Emotional security - Wikipedia Emotional security From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Emotional security is the measure of the stability of an individual's emotional state. Emotional insecurity or simply insecurity is a feeling of general unease or nervousness that may be triggered by perceiving of oneself to be vulnerable or inferior in some way, or a sense of vulnerability or instability which threatens one's self-image or ego. The concept is related to that of psychological resilience in as far as both concern the effects which setbacks or difficult situations have on an individual. However, resilience concerns over-all coping, also with reference to the individual's socioeconomic situation, whereas the emotional security specifically characterizes the emotional impact. In this sense, emotional security can be understood as part of resilience. The notion of emotional security of an individual is to be distinguished from that of emotional safety or security provided by a non-threatening, supportive environment. A person who is susceptible to bouts of depression being triggered by minor setbacks is said to be less "emotionally secure". A person whose general happiness is not very shaken even by major disturbances in the pattern or fabric of their life might be said to be extremely emotionally secure. Contents 1 Emotional insecurity 2 Brain chemistry 3 Philosophies 4 See also 5 References 6 Further reading Emotional insecurity[edit] This section includes a list of general references, but it remains largely unverified because it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this section by introducing more precise citations. (February 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Abraham Maslow described an insecure person as a person who "perceives the world as a threatening jungle and most human beings as dangerous and selfish; feels a rejected and isolated person, anxious and hostile; is generally pessimistic and unhappy; shows signs of tension and conflict, tends to turn inward; is troubled by guilt-feelings, has one or another disturbance of self-esteem; tends to be neurotic; and is generally selfish and egocentric." (Maslow, 1942, pp 35). He viewed in every insecure person a continual, never dying, longing for security (Alegre (2008)). A person who is insecure lacks confidence in his or her own value, and one or more of his or her capabilities, lacks trust in himself or herself or others, or has fears that a present positive state is temporary, and will let him or her down and cause him or her loss or distress by "going wrong" in the future. This is a common trait, which only differs in degree between people. This is not to be confused with humility, which involves recognizing one's shortcomings but still maintaining a healthy dose of self-confidence. Insecurity is not an objective evaluation of one's ability but an emotional interpretation. Two people with the same capabilities may have entirely different levels of insecurity. Insecurity may contribute to the development of shyness, paranoia and social withdrawal, or alternatively it may encourage compensatory behaviors such as arrogance, aggression, or bullying, in some cases. The fact that the majority of human beings are emotionally vulnerable, and have the capacity to be hurt, implies that emotional insecurity could merely be a difference in awareness. Insecurity has many effects in a person's life. There are several levels of it. It nearly always causes some degree of isolation as a typically insecure person withdraws from people to some extent. The greater the insecurity, the higher the degree of isolation becomes. Insecurity is often rooted in a person's childhood years. Like offense and bitterness, it grows in layered fashion, often becoming an immobilizing force that sets a limiting factor in the person's life. Insecurity robs by degrees; the degree to which it is entrenched equals the degree of power it has in the person's life. As insecurity can be distressing and feel threatening to the psyche, it can often be accompanied by a controlling personality type or avoidance, as psychological defense mechanisms. Brain chemistry[edit] To a certain extent, emotional security is a function of brain chemistry: some people are naturally predisposed to feel less happy, and to be more adversely affected by natural events,[citation needed] for example in the case of hypothyroidism. Certain medications, such as SSRI's or even stimulants, are often prescribed to address such natural deficiencies. The side-effects of these medications, however, in many cases can negate their positive effects, for example when certain anti-depressants make it difficult or impossible to experience orgasm by making the brain incapable of cutting off the flow of certain hormones usually associated with positive emotions but necessary to suddenly block for short periods of time in order for orgasm to occur.[citation needed] It is also said that such medications blunt both 'the highs and the lows,' sapping, for some people, a valuable, inspiring energy from life.[citation needed] However, weighing the pros against the cons of such situations is something different for each individual, and in many cases the dangers of naturally low emotional security may be worse than the side-effects of the appropriate medication, especially such as when a person is suicidal.