Individuality: Are you a unique medal for a special occasion or an ordinary stamped coin?

Individuality is a flame, not a stone; form, not material content. (Norbert Wiener)

Despite the mass nature of modern culture, many people consider themselves bright individuals who stand out from the general crowd. They do this in different ways: some dye their hair neon green, others become members of a sect, others criticize Pushkin for his lack of writing style. But is this a real individuality worth striving for? Does it only manifest itself in such extreme ways? It's time to find out what this concept means in psychology and how, indeed, you can stand out from the rest.

What it is

Definition

Individuality is a complex concept that includes:

• a set of characteristic features that distinguish one person from another;
• originality of the psyche;
• a special view of the world;
• originality, uniqueness of the inner world and appearance.

Individuality in psychology is:

• individual psychological differences;
• the highest level of hierarchical organization of the human psyche in relation to the individual and personality.

It is formed under the influence of upbringing and communication, starting from childhood and throughout a person’s life.

Individual - personality - individuality

These concepts are always next to each other. Therefore, many questions arise about how individuality differs from personality, from an individual.

Everyone is born an individual - a representative of the human race and part of society. During his life, under the influence of cultural development, he becomes a personality. The more he absorbs the spiritual heritage of his ancestors and socializes, the stronger the personal element in him. If he develops his own worldview and a special view of what is happening around him, he becomes an individual.

The most difficult thing to identify is the relationship between individuality and personality:

• formation of personality - the process of socialization, mastering norms and rules of behavior;
• the formation of individuality is a process of self-determination and isolation, separation from the community, the formation of uniqueness and originality.

As Doctor of Psychological Sciences A.G. Asmolov said, “one is born an individual, becomes an individual, and defends individuality.” This expression shows the essence of the differences between these concepts.

Origin of the word. The term goes back to the Latin “individuum”, which translates as “indivisible, individual”.

Personality Traits

Single individual

The specificity of this concept lies in the set of characteristics inherent only to it. Personality traits integrate a large set of qualities that are formed in the process of human activity.

They have both social and purely psychological characteristics. To a number of physiological personality traits

psychologists include:

1. Inherited appearance.
2. Behavioral features.
3. Adaptive properties.

Social personality traits
:

1. Cultural characteristics that leave an imprint on the characteristics of a person and form his individuality.
2. Characteristic values ​​instilled in the family.
3. Stability of behavior.
4. Self-esteem.
5. Behavior control system.

A very important point in assessing personality traits is a person’s age.
Throughout their lives, people go through a huge number of different stages of socialization and at each stage the characteristics of an individual can change. Whether it's drastic or not is another question. More often not radically. As for the process of socialization itself, it cannot be said that it ends after the formation of personality. Even an elderly person can socialize. For example, the desire to learn how to use technical means that were not there in his youth is already a process of socialization.

A person not only learns the basics of handling a phone or laptop from a technical point of view, but also absorbs the basics of the culture of communication in the Internet space when using certain gadgets. This culture and values ​​may differ significantly from those previously adopted. Their interpretation is manifested in a different set of new personality traits.

You don’t always find individuality among people. Georgy Mikhailovich Vitsin

Reflection in psychology - what is it?

Study approaches

Individuality is considered from the point of view of behavior, appearance and inner world of a person (this includes volitional attitudes, mental characteristics, worldview). Some psychologists focus primarily on socialization, the ability to build interpersonal relationships and become a leader. The second - on the features of the physique and face. Still others focus on character accentuations.

In connection with such discrepancies in psychology, the main approaches to the typology of individuality have been formed:

• explanatory - establishing psychophysical correspondences (Kretschmer’s constitutional typology and Sheldon’s somatotypes);
• descriptive - drawing up individual typical portraits (methodology of Gannushkin and Lichko);
• therapeutic - highlighting individual personality traits (Jung's psychological types).

Many experts believe that individual traits cannot be typologized, since they manifest themselves differently in each person.

