Personality psychology: basic concepts and problems.

Psychology He gives his own explanation to some generally accepted concepts and terms, which allows us to study them more deeply and subtly, to determine their essence and individual characteristics.

Personality is one of the most complex, fundamental concepts used in philosophy, ethics, sociology, law and even medicine.

What is personality?

Personality psychology defines it as a formed and relatively stable system of behavior for each individual. Such a system is built, first of all, within the framework of determining the degree of involvement in the social environment. The basis, the core of personality formation is self-esteem, which an individual builds by comparing himself with other people and evaluating them.

People have been interested in the process of personality formation, as well as everything that is interconnected with it, since ancient times. Few people know that initially, the term “personality” meant the actor’s ordinary mask, which he wore during the performance.

Combining many traits and qualities under the term “personality,” we obtain a certain set of characteristics of a person that are responsible for his thinking, behavior, consistency and consistency in the manifestation of certain feelings, emotions, etc.

In any case, a person manifests himself as a performer of certain functions for a certain member of society - a social role. This role provides for a clearly developed program of sequential human actions when certain circumstances arise.

It has been proven that personality is formed and acquired by an individual in the process of his coexistence in society, development, and the performance of certain actions in the system of social relationships.

Definition of personality psychology

Personality psychology studies men and women in the context of their interactions with other people. This section of psychology is aimed at studying the main aspects of personality. Psychologists have come to the conclusion that there are 4 sides of personality: body, soul, spirit, consciousness.

Additional Information. The structure of individuality organically combines biological, psychological and social foundations.

The main object of study in the psychology of individual differences is personality. Some sections in related disciplines are also aimed at studying the characteristics of an individual’s behavior and activities. Such sciences are social and developmental psychology, sociology and pedagogy.

Knowledge of the basics of personality psychology helps people effectively interact with business partners, understand themselves and others.

The key characteristics of an individual are temperament and character. The type of temperament is based on a set of dynamic features of psychophysiological activity and determines the speed of certain mental processes and the functioning of the nervous system. These characteristics of an individual determine his behavior.

The type of character determines how relationships develop with other people. Character is manifested in communication and joint activities. In psychological science, close attention is paid to manifestations of character; based on their study, it is possible to determine what type a person belongs to.

Interesting. Individual psychology is designed to study the ontogenesis of the development of will, emotions, needs, abilities and motivation.

Personality traits

For each individual person, personality is an absolutely unique, inherent only to him, set of certain traits and characteristics through which individuality is formed. Such individuality has many ways of manifestation: in character traits, temperament, habits, interests, developed abilities, as well as style of activity.

On the one hand, personality is the result of the historical development of humanity and society as a whole, and on the other hand, it is a product of social transformations.

Temperament

Of particular interest and increased attention when studying individual-typical personality indicators is the concept of “temperament”. In the classical sense, it is a special integral formation inherent in each individual. This education allows you to form and characterize the main formal and dynamic aspects associated with the characteristics of an individual’s behavior.

It is generally accepted that the founder of the doctrine of personality temperament and all its characteristics is the great thinker Hippocrates, who lived in the 5th century BC. He, due to the peculiarities of the development of society at that time, proposed to determine the qualities of a person by the ratio of the four main fluids present in everyone’s body:

1. Blood
2. Yellow bile
3. Lymph
4. Black bile

The scientist believed that it is the ratio of all these four components in the body of each person that makes it possible to assess the general condition of the body.

Two hundred years later (2nd century BC), Galen developed the first typology in the history of mankind, dividing people by temperament. Galen suggested that the percentage of the above juices and fluids in the body forms the basis of the types of temperament now well known to all people:

1. Sanguine
2. Choleric
3. Melancholic
4. Phlegmatic person

Modern psychologists, scientists and other specialists are not ready to provide society with a single, clearly formed opinion about the essence of this aspect of the psyche. A unified approach has not been developed to such an important issue as the role and place that temperament occupies in the formation of the personality structure and its daily life activities.

Some experts have developed their own individual concept, which allows them to determine a person’s temperament without relying only on the properties of the psyche and the above components. It is proposed to build a theory based on the study of temperament as a special mechanism that influences individual behavioral characteristics of a person and his character as a whole. For example, the famous specialist J. Strelyau defines temperament as “a set of various characteristics of behavior (formal and relatively stable), which manifest themselves at the behavioral level as released energy, as well as in certain time parameters of such a response.”

It is generally accepted that temperament itself is determined by the combination and joint and separate functioning of quite complex, multifaceted physiological mechanisms that directly influence certain methods of response. All this happens in two main dimensions:

1. The energy level is determined by the strength of the reaction that occurs.
2. A temporal behavioral characteristic indicating the speed of action under certain conditions.

Temperament is a relatively stable value with the characteristic feature of influencing the speed and quality of the occurrence and progression of mental and psychomotor phenomena. They can occur:

• harder or easier;
• slower or faster;
• stronger or weaker.

Our world-famous scientist I.P. Pavlov expressed the opinion that it is temperaments that are the fundamental traits that make it possible to determine the individual characteristics of people’s behavior in a given situation. Thanks to the established theory, it is generally accepted that there are four main temperaments: phlegmatic, sanguine, choleric and melancholic.

Let's look at their main features. Knowledge of the main types of temperament allows trained specialists to correctly select, determine and correlate the capabilities of each individual worker or employee in relation to the requirements for a given profession. In addition, the ability to recognize the temperaments of subordinates allows the manager to more successfully and effectively manage the team, choose the optimal forms and methods of communication, achieving better results in work.

Phlegmatic person

The main distinguishing feature of the character of such a person is even behavior, which does not change depending on the complexity, speed of development and changes in the surrounding reality. Such a person never makes hasty decisions; he calculates everything carefully and scrupulously. Phlegmatic people are not able to quickly switch from one type of activity to another and immediately get involved in work in a new direction. They are inactive and undergo adaptation for quite a long time, getting used to new, changed conditions. To induce a person with such a temperament to take any action, something must happen: a powerful external push, at a minimum! At the same time, phlegmatic people have such valuable character traits as patience and high self-control. The speech of this category of people is weak, calm, and practically without emotion.

Sanguine

People of this type are characterized by cheerfulness and a cheerful disposition. They easily and quickly get along with other people, and, if necessary, also easily and quickly switch from one type of activity to another. What sanguine people do not tolerate is routine and monotony in work. The same as in life itself. Such a person is easily and simply able to control his emotions, and in a new environment he feels confident and comfortable. Establishing relationships with people, including new acquaintances, is as easy as shelling pears! The speech of sanguine people is well delivered, expressed, quite fast and distinct. If necessary, words and phrases are accompanied by gestures and facial expressions that are quite convincing and expressive.

Choleric

The most important distinguishing feature characteristic of people of the choleric type of temperament is increased business activity and extreme performance. Energy, as a rule, overflows, forcing others to enthusiastically (and sometimes warily) observe the behavior of such a person.

