neurotic
Summary
Neurotic describes someone high in neuroticism, the Big Five trait of emotional instability: a tendency toward anxiety, worry, moodiness and other negative emotions. The testable point is that this is one end of a continuous trait (opposite: emotional stability), not a diagnosis.
Detail
Meaning: In trait theory, neuroticism is one of the Big Five dimensions (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism). A person scoring high reacts more strongly to stress and is more prone to anxiety, irritability, self-consciousness and sadness. A person scoring low is calm, even-tempered and emotionally stable. Eysenck's model also uses neuroticism (stable versus unstable) as one of its two main dimensions, alongside extraversion versus introversion. Trait theories treat these dispositions as fairly consistent across situations and over time, and twin studies suggest they are partly heritable.
On the MCAT: A passage may describe a questionnaire or a person's typical behavior and ask which Big Five trait is being measured, or ask you to match a description such as "frequently worries and is easily upset" to neuroticism. You may also be asked to compare people on a trait scale or to interpret what a high versus low score predicts about reactions to stress. In older psychodynamic writing, "neurotic" refers to anxiety-driven conflict handled with defense mechanisms, which is a separate usage.
Common confusion: Neurotic does not mean psychotic or mentally ill. Neuroticism is a normal dimension on which everyone has some score. It is also not the same as introversion, which belongs to the separate extraversion dimension. A high "emotional stability" score means low neuroticism.
Sources
- Psychology
- Introduction to Psychology
Written for the MCAT and checked before it was published. For study reference only. Spotted an error? Let us know.