Exteriorization in the science of psychology is the embodiment of ideas, plans, sensations (internal actions that exist in consciousness in a collapsed form) into life, translation into the form of an expanded action, to manifestation in a material product. This could be, for example, the realization of an artist’s plan. In this case, the mechanism for carrying out exteriorization leads from the image that arose in his thoughts to a real-life picture painted in oil paints on canvas. The same technique is used in solving any problems that arise before a person throughout his life. A student, solving a learning problem, writes down the results. A football player, before hitting the ball (exteriorizing the action), considers the trajectory of its flight and evaluates the position of other players on the football field, etc.
What is exteriorization in psychology
From French, the word “exteriorization” is translated as “manifestation” or “detection” and comes from the Latin “exterior” - external, external. The process itself is characterized as a transition from inside to outside. At the same time, mental actions lead to the emergence of real achievements, often taking physical material form. Psychology considers two opposing processes. This is the internalization and exteriorization of activity. Briefly, their work can be understood as receiving and giving information, appropriating knowledge and applying it in life. Working together, these mechanisms ensure the formation and development of the human psyche from the moment of birth, the possibility of his prosperous existence in society, the development of skills and abilities and their fruitful use. Exteriorization of knowledge is understood as its removal from an implicit state. In this case, the assigned information, the information received, the accumulated knowledge can be easily transferred to other people. In the process of internalization, all this knowledge is appropriated and accumulated by a person.
Example of interiorization
Let's look at how the mechanism described above works using the example of a small child who is just learning to interact with objects in the outside world. Since his consciousness is just being formed, his attention is attracted by bright and noisy objects. The moment his mother first shows him the rattle, he becomes interested. This is the motivation stage .
Then he realizes that the rattle makes interesting sounds only when his mother shakes it. This is the orientation stage. Watching this simple but very interesting action, the baby also wants to try it and reaches for the rattle. Mom gives him a toy, and the material stage - the child tries to repeat. At first he can hardly hold the toy, but gradually learns to obtain the necessary sounds with its help.
Since the child cannot speak yet, the stages of external and internal pronunciation work differently for him. He eventually develops an understanding of how the rattle works and begins experimenting with other toys, expecting the same result. So he understands that not all toys are rattles. All this time, the experience of interacting with the outside world will contribute to the formation of the child’s psyche. This is interiorization.
Founders of the method
The term exteriorization acquired fundamental significance in psychology in “The Development of Higher Mental Functions,” a work by Lev Vygotsky devoted to the cultural-historical theory of behavior. His followers, Soviet psychologists P. Ya. Galperin and A. N. Leontyev, continued these studies in their works “Development of Research on the Formation of Mental Actions” and “Problems of Mental Development.”
In the modern understanding, this term means the construction and implementation of a person’s external actions, which are formed on the basis of his internal mental life, formed from accumulated personal experience, feelings and experiences, emerging ideas, and action plans. This process also includes verbal expression. An example would be the child’s assimilation of educational influence and its subsequent manifestation through judgments and moral actions.
Activities and mental processes
In activity... all the mental qualities of a person are not only manifested, but also formed. The activity is organically connected with the problem of personality development. Personality is formed, manifested and improved in activity. This is where consciousness is formed.
Mental processes: Perception, attention, imagination, memory, thinking, speech are the main components of human activity. Without the participation of mental processes, human activity is impossible: a person must imagine what to do, remember, think, make judgments. Mental processes are not just involved in activity, they develop in it, and themselves represent special types of activity.
Perception in the process of practical activity acquires its basic human characteristics. Its main types are formed in the process of activity: Perception of depth, direction and speed of movement, time and space. The child's manipulation of three-dimensional, near and far objects gives the perception of the object's dimensions: width, height, depth. This teaches you to perceive and evaluate forms.
Imagination is also associated with activity. Only through experience and practical activity is a person able to imagine or think. Imagination is a reflection of the experience of practical activity.
Memory and its two main processes - memorization and reproduction - are directly related to practical activity. Memorization is carried out in activity and is the activity itself, which includes actions and operations aimed at preparing material for memorization - this is structuring, understanding, associating the material with known facts, and so on. Memorization also involves performing certain actions aimed at timely and accurate retrieval of material stored in memory. And reproducing the activity makes the search process easier.
