Professional activity significantly affects a person's personality. It promotes the development of various qualities required in his work. But on the other hand, the profession can have a negative impact, which psychologists call professional deformation.
Professional deformation
Professional deformation is changes in personality, character, values, behavior and other qualities that occur under the influence of professional activity. Those individuals whose work is closely related to other people are most susceptible to deformation. These are leaders, officials, psychologists, teachers, doctors, personnel specialists, managers, military personnel, etc.
Most often, professional deformation is expressed in a formal attitude towards people, increased aggressiveness, inadequate perception of situations and people, the disappearance of life and moral values. Such changes can be episodic or become a stable personality trait. A professional deformation manifests itself in the manner of behavior, speech, habits and even a person's appearance.
Types of professional deformities
One of the special cases of professional deformation is administrative delight. This state is characterized by an excessive enthusiasm for his power, intoxicated by it. This deformation leads to abuse of office, administrative arbitrariness, and abuse of one's position.
Management erosion is the second type of professional deformation. This state is inherent in representatives of leadership positions. Prolonged tenure as a leader often leads to the fact that a person begins to make ineffective and ineffective decisions. This is due to the fact that the leader reveling in power constantly strives to expand his powers and total control, and the interests of the business for him fade into the background. Tried and tested methods of leadership become ineffective, but the person continues to adhere to them, because unable to learn new management methods. "Treatment" of this type of professional deformation is removal from management or transfer to another position.
The third type of professional deformation is burnout. It is expressed in indifference, physical exhaustion, emotional exhaustion, negative attitude towards people and negative self-perception of oneself in the profession. The most susceptible to emotional burnout are individuals who lack autonomy (for example, women with low wages), as well as overly people-oriented idealists, soft, humane, obsessed with their ideas. Emotionally cold people are also prone to burnout, preferring to restrain negative feelings in themselves. The risk of developing emotional burnout increases with prolonged and intense psychoemotional activity, an unfavorable psychological atmosphere in the team, and the absence of a clear organization and planning of work.
