Today in psychology there are about fifty theories of personality. Each of them examines and interprets in its own way how personality is formed. But they all agree that a person goes through the stages of personality development in a way that no one has lived before him, and no one will live after him.
Why is one person loved, respected, successful in all spheres of life, while another degrades and becomes unhappy? To answer this question, you need to know the personality formation factors that influenced the life of a particular person. It is important how the stages of personality formation went through, what new traits, qualities, properties and abilities appeared during life, and to take into account the role of the family in the formation of personality.
In psychology there are several definitions of this concept. The definition in a philosophical sense is a value for the sake of and thanks to which society develops.
The most common of them are: personality is a person considered as a system of socially conditioned psychological characteristics; a set of human qualities that he acquires by communicating and acting in a sociocultural environment.
It is generally accepted that the word “personality” comes from the Latin persona (or English personality), but it would be more accurate to translate it as the English self – self, I myself.
Persona is a mask that an actor in ancient Greek theater wore when playing a role. But personality is not just a face, a mask that a person “puts on” in society.
A person manifests himself in social connections and relationships. Individual characteristics are stable and determine actions that are significant for the individual and his environment. The formation of a personality is a long process; one does not “put it on” oneself, one becomes one.
Problems and meaning
First of all, let’s read into the topic “One is born as an individual, one becomes an individual, one defends individuality.” The problem of this topic is what we need to identify.
“The main problem of this topic is the development of man and his formation in society.”
You can also express this idea in other words or add something else, but the problem expressed should be close to the example. The most important thing is that when working with this topic, you yourself fully understand its meaning.
Our next task is to reveal the meaning and theoretical justification of Asmolov’s words: “One is born an individual, one becomes an individual, one defends individuality.”
The process of becoming an individual
Psychologists have provided two simple steps that illustrate how one becomes a person:
Step 1. You need to look under your mask. That is, to be naked in front of oneself, to understand who a person really is, throwing away all images. This search is the most important stage of development.
Step 2. Experiencing feelings is the next stage. In moments of strong emotional stress, a person becomes who he really is. Forming the right self at such moments is an equally important stage.
Basic Concepts
In order to cope with the task, it is necessary to appeal to the social science concepts specified in the topic:
- Individuality.
- Personality.
- Individual.
They will be included in the very disclosure of the meaning of the topic and should be harmoniously included, and not as separate subparagraphs.
There are no strict restrictions on the structure of the work, but you must understand that chaotically scattered parts of the essay will not help to fully reveal the topic. Therefore, you must remember that each previous part must be logically connected with the next one.
What mistakes do parents make when raising individuals?
When shaping a child’s personality, it is important for parents to avoid such common mistakes.
Categorical prohibition
The main mistake of education. Be patient with your baby and respect him. Without learning to understand it, parents make inevitable mistakes that lead to mental and physical problems. By ignoring the desires and interests of the child, responding to most of them with categorical prohibitions, you can even skip the initial stage of some disease. Example: you notice that the child has started eating lime. The first reaction of most parents: dissatisfaction, screaming, a ban on approaching the wall. Correct reaction: visit the doctor. The doctor will probably tell you that there is a lack of calcium salts in the baby’s body. In addition, such an attitude will create in the child a desire to perform certain actions on the sly. Many become secretive and distrustful.
Overprotection
When shaping a child’s personality, overprotection is not the best helper. Excessive care can have a negative effect on the baby. When he reaches a certain age and tries to show independence, this is often met with hostility. Example: a child wants to use a spoon himself, but the mother, fearing that he will get dirty or not be able to cope, continues to feed him herself.
Overprotection manifests itself in violent action, which can result in the emergence of neurosis. In other cases, guardianship unless absolutely necessary can result in the child never being able to make friends, because the mother and grandmother are always nearby. The individual may have difficulties with socialization; he does not acquire the ability to express and defend his opinion. Possible consequences: psychological problems that can only be eliminated with the assistance of specialists.
