Hello, dear readers of the KtoNaNovenkogo.ru blog. Despite the fact that this concept is used by many scientific directions, biology is rightfully considered its ancestor.
She interprets this term as a separate individual , a living organism, endowed with characteristics and qualities that distinguish it from other species of living things. That is, an individual can be called an individual camel, a person, a ciliate, a shoe, and so on.
The individual of the human race is studied by psychologists, sociologists, and social scientists. This will be discussed in this article.
Let's give a terminological definition with brief characteristics
I will list the most popular words that are often confused by ordinary people. Let's take a wide range of explanations - from everyday and colloquial to scientific.
Human
First of all, this name is used in biology, history, and archeology to distinguish a biological species that has certain structural features of the body and brain. It is an upright creature endowed with cognitive abilities. The word is appropriate to use both in combination with the more social “humanity” and when contrasted with the animal world. This can be called absolutely every one of our “relatives” - from children to adults.
Characteristic features that distinguish a person from a personality:
- The result of the evolutionary process.
- The presence of consciousness and self-awareness.
- The need to be in society, the need to communicate with others like oneself.
- A single way of communication through language, that is, the work of speech recognition and speech reproduction, with the exception of those who have lost the opportunity or have not had it since birth due to their anatomical structure.
- Features of anatomy - upright posture, the presence of fingers and toes.
- The ability to use devices to achieve a goal - any objects used for their intended purpose.
Subjective meaning (that is, a person as a subject of relationships, historical process and cultural) turns a biological species into a social being.
Individual
From Latin the word individuum is translated as “indivisible.” We actually completely copied it (but the meaning of “individual” is still different).
This concept can be called every person living in a group, society and possessing qualities that make him the same as his closest relatives. However, it is an independent unit with intrinsic value. This occurs due to the uniqueness of each individual organism on two levels - physiological and psychological. These are not qualities acquired over the years, but traits that are innate - narrow or wide-set eyes, the presence of a dimple on the chin, timbre of voice or ringing laughter.
Characteristics, what is the difference between an individual and personality:
- The object of the human population cannot be alone, it is inseparable from its own kind.
- Social activity - the presence of roles, statuses, for example, husband or wife, daughter, son, mother, father or neighbor, teacher, friend.
- The ability to adapt on a psycho-emotional level to those around you – the ability to find a compromise and adapt to the demands of society.
These are any qualities that are determined in comparison with other people, in contrast or in accordance.
How personality differs from individuality and individual, examples
The term comes from the word “Person”, and in English the tracing paper from Latin is established - persona.
The definition is inextricably linked with personal qualities, that is, it continues the concept of individuum, making it even more personalized. If earlier we talked about the individual characteristics that a person had innately, now it is more correct to talk about the acquired character, which is revealed in communication and relationships with other people. It is impossible to talk about personal traits without comparison or contrast with society.
Psychologist Daria Milai
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The term is used in many sciences and reflects individual characteristics. Let's go through scientific areas:
- Linguistics. “Language, speech and communicative personality.” Everything can be tied into a single knot; often these three persons develop synchronously. They are all in one person. The quality can be called acquired, because the child at birth does not have speech. The first concept reflects the depth of constructed thoughts, sentences, and the structure of texts. The second explains the degree of verbal expression skill. The third is the ability to engage in various verbal interactions.
- Philosophy. In this science, the most common interpretations of the term appeared; it became a stumbling block. For the first time, the concept of “face” began to reflect a person and his inner world. Over time, philosophical wrangling, experts came to a consensus that a person, unlike an individual, has three traits: free will, reason and feelings.
- Sociology. There are many ideas, but the fundamental one is how the society in which a person lives affects his personal qualities, abilities, and character traits. This once again emphasizes the social orientation of the term.
- Psychology. Perhaps the psychological approach is the most correct. It is at the level of consciousness and the unconscious that a set of developed habits, preferences, experience, knowledge, established opinions and stereotypes of thinking appears. All these features determine a person’s attitude to nature, culture, history, and other people.
Let's give an example. Having your own opinion about the political situation means having the traits of personal development. A young man, and especially a child, can only repeat what was said or heard on TV, but not generate his own assessment.
Personality and man, what is the difference, characteristic features:
- presence of temperament;
- pronounced character - people talk about his inclinations even in infancy;
- individual abilities - they need to be developed;
- all actions have motivation.
