What are the personality traits. What are the character traits: positive and negative sides of personality

Each of us has positive and negative qualities, the unique combination of which determines the character. The more good traits a person has, the faster he converges with people, the easier it is for him to live.

Naturally, there are no ideal people, but in each nature there is a good and bright beginning. To achieve harmony with yourself and the world around you, it is absolutely necessary to develop positive character traits. Their list includes many items, besides, different people have their own views on this matter, but there are universal qualities that are equally valued (in society) and make a person better. Let's try to list and characterize some of them.

How and when is character formed? Dependence on temperament

According to psychologists, individual characteristics of temperament largely influence the personality. Depending on which of the types prevails in a person and how they combine and interact, it is possible to determine the main qualities of character.

For example, choleric people are characterized by irascibility and imbalance, while sanguine people are restless and active. However, if temperament is given to everyone from birth and is unchanged, then character must be developed and educated.

For example, the innate calmness and equanimity of a phlegmatic person can be manifested both by excessive slowness and by useful and, undoubtedly, positive determination, perseverance and accuracy. Moreover, character is formed already in early childhood, so it is necessary to educate it as early as possible.

Inheritance of character and features of education

It is widely believed that positive and negative traits character can be inherited. Many even give examples of how children and grandchildren show the same qualities as the representatives of the older generation. But, according to psychologists, education still plays a much larger role. After all, it is the family that becomes the place where the first values ​​and principles are instilled.

Adults, by their example, show the child from the very first months of his life how you can and cannot behave, lay the foundations of politeness and decency. Those character traits that are valued by parents become important for their children. It can be diligence, responsibility, or, for example, cheerfulness and friendliness.

Relationship between character and nationality

Many scientists are actively studying the dependence of the main personal qualities from a person's belonging to a particular nation. They managed to substantiate quite convincingly that different types of character are formed in different countries.

It is known that the mentality has been formed for more than one century, it largely depends on the characteristics of culture, the history of philosophy and other factors. It can even be about the climate. Thus, representatives of the northern peoples tend to accumulate energy. Hence some slowness, thoroughness. Inhabitants of warm southern countries On the contrary, they generously waste energy, they are characterized by ardor and temperament. And, for example, positive features character inherent in representatives Slavic peoples- this is generosity, cordiality, a tendency to self-sacrifice.

What is meant by positive traits?

The list of good qualities includes many items. At the same time, this list will be different for everyone. However, no one will argue that the success of a person in his personal life and career, his relationships with friends and relatives, and, in the end, his attitude and perception of himself, directly depend on the character.

Positive personality traits make life easier and happier. Negative ones, on the contrary, harm primarily the individual himself.

It is quite difficult to classify in any way the good qualities of a person, because they are in close relationship with each other. However, in order to make it easier to list and characterize them, we will try to distribute them into several groups. Indeed, in order to build strong relationships or succeed at work, different personal qualities are required. In addition, there are also the main character traits, without which a person, in principle, cannot be considered positive. Perhaps you can start with them.

Universal qualities

The list of primary positive qualities can begin with politeness. After all, an ill-mannered, rude, boorish person will not be able to succeed in any area of ​​life. Politeness, based on the elementary rules of etiquette, familiar to everyone since childhood, and respect for others - this is what makes us human.

Honor is one of the qualities that make us a person. This is the true nobility of the soul, the ability to strictly follow one's moral principles, without changing them even in the most difficult life situations, the desire to behave with dignity and always remain human.

Fairness is a manifestation of character helps to be honest with yourself and others. Such a person strives to do the right thing and always remains true to his ideals, openly speaking out for what he considers right.

Reliability is another of the traits necessary for both harmony in your personal life and success in your career. A person with this quality will fulfill a promise, no matter how difficult it may be, will do his job independently of others. You can rely on it in any situation, which is why reliability is so valued.

Courage and bravery, self-confidence - qualities are undoubtedly positive. After all, a coward will not be able to achieve any height and stay on it. And heroes and daredevils remain in our hearts and memory for many centuries.

Positive qualities for relationships with other people

Indicators of character that have a direct impact on our relationships with other people are undoubtedly important for each of us. After all, a person cannot live in isolation from the collective. One of the most important qualities is kindness. Such a person warmly treats others, is always ready to help friends, does not wish harm to anyone.

