Definitions of abnormality:

• What is statistical infrequency?

  Occurs when an individual has a less common characteristic, for example being more depressed or less intelligent than most of the population.
• Example for Statistical infrequency: IQ

  • This statistical approach comes into its own when we are dealing with characteristics that can be reliably measure, for example intelligence
  • We know that in any human characteristic, the majority of people's scores will cluster around the average, and the further we go above or below that average the fewer people will obtain that score
  • This is called the normal distribution
• IQ- example:

  • the average IQ is set at 100. In a normal distribution, most people (68%) have a score in the range from 85 to 115.
  • only 2% of people have a score below 70.
  • Those individuals scoring below 70 are very unusual or 'abnormal', and are liable to receive a diagnosis of a psychological disorder- intellectual disability disorder (IDD)
• First limitation for statistical infrequency:

  • Unusual characteristics can be positive.
  • IQ scores over 130 are just as unusual, but we wouldn't think of super intelligence as an undesirable characteristic that needs treatment.
  • Just because very few people display a certain characteristic, does make the behaviour 'statistically abnormal' but that doesn't mean it requires treatment to return to normal
• Second limitation of statistical infrequency:

  • The cut off point is subjective. If abnormality is defined in terms of statistical infrequency, we need to decide where to separate normality from abnormality.
  • For example, one of the characteristics of depression is 'difficulty sleeping'. Some people might think abnormal sleep is less than 6 hours a night on average, others might think that the cut off should be 5 hours.
• Third limitation of statistical infrequency:

  • Behaviours that are statistically infrequent in one culture may be statistically more frequent in another.
  • E.g. the symptoms of schizophrenia are claiming to hear voices, however, this is an experience that is common in some cultures.
  • This means that this approach is culturally relative i.e. it only relates to a specific culture.
• What is deviation from social norms?

  Concerns behaviour that is different from the accepted standards of behaviour in a community or society
• What are explicit rules?

  written rules (e.g. the law)
• What are implicit rules?

  Unwritten rules (e.g. personal space)
• Example of deviation from social norms- antisocial personality disorder

  • A person with antisocial personality disorder is impulsive, aggressive and irresponsible.
  • According to the DSM-5 one important symptom of antisocial personality disorder is an 'absence of prosocial internal standards associated with failure to conform to lawful and culturally normative behaviour'
  • In other words, we are making the social judgement that psychopaths are abnormal because they don't conform to our moral standards. Psychopathic behaviour would be considered abnormal in a very wide range of cultures.
• First limitation of deviation from social norms:

  • This definition does not make judgements relating to the context of the behaviour.
  • A person on a beach wearing next to nothing is regarded as normal, whereas the same outfit in the classroom would be regarded as abnormal and possibly indicative of a disorder.
  • In many cases there is not a clear line between what an abnormal deviation is and what is simply harmless eccentricity.
• Second limitation of deviation from social norms:

  • It varies as times change. What is socially acceptable now may not have been socially acceptable 50 years ago.
  • Today homosexuality is acceptable in most countries in the world, but in the past it was included under sexual and gender identity disorders in the DSM.
  • Similarly, in Russia 50 years ago, anyone who disagreed with the state ran the risk of being regarded as insane and placed in a mental institution.
• Third limitation of deviation from social norms:

  • Norms vary tremendously from one community to another.
  • This means that a person from one cultural group may label someone from another culture as behaving abnormal according to their standards rather than the standards of the person behaving that way
  • E.g. uncontrollable crying may be a symptom of panic attacks in some cultures, whereas difficulty breathing may be a primary symptom in another culture
• What is failure to function adequately? 


  Occurs when someone is unable to cope with ordinary demands of day-today living
• Example of failure to function adequately- Agoraphobia

  The individual suffering from agoraphobia who is afraid to leave the house or a patient suffering from schizophrenia who is experiencing paranoid delusions that make them avoid their own family.
• First limitation of failure to function adequately:

  • Some apparently dysfunctional behaviour can actually be adaptive and functional for the individual.
  • For example, some mental disorders such as eating disorders or depression lead to extra attention for the individual. Such attention is rewarding and thus functional.
  • Some individuals who cross-dress make a living out of it, yet transvestism is in the list of mental disorders and is generally regarded as abnormal
• Second limitation of failure to function adequately:

  • Not functioning adequately may not be linked to a disorder.
  • Holding down a job and supporting a family may be impossible due to economic conditions.
  • This may be particularly the case in subcultures such as immigrant communities.
  • Prejudice and discrimination may prevent people from finding jobs and developing careers
• Third limitation of failure to function adequately:

  • Definitions of adequate functioning are relative to cultural ideas about how one's life should be lived.
  • The failure to function criteria is likely to result in different diagnoses when applied to people from different cultures, as the standard of one culture is being used to measure another.
  • This may explain why lower class and non-white patients are more likely to be diagnosed with mental disorders as their lifestyles are different to the dominant culture.
• What is deviation from ideal mental health?

  Occurs when someone does not meet a set of criteria for good mental health.
• Who was Marie Jahoda?

  Marie Jahoda was a social psychologist known for her work on the impact of unemployment on mental health. (1958)
• Deviation from mental health:

  A very different way to look at normality and abnormality is to ignore the issue of what makes someone abnormal but instead think about what makes anyone 'normal'.
• Jahoda's theory:

  Marie Jahoda (1958) suggested that we are in good mental health if we meet the following criteria:

  • we have no symptoms of distress
  • we are rational and can perceive ourselves accurately
  • we self-actualises (strive to reach our potential)
  • we can cope with stress
  • we have a realistic view of the world
  • we have good self-esteem and lack guilt
  • we are independent of other people
  • we can successfully work, love and enjoy our leisure
• First limitation of deviation from ideal mental health:

  • Who can achieve all these criteria?
  • According to these criteria, most of us are abnormal to some degree
  • We also need to ask, how many should lacking before a person is judged as abnormal?
  • Furthermore, the criteria are difficult to measure, e.g. how easy is it to assess capacity for personal growth or environmental mastery?
• Second limitation of deviation from ideal mental health:

  • Is physical health the same as mental health?
  • Doctors may use signs of health a means of detecting physical illness, but can mental illness be detected in the same way?
  • In general, physical illnesses have a physical cause e.g. virus or infection.
  • Some mental illnesses do have a physical cause, but many do not, therefore it is unlikely that we would diagnose them in the same way.
• Third limitation of deviation from ideal mental health:

  • Some of the ideas are specific to Western Europe and North American cultures
  • For example, the emphasis on personal achievement in the concept of self-actualisation would be considered to be self-indulgent in much of the world as the emphasis is on the individual rather than the community or the family
  • Similarly, much of the world would see independence from others as a bad thing. Such traits are typical of individualist cultures.