In general, we can say that personal qualities are cultivated in oneself and controlled, adjusted independently.
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Individuality
The last term that is often confused within the listed definitions. Usually it is understood as personal striking features. The word has its root in the same Latin individuum, that is, “indivisible.” The differences between an individual’s personality and individuality are that the latter distinctive features can be displayed not only in behavior and psychology, but also in purely external manifestations. An example is an individual, author’s, unique style of clothing.
If you feel ordinary, one in a million, and do not find any special characteristics in yourself, this may mean:
- either you have nothing to express;
- or you don't know how.
In my personal consultations, women open up and learn to better understand themselves.
Strong personality
Throughout life, a person can find himself in extreme situations, which become a test of how strong his inner core is - individuality and personality. How rooted and part of the “I” are his beliefs, principles, worldview, etc.
Austrian psychiatrists Bruno Bettelheim and Viktor Frankl, who were imprisoned in concentration camps during World War II, wrote that a person’s very life sometimes depends on the preservation of individuality. The conditions of the concentration camps led not only to physical exhaustion, but also to the destruction of personality - the goal of the fascists was to lower prisoners to the level of an individual occupied only with biological needs. In practice, although such an individual became an “ideal” obedient prisoner, he quickly lost the will to live, memory, abilities and even the instinct of self-preservation.
Frankl and Bettelheim, by their own admission, were helped to survive only by the desire to preserve their individuality - to continue mental work, to set life goals for themselves, even if their realization was unlikely at that time. So, Bettelheim, deprived of the ability to write, composed a book in his head, and Frankl, together with a group of doctors, organized a secret service for psychological assistance to other prisoners. A strong personality, as the highest stage of development, is characterized by the ability to overcome life circumstances, placing spiritual values not only above material, but also above biological needs.
So, we figured out what personality is in social science and how this term differs from concepts such as “individual” and “man”. In addition to the theoretical material, we offer a short test.
What characterizes a person as a person
Initially, the word was almost a dirty word. This term is derived from "Face", and this word, in turn, had a negative connotation in everyday life. It meant what we would now call a mask, a role played—deception. For a long time, the concept was not applied directly to people; about the part of the body that we now call so, they said “face”, “guise”.
From this we can deduce the following. Just as an actor puts on a mask during a performance, so an individual becomes a person only in the process of interaction with other people - a kind of role that the character has built for himself.
Properties
I will list those aspects of life that, one way or another, influenced the formation:
- hereditary predisposition;
- parental education (these two factors are easy to confuse; it is often said that the child’s character is similar to the mother’s, but basically this is the adoption of habits);
- people with whom there is frequent interaction - friends, relatives, classmates, employees.
Particular personality traits may be expressed at one moment and deliberately or unintentionally suppressed at another. This is a significant difference between a personality and an individual, because the latter has a constant set of traits that he is not able to correct at will and through willpower, for example, eye color.
Human
Man is a representative of the species Homo Sapiens, the result of a biological revolution. As mentioned earlier, the concepts of “man”, “individual” and “personality” are interchangeable, but it is the first concept that contains the entire human essence and has the unity of social, biological and mental levels.
However, it was precisely this generalization that gave rise to the need to highlight features, subtleties and specifics, which led to the emergence of the two remaining terms.
Man is multifaceted. This is evidenced by the heterogeneity of the evolution occurring in it: biological, sociocultural, cosmogenic. The question of the nature of human origin still remains open to researchers. Within its framework, a religious position manifests itself, which states that man was created by God. However, there are other guesses and opinions on this issue; many philosophers and scientists have tried to understand the human essence.
In particular, the 20th century gave the world such researchers as Edmond Husserl, Jacques Lacan, Claude Levi-Strauss and others. All of them wrote works devoted to man, his perception of the world, determination of his place in the world and knowledge.
What is individual?
The main difference is the lack of specific, unique features. This is a person who belongs to the crowd, has similar characteristics, conforms to basic stereotypes and is susceptible to public opinion.
Such a person has not grown personally. At the everyday level, we can cite the following traits of an individual who never became a person:
- inability to make decisions;
- lack of responsibility for events;
- low social adaptability;
- following the opinion of the majority;
- lack of point of view;
- the ability to manipulate the person in question.