Closely adjacent to him are attentiveness, responsiveness and the ability to empathize. These good qualities of a person help him to establish harmonious relationships with loved ones. After all, sincere attention to people and the ability to understand their problems is much more expensive than any gifts.

Sincerity and truthfulness are qualities that have been valued at all times worth their weight in gold. A genuine, honest attitude towards others characterizes a person from the very better side.

Friendliness and openness are two more character traits that help to converge with others and find new friends. Such a person quickly establishes relationships and easily maintains them.

Do not forget about such qualities as hospitality and generosity. Such a person shares his time, things and good mood. Offers shelter and food without asking for anything in return. Welcomes guests into her home in a way that makes them feel important and significant.

Many more can be added to these qualities. Here are just a few: loyalty, tolerance, generosity, devotion, tact, and many others. The possession of these qualities makes a person attractive in the eyes of others.

Qualities that affect success in life and career

A list of positive traits that have a significant impact on success, including in business area, can be opened by such a quality as determination. A person who possesses it knows how to make plans and translate them into reality. He is not distracted by minor details and confidently goes to the goal.

Activity is also positive quality character, irreplaceable in the business sphere. No wonder they say that water does not flow under a lying stone. An active person will not wait for favors from providence, but builds his own destiny with his own hands, not being afraid of mistakes and failures.

Accuracy and conscientiousness are two more character traits that have a noticeable impact on success in business life and not only. This is the ability to accurately and diligently complete the task, not forgetting the smallest details. Neat people are attentive not only to their appearance, but also to official duties, performing them conscientiously.

A positive person, if we talk about a career, is not only executive, but also proactive. This quality implies the ability to contribute to the common cause and show oneself from the best side, without waiting for instructions from the authorities, to look for new non-standard ways to solve certain problems.

The modern world requires considerable organizational skills from a person. And this is useful not only for people in leadership positions. The ability to captivate with one's idea, organize the workflow, inspire and encourage action is valued in any situation and in every team.

Flexibility also characterizes a person the most in the best way. We are talking about the ability to adapt to changing circumstances, to respect the decisions of superiors. However, in any situation, you should not compromise with your own conscience.

Character traits that improve the quality of life

Gratitude and contentment are qualities that allow a person to be grateful to life for everything that happens to him. This is the ability to enjoy every gift of fate, regardless of what it brought. Such a person is not afraid to show close people how he appreciates them, he thanks every new day and has every chance to achieve harmony and become happy.

The ability to judge oneself and one's actions is a quality inherent in a truly strong man. Only with the help of an unbiased assessment can you avoid mistakes and achieve success in life.

The ability to forgive is a trait that is not so common today, but is necessary for a fulfilling life. Such people do not hide and do not remember grievances, they just let them go. The ability to sincerely forgive and not hold evil is a quality inherent in a happy person.

Good quality and gender

Positive and negative qualities largely depend on gender. After all, the requirements for men and women are sometimes radically different, as well as their inherent types of character.

Reliability, self-confidence, determination are expected from representatives of the strong half of humanity. A real man ready to support and help with the solution of any difficulties, you can always rely on him, he is brave and hardy.

And here is a typical female character, examples of which can be found not only in life, but also in films or books, are usually portrayed in a completely different way. For girls, such qualities as tenderness, patience, kindness, caring and the like are much more valuable.

A real woman is, first of all, the continuer of the family, the guardian of the family, a loving mother and wife. Moreover, some qualities that are positive for girls become completely unacceptable if they are possessed by a man and vice versa. For example, meekness adorns a woman, but not a man. And excessive perseverance or desperate courage will suit a young man, but they are unlikely to be useful to a girl.

How to develop and nurture good qualities?

As mentioned above, it is necessary to educate your personality from the very beginning. early childhood- first parents do it, later - school. But even in adulthood, you can and even need to develop your good qualities. After all, the true strength of character lies not only in what is laid down from childhood, but to a much greater extent in what is acquired through long-term self-improvement. How can this be achieved?

First of all, you need to soberly assess yourself and determine which positive and negative character traits prevail. This is necessary in order to find out in which direction to move, what to develop, and what to eradicate.

After a person chooses those qualities that, in his opinion, need to be educated in character, it is necessary to answer another important question: “What is this for?”. Perhaps he lacks the determination and activity to properly prove himself at work, or he is not brave enough, and this interferes with his personal life.