Today in psychology, integral individuality is most often considered - a concept introduced by the Soviet psychologist V. S. Merlin. These are the characteristics of the human personality at different levels:

• biochemical;
• general somatic;
• neurodynamic;
• psychodynamic;
• mental;
• socio-psychological;
• socio-historical.

In Russian psychology there is also the Teplov-Nebylitsyn school, which considers individual traits as manifestations of temperament.

Character

Character is the natural position of a person. This, unencumbered by society, is the essence of man. It is character that manifests itself in stressful situations, when there is nothing left to lose. The product of character is a person’s natural inclination towards one way of life or another. Character is a more innate indicator than personality. By nature, a person may be more or less kind-hearted, more ambitious or satisfied with his current situation.

If there is a child who from birth showed the makings of a person who strives for knowledge, but his parents raised him to earn money, what will happen? The natural inclination to knowledge is character, personality will be the desire to earn money, so as not to upset parents. The result is a man who has lost himself. He will work and it will bring him the feeling that this is something wrong and his whole life will seem something unnatural to him. Personality may be subject to some changes from the outside, but a person must cultivate character himself. Character is nurtured by parents, but somewhere up to the age of 14. By this age, a person will already have a formed character. Of course, he will change, but not under outside influences, but by his own choice.

We also recommend this article: People’s rudeness in speech and behavior - what is the reason?

Forming factors

A person’s individuality and its formation are influenced by various factors.

Heredity

Determines the appearance and some behavioral traits unique to this person.

Upbringing

Forms behavioral stereotypes, life attitudes, worldview, attitude towards work, the environment, and people. Brings its own flavor to each of the listed aspects, the totality of which subsequently becomes what is called individuality. For example, everyone in childhood is taught to take care of nature. However, someone complements this stereotype by going for a walk in the evenings with a garbage bag and collecting candy wrappers and bottles from the lawns, because this is what he did with his parents as a child. This is his individual characteristic, formed by family upbringing.

Socialization

Determines behavior patterns and self-esteem. If, for example, at school a person was constantly belittled and not allowed to express his opinion, the level of individualism will be low.

Self-development

Even if heredity, upbringing and socialization have not formed individual traits and patterns of behavior in a person, he can always develop them on his own. There are many ways.

Features of mental development

The type of nervous system and character accentuations can form behavioral patterns that do not coincide with stereotypes. However, most often they are dictated by various personality disorders. As an example, we can cite world famous people who were distinguished by their bright individuality, but at the same time had severe mental illnesses: Isaac Newton (diagnosed with paroxysmal progressive schizophrenia), Vincent Van Gogh (he was treated many times in mental health clinics), Ernest Hemingway (had suicidal tendencies).

Personality development

This process takes place at the stage of personality formation, the so-called socialization.
Not only teachers and educators, but also the child’s parents are responsible. However, some teaching principles and methods are purposefully designed to form qualities and personality traits in a young person. But we cannot do without the concept of personality development. These processes must go in parallel.

Today, schoolchildren and even kindergarten children receive enormous opportunities in the formation of individuality, in contrast to the recent Soviet past of our society, where everything was done literally as a carbon copy. It was impossible to differ from the masses. In a modern school there are a large number of tasks that allow you to be smart and find innovative solutions.

At the same time, children receive expanded knowledge in subjects. Teachers are increasingly forcing them to talk about the events or facts of history being studied. All this tirelessly shapes individual characteristics in the child’s personality, including the psyche. Individuality is not born. Almost all psychologists talk about this.

Main stages of individuality development:

1. Formation of special views on things. In this case, the child first learns important details about an event or object and then begins to express his attitude. At the first stages, it may not differ from the manifestations of peers, but gradually individual traits develop.
2. When there is already a certain worldview and a person or child can interpret certain events based on such ideas. And at this stage, individuality is formed, since traits and qualities change under the influence of various factors.

In fact, the process of socialization contributes to the development of individuality and special character traits of a young or psychologically mature person.

Manifestations

Psychologists call the following signs of individuality depending on the level of manifestation.

At the appearance level:

• your style of clothing;
• the ability to add zest to an image;
• a feature of appearance that a person has managed to turn into an advantage (for example, Canadian fashion model Winnie Harlow stands out from other models with her skin, as she suffers from vitiligo).

