What is personality in psychology and other sciences about man and society

In a broad sense, personality is a reflection of the social aspect of a person when analyzing him as an element of society participating in sociocultural life. Personality psychology considers a person as the bearer of a certain unique principle, which gradually reveals itself when interacting with other people within the framework of relationships provided for by society. This involves communication and different areas of activity.

The study of personality in psychology begins with defining terminology and deciphering the concept. Sometimes the word denotes an individual participating in a relationship and acting consciously. Sometimes a word denotes a system of traits that are significant to society and define a person as a member of a certain group. The concept of a person as an integral subject and seeing him as a set of traits differ in meaning, but in everyday life they are often used as synonyms.

Definition of the concept

Since the phenomenon of personality is a subject of study not only in psychology, but also in other humanities, the term does not have an unambiguous definition. For a better understanding of what a person is, three main definitions will be given below.

Personality is a set of individual qualities of a person (thinking, will, and so on) that determine his behavior in society, speak about his values, life experience, and aspirations.

In other words, the psychological difference between one individual and another characterizes his personality.

A person can be defined as a subject of society with a set of roles (social and personal), certain habits and experiences.

This term also refers to a person who is completely responsible for all aspects of his life.

Personality structure

To better understand the term, it is worth considering its structure.

The structure of personality can be understood as the interaction of its component parts (character, aspirations, will, abilities, emotions). These parts (components) characterize a person; they can be called her traits. To structure these personality-defining traits, the following levels are distinguished:

• lower,
• second,
• third,
• higher.

The lowest level is the mental characteristics of a person determined by gender, age, and innate qualities.

The second level involves individual characteristics depending on innate qualities and their development (memory, thinking, abilities, perception of the surrounding world).

The third level is formed throughout life and is associated with socialization. It defines individual experience (knowledge acquired throughout life, habits, skills).

The highest level reflects the worldview, inclinations, beliefs, character traits, the so-called personality orientation. The highest level is most dependent on the social environment in which the formation of personality occurs. Education has a strong influence on the formation of this level. This structure gives a generalized idea of ​​personality. Each person is multifaceted and the differences between people at each level of the structure discussed above are determined by individual experience, beliefs, character, and knowledge. This versatility and individuality often becomes the reason why it is difficult to understand an opponent and avoid conflict situations.

To better understand others and yourself, you need to have an idea of ​​personality characteristics, be aware and observant.

The problem of personality in psychology

Psychology studies the problem of personality from a cross-section, since the manifestations are diverse, contradictory, and a person’s behavior is often mysterious when viewed from the outside. Elaboration of the problem is necessary for a comprehensive analysis of processes:

• will;
• thinking;
• sensations;
• emotions.

Personality in psychology is the highest integration level of processes occurring in the psyche. A comprehensive study shows what the sensory organization, emotions, and intelligence of a person are.

Personality is an integrating base, a core that connects processes and transforms actions into consistent actions, subject to a certain logic.

Methods and approaches to the study of personality

Studying the problem of personality in psychology involves the help of pedagogy, taking into account the influence of age and ethnicity. The general theory is influenced by developmental psychology, religion and work, psychosomatic medicine, parapsychology, and ideas about the superconscious.

Personality psychology is a scientific direction that was formed during the crisis of Wundtian psychology against the background of the obsolescence of atomistic theory. Multi-level study gives an idea of ​​the psychological make-up of a person - in general, in particular, using individual examples.

Psychological characteristics and personality traits

Features of human personality in psychology:

• temperament;
• capabilities;
• preferences;
• interests;
• character.

More details:

1. Temperament is an innate specificity of the nervous system. It is determined by nature and determines certain qualities. The term was introduced by Hippocrates, who proposed 4 forms of the phenomenon: melancholic, sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric. Academician I.P. Pavlov proposed 3 basic components to which higher nervous activity is subordinated: strength, balance, mobility. Combinations of components determine temperament.
2. Abilities are personal properties necessary to perform the chosen activity. Without constant development they fade away.
3. Preferences imply a predisposition to a particular field of activity.
4. Interest is a conscious orientation, interest in information in a specific area.
5. Character implies stable personal characteristics determined by upbringing and self-education. This is an acquired characteristic that changes throughout life.

Psychology of behavior

Psychology of personal behavior - behaviorism - is a science that was formed in the last century in North America. The founder of the theory, J. Watson, proposed considering behavior as the key subject of psychology. In behaviorism, behavior is a complex of behavioral reactions characteristic of a person, and each reaction is caused by a certain stimulus. In the presence of reinforcement, the connection between the response and the stimulus is strengthened. As a rule, behavior is determined by the expectation of positive reinforcement, in some cases by the desire to avoid negative reinforcement. Behaviorism implies the ability to form any type of personality using the connection of reactions and stimuli.