Excessive demands
For the full development of a child’s personality, it is necessary that he not only knows, but also understands what is allowed and what is prohibited. If you show excessive demands on him, without giving clear explanations of the reasons why you need to do as you say, then this will not lead to good. What traits will the personality acquire? Irritability, stubbornness. The best option: parents explain in detail the reasons for their demands, and over time they become the child’s personal beliefs.
Notations
The first factor provoking children's protest is lengthy lectures. Parents often believe that their child will learn information better by listening to long and repetitive lectures. There is no need for them. This approach has no constructive component. Particularly taboo is other children being held up as examples. Gradually, the child will begin to perceive them as personal enemies. Boring notations often cause a negative reaction, losing their educational value.
Immense pampering of a child
Parents who spoil their children too much create a big problem. This phenomenon is no less negative than lack of influence. Spoiled children, who do not know anything to be denied, who have no responsibilities, eventually face the impossibility of overcoming even minor life obstacles and problems. When a situation arises when their desires and reality do not coincide, they lead to overstrain of the nervous system, which can result in a breakdown.
Disclosure of meaning and theoretical justification
As psychologist Asmolov said: “One is born as an individual, one becomes an individual, one defends individuality.” What is the difference between these concepts? First of all, an individual is any person who differs from other creatures in higher development. From this we conclude that from birth we are individuals. This concept is characteristic of every person.
With personality, everything is different. Personality is a set of moral, ethical, mental and social qualities that a person develops in himself with the process of growing up.
Individuality is the highest degree of human development. An individual can be called someone who has many different personal qualities, a person who differs from the general mass of people in character, uniqueness and interests.
“One is born an individual, one becomes an individual, one defends individuality. The meaning of this statement is that we are all individuals. As we grow older, we become individuals. But in order to become an individual, you need to try and prove that you have your own character, opinion and interests and are able to defend them.”
2.6. Man, individual, personality
Social studies tutorial - Man
The concepts indicated in the title are often used as synonyms. However, there are significant semantic differences between them. Man is a being of the biological species homo sapiens. An individual is a representative of the human race, endowed with special traits that are different from other people. Each of us is an individual. Each person from birth is endowed with a special appearance, character, abilities, etc. The specific features that distinguish a person from the totality of his own kind constitute his individuality. It presupposes not only features of external appearance, but also a complex of socially significant qualities of an individual.
Each person is individual, but not every individual can become an individual. What qualities should a person have? At what age do they become one? There is no clear answer to these questions. From one point of view, a personality is a person who has a set of positive characteristics. According to another point of view, personality appears as something special, taken in a social aspect.
Personality is the integrity of a person’s social properties, a product of social development and the inclusion of the individual in the system of social relations through active substantive activity and communication.
An individual becomes a personality in the process of mastering social functions and developing self-awareness. Self-awareness is the awareness of one’s uniqueness as a subject of activity as a member of society. (The most important quality of a person is social activity, which can be considered in two manifestations. The first involves considering social activity as a property of a person, conditioned by his natural data and enhanced by qualities that are formed in the process of upbringing, education, communication and practical activity. Some people are naturally active , are energetic and active, which becomes noticeable already in early childhood. Others, on the contrary, are passive and inactive. Under the influence of many social factors, activity can develop, intensify or weaken. The second manifestation of social activity is associated with activity as some specific measure of activity. In this case activity can be expressed in specific indicators. An example is the measurement of labor activity. The criterion for social activity is the results of activity. The concept of “social activity” is closely related to the concept of “social subject” - a person capable of active social activity.
Sociology distinguishes such types of personality as normative (basic) and modal. A normative (basic) personality is a personality type accepted by the culture of the corresponding society, which most reflects the characteristics of a given culture. This is a kind of ideal type that society focuses on in raising the younger generation. In any social group, one can identify an individual with characteristics that most fully express the goals, conditions and patterns of functioning of this group. Thus, at a university there are ideas about what a student should be, in the army - a military man, at a factory - a worker, etc.
A modal (from the word “fashion”) personality is a person committed to the same cultural patterns as the majority of members of a given society. That is, this is the personality type that is most common in a given territory and at a given point in time. Modal personality reflects the real position of a person in society. For example, in the last decade of the 20th century. In Russia, the type of profit-oriented trading person has become widespread. It should be noted that in society there may be several types of modal personality, depending on the presence of different social groups.