Thought, in a number of its forms, is identical to practical activity (the so-called “manual” or practical thinking). In its more developed forms - figurative and logical - the active moment is presented in it in the form of internal, mental actions and operations. Speech is also a special type of activity.
Examples of exteriorization
It is believed that exteriorization is especially pronounced in creativity, in the work of artists, musicians, and writers. But that's not true. The entire human existence is filled with various examples of translating abstract thoughts into reality. Each person can find in his own life more than one example of the transition of external activity from internal activity.
- The teacher thinks through the lesson plan and selects examples and visual materials before speaking to the students.
- The inventor draws diagrams of his inventions before creating a prototype.
- The writer imagines the characters of his literary heroes, draws up a plan for a novel or story.
- Before going to the store or market, a housewife thinks about exactly what products and things she needs to buy and in what quantity.
Types of interiorization
The modern understanding of internalization implies the presence of three main components, more or less tied to a certain age:
1. Initial. Initial internalization is the process of the primary formation of consciousness in a newborn child. First he learns to recognize patterns, then he plays with his parents, tries to imitate them and repeat their actions. Gradually this behavior becomes part of his psyche.
2. School adaptation. The initial stage of socialization in children occurs at school. They learn to interact with peers. Also during this period, their self-awareness actively develops. It is believed that children of preschool age do not yet know how to look at themselves from the outside, and only at school, communicating with peers, do they acquire this ability.
3. Social adaptation. This type of internalization continues throughout life. Even an adult regularly gains new experience interacting with other people and learns something new.
Within the framework of social adaptation, there are 3 circles of proximity of social contacts:
- first circle – immediate family (relatives and loved ones);
- middle circle - friends, acquaintances, distant relatives;
- distant circle - neighbors, employees and other acquaintances.
The phenomenon of catalytic exteriorization
This theory belongs to Carl Gustav Jung, who studied the phenomenon of random coincidences for a long time, deeply, and with a serious scientific approach. As a result, many cases of “coincidences,” “previsions,” and manifestations of intuition were described. For example, this could be the ability to anticipate a call from a loved one. In this case, the thought that appears about communicating with a specific person will soon “materialize” into a real call from him. Jung gave this phenomenon the name “synchronicity.” The origin of such phenomena is said to be that the emotional cycles of loved ones are often well synchronized. The psychologist scientist uses the same phenomenon to explain the emergence of the same inventions (for example, radio) in different parts of the globe almost simultaneously. This example is explained by the large amount of accumulated knowledge that is equally available to scientists in different countries and allows them to make a specific discovery. Without a mystical approach, synchronicity is explained:
- a certain amount of attention and attentiveness, the ability to notice new trends and patterns behind simple coincidences (for this you need to have systems thinking), the ability to listen, hear, analyze and remember;
- skillful use of external random stimuli to solve one’s own creative problems;
- high development of empathy;
- developed skill of projective visualization, which leads to self-motivation and active actions to bring the desired result to life.
Interesting! The concept of exteriorization of sensitivity refers to theories that are more about magic than about psychology. This term refers to the transfer of the body’s sensitivity outward, into the surrounding biofield or onto any foreign objects. This phenomenon is used to explain “bewitchment for love,” “hexing,” causing harm with the help of any objects (photos, wax dolls, etc.) “saturated with the sensitivity of the object,” etc.
The processes of exteriorization and interiorization permeate the entire life and daily activities of every person. In study, work, creativity, and in everyday life, both of these processes are inevitably present. Without exteriorization, learning and creativity, the creation of material objects and the solution of all kinds of problems are impossible; human development and his full existence in society are impossible.
Article imprint:Levkin V.E. Categories of internalization, exteriorization, identification, disidentification, introjection, projection, transfer in the philosophy of psychology // Man and culture / Collection of articles and theses. Tyumen. Publishing house of Tyumen State University, 2001. P.52-57.
Having received a phylogenetic inheritance, a cultural heritage, namely his condition, a person begins according to the same principle (determined by his condition)
project outward.
