Histrionic personality: what it is, and its 14 characteristic traits

Do you know what the histrionic personality is? Surely, even if you don't know exactly what it is, you know someone with that personality.

These are people who tend to exaggerate their expressiveness, to be very emotional and to constantly seek attention when they are in a group.

In this article we will know what the histrionic personality is and what are its most characteristic features. After reading the article, surely you think of a friend or acquaintance who manifests these behaviors. These traits allude to behavioral, emotional and cognitive factors.

• Recommended article: "Shy personality: 17 characteristics of these people"

Histrionic personality: what is it?

Histrionic personality is considered a personality disorder (Histrionic personality disorder), classified as such in the DSM-5 (Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders) and in the ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases). Personality disorders consist of alterations of the personality, with maladaptive, rigid and dysfunctional traits.

This type of personality is fundamentally based on a general behavioral and relational pattern of excessive emotionality and attention seeking. These people, in addition, although they can be shown with a great self esteem and personality, they are usually weak or fragile people in this sense. On the other hand, they find it difficult to recognize their own mistakes and responsibility for their actions.

The histrionic personality has these traits but also some others. In this article we will know 14 of them, the most important.

14 characteristic traits of the histrionic personality

Thus, in addition to the above, we are going to know the 14 most characteristic features of the histrionic personality. As we will see, these refer to the cognitive, emotional and behavioral sphere of a person.

1. Excessive emotionality

The main trait of people with a histrionic personality is excessive emotionality. This translates into “excessively” emotional behaviors, sometimes exaggerated in character. The person behaves in a melodramatic way, sometimes accentuating her emotional symptoms.

2. Attention seeking

Another typical feature of the histrionic personality is the person's constant search for attention. Thus, the person acts as if he wants to always be the center of attention; raising your voice, exaggerating your gestures, talking continuously, intruding on conversations so that others look at you, etc.

Also, they do not feel comfortable if they are not the center of attention at a dinner, a family gathering or with friends, etc.

3. Sexually seductive or provocative behavior

Another symptom of the histrionic personality is sexually seductive or provocative behavior. In the person, this translates into “inciting” behaviors, dressing in a “sexy” way, making “risque” comments, flirting, and so on.

4. Superficial emotional expression

The emotional expression of people with histrionic personality is superficial and rapidly changing. Thus, they can go from one emotional state to another excessively quickly (for example, from crying to laughter), and their emotional states are usually superficial; that is, shallow and durable.

5. Using physical appearance to attract attention

Linked to trait number 3, we found that this type of people usually dress in a "provocative" way (in the sense that they wear clothing items that enhance their bodies); Logically, the clothes are not provocative, but rather the intention of the person, which is to attract attention and provoke a positive reaction in others.

Thus, they seek by all means to seduce, and to achieve it they use their physical appearance above all (for example, in the case of women, they wear a lot of makeup, they fix themselves in a notorious way, etc.).

6. Overly subjective and lacking nuances of speech

The way these people speak is also characteristic; So, they speak in a very personal and subjective way. They do not tend to use many nuances in their speech; This means that their language is not usually complex or represent deep themes. Also, his speech is very focused on them; it is a self-centered language ("I", "I want", "I need", "it happened to me", etc.).

7. Show of self-dramatization and theatricality

Another trait of the histrionic personality is theatricality, which is accompanied by dramatic behavior that refer to oneself (self-dramatization). Thus, they explain things in a very intense way, exaggerating them and emphasizing their emotional component.

They show how everything affects them emotionally in excess, and there is a certain or much theatricality in their comments, gestures, postures, etc. It is as if everything they explain is a "drama".

8. Exaggerated emotional expression

Closely related to all of the above, another trait of these people is their exaggerated emotional expression, already mentioned. Thus, they express everything they feel in a dramatic and exaggerated way, emphasizing the emotional parts and reducing everything to “emotional things”. Everything affects them and this is how they continually make it known.

9. Suggestibility: easily influenced

In addition, they are easily influenced people. Although in public they appear as “strong” people with a lot of personality, in reality they are very vulnerable and manipulable. His personality, in a way, is fragile (as is his self-esteem). That is why they constantly require - need - the attention and approval of others.

10. Consideration of your relationships more intimate than they really are

When they meet someone they quickly offer tokens of affection, they address this person as if they were her best friend, they invite her to places, treat her with a confidence that they do not yet have, etc. Thus, they themselves believe that these new relationships are already intimate, when in fact they are not, and perhaps they are simply known people.

11. Exaggerated body language

His body language is also exaggerated (as well as his displays of affection, his comments ...). Namely, use gestures consistently and exaggeratedly, which translates into: gesturing a lot, talking very loud, laughing very hard, etc. Their body posture can also be peculiar or show that they “want to be noticed”.

12. Unstable emotions

As we saw, his emotional pattern is oscillating, and it changes from one moment to another. In someway, show very unstable emotionsas they do not remain in an emotional state for a long time. Also, anything can make them change from one state to another (sometimes even nothing).

13. Marked extroversion

On the other hand, they are very outgoing people.. Quickly and easily interact with others; they open up, explain their things (even intimate things), talk, ask questions, etc.

14. Egocentrism

They are also usually very self-centered people. This is related to his constant search for attention that we discussed. They need others to flatter them, look at them, listen to them, attend to them, etc., and if this is not the case, they feel bad. This is also related to low self-esteem, another common trait in these types of personalities.

Bibliographic references

• American Psychiatric Association -APA- (2014). DSM-5. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Madrid: Panamericana.

• Belloch, A., Sandín, B. and RAMOS, F. (2010). Manual of Psychopathology. Volume I and II. Madrid: McGraw-Hill.

• Millon, T. (1998). Personality disorders. Beyond DSM-IV. Barcelona: Masson.

• WHO (2000). ICD-10. International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Edition. Madrid. Pan American.