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Personality is a quality individual characteristics, which combines stable and permanent properties of the psyche that determine the behavior and characteristics of a person’s attitude. Literally, translated from Greek, character means a sign, a trait. Character in the structure of personality combines the totality of its various qualities and properties that leave an imprint on behavior, activity and individual manifestation. A set of essential, and most importantly, stable properties and qualities determine a person’s entire lifestyle and his ways of reacting in a given situation.
The character of an individual is formed, determined and formed throughout his entire life journey. The relationship between character and personality is manifested in activity and communication, thereby determining typical modes of behavior.
Personality Traits
Any trait is some stable and unchangeable stereotype of behavior.
Character traits Personalities in a general sense can be divided into those that set the general direction for the development of character manifestations in the complex (leading), and those that are determined by the main directions (secondary). Leading traits allow you to reflect the very essence of character and show its main important manifestations. We must understand that any character trait of a person will reflect the manifestation of his attitude to reality, but this does not mean that any of his attitudes will directly be a character trait. Depending on the individual’s living environment and certain conditions, only some manifestations of relationships will become defining character traits. Those. a person can respond to this or that irritant internal or external environment react aggressively, but this will not mean that the person is evil by nature.
In the character structure of each person, there are 4 groups. The first group includes traits that determine the basis of personality, its core. These include: honesty and insincerity, integrity and cowardice, courage and cowardice, and many others. The second includes traits that demonstrate an individual’s attitude directly towards other people. For example, respect and contempt, kindness and anger, and others. The third group is characterized by the individual’s attitude towards himself. It includes: pride, modesty, arrogance, vanity, self-criticism and others. The fourth group is the attitude towards work, activity or work performed. And it is characterized by such traits as hard work and laziness, responsibility and irresponsibility, activity and passivity, and others.
Some scientists additionally identify another group that characterizes a person’s attitude towards things, for example, neatness and sloppiness.
They also distinguish such typological properties of character traits as abnormal and normal. Normal traits are characteristic of people who have a healthy psyche, while abnormal traits include people with a variety of mental illnesses. It should be noted that similar personality traits can be considered both abnormal and normal. It all depends on the degree of expression or whether it is an accentuation of character. An example of this could be healthy suspicion, but when it goes off scale, it leads to...
The determining role in the formation of personality traits is played by society and a person’s attitude towards it. It is impossible to judge a person without seeing how he interacts with the team, without taking into account his attachments, dislikes, comradely or friendly relations in society.
An individual's attitude towards any type of activity is determined by his relationships with other persons. Interaction with other people can encourage a person to be active and rationalize, or keep him in tension and give rise to his lack of initiative. An individual's idea of himself is determined by his relationships with people and his attitude to activity. The basis in the formation of personality consciousness is the direct relationship to other individuals. A correct assessment of another person’s personality traits is a fundamental factor in the formation of self-esteem. Also, it should be noted that when a person’s activity changes, not only the methods, methods and subject of this activity change, but also the person’s attitude towards himself in the new role of an actor changes.
Personality traits
The main feature of character in the personality structure is its certainty. But this does not mean dominance of one trait. Several traits, contradicting or not contradicting each other, can dominate a character. Character can lose its definition in the absence of clearly defined traits. The system of moral values and beliefs of an individual is also a leading and determining factor in the formation of character traits. They establish the long-term direction of individual behavior.
The character traits of an individual are inextricably linked with his stable and deep interests. The lack of integrity, self-sufficiency and independence of the individual is closely related to the instability and superficiality of the individual’s interests. And, conversely, a person’s integrity and purposefulness and perseverance directly depend on the content and depth of his interests. However, similarity of interests does not yet imply similarity characteristic features personality. For example, among scientists you can meet both cheerful and sad people, both good and evil.
To understand the characteristics of a person’s character, one should also pay attention to his affections and leisure time. This can reveal new facets and characteristics of character. It is also important to pay attention to the compliance of a person’s actions with his established goals, because an individual is characterized not only by actions, but also by how exactly he produces them. The direction of activity and the actions themselves form the dominant spiritual or material needs and interests of the individual. Therefore, character should be understood only as the unity of the image of actions and their direction. It is on the combination of personality traits and his properties that a person’s real achievements depend, and not on the presence of mental capabilities.
Temperament and personality
The relationship between character and personality is also determined by the individual’s temperament, abilities and other aspects. And the concepts of temperament and personality form its structure. Character is a set of qualitative properties of an individual that determine his actions, manifested in relation to other people, actions, and things. Whereas temperament is a set of mental properties of an individual that influence his behavioral reactions. Responsible for the manifestation of temperament nervous system. Character is also inextricably linked with the individual’s psyche, but its traits develop throughout life under the influence of the external environment. And temperament is an innate parameter that cannot be changed, you can only restrain its negative manifestations.
The prerequisite for character is temperament. Temperament and character in the personality structure are closely interrelated with each other, but at the same time they are different from each other.
Temperament embodies mental differences between people. It varies in depth and strength of manifestations of emotions, activity of actions, impressionability and other individual, stable, dynamic characteristics of the psyche.