Positive example plays an important role in character development. Therefore, at the next stage, it would be a good idea to choose a well-known historical or fictional person who has the necessary qualities and imagine yourself in their place, to suggest how this person would behave in a given situation.

And, of course, practice is paramount. It is impossible to cultivate any trait in yourself, whether it be determination, courage or accuracy, without showing it. In other words, you need to gradually accustom yourself to behave in a new way. And even though this manifests itself at first only in small things, later the acquired habit will become an element of character.

It is important to equally cultivate different traits in yourself, paying attention to all facets of your personality. Only then will development be harmonious and complete. However, educating yourself, you need to remember about moderation. After all, some positive character traits can easily become negative.

One can often observe how, for example, caution borders on cowardice, frugality on stinginess, and excessive gaiety on frivolity. Moreover, almost any life situation can be viewed from different sides and see how closely good and evil, good and bad, both in man and in the whole world, coexist.

Do not forget that there are no completely ideal people, but you still need to try so that the positive character traits prevail over the negative ones. The desire for excellence, constant self-development, the desire to help those in need - this is what makes a person truly positive. And you will see how the people around you who are nearby become kinder.

being born new personality receives the gift of a unique character. Human nature can consist of traits inherited from parents, or it can manifest itself in a completely different, unexpected quality.

Nature does not just determine behavioral reactions, it specifically affects the manner of communication, attitude towards others and one's own person, to work. Character traits of a person create a certain worldview in a person.

A person's behavioral responses depend on the nature

These two definitions create confusion, because both of them are involved in the formation of personality and behavioral responses. In fact, the character and temperament are heterogeneous:

1. The character is formed from a list of certain acquired qualities of the personality's mental make-up.
2. Temperament is a biological quality. Psychologists distinguish four types of it: choleric, melancholic, sanguine and phlegmatic.

Having the same temperament, individuals can have absolutely different character. But temperament has an important influence on the development of nature - smoothing or sharpening it. Also, human nature directly affects temperament.

What is character

Psychologists, speaking of character, mean a certain combination of traits of an individual, persistent in their expression. These traits have the maximum impact on the behavioral line of the individual in diverse relationships:

• among people;
• in the work team;
• to one's own personality;
• to the surrounding reality;
• to physical and mental labor.

The word "character" is of Greek origin, it means "to mint". This definition was introduced by the naturalist Ancient Greece Theophrastus philosopher. Such a word really, very accurately defines the nature of the individual.

The character seems to be drawn as a unique drawing, it gives rise to a unique seal that a person wears in a single copy.

Simply put, character is a combination, a combination of stable individual mental characteristics.

How to understand nature

To understand what kind of nature an individual has, you need to analyze all his actions. It is behavioral reactions that determine examples of character and characterize the personality.

But this judgment is often subjective. Far from always a person reacts as intuition tells him. Actions are influenced by upbringing, life experience, customs of the environment where the person lives.

But you can understand what kind of character a person has. Observing and analyzing the actions of a certain person for a long time, one can identify individual, especially stable features. If a person is completely different situations behaves in the same way, showing similar reactions, makes the same decision - this indicates the presence of a certain nature in him.

Knowing which character traits are manifested and dominated by a person, it is possible to predict how she will manifest herself in a given situation.

Character and traits

A character trait is an important part of a personality; it is a stable quality that determines the interaction of a person and the surrounding reality. This is a defining method of resolving emerging situations, so psychologists consider a trait of nature as a predictable personal behavior.

A person acquires features of character in the course of his entire life span, it is impossible to attribute individual features of nature to innate and characterological. In order to analyze and evaluate the personality, the psychologist does not simply determine the totality individual characteristics, but also highlights their distinctive features.

It is the traits of character that are defined as leading in the study and compilation psychological characteristics personality.

But, defining, evaluating a person, studying the features of behavior in the social plan, the psychologist also uses knowledge of the content orientation of nature. It is defined in:

• strength-weakness;
• latitude-narrowness;
• static-dynamic;
• integrity-contradiction;
• integrity-fragmentation.

Such nuances constitute the general complete description a certain person.

