Destructiveness: all meanings of the phenomenon. Destructive behavior, what is it?

Perhaps you remember from school a boy who never obeyed his elders, studied poorly and was not shy about peppering his speech with strong words? Most likely, he started smoking earlier than anyone else, and he had big problems in his relationship with his parents. Do you know where this guy is now? Were you interested in his future fate?

Most likely, he was diagnosed with destructive behavior. This means that without timely psychological correction his fate could have been put to rest.

What is destructive behavior?

There are several scientific definitions of this concept. Psychologists and sociologists give their definitions using terms familiar to them. However, there is one definition that any person will understand: destructive behavior - destructive behavior. How does it manifest itself? What is the person trying to destroy?

The main manifestations of destructiveness

Scientists have conducted a lot of research on this problem; they have studied patterns of behavior that can be classified as destructive quite well. A person whose behavior is considered destructive has the following characteristics:

• aggression and cruelty towards others;
• hostility in communication;
• tendency to destroy material objects and things;
• the desire to upset the established way of life of people close to him;
• inability to experience emotions and feelings (may be permanent, or may only appear from time to time);
• a threat to the lives of both others and your own.

We see that a person who is destructive by nature can cause harm not only to things or objects, but also to society, and even to himself. It turns out that there are several types or forms of destructive behavior? Yes this is true.

Forms

To begin with, it should be noted that there is a distinction between constructive and destructive behavior. The first is creative and is absolutely normal for any healthy person. The second often turns out to be a symptom of some mental disorder.

In psychology, destructive human behavior varies in direction and nature of manifestation. So, we have already talked about the first classification: a person can address his destructive energy to any object of external reality or to himself. It is interesting that manifestations of destructiveness are not always negative: it can be part or the beginning of creation. For example, you can demolish a dilapidated house to build a new one in its place, or cut your long hair to create a beautiful hairstyle.

Another classification of destructive behavior is based on the nature of the manifestation of destructiveness. There are two main forms:

1. Delinquent- it includes actions that are contrary to legal norms, for example, violations of discipline, illegal violations.
2. Deviant- this is behavior that contradicts moral standards, for example, drug addiction and alcoholism, attempts to commit suicide.

Causes of destructive behavior

In psychology, destructive behavior is often called deviant. However, no deviation occurs without a reason. What is the basis on which the first signs of destructive behavior develop?

It is believed that the reason may lie in bad heredity. In people whose actions are antisocial, one of the parents often showed signs of destructiveness. However, the question of the relationship between heredity and environment remains open here. In families whose members exhibit destructive forms of behavior, upbringing is often appropriate. In addition, the child is forced to constantly observe the antisocial behavior of his parents, which cannot but leave its mark on his psyche.

Thus, the destructive behavior of children is determined by the influence of the family. In the future, destructiveness becomes the constant companion of such a person. In any situation, he will behave antisocially, causing harm to himself and others. However, signs of destructiveness can also appear in an adult who is mentally healthy. Why is this happening?

Some more reasons for destructiveness

Other reasons for destructive behavior include:

• mental disorders - in this case, destructiveness may be one of the symptoms;
• severe somatic illness - a person may realize that he has nothing to lose and begin to behave destructively;
• failures in personal affairs - a person feels humiliated, trampled and loses hope of improving the situation;
• addiction to alcohol or drugs - sometimes this is not a manifestation of destructiveness, but its cause: a person behaves antisocially only when intoxicated.

Prevention of destructive behavior

What can be done to prevent destructive behavior? Who does this and what methods are used? The main burden falls on schools and other educational institutions. The fact is that it is precisely in them that there is an opportunity to influence children en masse. For this purpose, special educational activities are carried out aimed at preventing social destructive behavior.

But a lot can be done with the help of the child’s family members. If parents and other relatives encourage only socially approved actions and give each other love and warmth, the likelihood of behavioral disorders in their children will be very low.

What has been done in the USA to prevent destructiveness

An interesting study on the problem of disruptive behavior was conducted in New York State. Typically, American teenagers who have committed illegal acts are placed in specialized correctional institutions. In addition to classes with psychologists, juvenile delinquents there undergo daily occupational therapy sessions.

But such correctional institutions only contain teenagers who have already shown signs of destructiveness. What happens if you place them in a healthier social environment?

Instead of correctional institutions, some teenagers went to the homes of foster parents. Adult couples were instructed in methods of preventing destructiveness and had appropriate practical skills. The results of the study were impressive: pupils of such foster families were much less likely to display destructive forms of behavior in their adult lives.