We can conclude that temperament is the innate foundation and basis on which the personality is formed as a member of society. Therefore, the most stable and permanent personality traits are temperament. It manifests itself equally in any activity, regardless of its focus or content. Remains unchanged in adulthood.
So, temperament is the personal characteristics of an individual, which determine the dynamism of his behavior and mental processes. Those. The concept of temperament characterizes the pace, intensity, duration of mental processes, external behavioral reaction (activity, slowness), but not conviction in views and interests. It also does not determine the value of an individual and does not determine its potential.
There are three important components of temperament that relate to the general mobility (activity) of a person, his emotionality and motor skills. In turn, each of the components has a rather complex structure and differs various forms psychological manifestation.
The essence of activity lies in the individual’s desire for self-expression and transformation of the external component of reality. At the same time, the very direction, the quality of implementation of these trends is determined precisely by the characterological characteristics of the individual and not only. The degree of such activity can range from lethargy to the highest manifestation of mobility - constant rise.
The emotional component of a person’s temperament is a set of properties that characterize the characteristics of the course of various feelings and moods. This component is the most complex in its structure compared to the others. Its main characteristics are lability, impressionability and impulsiveness. Emotional lability is the speed with which one emotional state is replaced by another or ceases. Sensibility is understood as the subject’s susceptibility to emotional influences. Impulsivity is the speed with which emotion turns into the motivating reason and force of actions and deeds without first thinking them through and making a conscious decision to carry them out.
The character and temperament of a person are inextricably linked. The dominance of one type of temperament can help determine the character of subjects as a whole.
Personality types
Today in the specific literature there are many criteria by which personality types are determined.
The typology proposed by E. Kretschmer is now the most popular. It consists of dividing people into three groups depending on their physique.
Picnic people are people who tend to be overweight or slightly overweight, short in stature, but with a large head, wide face and short neck. Their character type corresponds to cyclothymics. They are emotional, sociable, and easily adapt to a variety of conditions.
Athletic people are tall and broad-shouldered people, with well-developed muscles, a resilient skeleton and a powerful chest. They correspond to the ixothymic type of character. These people are powerful and quite practical, calm and unimpressive. Ixothymic people are restrained in their gestures and facial expressions and do not adapt well to changes.
Asthenic people are people who are prone to thinness, their muscles are poorly developed, their chest is flat, their arms and legs are long, and they have an elongated face. Corresponds to the schizothymic character type. Such people are very serious and prone to stubbornness, and have difficulty adapting to change. Characterized by isolation.
K.G. Jung developed a different typology. It is based on the predominant functions of the psyche (thinking, intuition). His classification divides subjects into introverts and extroverts depending on the dominance of external or inner world.
An extrovert is characterized by directness and openness. Such a person is extremely sociable, active and has many friends, comrades and just acquaintances. Extroverts love to travel and get everything out of life. An extrovert often becomes the initiator of parties; in companies, he becomes their soul. In ordinary life, he focuses only on circumstances, and not on the subjective opinion of others.
An introvert, on the contrary, is characterized by isolation and turning inward. Such a person isolates himself from the environment and carefully analyzes all events. An introvert has a hard time making contact with people, so he has few friends and acquaintances. Introverts prefer solitude to noisy companies. These people have an increased degree of anxiety.
There is also a typology based on the relationship between character and temperament, which divides people into 4 psychotypes.
A choleric person is a rather impetuous, fast, passionate and at the same time unbalanced person. Such people are subject to sudden mood swings and emotional outbursts. Cholerics lack balance nervous processes, so they quickly become exhausted, thoughtlessly wasting their strength.
Phlegmatic people are distinguished by equanimity, unhurriedness, stability of moods and aspirations. Outwardly, they practically do not show emotions and feelings. Such people are quite persistent and persistent in their work, while always remaining balanced and calm. The phlegmatic person compensates for his slowness in work with diligence.
A melancholic person is a very vulnerable person, prone to stable experiences of various events. A melancholic person reacts sharply to any external factors or manifestations. Such people are very impressionable.
A sanguine person is a mobile, active person with a lively character. He is subject to frequent changes of impressions and is characterized by rapid reactions to any events. We can easily relate to the failures or troubles that befell him. When a sanguine person is interested in his work, he will be quite productive.
Also, K. Leonhard identified 12 types, often found in people with neuroses, accentuated characters. And E. Fromm described three social types of characters.
Psychological character of personality
Everyone has long known that significant changes occur in the psychological character of an individual in the process of its development and life activity. Such changes are subject to typical (natural) and atypical (individual) trends.
Typical trends include changes occurring with psychological character in the process of growing up. This happens because the older an individual becomes, the faster he gets rid of childish manifestations in character, which distinguish childish behavior from adult behavior. Childhood personality traits include capriciousness, tearfulness, fears, and irresponsibility. Adult traits that come with age include tolerance, life experience, rationality, wisdom, prudence, etc.
As you move along life path and acquisition life experience the individual experiences changes in their views on events and their attitudes towards them change. Which together also affects final formation character. Therefore, there are certain differences between people of different age groups.
