Objective methods of personality research. Abstract: Methods of personality research

For many years in psychology it was believed that the only method of understanding mental phenomena was the subjective method of introspection - direct observation by a person of his own mental processes. At the same time, the modern development of psychological science has shown the impossibility of a subjective research method of the psyche, the impossibility with its help of truly discovering the laws of mental phenomena.

Self-observation method can be considered as auxiliary in the study of personality. Self-observation involves the manifestation of an individual’s ability to be aware of himself, his qualities, actions, attitude towards society, towards other people, towards himself. On its basis, the manager’s self-esteem is formed, which can be overestimated, underestimated or adequate.

There is a distinction between observation as a scientific method and life observation. Thus, the essence of the observation method is the intentional, systematic and purposeful perception and recording of mental phenomena with the aim of further studying their specific changes under certain conditions, their analysis and use for the needs of practical activity.

Scientific observation is subject to a number of rules and requirements: firstly, any research that strives for objectivity consists in determining the range of facts being studied, as well as their further observation; secondly, selection of the observation method; Thirdly, developing a research plan and program; fourthly, focus of observation on important phenomena, separation of the important from the unimportant, the main from the secondary; fifthly, objective and accurate recording of facts, formulation of certain conclusions from them; sixth, observation requires journaling; observations and registrations of events, shorthand records, protocols, etc., which record not only the facts that characterize actions, actions, behavior, but also the conditions in which they occurred; seventh, observation should be carried out in natural conditions and not interfere with the course of events; eighth, checking the validity and reliability of the results obtained, repeated similar observations should be made (at the same object and under the same conditions); ninthly, observation must, if possible, be repeated at different times, in different conditions and situations Romanova E.S. Psychodiagnostics. 2nd ed. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2009. - P. 47..

The advantage of the observation method is that it provides information about the actions of individuals, regardless of their attitudes towards “desirable”, “approved” behavior.

There are the following types of psychological observations:

1. participant observation(it provides that the researcher himself for a certain time becomes a member of the group - the object of research and is an equal member of it);
2. non-participant observation(these are observations “from the outside”: the observer is not a member of the group - the object of observation). Depending on the observer’s position regarding the objects of observation, open (under such observation the subjects know that they are the object of observation) and hidden (under such conditions the subjects do not suspect that their behavior and activities are being observed) are distinguished.

For the regularity factor, observations are divided into systematic(with such observation, the researcher visits the object under study for a certain time) and episodic. Observation can also be continuous, if all manifestations of psychological activity are recorded over a certain time and selective, if only those phenomena are recorded that directly relate to the issue being studied

Has much in common with the conversation method questionnaire method, in which, unlike the conversation method, personal contact is not necessary. We are talking about a questionnaire (survey letter), which is a set of questions ordered by meaning and form. There are certain requirements that should be followed when conducting a survey: firstly, the questions remain unchanged throughout the survey; secondly, first you need to provide instructions on the procedure for filling out the questionnaire; thirdly, there is a guarantee of anonymity; fourthly, the reliability and reliability of the information that can be obtained as a result of a survey are largely predetermined by the design and editing of questions (high demands are placed on their formulation - they must be clear, short, simple questions at the beginning of the questionnaire, which gradually become more complex, questions are drawn up taking into account the personal and psychological characteristics of the respondent: level of education, age, gender, inclinations and advantages, etc.).

Mostly, each questionnaire is not a simple sum of questions, it has a certain structure and can consist of the following communicative components: first - epigraph to the questionnaire their address to the respondent (this is done with the aim of creating a positive emotional state of mind of the respondent); the second - a message about the purpose of the study, the conditions of anonymity of the survey, the direction of using the results obtained and their significance, the rules for filling out the questionnaire and an explanation; the third is the main part of the questionnaire, which contains questions about the facts, behavior, product of activity, motives, assessments and thoughts of the respondents; the fourth is a question about the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents (this is a kind of business card of the respondent, his schematic self-portrait, which can be placed both at the beginning and at the end of the questionnaire).

The advantage of the questionnaire method before a conversation is the opportunity to collect a large amount of material to determine representatives of different categories of management personnel.

Test(from English - sample, exam, test) is one of the methods by which certain psychological qualities of a person are determined, the presence or absence of certain abilities (didactic, communicative, organizational), skills, abilities.

Modern psychodiagnostics distinguishes and uses the following main types of tests:

1) mecms of intelligence(tasks on logical relations, generalization, intelligence);
2) achievement tests(we are talking about identifying the degree of specific knowledge);
3) personality tests(for the purpose of studying) personality characteristics, its psychological qualities);
4) projective tests(these tests are used if properties and characteristics are amenable to research, the existence of which a person is not completely sure, is not aware of, or does not want to admit in himself, for example, negative traits, motives. Test subjects are introduced into an uncertain situation from which they must independently get out or make a final decision);
5) creativity tests(with their help they study the development of creative abilities). Regarding the form, based on this feature, test methods are divided into verbal, non-verbal And mixed Romanova E.S. Psychodiagnostics. 2nd ed. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2009. - P. 49. .

The value of the test largely depends on the correctness of its use and compliance with the conditions of psychological testing. A correctly applied test allows you to collect a large amount of information in a short period of time, quite valuable material for high-quality psychological analysis. All this increases the productivity of research work.

Experimental method is basic. Its advantage over other methods is that the researcher himself causes the phenomena that interest him, rather than waiting for them to appear. The experimental method is considered the most reliable means of obtaining possible information. It is more concerned with theory than other methods. That is why it can be carried out only when the researcher has an idea about the nature of the process being studied, about the factors that determine the experiment.

There are two types of psychological experiments: natural(it is based on controlling the behavior of subjects under natural conditions: special experimental conditions are created that do not interfere with the usual course of events); laboratory ( involves conducting research in artificial conditions, using measuring equipment, instruments and other experimental material). A laboratory experiment has a number of advantages, which consist in obtaining more accurate results through the use of special premises and measuring equipment. The disadvantage of a laboratory experiment is that artificial conditions are created for the subjects, which significantly affect the manifestation of their psyche. The use of an experiment requires compliance with certain requirements: goal setting; planning; putting forward a hypothesis; selection of subjects.

Biographical method is a method of synthetically describing a person as an individual and a subject of activity. This method is historical and at the same time genetic, because it allows us to trace the dynamics of a person’s life path, taking into account economic, social, moral, ethnopsychological and psychophysiological aspects. Its subject is the life path of a person, and the sources of biographical information are the person himself and the events of the environment that surrounds him. Personality characteristics based on the biographical method can contain the following sections (G. Shchokin):

* life path data;
* stages of socialization (family, school, university, etc.);
* development environment (place of residence, educational institutions, hobby groups, etc.);
* interests and favorite activities at different periods of life;
* health status (including diseases suffered by a person).

Personality research using the biographical method can be carried out in this way: the subject is asked to submit a questionnaire that takes into account the following questions: “What family were you born into, how did your childhood pass, how did your family live, how its members treated each other, what were your first memories, what you liked at school and what you didn’t like, how your relationship with your parents developed at that time, who your friends were, what you were interested in and what you thought about your future life, how you lived and when you became an adult, how you chose a profession, How did you spend your leisure time, what is the most interesting and important for you, what are your life plans?

Processing the results involves putting together a table of personal development, where dates, events that are associated with these dates, and feelings about these events are recorded in chronological order. Next, the answers are processed using content analysis. Interpretation of the results involves analysis:

* social situation of personality development;
* the basic background of emotional experiences in different periods of development;
* value orientations, orientation, interests, trends, communication environment, social activity of the individual;
* main conflicts and driving forces of personality development.

In general, mastery of methods for studying human psychological characteristics and the ability to use them in practice are the most important conditions for creative work.

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1. Method for studying the level of aspirations.This technique used to explore the patient’s personal sphere. The subject is given a series of tasks, which are numbered according to degree of difficulty. The patient must choose a task that is feasible for himself. The experimenter, artificially creating situations of success and failure, analyzes his reactions to these situations. Koos dice can also be used to explore the level of aspiration.

2. Dembo-Rubinstein method. The method is used to study self-esteem. On vertical segments that symbolize health, character, intelligence, happiness, the subject notes how he evaluates himself according to these indicators. Then he answers questions that reveal his understanding of the contents of the concepts “health” and “mind”.

3. Rosenzweig's frustration method. Using this method, individual reactions in stressful situations are studied, which allows us to draw a conclusion about the degree of social adaptation.

4. The method of unfinished sentences. The test belongs to the group of verbal projective methods. One version of this test includes 60 unfinished sentences that the test taker must complete. These sentences can be divided into 15 groups; as a result, the subject’s relationships with parents, people of the opposite sex, superiors, subordinates, etc. are explored.

5. Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) consists of 20 plot paintings. The subject must write a story about each picture. You can obtain data about perception, imagination, the ability to comprehend content, the emotional sphere, the ability to verbalize, psychological trauma, etc.

6. Rorschach method. Consists of 10 cards featuring symmetrical single-color and polychrome inkblots. The test is used to diagnose the mental properties of a person. The subject answers the question of what it might be like. Formalization of answers is carried out in 4 categories: location or localization, determinants (shape, movement, color, halftones, diffuseness), content, popularity-originality.

7. Minnesota Multidisciplinary Personality Inventory (MMPI). Designed to study personality traits, character traits, physical and mental state of the subject. The test taker must have a positive or negative attitude towards the content of the statements proposed in the test. As a result of a special procedure, a graph is constructed that shows the relationship between the studied personal characteristics (hypochondria - overcontrol, depression - tension, hysteria - lability, psychopathy - impulsivity, hypomania - activity and optimism, masculinity - femininity, paranoia - rigidity, psychasthenia - anxiety, schizophrenia - individualism, social introversion).
8. Adolescent Diagnostic Questionnaire. Used to diagnose psychopathy and character accentuations in adolescents.
9. Luscher test. Includes a set of eight cards - four with primary colors (blue, green, red, yellow) and four with additional colors (purple, brown, black, gray). The choice of color in order of preference reflects the subject’s focus on a certain activity, his mood, functional state, as well as the most stable personality traits.

Introduction

In the study of the psyche, scientists of different directions, working at different times, adhered to different approaches from the standpoint of which mental life is explained. What is the essence of each approach? What is the difference between the approaches of one or another author, which are followed by the majority of domestic psychologists?

Personality in the social sciences is considered as a special quality of a person acquired by him in the sociocultural environment in the process of joint activity and communication. In philosophical and psychological concepts, personality is a person as a value for the sake of which the development of society is carried out.

The personal approach is one of the methodological principles of psychology, which consists in the fact that a person must be considered not only as a biological being, but also as an individual and personality, a representative of society, a social group, with his characteristic feelings, will, and thoughts. In Russian psychology, it is accepted that personality is a multi-level and multidimensional system of psychological characteristics that determine individual uniqueness, as well as the stability of behavior and activity. Personality properties are socially determined, formed and developed throughout life. The number of personality blocks and their content depends on the theoretical views of the authors. An important point of the personal approach is the idea of the integrity of the individual, the need to consider it as a unity of various systems that regulate various types of its socially significant activities.