When does it happen
Most psychologists believe that the process of socialization is not limited to childhood and lasts throughout life. lays the foundations of personal values. And in relation to adults, this process involves changing external behavior and acquiring the necessary skills.
According to one theory, in the process of socialization of adults, children's myths, for example, about the inviolability of authority or one's own super-value, become obsolete. Gradually, on the basis of the experience gained, the individual whose definition is given above is formed.
Communication in a group and relevant experience makes it possible to adjust the unique internal attitudes of an individual with the general qualities characteristic of his social environment.
What is individuality?
All manifestations can be divided into three large groups. These are the features:
- External. These include the uniqueness of the anatomical structure, the chosen style, and the way of dressing. Having an individual style means having a subtle feel for the combinations of clothes, shoes, and jewelry. Make sure that the image corresponds to the internal content and reflects it.
- Behavioral. These include: habits, habits (including negative ones), gait, non-verbal verbal methods of communication. These are any actions that are expressed through behavior. They are completely controlled by the individual. Although sometimes subconsciously.
- Mental. These include the expression of emotions, as well as resentment, anger, and envy. Their positive individual traits are humor, resourcefulness, perseverance, and good memory.
Talent needs to be highlighted separately. This is what distinguishes us greatly and qualitatively from the majority. While many people have creative abilities, often acquired over several years, there are very few truly talented performers, actors, and artists. They can definitely call themselves an individual.
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What characteristics does an individual have?
Any individual has certain characteristics by which he can be distinguished from the mass of his own kind.
:
- The first such sign is the presence of two components: social and biological. A person is born as a biological individual, and only in the process of further development does he assimilate social norms and values, knowledge and skills, and form his own worldview. Thus he becomes a social organism.
- The second sign is the psychological essence of his worldview. A worldview in itself is a system of beliefs and views on the surrounding reality.
- The third sign is the integrity of a person’s worldview and beliefs. It exists if a person’s views on the world and his behavior do not contradict each other. Integrity is violated if a person is forced to be guided by ideas that do not correspond to his worldview.
- The next sign is awareness of one’s place in the social system. An individual’s search for his place in life is an important theme in many works of world culture. Often a situation arises when a person cannot determine what place in life he occupies and where he strives. This is a serious psychological problem, and such a person should contact a specialist who will direct his strength in the right direction.
- Another important sign is the interests and needs of the individual. This is quite a volatile matter; When social conditions change and while they are poorly formed, a person’s interests and needs, being narrowly focused, limit the individual’s worldview. And this does not allow him to fully realize his potential, try new activities and realize himself in different areas: a person is afraid that he will not succeed and will fail.
- Another important characteristic of a human individual is responsibility. This feeling distinguishes man from animals. Responsibility is the awareness that you need not only to use the benefits provided, but also to fulfill some obligations yourself, to do something for others. Responsibility allows us to continue successful activities in the future. In addition, responsibility is often encouraged by society, not only morally, but also financially.
- Self-control, self-control, self-discipline are another quality of an individual. It allows you to achieve true success in any field and be truly free. Being capable of self-organization, a person will not become dependent on anyone.
The listed characteristics of an individual may indicate the success of a person in life. Everyone has their own set of signs and the degree of their expression, and this determines the strengths and weaknesses of people. And since there is competition and struggle in society, then the one who has the most personal characteristics, and as developed as possible, wins it. The struggle can be invisible when people with different “personality strengths” collide. Or it can be obvious and attract everyone’s attention if approximately equally strong personalities collide with each other. Each of them wants to take a dominant position, no one wants to give way. And it happens that such personal competition develops into a real conflict, including an armed one.
“Individual” and “individual” - what is the peculiarity
The difference is made not depending on the properties of a person, but in connection with the situation. So let's imagine 2 circumstances. In the first, citizen A, like one of the previous 100, comes to a credit institution, provides a package of documents, and concludes a deal. It is difficult to assess his individual qualities here, because they actually could not manifest themselves in the most formalized setting. If you look at him as one out of 100, then he is an individual.
Second example. Citizen B is communicating with two people. She differs from them in gender, age, character, social status (wife, mother, sister) - and these differences in this particular case, in this society, are significant. This is where the individual comes into play.
Expression of individuality
The concepts of “personality and individuality” cannot be identified, since the first concept is a characteristic of the second. It is individuality that gives a person a set of unique properties and traits that distinguish him from the social mass.