For example, people between the ages of approximately 30 and 40 live mainly in the future; they live in ideas and plans. All their thoughts, their activities are aimed at realizing the future. And people who have reached 50 years of age have come to the point where their life today meets simultaneously with past life and the future. And therefore, their character is modified in such a way as to correspond to the present. This is the age when people completely say goodbye to their dreams, but are not yet ready to be nostalgic for the years they have lived. People who have passed the 60-year mark practically no longer think about the future; they are much more concerned about the present, and they have memories of the past. Also, due to physical ailments, the previously taken pace and rhythm of life is no longer available to them. This leads to the appearance of such character traits as slowness, measuredness, and tranquility.
Atypical, specific tendencies are directly related to events experienced by a person, i.e. conditioned by past life.
As a rule, character traits that are similar to existing ones are consolidated much faster and appear much faster.
You should always remember that character is not an immutable quantity; it is formed throughout a person’s entire life cycle.
Social character of personality
Individuals of any society, despite their individual personal characteristics and differences, have something in common in their psychological manifestations and properties, and therefore act as ordinary representatives of a given society.
The social character of a person is a general way of adapting a person to the influence of society. It is created by religion, culture, education system and family upbringing. It should also be taken into account that even in a family, a child receives an upbringing that is approved in a given society and corresponds to the culture, which is considered normal, ordinary and natural.
According to E. Fromm, social character means the result of a person’s adaptation to a particular way of organizing society, to the culture in which he is brought up. He believes that none of the known developed societies in the world will allow the individual to fully realize himself. From this it turns out that the individual from birth is in conflict with society. Therefore, we can conclude that the social character of an individual is a kind of mechanism that allows an individual to exist freely and with impunity in any society.
The process of adaptation of an individual in society occurs with a distortion of the character of the individual himself and his personality, to the detriment of it. According to Fromm, social character is a kind of defense, an individual’s response to a situation that causes frustration in the social environment, which does not allow the individual to freely express himself and fully develop, placing him obviously within limits and limitations. In society, a person will not be able to fully develop the inclinations and capabilities inherent in him by nature. As Fromm believed, social character is instilled in the individual and has a stabilizing character. From the moment an individual begins to have a social character, he becomes completely safe for the society in which he lives. Fromm identified several options of this nature.
Accentuation of personality character
Accentuation of a person’s character is a pronounced feature of character traits that is within the recognized norm. Depending on the severity of character traits, accentuation is divided into hidden and obvious.
Under the influence of specific environmental factors or circumstances, some weakly expressed or not manifested traits can be clearly expressed - this is called hidden accentuation.
Explicit accentuation is understood as an extreme manifestation of the norm. This type is characterized by constancy of traits for a certain character. Accentuations are dangerous because they can contribute to the development of mental disorders, situationally determined pathological behavioral disorders, neuroses, etc. However, one should not confuse and identify the accentuation of a person’s character with the concept of mental pathology.
K. Leongrad identified the main types and combinations of accentuations.
A feature of the hysteroid type is egocentrism, excessive thirst for attention, recognition of individual abilities, and the need for approval and honor.
High degree People with the hyperthymic type are prone to sociability, mobility, a tendency to mischief, and excessive independence.
Asthenoneurotic – characterized by high fatigue, irritability, and anxiety.
Psychosthenic - manifested by indecision, love of demagoguery, soul-searching and analysis, suspiciousness.
Distinctive feature The schizoid type is closed, detached, unsociable.
The sensitive type is manifested by increased touchiness, sensitivity, and shyness.
Excitable – characterized by a tendency to regularly recurring periods of sadness and accumulation of irritation.
Emotionally labile – characterized by very changeable mood.
Infantile-dependent - observed in people who play like children and avoid taking responsibility for their actions.
Unstable type - manifests itself in a constant craving for various kinds of entertainment, pleasure, idleness, idleness.
Speaker of the Medical and Psychological Center "PsychoMed"
Personality traits in psychology- These are stable features of an individual’s behavior that are repeated in various situations.
Required properties personality traits are: the degree of their expression in different people, trans-situational (an individual’s personality trait manifests itself in any situation) and potential measurability (personality traits can be measured using special questionnaires and tests).
IN experimental psychology The most widely studied personality traits are extraversion - introversion, anxiety, rigidity, and impulsiveness. IN modern research the point of view is accepted that the description of personality traits is not enough for understanding and prediction individual characteristics behavior, since they describe only general aspects of personality manifestations.
A trait is a unit of personality analysis, a predisposition to behave in a similar way in a wide range of situations.
G. Allport defines a personality trait as a forming block of psychological organization that serves to unite reactions to various stimuli.
Main settings personality trait:
- degree of expression,
- trans-situationalism,
- potential measurability. Features of personality traits:
- are real, really manifest in people;
- are more generalized qualities than habits.
- is the driving or at least determining element of behavior.
The presence of personality traits can be established empirically.
