Examples Of Abnormal Behaviour

tatistically, common behaviour is defined as 'normal ' which results in statistically rare behaviour being defined as 'abnormal '. There has been difficulty in coming to an agreement on just how statistically rare behaviour has to be in order for it to be classed as abnormal. At some point in our lives, we will all demonstrate some form of abnormal behaviour. Many mental disorders such as phobias are not statistically rare enough to be defined as abnormal. An example of how difficult it is to define abnormality is that both mental retardation and genius are both statistically rare however only mental retardation is classed as abnormal. There may also be certain cultures who behave a particular way, who deem their behaviour normal but when …show more content…
Marie Jahoda came up with a list of 6 criteria that should be met to be deemed not abnormal which are self-attitudes, self-actualisation, autonomy, resistance to stress, environmental mastery and having an accurate perception of reality. Self-attitudes are concentrating on the person’s level of self-esteem, the person should be happy with themselves and their positive attitude should be kept at a good level. Self-actualisation is feeling like you are the best you can possibly be and being content with your life and how you live it. Autonomy is when a person doesn’t need to depend on any other individuals as the can function on their own and being independent and also self-reliance. Resistance to stress is when an individual should be capable of handling stressful situations or generally not feel under stress. Environmental mastery is when a person can be at ease regardless of what situation they are in. Accurate perception of reality concentrates on how an individual see’s the world around them. Jahoda believes that for an individual to achieve ideal mental health all the above criteria should be experienced, if they are not all met then the individual will more than likely experience difficulties (Willard,