Emotions and feelings are an integral part of a person. We rejoice, laugh, cry, sad, yearn. Through emotions we experience life and express our feelings to the world, to other people and events. This is how our psyche works. But there are people whose emotional reactions deviate somewhat from their usual forms. One of these factors is called exaltation or affectively exalted behavior. It is characteristic of individuals with very vivid emotional experiences. Sometimes reaching the point of absurdity. Let's take a closer look at exaltation in psychology, what it means and what are the signs of behavior.
What is exaltation?
Exaltation is a special emotional state in which a person experiences unnatural inspiration and enthusiasm, often without having sufficiently compelling reasons for this. It can manifest itself in different forms. For example, a person suddenly begins to dream about something very emotionally, colorfully imagining his dream and experiencing such happiness as if it had already come true.
Exaltation is also called short-term conditions in which a person’s excitability sharply increases, his muscles are in good shape, and the nervous system reacts to the smallest stimuli. Usually this condition passes quickly and is replaced by inhibition of the nervous system and muscle weakness.
The term “exaltation” is derived from the Latin word exaltatio, (inspiration, elation, ascension, greatness). In addition to psychology, it is widely used in religions and various teachings. In some languages, this word is used to refer to the Christian holiday of the Exaltation. And in Mormonism, exaltation is the highest happiness that a person will receive in the Kingdom of Heaven.
People with mental disorders often fall into exaltation. For them, it arises for no reason and is expressed as strong pathological arousal, during which their mood rapidly changes, and with it, thoughts and behavior. Also in this state they experience increased motor activity.
Exaltation in astrology
The concept of exaltation is widely used in astrology, and it does not mean a state of personality, but a special location of a celestial body.
So, to indicate that the planet is not in its own house and is moving along its trajectory, looking into other “houses,” they say that “the planet is in exaltation .
Accordingly, it affects a certain zodiac sign differently. Astrologers believe that in its house the planet works intuitively and instinctively , being in exaltation - emotionally and sensually.
Exalted personality type
The German psychiatrist Karl Leonhard is known for compiling one of the first character typologies and introducing the concept of personality accentuations into psychology. His classification includes an affectively exalted or simply exalted type of accentuation. Personalities belonging to this type easily fall into a state of exaltation for any reason.
People with an exalted type of personality accentuation perceive pleasant news with delight and react emotionally to the smallest troubles. The word “exaltation” is often used to describe their character. Thus, exaltation is a characteristic feature of people who easily fall into a state of exaltation , react too enthusiastically to good news and become overly upset by unpleasant news.
What to do if exaltation reaches you
Oddly enough, it is not psychologists, but linguists who can very clearly explain what exaltation is. The meaning of the word comes from the Latin noun exaltatio, which means “emotion”, “inspiration”. The same semantics is observed in the concept that is used today. This state can manifest itself not only in the form of active delight for any reason, but also in the form of an ordinary dreamy mood. For example, if a person suddenly decided to skip one day of work and instead had a lonely picnic in a local park, lay down on the grass and began to count the clouds, most likely he was “infused” with exaltation. This state can be relaxing, but only if the person notices something is wrong in time and is able to calm himself down. But if there is no end in sight to the exaltation, it means that it is better to simply leave the person alone for a while and, if possible, not laugh at his jokes out of place.
Signs of exaltation
To understand that your friend (or you) has an exalted type of personality accentuation, you need to pay attention to the degree of emotionality of the person. Typically, such people do not hold back their feelings, reacting to everything quite sincerely and without trying to hide their emotions. They also have good taste, they pay attention to their appearance, try to dress fashionably and look stylish.
Exalted individuals are often interested in religion and are carried away by various teachings. As a rule, they achieve some success in creative activities, since their emotionality helps them develop good artistic taste. Thanks to their sensuality, they are able to understand in advance what emotions their creation will evoke in the viewer or reader.
Also, such people have well-developed empathy. They subtly sense other people's emotions, literally feel someone else's pain on a physical level, and because of the troubles of a loved one, they worry more than they do themselves. Excited individuals easily make self-sacrifice and willingly help those who describe their problem emotionally enough (and their friends often take advantage of this).
The main manifestations of exaltation:
- Sociability. Such individuals love to communicate. They quickly find a common language with strangers and always know what to talk about with loved ones.
- Smiling. When communicating, they almost always smile, usually making a pleasant impression on their interlocutors.
- Amorousness. They quickly become attached to people and fall in love easily, but these feelings are usually flighty and pass just as quickly.
- Touchiness. They are offended by every little thing (for example, a lack of attention from a loved one).
- Alarmism. Any minor trouble causes them great upset, and doubts can plunge them into panic.
