It’s hard for us to feel like we’re wrong, and it’s even harder for us to hear that from others. As it turns out, there’s a psychological basis for both of these elements.
Our brains view criticism as a threat to our survival Because our brains are protective of us, neuroscientists say they go out of their way to make sure we always feel like we’re in the right—even when we’re not.
And when we receive criticism, our brain tries to protect us from the threat it perceives to our place in the social order of things.
“Threats to our standing in the eyes of others are remarkably potent biologically, almost as those to our very survival,” says psychologist Daniel Goleman.
It depends on our ages, experiences, altitude and culture and also the maturity of us!
At my age and experience , I can accept very easily the criticism while when I was 20 , my reactions were 180 degree different although I myself have never shown the aggressive behaviour but I easily broke and shattered when I was young!
https://www.google.ae/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiZydWczcXYAhVDIMAKHVgLBb4QFggrMAE&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fastcompany.com%2F3039412%2Fthe-art-science-to-giving-and-receiving-criticism-at-work&usg=AOvVaw0o-quUq0tjQAoANsRwlWO7
It depends on our ages, experiences, altitude and culture and also the maturity of us!
At my age and experience , I can accept very easily the criticism while when I was 20 , my reactions were 180 degree different although I myself have never shown the aggressive behaviour but I easily broke and shattered when I was young!
I think I take positive criticism in good faith and that's because I stayed with very old people at tender age. These people taught me never to despise constructive criticism and that I should also see those that criticize destructively as a set that must be part of society to make it whole and complete. For these reasons, I take any type of criticism with utmost respect, calmness and maturity. Best wishes
The reaction is different according to the person who directs the criticism, the motives, if the criticism for the sake of performance improvement is based on clear grounds why not, perfect for God. Usually no one sees my reaction either with praise or criticism, it is inside and has not changed over the years
Hi
human brains view criticism as a threat to the survival Because it responsible for protective the body.
regards
For any criticism related with my research/ scientific work, I feel delighted!
I feel it because it opens the hidden lanes of my brain to answer the criticism.
But in service or social life, I generally do not respond.
An intelligent person will utilize criticism to verify his work and get corrections required.
Hi,
Actually this is not very simple to respond to this question because we should consider many items for responding to this question, as following:
First, there are many parts in the brain which are involved while we hear a sound or music or sentence such as Broadman's areas 41, 42, 43 and 21 and 22 .... As you know area 41 is responsible to registering the acoustic stimuli and 42 along with 22 ( auditory association cortex) are responsible to memory and classification of the stimuli. You can find many valid documents that show the connection between Hippocampus and area 22. So when we receive criticism, for instance a sentence from someone, the Limbic system also activated meanwhile in frontal lobe also some areas are involved. Here I wrote only about hearing system meanwhile we can receive a criticism through another sensory modality which has a close connection with hearing system through Broadman's areas 20, 37, 38 and 39. Let us go to an upper level, that is perception ....
Second, after receiving a stimulus through the hearing or visual system it should be perceived and that is the time of starting the networks activity in our brain. That is, stimulus sends to the different parts of the brain means perception in our brain is the resultant of the activity of different networks, for instance the frontal lobe contributes in perception and also in judgement .....
Third, some researches have shown that our brain does not accept telling lie means our brain evokes if we want to tell something which is not right. As we have a semantic or syntax corrector in our brain, also we have a system in our brain that its work is matching our reactions with our working memory and memorized experiences. If there are differences between the memory and our reactions the brain shows reaction.
By the way, our brain is responsible to protect us but human brain does not follow Machiavellism. Anyway, this field is very wide and responding to this question needs to more search.
No one really likes to be criticized. I will talk about people with Narcissistic Personality Disorder have an unusually strong reaction. They are likely to become enraged and threatened by any type of negative feedback, even if it is meant to be helpful. They tend to feel as if your criticism is an attempt to destroy them.
Narcissists Cannot Make Use of Criticism
Narcissists find it difficult to integrate criticism into their self concept because they do not have “whole object relations” (the capacity to see themselves and other people in a realistic and integrated way that recognizes the existence in everyone of liked and disliked traits, and strengths and weaknesses).
Narcissists’ Sense of Self Is Split
Narcissists’ sense of Self is split into two separate and distinct “part-selves,” one which is all-good and one which is all-bad. There is no gray area. Everything is starkly black or white. No integration of these two part-selves ever occurs without intensive psychotherapy.
The Narcissistic All-Good Part Self: Feels special, perfect, flawless, always right, and entitled to special treatment.
The Narcissistic All-Bad Part Self: feels flawed, defective, intrinsically worthless, and unentitled.
How this Split Self System Reacts to Criticism
Any form of criticism creates an inner conflict in Narcissists. If they accept your criticism as valid, this means that they have proof that they are not perfect and always right. It also means they shift into their all-bad part of their self image and now feel deep shame because they believe that the truth of the criticism proves that they are worthless garbage.
Do you want to see yourself as worthless garbage? No? Well, neither do Narcissists.
In order to maintain their sense of being all-good, they have to deny the truth of your criticism. You must be wrong! Moreover, they take it a step further. You cannot be allowed to continue criticizing them and spreading wrong information.
They Insist You Take “It” Back
Narcissists are not content to simply say that they do not agree with your criticism, because that implies that there can be two different points of view about them. They are caught in a black and white thought system. If they are right, you must admit that you are wrong.
They Will Bully You
If you are unwilling to admit you were 100% wrong to criticize them, they will now relentlessly and abusively bully you until you change your opinion or leave. I am often surprised at how much energy Narcissists can summon to keep this bullying going!
They Go to War Against You
If their attempts to bully you into surrendering your view and taking back your criticism are not effective, you are now officially considered “the enemy.” They go to war against you until something else grabs their attention.
Punchline: If you criticize a Narcissist, you become their enemy. They cannot integrate your criticism and use it to improve themselves. They can only experience it as an attack on their self-esteem. They will then attack you back. It is pointless to confront a Narcissist unless you like to fight.
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