If necessary, a choleric person will work for a long time, practically “bingely,” solving certain problems with maximum emotional, psychological and physical effort, without feeling hunger or fatigue. The result is that any, even the most difficult and impossible tasks for people with a different type of temperament, are solved confidently, quickly enough and at a high quality level.

At the same time, quite often, after such a stormy surge of energy and strength, a decline, a state of depression, is observed. Cholerics have an extremely unstable mood, and their psyche is quite vulnerable. Sometimes the simplest, most insignificant reason can cause a change in mood. Characteristic features of choleric people are hot temper and increased pride. These people are also surprisingly straightforward. As for speech, quickness, speed of pronunciation of words, as well as constantly fluctuating intonation will help you recognize a person with choleric temperament.

Melancholic

It is not difficult to recognize a person with a melancholic type of temperament. They are characterized by increased impressionability and emotionality, sometimes clearly excessive. Such people are responsive to the problems of others and are extremely vulnerable. Adaptation to changes in life proceeds rather slowly, passively, with great difficulty. The same applies to a change of scenery. When a difficult, sometimes extreme life situation arises, a melancholic person quickly becomes despondent and depressed. The sad or panicky state of a person is predominant; here the melancholic has no competitors. But there is also a distinct advantage, namely: a superbly developed “natural caution” reflex. They sense this or that danger on an intuitive level and know how to react. But there are also disadvantages to such caution, namely: increased shyness, caution, and also timidity and inability to make decisions.

Character

It is one of the most important indicators of individual psychological qualities. An interesting translation of this borrowed word is from Greek, where it means “coinage” or “imprint.” Psychologists by this term mean the presence and combination of a number of mental properties of the individual mental plane. These properties in one set or another are manifested in a person (person) under typical environmental conditions, and are also expressed in certain modes of behavior when similar or similar conditions arise.

The formation of character is a long process that takes place in the context of a person’s active, useful, labor, social, and other activities. All the most important, fundamental traits are manifested in the individual’s attitude towards:

• assigned public duties;
• duty towards the country, society, family and friends;
• surrounding people;
• to myself.

In each individual case, such important character traits are developed as a conscientious attitude to work, one’s responsibilities, perseverance in completing assigned tasks and a thrifty attitude towards property. If you pay attention to the opposite character traits, these are: passivity, wastefulness, negligence and irresponsibility.

The way a person approaches work is fundamental in the formation of his personality and character in particular. In relationships with other people, politeness and goodwill are developed, and in relation to oneself, the ability to correctly perform self-assessment, look critically from the outside, noting not only positive aspects, but also shortcomings.

Abilities (talent)

Abilities are one of the characteristic features, facets inherent in a person. If natural data is at a sufficiently high level, then a person can count on some success in the chosen type of activity. And the ability to use the entire set of abilities allows you to solve many problems, involving others in active work.

In addition to innate abilities, there are also those that a person has developed in the process of active work. Experts distinguish two main groups of abilities - general and special. The combination of both ensures that a person gets as close as possible to talent.

Motivation

Often it is formed to meet certain human needs. They are divided into two main groups:

1. Basic. Basically, it belongs to natural physiological processes, security, love, self-esteem.
2. Metaneeds. They are equal in strength and can be easily interchanged.

Well, a person’s upward movement in any of the chosen directions allows us to say that the motivation is built correctly.

Spiritual-natural psychotherapyPersonality of a psychologist

Library » Methodology » Personality characteristics of a psychologist
© A. A. Tkachenko

««« To the beginning

3.3. Personality characteristics of a psychologist

The personality of the psychologist is a key figure in any psychotherapeutic process , regardless of its initial orientation. In our case, in this figure there was a unity of obvious opposites, which, however, corresponds to the concept of eschatology. On the one hand, this is the empirical-practical paradigm of transpersonal psychotherapy, and on the other, the philosophical-dialectical paradigm of analytical psychology. Without further ado, based on practical work and empirical research, let us immediately determine in this case that the most acceptable initial conceptual designation may be a spiritual psychologist.

One part of this concept refers to predominantly non-verbal psychological work, which for the most part is not based on intellectual activity. It is not so much the psychologist himself, as the bearer of intelligence, who works, but rather his psyche in the broadest sense. He just has to be, and not always be next to the client, for whom it is enough just to know that such a person exists somewhere. This in itself already actualizes his psyche and forces him to function productively. This situation is somewhat reminiscent of Indian gurus or our professional psychic healers like Kashpirovsky. Here it doesn’t really matter what exactly the “healer” says; it can be anything, even a rather unscientific and even downright adventurous text. It is much more important at what level of spiritual and mental development he is and to what extent he was able to work with himself.

The other part of this concept refers to highly professional, outwardly primarily verbal, intellectual psychological work on a spiritual-dialectical level, inherent not just to the individual, but to the Personality. As an example, we can immediately name the same F. Dostoevsky, L. Tolstoy, N. Berdyaev, K. Jung, A. Men. And if we talk about an ordinary, ordinary professional, then in principle the situation does not change, its scale is simply reduced.

These two parts constitute a single and indivisible whole, which cannot be considered separately. As a result, it turns out that the personality of a psychologist and her professional development lies not so much in his work with others, especially his clients, but in working with himself. After all, in the end, a person turns to a psychologist or healer not in order to see and understand him, but in order to better understand himself and his problems with the help of a psychologist or healer. The external surroundings of such a process can be very different, from incomprehensible manipulations to specific verbal communication and serious intellectual analysis. In any case, by and large, the psychotherapeutic effect no longer depends on manipulations and conversations, but on the personal spiritual and mental level of the psychologist or healer. But the most important and undeniable advantage of a psychologist is that he works with the help of words

, which is the most effective psychotherapeutic tool in our mentality, determined by Christianity and psychological science. This quite reliably guarantees responsibility and the final result. According to generally accepted professional standards, this requires a much higher level of training and personal development from a practicing psychologist, tens of times greater than the existing requirements for healers. Thus, the figure of a psychologist-spiritualist, to a certain extent, can be a compromise between practical psychology, folk healing and clergy, as the main social institutions dealing with the spiritual and mental health of our person, which at present, to put it mildly, wants the best.

Unlike other psychotherapeutic directions, the personality of the psychologist is given exceptional importance in psychoanalysis. It is no coincidence that a mandatory professional requirement for a psychoanalyst is to undergo personal analysis. The identification of the psychologist as a person and personality has reached the highest level in analytical Jungian psychotherapy. In essence, the psychotherapist and his client, in the process of work, rise above ordinary professionalism and reach the level of spiritual professionalism, when the main criterion is no longer mastery of a specific set of psychotechnical tools, but personal spirituality. On this occasion, K. Jung Fr. In this case, “there is a meeting of two irrational givens..., which are not limited, measurable quantities, but which bring with them, along with their potentially definable consciousness, the indefinably widespread sphere of the unconscious”[4, p.84]. In addition, a fundamental emphasis is placed on the following professional features:

1) Refusal to dominate the client, especially when his spiritual and personal level is higher than that of the psychologist himself.