The modal personality never corresponds to the normative one, although sometimes there are some overlaps. Deviations from the normative type, if they are quite significant, encounter resistance from society, which forces individuals to comply with generally accepted norms. In addition, a normative personality is more constant, while a modal personality is more dynamic. As living conditions change, personality types also change. Thus, a democratic society is characterized by a politically active type of personality, and an anti-democratic one is characterized by a type that obeys guidelines.
In conditions of radical changes in social life, a marginal personality type is becoming widespread, i.e. borderline personality: a person who has fallen out of his previous social environment and has failed to adapt to changed circumstances experiences mental discomfort, uncertainty about the future and seeks to join any social group to stabilize his position.
The formation of personality is influenced by many factors. First of all, it is heredity. From parents a person receives a set of individual properties of appearance, health, psyche, etc. But at the level of heredity, only psychophysiological properties are transmitted to a person. In most cases they play a secondary role. They can act as the main ones when a person is significantly different from those around him. In extreme cases, these are either physical and mental pathologies, or giftedness.
Another, more important factor is education - the process of purposeful influence on a person to form certain qualities in him. A person experiences educational influence from parents, teachers, and friends.
An important factor in personality formation is the social environment, i.e. those people among whom a person revolves, on whom he depends or who depend on him, on whom he is oriented or who are oriented towards him. There is a macro-environment (society as a whole, the system of education, upbringing, etc.) and a micro-environment (work collective, family, school). The individual and society interact with each other. Society can influence the formation of an individual and his actions. At the same time, the individual is capable of changing the social environment. The relationships that are formed and implemented in the process of such interaction are called social.
Social relations are a stable system of connections between individuals that have developed in the process of their interaction with each other in the conditions of a given society. Social relations develop between people included in various social groups. Man cannot exist in isolation. In his activities he must take into account the interests of other people. So, to achieve success at work, it is not enough to be a good specialist. It is necessary to be able to build the right relationships with both bosses and colleagues. All human actions are derivatives of social relations, which include two levels: the social level (interaction of people through various social groups) and the psychological level (direct interpersonal relationships).
A situation is possible when, despite favorable conditions, the process of personal development is suspended, since the person himself does not make any effort to do so. For the formation of personality, a person’s desire for self-improvement is necessary. Every person has enormous potential, which can only be revealed if a person sets goals for himself and makes attempts to achieve them.
A person’s abilities play an important role in the development of personality. Abilities are the individual mental qualities of a person that allow him to successfully acquire knowledge, skills and abilities. The wider a person’s range of interests, the easier it is to identify his true abilities. There are often cases when parents force a child to engage in some type of activity (mathematics, sports), but he has abilities in a completely different area (for example, in literature and art).
A clearly expressed ability is called talent. Ability and talent are innate qualities. But if they are not developed, they may fade away. Talent needs to be recognized in a person in time. This is the task of parents, schools, and other public institutions. The development of talent largely depends on the person himself. We call a talented person who constantly develops his abilities and achieves high results in his activities a genius. All brilliant people who left their mark on history were individuals.
But not only talents and geniuses become individuals. Personality is the result of the formation of an individual, the development of his abilities, and the accumulation of experience. A person is characterized by developed self-awareness, a strong position in life, the ability to make decisions and the ability to take responsibility for one’s actions. She always has her own point of view on certain problems and in some cases can oppose herself to society. A person is distinguished by developed willpower, the ability to force himself to act as necessary in a given situation.
Personality formation occurs during socialization. Socialization is the process of mastering social roles, acquiring social statuses and accumulating social experience. The process of socialization begins with a person’s birth and continues throughout his life.
The human life cycle consists of certain age stages: childhood, adolescence, maturity and old age. The age boundaries of these stages are quite blurred. Nevertheless, there are signs by which one can distinguish a child from a youth or a mature person from an old man. Depending on age, stages of socialization are also distinguished. The period of childhood and adolescence constitutes initial socialization, the period of maturity and old age constitutes continued socialization. In the process of socialization, a person is influenced by parents, school, friends (at the stage of initial socialization), and then by college, the army, work, and the state (at the stage of continued socialization).