In behaviorism, personality is an organized, stable system of skills, which is the basis of stable behavior. Skills are adapted to real situations, and new ones are formed when things change. Human programming is carried out through changing incentives and reinforcement.

Main characteristics

In psychology, personality characteristics are understood as those mental phenomena through which an individual manifests himself in communication with others and in everyday activities. The following main personality characteristics are distinguished:

• capabilities,
• will,
• temperament,
• character,
• emotions,
• motivation.

Capabilities

When it comes to a person’s successes and achievements (for example, studying at school), abilities are considered to be the criterion for assessing this success.

Abilities can be called properties of the soul, uniting all mental processes and states of a person. They also mean the totality of all the skills of an individual, thanks to which he successfully performs certain actions. Simply put, ability is both the ability to do something well, for example, to draw, and to experience strong feelings, for example, love or compassion.

Abilities are divided into:

• complex and simple
• practical and theoretical,
• educational and creative,
• general and special,
• communicative and subject-active.

Complex and simple abilities

The simplest include innate abilities based on the activity of the senses and elementary motor activity. For example, the ability to distinguish colors, sounds, walk, sit, and so on.

Complex abilities are understood as skills related to human culture (painting pictures, the ability to solve difficult problems in physics, etc.). These are not innate abilities; they are socially conditioned.

Theories about personality development

Most psychologists now agree with the idea that a person is not born, but becomes a personality. However, their points of view on what laws personality development is subject to differ significantly. These discrepancies relate to the understanding of the driving forces of development, in particular the importance of society and various social groups for the development of the individual, patterns and stages of development, the presence, specificity and role of crises of personal development in this process, possibilities for accelerating the development process and other issues.

Each type of theory discussed in the previous section of this chapter is associated with its own special idea of ​​personality development. Psychoanalytic theory understands development as the adaptation of a person’s biological nature to life in society, the development of defense mechanisms and ways of satisfying needs consistent with the “Super-Ego.” The trait theory bases its idea of ​​development on the fact that all personality traits are formed during life, and considers the process of their origin, transformation and stabilization as subject to other, non-biological laws. Social learning theory represents the process of personality development through the prism of the formation of certain ways of interpersonal interaction between people. Humanistic and other phenomenological theories interpret it as a process of formation of the “I”. personality individuality erikson psyche

In recent decades, there has been an increasing tendency towards an integrated, holistic consideration of personality from the standpoint of different theories and approaches, and an integrative concept of development is also outlined here, taking into account the coordinated, systemic formation and interdependent transformation of all those aspects of personality, which were emphasized in line with various approaches and theories. One of these concepts was the theory belonging to the American psychologist E. Erikson, in which, more than in others, this tendency was expressed.

E. Erikson, in his views on development, adhered to the so-called epigenetic principle: the genetic predetermination of the stages that a person necessarily goes through in his personal development from birth to the end of his days. The most significant contribution of E. Erikson to the theory of personal development is the identification and description of eight life psychological crises that inevitably occur in every person:

1. Crisis of trust - mistrust (during the first year of life).

2. Autonomy versus doubt and shame (around 2-3 years of age).

3. The emergence of initiative as opposed to feelings of guilt (from approximately 3 to 6 years).

4. Hard work as opposed to an inferiority complex (ages 7 to 12 years).

5. Personal self-determination as opposed to individual dullness and conformism (from 12 to 18 years).

6. Intimacy and sociability as opposed to personal psychological isolation (about 20 years).

7. Concern for raising the new generation as opposed to “immersion in oneself” (between 30 and 60 years).

8. Satisfaction with life lived as opposed to despair (over 60 years old).

The formation of personality in Erikson’s concept is understood as a change of stages, at each of which there is a qualitative transformation of a person’s inner world and a radical change in his relationships with people around him. As a result of this, he as a person acquires something new, characteristic specifically for this stage of development and retained by him (at least in the form of noticeable traces) throughout his life.

Personal new formations themselves, according to E. Erikson, do not arise out of nowhere - their appearance at a certain stage is prepared by the entire process of previous personality development. Something new in it can emerge and become established only when appropriate psychological and behavioral conditions have already been created in the past. Forming and developing as a person, a person acquires not only positive qualities, but also disadvantages. It is almost impossible to present in detail in a single theory all possible options for individual personal development based on all possible combinations of positive and negative neoplasms. With this difficulty in mind, E. Erikson depicted in his concept only two extreme lines of personal development: normal and abnormal. In their pure form, they are almost never found in life, but they contain all sorts of intermediate options for a person’s personal development.

