Neophilia
Neophilia (from the Greek νέος, neos = 'new', φιλία, philía = 'affection') - a term that was popularized by the writer Robert Anton Wilson - is due to curiosity and a great openness and affinity towards new, different and change marked. The term was used by Christopher Booker in his book "The Neophiliacs" (1969) and by JD Salinger in his short story "Hapworth 16, 1924" (1965).
Typical characteristics of neophilic people are:
- Need to get to know and experience new things
- Willingness and ability to adapt quickly to changes
- Aversion to repetition and routine
- Desire for new experiences, personal development, variety, diversity
- Need to create something new yourself, to change things or circumstances
- Aversion to rigid rules, compulsions, traditions, social norms
The neophile differs from the visionary, among other things, in that he actively seeks direct experience of novelty and not just philosophizes about it. The antonym to neophilia is neophobia , the strong aversion to or fear of something new, unknown situations, new things or strange people or change. Neophilia can find expression in different areas (e.g. social, intellectual, cultural, artistic, technical, athletic).
According to scientific research, there is a possible connection between the concentration of the enzyme monoamine oxidase A and a predisposition to a certain type of neophhilia.
The term neophilia is used in behavioral research and medicine to describe exploration behavior in unknown surroundings, as well as towards unknown food in animals and people in childhood. Neophilia correlates strongly with the characteristic openness to experience , one of the five main dimensions of a personality according to the five-factor model ( Big Five ).
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hiroaki Shiraishi, Akihito Suzuki, Takashi Fukasawa, Toshiaki Aoshima, Yukihiro Ujiie: Monoamine oxidase A gene promoter polymorphism affects novelty seeking and reward dependence in healthy study participants . In: Psychiatric Genetics . tape 16 , no. 2 , April 1, 2006, ISSN 0955-8829 , p. 55-58 , doi : 10.1097 / 01.ypg.0000199447.62044.ef , PMID 16538181 .