The principle of the personal approach is a scientific principle, which consists in the need to identify and take into account the specific personal characteristics of all the main and secondary participants in the conflict, in the understanding that it is people who act as the central link in conflicts of all levels without exception. This principle is borrowed from psychology, which acts as a system-forming science in the interaction of branches of conflictology. The root cause of conflicts is changes in the objective material world. However, when faced with the same circumstances, different people behave differently. Some commit conflicting actions, others avoid conflicts by all means. External influences are refracted through the internal conditions of the person on whom these external influences occur. Real conflicts begin and involve not average individuals or abstract social groups, but specific people with specific personal characteristics. Even the decision to start an interstate war is made by a small group of people with very specific characteristics. It is difficult to reveal the causes of conflicts, to penetrate into their essence, without understanding what role specific people played in them, without identifying their personal characteristics, which had a significant impact on the development of conflict interaction (Antsupov A.Ya., Shipilov A.I. Conflictologist’s Dictionary, 2009 G.).

Targetmy work is studying the principles of S.L.’s personal approach. Rubinshteina, B.G. Ananyeva, A.G. Kovaleva, K.K. Platonova, V.S. Merlina.

To achieve this goal in this work it is necessary to consider a number of tasks:

Consider personality as a unity of consciousness and activity according to S.L. Rubinstein.

Consider personality as a unity of biological and social in a person according to B.G. Ananyev.

Consider personality as a person - a carrier of consciousness according to K.K. Platonov.

Consider personality in relationship with society according to A.G. Kovalev.

Consider personality in interaction with the environment according to V.S. Merlin.

Expand the concept of “personality”.

1. The principle of personal approach S.L. Rubinstein

1.1 Unity of consciousness and activity

First of all, Rubinstein draws attention to the dependence of the mental processes of the individual. The dependence is expressed:

in individual differences between people with different types of perception, memory, thinking, styles of mental activity;

The development of mental processes also depends on the general development of the individual. Everything that a person goes through leads to a change in life attitudes, interests, values, a change in feelings and strong-willed life;

mental processes become mental functions of the individual. For example, perception turns into a process of observation, and involuntary imprinting is replaced by conscious memorization.

Any external influence acts on the individual through internal conditions that were previously formed under the influence of external influences. S.L. Rubinstein says: “the “higher” we rise - from inorganic nature to organic, from living organisms to humans - the more complex the internal nature of phenomena becomes and the greater the proportion of internal conditions in relation to external ones becomes.” From this it follows that “one is not born as a person, one becomes one.” Mental processes, fulfilling their role in the life of an individual, transform into personality properties in the course of activity. Therefore, the mental properties of a person are formed and developed in the course of activity.

“The basic law of the historical development of the human psyche,” wrote S.L. Rubinstein, “lies in the fact that a person develops by working: by changing nature, he changes himself, giving rise in his activity - practical and theoretical - the objective existence of humanized nature, culture, man at the same time changes, shapes, develops his own nature.” - Personalprinciple , nominated by S.L. Rubinstein, determines the internal content of the principle of the unity of consciousness and activity.

Personality is a “living person of flesh and blood”, woven into many relationships to the world; the epicenter of “explosive” changes in existence; existence transforming into an ideal form.

The personal principle, which revealed the dependence of all mental processes on personality as a single basis, was developed by Rubinstein, and at different stages of the development of Soviet psychology, he solved different scientific problems, and therefore modified his content. At the first stages of his approach, he was interested in the role of activity in the development of the individual, then the active principle of the individual, the role of his inner world, motivation, consciousness in the implementation of activity.

According to Rubinstein, all mental processes occur in the individual, and each of them in their actual course depends on it, and the development of the individual must be considered in the process of the individual’s life.

Personality, according to Rubinstein, is revealed, develops and exists due to the existence of others: “my relationship, the relationship of my “I” to another “I” is mediated by his relationship to me as an object, i.e. my existence as a subject for myself is mediated, conditioned, and has as its necessary prerequisite my existence as an object for another.

So, the initial condition for the existence of a person is the existence of individuals, subjects with consciousness - the existence of the psyche, the consciousness of other people."

1.2 Personality structure

S.L. Rubinstein understood personality as an integral structure in which it is possible to identify various groups of traits that characterize certain aspects of it. These traits, interacting with each other, create the unity of personality.

In the structure of the personality (Diagram 1), Rubinstein identified the following main components: the orientation of the personality, actually those attitudes, interests and needs that drive a person; abilities, temperament and character.

The structure of personality in sociology is considered in close connection with the social relations into which a person enters in the process of his life and is understood as the foundation of human activity, determined by the characteristics of social life.

The social structure of the individual is expressed in the external and internal correlation of the individual with society. On the external plane we find a set of different social statuses, i.e. the real position of the individual in society, and social roles, i.e. those patterns of behavior that a person adheres to in accordance with his status and role in a social group.

Notes the dependence of the individual and his activities on social relations and the specific conditions of his social existence, the dependence of his consciousness on his activities. According to S.L. Rubinstein, a person as a personality is formed by interacting with the world (and other people). In the author's concept, personality - it is a set of internal conditions through which external influences are refracted.

Core personality constitute the motives of conscious actions, however, the personality is also characterized by unconscious tendencies or motivations.

S.L. Rubinstein in his work “Being and Consciousness” noted that a person is individual because he has special, singular and unique properties. A person is a personality because he consciously determines his attitude towards the environment. According to the scientist, a person is a person because he has his own face. A person is a personality to the maximum extent when there is a minimum of neutrality, indifference, indifference in it... Individuality, according to Rubinstein, is always an individual with a complex of natural properties, but not every individual is an individual.

So, Rubinstein always considered consciousness as an expression of the subject’s relationship to the world and the possibility of his self-determination. Characterizing the personality as a subject, Rubinstein identified its three main relationships - to the world, to other people and to oneself. The latter relationship forms the basis of her self-awareness and identity. For Rubinstein, the question of the relationship between consciousness and self-awareness is fundamental: it is not consciousness, in his opinion, that develops from self-awareness, the personal “I,” but self-awareness arises in the course of the development of the consciousness of the individual, as it becomes an independently acting subject.

2. The principle of the personal approach according to B.G. Ananyev

2.1 Personality structure of B.G. Ananyeva

B.G. Ananyev, a Russian psychologist who tried to overcome the fragmentation of the human sciences and create a systemic model of human knowledge , in which the research of various sciences about man as an individual, personality and individuality would be summarized.

B.G. Ananyev is a supporter of a broad interpretation of personality. It should be noted that in his concept of personality, natural and socially conditioned aspects of personality do not appear side by side. B.G. Ananyev speaks about different levels in the personality structure, emphasizing that the biophysiological characteristics of the organism are included in the personality structure only if they are “repeatedly “mediated” by the social properties of the personality.”

According to B.G. Ananyev’s personality structure (diagram 2) includes:

mental processes;

mental states;

personality properties.

B.G. Ananyev considered a person as an individual, a personality of a subject of activity. He considered all these human forms of existence to be open to external influence, changing in the constant active interaction of a person with the surrounding reality.

He understood individuality as a system formed by these forms of human existence. Ananyev proposes to consider individuality as something that integrates all human properties, its relationship with the environment, its role. He considered the result of the formation of individuality to be the formation of self-awareness and “I” - the core of the human personality. As Ananyev writes, human consciousness is not only a reflection of reality, but also the inner world of a person, in which certain work takes place, which is then exteriorized in the process of activity.

Without using the word “integral”, Boris Gerasimovich Ananyev

defines individuality as the integration (interrelation) of personality properties related to various systems. An individual person as an individual can be understood only as the unity and interconnection of his properties as a person and a subject of activity, in the structure of which the natural properties of a person as an individual function.

Personality is a social individual, an object and subject of the historical process. Therefore, personality characteristics most fully reveal

the social essence of man, which determines all phenomena of human development, including natural features.

Thus, each person makes a unique and original contribution to social development through the exteriorization of his inner world. From Ananyev’s point of view, it is possible to observe individuality in the products of exteriorization of the inner world, in particular creativity.

2.2 Unity of biological and social in man

According to B.G. Ananyev, the unity of the biological and social in a person is ensured through the unity of such characteristics as the individual, personality, subject and individuality. However, a person is not only an individual and a personality, but also a bearer of consciousness, a subject of activity that produces material and spiritual values. Man as a subject appears from the side of his inner, mental life, as a bearer of mental phenomena. The structure of a person as a subject of activity is formed from certain properties of the individual and personality , which correspond to the subject and means of activity. The basis of human objective activity is labor and therefore he acts as a subject of labor . The basis of theoretical or cognitive activity is the processes of cognition, and therefore a person appears as a subject of cognition . The basis of communicative activity is communication, which allows us to consider a person as a subject of communication . The result of various types of human activity as a subject is the achievement of mental maturity .

Thus, each person appears in the form of a certain integrity - as an individual, personality and subject , conditioned by the unity of biological and social. As an individual, he develops in ontogenesis, and as a person, he goes through his life path, during which the individual is socialized.

B.G. Ananyev believed that each individuality has varying complexity and yet has stability and harmony of all personality traits. Individual properties are transformed by individuality. “If personality is the “top” of the entire structure of human properties, then individuality is the “depth” of the subject of activity.” And further: “...One of the important indicators of human individuality is the activity of constructive, creative human activity, the embodiment, the realization in it of all the great possibilities of the historical nature of man.” According to Ananyev, even at the biological level, the variability of all reactions and processes affects a person’s individuality.
In a person, his properties as a person and a subject of activity are united and interconnected, in the structure of which the natural properties of a person as an individual function. Therefore, individuality consists of all the characteristics of a person. All his qualities, innate and acquired, are united in his personality. In its holistic structure, one can only conditionally speak about the neutrality of biological properties in the acquisition of social qualities. Thus, Ananyev’s concept of personality, due to his comprehensive approach as a whole, turned out to be the most multifaceted, multidimensional, allowing him to combine many particular or incomparable concepts. He worked on the conceptual aspect of the problem of personality in the continuum of the concepts of “subject”, “personality”, “individual”, “individuality”. The personality appeared both as included in society, and as developing in the ontogenetic cycle and life path, and as a contemporary of its era.

3. The principle of the personal approach K.K. Platonov

3.1 Personality - the bearer of consciousness

K.K. Platonov writes: “Personality is a person as a bearer of consciousness.”

Personal approach, according to K.K. Platonov - this is the principle of personal conditionality of all mental phenomena of a person, his activities, his individual psychological characteristics. K.K. Platonov considered the personal approach in relation to psychotherapy. Personal approach, according to K.K. Platonov, is an approach to a sick person as a holistic personality, taking into account its versatility and all its individual characteristics. The author distinguishes between personal and individual approaches. An individual approach takes into account the specific characteristics inherent in a given case to a given person. An individual approach can be broader if it includes taking into account both personal and somatic qualities, and even in the case when it takes into account only some individual personal or somatic features of the personal approach.

Personality- this is a specific person as a subject of transformation of the world on the basis of his knowledge, experience and attitude towards it. The same idea can be expressed more briefly: personality is a person as a bearer of consciousness. As was shown in the previous chapter, in the world-transforming activity of consciousness, its attributes are manifested: cognition, experience and attitude. Consequently, their totality is consciousness.