What conclusion can be drawn from all this? Even if a child or teenager has already shown the first signs of destructive behavior, he should not be considered lost to society. With appropriate psychological correction methods, it can still be corrected.

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5.1.Destructive psychological influence

Psychological influence can be destructive to the individual: deprive a person of the opportunity to choose, take responsibility, plan, count on his efforts, and create new things. This influence is called destructive. Destructive influence- influence, which involves interaction in positions of inequality between partners, treating other people as objects of influence who can be influenced by force or cunning in order to achieve only one’s own benefit. Restriction of personal freedom and infringement of dignity leads to the destruction of relationships and disruption of personal development. Depending on whether pressure is openly or covertly exerted on another person, there are varieties destructive influence:

power;

manipulative.

Powerful psychological influence

Powerful psychological influence has different names in the studies of modern authors: “ imperative"[Kovalyov, 1987]; " dominance"[Dotsenko, 1996].

Power influence– open, without disguise, imperative influence to achieve one’s own goals and ignoring the interests and intentions of another person.

A distinctive feature of this influence is interaction from a position of strength, which is why some modern authors call this type of influence “ barbaric", primitive, close to physical impact and unworthy of a civilized person [Sidorenko, 2001].

Powerful influence can be instantly effective: it forces you to do something, it achieves what you want. However, it is ineffective in the long term, as it leads to the gradual destruction of the business, business relationships, and personal integrity. Forceful influence can be justified only in extreme cases - extreme situations that pose a threat to human life and safety (fire, flood, etc.).

In ways forceful psychological influence are:

attack;

compulsion.

The attack is expressed in the fact that another person is perceived as production or how let, which may interfere with the capture of prey, and therefore must be eliminated or neutralized.

Coercion is when another person is perceived as weapon, which can be used, or how let, which you can try to turn into a weapon.

Attack is an attack, a sudden belligerent action against another person or group of people. This is a manifestation of psychological aggression or war. In psychological attack, the only attacking tools used are psychological means–verbal, non-verbal and paralinguistic. Psychological attack is, first of all, verbal attack. The words used by the attacker are addressed not to the cognitive, but to the emotional layer of the personality. This is a sharp and crushing blow with a word, which shakes the entire spiritual being. The attack makes the partner suffer. The blow causes peace of mind for a more or less long period of time.

Forms of psychological attack:

impulsive– an irrational, unintentional action, the cause of which is the desire to free oneself from tension, to defuse aggressive impulses (“I lost my temper.”)

Targeted– a conscious and controlled action with the aim of influencing the emotional state, thoughts, intentions, actions of another person (“This will make him afraid and change his behavior.”)

Total- an action first performed under the influence of an impulse, then continued in order to achieve a specific goal (“I lost my temper, and that scared him and made him change his tactics.”)

Means of psychological attack:

Destructive criticism;

Destructive statements;

Destructive advice.

Destructive criticism- This:

disparaging or insulting judgments about a person's personality (“It’s difficult for you to do such things”; “Except for you, no one could do this job so poorly”);

gross aggressive condemnation, slander or ridicule of his deeds and actions, people significant to him, social communities, ideas, values, material objects, etc. (“Your passion for cheap things amazes me”; “You always surround yourself with suspicious people”);

rhetorical questions aimed at identifying and “correcting” shortcomings (“How can you dress so ridiculously?” “Have you completely lost your mind?”).

The destructiveness of such criticism is that it does not allow a person to “save face”, diverts his energy to fight emerging negative emotions, and takes away faith in himself. In form, destructive criticism is often indistinguishable from the formulas of suggestion: “You are an irresponsible person.” However, the initiator of the influence has as its conscious goal “improving” the behavior of the recipient of the influence (and the unconscious goal is liberation from frustration and anger, a manifestation of force or revenge). He does not at all have in mind the consolidation and strengthening of those models of behavior that are described by the formulas he uses. It is characteristic that the consolidation of negative behavior patterns is one of the most destructive and paradoxical effects of destructive criticism. It is also known that in the formulas of suggestion and auto-training, positive formulations are persistently preferred over the negation of negative ones (for example, the formula “I am calm” is preferable to the formula “I am not worried”).

Destructive statements- This:

mentions and reminders about objective biographical facts that a person is not able to change and which he most often could not influence (national, social and racial identity; urban or rural origin; parental occupation; unlawful behavior of someone close; hereditary and chronic diseases; natural constitution; facial features, etc.). (“Well, yes, you’re from a small town”; “When you get angry, for some reason I remember your brother, who ended up in places not so distant.”)