List of personality traits

Human nature is the most complex cumulative combination of peculiar features, which is formed in unique system. This order includes the most striking, stable personal qualities, which are revealed in the gradations of human-society relationships:

In addition to character traits included by psychologists in the gradation of relationships ( separate category) were identified manifestations of nature in the moral, temperamental, cognitive and sthenic spheres:

• moral: humanity, rigidity, sincerity, good nature, patriotism, impartiality, responsiveness;
• temperamental: gambling, sensuality, romance, liveliness, receptivity; passion, frivolity;
• intellectual (cognitive): analyticity, flexibility, inquisitiveness, resourcefulness, efficiency, criticality, thoughtfulness;
• sthenic (volitional): categoricalness, perseverance, obstinacy, stubbornness, purposefulness, timidity, courage, independence.

Many leading psychologists are inclined to believe that some personality traits should be divided into two categories:

1. Productive (motivational). Such traits push a person to commit certain acts and actions. This is the goal-feature.
2. Instrumental. Giving personality during any activity individuality and way (manners) of action. These are traits.

Gradation of character traits according to Allport

Allport's theory

The famous American psychologist Gordon Allport, an expert and developer of gradations of personality traits of an individual, divided personality traits into three classes:

Dominant. Such features most clearly reveal the behavioral form: actions, activities of a certain person. These include: kindness, selfishness, greed, secrecy, gentleness, modesty, greed.

Normal. They are equally manifested in all the numerous spheres of human life. These are: humanity, honesty, generosity, arrogance, altruism, egocentrism, cordiality, openness.

Secondary. These nuances do not have a particular effect on behavioral responses. These are not dominant behaviors. These include musicality, poetry, diligence, diligence.

A strong relationship is formed between the traits of nature existing in a person. This regularity forms the final character of the individual.

But any existing structure has its own hierarchy. The warehouse of man was no exception. This nuance is traced in Allport's proposed gradation structure, where minor features can be suppressed by dominant ones. But in order to predict the act of a person, it is necessary to focus on the totality of the features of nature..

What is typicality and individuality

In the manifestation of the nature of each personality, it always reflects the individual and typical. This is a harmonious combination of personal qualities, because the typical serves as the basis for identifying the individual.

What is a typical character. When a person has a certain set of traits that are the same (common) for a particular group of people, such a warehouse is called typical. Like a mirror, it reflects the accepted and habitual conditions for the existence of a particular group.

Also, typical features depend on the warehouse (a certain type of nature). They are also a condition for the appearance of a behavioral type of character, in the category of which a person is “recorded”.

Having understood exactly what signs are inherent in a given personality, a person can make an average (typical) psychological picture and assign a certain type of temperament. For example:

Such typical character traits corresponding to a certain temperament are observed in each (to one degree or another) representative of the group.

individual manifestation. Relationships between individuals always have an evaluative characteristic, they are manifested in a rich variety of behavioral reactions. On the manifestation of the individual traits of the individual has big influence emerging circumstances, a formed worldview and a certain environment.

This feature is reflected in the brightness of various typical features of the individual. They are not the same in intensity and develop in each individual individually.

Some typical features are so powerfully manifested in a person that they become not just individual, but unique.

In this case, typicality develops, by definition, into individuality. This classification of personality helps to identify the negative characteristics of the individual that prevent them from expressing themselves and achieving a certain position in society.

Working on himself, analyzing and correcting the shortcomings in his own character, each person creates the life he aspires to.

The character of a personality is a qualitative individual characteristic that combines stable and constant properties of the psyche that determine the behavior and characteristics of a person’s attitude. Literally, translated from Greek, character means sign, trait. Character in the structure of personality combines a combination of its various qualities and properties that leave an imprint on behavior, activity and individual manifestation. The totality of essential, and most importantly, stable properties and qualities determine the whole way of life of a person and his ways of responding in a given situation.

The character of the individual is formed, defined and formed throughout his life path. The relationship of character and personality is manifested in activities, communication, causing at the same time typical ways behavior.

Personality traits

Any trait is some stable and unchanging stereotype of behavior.

Characteristic personality traits in general sense can be subdivided into those that specify general direction the development of manifestations of character in the complex (leading), and those that are determined by the main directions (secondary). Leading traits allow you to reflect the very essence of character and show its main important manifestations. It must be understood that any character trait of a person will reflect the manifestation of his attitude to reality, but this does not mean that any of his attitude will be directly a character trait. Depending on the living environment of the individual and certain conditions, only some manifestations of relationships will become defining character traits. Those. a person can react aggressively to one or another irritant of the internal or external environment, but this will not mean that the person is malicious by nature.