A trait is only relatively independent of other traits;
- is not synonymous with moral or social evaluation;
- it can be considered either in the context of the individual in whom it is found, or by its prevalence in society.
Just because actions or even habits are inconsistent with a personality trait is not evidence that the trait is absent. G. Allport divides personality traits into general and individual, or personal, dispositions.
He distinguishes three types of dispositions:
- cardinal;
- central;
- secondary.
The correlation of traits, attitudes and habits, as well as their comparison, is important because they are all similar, belonging to the class of attitudinal phenomena, being a product of a combination of heredity and learning, differing in their uniqueness and initiating function. The trait is most generalized in relation to the other two phenomena and is an aspect of personality. Attitude is developed in relation to the environment. A habit is a private response to a private stimulus.
G. Allport considered the trait to be the most significant unit of analysis for understanding and studying personality. In his system, a personality trait is defined as the predisposition to respond in a similar way to different types of stimuli.
According to R. Cattell, the main organizing concept of personality lies in the description various types the traits he identified.
Traits are hypothetical mental structures of personality that are found in behavior that determine the predisposition to act consistently in different circumstances and over time. Personality traits reflect stable characteristics and are the most important in his concept.
In the study of the structural elements of personality, R. Cattell sensibly relies on factor analysis.
Principles of classification of traits based on the principle of dichotomy.
- superficial - initial;
- constitutional - formed environment;
- ability, temperament - dynamic traits;
- common - unique features.
List of superficial dichotomous traits, according to R. Cattell.
- Self-confidence is humility.
- Intellectuality, analyticalness - limitations, lack of imagination.
- Maturity of mind - stupidity, inconsistency, susceptibility to influence.
- Impermanence, vanity - prudence, stoicism, restraint.
- neuroticism - lack of neuroticism.
- Callousness, cynicism - softness.
- Willfulness, selfishness - kindness, unobtrusiveness, tolerance.
- Rigidity, tyranny, vindictiveness - agreeableness, friendliness.
- Maliciousness, callousness - kindness, courtesy.
- Demoralization, autism - realism.
- Strong will, conscientiousness - lethargy, impulsiveness.
- Intellectuality - undisciplined mind, simplicity.
- Infantility, uncertainty - maturity, tact.
- Asociality, schizoidism - openness, idealism.
- Cheerfulness, enthusiasm, wit - a feeling of misfortune, clumsiness.
- Activity, nervousness - self-control, rigidity, conformism.
- Neurosis, psychopathy - emotional maturity.
- Excessive sensitivity, expressiveness - phlegmatic,
- Malice, pettiness - naturalness, friendliness, openness.
- Emotionality (inadequate) - unemotionality.
- Excitement, expressiveness, variety of interests - isolation, calmness, limitedness.
- Accessibility, warmth, sentimentality - isolation, coldness, misanthropy.
- Frivolity, vanity, pretense - mediocrity, artlessness.
- Aggression, paranoia - reliability, kind-heartedness
- Aesthetic interests - independence of judgment.
- Anxiety, emotionality, hypomania - calmness, patience, modesty.
- Infantility, self-centeredness - emotional maturity, resistance to frustration.
- Inconstancy, spinelessness, lack of realism - persistent, integral character.
- Mental and physical strength, vigor - neurasthenia.
- Entrepreneurial spirit, hot temper - lethargy, timidity.
- Sociability, ardor - love of solitude, timidity.
- Melancholy.
- Rigidity, firmness - introspection, sensitivity, timidity.
- Imagination, introspection, constructiveness - sedateness, stinginess.
- Dexterity, determination - sincerity, gentleness.
R. Cattell views personality traits as complex hypothetical constructs that predispose a person to sustainable behavior over time and in different circumstances.
The essence of G. Eysenck's theory is that personality elements can be arranged hierarchically: supertraits, composite traits, habitual reactions (HR), specific reactions (CP).
In his system there are certain supertraits or types, such as extraversion, that have a powerful influence on behavior. In turn, he sees each of these supertraits as built from several component traits. These composite traits are either more superficial reflections of the underlying type or specific qualities inherent in that type. Finally, traits consist of multiple habitual responses (HRs), which in turn are formed from multiple specific responses.
Unlike R. Cattell, G. Eysenck sees only two main types (supertraits) underlying the personality structure: introversion - extraversion and stability - neuroticism. The characteristics of a person’s behavior are the result of a combination of these two types.
Properties, or personality traits, are characteristics that most accurately describe a person’s deep-seated characteristics, that which gives an idea of his manner of communicating with society, reacting to certain situations, not only at a given specific moment, but also during long-term contact with others.
Personality traits can have a social nature and be innate characteristics of a particular individual.
Classification of personality traits
The main character traits are usually divided into three groups:
- The attitude of the individual to society, the people around him (in other words, the attitude to the external environment).
- Attitude towards one's own person.
- Attitude to learning and work, that is, to activity.
Emotional Traits, such as apathy or cheerfulness, aggressiveness or good nature, impulsiveness or isolation, love of love, capriciousness, hot temper, melancholicity, and so on, are formed at an early stage of the development of the psyche, that is, in early childhood.