“friendly”, “harmless” references and hints to mistakes, mistakes and violations committed by the addressee in the past; humorous reference to “old sins” or personal secrets of the addressee (“I often remember how much we fussed with the entire department to correct your mistake.”)

Destructive statements can be made intentionally to cause negative reactions from a partner, or out of bewilderment, thoughtlessness, tactlessness, or under the influence of an impulse. The effect in all cases is the same: the recipient experiences a state of confusion, helplessness, and confusion.

Destructive advice- This:

categorical instructions, commands and instructions that are not implied by the social or working relationships of the partners.

E.V. Sidorenko in her work gives an example of an incident that happened to her and her American colleague and illustrates the prevalence of destructive advice and its negative consequences in our everyday life.

“An American colleague, Shelby Morgan, once told me: “I’m not always open to other people’s criticism and other people’s advice. Often I want peace and wholeness, and sometimes I feel like something important is ripening within me. Why do I need someone else’s intervention at this moment?” One day Shelby came to my dacha with her daughter Sarah. The girl was five years old. The three of us walked along the platform, and Sarah’s sneaker laces were not tied. It just rained. Snow-white laces turned into dirty wet ponytails before our eyes. Both Shelby and Sarah didn't pay any attention to it. I, taught by the experience of communicating with my American friend, also kept quiet and kept possible comments to myself. However, every woman coming towards us always said something like: “Tie the child’s shoelaces! Look how they hang out!” Sensing a foreigner in Shelby, they turned to me: “Tell her...”, etc. I answered everyone: “Thank you” and moved on. After the third such appeal, Shelby could not stand it: “Why do we have to walk around with our shoelaces tied? Why does everyone around me know better than me what I need to do and try to force me to live differently? Why does everyone in Russia advise me to do something? After all, this is a violation of my rights!”[Sidorenko, 2002, p. 44 - 45].

Unsolicited advice is a means of psychological attack because it violates personal rights, challenges a person’s ability to determine for himself what questions to ask himself and what to avoid, what to pay attention to, what decisions to make, and how to learn from his own mistakes.

Another method of power influence is coercion.

Compulsion– coercion (stimulation) of a person to perform certain actions with the help of threats (open or implied) or deprivation.

Coercion is possible only if the coercer actually has the ability to implement threats, that is, the authority to deprive the addressee of any benefits or to change the conditions of his life and work. Such possibilities can be called controlling. By coercion, the initiator threatens to use his control capabilities in order to obtain the desired behavior from the addressee.

Forms of coercion:

Announcing strictly defined deadlines or methods of performing work without any announcements or justification: “You have to triple check your calculations, that’s my golden rule.”

Imposing non-negotiable prohibitions and restrictions: “ You have no right to approach a client if I am negotiating with him, even if he is your personal acquaintance.”

Intimidation by possible consequences: “ Those who are going to object to me now will spend a long time disentangling this later.”

Threat of punishment, in the most severe forms – physical violence: “You either do it by Tuesday or quit.”

Coercion is a method of influence that is limited in the scope of its possible application, since the initiator of influence must have leverage non-psychological pressure on the addressee. If both partners have such leverage, then they can begin to “measure strength.” Such interaction can be called an open power struggle. The winner is the one whose threats were more effective.

In everyday life, especially business, we often encounter civilized forms of coercion. We are forced to follow the terms of a contract, a decision made, an official instruction, rules of politeness, etc. In all these cases, we voluntarily agree that the terms of the agreement, decisions, etc. will force us to act accordingly. What truly coerces is that prohibition, decision, restriction, punishment, etc. that was not agreed upon with us in advance and does not have the status of a definite agreement.

People lie, deliberately harm their health, commit suicide and kill their fellow species. Science is trying to explain why the most intelligent species behaves so irrationally.

Destructive Behavior - Bad Habits

And alcohol is harmful to health, and this fact is well known to everyone who smokes and drinks. It turns out that a person quite consciously makes things bad for himself, and this clearly requires some kind of explanation. Scientists who have studied the reasons for this behavior explain that there are several important reasons.

First and foremost, a person cannot truly be aware of harm when it is delayed in time. What happens due to harmful addictions somewhere in 10 or 20 years does not in any way affect behavior today; this is a feature of our psyche. Now, if a heart attack occurred immediately after a cigarette or doctors diagnosed cancer the next morning, this would be a real incentive.