E. Erikson identified eight stages of development, one to one correlated with the crises of age-related development described above. At the first stage, the child’s development is determined almost exclusively by the communication of adults, primarily the mother, with him. At this stage, prerequisites may already arise for the manifestation of desire for people in the future or withdrawal from them.

The second stage determines the formation in the child of such personal qualities as independence and self-confidence. Their formation also largely depends on the nature of communication and treatment of adults with the child.

Note that by the age of three, a child already acquires certain personal forms of behavior, and here E. Erikson argues in accordance with the data of experimental studies. One can argue about the legitimacy of reducing all development specifically to communication and treatment of the child by adults (research shows the important role of objective joint activity in this process), but the fact that a three-year-old child already behaves like a small person is almost beyond doubt.

The third and fourth stages of development, according to E. Erikson, also generally coincide with the ideas of D.B. Elkonin and other domestic psychologists. This concept, like those we have already discussed, emphasizes the importance of educational and work activities for the mental development of the child during these years. The difference between the views of our scientists and the positions espoused by E. Erikson lies only in the fact that he focuses on the formation not of operational and cognitive skills and abilities, but of personality traits associated with the corresponding types of activities: initiative, activity and hard work (in positive pole of development), passivity, reluctance to work and an inferiority complex in relation to labor and intellectual abilities (at the negative pole of development).

The following stages of personal development are not represented in the theories of domestic psychologists. But we can quite agree that the acquisition of new life and social roles forces a person to look at many things in a new way, and this, apparently, is the main point of personal development in older age following adolescence.

At the same time, the line of abnormal personality development outlined by E. Erikson for these ages raises objections. It clearly looks pathological, while this development can take on other forms. It is obvious that E. Erikson's belief system was strongly influenced by psychoanalysis and clinical practice.

In addition, at each of the stages of development he identifies, the author points only to individual points that explain its progress, and only to some personal new formations characteristic of the corresponding age. Without proper attention, for example, in the early stages of child development, the child’s assimilation and use of speech remained, and mostly only in abnormal forms.

Nevertheless, this concept contains a significant amount of truth in life, and most importantly, it allows us to imagine the importance of the childhood period in the entire process of human personal development.

In conclusion, we note the special position on the issue of personal development that E. Fromm takes. It seems that he gave the most philosophically correct interpretation of the goals and objectives of human personal development in the conditions of a modern democratic society. Democracy, he wrote, is a system that, not in words, but in deeds, creates economic, political and cultural conditions for the full development of the individual as a personality. Personal development is the recognition and implementation of the unique capabilities available to each person. People, the author believed, are born equal, but different. Respect for a person’s originality, the cultivation of his uniqueness, consistent with his nature and in accordance with the highest moral and spiritual values, is the most important task of education.

The personality must develop freely, and the freedom of its development in practice means not being subject to any higher power or goal other than the self-improvement of the individual. The future of democracy depends on the implementation of individualism in its positive understanding, which is associated with the concept of individuality. The individual as a person should not be manipulated by any external force, be it the state or the collective.

Practical and theoretical abilities

Practical abilities are understood as the ability of an individual to pose and solve problems that require action in certain situations.

Theoretical abilities determine abstract and logical thinking, the ability to solve theoretical problems.

Academic and creative abilities

Learning abilities mean how well a person learns new things, acquires knowledge, and acquires skills.

Creative abilities determine an individual’s ability to generate new ideas and produce spiritual and material values.

General and special abilities

General abilities are understood as those abilities that every person has (general mental, motor). But they are developed differently for everyone. And success in certain areas depends on this.

Special abilities can be defined as specific abilities that not every individual has. As a rule, they require innate abilities. This could be musical, acting or literary abilities.

Will

Will is what allows an individual to control his actions and psyche. This is conscious control over one’s behavior, a conscious influence on the surrounding reality.

The following factors can be called signs of will:

• making informed decisions,
• achieving your goals, overcoming difficulties on the way to them,
• self-restraint, when in order to achieve a goal an individual deprives himself of something that may seem attractive to him,
• a clear action plan,
• lack of emotional satisfaction from solving the task,
• moral satisfaction associated with achieving and overcoming oneself.