“The stages of ontogenesis do not disappear; they are transformed into structural levels of organization of the mechanism with the help of which problems are solved [7].” A self-aware person acquires a special relationship to nature - a sign relationship
(convenient and concrete signs are assigned to abstract and objective meanings). A person who is aware of himself and his surroundings through signs thereby becomes in his own state - a conscious person, a person with consciousness, general knowledge, and meanings generalized in signs.
Further, it should be especially noted that the value
and
significance
are different “things”, everything that exists has
significance
(
potential for influence
) regardless of whether a person knows about it or not, and
significance
, being
an agreement
, cannot be outside a conscious person, since it is associated with his individual and group, social experiences.
Thus, something may not have meaning
(
it is not recognized
), but it may have
significance
for him, that is, interact with him (“real significance is the place of an object in the system of connections of reality [3]”).
At the same time, everything to which a person ascribes meaning has significance for him, since meaning (being a bundle of relationships attached to his specific experience) changes the flow of information/energy in a person, and therefore affects ( changes state)
.
It turns out that significance can be created artificially (this is the essence of training, education and simply the autopsychogenic influence of a person on his condition). For example, a stupid idea is assigned the significance of a great one, capable of saving humanity, and a person begins to act
in accordance with this formed significance.
Consequently, all “things”, objects of interaction
have significance, but not all have significance for a particular person.
Thus, significance can be divided into two types: natural
(impact potential) and
artificial
(meaning).
That is, meaning is artificial significance, significance formed by consciousness.
Values represent
significance
and
signs
represent
meanings
. The “further” a person is from significance, the more signs and meanings that represent it, the further a person is from nature, and the less complete he is. In the human condition, these sign relationships are fixed and constantly reinforced. A person looks at the world in the opposite direction, that is, perceiving everything through the sign and signifying function of consciousness.
Ontogenetically, a person first internalizes a sign
, then
meaning
and then only
significance
.
This mechanism of internalization
in a person, in the form of
introjection
, works independently of
projection
(as a form of exteriorization).
Thus, by introjecting, a person “becomes infected” (a phenomenon known in psychology as “mental infection”) with someone else’s state
, contemplating, for example, just the face of a random passerby (sign).
And consciousness, as social relations that have become internal, perceives impulses from the body through signs and their meanings, and also, through a sign, consciousness expresses something for other people. In other words, the exteriorization
of a person proceeds in the same way as
interiorization
- through
sign relationships
. Thus, through sign relations, we can define a group of phenomena of identification and disidentification.
Interiorization
— packaging of external relations in the form of sign encryption into the internal structure of relations by linking signs (external and internal) according to similar meanings.
Exteriorization
— unpacking internal relations in the form of symbolic encryption into the external structure of relations by separating similar meanings, signs (inside) and linking them to similar ones in the external structure.
Introjection
- a form of internalization in which a perceived sign of a state (for example, another person) is perceived as the meaning of one’s own state.
Projection
- a form of exteriorization in which the perceived sign of one’s own state is perceived as the meaning of someone else’s (for example, another person).
Transfer
- a form of interior-exteriorization, in which the perceived sign of the state of one person is interiorized and, associated with the experience of interaction with a completely different (second) person, is then exteriorized and perceived with the meaning of the state of this (second) person.
It is obvious that in an intact state
a person does not
project
or
introject
, and also does not
transfer
, because he perceives
significance
(available to a person), and not
a sign of
the state of another and himself in the first place.
Identification and disidentification thus represent “psychic breathing that ensures a continuous exchange [2]” of information/energy between interacting parties, defining the mechanism of internalization and exteriorization, and therefore the basic mechanism of state change
.
Interiorization-exteriorization - constant interaction
carried out throughout a person’s life.
If a person is alive, then he interacts as a system called a “living person,” which means he interiorizes and exteriorizes signs and meanings, and reflects these processes with his state. Thus, “a person forms his inner world through the assimilation and interiorization of historically established forms of social activity [9].” Therefore, “a person looks at himself through the eyes of society. First, a person evaluates himself through others, and then others through himself. Ultimately, self-control
is mediated social control (ibid.).” Parallel to the processes of internalization, there are processes of exteriorization of social experience, enriched by the individual experience of a particular person. A person exteriorizes his experience through activity, making his contribution to social reality. “Social reality is the second nature of man, since, realizing social relations in his activities, man is determined in this by the laws of social existence [4].”