So, sometimes they say that personality is a person as a subject of consciousness. At the same time, consciousness is understood not as a passive substance, but as an active, highest form of reflection, characteristic only of man.

3.2 Personality structure of K.K. Platonov

Personality structure, proposed by K.K. Platonov, is formed by the interaction of four sides (or groups of qualities), namely:

) biologically determined personality characteristics (temperament, type of nervous system, physical disabilities, painful deviations and inclinations, the role of musical ear, hereditary and acquired, in the aesthetic development of the individual);

) features of its individual mental processes (perception, feelings, emotions, memory, thinking, intelligence, will);

) the level of her preparedness (personal experience) - knowledge, abilities, skills, habits;

) socially determined personality qualities (direction of activity, system of its relationships, moral characteristics).

The author emphasizes that “personality changes both in the process of human history and in the process of individual development. A person is born as a biological being, and becomes a personality in the process of ontogenesis, through the assimilation of the socio-historical experience of mankind.”

All four main aspects of personality (biologically determined characteristics, characteristics of individual mental processes, level of preparedness or experience of the individual, socially determined personality qualities) closely interact with each other. The dominant influence, however, always remains with the social side of the individual - its worldview and orientation, needs and interests, ideals and aspirations, moral and aesthetic qualities. Undoubtedly, K.K.’s thought is correct. Platonov that not all sides are simultaneously interconnected with each other, but the most common connection is the interaction of social properties with others.

So, Platonov’s undoubted merit is the formulation of the problem of “personality and work,” which traditionally stood only as a problem of personality and activity. Despite the fact that the problem of labor was interpreted by him primarily as a problem of socialist labor, nevertheless, it opened a new plane for the study of the real personality, a plane that, one can admit, was avoided by sociological thought, which understood the social danger of the problem of labor motivation.

4. The principle of personal approach A.G. Kovaleva

4.1 Personality and society

personality individuality rubinshtein ananyev

Personality is a complex, multifaceted phenomenon of social life, a link in the system of social relations. A person is a product of socio-historical development, on the one hand, and an agent of social development, on the other. Each social science has its own aspect of personality research. Thus, historical materialism examines the individual as part of the masses, classes and society as a whole as a figure in social development. Political economy studies personality as a productive force and as a consumer of material values in the system of social relations. Ethics is interested in the individual as the bearer of moral beliefs, skills and morals, and habits of a particular society. Legal science studies legal norms and

legal relations that determine the position of an individual in various spheres of public life. Pedagogy explores the process of educating a person, methods, forms and means of educating the individual. Psychology focuses on the spiritual world of the individual, its structure and patterns of formation and development. All social sciences in their research proceed from the principles of a single methodology given in the works of the classics of Marxism-Leninism. Therefore, materialistic personality psychology can only develop on the basis of the methodology of Marxism.

The main question of this methodology is the question of the relationship between the individual and society, without a correct understanding of which it is impossible to solve any individual problem. In the history of social sciences, the place and role of the individual in public life was presented in a distorted and perverted form. The emergence of society and the history of its development were associated with the desires, imagination and will of individual outstanding individuals. At the same time, the individual was contrasted with the mass, which was viewed as a faceless, amorphous, blindly acting herd.

Only an outstanding person was recognized as a person as a separate individual acting according to his own will; the rest of the people, ordinary members of society, according to this idea, were not individuals.

Such an understanding could not serve as the basis for the development of either a scientific theory of social development as a whole, or a theory of personality; only the classics of Marxism-Leninism, having raised this issue from head to foot, could give a natural scientific explanation for the emergence of society, reveal the patterns of social development, and clarify the true role of personalities in history.

The classics of Marxism-Leninism showed that a person is a person as a member of society. Personality is an integral unit of the mass, class, it is a child of the mass and, acting as part of the mass, creates history.

People make their own history, Engels wrote, but they do it not arbitrarily, but out of necessity, due to the action of objective social laws.

A person is a conscious being, he can choose one way of life or another: to humble himself or fight against injustice, to give all his strength to society or to live by personal interests. All this depends on a person’s social status, on the level of awareness of objective laws and needs of social development. The creator of history has always been and will be the masses, which consist of individuals. However, among the masses, some individuals are at the head of the movement, others actively act together with the vanguard, and others remain passive.

The comprehensive development of the individual in new living conditions is ensured by even more accelerated social development than was the case before.

Thus, there is an organic and direct connection between social development and personal development. Society works for

each individual, because the center of concern is the person, the satisfaction of his material and spiritual needs. In turn, each individual works for society and works with more energy and initiative, the more fully his spiritual and material needs are satisfied.

4.2 Interrelation of mental processes, properties and states

Personality in the works of Kovalev A.G. acts as an integral formation of mental processes, mental states and mental properties.

Psychological processes are the foundation of human mental life. They form mental states that characterize the functional level of mental activity. Before the formation of stable mental properties, the state characterizes the developing personality of the child as a whole (the child is capricious, calm, affective, balanced, etc.). A change in state changes the appearance of the child’s personality. Under certain conditions, one of the states can become stronger and determine some features of his character (excitable, shy, depressed).

Mental properties are formed from mental processes that function against the background of mental states. Mental properties characterize a stable or constant level of activity that is characteristic of a particular person. The level of activity determines one or another social value of the individual and constitutes the internal subjective conditions of human development. In the process of development, mental properties are connected with each other and complex structures are formed.

A.G. Kovalev considers temperament (a system of natural human properties), orientation (a system of needs, interests and ideals), abilities (intellectual, volitional and emotional properties), character (a system of relationships and modes of behavior). The author notes that the same properties characterize not only direction, but also character, influence the manifestation of abilities, and these structures should be distinguished as relatively autonomous, since in the presence of the same properties, for example, direction, people can differ from each other a friend in ability, temperament and character."

A.G. Kovalev writes that the first component in the personality structure is orientation, the second is abilities, the third is character, the fourth is the control system, which is designated by the concept “I,” and the fifth is mental processes. The personality itself is a synthesis of the above structures. Independence, arbitrariness of behavior and maturity of the human personality are ensured by this synthesis.

So, an essential productive element of Kovalev’s concept was his focus on identifying contradictions in a person, for example, the contradiction between character and abilities. The limitations of his concept were manifested in the low level of its problematic nature: he rather followed the principle of presenting knowledge about the individual rather than a more in-depth study of his essence. Using the example of Kovalev’s concept, one can see how, in a certain period, the tendency to explain a personality prevails over the tendency to understand what it is.

5. The principle of personal approach V.S. Merlina

5.1 Interaction of the individual with the environment

V.S. Merlin noted that the concept of personality relationships was first introduced by A.F. Lazursky (1916, 1922). Personality relationships A.F. Lazursky distinguishes from purely random, temporary, changeable relationships, defining them as persistent, habitual, well-rooted. In the concept of V.S. Merlina is one of the most important signs of personality traits.

The progressive side of A.F.’s concept Lazursky, according to V.S. Merlin also lies in the fact that, by introducing the concept of personality relationships, for the first time in the history of psychology he approached the characterization of personality from the point of view of its active interaction with the surrounding reality. This is another sign of personality in V.S.’s concept. Merlina. In their content, a person’s relationships express his orientation: A.F. Lazursky was the first to show that character traits reveal the direction of personality. A similar idea is contained in the description of the personality structure of V.S. Merlin: “Each personality trait is at the same time an expression of direction and character and abilities; it is formed in activity and at the same time, to one degree or another, depends on hereditary inclinations.”

Position of V.S. Merlin is a look at understanding personality traits. By mental properties of a person, Merlin understands “those properties that characterize a person as a subject of social and labor activity.” Each mental property of a person expresses an attitude towards reality. Thus, in Merlin’s concept, the concept of attitude plays a central and leading role:

relations expressing the properties of personality are relations of consciousness as a whole, and not of its individual aspects. For example, observation, emotionality, attentiveness are properties of individual aspects of consciousness;

relationships characterizing the properties of a person “represent an attitude towards something objective, located outside consciousness - this is an attitude towards work, towards people, towards a team, things, etc.” For example, observation or thoughtfulness express a person’s attitude towards his own mental activity: the need to observe or reflect.

Personal relationships “represent highly generalized relationships to a certain aspect of reality, which is of particular importance in social and labor activity.”

The last difference between relationships expressed in personality traits is their stability and constancy. It is thanks to this that a person is able to withstand the influences of the environment, overcome the resistance of external conditions, and realize his goals and intentions.

“Thus, concludes V.S. Merlin, the mental properties of a person express a highly generalized, relatively stable and constant attitude of consciousness as a whole to certain objective aspects of reality. Such relationships are called personality relationships."

5.2 Integral individuality

Merlin's concept of personality is revealed through his approach to understanding man as an integral individuality, i.e. interrelations of a number of properties belonging to several hierarchical levels, subject to various laws. For example, the study of the connection between the properties of the nervous system and the properties of temperament or the connection between personality properties and relationships in a social group is integral. The properties of each hierarchical level are its samples, reflect the originality of the connection between levels and form a regular system. Thus, for the neurodynamic level, such samples are indicators of the strength and dynamism of nervous processes; for psychodynamic - extraversion and emotionality; for socio-psychological - value orientations and interpersonal relationships. In every characteristic of any hierarchical level (biochemical, physiological, psychological) there is something typical, common to a certain group of people, and something individually unique, unique, inherent only to one person. The main problem of personality psychology is to determine the relationship between socially typical and individually unique traits.

Socially typical is a generalized attitude towards certain aspects of reality (towards people, the team, work, oneself, culture, etc.), reflecting the orientation of the individual.

The individual includes two groups of mental characteristics. The first group is the properties of the individual (properties of temperament and the individual, qualitative features of mental processes). Temperament properties are mental properties determined by the general type of the nervous system and determine the dynamics of mental activity with its very different content. In each property of temperament, only its quantitative side is individual - the degree of expression, determined by the corresponding behavioral quantitative indicators. The qualitative side of each property of temperament is characteristic of its specific type. Individual qualitative characteristics of mental processes determine the productivity of mental activity (for example, the acuity and accuracy of perception).

The second group of individual characteristics includes, firstly, stable and constant motives for action in certain situations (for example, the motive of pride, ambition, interest in music, etc.). Since the socially typical attitude of an individual is determined by a system of motives, each individual motive is a necessary component of an individual’s attitude. Secondly, the individual, character traits: initiative or passivity, sociability or isolation in establishing social contacts. An individual, the uniqueness of character traits is expressed in the special qualities of actions and deeds in certain typical situations. Character traits are manifested in the dynamic features of motives and relationships (for example, the stability of social connections or their short duration and instability). And thirdly, these are the properties of perception, memory, and thinking on which the productivity of activity depends. They are determined by the qualitative features of mental processes.

Everything individual in a person, arising on the basis of the mental properties of the individual, is formed depending on its certain social-typical relationships. Individual and socially typical are not different groups of personality properties, but different aspects of the same properties. An indivisible component of personality are properties, each of which is an expression of ability, character, and orientation.

