The expression: to be closed-minded? It has been integrated into popular language for a long time, it is a phrase that we use when someone you know has a mental rigidity, that is, does not understand or does not want to understand a different point of view from yours or, on the contrary, the one who, trying to be right, loses his temper when trying to convince us of our mistake.
Thus, one could say that when we talk about someone of “closed mind”, we think of a person who rejects different approaches, ideas or perspectives, to settle and “close” in his own ideas and mental patterns. Certainly, the one who tries to involve the world in his own head, not the other way around.
- This expression.
- Like many others that have also become popular.
- Has its points when we designate it by psychology.
- So could you say that expression?Be closed-minded? It has different variants in psychology as a discipline.
- We focus on one of them.
- Because of its proximity in terms of meaning.
Mental rigidity implies a lack of flexibility and mental openness to see approaches from different angles, to support criticism of something we take for granted and to live rather than survive. As a term, it was often used by clinical psychology, either as a phenomenon, symptom or personality trait. Here are some examples:
This second sense of the word gives a small boost to these close friends. The need for cognitive closure refers to the need to eliminate the uncertainty presented by a thought or situation. This need would be set in motion, motivating the person to give a simple answer: The greater the need for fences, the more energy will be used to accept the response and defend it.
Although this does not imply that the answer is good, true, authentic or simply healthy, but what does this have to do with closed-minded people?Very simple. Imagine that one day the ashes begin to fall from the sky, something inexplicable at first, because there is no volcano around, or anything that can produce ash on such a large scale.
What closed-minded people would say, or someone who has a great need for cognitive closure, is that it’s not gray, it’s snow. And in general, they would no longer serve.
Now imagine the next situation, involving the person emotionally, let’s say a family member has died, the person who has a great need for closure?Can’t we forget the individual differences? I will try to respond to the great uncertainty of death, in a definitive and perhaps more painful way, you will hold the doctors accountable for channeling your hatred, or you will feel guilty about your mistakes with the deceased.
There are many possible scenarios, but they all share the feature of immediacy and momentum, when there are times when these factors do not help. This is the characteristic that connects the need for cognitive closure with the expression “being closed-minded”: immediacy and low tolerance to uncertainty drives people to react, not allowing them to seek a new response.
The answer to this question is divided into two parts: come on, we talk about rigidity as a kind of cognitive personality trait and the need for mental closure, observing its logical functioning for a need that, to a greater or lesser extent, we all have: overcoming uncertainty.
Starting with the first thing, we must be honest with ourselves and ask ourselves if we are just looking for explanations or giving them, if we let our friends finish talking, if we let curiosity triumph over the temptation to stick to the first answer from time to time. , or if we can live with questions, we’re probably far from someone with a closed mind.
As we’ve seen before, being rigid isn’t a personal matter, so obviously there’s no point in saying things like, “Am I less rigid than you?”when the scale is determined by each.
On the other hand, regarding the need for closure, it must be said that although there are scales and tests to measure it (Webster & Kruglanski, 1994), in the end we all have a need for closure. There is nothing more human than seeking mental efficiency and avoiding the discomfort of not understanding something, especially if our emotions are involved in that something. Who could blame the example family member for their feelings about death?
In conclusion, we cannot forget the key point of the text: everything is in progress. It is difficult to be rigid or not to have or does not need closure. After all, while we can measure these factors, the root of the problem can only be touched by us, so perhaps our job is not to be more or less closed, but to understand why we are closed and to what extent it harms us. .