Of the five major personality factors, emotional reactivity is most closely associated with psychological health and well-being. This factor has been identified by many researchers as, e.g., anxiety, neuroticism or emotionality. It reflects the tendency to be tense, anxious, easily upset or high strung. However, the eTest personality inventory was normed on a well adjusted sample (business people as a population typically score higher as a group on measures of psychological stability and emotional adjustment than do people in the general population). Therefore, a high score on this measure doesn’t necessarily indicate pathology or abnormality when compared to people in general. If the primary score is extremely high, the person may be stress-prone or possibly going through an upsetting or anxiety-provoking experience. In the case of extremely high scores, it’s helpful to find out if they are an indication of State Anxiety (a response to a particularly stressful situation) or Trait Anxiety (a more generalized pattern of tension, emotional reactivity or anxiety). High scores are an indication of negative emotion.
People scoring high on the primary factor of Emotional Reactivity describe themselves as tense, anxious, easily upset, impulsive, emotional and reactive. Low scorers see themselves as relaxed, calm, stress tolerant, complacent, etc. In addition to the score for the primary domain of this trait, the eTest profile generates the following three related sub-scores. These facets add nuance to the overall reactivity score and help predict how the primary trait is likely to be expressed.
Insecurity. This is the one score that is most likely to be an indicator of potential stress-proneness. People with high scores here describe themselves in such terms as nervous, worrying, insecure, frustrated, preoccupied, moody, uncomfortable, stress-prone, anxious, suspicious and self-punishing.
Expressiveness. This facet reflects a theme of excitability and tendency to seek attention rather than the more uncomfortable aspects of insecurity described above. People scoring high here see themselves as status-seeking, attention-seeking, power-oriented, pleasure-seeking, ego-driven, excitable, extreme, impulsive, loud, emotional, etc.
Frustration Proneness. High scorers here tend to show a direct, stubborn and hot headed style of dealing with frustration, tension and anxiety. They describe themselves as hard-headed, argumentative, controlling, impatient, stubborn, intimidating, hot-tempered, moody, brusque, agitated, headstrong, etc.
As noted previously, no personality trait is inherently positive or negative. There are potential upsides and downsides to any point along the spectrum. The further towards the endpoints (high or low), the more pronounced and observable the behaviors associated with the particular trait under consideration are likely to be. People with exceptionally high or low scores are likely to demonstrate both the positives and negatives associated with the characteristic under scrutiny.
We can’t change our personalities to any significant extent, but we can learn new behaviors and skills. We can get better at most anything, given the appropriate goals and the insight, resources and motivation to achieve them. Below are some thought questions and suggestions for people with high or low scores on this trait.
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