Thus, the structure of personality is represented as the mutual connection and organization of personality properties. Structural formations of personality are characterized by the concept of “symptom complex”. Individual and socially typical cannot be considered as two different symptom complexes or personality factors. Symptom complexproperties are called probabilistic connections between personality properties (essentially, these are factors according to R. Cattell). There are exactly as many of them as there are relatively independent relationships of the individual. The properties that form a single symptom complex characterize the personality type.

6. The concept of “personality”

6.1 Narrow and broad interpretation of the concept of “personality”

Personality in the narrow sense of the word is a person as myself,his own organization and inner world. However, myselfexists in reality in the wider world created thanks to mineacquisitions in society: capital and cash, household items, real estate, crews, libraries, connections, family. THESE are mineacquisitions expand the personality limitlessly, and the loss of money, things or connections narrows it to the extreme, up to the social death of the personality, degradation I .

Personality in the broad sense of the word is a certain structure possessionproperty, as bourgeois thinkers traditionally assert. It is allowed, however, to expand the boundaries of the individual by “appropriating” not only material, but also spiritual values, not only things, but also connections,assimilation not only of the immediate sphere, but also of the spiritual accumulations of human history. This idea is close to the understanding of mental development as a process of activity, but, of course, vulgarly interpreted as entrepreneurship and consumption of goods.

The question about the essence of each person is a question about that very specific system of his relations with other people, which arise in the process of collective activity regarding things created and created by labor, lies not inside, but outside the individual, and, finally, is socio-historical , for this is the system of relations through which it is determined. Emphasis on the socio-historical nature of personality runs like a red thread through the works of Soviet psychologists. However, the authors of these works differ in where they draw the line between personality and presence, personal and impersonal. From the presented works, there is a broader and narrower interpretation of the concept of personality. Authors who adhere to a broader understanding of personality include in its structure the individual biophysiological characteristics of the organism: inertia - mobility of nervous processes, type of metabolism (B.G. Ananyev) or, for example, such “naturally determined” properties as the properties of vision (S. L. Rubinstein).

The use of the term “personality” coincides with the concept of a specific, individual person. This understanding of personality is close to the point of view of ordinary consciousness, with its characteristic emphasis on the uniqueness of the appearance of each person. The idea of personality in the narrow sense is most clearly formulated in the work of A.N. Leontyev. Personality is a special formation, a “special kind of integrity,” which arises at relatively late stages of ontogenetic development. This formation is generated by specifically human relationships. As for the natural individual properties: morphological, physiological, as well as some individually acquired psychological characteristics of a person, they do not belong to the actual personal properties, but characterize a person as an individual. An individual is rather a reality that is contained within the boundaries of a person’s body, while a personality is a formation that not only goes beyond the boundaries of this body, but is also formed in the external space of social relations.
So, a person as a personality is formed by interacting with the world and other people. S.L. Rubinstein views personality, first of all, as a set of internal conditions through which all external influences are refracted.” These internal conditions were formed in the process of “external interactions”.

6 .2 Integral individuality and its structure

The concept of individuality is used in two main meanings: as a rule, to denote the peculiarity of a person, the difference between a given individual and others, and less often, to denote the highest level of personal development in the sense of the individual becoming a bright individuality (according to Rubinstein and Ananyev).

An animal and a newborn baby are highly integrated, indivisible systems, possessing bodily and psychological integrity, a unique unity of physiological and mental qualities. This integrity is usually called an individual (in the case of an animal, an individual). Many “individual” (in the terminology of B.G. Ananyev) properties are genetically determined, others are formed during lifetime under the influence of hereditary and environmental factors as a result of the active life of the individual.
These properties have a hierarchical structure. At each level of an individual’s organization (physical, biochemical, somatic, individual, etc.) its own holistic system is formed, which is responsible for its stable, balanced functioning. A set of interconnected levels that ensure all aspects of the functioning of the individual as a whole, V.S. Merlin proposed to call it "integral individuality" . Personality can be considered as one of the highest levels of integral individuality. Each level has its own laws (physical, chemical, biological, etc.), but at the same time, higher levels have certain capabilities for subordinating lower levels, or rather, including them in solving problems that arise at higher levels. The reverse relationship is also possible. The function of integral individuality as a whole is to maintain a stable dynamic balance between different levels.

The problem of the relationship between the levels of integral individuality has numerous outlets for education and training. The identification of levels is, in a certain sense, conditional in nature, since there are often no sharp boundaries between them. For example, the level of primary “individual” properties is actually transitional from the level of the organism to the level of the individual.

Table 1. Structure of “integral individuality” according to V.S. Merlin (modified and supplemented with data from B.G. Ananyev).

Organism is a physical individuality; - biochemical individuality; - somatic individuality. Individual primary individual properties: - age-sex; - individual-typical (constitution, neurodynamics, functional asymmetry). secondary individual properties: - temperament; - makings. Personality - character; - capabilities; - personality (in the narrow sense of the word); - social status.

Man as a whole and as individual,those. as singularity, independently taken from multiplicity, has only two substructures. It can be considered either as an organism or as a person.

An individual is a specific person as a unit of society. At the same time, we must not forget that in relation to the herd, an individual is a specific animal. Individual- this is something special about an individual. A number of individual characteristics (in particular, personality traits) make a person (personality) individuality.Not a single individual trait in itself makes a person “unique”, i.e. single. What is unique in a personality is its individual structure, i.e. the relationship between the characteristics and traits of this particular person.

So, at the same time, the individuality of the individual cannot be overestimated and we must not forget that “individuals” exist not only in the spiritual, but also in the physical world. The portrait of a person reflects, first of all, his physical individual characteristics, which allow us to only indirectly judge his personal individuality.

.3 Uniqueness and originality of personality

The idea of personal uniqueness (individuality) of a person.

The uniqueness of a person is already manifested at the biological level. Nature itself protects in him not only the generic essence, but also the unique, special, stored in his gene pool. All cells of the body contain genetically controlled specific molecules that make a given individual biologically unique: a child is born with the gift of uniqueness. The variety of human personalities is amazing, and even animals exhibit uniqueness. If you observe the behavior of several animals of the same species under the same conditions, you will notice differences in their “characters”. The uniqueness of people is amazing even in its external manifestation and is manifested not so much in the external appearance of a person, but in his inner spiritual world, in his special way of being, in the manner of his behavior, communication with people and nature.

What is human uniqueness?

Hereditary characteristics, unique microenvironmental conditions and personal activity form the socio-psychological uniqueness of a person, his individuality. Individuality is an organic unity, an alloy that is in fact indecomposable into components: a person cannot voluntarily tear away one thing from himself and replace it with another, he is always burdened with the baggage of his biography. Individuality is indivisibility, unity, integrity, infinity.

Individuality does not have complete and final completeness, which is a condition for its constant movement, change, and development. At the same time, this is the most stable basis, and as a special case, one of the foundations of a person’s personal structure, changing and at the same time unchanged throughout his life, hiding under many shells is the most tender, most mysterious part of him - the soul.

To understand the significance of the unique characteristics of an individual in the life of society, consider the question: what would society be like if all people were alike, with stamped brains, thoughts, feelings, and abilities? Let us imagine mentally that all the people of a given society were somehow artificially mixed into a homogeneous mass of the physical and spiritual, from which the hand of an omnipotent experimenter, dividing this mass exactly in half into female and male parts, made everyone of the same type and equal to each other in everything. Could this double sameness form a normal society? No, I couldn't.

Diversity of individuals is an essential condition and form of manifestation of the successful development of society. Individual uniqueness and originality of a person is a social value, an urgent need and goal for the development of a healthy, reasonably organized society.

Thus, the concept of human uniqueness is of significant importance in social cognition, in comprehending social phenomena and events, in understanding the mechanism of functioning and development of society, and its effective management.

6.4 The essence of education

The term “social education”, carried out in connection with the needs of society, has come into scientific use in recent years. In the broad sense of the word, social education includes all types of education (moral, labor, physical). The main goal of social education is to form a person ready to perform the social functions of a worker and citizen.

Human development is a complex process that occurs under the influence of both external influences and internal forces that are characteristic of man, as of any living and growing organism. External factors include the natural and social environment surrounding a person, special purposeful activities to develop certain personality traits in children; to internal - biological, hereditary factors. Factors influencing human development can be controllable and uncontrollable. The development of a child is not only a complex, but also a contradictory process, and this means his transformation from a biological individual into a social being - a personality.

In the process of development, the child is involved in various types of activities (play, work, study, sports) and enters into communication (with parents, peers, strangers), while showing his inherent activity, through this he gains social experience.

Communication is important for the normal development of a child from birth. Only in the process of communication can a child master human speech, which, in turn, plays a leading role in the child’s activities and in his knowledge and mastery of the world around him.

An important role in the development of a child’s personality is played by external, purposeful influence on this process. The effect of external influences depends on those internal forces and factors that determine the individual response to them of each developing person, as well as on the skill of the teacher, which influences the formation of the child’s personality.

So, the driving forces of personality development are the contradictions that arise between the growing needs of the child and the possibility of satisfying them. In the process of development, the child is formed as an individual, reflecting the social side of his development, his social essence.

6.5 Personality as a source of creativity

Creativity is creation, the creation of something new, original, and previously non-existent. Creativity is due to the activity inherent only to humans. Creative activity includes content and energy sides. The content side of activity is represented by ideals, goals, motives, interests, and values. The energy component manifests itself in actions, deeds, communication, feelings, will, and faith. The first of them is aimed at the future, the second is realized in the present.

The driving force of creativity is a person’s aspiration to the future, which he sees as more perfect and interesting. The desire for improvement, transformation of the surrounding reality extends to himself, to his self-improvement.

In the educational context, creative abilities are presented in the categories of “creative self”, “creative potential”, “creativity”.

Creativity as an activity includes: purpose, content, forms, methods and means. A creative approach to activity affects all substructures of the personality.

System-forming characteristics of a creative personality:

productive self-awareness as a set of creative ideas about oneself;

intellectual and creative initiative;

Thirst for knowledge and transformation;

sensitivity to problem, novelty;

the need for a non-standard solution to the problems facing a person;

criticality of mind;

independence in finding a way and choosing ways to solve emerging problems.

These characteristics are the foundation of creative activity, which manifests itself in such procedural states as interest, design, preparation for the implementation of a solution, insight, decision, verification. Creativity is found in personal growth, which is characterized by the following concepts: “self-creativity”, “self-improvement”, “self-creation”.

For pedagogy, both objective creativity, represented by original, new socially significant products (new theories, scientific discoveries, works of art), and subjective creativity of students, manifested in the mastery of new ways of cognitive activity for a given individual, in the discovery of new meanings in previous activities, are significant.

The dynamics and development of a student’s creative potential are judged by the development of such personal new formations as:

the ability to discover new knowledge;

the emergence of new motives and goals of educational activities;

Possession new (for the individual) ways of activity;

improvisation, as the ability to suddenly make a decision;

expansion of the field of intellectual activity;

creativity, i.e. fruitfulness in educational and cognitive activity.

So, personal new formations enrich all components of human activity: motivational, intellectual-logical, emotional-volitional, practically effective.