Intelligent character traits ( prudence, insight, independence, etc.) and strong-willed(masculinity, assertiveness, prudence, pedantry, etc.) character traits, on the contrary, are acquired throughout life, formed under the influence of various external situations.
The following characteristics are not personality traits:
When forming a person’s personality, natural predisposition will be of great importance, as well as the influence of temperament and hereditary genes on it.
However, one should not underestimate the role that a child’s environment plays in the development of his character. It is no less important than innate characteristics. Baby learns the world and learns to act in different situations in one way or another. At first, this process occurs reflexively, and then becomes the result of a conscious choice. It is this choice that determines the further development of the individual, his growth.
Basic character traits
In any person you can find an interweaving of a wide variety of personality traits, both positive and negative. Although it is impossible to say with absolute certainty that a particular character trait is positive or, on the contrary, negative, for example, a tendency to various kinds of adventures can either help in prosperity or cause huge problems, depending on how deliberately a person participates in adventures.
Envy, for example, is commonly referred to as an extremely negative personality trait, but it can motivate the person experiencing envy to move forward and achieve much more than others. In general, we can say that the determining role is played not so much by a specific character trait, but by the ability to correctly apply it, as well as its combination with other personality traits. But from a moral point of view, the most characteristic personality traits are still usually divided into negative and positive.
Negative traits
Positive features
The list of positive character traits could go on for a very long time, but the most significant include:
Of course, all of the above is not an axiom, and it is almost impossible to predict how a particular person will react to a particular situation, how he will behave in it, even if you know him closely. Besides, Negative character traits can be:
- decrease,
- turn into positive ones.
However, this is achieved through long and hard work on oneself, and, unfortunately, not many people can do this.
Multifaceted, deep and unique. For centuries, being the subject of comprehensive research for various scientific fields, it still remains not fully understood. Thanks to the accumulated and systematized knowledge, the main personality traits have been identified. Getting to know them helps a person better understand himself, which, in turn, allows him to make adjustments to his beliefs, self-motivation system, and change his usual ways of acting to improve the quality of his life and increase the level of happiness.
Personality structure
Exists a large number of various theories of human personality traits. IN domestic psychology The personality structures of such authors as Platonov K.K., Leontiev A.N., Kovalev A.G. are widely known.
The table below shows the personality structure according to A. G. Kovalev.
In the works of the famous Russian psychologist A. G. Kovalev, personality is defined as an integrative formation of mental processes, states and formed personality traits of a person.
Psychological processes
Psychological processes determine the foundation mental life a person, since they provide him with interaction with the environment and are responsible for the formation of his life experience. There are a lot of such processes both in consciousness and in the subconscious. They are the most dynamic and short-term. Among them, emotional, volitional and cognitive mental processes stand out. The last group includes perception, sensation, representation, thinking, memory, attention, imagination.
Psychological states
Psychological states are already more sustainable formations, which are formed from psychological processes. They represent internal holistic characteristics of the individual psyche that are relatively constant over time. Each such state can be characterized by one or more parameters that distinguish it from many others. Depending on what activity or what behavioral act this state provides, the dominance of certain cognitive, emotional or volitional mental processes is manifested.
Psychological properties
Mental properties or personality traits of a person are individual psychological characteristics that underlie the constant ways of his interaction with the world. They characterize a person as a system of certain subjective relationships to himself, to the people around him, various groups and the world as a whole, which manifests itself in communication and interaction with them.
While the formation of general stable personality traits is just beginning, the child is characterized as a whole by his prevailing psychological states. For example, he is described as calm, balanced, shy, moody, affective, excitable, depressed. With the change, the appearance of the child’s personality also changes. Under certain conditions, one of these states may become entrenched and in the future manifest itself in certain features of his character.
The formation of personality traits is carried out from mental processes that occur against the background of mental states. They represent the most stable and resilient mental formations, little subject to change and at the same time slowly accumulating. As such, Kovalev A.G. identified four main categories. The list of personality traits of a person is as follows:
- temperament;
- direction;
- character;
- capabilities.
At the same time, he drew attention to a certain degree of convention in identifying these structures, since the same properties can characterize both direction and character, and influence the manifestation of abilities. However, viewing these structures as relatively autonomous is very important. After all, even if they have the same properties, for example, temperament, people can differ greatly from each other in orientation, character and abilities.
Temperament
Human temperament refers to the biologically determined properties of personality and is the foundation on which its formation occurs. It reflects differences between people according to such criteria as emotional sensitivity, intensity and stability of emotions, pace and energy of actions, and other dynamic characteristics. The personality traits determined by it are of the most stable and long-term nature.
According to the definition of Teplov B.M., temperament can be spoken of as a set of mental characteristics characteristic of a given person, which are associated with the speed of the onset of feelings and their intensity.
Thus, to determine the type of temperament, two main dynamic characteristics are examined - activity and emotionality. The indicator of behavioral activity characterizes the degree of speed, swiftness, energy or inertia and slowness. The emotionality indicator characterizes emotional processes, reflecting their sign, positive or negative, and modality - fear, anger, joy and others. The most common classification today is that proposed by Hippocrates in the 5th century BC. e., distinguishing four types of temperament:
- sanguine;
- phlegmatic;
- melancholic;
- choleric.