Will is a person’s main assistant in achieving his goals, the quality that helps him develop and grow as a person. It is the will that helps a person overcome life’s difficulties, even when it seems that the goal is unattainable.

Afterword

Despite the fact that most scientists are of the opinion that individuals are made and not born, the question of whether all people are individuals continues to attract controversy and controversial opinions.

• The question of whether a child can be considered a person is controversial, although humanistic pedagogy argues that, undoubtedly, it can and should be.
• The understanding of a mentally ill person or a criminal as an individual is just as controversial.
• Don’t the phrases “asocial personality” or “degraded personality” look ridiculous?

In the end, everyone chooses for themselves which side they belong to in these issues. In my opinion, each person (especially important for young children when raising) can be treated as a potential personality, that is, given a few points head start. However, this is possible until a person proves otherwise.

Temperament

Temperament is those properties of the psyche that are responsible for its processes and human states.

The following main types of temperament, defined by Hippocrates, are distinguished:

• melancholic,
• choleric,
• phlegmatic,
• sanguine.

A melancholic person is characterized by a tense inner life. People with this temperament are usually gloomy, vulnerable, and have a high level of anxiety. They are restrained in communication, get tired quickly, and give in to difficulties.

Cholerics are quick-tempered, impulsive people, persistent. They have difficulty restraining their emotions, but quickly calm down if they get their way. Such people are true to their interests and aspirations.

Phlegmatic people are efficient and patient, they know how to control themselves perfectly. These are cold-blooded people who are difficult to disturb, but if this happens, it is difficult for them to calm down. Those with a phlegmatic temperament have difficulty adapting to new things and do not easily get rid of old habits.

Sanguine people are cheerful, optimistic, sociable people who love to joke. They are open to new things and easily adapt to changes, they are disciplined in their work and are able to keep their emotions in check.

This is a general and incomplete classification that gives general ideas about temperament.

You need to understand that a person can combine traits of different temperaments and that these types are not often found in their pure form.

Character

In psychology, character is understood as the way a person interacts with other people and the world. It is formed depending on the social conditions in which the individual is located and raised.

Character is manifested in the reaction to the actions of other people, in the manners of the person himself. Many character traits can be grouped into three groups:

• strong-willed,
• business,
• communicative,
• motivational,
• instrumental.

As it is not difficult to guess, strong-willed character traits determine a person’s will and its accompanying qualities (perseverance, determination, compliance).

Business traits are how an individual behaves during work (conscientiousness, laziness, responsibility, tendency to procrastinate).

Communication traits determine how contactable and sociable a person is, how he communicates with others (openness, kindness, politeness, rudeness, isolation).

Motivational traits mean those qualities that encourage action, directing it. Instrumental traits give a certain style to human behavior.

Emotions

Emotions in psychology are defined as individual experiences that arise when vital needs are satisfied (dissatisfied). They may be pleasant or not.

A person is capable of experiencing a variety of emotions, but the main ones include the following:

• the simplest emotions
• mood,
• affects,
• feelings.

The simplest emotions, their manifestation, are associated with the satisfaction of physiological needs.

Mood is a set of emotions that can describe the state of an individual at a certain moment.

Affects can be called strong short-term emotions that have...

By feelings, psychologists understand an individual’s experiences caused by a certain object.

Emotionally, people are very different from each other. These differences consist of different intensity and direction, and the duration of the experience of emotions.

Emotions influence decision-making and specific actions. This is why it is important to control your feelings.

The concept of “I am an image” and the problem of forming self-esteem

A person evaluates all information about the world around him on the basis of a system of ideas about himself and forms behavior based on an understanding of his values, ideals and motivational attitudes.

“I am an image” is a person’s idea of ​​himself. It is not a statistical, but a dynamic formation of a personality; it can arise as an idea of ​​oneself at the moment of the experience itself - as “I am real.” This “I” changes all the time, for example, the “I” before the competition and after the competition, the “I” before the exam and after the exam will be different. At the same time, the image of “I” is the ideal “I” of a person, the desired image that corresponds to social norms and the expectations of others. The existence of a fantastic “I” is still possible. In this case, a person looks at himself through the prism of his own desires, without taking into account his own capabilities. All “I” coexist simultaneously in a person. The degree of correctness of the image of “I” is clarified by studying one of its most important aspects – the self-esteem of the individual.

Self-esteem is a person’s assessment of himself, his capabilities, qualities and place among other people. Referring to the “core” of personality, self-esteem is an important regulator of its behavior. A person’s relationships with others, his criticality, self-demandingness, and attitude toward successes and failures depend on it. It is formed in the process of communication, when we receive assessment from the people around us. The formation of self-esteem can be illustrated by the following parable.