At the behavioral level:

• the ability to delicately defend one’s own point of view, while respecting the opinions of others;
• establishing unique interpersonal relationships;
• original ways of meeting people and communicating;
• features in gestures, facial expressions, speech that distinguishes a person from others;
• contribution to the culture and spiritual development of the city/country/world.

At the level of the inner world:

• adequate self-esteem;
• rich inner world;
• own concept of worldview;
• formation of a personal point of view on everything that happens around;
• creativity;
• unique perception of the surrounding world;
• constant self-development;
• high self-control, strong character, iron willpower.

At the level of mental characteristics:

• high IQ, broad outlook, non-trivial thinking;
• phenomenal memory;
• rich imagination;
• extraordinary abilities;
• the ability to control one’s own emotions;
• rare accentuation of character.

You should also know that the qualities of individuality can be both positive (basically, they were listed above) and negative. The latter include pathological accentuations of character. For example, a tendency to dye your hair in different brightly poisonous colors in order to stand out from the crowd. Or demonstrative violation of the rules of behavior in society in order to attract attention. Or actions that shock the public (Van Gogh, for example, cut off his ear). Yes, such people are different from others, but their individuality is pathological.

Individual characteristics of regulation and self-regulation

Having gone through the basic levels of the sensory-perceptual, cognitive and emotional hierarchy, we are faced with another amazing phenomenon of the world of mental reality - control and regulatory processes, which are commonly called regulatory processes. Like the other two components of the basic mental triad - cognition and emotions, the regulatory phenomenon has a complex hierarchical structure (see Libin, in preparation, b). Research suggests that infants can regulate their level of arousal by diverting their attention from people or objects that cause increased arousal (Rothbart, Ziaie, & O'Boyle, 1992). The regulation factor is closely related to both cognitive and emotional processes. For example, R. Thompson (1994) defines emotion regulation as a system of internal and external processes that monitor, evaluate, and modify emotional responses, especially those associated with time-intensive patterns that support goal achievement.

The general factor of human self-regulation is emphasized, arising from the basic properties of the nervous system and manifested in the psychomotor and intellectual spheres (Yurkevich, 1972). It has been shown that the most important parameter of self-regulation and plasticity, characterizing the speed of switching, is (negatively) associated with the level of spatio-temporal coherence of electrophysiological brain processes (EEG processes) (Rusalov, Koshman, 1980).

Studying the nature of regulatory processes to identify their mechanisms, of course, requires the inclusion of parameters of the psychobiological level of individuality, in particular, temperament.

V.P. Boyarintsev (1988), studying individual manifestations of self-regulation, showed differences in compensatory mechanisms in the dynamics of the adaptive act in people with different temperaments. Extraverted and plastic subjects are characterized by the rapid emergence and higher degree of expression of the state of monotony, which is compensated by the slow emergence and low degree of expression of the state of fatigue. Introverts and rigid subjects, on the other hand, are characterized by a slow onset and low degree of monotony, which compensates for the fast onset and high degree of fatigue.

“Because different aspects of the dynamics of monotony and fatigue can compensate for each other,” says the author, “the necessary conditions are created for the successful productivity of people of different temperaments” (ibid., p. 66) and, we add, self-regulation strategies are formed on this basis.

No less interesting than studying the level of involuntary regulation based on unconscious mechanisms that are outside the focus of consciously organized control is the analysis of voluntary actions and actions that traditionally belong to the sphere of expression of will. N.F. Kruglova (1990) examined the individual typical features of volitional regulation in schoolchildren from the sixth to the eighth grade and compared the features of volitional regulation with academic performance, thinking characteristics and the degree of independence in work. As a result, three groups of students were identified, differing in their level of education and awareness of regulatory functions. In group A, students showed independence and rationally achieved their results. Group B had a lower ability to analyze meaningful attributes, students were not independent and needed help to successfully complete tasks. In group C, students demonstrated a sufficient level of independence, but decreased the ability to generalize, unoptimistic ways of working when refusing direct help, and poor self-control. At the same time, age-related changes in the identified typology of regulation have not been identified.