Representatives of the sanguine type have quickly arising but weak feelings, phlegmatic - slowly arising and weak feelings, melancholic - slowly arising but strong feelings, choleric - quickly arising and strong feelings. It can also be noted that representatives of the sanguine and choleric types of temperament are characterized by rapid movements, general mobility and a predisposition to a vivid external expression of feelings through facial expressions, movements and speech. Representatives of the phlegmatic and melancholic, on the contrary, are characterized by slow movements and a tendency to weak expression of feelings. In practice, it is very rare to meet people with a clearly defined pure type of temperament; mixed types when the features of two types of temperament are combined.
Temperament in no way affects a person’s abilities and talent. Outstanding talents in various fields of activity can be found with equal frequency for any type of temperament. For example, such famous Russian writers as I. A. Goncharov and I. A. Krylov showed traits of a phlegmatic type of temperament, I. V. Gogol and V. A. Zhukovsky - melancholic, A. I. Herzen - sanguine. , Pushkin A.S. had clearly expressed choleric features. And the two great Russian commanders had opposite types of temperaments: Suvorov A.V. - choleric, Kutuzov M.I. - phlegmatic.
Raising the question of which type of temperament is better is incorrect. Each of them has both its positive and its own negative sides. Valuable personality traits of a sanguine person are liveliness, mobility, responsiveness, phlegmatic - calmness, lack of fussiness and haste, melancholic - depth and stability of feelings, choleric - energy, passion, activity.
There is a tendency to develop undesirable personality traits:
- in a sanguine person, such as frivolity and immaturity, a tendency to be scattered, superficiality of feelings;
- in a phlegmatic person - inertia, lethargy, indifference;
- in a melancholic person - excessive isolation, excessive shyness, a tendency to plunge headlong into own experiences;
- a choleric person has harshness, lack of restraint, and a tendency to emotional “explosions.”
Personality orientation
Personality orientation acts as the leading characteristic of a person. It is understood as a set of stable motives that orient the activity of an individual and have relative independence from the actual situation. In other words, it is the main motivational core of a person. The orientation of the individual is always socially conditioned and formed in the process of education. Orientation is attitudes that have become personality traits and are manifested in certain forms, each of which is based on the motives of human activity. These forms include:
- attraction;
- wish;
- interest;
- addiction;
- ideal;
- worldview;
- belief.
Characteristics of directional shapes
In this context, drive is understood as a mental state that expresses an indistinguishable, unconscious or insufficiently realized need. As a rule, attraction is a temporary phenomenon, since the human need manifested in it either fades away or is realized and thus transformed into desire.
Desire is already realized by man need and desire for something specific. Desire, due to sufficient awareness, has a motivating force. It promotes vision of the purpose of future actions and the construction of a detailed plan. This form of manifestation of orientation is characterized by awareness, firstly, of one’s needs and, secondly, of potential ways to satisfy them.
Aspiration is usually thought of as a felt urge to perform an activity. It appears when desire is combined with a volitional component.
The most striking and voluminous characteristic of a personality’s orientation is its interests, being the most important motivating force for understanding the surrounding reality. At the subjective level, interest reveals itself in a special emotional background that accompanies the process of cognition or attention to certain objects. An amazing feature of interest is that when it is satisfied, instead of fading away, it, on the contrary, evokes a number of new ones, corresponding to higher levels of cognitive activity.
Addiction reflects a person’s orientation towards a certain type of activity. At its core, it is a stable interest in the dynamics of its development that develops into a deep and sustainable human need to perform a particular activity. This happens when the volitional component is connected to interest.
An ideal is a specific image or idea subject purpose, which a person focuses on and strives for through the realization of his inclinations.
Worldview is understood as a system of a person’s subjective views on the world around him, on his place in it, on his attitude towards himself and other people. Ideals are reflected here value orientations, principles and beliefs of the individual.
Conviction is considered the highest form of orientation and is considered as a system of motives of a person’s personality, encouraging him to act in accordance with his views, principles, and worldview. The concepts of motive and motivation are different from each other. The latter is broader and more capacious. A motive is a stable personal property that prompts a person from within to take certain actions. In the formation of personality orientation, the main role belongs to conscious motives, since they provide activation and direction of behavior. Their formation originates from human needs.
Character
In psychology, character is usually understood as a set of individual mental properties that manifest themselves in forms of behavior and methods of action typical for a given individual. The process of formation of general stable personality traits is carried out in the course of life.
Character traits do not include all of its features, but only the most significant and stable ones. For example, even very cheerful and optimistic people can experience feelings such as sadness or sadness, but this does not make them pessimists or whiners.
There are quite a lot of classifications of basic psychological personality traits. Most often in the domestic psychological literature there are two approaches. According to the first, all character traits are tied to mental processes and therefore are divided into three groups. The list of personality traits in this case is as follows:
- Strong-willed - independence, organization, activity, perseverance, determination and others.
