Definitions of abnormality

• Identify the 4 definitions of abnormality.


  Deviation from social norms.

  Failure to function adequately.

  Statistical infrequency.

  Deviation from ideal mental health.
• Outline deviation from social norms as a definition of abnormality.


  An individual is considered abnormal if their behaviour goes against our social norms i.e. society’s standards of acceptable behaviour. 

  These norms can be explicit i.e. clearly stated (e.g. do not murder) or implicit i.e. not clearly stated but expected (e.g. not laughing at a funeral).

  E.g. people with OCD who show compulsive behaviours such as switching a light switch on and off would be considered abnormal as the social norm is to only switch it on/off once.
• Outline failure to function adequately as a definition of abnormality.


  An individual is considered abnormal if they experience distress which leads to an inability to cope with everyday life.

  This means they struggle to carry out basic everyday activities such as getting out of bed and so their behaviour is considered maladaptive (disruptive to everyday life) and can make others feel uncomfortable.

  E.g. people with depression would be considered abnormal as they experience a low mood that causes difficulty in completing routine tasks such as getting out of bed and holding down a job.
• Outline statistical infrequency as a definition of abnormality.


  An individual is considered abnormal if their behaviour is statistically uncommon/rare.

  If their behaviour falls 2 or more standard deviations away from the mean average on a normal distribution curve, they are considered abnormal.

  E.g. many disorders such as schizophrenia and OCD are rare (only affect approximately 1% of the population) so would be considered abnormal.
• Outline deviation from ideal mental health as a definition of abnormality.


  An individual is considered abnormal if they fail to meet Jahoda’s criteria which states what is considered psychologically healthy - the more criteria they fail to meet, the more abnormal they are considered.

  Examples of these criteria include having a high self-esteem, achieving self-actualisation, being able to resist stress, having an accurate perception of reality, and possessing the ability to master your environment.
• Evaluate deviation from social norms as a definition of abnormality: subjective.

  This is because different contexts make it acceptable to act in different ways. This is a limitation because if these factors are not considered, it could lead to incorrect diagnoses. E.g. In Britain, people of Afro-Caribbean descent are 7x more likely than white people to be diagnosed with schizophrenia. This is because their culture views hearing voices as communication with ancestors but this is not considered in diagnosis in Britain and so they are assumed to have auditory hallucinations.
• Evaluate deviation from social norms as a definition of abnormality: may be of little use when it comes to diagnosing people with psychological disorders.

  This is because there are some behaviours that go against society’s norms but do not indicate a psychological abnormality e.g. theft deviates from society’s standards of acceptable behaviour but does not always mean that the thief is suffering from a psychological disorder. Instead, it may just be that they needed to steal food due to living in poverty.
• Evaluate failure to function adequately as a definition of abnormality: objective definition of abnormality.

  This is because the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale can be used to assess the extent to which someone is failing to function adequately on a scale of 1-100. This is a strength because it enables psychologists to rate the severity of a person’s psychological disorder and the quantitative result removes subjective opinions.
• Evaluate failure to function adequately as a definition of abnormality: elements of subjectivity.

  E.g. to complete the GAF scale, clinicians need to subjectively rate the patient’s functioning. By also considering how the person’s behaviour makes others feel (i.e. does it make others uncomfortable?), the definition also considers the subjective opinions of others. This is a limitation because it may mean that the definition is still affected by opinions and biases and, as a result, cannot be considered fully objective.
• Evaluate failure to function adequately as a definition of abnormality: may be of little use when it comes to diagnosing people with psychological disorders.

  This is because people may show behaviours indicating a failure to function adequately but are not psychologically abnormal. E.g. an individual may struggle to get out of bed and go to work because they have lost their job and so their behaviours are due to environmental circumstances rather than a psychological abnormality.
• Evaluate statistical infrequency as a definition of abnormality: objective definition of abnormality.

  This is because the mathematical nature of this definition means that it is clear what is defined as abnormal and what is not. This is a strength of the statistical infrequency definition of abnormality because it reduces the input of subjective opinions regarding what should and should not be defined as abnormal.
• Evaluate statistical infrequency as a definition of abnormality: cut-off point can be subjective.

  An individual with an IQ score of 71 would not be considered abnormal as it is within 2 standard deviations of the average IQ (100) but an IQ score of 69 would be considered abnormal because it is more than 2 standard deviations from the average IQ, even though there is no significant difference between the two IQ scores. This is a limitation because it means we cannot be sure at what point a behaviour is rare enough for someone to be considered abnormal.
• Evaluate statistical infrequency as a definition of abnormality: may be of little use when it comes to diagnosing people with psychological disorders.

  This is because it fails to take into account behaviours that are rare but desirable. E.g. having a high IQ score of 130+ would be considered abnormal (due to being rare) but it does not indicate the person has a psychological abnormality.
• Evaluate statistical infrequency as a definition of abnormality: there are psychological disorders that are not rare e.g. depression. 


  This is a limitation because it means that common disorders such as depression would not be considered abnormal despite being considered abnormal according to other definitions e.g. deviation from ideal mental health due to low self-esteem or failure to function adequately due to inability to cope with everyday life.
• Evaluate deviation from ideal mental health as a definition of abnormality: subjective definition of abnormality.

  This is because some of the criteria require personal opinions to decide whether a person has achieved it or not. For example, it is difficult to assess whether someone has achieved self-actualisation as we can never be certain what an individual’s full potential is. This is a limitation because it means the definition cannot be considered objective when defining abnormality.
• Evaluate deviation from ideal mental health as a definition of abnormality: may be of little use when it comes to diagnosing people with psychological disorders.

  This is because Jahoda’s criteria are so demanding that very few people would meet them all. E.g. not many people are considered to have self-actualised (i.e. reached their full potential). This is a limitation because it would mean that almost everyone would be considered abnormal to some degree.