In the structure of the character of each person, 4 groups are distinguished. The first group includes traits that determine the basis of personality, its core. These include: honesty and insincerity, adherence to principles and cowardice, courage and cowardice, and many others. To the second - features that show the attitude of the individual directly to other people. For example, respect and contempt, kindness and malice, and others. The third group is characterized by the attitude of the individual towards himself. It includes: pride, modesty, arrogance, vanity, self-criticism and others. The fourth group is the attitude to work, activity or work performed. And it is characterized by such features as diligence and laziness, responsibility and irresponsibility, activity and passivity, and others.

Some scientists additionally distinguish another group that characterizes a person's attitude to things, for example, neatness and slovenliness.

They also distinguish such typological properties of character traits as abnormal and normal. Normal features are inherent in people who have a healthy psyche, and abnormal features include people with a variety of mental illnesses. It should be noted that similar personality traits can be both abnormal and normal. It all depends on the degree of expression or whether it is an accentuation of character. An example of this would be healthy suspicion, but when it goes off scale, it leads to.

The determining role in the formation of personality traits is played by society and the attitude of a person towards him. It is impossible to judge a person without seeing how he interacts with the team, without taking into account his attachments, antipathies, comradely or friendly relations in society.

The attitude of the individual to any kind of activity is determined by his relationship with other persons. Interaction with other people can encourage a person to be active and rationalize or keep him in suspense, give rise to his lack of initiative. The idea of ​​the individual about himself is determined by his relationship with people and attitude to activity. The basis in the formation of the consciousness of the individual is directly related to other individuals. A correct assessment of the personality traits of another person is a fundamental circumstance in the formation of self-esteem. Also, it should be noted that when a person’s activity changes, not only the methods, methods and subject of this activity change, but also the person’s attitude towards himself in the new role of the actor changes.

Personality traits

The most important feature of character in the structure of personality is its certainty. But this does not mean the dominance of one trait. Several traits can dominate in the character, contradicting or not contradicting each other. Character can lose its certainty in the absence of its clearly defined features. The system of moral values ​​and beliefs of the individual is also the leading and determining factor in the formation of character traits. They establish the long-term orientation of the behavior of the individual.

Features of the individual's character are inextricably linked with his stable and deep interests. The lack of integrity, self-sufficiency and independence of the individual is closely related to the instability and superficiality of the interests of the individual. And, on the contrary, the integrity and purposefulness, perseverance of a person directly depends on the content and depth of his interests. However, the similarity of interests does not yet imply the similarity characteristic features personality. For example, among scientists you can meet both cheerful people and sad people, both good and evil.

To understand the personality traits, one should also pay attention to his affections, leisure. This can reveal new facets and features of character. It is also important to pay attention to the correspondence of a person's actions to his established goals, because the individual is characterized not only by the action, but also by how exactly he produces them. The orientation of the activity and the actions themselves form the dominant spiritual or material needs and interests of the individual. Therefore, character should be understood only as the unity of the image of actions and their direction. It is from the combination of the characteristics of the character of the individual and his properties that the real achievements of a person depend, and not from the presence of mental capabilities.

Temperament and personality

The relationship of character and personality is also determined by the temperament of the individual, abilities and other aspects. And the concepts of temperament and personality character form its structure. Character is a set of qualitative properties of an individual that determine his actions, manifested in relation to other people, actions, things. Whereas temperament is a set of properties of the individual's psyche that affect his behavioral reactions. The nervous system is responsible for the manifestation of temperament. Character is also inextricably linked with the psyche of the individual, but his features are formed throughout life under the influence of the external environment. And temperament is an innate parameter that cannot be changed, you can only restrain its negative manifestations.

The premise of character is temperament. Temperament and character in the structure of personality are closely interconnected with each other, but at the same time they are different from each other.

Temperament contains the mental dissimilarity between people. It differs in the depth and strength of manifestations of emotions, activity of actions, impressionability and other individual, stable, dynamic features of the psyche.

It can be concluded that temperament is an innate foundation and basis on which a person is formed as a member of society. Therefore, the most stable and constant personality traits is temperament. It is equally manifested in any activity, regardless of its direction or content. It remains unchanged in adulthood.

So, temperament is the personal characteristics of the individual, which determine the dynamism of the course of his behavior and mental processes. Those. the concept of temperament characterizes the pace, intensity, duration of mental processes, external behavioral reaction (activity, slowness), but not conviction in views and interests. It is also not a definition of the value of the individual and does not determine its potential.