[citation needed] Philosophies[edit] There are many friendly philosophies which understand emotional security to be a product of toxic masculinity. Such ideologies would advocate that there are safer steps than medicine one can take in order to increase one's emotional security. These options may range from self-help programs, substance abuse treatment programs, and psychotherapy to physical exercise and spiritual or religious devotion. While emotionally insecure people may feel lethargic, sometimes their best option is to increase their endorphins through exercise; while they may be afraid of rejection, this may lead to unhealthy loneliness, which the only way to overcome is to risk rejection by trying to make acquaintances. Practices such as yoga and Buddhism advocate abstinence from mind-altering substances; yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual practice or discipline for achieving clarity of mind and security of attitude through training and disciplining the body,[1] while Buddhism is in essence a practice designed to address suffering. Philosophers of existentialism deal with issues relating to emotional insecurity quite frequently, focusing on the individual's spiritual condition in the world, existentialism being a more emotionally and psychologically oriented philosophy than other more rationalist schools. Søren Kierkegaard dealt with emotions such as anxiety, dread, and despair, pointing to the role they can play in bringing about life-changing transformation. See also[edit] Happiness Anxiety Uncertainty Confusion Jealousy Vulnerability References[edit] ^ B. K. S. Iyengar, Light on Yoga (Revised Edition 1977), with foreword by Yehudi Menuhin, Schocken Books, 1979 paperback, ISBN 0-8052-1031-8 (544 pages) Further reading[edit] Alegre, A. (2008). "Emotional security and its relationship with emotional intelligence" (PDF). Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2012. Jones, Del (January 31, 2007). "Could insecurity be the secret to CEOs' success?". USA Today. Maslow, A. H. (1942). "The Dynamics of Psychological Security-Insecurity". Journal of Personality. 10 (4): 331–344. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1942.tb01911.x. v t e Emotions (list) Emotions Acceptance Adoration Aesthetic emotions Affection Agitation Agony Amusement Anger Angst Anguish Annoyance Anticipation Anxiety Apathy Arousal Attraction Awe Boredom Calmness Compassion Confidence Contempt Contentment Courage Cruelty Curiosity Defeat Depression Desire Despair Disappointment Disgust Distrust Ecstasy Embarrassment Vicarious Empathy Enthrallment Enthusiasm Envy Euphoria Excitement Fear Flow (psychology) Frustration Gratification Gratitude Greed Grief Guilt Happiness Hatred Hiraeth Homesickness Hope Horror Hostility Humiliation Hygge Hysteria Indulgence Infatuation Insecurity Inspiration Interest Irritation Isolation Jealousy Joy Kindness Loneliness Longing Love Limerence Lust Mono no aware Neglect Nostalgia Outrage Panic Passion Pity Self-pity Pleasure Pride Grandiosity Hubris Insult Vanity Rage Regret Social connection Rejection Remorse Resentment Sadness Melancholy Saudade Schadenfreude Sehnsucht Self-confidence Sentimentality Shame Shock Shyness Sorrow Spite Stress Suffering Surprise Sympathy Tenseness Trust Wonder Worry World views Cynicism Defeatism Nihilism Optimism Pessimism Reclusion Weltschmerz Related Affect consciousness in education measures in psychology Affective computing forecasting neuroscience science spectrum Affectivity positive negative Appeal to emotion Emotion and art and memory and music and sex classification evolution expressed functional accounts group homeostatic perception recognition in conversation in animals regulation interpersonal work Emotional aperture bias blackmail competence conflict contagion detachment dysregulation eating exhaustion expression intelligence and bullying intimacy isolation lability labor lateralization literacy prosody reasoning responsivity security selection symbiosis well-being Emotionality bounded Emotions and culture in decision-making in the workplace in virtual communication history moral self-conscious social social sharing sociology Feeling Gender and emotional expression Group affective tone Interactions between the emotional and executive brain systems Meta-emotion Pathognomy Pathos Social emotional development Stoic passions Theory affect appraisal discrete emotion somatic marker constructed emotion v t e Narcissism Types Collective Egomania Flying monkeys Healthy Malignant Narcissistic personality disorder Spiritual Workplace Characteristics Betrayal Boasting Egocentrism Egotism Empathy (lack of) Envy Entitlement (exaggerated sense of) Fantasy Grandiosity Hubris Magical thinking Manipulative Narcissistic abuse Narcissistic elation Narcissistic rage and narcissistic injury Narcissistic mortification Narcissistic supply Narcissistic withdrawal Perfectionism Self-esteem Self-righteousness Shamelessness Superficial charm Superiority complex True self and false self Vanity Defences Denial Idealization and devaluation Distortion Projection Splitting Cultural phenomena Control freak Don Juanism Dorian Gray syndrome My way or the highway Selfie Related articles Codependency Counterdependency Dark triad Ego ideal "Egomania" (film) Egotheism Empire-building God complex History of narcissism Messiah complex Micromanagement Narcissism of small differences Narcissistic leadership Narcissistic parent Narcissistic Personality Inventory Narcissus (mythology) On Narcissism Sam Vaknin Self-love Self-serving bias Spoiled child The Culture of Narcissism Workplace bullying Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Emotional_security&oldid=992115125" Categories: Attachment theory Emotional issues Emotions Mental health Narcissism Hidden categories: Articles lacking in-text citations from February 2020 All articles lacking in-text citations All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from June 2018 Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version Languages العربية Български Català Español Français हिन्दी Português Tiếng Việt Edit links This page was last edited on 3 December 2020, at 16:01 (UTC). 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