THE PROBLEM OF ANXIETY IN PERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY

ABSTRACT

The article examines the problem of anxiety in personality psychology, based on the views of foreign psychologists: K.Horney, E. Fromm, C.Spielberger, A. Beck.

Keywords: anxiety; the problem of anxiety; personal psychology.

The problem of anxiety in personality psychology is one of the most relevant. Among the negative experiences of a person anxiety occupies a special place, it often leads to a decrease in performance, productivity of activity, difficulties in communication.

Let's start with the ideas of K. Horney, who believes that anxiety as a personality trait does not exist, it is replaced by a slightly different concept - ‘anxiety’. She considered anxiety as an emotional reaction to danger and drew parallels with fear, constantly comparing these concepts [3]. Unlike fear, anxiety is primarily characterised by vagueness and uncertainty, it is caused by some kind of danger that threatens the very essence or core of the personality. Anxiety, unlike fear, is determined by the feeling of helplessness before the impending threat [6].

E. Fromm notes that interpersonal relationships play an important role in the formation of anxiety. Fromm's concept of anxiety stands out because it sees anxiety as a result of loneliness and a break with roots, as well as a consequence of the hostile power of the world (sadomasochism) and alienating capitalist relations (impersonal automatism). Fromm himself mentions works similar to his theory, such as C. Horney's A New Approach to Psychoanalysis (1939) and G. S. Sullivan's The Concept of Modern Psychiatry (1940). What is important in Fromm's concept is that it is precisely from early childhood that the experience of alienation, lack of a sense of unity with a significant other, lack of love determines the formation of anxiety as a personal characteristic. At the same time, it was possible to get rid of anxiety only by becoming loved [5, 2].

C. Spielberger shared both K. Horney's and E. Fromm's position on the understanding of anxiety. He presented anxiety from two perspectives - as a personal characteristic and as a state of the organism. Situational or reactive anxiety usually occurs as a short-term reaction to any current situation and is characterised by tension, restlessness, nervousness exclusively in a particular environment; whereas personal anxiety is a personal trait in its own right and involves the perception of the personality of a wide range of situations and circumstances as disturbing, although objectively it may not be so. Curiously enough, each person has his or her own optimal or desirable level of anxiety - this is the so-called useful anxiety [1].

A. Beck presented another view of anxiety. Anxiety is considered in the cognitive model from an evolutionist perspective - as a defence reaction that contributes to biological survival. The difference between pathological anxiety is that it not only does not serve this purpose, but, on the contrary, contributes to maladaptation. Aaron Beck's cognitive model of anxiety is based on the assumption that anxiety and other emotional disorders arise from negative automatic thoughts and perceptual distortions. People with anxiety disorders often use distorted thought patterns such as catastrophising, generalising based on a single negative experience and exaggerating the likelihood of adverse outcomes. Based on the above, we can conclude that both anxiety as a state and anxiety as a human trait are in confrontation with basic personal needs: the need for emotional well-being, a sense of confidence, and security [4].

Thus, we concluded that we should distinguish between anxiety as a state and anxiety as a personality trait. Anxiety is a reaction to impending danger, an emotional state of diffuse objectless fear, characterised by an indefinite feeling of threat. Anxiety is an individual psychological peculiarity consisting in an increased tendency to experience anxiety in various life situations, including those whose objective characteristics do not predispose to it. Anxiety leads to a decrease in performance, productivity, difficulties in communication, and affects a person's motivation.

References:

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