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.
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.
Individuality is the personality of a certain person, in its specific version, as a unique symbiosis of unique psychological characteristics.
In the article we will consider how the psychological characteristics of a person are compiled.
What is a psychological personality characteristic
Psychological characteristics are a set of components of the personality structure that determine the individual’s orientation, character traits and style of activity. Psychological characteristics are based on stable human properties: type of nervous system, temperament, nationality, abilities, qualities of mind.
The psychological characteristics of a person undergo some changes in the process of ontogenetic development, family upbringing and systematic education. Individual elements of psychological characteristics are formed only as a result of the development of character and the development of stable interests of the individual. Family education and schooling are being replaced by self-development and self-education of a person. Starting from adolescence, people consciously form their psychological portrait.
The main components of psychological characteristics are: resilience, unity and activity. On their basis, a person’s value orientations, worldview, style of activity and communication are formed. The dynamic properties of a person allow him to master social roles, achieve his goals, and maintain his socio-psychological status.
The characteristics of a person’s abilities determine his individuality.
Concept and essence
Psychological characteristics of a person are a portrait of an individual, described from the point of view of psychological concepts. Expressions must be clear.
Personality is the social essence of an individual, the formation of which occurs during the development of social forms of consciousness and behavior. A person can show an active life position, make choices, and evaluate actions.
Psychologists view personality as something integral. Even the whole is divided into three blocks:
- inclinations, abilities that determine the capabilities of the individual;
- motives of behavior, worldview, interests, inclinations, beliefs;
- character, temperament, other characteristics.
Characteristics:
- activity;
- unity;
- sustainability.
Mental manifestations are unstable. The psychological makeup remains unchanged. Psychologists have the ability to calculate certain behavioral changes in order to predict how a person will behave in a certain situation.
The task is to learn the characteristics of human development, recognize inclinations and talents in order to select a teaching method or choose a profession.
Psychological structure of personality
In psychology, the personality structure includes its main characteristics:
- Biological features. These include: the type of nervous system and its properties, the relationship between the processes of excitation and inhibition in it, and the performance of the brain.
- Individual typological qualities. This block is determined by the characteristics of family upbringing and the type of parent-child relationships.
- Character traits that appear in the process of socialization of an individual. The determining factors for the formation of this element of the personal structure are the child’s socio-psychological status in the group of peers, the level of development of his communication skills, and stress resistance.
- Human life experience. It is often understood as an individual’s adaptive abilities, flexibility, ability to analyze one’s actions, and make independent decisions.
Basic psychological characteristics of personality
A general idea of a communication partner is made up of the basic psychological characteristics of his personality.
Interests and inclinations
Among all the psychological characteristics, when drawing up a personality portrait, experts first of all highlight the interests and inclinations of the individual. It is under the influence of a person’s interests that his attitude to reality is formed. The inclinations of the individual form the basis of the orientation and worldview of the individual, which explain certain behavioral reactions.
Interest, being a source of curiosity, directs our attention to certain things. Tendencies push a person towards certain types of activities. In an effort to learn something new, a person is driven by interest. When he begins voluntary practical activity, which is based on creativity, his actions are determined by his inclinations.
There are different approaches to classifying interests:
- An individual's interest can be passive or active. With passive interest, a person needs a mentor who will guide and correct his actions: recommend popular scientific literature, suggest ways to perform activities. With active interest, a person independently engages in one activity or another, reads relevant literature, and tries different work techniques. In the process of active interest, an individual’s individual style of activity is formed.
- According to their orientation, interests are classified into spiritual, social, political, and economic.
- Based on the number of people showing interest, interests can be divided into individual, public and group.
The origin of a person’s interests and inclinations is based on his needs.
If a person strives to satisfy only physiological needs, life seems uninteresting and monotonous to him. Deep interest in a certain type of activity and stable inclinations fill a person’s life with meaning and stimulate his self-development.
A person may have broad interests and be inclined towards different types of activities - in this case they speak of broad erudition and multidirectional development. Also, a person may have a pronounced interest in a particular area of activity - in this case they speak of a deep, sustainable interest of the individual. If, at the same time, a person’s interests and inclinations are subordinate to his life goal and do not interfere with conscientious work, their presence is regarded as a positive socio-psychological characteristic.