Once a Lion was walking and met a hare. “Who is the King of Beasts? - Lev roared. The little hare, numb with fear, squeaked: “You, Your Majesty!” The lion kindly released the hare. Then the Lion met a gazelle, and again with his roar he deafened and frightened the poor thing and again heard what he expected. This was repeated several more times: with a deer, a zebra and a giraffe. All these animals were smaller or weaker than the Lion, recognized this and behaved accordingly.

3 pages, 1297 words

Personality and behavior disorders in adulthood (psychopathy)

... personalities B) Dissocial personalities C) And steric personalities 38. What features characterize psioasthenic personalities? 1a Anxiety, suspiciousness, lack of self-confidence B) Calm behavior, confidence 39. How do psychasthenics compensate for their low self-esteem? … 29. How do hysterical personalities differ from others? 1a demonstrativeness, theatricality B) calm behavior C) not particularly ...

And Leo has already gotten the hang of it. Finally he met a rhinoceros, with whom he usually avoided communication, but today the lion threw up his head and roared: “Who is the King of Beasts?” Usually the rhinoceros did not pay much attention to Leo, but now he was intimidated by the formidable appearance and roar of Leo. “You, of course, are Mr. Lion,” replied the rhinoceros.

And then the lion met the elephant. From the Lion's point of view, he was superior in size and strength to the elephant. And so he roared menacingly, repeating the same question. However, the elephant assessed the balance of forces differently. Without saying a word, he raised his foot and drove the Lion up to his throat in the sand, after which he continued on his way. The lion, desperately trying to get out of the sand, shouted after the elephant: “And you can’t ask anymore?!”

In the minds of each of us a certain idea of ​​ourselves is formed. We get this idea by comparing ourselves with other people. We base our actions on this idea of ​​ourselves. If we believe that our interlocutor is much superior to us, we will behave differently than with the partner whom we consider equal. At the same time, the basis for our actions is our assessment, and not the real state of affairs. After all, for us, our own assessment of a particular situation is our reality. Our idea of ​​ourselves, our self-esteem may not correspond to reality. Too much discrepancy between our self-image and reality harms our interactions with other people.

Self-esteem is closely related to the level of a person’s aspirations. The desire to achieve high self-esteem can be realized in two ways: by increasing aspirations in order to experience maximum success or by lowering aspirations to avoid failure. The behavior of those people who strive for success and those who try to avoid failure differs significantly. People motivated to succeed set positive goals for themselves, are actively involved in activities, and choose means and methods to achieve them in the shortest possible way. The opposite position is taken by people motivated to avoid failure. They are characterized by self-doubt, disbelief in the possibility of achieving success, and avoidance of criticism. The discrepancy between aspirations and real possibilities leads to the fact that a person begins to evaluate himself incorrectly, as a result of which his behavior becomes inadequate. The level of adequacy of self-esteem receives objective expression in how a person evaluates the capabilities and results of the activities of others (for example, he belittles them when self-esteem is inflated).

“I am a concept” is the result of self-knowledge, embodied in the individual’s holistic view of himself. Self-knowledge is strictly individualized. “I am a concept” plays a vital role in the formation of personality integrity. Factors influencing the “I am concept”: the individual’s awareness of how others (parents, peers) perceive him; self-analysis (analysis of personal strengths and weaknesses); social values, expectations, ideals of the individual; experience of her social behavior; external data, feeling of strength and health. “I am a concept” can perform the functions of self-blame and self-encouragement. When a person’s behavior is consistent with his “I-image,” he can often do without the approval of others - he is satisfied with himself and does not need the support of others. “I am a concept” can also have self-accusatory tendencies. People who perceive themselves as failures may subconsciously undermine their efforts to improve the situation in order to maintain the same image.

5 pages, 2224 words

Personality in the concept of transactional analysis by E. Bern

... but also in healthy people, can be explained using the concept of psychic energy, or cathexis, ... Parent Adult Child Fig. 1 &nbspersonalities react to different stimuli in different ways - ...

The content of “I am a concept” is formed under the influence of various social influences. Especially important for an individual are contacts with significant people, who, in essence, determine her ideas about herself. At first, almost any contacts have a formative effect on it, and from the moment of its inception, “I am a concept” itself actively participates in the interpretation of personal experience. Thus, “I am a concept” essentially plays a three-fold role: it contributes to the achievement of internal consistency of the individual, determines the interpretation of experience, and is a source of expectations.