Threat forecast

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Threat perceivers | Safety perceivers | So what?

One of our basic needs is for  safety and as such we also have a strong need to predict the future. In doing so, we may misjudge the situations in which we find ourselves, either seeing more danger than is really there or blithely missing the very real threats. 

Threat perceivers

Some people see threats and danger in most situations. They infer negative meaning into situations which are often quite innocuous. They tend to be pessimists or even paranoid, and may believe people to be fundamentally selfish.

These people may have had a traumatic upbringing (or even been deeply affected by a single traumatic event). This may have originated at home, in the classroom or with other children. This can lead them to be insecure and have low self-esteem.

Threat perceivers tend to respond with a Fight-or-Flight reaction, as they either run away from the threat or try to eliminate it, fighting force with force. They thus may be either aggressive or timid in character.

Safety perceivers

Those who see the world around them as non-threatening will tend not to see some of the very real dangers. They may be naive or optimistic, and see people as being fundamentally good.

These people may have had a stable and loving childhood, or at least a place they could go to where they felt safe. They are often more self-sufficient and may well handle threats that do appear more rationally. Their lack of perception of real risks may also make them careless thoughtless.  They are more susceptible to surprise from threats.

So what?

For threat perceivers, either visibly remove the threat from the things you want them to move towards, or provide a threat to make them move from their current position.

Safety perceivers can be harder to persuade, as they have no immediate need for movement. Surprise them with danger or stand beside them in common bafflement at the threats others see in the world.