2) Moral character and mental balance (one might say psychological sophistication)

3) Inadmissibility of amateurism and profanity.

4) Giving the leading role to nature and following it.

5) Refusal of personal individualism and one’s own beliefs in the process of practical work.

6)Priority of practice and empirical experience

7) High philosophical and dialectical level.

Next, following the logic, let us pay attention to the position regarding psychological work through spiritual healing of the famous confessor, Orthodox priest A. Menya. He also focused a lot of attention on the personality of the healer and highlighted the following most important rules. [5, pp. 150-156].

First

consists in intensive moral work on oneself, which means not highlighting oneself and one’s “I” first of all, but the desire or rather the ability to give and serve others.
Based on practice, it should be added that being able to be needed and useful to others, especially for a professional practicing psychologist who does not deal with miracles, but helps to find the truth
, turns out to be immeasurably more difficult than being necessary only for oneself, and often at the expense of others. It turns out that the more you give from yourself and they take from you, the more you yourself gain. This can well be considered one of the psychological mechanisms of self-healing. Compliance with this rule can also guarantee against falling into occult mystical illusions and avoiding the truth, which can be especially dangerous in spiritual-natural psychotherapy.

Second

the rule provides for the avoidance of any psychological procedures or influences only out of personal natural curiosity. This is especially dangerous in the case of an overly infantile psyche of the healer. Such manipulations can only be justified if a scientific approach is strictly adhered to. From practice, a fairly reliable factor in avoiding mistakes in such situations can be a conscious and paid request from the client himself. But here one more important point should be taken into account. The fact is that the domestic client, obviously due to his initial rather significant mental inadequacy and mystification caused by an uncritical desire for a miracle, is more likely to order and even pay for an affirmation in his own self-deception than to search for the true reasons for his neuroticism. And this is absolutely unacceptable for a psychologist.

Third

the rule applies to “conscious believers.” It is noted that we are all unconscious believers. It is about connection with the Highest Principle or the Divine. If conscious religious faith is embodied in meaningful concepts and attributes, then at an unconscious level it can be replaced by all kinds of idolatry. We called it pseudo-faith. In the study, such idols were wooden figurines and pseudo-belief in Krishna consciousness. The desire of a person to escape from real life problems by creating this kind of “toy” for himself for the purpose of worship is quite common. Usually these illusions and self-deception in the most sacred thing for a person, which is the mental phenomenon of faith, ends very tragically. Let us remember that we called such participants “believers.” As for the psychologist himself, for him these illusions can be especially dangerous, since in this case they, like a spiritual infection, can spread through the psychotherapeutic process to other people. In the case of DPPT, this was of exceptional importance, since here the psychologist was a direct mediator between nature and man. And the simultaneous presence of both the divine and the devil in conditions of complete chaos throughout the entire psychological work made this rule literally a condition for the survival of the psychologist himself.

Fourth

The rule concerns the features of an individual and mass approach to spiritual healing. The importance of not the quantity, but the quality of psychological assistance is noted here. According to this, if a healer managed to really help at least one person, he is no longer doing his job in vain. One of the seven sacraments of the Church, specifically dedicated to healing, has a special role in this. It is called unction or unction, when a group of seven priests tries to help a seriously ill person, often on his deathbed. The main thing is to provide assistance not to humanity, a people or some other homogeneous mass, but to a completely concrete, living, suffering individual person. This is precisely the main imperative among the prerogatives in the work of a psychologist, which was especially noted by K. Jung.

In our psychological work and research, this factor was constantly clearly reflected and realized. We used the method of group psychotherapy, called training, which is widely known in practical psychology as the most optimal and effective. Such a group consisted of 10-12 people, which made it possible, while maintaining a personal, individual approach, especially in terms of monitoring conditions, to use the emergent effect of the group, a clear confirmation of which was the work of the “team”. Moreover, in one of the most tense and difficult moments, when one of the participants fell into an extreme mental state, reminiscent of an epileptic seizure, a group of several people formed by Nature itself was able to help him successfully complete this process, which was later called “exorcism.” A procedure took place that was very reminiscent of the same unction.

And if we now imagine that responsibility for all these rules and requirements falls on the shoulders and psyche of a psychologist, the role and characteristics of his personality in the process of psychological work at the level of a spiritual psychologist becomes clear without additional comments. Therefore, the subsequent presentation of the empirically identified rules for the process of spiritual-natural psychotherapy should not seem too rigid and categorical. In short, these were simply the conditions for the survival of the study and its successful completion. It is no coincidence that they were finally able to be reflected only two years after the end of the study. But this, too, is only some intermediate option, which in the future must be modified and transformed. Note that they relate not only to the personality of the psychologist but also to the work as a whole. Let's look at them in more detail.

1. Personal acceptance, both consciously and unconsciously, of the concept of faith

in the form of mental phenomenological education with an informal emphasis on Christianity and Orthodoxy, which is most consistent with the national mentality and culture. Let us note that this concept was formed in the psyche gradually and in doses, smoothly emerging from the unconscious through empirical experience, constantly being confirmed and critically assessed by reality. It became most adequate and effective in extreme and extreme situations, when it was impossible to rely on anything else. An interesting demonstration of this process was the collision at natural trainings between the informal concepts of faith of a psychologist and one of the most emphasized “believers” among the participants, an adherent of Krishna consciousness, which ultimately led to his “renunciation.”

2. Personal acceptance of eschatology

, as the original spiritual-psychic nature. Constant readiness for “lawlessness” in psychological work with limiting and transcendental states and processes.

As the practice and experience of life in a totalitarian society have shown, where psychological “lawlessness” was almost the norm in the relationship between the individual and the state, as well as interpersonal contacts in the relevant social environments, psychological work could only be effective if it was able to counter the established neurotic formations based on fear have an adequate counterbalance based on faith, spirituality and courage. This was especially evident when affective situations associated with “witchcraft” and “diabolism” arose, when the psychologist had to actually be left alone with these phenomena. The question here was clearly “who will win.”

3. Having sufficient personal professional and life experience

, quantitatively and qualitatively commensurate and adequate to the neurotic material being developed.

This refers to the level of professionalism of the psychologist, taking into account the spiritual component. First of all, we are talking about working with people, about understanding the national mentality and the social psyche in general, including culture, the characteristics of historical social processes, as well as modern life and its psychosocial factors. In the study, this could be determined by psychological “weight” and the ability to use it for psychotherapeutic purposes. At the same time, it was necessary to be “an insider” for the group and at the same time informally maintain one’s own personal and professional authority as the only argument in conflict situations. This made it possible to constantly reflect on a critical assessment of one’s own capabilities and engage in self-psychotherapy.

4. Sufficient personal psychological sophistication and balance

, absence of serious updated neurotic contents and unresolved problems, including personal and family life. High level of integrity, morality and spirituality. The presence of personal informal authority.