In addition, individuals with an exalted type of accentuation often get into arguments and argue quite heatedly, but try to maintain the most friendly tone towards their opponent. In dangerous situations, they are unable to hide their fear; they immediately develop a noticeable trembling in their voice and other manifestations of panic.
Signs of an exalted person
Exaltation of feelings provokes constant stimulation of the nervous system in a person. Such individuals tend to exaggerate everything, even the most ordinary things and situations.
A factor that a person with a normal degree of exaltation will not pay attention to can cause the accentuator to evoke the deepest experiences expressed in facial expressions, behavior, and mood.
Such people experience sudden changes in mood. They can be sad or cry, and a few minutes later they can laugh and rejoice. They are very easy to piss off. Sometimes the reactions of exalted individuals are quite unexpected and not even adequate. For example, if you accidentally hit an accentuator with your shoulder in a narrow corridor, he is capable of giving out a whole debate about how you need to watch where you are going and fall into severe frustration.
In psychology, exaltation is considered as a special property of temperament, close to psychopathy. But this does not mean that such people are abnormal or sick. Affective outbursts of uncontrollable emotions have nothing to do with psychiatric diagnoses, although their form of behavior deviates from normal norms. Nevertheless, exalted individuals in psychology and medicine are considered as people with preserved mental health.
Interesting facts about exaltation
- Women are more susceptible to exaltation than men.
- This temperament trait is inherent in approximately 13-15% of the world's population.
- Increased emotionality is in most cases not an acquired quality, but an innate type of temperament and it manifests itself in a person from childhood.
- Often exaltation is transmitted at the genetic level from parent to child.
- Exalted people are more susceptible to depression and neuroses, since they are very worried about even minor unpleasant situations and take everything to heart.
- Temporary increased accentuation can be observed in adolescents and pregnant women, which is associated with the restructuring of the hormonal system and its influence on the psycho-emotional background.
- Creative individuals are more prone to increased exaltation than people with an analytical mindset.
- Many people with congenital accentuation lack the concept of social norms of behavior. They understand that they behave differently than most, but do not consider it something abnormal. Rather, on the contrary, such people allow themselves to be themselves and know that many simply behave with restraint due to social stereotypes.
- The trait of exaltation can be formed in a child with increased parental care or, conversely, with insufficient attention and love on their part.
Causes of exaltation
In defining what exaltation is, we found that this condition usually has no cause. It occurs very quickly in children - this is the norm for them. They usually express all their emotions very emotionally, accompanied by intense gestures. Children are characterized by exaltation; they can feel delighted or throw tantrums over little things.
In adults, exaltation can persist or develop for reasons such as:
- Genetic predisposition. Accented personality traits are often passed on to children from their parents.
- Wrong upbringing. This character trait can be formed in childhood due to overprotection or lack of parental attention.
- Incorrect self-esteem. The reason may be either low or high self-esteem.
- Inability to satisfy basic needs. If a person experiences communication problems or cannot build relationships, he also begins to perceive everything overly emotionally.
- Incorrect understanding of morality and ethics. Excited behavior may be the result of a misunderstanding of how to behave in society.
- Conflicts with peers at school. Childhood trauma resulting from conflicts and bullying (what is it?) can also lead to increased emotionality in adulthood.
- Past illnesses. Some illnesses can cause a person to react too sensitively to any changes in well-being.
- Professional deformation. Representatives of different professions are prone to specific manifestations of emotions and in certain situations can fall into exaltation.
Pros of exaltation
When explaining what exaltation is, they first of all talk about positive emotions. And for good reason. Exalted individuals are friendly and positive, thanks to which they easily find a common language with other people. Their lives are brighter because they experience a lot of pleasant emotions from new experiences. They enjoy visiting museums, viewing monuments and architectural sights. Any vacation turns into a real adventure for them.
In addition, such people are kind and always ready to help, thanks to which they quickly form friendships. In their personal and family life, they are usually more successful because they feel their partner well and love to please their loved ones. They often have talents that help them to be popular and also achieve success in certain professions related to performances or social activities.
Exalted people - what are they like?
Very often people are mistaken, understanding by exaltation pretentiousness in clothing, style, extravagant behavior that allows a person to visually stand out in his environment.
In fact, exaltation can only be called features of a person’s temperament and nature, which determine his demeanor, and to some extent, his way of thinking and way of life.
In certain cases, we can say that a person “fell into exaltation,” and this state is typical for impressionable, creative natures that live by emotions.
An exalted person can be completely absorbed by such emotional manifestations as a feeling of love for art and nature, passion, and the search for one’s own path.
These people are very worried about their loved ones and acquaintances, they are acutely worried about what is happening to them, even when they themselves do not consider what happened to be a serious event. They are capable of falling into despair only by sympathizing with an animal that they consider lonely.
