Vulnerability

A high score is not weakness, and it is not a diagnosis. It describes how a person says they feel when pressure is high, compared with other people. Many high scorers are highly capable in ordinary conditions and know to avoid roles built around emergencies; that is self-knowledge, not failure.

A low score is not competence. Staying calm and knowing what to do are different things, and the scale measures only the first.

Four items make a short scale. A facet score moves more between attempts than the 24-item domain score, and it describes a tendency in ordinary life as the person reports it, not a diagnosis of anything.

High. People high on this facet say they panic easily, become overwhelmed by events and feel unable to deal with things. In daily life that shows as freezing when several things go wrong at once, needing someone else to take charge in a crisis, and dread of being the one responsible when it matters.

Low. People low on this facet say they remain calm under pressure and feel able to deal with whatever comes. In daily life that shows as being the steady one when a plan falls apart, thinking clearly in an emergency, and a reputation for being unflappable, which can hide how much is going on underneath.

• Neuroticism: the broad trait this facet belongs to, with five sibling facets.

The sense of being able to deal with things, which this facet measures from the negative side, is close to what the self-efficacy facet of conscientiousness measures from the positive side; one large study treats neuroticism, self-esteem and self-efficacy as indicators of a single core self-evaluation. (Judge, Erez, Bono and Thoresen, 2002)

It belongs to the withdrawal aspect of neuroticism and relates to lower life satisfaction and happiness, with a moderate effect. (Anglim and others, 2020)

Emotional stability rises on average through adulthood, so a high score tends to fall with age. (Roberts, Walton and Viechtbauer, 2006)

• Worry
• Anger
• Low mood
• Self-consciousness
• Immoderation