Another purely human feature that makes us harm ourselves in this way is the excellent ability to include rationalization. “My grandmother smoked and lived to be 90 years old,” “Alcohol is beneficial in small doses” - our mind is able to find a thousand arguments to prove that there is no problem.

Destructive behavior - Experimenting with your own body

Tattoos, piercings, plastic surgery - a person voluntarily agrees to endure pain and runs the risk of receiving various negative side effects of these procedures. This is not for the sake of survival or increasing resilience, but simply for the sake of what he considers it beautiful. And this is not a whim of modern man; on the contrary, the ancient rituals of “body reconstruction” were even more pretentious and dangerous.

No other animal species has anything like it. Where did homo sapiens is this a tradition? Psychologists believe that it was born out of the need to group and separate from other groups. All ancient tribes would have been no different from each other if it had not been customary for some to have their noses pierced, and for others to have their ears pierced.

In addition, the self is a purely human phenomenon. And beauty is not just aesthetics. For example, a number of studies have shown that buyers are more likely to buy a product from a seller who seems more beautiful to them. Beauty in human society has become another resource. By improving one's body, a person gains certain benefits, despite the risks.

Destructive Behavior - Gambling

The addiction to gambling can cost a person a lot. Of course, this is another type of destructive behavior, the meaning of which from the point of view of the well-being of the human race is completely unclear. Why do people play?

Research has shown that the main mechanism of involvement in gambling is that a person perceives failure in the game differently than in life. For him, failure in the game is an additional incentive to try again; loss in the game is perceived as a challenge.

Scientists have observed that, when starting to play, all players rationally approach how long they will play, and perceive the game only as entertainment. However, losing changes their perception, gambling now becomes a challenge, a battle, a war where they must do everything to win.

Destructive Behavior - Tendency to Violence

Wars and conflicts are so typical of human society that scientists believe that the desire for violence is inherent in human nature, just like the need for food or sex. At the same time, it is also characteristic of animals, but in animals we can always clearly trace what goal it is pursuing. This is always a struggle for some resources - food, territory, the best female. If we look at a person, we will see a lot of senseless aggression, aggression for the sake of aggression. Biologists call man the most cruel of living creatures.

Researchers have different opinions. Some believe that the thirst for violence is simply a human need, while others say that manifestations of violence are always the same struggle for resources, only not always as obvious as in animals.

Destructive Behavior - Lies

Research shows that people are much more likely than they might seem at first glance. For example, the American psychologist Feldman conducted a simple experiment. He left two strangers in the room and asked them to just talk about something.

In fact, the conversation was recorded. And after each participant was individually asked to review the recording and note how often during the conversation he “was not very accurate” (the experimenter deliberately avoided the word “lie”). It turned out that 60% of the experiment participants lied at least once during a 10-minute conversation with a stranger.

Feldman's study is not the only one. Lying is indeed a definite norm in our society. It is the kind of meaningless lies, as in a conversation with strangers, not for the sake of saving a life or receiving some kind of reward. Psychologists explain that this lie is often associated with That is, we often lie when we are not confident in ourselves and want to appear better.

Test: If you have discovered more than one of the destructive manifestations described above in your behavior, it’s time for you to think about personal changes!

Based on materials from the site vitaportal.ru

Constructive criticism: when I criticize you.

Destructive criticism: when you criticize me.

Breaking is not building, it doesn’t hurt your soul.

Proverb

Destructiveness as a personality quality is the inability to create the basis for further fruitful work, rational and expedient behavior; disruption of the functioning of something.

One day a poor peasant went into his barn and found a golden egg under a chicken roost. His first thought was: “Someone wants to play a joke on me.” But to be sure, he took the egg and took it to the jeweler. He checked the egg and told the peasant: “100 percent gold, pure gold.” The peasant sold the egg and returned home with a lot of money. In the evening he threw a huge feast. At dawn the whole family got up to see if the hen had laid another egg. Indeed, there was a golden egg in the nest again.