A person can show his individuality in different areas of activity: in profession, in creativity, in communication. Individuality makes it possible to demonstrate versatile abilities while maintaining the integrity of the psyche.
A person’s individuality is in constant dynamics, manifesting itself in various unexpected situations and conditions. A person’s individual qualities find their vivid expression at critical moments, when it is necessary to quickly make a non-standard decision or take responsibility. At the same time, society’s assessment will not always be positive. The reaction from the outside is an additional stimulus for the development of the subject, determining its direction.
If there is a stop in development, then we can talk about degradation. Its causes can be internal motives, as well as the influence of external factors, when suppression or submission to someone else’s will occurs, excluding the choice of actions or deeds.
How does personality differ from individuality or individual?
The main difference is maximum self-awareness and the ability to control one’s own actions, take responsibility for them, and make decisions. The peculiarity is in willpower, which is expressed not in the desire to be different from others, but in the desire to become better than oneself. Usually, personal qualities, although they are manifested in comparison with others, are assessed by the person himself in relation to himself. That is, for example, the abstract “I” stole and has pangs of conscience not because a neighbor/friend or a policeman said that this should not be done. The reason is the awareness of values and their violation. The individual will be ashamed first of all of himself.
Archetypes of the collective unconscious according to Jung
By archetypes, Jung means universal mental structures that are in a person from birth; they are part of the collective unconscious.
There may be countless archetypes, but Jung identifies only a few of the most significant: mask, shadow, anime and animus, self:
- A mask is a mask, a public face that a person puts on when going out into society and interacting with other people. The function of a mask is to hide one's true face, in some cases to achieve certain goals. The danger of wearing a mask often lies in the alienation from true emotional experience and characterizes a person as stupid and narrow-minded.
- The shadow is the complete opposite of the previous archetype. It includes everything secret, dark hidden, animal component that cannot be pulled out due to the subsequent negative reaction from the public. However, the shadow also has a positive component - it contains a person’s creativity, an element of spontaneity and passion.
- Anime and animus refer to the androgynous predisposition in all people. In other words, it speaks of the presence of the feminine principle (anima) in a man, and the masculine principle (animus) in a woman. Jung came to this conclusion based on observations of the production of hormones of the opposite sex in men and women.
- The Self is the most important archetype around which the others revolve. When the integration of all parts of the human soul occurs, the individual feels completeness and harmony with himself.
What is the difference between an individual and an individual?
Although these two words have the same root, they have completely different meanings. The first term can be applied to virtually any person who lives among people, has adapted to society and is not only a biological species, but also a representative of society. But the second definition involves the development of the individual. You can develop natural, innate properties (never cut your hair, they will grow to incredible sizes), or you can get acquired ones.
Often people consider themselves individuals only because they try to go against the general opinion. Such informals really differ from the crowd, but the problem is that there are a lot of them, they are already creating their own informal mass. Among her, tattoos, ripped jeans, green hair and ear tunnels become commonplace. Thus, only one that is invented independently and not copied from another can be considered an individual solution.
Development of the individual
Various factors participate in the formation and development of an individual:
- Biological. The body develops its physiological and anatomical properties.
- Psychological. A person undergoes psychological changes, the structure of his psyche becomes more diverse.
- Personal. The personal development of an individual occurs under the influence of society in the process of his upbringing, learning, and adaptation.
Thank you for reading the material. Repost and share the article on social networks. It will help you better understand the terminology and never again confuse concepts that are similar at first glance.
What does “outstanding personality” mean in social studies?
We come across all the terminology listed above at school. But the basis for everything is human predispositions. The structure of human development can be presented sequentially as follows:
- Congenital prerequisites - physical and genetic characteristics.
- Upbringing, communication, political situation, cultural influence or lack thereof.
- Perception of social taboos, prohibitions, requirements, norms, traditions, rituals.
- Self-adjustment of behavior.
- Active exploration of the world through books, textbooks, films and communication with people.
- Forming your own opinions, beliefs, postulates.
Points 5 and 6 can alternate endlessly. This is a normal tendency for a mature personality. With the progress of knowledge, changes occur. If they have not been there for 30-40 years or more, we can talk about orthodoxy and rigidity of thinking.
An “outstanding personality,” according to a social studies textbook, has the following qualities:
- strength of will;
- determination;
- extraordinary abilities, including mental and physical.