Conclusion

Having considered the different principles of the personal approach from the point of view of S.L. Rubinshteina, B.G. Ananyeva, A.G. Kovaleva, K.K. Platonova, V.S. For Merlin, this topic remains relevant. To summarize, we can say that personality is a person as a value for the sake of which the development of society is carried out.

So, S.L. Rubinstein always considered consciousness as an expression of the subject’s relationship to the world and the possibility of his self-determination. Characterizing the personality as a subject, he identified its three main relationships - to the world, to other people and to oneself. .

2. From Ananyev’s point of view, each person makes a unique, original contribution to social development through the exteriorization of his inner world. According to B.G. Ananyev, the unity of the biological and social in a person is ensured through the unity of such characteristics as the individual, personality, subject and individuality.

The personality appeared both as included in society, and as developing in the ontogenetic cycle and life path, and as a contemporary of its era. Human consciousness is not only a reflection of reality, but also the inner world of man.

3. Platonov’s undoubted merit is the formulation of the problem of “personality and work,” which traditionally stood only as a problem of personality and activity. Despite the fact that the problem of labor was interpreted by him primarily as a problem of socialist labor, nevertheless, it opened a new plane for the study of the real personality, a plane that, one can admit, was avoided by sociological thought, which understood the social danger of the problem of labor motivation.

Personality is a person as a subject of consciousness. At the same time, consciousness is understood not as a passive substance, but as an active, highest form of reflection, characteristic only of man.

4. According to A.G. Kovalev there is an organic and direct connection between social development and personal development. Society works for every individual, because the center of concern is the person, the satisfaction of his material and spiritual needs. In turn, each individual works for society and works with more energy and initiative, the more fully his spiritual and material needs are satisfied.

According to Merlin, personality structure is represented as the mutual connection and organization of personality properties. The mental properties of a person express a highly generalized, relatively stable and constant attitude of consciousness as a whole to certain objective aspects of reality.

So, a person as a personality is formed by interacting with the world and other people. The individuality and uniqueness of a person is essential in social cognition, in comprehending social phenomena and events, in understanding the mechanism of functioning and development of society, and its effective management.

No matter how much we study human nature, it is impossible to know everything about it. This is a great mystery both for others and for oneself. A person is born with it and lives until the end of his days, taking his secret into another world, especially the secret of his soul, his consciousness and mind. The secret of personality resides in the depths of the spiritual world, in the soul, psyche, and consciousness of a person. Looking at them, we slightly lift the veil over the mystery of man.

So, man is an organic contradictory unity of the natural and the social, but his essence is social. Personality in a person is the result of struggle. The problem of personality has given rise to many theories and concepts. None of them can be absolute. Only a synthesis of the best achievements of different research approaches will make it possible to form a holistic picture of the nature of personality, the processes of its formation and development. Man is a socio-biological being, and in the conditions of modern civilization, due to education, laws, and moral norms, the social principle of man controls the biological.
The main thing in the socialization of an individual is the acquisition and mastery of social statuses and roles, active inclusion in production, social, political and other spheres of social life. Common to these concepts were problems of personality structure (i.e., methods of communication, correlation of mental processes, states, temperamental properties and so-called personality traits, as well as abilities, needs, will, character).

List of used literature

1. Psychological Dictionary / ed. V.P. Zinchenko, B.G. Meshcheryakova. 2nd ed. M.: Pedagogika-Press, 1997.

2. Rubinshtein S.L. Man and the world. - M.: Nauka, 1997.

3.Averin V.A. Psychology of Personality. - Tutorial. - St. Petersburg: publishing house Mikhailov V.A., 1999.

4. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya K.A., Psychological science in Russia of the 20th century, ed. “Institute of Psychology RAS. M., 1997.

Ananyev B.G. Man as an object of knowledge. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2001.

Rubinshtein S.L. Fundamentals of general psychology. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2000.

7. Averin V.A. Psychological structure of personality // Personality psychology: Textbook. - St. Petersburg: Publishing house Mikhailov V.A., 1999.

8. Kovalev A.G. Psychology of Personality. 2nd ed. Corrected and expanded. M.: publishing house "Prosveshcheniye", 1965.

9. Platonov, K.K. About the system of psychology. M.: publishing house "Mysl", 1972.

. Platonov K.K . Towards a theory of personality // Personality and work: Sat. - M.: Mysl, 1965.

11. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya K.A. Life strategy. - M.: “Thought”, 1991.

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Methods of personality research.

1. Psychological methods of personality research

2. Sociological methods of personality research

3. Public thought as a sociological research method.

1.Psychological methods of personality research.

The study of personality cannot develop unless it is replenished with new and new facts.

Methods for studying personality. For many years in psychology it was believed that the only method of understanding mental phenomena was the subjective method of introspection - direct observation by a person of his own mental processes. At the same time, the modern development of psychological science has shown the impossibility of a subjective research method of the psyche, the impossibility with its help of truly discovering the laws of mental phenomena. So, we can conclude that introspection cannot be the main method of studying the psyche. At the same time, this does not mean that when studying mental processes it is not necessary to take into account a person’s statement about what he experiences and how exactly. Thus, self-observation method can be considered as auxiliary in the study of personality. Taking into account its results in combination with other methods, one can obtain valuable material about the facts being studied. Self-observation, self-analysis involves the manifestation of an individual’s ability to be aware of himself, his qualities, actions, deeds, attitude towards society, towards other people, towards himself. On its basis, the manager’s self-esteem is formed, which can be overestimated, underestimated or adequate.

In accordance with the principle of objectivity, a holistic system of methods and techniques is used to study personality phenomena. Among them, the most common is observation method. The significance and value of this method lies in the fact that the material for observation is taken directly from life when observing the mental activity of people, which is revealed in their movements, actions, deeds, and statements. This method is characterized as one of the empirical methods of psychological research, which is found in sensitive knowledge of the phenomenon or subject under study. There is a distinction between observation as a scientific method (under such circumstances observations always focused, planned and systematized; it becomes a method of psychological study of people if it moves from description to explanation of the psychological nature of phenomena) and life observation. Thus the essence The observation method consists of the intentional, systematic and purposeful perception and recording of mental phenomena with the aim of further studying their specific changes under certain conditions, their analysis and use for the needs of practical activity.

Scientific observation is subject to a number of rules and requirements: firstly, any research that strives for objectivity consists in determining the range of facts being studied, as well as their further observation; Secondly, selection of observation method; Thirdly, developing a research plan and program; fourthly, focus of observation on important phenomena, separation of the important from the unimportant, the main from the secondary; fifthly, objective and accurate recording of facts, formulation of certain conclusions from them; At sixth, observation requires keeping a journal; observations and registrations of events, stenographic records, protocols, etc., which record not only the facts that characterize actions, actions, behavior, but also the conditions in which they occurred; seventh, observation should be carried out in natural conditions and not interfere with the course of events; eighth, checking the validity and reliability of the results obtained, repeated similar observations should be performed (at the same object and under the same conditions); V -ninth, observation must be repeated, if possible, at different times, in different conditions and situations.

When using the observation method, certain difficulties:

1) there may be a danger of obtaining biased, distorted information about the object under study;

2) observation does not always make it possible to separate random facts from regular ones;

3) the interpretation of the data obtained may be subjective, that is, the results of observation are influenced by the personal qualities of the researcher, his life experience, attitudes, emotional states, etc.;

4) the researcher is in a passive state, that is, he cannot change the course of a mental phenomenon and is forced to wait until certain processes appear, without being able to repeat them;

5) observation requires a significant investment of time; 6) this method does not make it possible to quantitatively analyze the collected material. Regarding the advantage of the observation method compared to others, it lies in the fact that the psyche manifests itself in natural conditions, that is, observation provides information about the actions of individuals, regardless of their attitudes towards “desirable”, “approved” behavior.

There are the following types of psychological observations:

participant observation(it provides that the researcher himself for a certain time becomes a member of the group - the object of research and is an equal member of it);

non-participant observation(these are observations “from the outside”: the observer is not a member of the group - the object of observation). Depending on the observer’s position relative to the objects of observation, there are open(with such observation, the subjects know that they are the object of observation) and hidden(under such conditions, the subjects do not suspect that their behavior and activities are being monitored) observation.

Has much in common with the conversation method questionnaire method, in which, unlike the conversation method, personal contact is not necessary. We are talking about a questionnaire (survey letter), which is a set of questions ordered by meaning and form. There are certain requirements that should be followed when conducting a survey: Firstly, the questions remain the same throughout the survey; Secondly, First, you need to provide instructions on how to fill out the form; Thirdly, availability of a guarantee of anonymity; fourthly, the reliability and reliability of the information that can be obtained as a result of a survey are largely predetermined by the design and editing of questions (high requirements are put forward for their formulation - they must be clear, short, simple questions are posed at the beginning of the questionnaire, which gradually become more complex, questions are composed taking into account personal and psychological characteristics of the respondent: level of education, age, gender, inclinations and advantages, etc.).

Mostly, each questionnaire is not a simple sum of questions, it has a certain structure and can consist of the following communicative components: first - epigraph to the questionnaire their appeal to the respondent (this is done with the aim of creating a positive emotional state of mind of the respondent, promoting the activation of his mental activity in the right direction, having a positive impact on the formation of motivation to participate in the survey, emphasizing the role of social thought); second - a message about the purpose of the study, the conditions of anonymity of the survey, the direction of use of the results obtained and their significance, the rules for filling out the questionnaire and an explanation; third - the main part of the questionnaire, which contains questions about the facts, behavior, product of activity, motives, assessments and thoughts of the respondents; fourth - a question about the socio-demographic characteristics of respondents (this is a kind of business card of the respondent, his schematic self-portrait, which can be placed both at the beginning and at the end of the questionnaire).

The advantage of the questionnaire method before a conversation is the opportunity to collect a large amount of material, to train a large number of managers, representatives of different categories of management personnel. But the disadvantage of this method is that the objectivity of the information received is significantly influenced, on the one hand, by the presence or absence of the respondent’s attitude toward sincerity in answers, and on the other hand, by the respondent’s ability to objectively evaluate the actions of people, situations, their own qualities and the qualities of other people .

Test(from English lest - sample, exam, test) is one of the methods by which certain psychological qualities of a person are established, the presence or absence of certain abilities (didactic, communicative, organizational), skills, abilities. It is used for diagnostic purposes and is a type of experiment, which at the same time has an examination, measuring character. Consequently, a test is usually called specially designed tasks and problem situations, the use of which, as a result of quantitative and qualitative assessment, can become an indicator of the development of certain psychological qualities and personality traits. Modern psychodiagnostics distinguishes and uses the following main types of tests:

1) mecms of intelligence(tasks on logical relations, generalization, intelligence);

2) achievement tests(we are talking about identifying the degree of specific knowledge);

The study of personality has always been and continues to be one of the most intriguing mysteries and most difficult problems. In essence, all socio-psychological theories contribute to the understanding of personality: what shapes it, why individual differences exist, how it develops and changes throughout life. Since most areas of psychology are only minimally represented in modern theories of personality, this is proof that an adequate theory of personality has not yet been created.

Several stages can be distinguished in the history of research.

The main problems of personality psychology in philosophical and literary period Its study included questions about the moral and social nature of man, about his actions and behavior. The first definitions of personality were quite broad and included everything that is in a person and that he can call his own.