It was possible to actually implement this and the previous rule directly in the process of psychological work both with the group and with oneself, which turned out to be quite difficult. There were some rough edges and even some breakdowns in the form of outright conflicts with the research group. At a certain point, this led the psychologist to a state reminiscent of “professional burnout,” and the group to an outright refusal to further participate in the study. At that moment, as has now become clear, not only the fate of the research, but also the professional career and personal well-being of the psychologist literally hung in the balance. The study, in its dramatic wave, began to be compared with real life. The boundaries and barriers that needed to be overcome were quite clearly defined. At the same time, psychological work, research and real life merged together, when personal psychological failure was literally like death.

5. Personal indifference and non-interference

into natural spiritual and mental processes, no matter how contradictory and dramatic they turn out to be. In essence, this is the rule of non-interference in Nature.

In this case, the personal psychological lack of development of the psychologist’s personality could be destructive. Any actualized neurotic content could lead to a direct collision with natural processes, the result of which would be predetermined. One of the basic rules of Freudian psychoanalysis, which requires absolute dispassion and calmness of the psychologist, could be a good help here. As a vivid metaphorical demonstration of this rule, I recall a rather unusual natural phenomenon that was recently observed. This is a thunderstorm on a moonlit night. On one part of the sky, lightning flashes almost continuously and thunder roars, and on the other, the almost full moon also shines brightly, philosophically silently looking at this chaos. At the same time, a calm, warm rain falls as a result of everything that is happening. Here the moon can be compared to a psychologist, a thunderstorm to a working training group, and rain to the productive result of such work.

6. Personal courage and determination

, as a counterbalance to fear and horror that arise in the process of deep psychological work, up to a complete ban on fear and disorientation.

To better understand this rule, imagine a situation where a “crazy” person appears in a training group - a participant with all the signs of acute psychosis and a full range of aggressive and disorganizing manifestations. He openly blackmails the psychologist with his inappropriate behavior, which is reinforced by a very high level of negative mental energy, especially if we add to this mystical contents and manifestations reminiscent of the “Sabbath of Witches.” In such a situation, any mistake or simple indecisiveness could completely demoralize the remaining participants and sow panic. And when the group entered extreme states, which we designate as “diabolism,” such manifestations became completely natural, and the only thing that stabilized the situation was the confident and calm behavior of the psychologist.

7. Complete openness and honesty

in assessments, comments and interpretations of mental processes and states, especially their own.

This rule was the main guarantor of the constructiveness and productivity of psychological work. It was this that could guarantee the criticality of intellectual activity, the actualization of neurotic contents, their manifestation and adequate awareness. This often led to “repentance,” “confession,” “renunciation,” and other similar manifestations of spiritual growth.

8. Personal self-sufficiency

and
independence
from the group. This rule guaranteed control of mutual neurotic “attachment” between the psychologist and the group as a whole, as well as its individual members. With the increase in the depth of psychological work, such a “binding” inevitably turned into something more, even idolatry. And when reaching the maximum levels and state, like a “sabbath”, signs of acceptance of the cult appeared. Here the peculiarity of the psychological mechanism of creating a cult in general becomes clear; the only difference is in its scale. Such a danger at a certain moment quite realistically loomed over the research group in particular after the Carpathian training. Some “believers” even began to propose transforming it into a kind of brotherhood on a cult basis. In such a situation, the psychologist required a lot of personal effort in creating his own self-sufficiency and psychological independence. Here we can say with confidence that at this level of psychological work, the psychologist simply no longer has the right to his own professional, social and psychological failure and neuroticism. This primarily concerns professional self-determination, personal self-actualization and family well-being. In this regard, one more important factor should be noted. Throughout the entire study, the psychologist quite clearly felt a state that can be called “guidance” from apparently some external natural mental phenomenological formations. It is quite clear that for nature training this is a completely natural phenomenon, as a fairly stable way of maintaining a reliable relationship with Nature and reflecting on its main leading function. But, given the large mass of mystical contents in our psyche, there was a danger of “pseudoscience”, a retreat into paganism and idolatry. The only guarantor of mental stability in this case was personal spirituality, based on informal faith in the Christian understanding.

And in conclusion, let us outline with just a few strokes the current state of the professional and personal level of our practicing psychologists. As this study has shown, a real professional situation requires a psychologist to reach the level of his own “I” in his work. At the same time, the psychotechnical and diagnostic tools offered by today's psychological science become nothing more than a preparatory “warm-up” tool. The real work, which ensures the necessary level of efficiency and reliability in the implementation of the client’s true psychological request, is performed by the psychologist himself, as a professional person. This confirms the hypothesis of the famous domestic psychologist-practitioner A.F. Bondarenko [6, p. 142] that professional self-determination (a striking example of which is the present study) reduces the distance between the “functional self” and the “existential self”, stimulating further development of the specialist. It can be added that for a spiritual psychologist, the “I-existential” is the norm and a condition for professional viability.

Most domestic psychologists-practitioners still stop at the “I-functional” level, placing the main emphasis on the cognitive side of their work, getting carried away by studying as many different techniques and methods as possible, forgetting about their own personal development and improvement. After all, the main productive professional grain does not need to be looked for somewhere outside. It resides within the personality itself, waiting to be found and nurtured. And this turned out to be much more complex and difficult than simply accumulating external information.

Literature:

1. Jung K.G. Synchronicity. - Refl-book, Wakler, 1997. - 313 p.

2. Grof S. Beyond the brain: Birth, death and transcendence in psychotherapy. - M.: Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, ed. Institute of Psychotherapy, 2000. - 497 p.

3. Reich V. Function of orgasm. Basic sexual and economic problems of biological energy. - St. Petersburg - Moscow: University Book, AST, 1997. - 303 p.

4. Jung K.G. The practice of psychotherapy. - St. Petersburg: University Book, 1998. - 416 p.

5. Men A. Magic. Occultism. Christianity. (From books, lectures and conversations). - M.: Foundation named after. A. Menya, 1996. - 196 p.

6. Bondarenko A.F. Psychological assistance: Theory and practice: (Textbook for senior students of psychological faculties and university departments). - Kyiv: Ukrtekhpres, 1997. - 216 p.

© Alexander Tkachenko, 2006 © Published with the kind permission of the author

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Psychodynamic direction in personality theory

Freud's theory of personality

In the mid-19th century, Freud took it upon himself to compare the center of human mental life to an iceberg, of which only an insignificant part is on the surface, and the rest is hidden in the depths of the sea.

The scientist proposed an interesting theory that allows us to consider the individual psyche as a battlefield on which they agree:

• the irreconcilable forces of instinct;
• reason;
• consciousness.

In accordance with Freud's teachings, it can be said that not only the actions of people themselves are often irrational, but also the very meaning and reasons for behavior. All this is very rarely comprehended.

Psychology of A. Adler

One of the many ways to try to expand Freud's theory. Adler's main difference that he advocated was the existence of an unconscious functioning of expediency. And this concept is by no means identical to rationality.