Education plays an important role in socialization—instilling in a person the values and ideals common in society. Education, as noted above, is a process of purposeful influence on a person to develop certain qualities in him. But there is another side to education, namely, the spontaneous assimilation of rules of behavior. In the first case, education is carried out by parents, school, and university. In the second, the child perceives patterns of behavior, imitating parents, older comrades, idols of cinema, pop, and sports. Purposeful education is always associated with the task of forming a set of positive qualities in a child. Negative patterns of behavior can also be spontaneously absorbed.
In upbringing, purposeful and spontaneous can correspond to each other, or they can come into conflict, for example, when parents constantly tell their child about the dangers of smoking, but they themselves smoke. Therefore, the upbringing process requires responsibility and self-control on the part of parents.
But education does not end when a person grows up. The process of learning norms of behavior continues throughout life. Only its direction changes. If in childhood a person was raised by those around him, then with age he influences himself, forcing him to perform certain actions. This process is called self-education.
Self-education is a property of a developed personality. It requires willpower and the desire for better results. Dissatisfaction with the achieved position, efforts to move forward, a state of constant search are signs indicating the status of an individual. A society consisting of bright personalities develops more dynamically and moves faster along the path of social progress.
Questions and tasks
1. What is the difference between the concepts “person”, “individual”, “personality”?
2. What is social activity? What are its manifestations?
3. Describe the concepts of normative and modal personality. What is their relationship? Give examples.
4. What factors influence the formation of personality?
5. What role do abilities and talent play in the development of personality?
6. What is socialization? What are its stages? What factors influence the socialization process?
7. What role does education play in the development of personality? What is the relationship between purposeful and spontaneous education?
8. What is the importance of self-education? Are you involved in your own education?
9. Read the statement by G.V. Plekhanov.
“A great man is great because he has characteristics that make him most capable of serving the great social needs of his time... A great man is precisely a beginner because he sees further than others and wants stronger than others. He solves scientific problems put on the agenda by the previous course of mental development of society; it indicates new social needs created by the previous development of social relations; he takes upon himself the initiative to satisfy these needs.”
What characteristics of a great man does he highlight?
2.7. The spiritual world of man →
← 2.5. Communication
2.6. Man, individual, personality
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Argumentation
“One is born an individual, one becomes an individual, one defends individuality” is an essay for which it is not so easy to find arguments. But let's try.
“Why is each of us an individual? It's simple - pay attention to the newborn baby. Yes, all children have different appearances and even some habits and habits, but otherwise they are all the same. Kids do not yet know how to build long logical chains, they are not yet able to express their thoughts in words - they are only at the stage of development. Another thing is personality. People become individuals at completely different ages.
For example, young Dmitry Donskoy, already at the age of 11, went to the Golden Horde for a label, and at this age he began his struggle for the title of Prince of All Rus'. Indeed, by the age of 11 the boy had many personal qualities.”
In the same way, you can continue to reason further on the topic “One is born as an individual, one becomes an individual, one defends individuality.” The essay may contain arguments from history, literature, media, or personal life.
“In order to be individual, you need to prove it. An example of individuality is the great artist Vincent Van Gogh, whose paintings still delight and fascinate today, casting aside all doubts about the individuality of this person.”
In your essay, you can also give negative examples if they are more familiar to you.
“Not every person can become a person and an individual. Nowadays, there are still many criminals who cannot be called individuals, because many of them have distorted moral values and principles. But a person without these norms cannot be called a person.”
Without knowing specific examples, you can come up with them yourself by citing specific cases.
Interesting
Now, having an idea of who a person is, we can talk about such a phenomenon as splitting or split personality.
Two in one: this happens to people too
Each person is individual, each considers himself an individual, this is part of our life.
But have you ever thought that there are people in the world whose personalities are fragmented?
There is a mental disorder of dual personality that is very interesting to many scientists.
