Depression is a serious problem that, despite increasing knowledge of what it is every day, remains unknown to many people, including those who work in the field of psychology.
Despite extensive research on mood problems, it has not been possible to definitively establish what the causes of depression are or how to avoid it. In recent decades, there has been talk about the importance that emotional intelligence could have as an influential factor in the appearance of the disorder, especially whether a person manifests humble personality traits.
That is why in this article we are going to talk about the relationship between depression and humility speaking in depth about emotional intelligence and, also, some differences that have been seen between cultures on this matter.
Before addressing the relationship between depression and humility in greater depth, it is necessary, first of all, to highlight the importance of understanding the causes behind depression. Next, it is necessary to understand how emotional intelligence, which could include humility, plays an important role in explaining the appearance of mood problems.
Depression is widely known, even outside of academia. Everyone is capable of listing some of the characteristic symptoms of this disorder, such as, for example, negative mood, sadness, anhedonia, inability to feel pleasure and irritability. According to the WHO, depression is among the main health problems of the world population, generating suffering both personally and in the patient’s environment.
It is for these reasons that psychological research has focused on finding out what factors are behind the appearance of depression. This would not only be for a therapeutic purpose, improving current treatments by making them more precise, but it would also serve to prevent the appearance of this mood disorder.
In recent years, An attempt has been made to explain the appearance of depression by relating it to the patient’s emotional intelligence This intelligence is understood, today, as the set of skills related to the regulation, control and correct use of emotions when having to make a decision, especially when it is related to some aspect that will determine mental health and of the person, both in the short and long term.
Based on the definition previously given, the individual’s ability to know how to identify both the emotion that he experiences and that expressed by others is a vital factor to have a correct psychological adjustment. High levels of emotional intelligence have been linked to a greater sense of emotional well-being, less stress, a more positive mood, higher self-esteem, less depression, greater optimism, and more satisfaction with life in general.
On the contrary, it is understood that by having limited emotional intelligence, one would have poor control of negative emotions, directly associated with the manifestation of stress and depression. It has been seen that patients who have been diagnosed with depression present deficits when it comes to recognizing emotions in others.
Relationship between depression and humility
Once the relationship between the broad concept of emotional intelligence and mood is understood, it is possible to give way to a better understanding of the relationship between depression and humility.
Traditionally, in psychology, when it comes to understanding what well-being is, the focus has been on the way in which people perceive and experience their lives in a positive way. It had been considered that if a person carried out positive self-evaluations and had a good degree of motivation in the face of life’s adversities, the subject could be considered a happy and psychologically adapted person.
However, while it is true that the extensive research that has addressed this has seen that having a good conception of oneself, even if it is an illusion, is something that can increase well-being, it is not everyone’s opinion. There are several researchers who have seen that Being highly motivated and having an overly positive view of oneself can lead to potential harm both to their interpersonal adjustment and to their individual well-being.
Thus, several investigations have seen that those people who take a more humble and modest view of themselves enjoy greater well-being. This aspect has been something that has caught the attention of psychologists in recent decades, and it has been proposed to address it both taking into account cultural and generational differences.
Humility has been related to better regulation of one’s own mental health less negative affect, greater self-efficacy, respect and kindness towards other people that translate into good interpersonal relationships as well as better cooperation in group tasks.
Despite all this, as with practically everything in psychology, it is necessary to define exactly what is meant by humility in the world of psychologists. Usually, behavioral science tries to define this concept in, of course, behavioral terms. By humility we could understand the fact that recognize one’s own limitations in social situations implying that one’s own traits and capabilities are not that big of a deal.
The group of Chen et al. (2009) tried to find out what the components of humility were, coming to the conclusion that they would be the following three:
With these three components proposed here it can be understood that humility consists, to be more precise, in Don’t give too much importance to your own strengths valuing the capabilities of others above one’s own and trying to go unnoticed in social situations, without standing out.
The humble person focuses more on others than on themselves, and not in terms of envy or wanting to be like others. She opts for self-regulatory behaviors, highlighting the importance of others and without feeling distressed about lacking certain characteristics. In this way, without envy and knowing how to see the best in others, the person feels good about themselves, enjoying a high degree of well-being
It is also worth noting that the humble person, since he does not usually envy others, does not make risky decisions to feed his ego or try to stand out from others. For example, relating psychopathological disorders, anorexic people, who tend to have very perfectionist traits, feel great social pressure that pushes them to try to achieve the current impossible standards of beauty. This translates into all the problems related to eating disorders.
Humility is a protective factor against the manifestation of depression, given that the person already feels comfortable with how they are, without seeking to satisfy the vision of others about what they expect from them or what, at a social level, they are expected to achieve. Being aware that she is not perfect nor will she be, the humble person does not try to achieve the impossible and that is why she does not feel frustrated.
Despite everything mentioned in the previous section, it is worth saying that differences have been found between countries which could dismantle, to a certain extent, the fact that humility is a protective factor against psychological problems, especially depression and anxiety.
Some of the research that has addressed this issue has seen that humility correlates negatively with subjective happiness. It should be said that this has been seen in samples of adolescents from Western countries and that, taking into account that puberty is a time of great changes in which one seeks to stand out and create a group of friends, it is logical to think that those who try to Going unnoticed ends up feeling isolated from others, leading to marginalization and depression.
On the other hand, yes It has been seen in Asian cultures that humility is a protective factor for mental health In countries like China, Japan and Korea, which are much more collectivist societies than Europe or North America, humility is seen as a socially desirable and fundamental objective in interacting with others. Whoever is modest is a person who, on a social level, has triumphed.
That is why, taking into account these cultural differences, it is expected that adults from Asian countries who already have humble traits will enjoy a higher degree of well-being. On the one hand, and in relation to what was previously mentioned, because they do not worry about standing out or being the best and, on the other hand, because they enjoy a trait that is highly valued at a social level.