IN clinical period the idea of personality as a special phenomenon was narrowed. Psychiatrists have focused on personality traits that can usually be found in a sick person. It was later found that these features are moderately expressed in almost all healthy people. Definitions of personality by psychiatrists were given in such terms, using which one can describe a completely normal, pathological, and accentuated personality.

Experimental period characterized by the active introduction into psychology of experimental methods for studying mental phenomena. This is dictated by the need to get rid of speculativeness and subjectivism in the interpretation of mental phenomena and make psychology a more accurate science (not only describing, but also explaining its findings).

Since the late 30s. In our century, active differentiation of research areas has begun in personality psychology. As a result, by the second half of our century, many different theories of personality had developed: behaviorist, Gestalt psychological, psychoanalytic, cognitive and humanistic.

In accordance with behaviorist theory of personality(the founder of which is the American scientist D. Watson; 1878–1958) psychology should deal not with mental phenomena that are inaccessible to scientific observation, but with behavior. D. Watson saw the task of psychology as learning to “calculate” and program individual behavior.

The founders of the Gestalt psychological theory of personality T. Wertheimer, W. Köhler and K. Levin put forward the idea of studying the psyche from the point of view of integral structures - gestalts (German gestalt - image). The construction of a mental image occurs as an instant “grasping” of its structure.

Psychoanalytic theory of personality(S. Freud) analyzes the actions of the individual, based not only on the sphere of consciousness, but also on the deep structure of the subconscious.

Cognitive theory of personality(U. Neisser, A. Paivio) assigns the main role in explaining individual behavior to knowledge (Latin cognito - knowledge).

Humanistic personality theory(G. Allport, K. Rogers, A. Maslow) explains the behavior of an individual based on a person’s desire for self-actualization, the realization of all his capabilities.

Among the theories considered, three practically non-overlapping orientations can be distinguished: biogenetic, sociogenetic and personological.

1. Biogenetic orientation proceeds from the fact that the development of a person, like any other organism, is ontogenesis (the process of individual development of an organism) with a phylogenetic (historically determined) program embedded in it, and therefore its basic patterns, stages and properties are the same. Sociocultural and situational factors only leave their mark on the form of their occurrence.

The most famous among the concepts of this orientation (and not only in psychology) was the theory developed by S. Freud. S. Freud compared human self-awareness to the tip of the iceberg. He believed that only a small part of what actually happens in a person’s soul and characterizes him as a person is actually recognized by him. A person is able to correctly understand and explain only a small part of his actions. The main part of his experience and personality is outside the sphere of consciousness, and only special procedures developed in psychoanalysis allow one to penetrate into it.

The personality structure, according to S. Freud, consists of three components, or levels: “It”, “I”, “Super-ego”. “It” is the unconscious part of the psyche, a seething cauldron of biological innate instinctual drives. “It” is saturated with sexual energy – libido. A person is a closed energy system, and the amount of energy in each person is a constant value. Being unconscious and irrational, “It” obeys the principle of pleasure, i.e. pleasure and happiness are the main goals in human life (the first principle of behavior). The second principle of behavior is homeostasis - the tendency to maintain internal balance.

The "I" is represented by consciousness. This is, as a rule, a person’s self-awareness, his perception and assessment of his own personality and behavior. The “I” is oriented towards reality.

The “super-ego” is represented at both the conscious and subconscious levels. The “super-ego” is guided by ideal ideas - moral norms and values accepted in society.

Unconscious drives coming from the “It” are most often in a state of conflict with what is contained in the “Super-I”, that is, with social and moral norms of behavior. The conflict is resolved with the help of the “I”, that is, consciousness, which, acting in accordance with the principles of reality and rationality, seeks to intelligently reconcile both sides in such a way that the drives of the “It” are satisfied to the maximum extent without violating the norms morality.

2. Sociogenetic orientation puts the processes of socialization and learning in the broad sense of the word at the forefront, arguing that psychological age-related changes depend primarily on shifts in social status, the system of social roles, rights and responsibilities, in short, on the structure of the individual’s social activity.

According to behavioral theorists, the social roles of people and most forms of social behavior of an individual are formed as a result of observations of such social models that are set by parents, teachers, comrades and other members of society. Individual differences in human behavior are, according to social learning theory, the result of interactions and relationships with different people. Personality in this approach is the result of the interaction between the individual with his abilities, past experiences, expectations, etc. and his environment.

3. Personological (person-centered) orientation brings to the fore the consciousness and self-awareness of the subject, based on the fact that the basis for the development of personality is the creative process of formation and implementation of its own life goals and values. This direction is defined as humanistic and is associated with such names as K. Rogers, A. Maslow and others. The essence of the humanistic orientation in the study of personality is the rejection of the manipulative approach and the identification of personality as the highest social value. The humanistic approach helps to reveal the capabilities of the individual through the appropriate organization of interpersonal relationships. According to this approach, a person can show the originality and uniqueness of his own “I” only with complete openness in expressing his feelings and abandoning psychological defense.

Since each of these models reflects real aspects of personality development, a debate based on the “either-or” principle makes no sense. As a basis for integrating the previously mentioned approaches to understanding personality in domestic psychology, a historical-evolutionary approach is proposed, in which the anthropological properties of a person and the socio-historical way of life act as prerequisites and a result of personality development. In the context of this approach, the true basis and driving force for personal development is joint activity, thanks to which individualization occurs. The formation and development of this direction is the merit of L. S. Vygotsky (1836–1904) and A. N. Leontiev (1903–1979). This theory in Russian psychology is called activity theory.

In Russian psychology, a number of other theories can be identified.

Founders relationship theories – A.F. Lazursky (1874–1917), V.N. Myasishchev (1892–1973) – believed that the “core” of personality is the system of its relations to the outside world and to itself, which is formed under the influence of the person’s consciousness reflecting the surrounding reality.

According to communication theories – B.F. Lomov (1927–1989), A.A. Bodalev, K.A. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya – personality is formed and develops in the process of communication in the system of existing social connections and relationships.

Attitude Theory – D. N. Uznadze (1886–1950), A. S. Prangishvili - develops the idea of an attitude as a person’s readiness to perceive future events in a certain direction of action, which is the basis of its expedient selective activity.

Personality structure

There are statistical and dynamic personality structures. Under statistical structure is understood as an abstract model abstracted from the actually functioning personality that characterizes the main components of the individual’s psyche. The basis for identifying personality parameters in its statistical model is the difference between all components of the human psyche according to the degree of their representation in the personality structure. The following components are distinguished:

– universal properties psyches, i.e. common to all people (sensations, perceptions, thinking, emotions);

– socially specific features, i.e., inherent only to certain groups of people or communities (social attitudes, value orientations);

– individually unique properties psyche, i.e., characterizing individual-typological characteristics characteristic only of one or another specific person (temperament, character, abilities).

In contrast to the statistical model of personality structure, the model dynamic structure fixes the main components in the individual’s psyche no longer abstracted from a person’s everyday existence, but, on the contrary, only in the immediate context of human life. At each specific moment of his life, a person appears not as a set of certain formations, but as a person who is in a certain mental state, which in one way or another is reflected in the momentary behavior of the individual. If we begin to consider the main components of the statistical structure of personality in their movement, change, interaction and living circulation, then we thereby make a transition from the statistical to the dynamic structure of personality.

The most common is the concept of the dynamic functional structure of personality proposed by K. Platonov, which identifies the determinants that determine certain properties and characteristics of the human psyche, conditioned by social, biological and individual life experience (Table).

Dynamic structure of personality, according to K. Platonov

Substructure name	Substructures of substructures	The relationship between social and biological	Level of Analysis	Types of formation
Personality orientation	Beliefs, worldview, ideals, aspirations, interests, desires	Almost no biological	Socio-psychological	Upbringing
Experience	Habits, abilities, skills, knowledge	Much more social	Psychological and pedagogical	Education
Features of mental processes	Will, feelings, perception, thinking, sensations, emotions, memory	Often more social	Individual psychological	Exercises


Biopsychic properties	Temperament, gender, age properties	Almost no social	Psycho-physiological Neuropsychological	Training

Socialization of personality

Socialization personality is the process of its formation in certain social conditions. Already in childhood, the individual is included in the historically established system of social relations. This process of including an individual in social relationships is called socialization. Socialization is carried out through the individual’s assimilation of social experience and its application in his activities. In the process of socialization, an individual becomes an individual and acquires the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to live among people, that is, the formation and development of personality occurs.

Socialization is carried out in the process of influencing an individual by such factors as targeted upbringing, training and random social influences in activity and communication. The child is socialized, not passively accepting various influences, but gradually moving from the position of an object of social influence to the position of an active subject. A child is active because he has needs, and if these needs are taken into account in the process of upbringing, this will contribute to the development of the child’s activity and the formation of a harmoniously developed personality.

In the process of socialization, the individual is included in social relationships, and due to this, his psyche can change. In the process of personality formation, a child at the level of mental processes, having mastered lower mental functions, masters higher mental functions through training. The essence of this process lies in the child’s assimilation of signs (the universal expression of which is the word) that have the meaning of the object or process that they replace. Higher mental functions are speech, verbal-logical thinking and voluntary attention.

The leading phenomena of socialization include the assimilation of behavioral stereotypes, social norms, customs, interests and value orientations. The main institutions of socialization are: family, preschool institutions, school, informal associations, university and work collective. Such institutions represent communities of people in which the process of human socialization takes place.

There are several socio-psychological mechanisms of socialization.

Identification – identification of an individual with individuals or groups, allowing them to assimilate various norms, attitudes and forms of behavior characteristic of them.

Imitation – conscious or unconscious reproduction by an individual of the behavior pattern and experience of other people (in particular, manners, movements, actions, etc.).

Suggestion – the process of an individual’s unconscious reproduction of the internal experiences, thoughts, feelings and mental states of those people with whom he interacts.

Social facilitation – the stimulating influence of the behavior of some people (an observer of the actions of an individual, a rival) on the activities of others, as a result of which their activity proceeds more intensely.

Conformity – pliability to the influence of a group, manifested in a change in the behavior and attitudes of the individual in accordance with the position of the majority that was not initially shared by him.

There are several stages of personality socialization.

Primary socialization, or adaptation stage(from birth to adolescence, the child uncritically assimilates social experience - adapts, adapts and imitates).

Individualization stage(adolescence and early adolescence). There is a desire to distinguish oneself from others, and a critical attitude towards social norms of behavior appears. In adolescence, the stage of individualization, self-determination “the world and I” acts as an intermediate socialization, since the inner world of a teenager is characterized by instability. Adolescence is characterized as stable conceptual socialization, during which stable personality traits are developed,

Integration stage. There is a desire to find one’s place in society, to “fit in” with society. Integration proceeds successfully if a person’s characteristics are accepted by the group, by society. If they are not accepted, then the following outcomes are possible:

– maintaining one’s dissimilarity and the emergence of aggressive interactions (relationships) with people and society;

– changing oneself to “become like everyone else”;

– conformism, external agreement, adaptation.

Labor stage socialization covers the entire period of a person’s maturity, his work activity, when a person reproduces social experience by influencing the environment through his activities.

