Impulsive people are those who act without thinking about the negative consequences that their actions or words may generate, both personally and towards other people. Therefore, these are people who act following an impulse, spontaneously, without being able to prevent their behavior. Although it is also important to keep in mind that on certain occasions in everyday life, presenting certain degrees of impulsivity may be normal and necessary. If you want to know more about impulsivity, I invite you to continue reading this Psychology-Online article: what is impulsivity in psychology.
What is impulsivity: definition
From a psychological perspective, the concept of impulsivity is understood as a characteristic symptom of some mental pathologies, such as tendency to carry out actions without previously planning them and as a personality trait. It is an alteration in the will of people that causes them to act without taking into account what may happen after their action. Thus, the interest in studying and researching impulsivity is due to the risks of impulsive behavior that can affect both the individual himself and other people in general.
Characteristics of impulsive people
Impulsive people usually have a series of common characteristics:
- They act without thinking.
- Difficulties or inability to prevent their behavior.
- They like to live risky experiences and are always or almost always looking for these types of experiences.
- They have very little tolerance for boredom and frustration.
- They are disorganized, they do not plan their activities.
- They forget the things they have to do, like arriving at a certain time at a certain place, they usually arrive late.
- They are not very constant, they like to change activities frequently.
- They act inappropriately, usually causing problems because of their actions.
- Impatient, for example, difficulty respecting the turn to speak.
- Creative.
- Decreased sensitivity to the negative consequences of one’s own behavior.
- Immediacy of responses: they react quickly to stimuli, they are unplanned reactions, carried out before the processing of the information transmitted by said stimuli is complete. That is, they respond to stimuli immediately, without thinking.
- They do not worry about the consequences of their actions.
- Spontaneous acts.
Is impulsivity a disease?
Impulsivity can be due to genetic causes, a deficiency of serotonin (a hormone that allows the regulation of behaviors) or due to suffering from a mental disorder. Is impulsivity a disease? In some cases, the Impulsivity is one of the symptoms that characterizes certain mental disorders. For example, attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity (ADHD), BPD, bipolar disorder, impulse control disorder, antisocial personality disorder (ASD), conduct disorder and substance dependence disorders are disorders in which impulsivity is present. That is to say, to a large extent, people who suffer from any of these disorders also present impulsive attitudes that can affect different areas of their daily lives. However, the impulsivity is not considered a disease In herself.
The impulsive personality
We understand the traits as those basic elements that constitute and characterize the personality of people. Personality traits are those that predispose us to respond in the same or similar way to different stimuli or situations. Therefore, impulsive people as a personality trait will often respond impulsively in different situations, so that it can negatively impact multiple areas of these people’s lives, since they are impulsive people by nature. Therefore, these are not people who act impulsively at specific moments, in this case we would be talking about people who show impulsivity as a personality state.
Impulsivity can also present as a personality state. Unlike personality traits, impulsivity as a personality state is characterized by manifesting impulsive acts on a temporary and temporary basis, without being planned in advance. Normally, impulsivity as a personality state occurs in response to environmental or biological disturbances. An example of impulsivity as a personality state would be when a person shows impulsive attitudes due to the temporary effect of consuming a specific drug. When it comes to situations in which it is necessary to act impulsively, such as when your life is in danger and you must act quickly and without thinking in order to save yourself, it would also be a temporary and punctual impulsiveness, understood as a state of personality. With this you can know if you have impulsive traits.
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.
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Bibliography
- Medina, A., Moreno, MJ, Lillo, R., and Guija, JA (2017). Impulse control disorders and psychopathies: psychiatry and the law. Spanish Foundation of Psychiatry and Mental Health.
- Sánchez, P., Giraldo, JJ, and Quiroz, MF (2013). Impulsivity: a view from behavioral neuroscience and developmental psychology. University of La Sabana, Colombia. Advances in Latin American Psychology/ Bogotá (Colombia), 3(1), 241-251.