Psychologists note a new trend – more and more people want life to be stormy and unpredictable. If not personal, then at least social or political. What is it connected with? British journalist Oliver Burkeman explains.
Not too long ago, I learned that psychologists at the University of Texas had developed a questionnaire to measure a personality trait they called “need for dramatization.” Respondents are asked, for example, whether they agree with statements like “Sometimes it gives me pleasure when people around me are on edge” or “I always speak my mind, but then I have to pay for it.”
On the political scene, we see a lot of eccentric people, pronounced representatives of this type. Consider, for example, the former mayor of London Boris Johnson (who campaigned for the British to leave the European Union) or US presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Drama-inclined people constantly change their status on Facebook, and make a big deal out of every news.
Around us, too, there are many people with this craving for drama. Take, for example, our friends on Facebook, who constantly change their matrimonial status from “Everything is complicated” to “in search” and back. Or acquaintances who have the answer to the question “How are you?” results in a story about a whole tangle of serious problems.
These people sow chaos around themselves and enjoy the storm of emotions that it causes. It is difficult to resist the conclusion that our culture is increasingly subject to this “need for dramatization.” Otherwise, why are more and more voters, as if for fun, opting for destabilization and demagoguery? Is it possible that creating a storm is the only option that those who feel powerless see before them?
“A high” need for dramatization “is inherent in people with an external locus of control”, – explains journalist Melissa Dahl (Melissa Dahl), specializing in psychology. In other words, people with this type of personality believe that certain events happen to them under the influence of external circumstances, they do not see their responsibility for what happened. This is a reasonable explanation – in cases where events are determined by politicians in power spheres or an economic crisis that has erupted in another part of the world.
When life seems boring, we want to dramatize it.
“Hearing Trump say he will build a wall on the border with Mexico, or Brexit leaders proclaim that there will be no more immigrants in the country, is like buying a lottery ticket,” writes Irish writer and journalist Fintan O’Toole. . – You do not need to believe that you will definitely win 100 million. But just the thought of such a fantastic opportunity helps to dispel boredom.
The correctness of these words is confirmed by a new study conducted by social psychologists from King’s College London and the University of Limerick in Ireland. The participants in the experiment were given the task of rewriting different texts and at the same time preparing concrete mixes. After doing such a boring, monotonous job, political lyrics became more extreme.
When life seems boring and at the same time instills uncertainty, it is not surprising that we want to dramatize it.
See The Guardian website for more details.
About the Author:
Oliver Burkeman is a British publicist and author of The Antidote. An antidote for an unhappy life” (Eksmo, 2014).