Diagnostics

The degree of individuality formation may vary. Psychodiagnostics helps to determine it using conventional testing.

Personality test. Questions

I. A circle of friends is discussing a film that you personally liked, but others did not like. You:

1. you will immediately change your opinion about him;
2. change your opinion only after you are shown its weaknesses;
3. stay with your opinion;
4. change your mind because others understand it better.

II. You have been told something bad about a person you have seen, know, but have never personally interacted with. You:

1. remember everything you said so you can tell someone else;
2. immediately change the topic of conversation;
3. you will listen, but will not take it seriously until you communicate closely;
4. believe everything they say.

III. You want to buy something for yourself in the store, but your significant other talks you out of it. You:

1. don’t buy because your significant other wants it;
2. buy it next time you go to the store without your significant other;
3. buy it anyway;
4. don’t buy it because you don’t like the item.

IV. You travelling. However, the route planned by the guide does not include the attraction that you really want to see. You:

1. you go with a guide, but then you’ll kick yourself for missing the opportunity to see the attraction;
2. try to combine your interests with the plans of the guide;
3. go along your own route;
4. You completely trust the guide: he knows best what to see on the excursion.

V. You have learned about some innovation that destroys the generally accepted tradition. Your reaction:

1. study the information, but at the same time you will be guided by the opinions of your friends about the innovation;
2. carefully study the information about the innovation inside and out;
3. you won’t even think about it: most likely, this is just another nonsense;
4. Completely trust the opinions of your friends.

VI. Someone you know is pouring out their soul. You:

1. think about what others would say about it;
2. listen carefully, try to help;
3. you listen inattentively;
4. looking for something in his story to laugh at.

VII. What interests you most:

1. gossip;
2. science articles;
3. policy;
4. other people's opinions about you.

VIII. We read a sensation on the Internet. Your reaction:

1. believe unconditionally;
2. analyze sources, trying to understand whether it is true or not;
3. do not believe what is written;
4. you ask the opinions of others about this - you completely trust them in this matter.

IX. What is most important to you in life:

1. personal life;
2. spiritual growth;
3. career;
4. financial stability.

X. Your worldview does not coincide with your best friend's view of the world. You:

1. change your worldview;
2. try to understand the reasons;
3. think this is quite normal;
4. this is impossible, since your worldview always coincides with his.

Processing responses

Give points for each answer:

• for each answer under No. 1 - 2 points;
• under No. 2 - 3 points each;
• under No. 3 - 4 points each;
• No. 4 - 1 point.

Count their total number.

Test interpretation

Number of points scored: 10-15

The level of individuality is zero.

Description:

• someone else’s opinion is your guiding star in life;
• by personality type you are a stickler, who attaches to the majority;
• you never have your own point of view, you always unconditionally accept what others say;
• you disappear into the faceless crowd.

Recommendations:

1. A complete lack of individuality is most often a problem coming from childhood. To solve it, it is better to contact a professional psychologist.
2. Increase your self-esteem.
3. Start small: read a book (or watch a movie) and think about whether you liked it and why. Then ask others for their opinions. Don't change your point of view if it is different. Try to defend it.

Number of points scored: 16-25

The level of individuality is low.

Description:

• you value other people’s opinions too much, although they are not always decisive for you;
• by personality type you are a chameleon who changes his opinion depending on the situation and adapts it to others;
• even if you think and count in your own way, you will not demonstrate this, because you are too afraid of condemnation and disapproval;
• you go with the flow that the crowd sets.

Recommendations:

1. Learn to defend your point of view.
2. Try to delve into the reasons and essence of what is happening, and not take everyone’s word for it.
3. Develop independence.

Number of points scored: 26-34

The level of individuality is normal (average).