There are three important components of temperament that are related to the general mobility (activity) of a person, his emotionality and motor skills. In turn, each of the components owns enough complex structure and different various forms psychological manifestation.

The essence of activity lies in the individual's desire for self-expression, the transformation of the external component of reality. At the same time, the direction itself, the quality of the implementation of these trends is determined precisely by the characterological features of the individual and not only. The degree of such activity can range from lethargy to supreme manifestation mobility - constant lifting.

The emotional component of the personality's temperament is a set of properties that characterize the features of the flow of various feelings and moods. This component is the most complex in its structure in comparison with the others. Its main characteristics are lability, impressionability and impulsiveness. Emotional lability is the rate at which one emotional condition replaced by another or terminated. Impressionability is understood as the susceptibility of the subject to emotional impact. Impulsivity is the speed with which an emotion turns into the motivating cause and force of actions and deeds without first thinking them through and making a conscious decision to carry them out.

The character and temperament of the individual are inextricably linked. The dominance of one type of temperament can help determine the character of the subjects as a whole.

Personality character types

Today, in specific literature, there are many criteria by which personality types are determined.

The typology proposed by E. Kretschmer is now the most popular. It consists in dividing people into three groups depending on their physique.

Picnic people are people who are prone to becoming overweight or slightly overweight, small in stature, but with a large head, broad face and short neck. Their character type corresponds to cyclothymics. They are emotional, sociable, easily adapting to a variety of conditions.

Athletic people are tall and broad-shouldered people, with well-developed muscles, a hardy skeleton and a powerful chest. They correspond to the iksotimic type of character. These people are powerful and quite practical, calm and unimpressive. Ixotimics are restrained in gestures and facial expressions, they do not adapt well to changes.

Asthenic people are people who are prone to thinness, the muscles are poorly developed, the chest is flat, the arms and legs are long, and they have an elongated face. Corresponds to the type of character schizotimics. Such people are very serious and prone to stubbornness, it is difficult to adapt to change. They are characterized by closure.

K.G. Jung developed a different typology. It is based on the predominant functions of the psyche (thinking, intuition). His classification divides subjects into introverts and extroverts, depending on the dominance of the external or internal world.

An extrovert is characterized by directness, openness. Such a person is extremely sociable, active and has many friends, comrades and just acquaintances. Extroverts love to travel and make the most of life. An extrovert often becomes the initiator of parties, in companies he becomes their soul. AT ordinary life he focuses only on the circumstances, and not on the subjective opinion of others.

An introvert, on the contrary, is characterized by isolation, turning inward. Such a person fences himself off from the environment, carefully analyzes all events. It is difficult for an introvert to make contacts with people, so he has few friends and acquaintances. Introverts prefer solitude to noisy companies. These people have a high level of anxiety.

There is also a typology based on the relationship of character and temperament, which divides people into 4 psychotypes.

Choleric is a rather impetuous, fast, passionate and, along with this, unbalanced person. Such people are prone to sudden mood swings and emotional outbursts. Choleric people do not have a balance of nervous processes, therefore they are quickly depleted, thoughtlessly expending strength.

Phlegmatic people are distinguished by equanimity, unhurriedness, stability of moods and aspirations. Outwardly, they practically do not show emotions and feelings. Such people are quite persistent and persistent in their work, while always remaining balanced and calm. The phlegmatic person compensates for his slowness in work with diligence.

Melancholic is a very vulnerable person, prone to a stable experience of various events. The melancholic reacts sharply to any external factors or manifestations. Such people are very impressionable.

A sanguine person is a mobile, active person with a lively character. He is subject to frequent changes of impressions and is characterized by quick reactions to any events. Let's easily try on the failures or troubles that befell him. When a sanguine person is interested in his work, he will be quite productive.

K. Leonhard also identified 12 types that are often found in people with neurosis, accentuated characters. And E. Fromm described three social types of characters.

The psychological nature of the personality

Everyone has long known that significant changes occur in the psychological character of a person in the process of its development and life. Such changes are subject to typical (regular) and atypical (individual) trends.

To typical trends include changes that occur with a psychological nature in the process of growing up a person. This happens because the older an individual becomes, the faster he gets rid of childish manifestations in character, which distinguish children's behavior from an adult. Childish personality traits include capriciousness, tearfulness, fears, irresponsibility. Adult traits that come with age include tolerance, life experience, intelligence, wisdom, prudence, etc.