Since then, the peasant found such an egg every morning. By selling them he became very rich. But the peasant was a greedy person, which means he was destructive. He asked himself why a chicken lays only one egg a day, how does she do it? He wanted to know this so he could create golden eggs himself and become even richer. Over time, the former peasant became increasingly angry because he did not find answers and could not influence the appearance of the golden eggs. The destructiveness of consciousness pushed him towards destruction. And one day his patience ran out, all the anger and irritation spilled out - he grabbed a knife, went to the chicken coop and killed a chicken to look inside. All he discovered were halves of the future golden egg, which was just beginning to emerge. The moral of this wise story is this: don’t indulge your destructive consciousness, don’t kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

Destructiveness is a champion of quick results. She doesn't want to understand the idea that success (the golden egg) must be long-term. Getting quick results is a destructive idea. For example, a person ran to the bank for a mortgage loan. Wants to buy a house and a prestigious car. What destructive force drove him into slavery before the bank? Greed and destructive thinking. The loan at high interest rates will have to be paid off. You will have to work hard at several jobs. Health is destroyed from overexertion and lack of sleep. Relationships in the family are also destroyed, because there is a house and a car, but the owner himself is not there, he is constantly at work, comes when everyone is already asleep, and leaves when everyone is still sleeping. In a word, a complete rampant of destructiveness.

Philosopher D.G. Pshonko argues that the idea is to move in such a way that our resources are constantly replenished, and increasing the result depends on the increase in resources, that is, we must take care of the golden eggs, of course, but at the same time we need to love and cherish the chicken that is these golden brings eggs. And a person, when planning his life, must plan not only the result, but plan the resource, replenishment of the resource, and each time, the more attention he pays to replenishing resources, the more results he receives. Thus, a constructive approach to your life involves proper interaction with time, with planning your life, with planning your capabilities, with constant replenishment of resources.

A destructive approach to life is always carried out in conjunction with greed. Buy a house or car faster. And more, more tchotchkes. Reasonableness says: “You need to earn money quietly, you don’t need to take out loans at extortionate interest rates.” Everything has its time. The time will come, we will calmly buy both a house and a car, but only without the excitement and consciousness inflamed by greed and destructiveness.

This suggests an anecdote about two bulls: the young bull has destructive thinking, and the old bull, on the contrary, has constructive thinking.

Two bulls, young and old, stand on a hillock and look down at a herd of cows. The young man says: “Listen, stop chewing grass, I noticed such a beautiful chick there, let’s quickly go down and make love to her.” Then we’ll come back and finish chewing the grass, eh??!?!?! The old bull slowly, measuredly chews the grass... The young bull: - Well, come on quickly, in case he leaves! - Look, here’s another beauty - red-haired, with white spots. Let's quickly go down and love her, shall we?! The old man, measuredly, without hurrying anywhere, chews grass. - No! I’m about to descend like an avalanche from the mountain, demolish the barn along the way, break the fence and fall in love with that blonde over there. Old bull (in a thick bass): N-e-e-o... Now we will calmly chew the grass, and then slowly and measuredly we will descend from the mountain and take possession of the entire herd... and then we will also slowly and measuredly go into the mountains.

In pursuit of results, a person quickly wastes his results. Efficiency – zero. He rushed at ten thousand, as if at five hundred, and got stuck. As a result, disappointment and despondency from the destructive scenario of life. A constructive scenario is when a person constantly develops, grows personally, and improves himself. He does not chase events, does not indulge stupidity and greed, does not drive his mind to illness - destructive thinking.

A destructive person is a specialist subversive of his own mind. Usually he is under the influence of the energy of ignorance and degradation. It is not without reason that in the ranks of destructiveness there are many people prone to drugs, debauchery, alcoholism, and suicide.

Destructiveness is a destructive, disastrous and unfruitful state of consciousness. Consciousness is destructive when the idea has settled in it that there is no point in achieving anything in this world, that this world is illusory, you need to leave this world, you need to turn your gaze to the otherworldly reality, to the otherworldly world. Destructive consciousness says: - In the material world there is no goal for which one could live: neither family, nor love, nor friendship, nor public improvement, nor apartments, nor cars, nor the respect of others, nothing is worth living for even this a second, let alone a lifetime.

Destructiveness is the gap between theory and practice. There is knowledge, but people are not going to put it into practice. This approach is equivalent to the phenomenon of buying a train ticket and not going. Learning is light, but the unlearned are darkness. Everyone knows everything, but they can’t apply it. This is destructiveness and stupidity.

A person sometimes knows very well what sad ending his destructive behavior will lead to, but, contrary to common sense, he continues to act destructively. The mind tells him: “Today you get drunk, tomorrow your head will be bo-bo.” You'll suffer from a hangover. If you drank well, it means you’re bad in the morning. If it’s good in the morning, it means you drank poorly.

An unreasonable person listens to reason, but acts destructively. He happily raises his glass. Satisfied. This is ignorance. Childhood state of consciousness. He knows, but acts to his own detriment. Indulges his senses and his lustful mind. This is destructive behavior.

Peter Kovalev