Psychology of K. Jung

Jung's analytical psychology was built on the study of dynamic drives that unconsciously influence a person's behavior, as well as the experience accumulated over the years of life. The psychologist was convinced that the content of the unconscious is nothing more than the suppression of aggressive and sexual impulses and even more! The specialist introduced a term called analytical psychology, which sent researchers of human souls to the deep roots of history.

How to write a term paper on speech therapy

07.09.2010 179882

These guidelines are compiled to help students gain an understanding of the content and structure of coursework in speech therapy.

Logopedia of pedagogical science that studies anomalies of speech development with normal hearing, explores the manifestations, nature and mechanisms of speech disorders, develops the scientific basis for overcoming and preventing them means of special training and education.

The subject of speech therapy as a science is speech disorders and the process of training and education of persons with speech disorders.

The object of study is a person suffering from a speech disorder.

The main task of speech therapy as a science is the study, prevention and elimination of various types of speech disorders.

Coursework in speech therapy is a student's scientific and experimental research. This type of educational activity, provided for by the educational and professional program and curriculum, contributes to the acquisition of skills in working with literature, analyzing and summarizing literary sources in order to determine the range of insufficiently studied problems, determining the content and methods of experimental research, processing skills and qualitative analysis of the results obtained. The need to complete coursework in speech therapy is due to the updating of knowledge concerning the content, organization, principles, methods and techniques of speech therapy work.

As a rule, during their studies, students must write two term papers - theoretical and practical.

The first course work should be devoted to the analysis and synthesis of general and specialized literature on the chosen topic. Based on this analysis, it is necessary to justify and develop a method of ascertaining (diagnostic) experiment.

In the second course work, it is necessary to provide an analysis of the results obtained during the ascertaining experiment, as well as determine the directions and content of speech therapy work, and select adequate methods and techniques of correction.

So, let’s present the general requirements for the content and design of coursework in speech therapy.

The initial and most important stage of working on a course project is the choice of a topic, which is either proposed by the supervisor or chosen by the student independently from a list of topics that are consistent with the areas of scientific research of the department.

Each topic can be modified, considered in different aspects, but taking into account a theoretical and practical approach. Having chosen a topic, the student needs to think through in detail its specific content, areas of work, practical material, etc., which should be reflected both in the formulation of the topic and in the further construction of the study. It should be recalled that the chosen topic may not only have a purely theoretical orientation, for example: “Dysarthria. Characteristics of the defect”, “Classification of dysgraphia”, but also take into account the practical significance of the problem under consideration, for example: “Speech therapy work on speech correction for dysarthria”. It should also be taken into account that when formulating a topic, excessive detail should be avoided, for example: “Formation of prosodic components of speech in preschoolers of the sixth year of life attending a preschool institution for children with severe speech impairments.”

The course work includes such mandatory parts as: introduction, three chapters, conclusion, bibliography and appendix.

The text of the term paper begins with the title page . An example of its design can be seen here.

Then the content of the work is given, in which the names of chapters, paragraphs, and sections are formulated in strict accordance with the content of the thesis. An example of its design can be seen here.

In the text, each subsequent chapter and paragraph begins on a new page. At the end of each chapter, the materials are summarized and conclusions are formulated.

The introduction reveals the relevance of the problem under consideration in general and the topic being studied in particular; the problem, subject, object, and purpose of the study are defined. In accordance with the goal and hypothesis, objectives and a set of research methods aimed at achieving the objectives must be defined.

The relevance of the topic lies in reflecting the current level of pedagogical science and practice, meeting the requirements of novelty and usefulness.

When defining the research problem, it is important to indicate what practical tasks it will help to implement in training and educating people with speech pathology.

The object of research is understood as certain aspects of pedagogical reality, perceived through a system of theoretical and practical knowledge. The ultimate goal of any research is to improve this object.

The subject of research is some part, property, element of an object, i.e. the subject of research always indicates a specific aspect of the object that is to be studied and about which the researcher wants to gain new knowledge. An object is a part of an object.

You can give an example of the formulation of the object, subject and problem of research:

– The object of the study is the speech activity of preschool children with phonetic-phonemic speech disorders.

– The subject of the study is the features of intonation speech of children with phonetic-phonemic speech disorders.

– The research problem is to determine effective directions for speech therapy work on the formation of intonation expressiveness of speech in the system of correctional intervention.

The purpose of the study contributes to the specification of the object being studied. The goal of any research is to solve a specific problem. The goal is specified in tasks taking into account the subject of research.

The research objectives are formulated in a certain sequence, which determines the logic of the research. The research objectives are set on the basis of a theoretical analysis of the problem and an assessment of the state of its solution in practice.

The first chapter is an analysis of literary sources, which examines the state of this problem in historical and modern aspects, and presents the most important theoretical principles that formed the basis of the study.

When writing the first chapter, you should pay attention to the fact that the text of the course work must be written in a scientific style. When presenting scientific material, it is necessary to comply with the following requirements:

– Specificity – a review of only those sources that are necessary to disclose only a given topic or solve only a given problem;

– Clarity – which is characterized by semantic coherence and integrity of individual parts of the text;

– Logicality – which provides for a certain structure of presentation of the material;

– Reasoning – evidence of thoughts (why this and not otherwise);

– Precision of wording, excluding ambiguous interpretation of the authors’ statements.

A literary review of the state of the problem being studied should not be reduced to a consistent presentation of literary sources. It should present a generalized description of the literature: highlight the main directions (currents, concepts, points of view), analyze in detail and evaluate the most fundamental works of representatives of these directions.

When writing a work, the student must correctly use literary materials, make references to the authors and sources from which the results of scientific research are borrowed. Failure to provide required references will reduce your coursework grade.

As a rule, in coursework on speech therapy, references to literary sources are formatted as follows: the number of the cited source in the general list of references is placed in square brackets. For example: General speech underdevelopment is a speech pathology in which there is a persistent lag in the formation of all components of the language system: phonetics, vocabulary and grammar [17].

When using quotations, in square brackets, in addition to indicating the source number, the page number from which this excerpt is taken is indicated, for example: Speech rhythm is based on a physiological and intellectual basis, since, firstly, it is directly related to the rhythm of breathing. Secondly, being an element that performs a communicative function, “correlates with meaning, i.e. controlled intellectually” [23, P.40].

However, course work should not be of a purely abstract nature, so you should not abuse the unreasonable abundance of citations. Quoting should be logically justified, convincing and used only when really necessary.

In the second chapter , devoted to experimental research, the organization should be described and the program of the ascertaining experiment should be presented. The survey methodology, as a rule, consists of a description of several series of tasks, with detailed instructions, visual and lexical material, the procedure for completing tasks by experiment participants, and scoring criteria. This chapter also provides a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the results obtained.

When analyzing the results of an experiment, it is necessary to use a scoring system. Examples of various criteria for quantitative and qualitative assessment are presented in the following works:

– Glukhov V.P. Formation of coherent speech in preschool children with general speech underdevelopment. - M.: Arkti, 2002. - 144 p.