Description:

• you respect and acknowledge other people's opinions, but they do not affect yours in any way;
• by personality type you are a dolphin - smart, reasonable, trying to understand the essence of everything that happens, always ready to help others;
• do not be afraid to express your own point of view, even if it differs from others, but at the same time do it delicately, without imposing it on anyone;
• you can change your opinion if you are convinced that it is wrong - you are that rare person who knows how to admit that you are right;
• stand out in the crowd.

Recommendations:

1. Continue to develop your individuality.
2. Make sure she doesn't cross the line of "normal."
3. Help other people with personality development.

Number of points scored: 35-40

The level of individuality is increased.

Description:

• someone else’s opinion means nothing to you, since you consider yours to be the only correct one;
• by personality type you are a camel who looks down on others and doesn’t “give a damn” about what others think;
• you often get involved in completely unnecessary quarrels, trying to impose your opinion on everyone;
• never admit you are wrong;
• You stand out from the crowd as too bright a spot.

Recommendations:

1. Learn to take into account the opinions of others.
2. Understand what is happening thoroughly before getting involved in disputes in which you are completely incompetent.
3. You have high self-esteem, which should be lowered to a normal level.

There are also other questionnaires that allow you to determine the presence and degree of individuality.

Individuality of a person and the oppressive rules of society

Be yourself! Stay as you are. Express yourself. People are talking from all sides. Meanwhile, they themselves are thinking about how to make them look good in the eyes of others and make their lives comfortable. The fact is that a person’s individuality is not a very convenient thing for society. And some pressure begins from early childhood.

Mothers explain to their daughters that going to kindergarten with a crown on your head is not a good idea, and it is also better to leave the princess carnival dress at home. Some boys keep up with the girls and want to visit the children's community, in the form of Batman or, for example, Catboy. But there is a limit here, and the individuality of a little person can be successfully expressed with beautiful bows on his head or a bright T-shirt with his favorite hero.

Our next example of how a person's individuality suppresses society is not so joyful. Someone came up with the idea that in a school or institute, where such concepts as the individual, individuality, and personality are actually studied, there should be exactly that many hours of mathematics. Someone decided that all school graduates should know chemistry at such and such a level, and pass just such and such laboratory work in biology. Of course, the state cannot provide each child with an individual educational program and it is simply easier this way.

School, army, work in municipal bodies and other public institutions greatly suppress a person’s individuality. What can we say about situations where people are forced to live under a dictatorship: the dictatorship of government regimes, or under the influence of not very good street company or even their own relatives at home in the family.

In small communities and families, a person’s individuality can also be suppressed

How to work out

Of course, everyone wants to stand out from the rest. The main thing is that this does not run counter to generally accepted rules of behavior in society and is not accompanied by infringement of the rights of others. A bright personality, if it is positive, allows a person to achieve a lot:

• he will be given preference at a job interview;
• his loved one will single him out from all other applicants;
• he attracts sincere attention;
• often becomes a leader;
• has many friends and acquaintances.

These are not all the benefits of standing out from the crowd. Therefore, at any age, it makes sense to think about how to emphasize individuality, develop, develop, and direct it in a positive direction. Psychologists have a large number of ways and techniques to do this.

In children

The formation of individuality should ideally occur in childhood. Therefore, every parent who cares about the full development of their child should contribute to the formation of qualities in him that will distinguish him favorably from others. This issue should be approached comprehensively.

Develop a taste

To do this, children need to be taught beauty from an early age. Listen to classical music, go to museums, theaters and art galleries. Observe the beauty of nature. Surround yourself with elegant things. Teach neatness and self-care rules. Talk about color combinations. Choose clothes together. As you age, follow the fashion and individual styles of various stars. This will help you create your own unique image in the future and attract attention in any society with an impeccable appearance with a twist.

Learn to communicate

First of all, teach the rules of behavior in society. Provide him with the opportunity to communicate with peers. Invite his friends home, watch their interactions, carefully correct your own child’s mistakes. Make sure that he does not have obsessive movements or uncontrolled facial expressions. Develop leadership qualities, if any.