For example, a woman in a state of exaltation can shelter an unfortunate kitten from the street, and the next day she will return it to the same place, since the animal’s playful behavior or inability to immediately get accustomed to the litter box will unbalance her. At the same time, she will internally suffer from the committed act.
Unfortunately, exalted people are often unable to control their emotions, and therefore can cause inconvenience to others with their tendency to dramatize and panic, often for no reason.
Among the positive features of exalted people, it can be noted that they know how to empathize, support loved ones in a timely manner, and sincerely rejoice with them.
German psychiatrist Karl Leonhard believed that exalted individuals are endowed with a “temperament of anxiety and happiness,” because sometimes they need only a small push to move from a state of jubilation to a state of anxiety and melancholy, and this transition can be provoked by a stain on a shirt or a lack of attention from a loved one and even a glimpse of news heard in the media.
For exalted people, emotions come first; feelings are not restrained, since experiences lie at the core of the lives of such individuals.
That’s why they most often choose professions related to art, creativity, and religion. It is among actors that you can find the largest number of people with increased emotionality.
Exaltation is also called short-term periods during which a person has increased excitability of muscle and nervous tissues, which is subsequently replaced by a stage of decreased excitability.
Such a change in mood - from delight to disappointment - is characteristic of exalted individuals. These people are very talkative, capable of arguing, but very rarely conflict, trying to avoid sharp corners.
You can often hear about affective exaltation. A number of psychologists believe that it is a mild form of psychopathy. But it is difficult to attribute such manifestations to mental illness, although outwardly everything may look exactly like a mental disorder.
Such people more often realize themselves in professions related to art and religion. They manage to create such works that cause a serious intensity of emotions among readers, listeners, and contemplators of their creations. There are especially many of them in the acting environment. After all, representatives of this profession need to constantly change images and direct a powerful emotional flow to other people.
Often in the wake of momentary experiences, they are ready to help anyone who, in their opinion, needs help. But the very next day their view of the problem may suddenly change to the opposite. And so, a kitten picked up on the street in the evening ends up in the same place in the morning.
At the same time, while such a person is on a wave of compassion, he shows miracles of altruism and is ready to give his “last shirt” to his neighbor if he is convinced that for someone this is a matter of life and death.
This phenomenon is possible during a natural disaster, for example, a fire or flood. Or during significant social phenomena, for example, during military operations.
Disadvantages of exaltation
The inability to control your own emotions can have a negative impact on your relationships with other people. Exalted individuals are often treated lightly or warily. They find it difficult in situations in which other people feel quite natural and at ease.
Often, individuals with an exalted type of accentuation have problems moving up the career ladder, because their managers simply do not take them seriously and are not ready to entrust them with serious responsibilities. Despite their openness and good nature, such people often unwittingly push away those whom they immediately liked and aroused pleasant emotions.
An exalted person himself usually does not understand that he pushes people away with his temperament. This aggravates his situation, because not understanding the problem, he does not try to solve it, but attributes everything to the injustice of fate. As a consequence of this, another serious problem for such people is bad habits that help them suppress unnecessary experiences.
How does an exalted person live?
Not all individuals with a similar temperament consider its manifestations to be their problem.
.
Confidence in their own infallibility does not allow them to understand that for most of their failures in life they have no one to blame but themselves
. These people often make mistakes. Being poorly adapted to everyday life, they cannot cope with the “prosa of life”, they can become drunk, get bogged down in everyday problems, and thoughtlessly lose their home.
At the beginning of life, while your parents are nearby
, close people - they participate in their fate and do not allow something irreparable to happen.
Over the years, these people are more likely than others to be plagued by loneliness
. One can recall quite a lot of such broken destinies using the examples of great artists and famous artists who died in loneliness and poverty.
But even if the person himself is aware of his peculiarity and would like to get rid of exaltation - alas. No one is given their own natural temperament and mental characteristics
change by the power of desire alone and the knowledge of what exaltation is.
Exalted personality type
Exaltation is a state of enthusiasm and emotional arousal, accompanied by increased mental activity, often expressed in inspiration or daydreaming. Without exaggeration, an exalted personality type can be called hysterical, neurotic, sensual. The meaning of the word suggests nervousness, hot temperament and excitability of an individual prone to exaltation.
These natures tend to love passionately, all-consumingly, unconditionally, which often dooms them to loneliness. Fully emotionally surrendering to their partner, they expect an adequate response. In her absence, they become disappointed in their chosen one. The initiator of a break in a relationship can be an exalted person (not receiving a reciprocal impulse of passion) or his partner, tired of expression and excessive display of feelings.