What is personal experience based on?
The “social mirror” is constantly in front of each of us. In childhood, when assessing one’s own abilities, a person is based on the opinions of those closest to him, and with age, on the assessments of competent specialists. A mature person understands that he is an individual, and his individuality is unique.
The influence of personal experience cannot be underestimated. That is why children raised in the same family are very different. They have similar group experiences (but not identical ones). In addition to the family, children communicate in the external environment and with different people. Even twins with the same set of genes cannot constantly be in exactly the same conditions, meet the same people and experience identical emotions.
This is why every personal experience is unique. According to psychoanalysts, certain incidents that happen to people may well turn out to be critical, setting the tone for subsequent emotional reactions.
Conclusions website
- Interaction with society. To remain an individual, a person just needs to be himself. But he can become a person only through social interaction, which manifests itself either in cooperation or in confrontation.
- Adequacy. Every person is born an individual, but he becomes a personality only in the process of conscious life.
- Quantity. There are about 7 billion individuals in the world, and individuals, according to various estimates, from several hundred to several tens of millions.
- Confession. Every person has equal rights with other people, that is, his right to individuality is inalienable. However, individuals express themselves somewhat more clearly, receiving certain social privileges (authority, power, recognition).
- Mindfulness. To remain an individual, it is enough to simply live, fitting into the framework of society or isolating yourself from it. The path to personality development is a conscious action, accessible only to a select few.
In psychology and sociology, the problem of human formation, which is associated with the stages of his growing up, is very important. The separation of the concepts of individual and personality is the cornerstone of assessing a person’s activity
People are not only born unique, but also become unique in the process of life. To the question “what have you achieved?” Almost every person answers differently. An individual is a unique combination of human properties received from his parents at birth and acquired during his life. This concept is characterized by integrity: a set of qualities without which a person will lose his identity. Special features include details such as gender, age, height and weight, character, eye color, skull shape and much more. A personality is a unique representative of the human race, which has manifested itself in socio-cultural action. This is a stable system of traits that manifests itself only in the process of living in society. A person who is on a desert island retains his identity, but becomes a person only through the recognition of other members of society. This property is best manifested in Indian culture: having performed a significant action, a person receives a name, that is, public support. Each person is an individual by nature, and he becomes an individual in the process of growing up and communicating with other people. At the same time, the preservation of the human genetic code, its transmission and development is carried out according to the will of nature. But any representative of the human race can become a person, even if he has limited capabilities (no limbs, internal organs, speech, hearing). You can remain an individual regardless of how others treat you. But recognition, authority, characteristic of an individual are those “medals” that only society can award. Torn out of society, a person quickly loses his individual traits, ceases to understand other people and even forgets his language. At the same time, the need for personalization and uniqueness is one of the highest human needs.
Definitions
- Man is a social being with consciousness and intelligence. This concept can have a biological or physical meaning. At the same time, it is the most generalized, so this word can designate both a very concrete person and an abstract one.
- An individual is a separate representative of the human race. This word denotes an individual unique person, abstracting from his morphological, psychological and social characteristics. It is obvious that an individual has a certain set of unique qualities, but within the framework of this concept they are insignificant.
- Individuality is a set of biological, psychological and social properties that make up the uniqueness of an individual, make him unique and distinguish him from other people. The components of individuality are temperament, character, intelligence, worldview, accumulated knowledge and life experience, morphological and other properties.
- Personality is a set of social qualities of an individual, which he one way or another realizes in his social life. This word can be used as a characteristic of an individual, or to designate a specific person in the context of studying his social characteristics.
Now let’s look at each of these concepts in more detail in order to more accurately understand how they differ, what they have in common, and in which cases which term should be used.
Interrelation of concepts
All of the above related mainly to the differences between the concepts under consideration. At the same time, there is a relationship between all of them, which also cannot be ignored. The concepts of “individual”, “individuality” and “personality” can be considered as stages of a person’s personal evolution. Every person becomes an individual immediately after birth. As he grows up, he acquires individuality , which consists of genetically determined and acquired properties.
Personality and individuality are formed in parallel, largely under the influence of the same factors. As an individual develops psychologically, he acquires unique traits that help him interact better with society and the environment. At the same time, all three concepts are applicable to it, which characterize it from different sides. Each person is an individual, personality and individuality. And what to call it depends on the goals and objectives set.
