What causes a person to self-destruction: scientific conclusions

Compared with the vast majority of animal species, people voluntarily adopt a destructive behavior pattern: they lie, steal, cultivate bad habits, kill themselves and others. Science is still trying to understand why the most reasonable of all existing species on earth is so nasty, spiteful, seeking to self-destruction. What makes people go this way? Let's try to understand.

False

No one can answer the question of why people lie so much. But research has revealed some common psychological factors, most of which are associated with self-esteem of the individual. As soon as people begin to understand that their self-esteem is in jeopardy, they immediately begin to resort to lies "for salvation." Studies conducted by the psychologist Robert Feldman of the University of Massachusetts, demonstrated amazing results. It turns out that 2/3 of people lie at least once during a short 10 minute conversation.

Another study showed that people tend to lie on average 30% more than telling the truth. It is significant that in the workplace it is much easier to write a colleague a lie by e-mail. Workers who use obsolete methods of correspondence tend to give less false information on paper.

Violence

If you look at the history of mankind, it is impossible to trace an age where violence has not occurred and has not flourished. Researchers came to the conclusion that a person pathologically craves for manifestations of violence, and this is laid in him at the genetic level. The combination of genes can affect certain centers in the brain. True, in hundreds and even thousands of years, the thirst for blood wakes up in people all with greater and greater scope. Thus, historians argue that the ancient people were more peaceful, despite possible cases of cannibalism.

Perhaps, aggression is laid in all types of vertebrates in order to obtain and preserve vital resources: territory, food, social cell. Many researchers believe that violence is an improved trend that helped mankind in the struggle for survival. Aggression increases the chances of survival and reproduction of the species, it depends on specific social, ecological, reproductive and historical factors. There is no doubt that many vertebrates are cruel, but people are champions in this indicator.

Theft

Theft is not always motivated by necessity. In fact, in our society, kleptomaniacs thrive, experiencing pure trembling from the fact of theft, and not from possession of a thing. In one interesting survey, scientists found the percentage of people who stole in stores at least once. It turned out that out of 43,000 people, 11% confessed their sin. All these people steal not because they need things or are extremely constrained in the means. On the contrary, most kleptomaniacs are wealthy people. The researchers suggest that during the theft in the brain, endogenous opiates are released that are responsible for the sense of pleasure.

Bad habits

Despite the fact that all the harmful effects and risks of bad habits, in particular smoking, are very well known, it is very difficult for a person to get rid of this predilection. Information on the impact of tobacco, rather, does not work, because people used to live one day, not counting on a long-term perspective. Psychologists have uncovered some reasons that force people to destroy their bodies. Among them, innate disobedience, a strong need for public recognition, the inability to understand the nature of risk, an individual view of the world, a genetic predisposition. People will always justify their addictions and bad habits. For example, you can often hear that "we will all die", "it does not hurt me" or "my grandmother smoked and lived to 80 years".

Bullying

In fact, more than half of the children in the primary school can experience bullying, insults and humiliation on the part of their peers. And this causes a chain reaction. Psychologists say that if a child is humiliated or intimidated by classmates, at home he will necessarily do the same with his brothers and sisters. However, the origins of such antisocial behavior originate in the family.

This behavior is often uncontrollable and is transferred from the home environment to the social environment and vice versa.

Bullying flourishes and in adulthood at the level of various corporate structures. Thus, in the United States of America, 30% of office workers are harassed by their colleagues or superiors. This manifests itself in the form of concealment of information that is crucial to the performance of work, the spread of abusive rumors and other purposeful humiliation.

Why do people do this? Perhaps they want to get status and power or simply do not control themselves. However, scientists have discovered something similar in monkeys. Probably, such a model of behavior originates from the origins of our evolutionary tree.