– Fotekova T.A. Test methodology for diagnosing oral speech of primary schoolchildren. - M.: Arkti, 2000. - 56 p.

– Levchenko I.Yu. Pathopsychology: Theory and practice. - M.: Academy, 2000. - 232 p.

In order to visually present the results obtained during the experimental study, it is recommended to use tables, graphs, diagrams, etc. Histograms can be used in a variety of ways - columnar, cylindrical, planar, volumetric, etc. An example of the design of tables, figures, and histograms can be found here.

The third chapter provides a rationale for the proposed methods and techniques and reveals the content of the main stages of correctional work.

The conclusion contains a summary of the material presented and the main conclusions formulated by the author.

The bibliography must contain at least 25 sources. The list includes bibliographic information about the sources used in preparing the work. An example of its design can be seen here.

In the application you can present bulky tables or illustrations, examination protocols, observation records, products of activity (drawings, written works of children), notes from speech therapy classes, etc.

The volume of one course work must be at least 30 pages of typewritten text.

In general, coursework in speech therapy is the basis for a future thesis, in which the study of the begun problem can be continued, but from the standpoint of a different approach or a comparative analysis of the disorders being studied in different age categories of people with different types of speech disorders.

The content and format of theses in speech therapy can be found here.

Literature:

1. How to write a term paper on speech therapy: Methodological recommendations. Educational and methodological manual / Comp. Artemova E.E., Tishina L.A. / Ed. Orlova O.S. – M.: MGOPU, 2008. – 35 p.

2. Research work of students in the system of higher professional pedagogical education (specialty 031800 - Speech therapy). Methodological recommendations for completing the thesis / Compiled by. L.V. Lopatina, V.I. Lipakova, G.G. Golubeva. - St. Petersburg: Publishing house of the Russian State Pedagogical University named after. A. I. Herzen, 2002. - 140 p.

Behavioral direction in personality theory

Watson's behaviorism

This teaching was a continuation of the development of the philosophical school of the 16th century, called “British Empiricism”. The essence of this direction is that all people receive knowledge and ideas empirically - through the senses, as well as as a result of life experience. Initially, the human mind is a blank slate, on which certain imprints are gradually applied. Proponents of this movement also believe that observation allows us to form a stronger basis for knowledge than thinking.

Basic provisions of Skinner's theory

A Harvard University professor developed the theory of operant conditioning, and he considered all theories to be psychologically speculative. That is, based on assumptions. Skinner believed that the human body is a so-called “black box”, inside of which there are emotions, motives, drives, etc. It is impossible to measure all this objectively.

Article on the topic “Psychological characteristics of personality”

Psychological characteristics of personality

Personal development is determined by various factors: the unique physiology of higher nervous activity, anatomical and physiological characteristics, the environment and society, and the field of activity.

The uniqueness of the physiology of a person’s higher nervous activity is the specificity of the functioning of his nervous system, expressed in various characteristics: the relationship between the processes of excitation and inhibition in the cerebral cortex, the manifestation of temperament, emotions and feelings in behavior, etc.

In the literature there are different points of view on the psychological characteristics of personality. Some authors agree on the characteristics with each other, others name different characteristics. Having summarized the information studied, Figure 1 shows possible psychological characteristics of the individual.

Figure 1 – Psychological characteristics of the individual

Temperament is a set of such features of the human psyche as the intensity of mental processes, their rhythm and pace. This is the foundation of personality, based on the biological processes occurring in the body and the principle of heredity.

It is customary to distinguish 4 main types of temperament: sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic and melancholic.

1. Sanguine is a strong, balanced type of nervous system. These people cope well with mental and emotional stress. Adequate in feelings and actions. Easily adapt to circumstances. They are characterized by high social activity and behavioral flexibility.
2. Choleric is characterized by the inability to correctly distribute forces (many things are not completed). These people are characterized by increased emotionality, love of change, and daydreaming.
3. Phlegmatic people are calm, balanced, even inert people. It is difficult to unbalance them, but they also take a long time to calm down. Very sluggish reaction even to strong shocks.
4. Melancholic – weak nervous system. These people cannot stand high stress, tend to get tired quickly, and are very vulnerable and sensitive. Emotional instability is clearly expressed. They have a keen sense of other people and changes in the world around them.

Temperament in itself cannot be good or bad. There can only be a good or bad ability to control one’s temperament and use it.

In psychology, abilities are mental properties due to which a person is able to successfully perform a specific type of activity (or several).

We call ability, for example, observation, which is of great importance in the activities of a writer, scientist, and teacher. We call visual memory abilities, which are directly related to the work of an artist-painter; emotional memory and emotional imagination, which play a big role in the writer’s work; technical imagination necessary in the activities of an engineer or technician; ear for music. We can call abilities the qualities of the mind that constitute the condition for the successful performance of many types of activities.

Abilities are formed and discovered only in the process of relevant activity. Without observing a person in activity, one cannot judge whether he has or does not have abilities. You cannot talk about musical abilities if the child has not yet engaged in at least elementary forms of musical activity, if he has not yet been taught music. A person is not born capable of this or that activity; his abilities are formed, formed, developed in properly organized appropriate activities, during his life, under the influence of training and upbringing.

If a person has a set of inclinations that are necessary for the development of ability, this is called giftedness.

Character refers to the totality of the core mental properties of a person that leave an imprint on all his actions and actions, those properties on which, first of all, depends how a person behaves in various life situations. Knowing the character of a person, we can foresee how he will act in such and such circumstances and what should be expected from him. If a person’s individuality is devoid of internal certainty, if his actions depend not so much on himself as on external circumstances, we speak of a “characterless” person.

The mental properties of a person that make up character and which make it possible with a certain probability to predict a person’s behavior under certain conditions are called character traits. Courage, honesty, initiative, hard work, conscientiousness, cowardice, laziness, secrecy are examples of various character traits. Considering that one person has courage, and another is characterized by cowardice, we thereby say what should be expected from both when faced with danger. By indicating a person’s initiative, we want to say what kind of attitude to a new business should be expected from him.

In relation to character, we constantly use the expressions “good character”, “bad character”. This shows that by the word “character” we designate those characteristics of a person that are directly reflected in his behavior, on which his actions depend, and which therefore have direct vital significance. We always evaluate many of our character traits as positive - courage, honesty, conscientiousness, modesty, while others - as negative - cowardice, deceit, irresponsibility, boasting, etc.

Character is manifested both in the goals that a person sets for himself and in the means or ways in which he achieves these goals. A person's personality, according to Engels, is characterized not only by what he does, but also by how he does it.

Two people can do the same thing and pursue the same goal. But one will work with enthusiasm, “burn” with what he does, while the other will work conscientiously, but indifferently, guided only by a cold sense of duty. And this difference in how two people perform the same task often has deep characterological significance, reflecting the enduring characteristics of the individuality of these two people.