Post-labor stage socialization covers old age, when a significant contribution is made to the reproduction of social experience, to the process of transferring it to new generations.

Throughout life, a person develops as a person. The processes of democratization in our society create favorable conditions for the realization of the personal potential of each person.

Practical tasks

Exercise 1. Conduct a study of personality self-esteem using the proposed diagnostic tools.

Purpose of the study: determine the level of self-esteem. Material and equipment: a list of words or a special form with words characterizing individual personality traits, a pen.

This study has two significantly different procedures for determining personality self-esteem. In both cases, you can work with one subject or with a group.

First version of the study

The basis of the study of self-esteem in this version of the methodology is the ranking method. The research procedure includes two series. The material with which the subjects work is a list of words printed on a special form that characterize individual personality traits. Each subject receives such a form at the beginning of the study. When working with a group of subjects, it is important to ensure strict independence of ranking.

First episode

The task of the first series: identify a person’s idea of the qualities of his ideal, that is, the ideal “I”. To do this, the words printed on the form must be arranged by the subject in order of preference.

Instructions to the subject:“Read carefully all the words that characterize personality traits. Consider these qualities from the point of view of their essential nature in the ideal personality, that is, from the point of view of usefulness, social significance and desirability. To do this, rank them, rating each on a scale from 20 to 1. Put a score of 20 on the form, in column No. 1, to the left of the quality that, in your opinion, is the most useful and desirable for people.”

Rating 1 - in the same column No. 1 to the left of the quality that is least useful, significant and desirable. Rank all other ratings from 19 to 2 in accordance with your attitude to all other qualities. Make sure that no assessment is repeated twice.

Second series

Problem of the second series: identify a person’s idea of his own qualities, that is, his real “I”. As in the first series, the subject is asked to rank the words printed on the form, but from the point of view of the specificity or inherent nature of the personality traits they denote to himself.

Instructions to the subject:“Read again all the words that characterize personality traits. Consider these qualities from the point of view of their inherent nature in you. Rank them in column No. 2, rating each from 20 to 1. Give a rating of 20 to the right of the quality that, in your opinion, is characteristic of you to the greatest extent; give a rating of 19 to the quality that is characteristic of you somewhat less than first, and so on. Then a rating of 1 will indicate the quality that is less inherent to you than all the others. Make sure that ratings are not repeated twice.”

A form with words characterizing personality traits looks like this.

№1	Personality qualities	№2	d	d2
	Compliance
	Courage
	Hot temper
	Nervousness
	Patience
	Passion
	Passivity
	Cold
	Enthusiasm
	Caution
	Moodiness
	Slowness
	Indecisiveness
	Energy
	Cheerfulness
	Suspiciousness
	Stubbornness
	Carelessness
	Shyness
	Responsibility

Processing the results

The purpose of processing the results is to determine the connection between the ranking assessments of personality qualities included in the ideas of the “ideal self” and the “real self.” The measure of connection is established using the C. Spearman rank correlation coefficient. Scores from 1 to 20 of the proposed qualities in both rows are taken as their ranks. The difference in ranks that determine the place of one or another personality quality makes it possible to calculate the coefficient using the formula:

P– number of proposed personality qualities (n=20);

d– difference in rank numbers.

To calculate the coefficient, you must first calculate on the form, in a specially designated column, the difference in ranks (d) for each proposed quality. Then each obtained value of the rank difference (d) is squared and the result is written down on the form in column (d), summed up and the sum (Sd2) is entered into the formula.

If the number of qualities is 20, then the formula has a simplified form:

The rank correlation coefficient (r) can range from –1 to +1. If the resulting coefficient is no less than –0.37 and no more than +0.37 (at p = 0.05), then this indicates a weak, insignificant connection (or its absence) between a person’s ideas about the qualities of his ideal and his real qualities. This indicator may be caused by the subject’s failure to comply with instructions. But if the instructions were followed, then a small connection means a person’s unclear and undifferentiated representation of his ideal “I” and the real “I”.

The correlation coefficient value from +0.38 to +1 is evidence of the presence of a significant positive connection between the ideal “I” and the real “I”. This can be interpreted as a manifestation of adequate self-esteem or, with R from +0.39 to + 89, a tendency towards overestimation. But, values from +0.9 to +1 often express inadequately inflated self-esteem. The value of the correlation coefficient in the range from – 0.38 to – 1 indicates the presence of a significant negative connection between the “ideal self” and the “real self.” It reflects the discrepancy or discrepancy between a person’s ideas about what he needs to be and what he thinks he really is. This discrepancy is proposed to be interpreted as low self-esteem. The closer the coefficient is to – 1, the greater the degree of discrepancy.

Second research option

The second option for studying self-esteem is based on the method of selection. The material is a list of words characterizing individual personality traits. This version of the study also consists of two series.

First episode

The task of the first series: to determine the list and number of reference qualities of the desired and undesirable image - I. The subject is asked to look through the words from the list and, having chosen, make two rows. In one row you need to write down words denoting those personality qualities that relate to the subjective ideal, that is, they constitute a “positive” set, and in the other row - those qualities that are undesirable, that is, they constitute a “negative” set.

Instructions to the subject: “Look carefully at the list of proposed words that characterize the personality. In the left column on a piece of paper, write down the qualities that you would like to have in yourself, and in the right column - those that you would not like to have in yourself. Qualities whose meaning you do not understand or which you cannot attribute to one or the other column, do not write anywhere. Don’t think about whether you have this quality or not, only one thing is important: whether you want to have it or not.”

Second series

The task of the second series: to determine a set of personality qualities of the subject, which, in his opinion, are inherent in him, among the selected reference qualities of the “positive” and “negative” set.

Instructions to the subject: “Look carefully at the words you wrote down in the left and right columns, and mark with a cross or a tick those qualities that, in your opinion, are inherent in you.”

List of qualities that characterize personality

Accuracy, carelessness, thoughtfulness, hot temper, sensitivity, pride, rudeness, cheerfulness, caring, envy, shyness, rancor, sincerity, sophistication, capriciousness, gullibility, slowness, daydreaming, suspiciousness, vindictiveness, persistence, tenderness, ease, nervousness, indecisiveness, intemperance, charm, touchiness, caution, responsiveness, pedantry, mobility, suspicion, adherence to principles, poetry, contempt, cordiality, swagger, rationality, decisiveness, self-forgetfulness, restraint, compassion, modesty, patience, cowardice, enthusiasm, perseverance, compliance, coldness, enthusiasm.

Processing the results

The purpose of processing the results is to obtain self-esteem coefficients for the “positive” (SO+) and “negative” (SO–) sets. To calculate each of the coefficients, the number of qualities in a column identified by the subject as inherent to him (M) is divided by the total number of qualities in a given column (N). The formulas for calculating the coefficients are as follows

M+ M – CO+ = –– ; CO – = –– ; where Н+ Н – М+ and М – the number of qualities in the “positive” and “negative” sets, respectively, marked by the subject as inherent to him; Н+ and Н – the number of reference qualities, i.e. the number of words in the right and left columns, respectively.

The level and adequacy of self-esteem is determined based on the obtained coefficients using a table.

CO+	CO–	Level of self-esteem
1 – 0,76	0 – 0,25	inadequate, overpriced
0,75 – 0,51	0,26 – 0,49	adequate with a tendency to overestimate
0,5	0,5	adequate
0,49 – 0,26	0,51 – 0,75	adequate with a tendency to understate
0,25 – 0	0,76 – 1	inadequate, underestimated

When determining the level of self-esteem and its adequacy, it is important to take into account not only the value of the obtained coefficient, but also the number of qualities that make up a particular set (H+ and H-). The fewer qualities, the more primitive the corresponding standard. In addition, the level of self-esteem for the positive and negative sets may not coincide for some subjects. This requires special analysis and may be caused by personality defense mechanisms.

Analysis of results

In the two proposed options for studying self-esteem, its level and adequacy are defined as the relationship between the ideal “I” and the real “I”. A person's ideas about himself, as a rule, seem convincing to him, regardless of whether they are based on objective knowledge or subjective opinion, whether they are true or false. Qualities that a person attributes to himself. The process of self-assessment can occur in two ways: 1) by comparing the level of one’s aspirations with the objective results of one’s activities and 2) by comparing oneself with other people.

However, regardless of whether self-esteem is based on a person’s own judgments about himself or interpretations of the judgments of other people, individual ideals and culturally defined standards, self-esteem is always subjective, and its indicators can be adequacy and level.

The adequacy of self-esteem expresses the degree of correspondence of a person’s ideas about himself with the objective foundations of these ideas. So, for example, inadequacy in assessing one’s appearance can be caused, on the one hand, by a person’s orientation towards external standards, assessments and a distorted idea of these assessments or ignorance of them, on the other hand.

The level of self-esteem expresses the degree of real and ideal or desired ideas about oneself. Adequate self-esteem with a tendency to overestimate can be equated to a positive attitude towards oneself, self-respect, self-acceptance, and a sense of one’s own worth. Low self-esteem, on the contrary, can be

associated with a negative attitude towards oneself, self-rejection, and a feeling of one’s own inferiority.

Conclusions about the adequacy and level of self-esteem will be reliable if the results match the two methods or are confirmed by observation.

In the process of forming self-esteem, an important role is played by comparing the image of the real “I” with the image of the ideal “I”. Therefore, someone who achieves in reality characteristics corresponding to the ideal will have high self-esteem, even if the ideal image does not differ in volume and cognitive complexity. If a person reflects the gap between these characteristics and the reality of his achievements, his self-esteem is likely to be low.

The second factor, important for the formation of self-esteem, is associated with the internalization of the assessments and social reactions of other people, as well as with the position chosen by a person in the system of social and interpersonal relations. Adequate self-esteem contributes to the achievement of internal consistency.

Self-esteem and a person’s attitude towards himself are closely related to the level of aspirations, motivation and emotional characteristics of the individual. The interpretation of a person’s acquired experience regarding himself and other people depends on self-esteem.

Internal inconsistency and distortion of self-image can give rise to suffering, feelings of guilt, shame, and resentment in a person. To harmonize the self-attitude system, there are methods of psychological correction and development, one of which is socio-psychological training.

Task 2. Study of the level of aspirations using the proposed methodology.

Purpose of the study: determine the level of aspiration of an individual using the Schwarzlander motor test.

Material and equipment: a form with four rectangular sections, each of which consists of small squares (side size is 1.25 cm), a pen, a stopwatch.

Research procedure

The study is carried out in a pair consisting of an experimenter and a subject. The task is given as a test of motor coordination. The subject should not know about the true purpose of the study until the end of the study.

The experimenter should sit the subject comfortably at a well-lit table, give a form with four rectangular sections, and a pen. The study consists of four samples. The experimenter marks the time of their completion using a stopwatch.

In each test, the task is given to place crosses in the maximum number of squares in one of the rectangular sections within a certain time.

Before each trial, the subject is asked to name the number of squares that he can fill with crosses, placing one in each square in 10 seconds. He writes his answer in the top large cell of the first rectangular section. After the test, which begins and ends at the experimenter's signal, the subject counts the number of crosses placed and writes this number in the lower large cell of the rectangular section. It is important that the number of supposed and actually filled squares is recorded by the subject himself.