Methodology for compiling psychological characteristics
Psychological characteristics of a person are compiled by psychologists using the following methods:
- Observation. Through specially organized observation, the psychologist receives information about the characteristics of an individual’s behavior. In psychological characteristics, observation results indirectly reflect personality characteristics.
- Psychodiagnostic methods. Using personality tests and questionnaires, the psychologist determines the client’s temperament type, his interests and inclinations, and the prevailing motives for his activity. This information is the main one in the psychological characteristics.
- Sociometry. With the help of this diagnostic tool, the psychologist receives information about the socio-psychological status of the individual in the educational or work community. Sociometry allows us to identify the characteristics of a person’s interpersonal interaction with friends and colleagues.
- Interview. If sufficient information about a person cannot be obtained through tests, the psychologist develops a series of questions that he asks the client. This method of collecting information is used to clarify facts and eliminate contradictions.
Psychological characteristics begin with the listing of a person’s personal data: indicating the last name, first name and patronymic, date of birth, place of residence, reporting information about family members and characteristics of family upbringing. The following are described:
- inclinations and interests;
- personality abilities;
- characteristics of temperament and character;
- a person's attitude towards himself;
- a person's attitude towards other people;
- a person's attitude towards work.
An example of a person's psychological characteristics
Letovaltsev Andrey Yurievich
Date 04/19/2008.
Mother: Letovaltseva Anna Gennadievna.
Father: Letovaltsev Yuri Alekseevich.
Place of residence: Novodvinsk
The child is raised in a complete family. Parents take an active part in the boy's life. For Andrey, his older brother is a role model.
The boy shows interest in exact sciences and has a high level of development of logical thinking. For two years, Andrey has been attending robotics courses and participating in city and regional competitions.
The boy's level of voluntary attention is above average. There are no signs of fatigue when performing work. The pace of work is high.
The boy has a high level of visual memory development. Auditory memory is moderately developed. The dominant channel for obtaining information is visual.
The predominant motive for activity is to avoid failure. The level of anxiety corresponds to the age norm.
In the course of solving intellectual problems, Andrey demonstrates independence and rationality. Willingly comes to the aid of his comrades. Shows interest in pair work. When working in a group, he imposes his opinion on his comrades and makes many comments. He takes criticism addressed to him painfully.
In a group of peers, the boy strives to become a leader. He is ambitious and active. Andrey tries to assert himself at the expense of other children. However, in order to become a leader, the boy lacks sensitivity and attentiveness to others. In addition, the boy has high self-esteem.
Andrey has a choleric type of temperament. The young man is emotional, assertive, and purposeful. He often has conflicts in his relationships with peers. Poor development of communication skills does not allow making concessions and finding a compromise solution to controversial situations. The boy is characterized by sudden mood changes.
There are outbreaks of aggression in behavior. It is difficult for a boy to control his emotional reactions.
Based on the results of psychological diagnostics, Andrey can be recommended a course of individual sessions with a psychologist aimed at correcting the emotional-volitional sphere. The boy will also benefit from group classes in the form of training to develop communication skills.
Determination methods
To obtain the information of interest, researchers use various techniques:
- External observation. A purposeful technique that is necessary to obtain information about the manifestations of the psyche and behavior of the subject. Observation requires expenditure of funds, time, and preparation.
- Introspection or self-observation. The individual must independently observe his own mental manifestations in different situations. The information received cannot be considered adequate, but it is suitable for comparison with the opinions of others.
- Tests, questionnaires. Developed on the basis of a conversation between a psychologist and a subject. They allow one to determine temperament, motives, and inclinations towards a particular type of activity, and to identify factors influencing an individual’s behavior.
- Sociometry is psychological research used to study interpersonal relationships in various social groups between individuals.
- Experiment - the study of the characteristics of a person’s behavior depending on changes in environmental factors. Laboratory equipment may be used to conduct experiments.
- Interview, questionnaire. The specialist prepares a series of written or oral questions to obtain the information of interest.
