Amygdala hijack
Κατάληψη από την αμυγδαλή
A popular name for the moment a reaction is produced faster than the judgement about whether to have it. It is a description rather than a measurement: the person who introduced it was synthesising work by other researchers, and parts of that synthesis have been argued over since.
How to spot it
Notice one sign in yourself: your answer was already formed while the other sentence was still being said.
The research behind the term
The term is not our invention. It comes from published research, and what follows is what that research found — our own synthesis of the published abstract, not a translation of the original.
Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional Intelligence — πηγή
What it found
- The established conception of human intelligence is too narrow and overlooks abilities that weigh decisively on the course of a person's life.
- Emotional intelligence includes self-awareness, impulse control, persistence, self-motivation, empathy, and social deftness.
- Deficits in these abilities carry a real personal cost, from difficulties in relationships to physical and mental health problems.
How it found it
A popular book that synthesizes findings from brain and behavioral research and presents cases of people with a high IQ who function poorly — it is not a primary empirical study, and several of its claims have since been discussed critically in the academic literature.
What it means for conflict management
Impulse control is exactly the point at which a disagreement either escalates or de-escalates.
Practised in
The term does not stay a definition. It appears inside missions where the pattern happens in real time and you have to recognise it as it happens to you.
Three Seconds in the Open
Sources
Every claim on this page maps to published research. The citations link to the original source.
- Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional Intelligence — Source on penguinrandomhouse.com