Security is a feeling of confidence, safety and freedom from fear and anxiety. It is a feeling that meets a person’s various needs now and in the future. It is a premonition of possible physical or psychological dangers or risks. And the individual’s sense of power/powerlessness in dealing with the situation, mainly manifested as a sense of certainty and controllability. Insecurity refers to an emotional experience manifested through emotional experience, physiological reactions and behavioral intentions when an individual faces risks, pressure and various threatening internal and external environments.
Security is the first element of psychological needs (eating, sleep, sexual needs, etc. are all physiological needs), and it is the most basic and important component of personality. The establishment of a sense of security is in childhood, especially within one year of age. The establishment of a sense of security at this time is obtained from the parents, especially the mother.
Insecurity is a common basic psychological characteristic of human beings. When it is within a general range, it is often not regarded as a symptom of pathology. Insecurity is the common personality basis of all neuroses. When insecurity occurs but no object can be found, it is an anxiety disorder. When it shows tension, fear and avoidance in interpersonal interactions, it can range from social anxiety to social phobia; when it is extremely uncertain about one’s own health, it manifests as hypochondriasis. When you feel extremely insecure and use various methods to control, but do not give up after control fails, and try harder to continue to control, it manifests as obsessive-compulsive disorder; when control fails and leads to despair, it manifests as dysthymia. People who are insecure often feel lonely, forgotten, and abandoned. They have attitudes of distrust, jealousy, arrogance, hatred, and hostility towards others, and have a tendency to be pessimistic; they show obsessive introspection, pathological self-blame, and self-allergy. etc.
Secure and insecure people each have certain characteristics. To this end, Maslow made a comparison from 14 aspects, and the analysis is as follows:
1. Those who lack security
- Feeling rejected, not accepted, left out, or jealous or discriminated against.
- Feeling lonely, forgotten, and abandoned.
- Frequent feelings of threat, danger, and anxiety.
- Understand the world and life as danger, darkness, hostility, and challenges, like an arena full of killing each other.
- Seeing others as fundamentally bad, evil, selfish, or dangerous.
- Have an attitude of distrust, jealousy, arrogance, hatred, and hostility towards others.
- Tend to be pessimistic.
- Always tend to be dissatisfied.
- Feeling of tension and fatigue, nervousness, nightmares, etc. caused by tension.
- Display obsessive introspection, pathological self-blame, and oversensitivity.
- Feelings of guilt and shyness, self-condemnation and even suicidal tendencies.
- Troubled by various self-valuation emotions, such as pursuit of power and status, pathological idealism, desire for money and power, jealousy of privileges, masochistic tendencies, pathological meekness, low self-esteem, etc.
- Continuously strive for greater safety, showing various neurotic tendencies, self-defensive tendencies, evasive tendencies, etc.
- Selfishness and self-centeredness.
2. Those with a sense of security
- Feeling liked and accepted by others, and feeling warmth and enthusiasm from others.
- Have a sense of belonging and feel like a member of a group.
- Feel safe and worry-free.
- Understand the world and life as comfort, warmth, friendship, and kindness, and we are all brothers.
- Treat others as basically friendly and well-intentioned.
- Be trustworthy, tolerant, friendly and enthusiastic towards others.
- Have a tendency to be optimistic.
- Tend to be satisfied.
- Feeling relaxed and calm.
- Be cheerful and show object-centered, problem-centered, and world-centered tendencies rather than egocentric tendencies.
- Self-acceptance and self-forgiveness.
- Strive for the necessary power to solve the problem and focus on the problem rather than on dominating it. Determined, positive, and have a good self-esteem.
- Face reality with a realistic attitude.
- Socially concerned, cooperative, kind and compassionate.
A sense of security is one of the important factors in measuring a person’s mental health. The famous American humanistic psychologist Maslow combined his long-term clinical experience in psychological counseling to compile the ‘Safety-Insecurity Questionnaire’, which includes 75 questions.
This test is used to understand the psychological characteristics of different individuals. Therefore, there is no right or wrong, good or bad answer to each question, so you don’t have to have any worries.
Please read the meaning of each question clearly, and answer honestly as quickly as possible based on your actual situation and true thoughts.