As you move along life path and the acquisition of life experience in the individual, there are changes in the views on events, and their attitudes towards them change. Which together also affects the final formation of character. Therefore, there are certain differences between people of different age groups.

So, for example, people between the ages of about 30 and 40 live mainly in the future, they live in ideas and plans. All their thoughts, their activity are aimed at the realization of the future. And people who have reached the age of 50 have come to the point where their current life meets at the same time past life and future. And therefore, their character is modified in such a way as to correspond to the present. This is the age when people completely say goodbye to dreams, but are not yet ready to be nostalgic for the past years. People who have overcome the 60-year milestone practically do not think about the future, they are much more concerned about the present, they have memories of the past. Also, due to physical ailments, the previously taken pace and rhythm of life is no longer available to them. This leads to the appearance of such character traits as slowness, measuredness, and tranquility.

Atypical, specific tendencies are directly related to the events experienced by a person, i.e. caused by past life.

As a rule, character traits that are similar to existing ones are fixed much faster and appear faster.

It should always be remembered that character is not a fixed value, it is formed throughout life cycle person.

The social nature of personality

Individuals of any society, regardless of their individual personality traits and differences, have in common in their psychological manifestations and properties, therefore, they act as ordinary representatives of this society.

The social character of the individual is general way adaptability of the individual to the influence of society. It is created by religion, culture, education system and upbringing in the family. It should also be borne in mind that even in the family, the child receives the upbringing that is approved in this society and corresponds to the culture, is considered normal, ordinary and natural.

According to E. Fromm, social character means the result of a person's adaptation to one or another image of the organization of society, to the culture in which he is brought up. He believes that none of the well-known developed societies in the world will allow the individual to fully realize himself. From this it follows that the individual is in conflict with society from birth. Therefore, we can conclude that the social nature of the individual is a kind of mechanism that allows the individual to exist freely and with impunity in any society.

The process of adaptation of an individual in society occurs with a distortion of the character of the individual and his personality, to the detriment of it. According to Fromm, social character is a kind of defense, the response of an individual to a situation that causes frustration on social environment, which does not allow the individual to express himself freely and fully develop, putting him obviously within the framework and limitations. In society, a person will not be able to fully develop the inclinations and opportunities inherent in him by nature. As Fromm believed, the social character is instilled in the individual and has a stabilizing character. From the moment an individual begins to have a social character, he becomes completely safe for the society in which he lives. Fromm identified several variants of this nature.

Personal character accentuation

Accentuation of the character of a person is a pronounced feature of character traits, which is within the recognized norm. Depending on the magnitude of the severity of character traits, accentuation is divided into hidden and explicit.

Under the influence of specific environmental factors or circumstances, some weakly expressed or not at all manifested features can be clearly expressed - this is called hidden accentuation.

By explicit accentuation is understood the extreme manifestation of the norm. This type is characterized by the constancy of features for a certain character. Accentuations are dangerous in that they can contribute to the development of mental disorders, situationally defined pathological behavioral disorders, neuroses, etc. However, one should not confuse and identify the accentuation of a personality’s character with the concept of mental pathology.

K. Leongrad identified the main types and combinations of accentuations.

A feature of the hysteroid type is egocentrism, excessive thirst for attention, recognition of individual abilities, the need for approval and reverence.

A high degree of sociability, mobility, a tendency to mischief, excessive independence are prone to people with a hyperthymic type.

Asthenoneurotic - characterized by high fatigue, irritability, anxiety.

Psychosthenic - manifested by indecision, love of demagoguery, self-digging and analysis, suspiciousness.

A distinctive feature of the schizoid type is isolation, detachment, lack of sociability.

The sensitive type is manifested by increased resentment, sensitivity, shyness.

Excitable - characterized by a tendency to regularly recurring periods of dreary mood, the accumulation of irritation.

Emotionally labile - characterized by a very changeable mood.

Infantile-dependent - observed in people who play in children who avoid taking responsibility for their actions.

Unstable type - manifests itself in a constant craving for various kinds of entertainment, pleasure, idleness, idleness.

“How many people - so many characters” - you can often hear. And this is actually true, there are no two absolutely identical people on earth. People have various systems worldviews, principles, hobbies and values, react differently to certain external stimuli and events. determines his personal actions, which make up his whole life.

