way he or she does. You don’t have to be submissive to avoid getting angry.
How to deal with an authoritarian partner
How to live with an authoritarian husband or wife? When it is your partner who behaves in an authoritarian manner, the difficulty in communication and the relationship increases. Authoritarian people often bend their partner to their will. In the long run, the security and confidence of the subject decrease, her personality ends up blurring and she no longer knows very well who she is and what her ideas are. In addition, he usually stops doing things he wants to do, even giving his opinion, in order not to provoke his partner’s anger.
To prevent this from happening, it is best to act from the beginning of the relationship. Don’t give in to their demands if you really don’t consider them appropriate. Don’t give him power. If you begin to tolerate everything that he or she imposes on you, his or her power will be reaffirmed and it will increase.
If you consider it necessary, suggest going to work on communication style, empathy and conflict resolution.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to Authoritarian people: characteristics and how to treat themwe recommend that you enter our category.
Bibliography
- Bernstein, A.J. (2012). Emotional Vampires: how to recognize and deal with those people who manipulate our feelings. Madrid: EDAF.
- Stamateas, B. (2013). Toxic people. Barcelona: Debolsillo.