- Emotional - impressionability, impetuosity, ardor, responsiveness, indifference, inertia and others.
- Intellectual - curiosity, thoughtfulness, resourcefulness, quick wit and others.
According to the second approach, personality traits are described based on the orientation of the individual. In the formed character, the leading component is a system of beliefs that sets the long-term, strategic direction of a person’s actions and behavior, provides confidence in the importance and fairness of the work he is performing, and determines persistence in achieving the goals he has set for himself.
Character traits that determine attitude to activity are expressed in a person’s sustainable interests. A characterless person has no goals at all or very scattered ones. The superficiality and instability of their interests are often associated with a large degree of imitation, with a lack of independence and integrity of a person’s personality. And, on the contrary, the content and depth of a person’s interests indicate his focus and perseverance.
The specificity of a person’s character is manifested in situations of choosing methods of action or types of behavior. In this context, we can talk about such a character trait as the degree of expression of motivation to achieve success. It will determine a person’s choice either in favor of actions leading to success - initiative, competitive activity, willingness to take risks, or in favor of the desire to simply avoid failure - risk avoidance, evasion of responsibility, inactivity, lack of initiative.
All personality traits can be conditionally classified into two types - motivational and instrumental. The former, accordingly, stimulate and direct activity, and the latter give it a certain style. For example, when choosing the goal of an action, a motivational personality trait manifests itself. However, after the goal is determined, instrumental character traits become more apparent, which determine the choice of certain ways to achieve this goal.
Character is formed gradually and can undergo transformations throughout a person’s life. And this process can be made conscious. As the famous English writer William Makepeace Thackeray said, sow an action and you will reap a habit, sow a habit and you will reap a character, sow a character and you will reap a destiny.
Human abilities
According to the approach of the domestic scientist B. M. Teplov, abilities are understood as such individual psychological characteristics that, on the one hand, distinguish one person from another, on the other hand, are related to the success of performing any one activity or numerous activities, on the third - are not limited to the knowledge, skills and abilities a person already has.
A person’s abilities determine the degree of ease and speed of acquisition and assimilation of knowledge, skills and abilities. In turn, acquired knowledge, skills and abilities significantly contribute to the further development of abilities, and their absence, on the contrary, serves as a brake on the development of abilities. In psychology they are most often classified as follows:
- ability;
- giftedness;
- talent;
- genius.
The successful implementation of any activity depends not on any one, but on the combination of several abilities at once. In this case, a combination leading to the same result can be provided different ways. In the absence of the necessary inclinations for the successful development of some abilities, their deficiency can be compensated for through the deeper development and elaboration of others. According to B. M. Teplov, abilities cannot exist in the absence of a constant development process. An ability that is not practiced is lost over time. Only through diligence, constant exercise, systematic training in such complex species activities such as mathematics, music, art or technical creativity, sports, it is possible to maintain and develop the appropriate abilities.
How a great artist was not accepted into the academy
The identification of abilities and skills in everyday practice often leads to erroneous judgments and conclusions, especially in teaching practice. The story of how famous artist Surikova V.I. at the initial stage of its development was not accepted into the Academy of Arts, but was honored to be included in the psychological literature as an example for a better understanding of the category of “ability.”
Surikov V.I.’s passion for drawing was obvious from early childhood. For some time he took lessons at the Krasnoyarsk district school. After the death of his father due to tight financial circumstances a good education was unaffordable for his family. The young man entered the service as a scribe in the governor's office. Somehow his drawings came across P. N. Zamyatin, the Yenisei governor, and he saw in them the enormous artistic potential of the author. He found V.I. Surikov a philanthropist who was willing to pay for her education at the Academy of Arts. But despite this, the first attempt to enter educational institution was not successful.
The teachers made a mistake because they failed to distinguish between a lack of skills and a lack of ability. Despite the fact that the young artist’s outstanding abilities appeared quite early, he still did not have enough drawing skills at that time.
Within three months, V. I. Surikov mastered the necessary skills and abilities and, as a result, was enrolled in the Academy of Arts. During his studies, he received four silver medals for his work and was awarded several cash prizes.
His example shows that you need to believe in yourself, in your dream and persistently achieve your goal.
Sample psychological and pedagogical characteristics of a student:
The material for writing the psychological and pedagogical characteristics was collected in the period from 04/11/2011 to 05/07/2011. In the process of collecting material, the following methods were used: observation during training sessions, during changes; conversation with the student, class teacher and other students in the class, subject teacher; testing; studying the class magazine, personal files.
1. General information about the student
Ivanov Andrey Aleksandrovich is a student of class 6 “B” of secondary school No. 10, city N. Born on May 31, 1999. According to the results of a medical examination, he is listed in the 1st health group. Medical group for physical culture- main. Medical professionals have given recommendations for hardening.
