Neuroticism or emotional instability, as a relatively stable psychological trait, is the tendency to experience negative emotions such as sadness or anxiety, as well as mood swings and irrational thoughts. (Costa and McCrae 1985). Others have characterized it as the relatively stable tendency to respond with negative emotions to threats, frustrations or losses; The reactions of individuals vary in the population from frequent and intense emotional reactions to small challenges, to small emotional reactions even in the face of significant difficulties. .
Why is it important for public health?
Emotionally stable people generally find it easier to control their impulses and tend not to feel very insecure about themselves. This stability is linked to better management of the and minor frustrations. On the contrary, neuroticism is linked to less happiness in life, while it is associated with a tendency towards self-medication, alcohol and cigarette consumption, added to other unhealthy habits and shorter lives, according to a study that followed to 1788 men over 30 years . Professor Daniel K. Mroczek, first author of the study, highlights that High levels of some personality traits can be dangerous to physical health.
Neuroticism is a strong correlate and predictor of many different mental and physical disorders, comorbidity between them, and the frequency of use of mental and general health services. .
Another group of researchers that At the phenotypic, environmental and genetic level, loneliness had a significant positive correlation with neuroticism .
In this We discuss the results of a study according to which there would be a strong relationship between personality and the probability of experiencing mental health problems. He showed, for example, that people who scored high on neuroticism scales were also at greater risk for depression, anxiety, and problems with alcohol and drug use. On the other hand, subjects who scored high in extraversion had a lower risk of suffering from a mental condition. .
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An important theoretical position holds that people with higher levels of neuroticism engage in poorer health behaviors, such as smoking and excessive drinking, leading to early death. In this way they seek to explain the relationship between high levels of neuroticism and the increased risk of mortality. .
However, it is possible to reduce neuroticism, : People become significantly less neurotic after doing therapy. It was found that after just three months of treatment, people’s emotional stability had improved by half as much as it would during their entire adulthood. Additionally, after doing psychotherapy and/or taking medication, people were also a little more extroverted. Finally, both the reduction in neuroticism and the increase in extraversion were maintained in the long term.
As if this were not enough, an investigation found : the personality trait known as extroversion in adolescence had a direct positive impact on people’s well-being and satisfaction with life. On the other hand, the factor very neurotic had a negative impact on people’s well-being and happiness .
Practitioners note that achieving a complete understanding of the nature and origins of neuroticism and the mechanisms through which it is linked to mental and physical disorders should be a top research priority. Knowing why neuroticism predicts such a wide range of seemingly diverse outcomes should lead to a better understanding of the commonalities between those outcomes and improved strategies to prevent them. .
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Bibliographic references:
Gale, C.R., Booth, T., Mõttus, R., Kuh, D., & Deary, I.J. (2013). Neuroticism and Extraversion in Youth Predict Mental Wellbeing and Life Satisfaction 40 Years Later. Journal of Research in Personality, 47(6), 687-697. https://doi.org/
Hengartner, M.P., Tyrer, P., Ajdacic-Gross, V., Angst, J., & Rössler, W. (2018). Articulation and testing of a personality-centered model of psychopathology: evidence from a longitudinal community study over 30 years. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 268(5), 443-454. https://doi.org/
Lahey, B. B. (2009). Public health significance of neuroticism. The American Psychologist, 64(4), 241-256. https://doi.org/
Mroczek, D.K., Spiro, A., & Turiano, N. (2009). Do Health Behaviors Explain the Effect of Neuroticism on Mortality? Longitudinal Findings from the VA Normative Aging Study. Journal of Research in Personality, 43(4), 653-659. https://doi.org/
Neuroticism – an overview | ScienceDirect Topics. (sf). Retrieved May 24, 2019, from
Schermer, J. A., & Martin, N. G. (2019). A behavioral genetic analysis of personality and loneliness. Journal of research in personality, 78, 133-137. https://doi.org/