Impulsive behaviors are common and can cause us difficulties in the long term. Impulsivity is not always negative, but it is good to learn to identify and control it.
What is impulsivity?
We speak of “impulse” when we refer to the tendency that people experience towards acting guided exclusively by a circumstantial or momentary emotion, without any type of reflection or reasonable consideration.
It is common to find impulsive people, with a marked inability to realize their desires or for whom it is almost impossible not to react in certain circumstanceseven if in a resting (or non-stimulating) state they know that an inappropriate reaction can cause problems that cannot be compensated for later.
You may be interested in:
But how do we know that we are dealing with people whose behaviors are generally impulsive? Here we present some features:
Characteristics of impulsivity
You may also be interested in:
- Impatience: the need for a immediate gratification It is one of the factors that trigger the reaction, or impulsive behavior. This behavior is not aware of the need for a certain reserve in the present for later enjoyment in the future.in that sense, It is a behavior associated with an infantile phasesince this faculty of consider future gratification It is not present during childhood, where immediacy in the stimulus is always demanded.
- Overcompensation: By reacting, that is, by giving in to the reactive impulse, the impulsive person receives a compensatory stimulus that allows them to release stress or anxiety in a thoughtless, automatic and immediate way. Tics or nervous movements are common compensatory acts, but so are eating, moving too much, touching your hair or face.etc.
- Procrastination: postponing a task that is supposed to be urgent or important is usually a distinctive trait of an impulsive person. After encountering a difficulty, the impulsive person tends to change tasks, probably a task that is compensatory in a shorter time, which will make it difficult for you to meet deadlines or do a job well.
- Proneness to anger: It is common for people who present impulsive behaviors to have difficulties in different dimensions of human activity, including, the interpersonal relationshipsthe taking of decisions or the conflicts. In that sense, it is easy for an impulsive person to become angry easily in a conflict.
You may also be interested in:
Impulsivity is closely related with anxiety and stresstherefore it is important to pay attention to its signs and characteristics to distinguish it in time and determine its causes and ways of carrying it.