2. Conditions of family education
The family in which Andrey Ivanov lives is complete. Father - Ivanov Alexander Alexandrovich - works at... Mother - Ivanova Elena Mikhailovna - a teacher at... In a conversation with the class teacher, it turned out that the psychological situation in the family contributes to the development of the child. Friendly relationships between family members play a fundamental role in the full development of a boy. Parents pay sufficient attention to their son’s education and, if necessary, help in preparing homework.
All conditions for normal development have been created for Andrey. The boy has a place for privacy - his own room, where he can calmly do his homework.
From the answers to the questions in the questionnaire provided to Andrei, it turned out that the boy also has responsibilities around the house: going to the store, washing dishes, taking out the garbage, and the boy especially likes to water the flowers.
This indicates that parents instill in their son hard work, neatness, and a love of order.
According to the class teacher, Andrey Ivanov’s parents regularly visit parent meetings, participate in public life schools. They are also interested in their son’s successes and consult with the class teacher on issues of upbringing and the development of certain inclinations of Andrei. It is also important that the boy’s parents regularly review the diary, sign on time, and respond to entries in the diary, which indicates responsibility and an active parental position.
3. Student's educational activity
The first thing that needs to be noted after observing Andrey Ivanov is his conscientious attitude to his studies. He has a high level of attention: he notices mistakes made by students when completing assignments on the board, and quickly responds to questions during oral work. The boy has a well-developed thinking, he easily summarizes material, systematizes and analyzes it.
Andrey has good academic performance in all subjects. Favorite subjects are the following: mathematics, computer science, Belarusian and Russian languages, Belarusian and Russian literature. The overall average score in all subjects is 8.3 points.
Andrey Ivanov is highly active in class. He is one of the first to answer the teacher’s questions and always raises his hand. Despite the fact that the boy’s answers are not always correct, his activity indicates diligence in his studies. It is also important to note the fact that Andrey shows interest in various subjects: relating to both the exact sciences and the humanities. The boy carefully completes his homework and always tries to answer the teacher’s questions. This may indicate determination and leadership qualities.
According to the student himself, he likes to study, and it is not particularly difficult, but at the same time he would like to study better.
4. Student’s work activity
Andrey Ivanov shows interest not only in educational activities, but in various types extracurricular activities. He attends electives in computer science and mathematics, a sports section (basketball), and a music school. IN free time Andrey also likes to play computer games or spend time outside with friends.
If a boy is entrusted with a public task, he performs it conscientiously.
Despite the fact that Andrey is still only in 6th grade, he has already decided on his choice of profession: according to him in my own words, in the future the boy dreams of becoming a “great mathematician” and would like to “study in Italy.”
5. Psychological characteristics student's personality
As a result of observations of Andrey, it was established that he is characterized by such qualities of the emotional-volitional sphere as determination, perseverance, independence, and activity. The predominant types of temperament are sanguine (55%) and choleric. These types correspond to such student characteristics as high ability to work, but at the same time instability in interests and inclinations; optimism, sociability, responsiveness; determination, energy, perseverance; average level strength of nervous processes, high balance of nervous processes, very high mobility of the nervous system.
The methodology for studying self-esteem showed that Andrey has somewhat inflated self-esteem. Often he lacks endurance. For example, he answers teachers' questions very quickly, although his answers are not always accurate, although the boy has well-developed speech. But Andrey is characterized by self-criticism: the student quite adequately assesses his capabilities and is confident in himself.
Despite the student’s active position in both academic and social activities, he is characterized by modesty, kindness, accuracy, sincerity, and responsiveness. Andrey worries if he makes mistakes and tries to correct them.
The boy has good academic performance in all subjects. But in the questionnaire he answered that his favorite subjects are the following: mathematics, computer science, Belarusian and Russian languages, Belarusian and Russian literature.
The student quickly remembers the material, correctly establishes connections between new and covered material, and quickly finds the right rule to complete the task.
Andrey is highly active in class. He is one of the first to answer the teacher’s questions and always raises his hand.
The boy is very sociable, does not conflict with anyone in class, and has many friends. I would also like to note Andrey’s high level of communication: he is always polite, tactful, and respectful of his parents, teachers, and elders.
6. Features of cognitive activity
As already mentioned, Andrey has a high level of attention (he always notices mistakes on the board). He is distinguished by his ability to timely switch and distribute attention, which I have repeatedly noticed in mathematics and computer science lessons.
Andrey has the most developed types of memory: motor-auditory and combined (memory coefficient in both types was 70). The auditory type of memory is less developed (the coefficient was 60).
The boy also has well-developed thinking; he easily summarizes material, systematizes and analyzes it. Andrey has very well developed speech, in most cases he correctly formulates his thoughts. Overall, the level of general mental development quite tall, in some situations the boy is ahead of his peers.
7. General psychological and pedagogical conclusions
Based on the presented data and their analysis, we can draw a conclusion about the diversified development of Andrey Ivanov’s personality. He is a very capable, purposeful, inquisitive, broad-minded student.
Andrey is very sociable, non-conflict, and knows how to accept criticism. The boy skillfully combines academic and extracurricular activities. Andrey has great learning potential exact sciences, where application is necessary logical thinking, but there is also an interest in creativity. It should continue to develop in these directions.
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