A person’s character is primarily determined by his attitude towards the world, towards other people, towards his work and, finally, towards himself. This attitude finds its conscious expression in a person’s worldview, in his beliefs and views, and is experienced by a person in his feelings.

Character is connected with all aspects of mental life. Character traits can be individual characteristics of cognitive processes, feelings, and will, if only they acquire significant significance in the mental makeup of a given person, if they influence his line of behavior and determine his characteristic method of action.

Signs such as observation or criticality of mind are often not just features of the processes of perception or thinking in a given person, but essential features of his personality.

Character, even less than any other personality trait, is an innate and unchangeable property. Character traits are not only manifested in actions and deeds, they are formed and formed in them. To become neat, you must systematically act carefully; to become polite, you must constantly behave politely. Courage is formed in the process of committing courageous actions, and it becomes a character trait when such actions cease to be random episodes in a person’s life and turn into a habitual, normal way of action for him.

To understand the direction of a person is, first of all, to reveal a person’s aspirations, the goals that he sets on his life’s path, the motives that guide his actions and deeds, the reasons that encourage him to be active. All this is realized in such psychological forms as needs, interests, beliefs, and worldview.

What exactly motivates a person to act in a certain way, set certain goals and achieve them? Such motivating reasons are needs. A need is an impulse to activity, which is experienced by a person as a need for something, a lack of something, dissatisfaction with something.

Human needs are varied. First of all, natural needs are distinguished, which directly ensure human existence. From birth, man, like all animals, needs food, sleep, air, drink, etc. These needs are a necessary condition for the existence of the animal and human body. Without satisfying natural needs, both animals and humans are doomed to death. Along with natural ones, a person also has purely human, spiritual, or social needs: the need for communication with other people, for emotional warmth, for respect, the need for knowledge, cultural needs (reading books, listening to music, visiting theaters and cinema) , need for activity, aesthetic needs.

When analyzing this or that specific act, a specific action, a certain activity of a person, you need to know the motives of these actions, actions. For example, a student carefully studies anatomy. The motive may be the desire to please parents, the desire to please the teacher, or the need to acquire knowledge. Therefore, when assessing a person’s action, it is necessary to take into account the motive for this action. Only then can you properly evaluate it.

Motive is an incentive to activity, an explanatory reason for actions associated with the satisfaction of a specific need. There are conscious and unconscious motives. Unconscious motive when a person does not know the real reason for his behavior. Unconscious motives include attraction; the formation of unconscious motives is influenced by attitudes and suggestions.

In the process of performing behavioral acts, motives, being dynamic formations, can be transformed (changed), which is possible at all phases of the action, and the behavioral act is often completed not according to the original, but according to the transformed motivation.

A person’s cognitive need manifests itself in interests. Interest is one of the forms of a person’s focus on a particular object, phenomenon or activity, colored by a positive emotion. A person’s interests are determined by the socio-historical and individual conditions of his life.

An important motive for behavior is beliefs. These are certain provisions, judgments, opinions, knowledge about nature and society, the truth of which a person does not doubt, considers them indisputably convincing, and strives to be guided by them in life. If beliefs form a certain system, they become a person’s worldview.

Worldview is a system of views on the objective reality surrounding a person.

The activity of the individual is expressed in diverse and multifaceted activities aimed at cognition, change, transformation of the surrounding world, at changing one’s own nature, one’s mental makeup (self-education).

The unity of personality lies in the fact that the personality is a single whole, where each trait is inextricably linked with others, and therefore each personality trait acquires its own meaning, often completely different, depending on its relationship with other personality traits. For example, perseverance as the ability to achieve a goal, overcoming difficulties and obstacles, has a positive meaning only in combination with high moral feelings. This trait will have a completely different content if it is associated with highly developed egoistic needs, with the desire to achieve personal well-being while neglecting the interests of the team and other people. Therefore, a personality is formed and educated not in parts, but as a whole, because It is impossible to cultivate individual traits without paying attention, distracting from other personality traits.

The stability of personality properties lies in the fact that, despite all the plasticity and variability of a person’s mental manifestations, the relative constancy of his mental make-up is still clearly evident, which, in particular, makes it possible to predict the behavior of a given person in a given situation.

A person does not act on his own, but in a collective and is formed as an individual under the influence of the collective. In a team and under its influence, the traits of a person’s orientation and will are formed, his activities and behavior are organized, and conditions are created for the development of his abilities.

The relationships of individual members in groups and teams are very complex and diverse - there are both business relationships and personal ones (such as sympathy and antipathy, friendship or enmity - the so-called interpersonal). A person occupies a certain place in the system of relations, enjoys an equal degree of authority and popularity, and influences other members to varying degrees. Of great importance is the self-esteem of a member of a group or team, the level of his aspirations (i.e., what role an individual claims to play in a group or team based on self-esteem).

In cases of discrepancies between self-esteem and assessment by other members of the group or team, conflict often arises. Conflicts are also possible if the level of aspirations of a member of a group or team is too high and does not correspond to his objective position in the team (then this member of the team feels disadvantaged and believes that he is underestimated).

List of sources used

1 Andreeva G.M. Social psychology: Textbook. for higher education uch. manager /G.M. Andreeva. – M.: Aspect Press. –2012. – 363s.

2 Psychological characteristics of personality https://womanadvice.ru

/psihologicheskaya-harakteristika-lichnosti

3 Psychological characteristics of a person https://iskovoe.my1.ru/publ/kharakteristika_dlja_predjavlenija/psikhologicheskaja_kharakteristika_cheloveka_obrazec/15-1-0-32

4 Personality. Psychological characteristics of personality. https://psychologymk1.ucoz.ru/load/lekcija_lichnost_osnovnye_kharakteristiki_lichnosti/1-1-0-3

Social-cognitive and cognitive direction

Albert Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory of Personality

Personology, after the emergence of behaviorism, put forward the assumption that human behavior will be regulated by a complex system of interaction between various internal phenomena, as well as environmental factors. Bandura determined that personality functions are divided into three main areas in everyday life, taking into account the following factors:

• Behavioral
• Cognitive
• Sredovykh

Julian Rotter's Social Learning Theory

D. Rotter consistently continued Bandura's teachings, actively developing it. When describing social-cognitive theory, a model of reciprocal causation of behavior was described, where people are both a product and a producer of their own environment.

The scientist focused on how people learn behavior in a social context. And behavior, according to the specialist, is determined by the unique, uniquely human ability to think and foresee various outcomes.

George Kelly's cognitive theory of personality

Kelly's main emphasis was on studying the influence of intellectual and thinking processes on behavioral changes in personality. The specialist believed that each individual person is, in essence, a researcher who seeks to understand, comprehend and anticipate the world, while exercising control over personal experiences. All this allows you to build a clear and understandable diagram of relationships with the surrounding reality.

Dispositional theories of personality

Gordon Allport's dispositional theory of personality

The basis of Allport's dispositional theory lies on a spectrum of two main ideas. The first is to endow people with a maximum set of all possible predispositions, according to which they react to certain changes in the environment. The second idea is the statement that there are no two people in the world who could be exactly alike. Each individual has his own personal personality traits.