However, each person internalizes social experience into his own state somewhat differently from others. And this difference is determined by the characteristics of his immediate social environment and, in general, by the individual nature of training and upbringing. This is how “ personality”
- an individual expression of social relations and functions of people, a subject of knowledge and transformation of the world, a subject of rights and responsibilities, aesthetic and ethical norms [9].”
In the processes of personality
of a person and the building of his interpersonal relationships, the phenomenon of transference (as a form of interior/exteriorization) occupies a significant place. Transfer is one of the mechanisms for using the contents of memory - applying the model to a different “address”, not to the objects with which it is associated in the record. Since everything changes, we can only talk about greater or lesser accuracy of the transfer. We can talk about transfer this way: this is the influence of a previously formed action (skill) on mastering a new action. This mastery occurs easier and faster. Transference is the basis of development, learning, creativity and intuition [3].” However, transfer does not always contribute to the effectiveness of activities or behavior patterns. Quite often, transference turns out to be a pattern in a situation where it is necessary to use non-standard thinking or where simply a different course of action would be more constructive.
Simpler than transfer processes of interiorization/exteriorization are projection
and
introjection
.
A person tends to see the world through the prism of his needs and desires. “The mind has a tendency to construct personally meaningful images from vague images. These images are especially related to the motives and emotions operating at the moment. The mind projects symbolic representations of these motives and emotions onto vague, unclear, ambiguous images. Ancient wisdom: “We see things not as they are, but as we ourselves are” and “People are not concerned about things, but about ideas about them.” K.G. Jung: “Projections turn the world into a copy of our own, unknown face.” “ Projection
is the attribution of one’s own intentions, impulses, ideas, and affects to other people.
Speaking about other people or somehow relating to them, a person endows them with his own traits. Attributive
projection - the attributed traits are realized (Everyone drinks, and I drink).
Classical
- they are not realized, but penetrate into consciousness as an altered perception of the external world.
Autistic
- anticipatory recognition in accordance with the experienced need (sees what he wants to see).
Introjection
, on the contrary, turns out to be not an imposition, but, on the contrary, the appropriation of the beliefs and attitudes of other people without criticism, and treating them as one’s own [3].”
In the concept of state developed by the author as the basis of the philosophy of psychology, interaction is considered the central content of the category of state. The category of interaction, in turn, is determined through the duality of the processes of perception - influence, internalization - exteriorization, identification - disidentification. Therefore, all three biners play an important role in the study.
The phenomenon of identification
has been of interest to man since ancient times.
Thus, the most ancient forms of meditation in Hinduism and yoga are known according to the type: “I am not this, I am that.” the state
of their
consciousness
at will , which contributed to the discovery of new ways of knowing.
“Any experience, any knowledge of any order - from the purely physical level to metaphysical heights - is knowledge through identification
, even if implicitly: we know something only because we ourselves already
are
it [10].
In this work, the process of identification - disidentification is one of the main mechanisms for changing a person’s state
, and mastering it is one of the problems of managing a person’s state, the problem of self-government. Like any fundamental mechanism, identification can work as a process aimed at achieving a set goal, or as a process working against achieving a set goal, or simply as an adaptive or maladaptive process. Often, a process receives a particular sign spontaneously, under the pressure of certain circumstances. Few people are able to consciously manage this process.
One of the interesting researchers of identification was the mystic philosopher G. Gurdjieff. He believed identification
one of the greatest obstacles standing in the way of a person’s awakening and self-education [1]. Allowing ourselves some interpretation, we can say that what is meant is not the process of identification itself, but the inability of a person to control this process, the inability of a person to be aware of what he has identified with and the inability to change his state at his own discretion. By identifying with something, a person most obviously manifests the processes of internalization. However, interiorization is unthinkable without the second side of the coin - exteriorization.