Form your own point of view

At the same time, develop your own vision of everything that happens around you. The most basic technique: after reading a fairy tale or watching a cartoon, ask which characters, from the child’s point of view, are good and which are bad, and why. As you grow older, you need to show that the general opinion may not always be correct. Everyone feels sorry for the cheerful and mischievous Kolobok, who was eaten by the Fox. But is he really a positive character if he disobeyed his grandparents and ran away from them?

Enrich your inner world

To promote the development of creativity: send it to an art studio, dance, or sports, where the child can realize himself. Broaden your horizons by reading books, listening to classical music, visiting museums.

The development of adequate self-esteem also has a great influence on the formation of a child’s personal characteristics. If any problems are noticed with it, it is better to seek help from a professional. Talk to your children every day and ask them to review what happened that day.

In adults

The main thing is to understand that purple hair and a nose piercing are far from an expression of individuality. In order to develop it, it is recommended:

• spare no money and time and sign up for thematic psychological training;
• constantly work on yourself: develop willpower through time management, level up self-esteem with the help of affirmations;
• study the stylistic uniqueness of various world-famous stars, take an interest in fashion, work with a stylist and makeup artist to find and create your own unique image;
• train the ability to discuss;
• do something truly useful (not in words, but in deeds) for your city;
• develop creatively: draw, weave, sculpt, build, write to reflect your own view of the world;
• develop your intellectual abilities and memory, expand your horizons.

As the famous German romantic writer Hoffmann said, most people are like coins, on which the same images are minted, but there are those who are like medals, struck only for a special occasion. The latter are individuals. And what to be in this life - a stamped coin or a ceremonial medal - everyone decides for himself.

Why is it needed?

What is individuality and why is it needed? Why take it into account and even know about it? In order to avoid long explanations, I will give a simple example that will answer all these questions.

Imagine that you are a participant in a competition, for example, readers. One of the participants is mute, the second is the author of poetic works, which he has been reading for many years, and you only know one and that is from the school literature curriculum. How can you be assessed equally?

Another example. Often young mothers are upset when they hear that someone’s baby started talking or walking earlier, began drawing, counting, and everything like that. And only a few know that all children are different: which of them and when they start doing something for the first time depends on their individual characteristics.

With the same height, people have different weights, builds, foot sizes, etc. We are all somehow different from each other, so we cannot lump everyone with the same brush.

Initially, a small child imitates adults in order to “fit in” with the general mass of people - to socialize. At the same time, he can do this not only in parental ways, but also in his own, original ways. Becoming a person, an individual acquires his own individuality.

The first half of life we ​​try to be like others, the second - to find our differences from them, to understand our personal purpose. We want to show up in something special, make our unique contribution, leave a mark on history.

From a psychological point of view, this is a very important point: an individual lifestyle gives a person a feeling of having a personal meaning of his existence .

Work on yourself

Working on your personality will give you higher social status, more income, and more good attitude. The result is more pleasure. Working on character will give you a happy life, deep relationships, love, joy - more happiness. A person may look very calm but be happy inside or put on a mask of cheerfulness to hide grief. These “outside-in” concepts are where the understanding of character and personality lies.

We can change our words and appearances as much as we like, but through lies people will feel poison and this subconscious feeling of hostility towards a person who behaves adequately is familiar to many. You just communicate, but it’s unpleasant. So working on personality and ignoring work on character will only lead to external changes - they will also smile at you more, but in essence, people’s attitude towards you will not change. Does this make sense? Just paint over holes in the walls.

The result of our failures is our character flaws. Although personality also needs to be developed, because our character is revealed through it. While working on character, we simultaneously work on personality, which helps us develop comprehensively. You shouldn’t ignore etiquette and rules of behavior, but you need to pay more attention to the depth of your essence.

To put this knowledge into practice, analyze what causes most mistakes, conflicts, failures, misunderstandings in your life and try to correct it. You may often quarrel with someone because of your bad habits, but are they worth it? Give them up, because these habits are not worth constantly poisoning your life with conflicts with others. However, don't do it outwardly - simply hiding them and not showing them won't help. If successful, your life will become a little easier and better. Correct analysis of yourself and working on yourself will give the desired result. Good luck.