Throughout our daily lives we interact with different people: some close, familiar, who we see every day and others with whom we have sporadic contacts and even never see again. Prejudices cause us to categorize other people according to different criteria and thus we can anticipate what types of behaviors they may manifest.
One way to classify people is according to their character. Although it is true that it is more rare to point out that someone has “good character”, the truth is that we do tend to include “bad character” in our descriptions as a characteristic trait of others.
What do we mean when we talk about bad character? Keep reading this Psychology-Online article in which we reflect on the bad character: causes, characteristics and how to control it.
What is bad character
What do we mean when we talk about bad character? This concept can encompass numerous behaviors, attitudes, thoughts, verbalizations which we classify as excessive or inappropriate in relation to the specific situation.
One of the examples of bad character is that we can find people who are very sensitive to the jokes of those close to them, people who get angry very easily or people who feel attacked easily and constantly react defensively.
The character is part of our personality, although, in many cases, it is used as a synonym for it. Personality is that part of our behavior that remains stable in different situations. Let’s look at the parts that make up personality:
- The temperament: part of the personality we are born with, biologically determined.
- The character: part of the personality that would be more moldable and that is built during the first years of life. Among them we would find moral, social and religious attitudes, as indicated in the psychology dictionary of the American Psychiatric Association.
Keep in mind, once again, that bad character is a broad concept that can be defined in many ways and can have different connotations for each person.
Finally, we can consider that bad character arises from poor management of emotions, especially ours. In this sense, thought patterns that are not entirely adaptive and biased thinking styles that focus on looking for threats around us may be present. In this article, we tell you.
Causes of bad character
Why do people have bad character? The causes can be innumerable and range from simpler issues to more complex causes. However, we can ask ourselves if the person is truly like that and has a “bad character” or if this is temporary and motivated by some cause that, to a greater or lesser extent, justifies it.
On the one hand, as we have pointed out in the previous section, character is a part of personality and, on many occasions, both concepts are even used as synonyms. If we make this consideration, we could think that the person has been and will always be like this or will tend to behave like this.
We must observe that if we refer to bad character to define our personality, said definition will have a negative connotation with respect to ourselves. In this case, the causes of bad character are attributed to the person being like that. In this article, we show you.
On the other hand, we can think that the person shows bad character because more temporary and ephemeral causes. Perhaps the person is more irritable because she is worried about a family member, because she has had a bad day or because she is not having a good time, but not because “that’s the way it is.”
Characteristics of bad character
As we have been pointing out, bad character can encompass a multitude of behaviors, therefore, each person can present a different idea about what it means to have a bad character. Taking this assumption, the characteristics associated with bad character may vary depending on the definition we make of said term.
Taking into account the definition that we are trying to build in this article, let’s see what the characteristics of bad character are:
- The answer when faced with certain stimuli it is excessive and disproportionate.
- It would not be a temporally isolated phenomenon, but rather it should be maintained over time.
- The behaviors who show bad character should be present in different contexts and not be limited to certain situations.
- Considering that it is an aspect that concerns personality, bad character has been present “always”.
- If we consider that there is a poor management of emotions, we could also observe poor management of other types of emotions such as sadness. Discover .
- Can have repercussions on the person’s daily life: in the work, social, educational, family sphere, etc.
How to control bad temper
If you are wondering how I can control my bad character, understanding that it is a consequence of incorrect emotional management, then we will see how to control it:
- Learn emotional regulation techniques: be aware of the sensations that our emotions produce in our body, identify and label our emotions and implement strategies to control these emotions.
- Assertive communication techniques: abandon the aggressive communication style typical of this way of behaving. In this article, you will see the different ones.
- Other options: If we consider bad character to be a personality problem, we must assess how it interferes with daily life and what needs arise that should be addressed.
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 Bad character: causes, characteristics and how to control itwe recommend that you enter our category.
References
- American Psychiatric Association (2020). APA Dictionary of Psychology. Retrieved from https://dictionary.apa.org
Bibliography
- Caballo, VE (2004). Current concepts about personality disorders. In Caballo, VE (Coord.), Manual of personality disorders. Description, evaluation and treatment (PP.137-160). Madrid: Editorial Síntesis