Exteriorizing his states, a person objectifies them in forms of art, in the results of labor. In one form or another, a person expresses his essence, his essential powers. “The essential powers of a person are his universally active abilities, meaningfully defined and filled with concrete historical content, or, what is the same, they are concrete historical social relations, clothed in the form of the active abilities of people realizing these relations [5].” By exteriorizing himself into the world, a person realizes self-realization
the potential it has.
The motivational basis of self-realization
(as the objectification of the essential forces of a person), for example, in the creation of objects of material and spiritual culture (culturalization) or positing oneself in the form of personal contributions to other people (personalization),
metapersonalization
- the desire of a person to broadcast his personality to abstract others, society, humanity as a whole [4]. “Experimental studies have revealed that even without communicating and, it would seem, not at all pursuing the goal of somehow influencing, a personality transmits its characteristics to a person for whom it is in one way or another significant, that is, in this way, in this case, what happens is that we call personalization [6].”
Metapersonalization
has two important, from the perspective of this work, aspects. First, the very causality of metapersonalization is defined by us as a consequence of the general attitude in the human condition - the attitude “I am the center of the world.” The second aspect - metapersonalization is a natural process in the evolution of humanity as an evolutionary unit in the processes of the line of universal human evolution and from this position is a progressive side. And from the position of the individual line of evolution, metapersonalization is a regressive side, since it inhibits the development of the individual, in that it makes the speed of its development dependent on those people to whom this or that part of a person’s personality is transmitted.
of integrity developed in the work
–
as a harmonious state
of a person, in which a person is aware of himself and controls himself, it is necessary to highlight those types of internalization and exteriorization that must be overcome on the way to achieving
a state of integrity
.
There are only a few complete people (I would like to believe that they exist), therefore types of erroneous internalization and exteriorization turn out to be one of the central processes in the state of the so-called normal person. The work proposes the author's classification of these species.
Through the construction of a criterion grid (according to the criterion of belonging to the sign and meaning of the perceived state and the criterion of time), one of the four types of erroneous interiorization - exteriorization, whose analogues could not be found, was identified; it was given the name - displacement
.
For each person at a certain point in time, one or another type of erroneous internalization - exteriorization prevails, depending on the parameters of the state, such as stability, activity, role position, etc.
Four types of interior-exteriorization have been identified
, each of which has
four types of interior-exteriorization (see table)
.
Bias
- a form of interior-exteriorization, in which the perceived sign of one’s state, connecting with the experience of one’s own, but completely different state (for example, from the past), is then perceived with the meaning of this other state.
During displacement,
the internal psyche of a person undergoes processes of interior-exteriorization.
Given the relatively high level of development of the problems of projection
,
introjection
and
transference
the displacement
we discovered remains (in the context of the definition given above) a completely unexplored phenomenon.
Literature
1. Gurdjieff G.I. Meetings with wonderful people // M., Letavr, 1994, 288 p.
2. Dotsenko E.L. Psychology of manipulation // Moscow State University, 1996, 343 p.
3. Zaraisky D.A. Managing other people's behavior. Technology of personal influence // Dubna, publishing center “Phoenix”, 1997, 272 p.
4. Leontyev A.N. Philosophy of Psychology // Ed. A.A. Leontyeva, D.A. Leontyev. Publishing house Moscow. Univ., 1994, 228 p.
5. Leontyev D.A. Meaning and personal meaning: two sides of the same coin // Psychological Journal 1996. Vol. 17 Issue. 5. P.19 – 26.
6. Petrovsky A.V., Yaroshevsky M.G. Fundamentals of theoretical psychology // M., INFRA-M, 1999, 528 p.
7. Petrovsky V.A. Personality in psychology // Rostov-on-Don, Phoenix, 1996, 512 p.
8. Ponomarev Ya.A. On the concept of a mental mechanism for solving creative problems // Psychological Journal, 1996, vol. 17 Issue. 6. pp. 19 – 27.
9. Spirkin A.G. Consciousness and self-awareness // M., Politizdat, 1972, 303 p.
10. What is enlightenment? // Ed. John White. Per. from English A. Degtyarev, I. Nezhinsky and A. Rigin. M., Publishing House of the Transpersonal Institute, 1996, 326 p.
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