Raymond Cattell: structural theory of personality

This specialist proposed a different direction for studying personality traits than Allport. A statistical method was used, known as factor analysis. Its proponents believe that all fundamental aspects of personality are common to all people. This is a universal set on the basis of which the structure is subsequently formed.

As a result of Cattell's research, many basic personality traits were studied and revealed and the following conclusion was made:

Personality is nothing more than a way to suggest a person’s behavior in a specific situation.

Hans Eysenck: personality type theory

This theory is based on three supertraits, which are called types. The hierarchical organization provides for the formation of the following structure:

• the general level is types;
• a little higher - features;
• Below are the usual reactions;
• at the very bottom are specific reactions.

Scientific approaches in human personality psychology

Human personality degradation - what is it?

In psychological science, there are different approaches to the study of men and women.

Search for Personal Differences

Depth or psychodynamic theory of personality

This concept of studying the mental characteristics of a subject is based on S. Freud’s theory of the unconscious. The author is convinced that the driving force of development is the instincts of life and death. In the structure of individuality, S. Freud distinguishes 3 categories: It (the desire for pleasure), I (the conscious component that makes decisions) and the Super-I (moral component). If the ego cannot balance the desires of the id and the superego, an internal conflict arises.

The followers of this approach were A. Adler and K. Jung. They saw the citizen’s desire to become better in the eyes of others and the vitality of the body as the driving forces of development.

Phenomenological theory of personality

In the phenomenological approach, the main emphasis is on the independence of the individual at the moments of making significant decisions. Proponents of this theoretical concept believed that everyone himself is responsible for his own mood and for the result of his actions, because he has thinking. As a stimulus for development, the authors of this approach proposed to consider the need of participants in social relations for self-actualization, self-expression and self-improvement.

Dispositional theory of personality - trait theory

The dispositional theory of personality formation is based on the works of G. Eysenck, G. Allport and R. Cattell. These scientists argued that by nature people are endowed with a certain set of dispositions - individual characteristics. These individual typological traits determine the style of communication and the characteristics of people’s reactions to certain situations. The authors compiled a description of various options for combining dispositions, resulting in a list of personality types.

Attention! According to this concept, dispositions do not depend on the individual's experience and are not subject to fundamental changes. They are constant and it is very difficult to purposefully correct them.

Behavioral theories of personality

The object of study in this approach was a person’s life experience as an indicator of his social development. The developers of this theory were confident that the formation of individuality cannot occur in isolation from the surrounding reality and without interaction with other people. When studying a person, researchers assess his communication skills, behavioral reactions, and characteristics of participation in joint activities.

Different behavior

According to the philosophy of this approach, a person is a subject of social life. The concept of personality as a subject of relationships was introduced into psychology by S.L. Rubinstein. The initial behavioral concept of person formation was later divided into 2 schools:

• Behaviorist school, the founders of which were J. Watson and B. Skinner. The main idea in the concept of this direction was that the external environment in relation to behavior is the determining factor.
• The installation school, which was founded by A. Bandura and J. Rotter. These scientists argued that human behavior is explained by his internal motives and attitudes. How a person communicates depends on his perception of the situation and his motives for entering into contact with the interlocutor.

Cognitive theories of personality

This direction of studying personal structure is based on explaining a person’s actions and actions from the perspective of cognition. Many researchers are confident that cognitive interest determines an individual’s activity, because people choose an activity based on their interests and a profession, guided by their preferences and liking for a particular type of activity.

Exploring the world, a person creates unique constructs. They reflect the interests and inclinations of the individual. As a rule, individual constructs explain a person’s selectivity in communication: he more easily converges with a partner whose construct models are similar to his own.

Good relationships with others

Personality psychology was formed as an independent branch of psychological science, the object of study of which was the stages of formation of personal structures and features of human interaction with the environment. Today, the theoretical provisions of this science are of interest not only to professional psychologists, but also to representatives of other professions. This is due to the fact that a person needs to be able to build relationships with people around him, regardless of what field of economic activity he works in. Therefore, knowledge of the basics of personality psychology will be useful for everyone to optimize social contacts and self-knowledge.

Humanistic direction in personality theory

Self-actualization theory by A. Maslow

The term “humanistic psychology” was coined by a group of specialists working on the problem in the 1960s. This direction developed as third force psychology. It presupposes an interpretation of human nature diametrically opposed to that which was generally accepted in the widest circles of researchers of human souls.

Maslow's supporters propose adhering to the following fundamental principles, in their opinion:

• Man is a thinking being who freely chooses his method of action.
• Each individual is in constant development.
• Each person chooses for himself how to live his life.
• The existence of each individual person is unique and inimitable.

Humanistic psychology of C. Rogers

Rogers continued to develop the theory of personality and as a result of the work done, the following conclusions were drawn:

• Each person is constructive, his essence is realistic and aimed at constant development.
• Every person is a positive being aimed at harmony.
• The development of each person is carried out on the basis of innate capabilities.
• Each individual person has a natural desire to move towards independence and social responsibility. All this is based on creativity and a mature approach to life itself!

Concept of personality and individuality

A person is already born as a human being; in his genes, nature contains the prerequisites for the development of human qualities and characteristics.
The structure of the human body presupposes upright walking, the structure of the brain makes it possible to develop intelligence, the structure of the hands allows for the use of tools, and so on. This is how a human baby differs from a baby animal. The fact that a baby belongs to the human race is fixed in the concept of an individual. This term embodies a person’s tribal affiliation. An individual is a newborn, an adult at the stage of savagery, and a highly educated resident of a civilized country. Man is a biological being, an animal, which is endowed with consciousness, speech, and has the ability to work, as well as to cognize the surrounding reality and change, transform it. At the same time, man is a social being. This is an important sign, because social relations and social life, collective work have subjugated and changed the bodily, biological organization of man.

Finished works on a similar topic

• Course work Psychological characteristics of personality 400 rub.
• Abstract Psychological characteristics of personality 220 rub.
• Test work Psychological characteristics of personality 200 rub.

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The concept of “personality” is also widely used in psychology.

Definition 1

Personality is the socio-psychological essence of a person, which is the result of a person’s assimilation of social forms of behavior and consciousness.

A person is able to make choices and evaluate the consequences of decisions made, and have an active life position.

Natural features are important prerequisites, a necessary condition for mental development, but at the same time they do not determine the character, abilities, interests, ideals, and beliefs of a person. The brain, being a biological formation, serves as a prerequisite for the manifestations of personality, but they themselves are a product of social human existence. A creature that has a human brain, developing outside the framework of human society, will never become even a semblance of a person.

In psychology, along with the concepts of “personality” and “person,” the concept of “individuality” is also used.

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Definition 2

Individuality is the personality of a certain person, in its specific version, as a unique symbiosis of unique psychological characteristics.