Instructions to the subject:“You need to put as many crosses as possible into the squares of this rectangular section in 10 seconds. Before you start, determine how many squares you can fill. Write this number in the top large cell of this rectangular section. Place crosses in squares according to the signal.

The second test is carried out according to the same scheme as the first. Before it starts, the following is given: instructions:“Count the number of squares you filled and write your result in the bottom rectangle of the first section. After this, think and determine how many crosses you will place in the following table. Write this number in the top large cell of the second rectangular section.”

On the third trial, the task completion time is reduced to 8 seconds. After it has been carried out, the fourth test is carried out in the same way.

After all samples of this study have been completed, the date, last name, first name, patronymic of the subject and experimenter are filled out on the back of the form. The subject’s self-report is also placed there. The self-report records not only the subject's well-being, but also the self-assessment of the study. To do this, questions are asked: “Did you like the study?”, “Would you like to take part in this kind of research again?”, “What guided you when determining your capabilities in placing crosses in squares?”

Processing the results

The purpose of processing the results is to obtain the average value of the target deviation, on the basis of which the level of aspirations of the subject is determined. Target deviation (TD) is the difference between the number of graphic elements (crosses) that the subject planned to place, and the actual number of elements placed. They are noted on the form by each subject independently in the columns “UP” and “UD”. In this case, “UP” is the number located in the upper large cell of one or another rectangular section, and “UD” is in the lower one.

The target deviation is calculated using the formula:

UP2, UP3 and UP4 – the values of the levels of claims in the placement of crosses in the squares of each of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th samples; EL1 EL2, EL3 – values at the level of achievement in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd tests, respectively.

Analysis of results

The level of aspiration is an important structure-forming component of personality. This is a fairly stable individual quality of a person, which characterizes: firstly, the level of difficulty of the planned tasks; secondly, the subject’s choice of the goal of the next action depending on the experience of success or failure of previous actions; thirdly, the desired level of personal self-esteem.

In the proposed methodology, the level of aspiration is determined by the target deviation, that is, by the difference between what a person planned to accomplish in a certain time and what he actually accomplished. The study allows us to identify the level and adequacy, otherwise the realism of the subject’s claims. The level of aspiration is associated with the process of goal setting and represents the degree of localization of the goal in the range of difficulties. The adequacy of claims indicates the correspondence of the put forward goals and the capabilities of a person.

To determine the level and adequacy of claims, the following standards can be used:

A person’s high realistic level of aspirations can be combined with confidence in the value of his own actions, with the desire for self-affirmation, with responsibility, with correcting failures through his own efforts, with the presence of sustainable life plans.

If a person has a high unrealistic level of aspirations, then, as a rule, it is accompanied by frustration, demands on others, and extrapunitiveness. Persons with this level of aspiration are hypochondriacal and experience difficulties in realizing their own life plans.

A moderate level of aspirations is typical for subjects who are self-confident, sociable, not seeking self-affirmation, determined to succeed, calculating the extent of their strength and self-measuring their efforts with the value of what they achieve.

A low level of aspiration depends largely on the mindset of failure. Individuals with unrealistically low aspirations often have unclear plans for the future. They are usually submission oriented and often show helplessness. One of the problems of such people may be planning their actions in the near future and relating them to the future.

An inadequate level of aspirations can lead to maladaptive behavior, ineffectiveness of any activity, and difficulties in interpersonal relationships. A low level of aspirations, which develops as a result of a lack of socially significant success, can cause a decrease in motivation, uncertainty and fear of difficulties.

Correction of the level of aspirations should be aimed at coordinating ideas about the desired result with the capabilities and abilities of a person. Consolidating this coordination in specific successful activities increases the adequacy of the level of aspirations.

Task 3. Research on egocentrism

Purpose of the study: determine the level of egocentric orientation of the individual. Material and equipment: EAT test form, pen, stopwatch.

Research procedure

The study of egocentrism using the projective egocentric association test (EAT) can be carried out either with one subject or with a group consisting of 2–7 people. When working with a group, each testing participant should be provided with a form, a pen, and be comfortably seated at a table at a distance of 1.5 - 2 m from neighbors and the experimenter.

Subjects should not know the purpose of the study. Testing the speed of written speech or determining the rate of emergence of associations on verbal stimulus material can be called a dummy goal. It is important to emphasize that content, literacy and calligraphy do not matter. During the process of filling out the test, the experimenter is prohibited from explaining anything to the subject.

in addition to instructions, or give assessments and express an attitude towards his judgments. Here it is necessary to monitor the strict individuality of the test subject’s work and record the time required to complete the task,

Instructions to the subject:“The test contains 40 unfinished sentences. You need to complete each of them so that you get sentences with a complete thought. Immediately write down the first choice of unfinished sentence that comes to your mind. Try to work quickly. The task completion time is recorded."

The egocentric association test form is as follows.

Test form

Time spent filling out the test, __min.

Full name of the subject

Native language

1. In such a situation...

2. The easiest thing...

3. Despite the fact that...

4. The longer...

5. Compared to...

6. Every...

7. It’s a pity that...

8. As a result...

10. A few years ago...

11. The most important thing is that...

12. Only...

13. Actually...

14. The real problem is...

15. It’s not true that...

16. The day will come when...

17. The biggest...

18. Never...

19. The fact that...

20. It is hardly possible that...

21. The main thing is that...

22. Sometimes...

23. About twelve years later...

24. In the past...

25. The thing is...

26. Currently...

27. The best...

28. Taking into account...

29. If not...

30. Always...

31. Opportunity...

32. In case...

33. Usually...

34. Even if...

35. Until now...

36. Condition for...

37. Most of all...

38. About...

39. Recently...

40. Only since then...

After completing the work, examinees hand over the completed test forms. The experimenter quickly looks through them without reading the contents, and if he notices incomplete sentences, he returns the form with a request to complete them. In this case, the time is fixed and added to the previous one.

Processing the results

The purpose of processing the results is to obtain an egocentrism index. The value of the index can be used to judge the level of egocentric orientation of a person.

It makes sense to process the results if the test taker has completely completed the test, so during testing it is important to ensure that all sentences are completed. If the test form contains more than 10 unfinished sentences, then it cannot be processed or analyzed. In this case, the subject is asked to test again in a few days.

The egocentrism index is determined by identifying and counting sentences containing information indicating the subject himself, that is, the person being tested. This information is expressed by pronouns.

These can be pronouns “I”, “me”, “my”, “me”, “mine”, etc. Information about the subject itself is also carried by sentences in which the indicated pronouns are not present, but they are clearly implied in the presence of a first-person singular verb.

The index of egocentrism is the number of above-mentioned sentences. For the convenience of counting sentences containing this indication about the subject himself and reflecting his focus on himself, in the completed form the first person singular pronouns or the corresponding verb endings are underlined, and the sentence number is circled.

Analysis of results

To determine the level of egocentric orientation of a person and analyze the results obtained, a table is provided. It contains gradations of the levels of egocentrism of students, including first-year students. The change in levels characterizing egocentric tendencies among first-year students is due to the fact that entering a university represents a change in the social status of boys and girls.

During the period of adaptation to the new status, a temporary increase in the egocentricity of the individual occurs:

Levels of egocentric orientation in boys and girls

Gender, course	Level of egocentric orientation
very low	short	average	high	very tall
Freshmen studying the first semester:
young men	0 – 1	2 – 7	8 – 22	23 – 30	31 – 40
girls	0 – 1	2 – 7	8 – 22	23 – 29	30 – 40
Students of other courses:
young men	0 – 1	2 – 7	8 – 20	21 – 26	27 – 40
girls	0 – 1	2 – 7	8 – 21	22 – 27	28 – 40

A very low (zero) indicator of egocentrism means, as a rule, that the subject misunderstood the instructions and set himself some other task instead of the one proposed in the instructions.

A very high rate of egocentrism may be a sign of an individual’s emphasis on his own person.

In the process of analyzing the results, it is necessary to take into account that egocentrism and egocentric orientation are personality traits. They characterize her position and represent a centered and fixed social attitude that determines her focus on her qualities, thoughts, experiences, ideas, actions, goals, etc. Starting from adolescence, self-reflection is included here. Egocentric orientation is determined by position and contributes to the autonomy of the individual from other people. It is caused by the needs for one’s own success, for sympathy, for guardianship, for affiliation, for self-affirmation, for the protection of one’s “I”, including psychosexual needs.

Egocentrism affects a person’s cognitive abilities, prevents effective communication and interaction with people, and inhibits the development of the moral sphere of the individual himself.

Persons with a high level of egocentrism often have conflicts, as they underestimate and sometimes distort the semantic content of the interlocutor’s message, which leads to misunderstanding and interpersonal problems.

Morally, an egocentric orientation can lead to selfishness, which manifests itself in attempts to use other people to satisfy one’s own needs and interests, as well as to pragmatism, that is, linking everything that an individual encounters in life only with his own benefit.

Since determining the magnitude and level of egocentric orientation is quite significant for the subject, in this study it is especially important to observe the ethics of psychodiagnostics. If the student trusts the experimenter, it is advisable to discuss with him the reasons that led to egocentricity. Factors contributing to the development of egocentrism in childhood and school age can be: over-praising by parents and teachers, active stimulation to achieve success, lack of contact with peers, habits of command due to the constant position of a leader since childhood (headman, responsible for cultural or sports work and etc.).

A low level of egocentrism is often a consequence of the constant suppression of a child’s personality by authorities. At home they become parents, and at school they become teachers and some students.

In some cases, a high level of egocentric orientation may be situational, caused by a very significant event for a person.

To correct egocentrism, the individual needs experience in communication and interaction with other people. It is important to develop the ability to take into account the points of view of others, to control the correct understanding of the people with whom you communicate and interact, to train the ability to imagine yourself in the place of another, to be attentive to the states of others. It is advisable for persons with a high level of egocentrism to participate in trainings on sensitivity, communication, and decentration.

Timely correction of egocentrism is also important because, against the background of its high level, psychopathic personality traits develop, and at an inadequately low level, conformity and social passivity develop.

Questions for independent work

1. Define personality and reveal the content of this concept.

2. Expand the relationship between the concepts individual, individuality, personality, person.

3. Reveal the problem of biological and social in personality.

4. Reveal the features of the personality structure proposed by K. K. Platonov.

5. Reveal the features of the personality structure proposed by A. N. Leontyev.

6. How is the problem of personality revealed in the research of B. G. Ananyev?

7. Reveal the features of the personality structure proposed by S. Freud

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2. Nemov, R. S. Psychology: textbook. for students ped. textbook establishments / R.S. Nemov. – M.: Humanite. ed. VLADOS center, 2000. – Book. 1. – 688 p.

3. Psychology and pedagogy: textbook / V.M. Nikolaenko, G.M. Zalesov, T.V. Andryushina and others; resp. ed. V. M. Nikolaenko. – M.: INFRA-M; Novosibirsk: NGAEiU, 2000. – 175 p.

4. Pozina, M. B. Psychology and pedagogy: textbook. allowance / M. B. Pozina. – Moscow: N. Nesterova University, 2001. – 97 p.

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