One person can simultaneously live from two or more personalities, each with their own character, temperament, memories and habits. Individuals can also differ in race, gender, and age.
They can speak different languages, although a person may never have known a foreign language at all, and so on.
For example, one of the personalities may have diabetes, but when switching to another person, the person will be completely healthy.
Scientists suggest that such an unusual disorder occurs due to severe psychological trauma, from which the brain tries to protect itself in this way, which once again proves its limitless capabilities.
Not fully studied, this phenomenon of split personality is familiar to many from cinema and fiction. Currently, this disorder is officially recognized as a mental illness, which is extremely difficult to cure.
So, we have found out that every person interacting with society is a person, but whether he will be a full-fledged person depends on his ability and desire to develop himself.
The authors of your lives are you.
In this video you will learn what consciousness and personality are:
Conclusion
Thus, you will be able to fully reveal the problems and meaning of your work on the topic “One is born as an individual, one becomes an individual, one defends individuality.” The essay should contain approximately 150 words - this is enough to present all the necessary thoughts and arguments, you can also give more examples, but you should not exceed the 350 word limit. If you do everything correctly, you will receive a high score for your work.
Age crises
Without turning points - crises - it is impossible to become an adult. Age-related characteristics of personality development are different for each of the crises: youth is characterized by a crisis of loneliness, at 30 years old - a feeling of the meaninglessness of life. At the age of 40, a person realizes his freedom, sums up the intermediate results of life, and returns to the true “I”. 60-70 years is “the time to collect stones.”
In adolescence, a person solves the problem of separation from his parents. He either takes a step into independent life and finds a mate, or remains alone and dependent. But society usually places emphasis not on psychological separation from the parental family, but on the choice of profession. A good solution to get out of the crisis is to start earning money on your own and go abroad to study. A metaphor for adolescence can be the image of a ripe apple falling from an apple tree.
The crisis of 30 years is characterized by the fact that a person ceases to bring joy to everything that was previously its source - work, family, hobbies. The person may suffer from severe depression. He has the last chance to separate from his parents, if this has not been done before. The main task is to understand whether the previously chosen path is suitable. A metaphor could be Sisyphus rolling a stone uphill. A person wonders: is there a difference in how to live life if everyone is equal before the gates of eternity. But after some time, he realizes that the meaning of life is to gain his own unique experience, to live an authentic life.
Crises of the second half of life
The Divine Comedy was written by Dante when he was 33 years old, a sacred age in many religions and myths. The autobiographical hero of the poem finds himself in a dark forest, metaphorically denoting the middle of life. Since life expectancy has increased, this crisis is now called the “40-year crisis.” This is the longest and most powerful psychological crisis. His energy is enough to destroy the life of someone who is afraid of a crisis. It is also enough for creation - but only for those who are not afraid of change and are ready to meet them face to face.
The age-related development of personality of this period is best reflected by the image of a jester, or a fool. He holds a rose in his hand - it denotes purity of thoughts. Behind his back he has a bundle of belongings - everything that could be taken from his past life. On tarot cards, the jester is often depicted with his leg raised over an abyss, with the sunset sun behind him. Below is the sea. The image of the jester symbolizes the opportunity to start over.
The most difficult crisis to comprehend is the crisis of post-retirement age, or 60-70 years. If earlier it was possible to hide from thoughts about the finitude of life, now death, figuratively speaking, “looks you in the eye.” If earlier it was possible to ask other people for help, now you will have to face the crisis on your own - no one alive has ever been “in the next world.”
It is easier for believers, since for them there is the Kingdom of Heaven, eternal life. It’s more difficult for materialists. The main idea of the crisis is “all people are mortal.” In the modern world, people try not to attach importance to this fear. They stay away from anything that is in any way connected with death - these are rituals, objects associated with funerals, the bodies of the deceased. Everything that brings the unknown is scary. The fear of death breaks into everyday life only in the form of phobias, fears, and nightmares. They either try to deny death or strive towards it. However, Freud's Thanatos alone cannot fully explain it.
Many people become more religious during this period of life. Some choose to believe in a new birth after death, reincarnation. The Tibetan Book of the Dead speaks about this.