Scientists and psychologists call the character of a person an individual combination of certain personality traits that determine his attitude to the whole world. environment and show up in his actions.

Character(Greek χαρακτηρ - a sign, a distinctive feature, a sign) is a structure of persistent, relatively constant mental properties that determine the characteristics of a person's behavior and relationships.

In the scientific literature on psychology, there are several criteria for determining the types of human character. We will only consider the main ones.

The most popular typology of characters proposed by the famous German psychologist E. Kretschmer, therefore person's character depends on his physique. Kretschmer described the main three body types of a person and their corresponding types of characters:

Jung's character classification

The Swiss psychiatrist and psychologist Carl Gustav Jung developed his own, which is based on dominant mental functions(sensation, intuition, feeling and thinking). He classified all people according to the predominance of the inner or outer world (introvertive and extravertive types).

1. An introvert is a closed, inwardly focused thinker, turned into himself, a person fenced off from the whole world around him, carefully analyzing all events, while suspecting everyone of contradictory actions. He has very few friends, because it is very difficult for him to make new contacts, he is closer to loneliness, he does not change his own habits. An introvert is a very suspicious person with an overestimated degree of anxiety, he listens to feelings in himself and values ​​his health.
2. Extrovert - straight, open man, extremely sociable, active and understandable to everyone, he has many acquaintances and friends, he cannot stand loneliness, has little interest in his own health, loves to travel, tries to make the most of life. He becomes the soul of the company, is the initiator of various meetings and parties, loves to tell jokes, in Everyday life focuses not on subjective opinion, but on circumstances.

The relationship of human character with temperament

Features of different temperaments can help a person understand character traits if they are pronounced, however, people with pronounced certain temperaments are quite rare, most often mixed temperament occurs in varying degrees expressiveness. But the predominance of any type of temperament can help determine type of person.

There is a huge amount character type classifications man, even better to say, attempts to systematize all the knowledge and psychology of his behavior, but none of them can be so deep and so effective. Since each person, going through periods of laying down certain characters in his life, collects them all in himself in order to live as an individual for the rest of his life.

If you find it difficult to determine your type of character, then various ones that are designed just for this can help you.

Character is a unique set of qualities that determine the uniqueness and uniqueness of each individual person, his personality and behavior. Understanding the character facilitates the process of communication between people, helps to avoid controversial or conflict situations. The very concept of "character" is of Greek origin and denotes the features of the psycho-emotional manifestation and expression of the individual.

Traits

Each of us, without much thought, can easily and quickly name various character traits. This list can be very long. But in order to determine the characteristic type of a particular individual, one should know not only its main features, but also be able to designate which of them are defining, and which are only complementary. In modern psychology, there are:

• leading features, which in fact are the determinants of character in general;
• secondary features that complement and individualize a particular personality.

Knowledge of the leading features allows you to determine the essence of all morality, its "backbone".

The presence of two identical traits in two people does not indicate the identity of their disposition. So, both have truthfulness and timidity at the same time. If the former has fearfulness leading feature, then, most likely, he will not outwardly express his disapproval of the actions or behavior of others that contradict his inner convictions. He would rather remain silent, in his soul arguing about the wrongness of those around him. And vice versa, if another has a leading quality of truthfulness, and a secondary timidity, then he will not fail to point out to those around him that they are wrong, fearing only in the depths of his soul the consequences of his statements.

Characteristic features are divided into the following major groups in relation to various household aspects:

• attitude towards people around (tact, friendliness, rudeness, sociability, isolation, sincerity, truthfulness, deceit, etc.);
• attitude to work, activity (responsibility, diligence, dishonesty, laziness, irresponsibility, etc.);
• attitude towards oneself (self-criticism, narcissism, modesty, arrogance, self-confidence, pride, vanity, etc.);
• attitude to property and property (generosity, thrift, accuracy, carelessness, carelessness, etc.).

The dominant group is the first (i.e. attitude towards others), since man is a social being, the main features of his behavior are formed and manifested in society. Evaluation of behavior by others affects the formation and understanding of character as a whole.

character structure

In the structure, features of both individual properties and those common to a certain group of people are distinguished: national, age or professional. The way and way of life, the peculiarities of everyday life, even the language and national structure have their influence on the formation of common features for groups and even for entire nations. So, people of one nationality differ from another in their way of life, habits, type of thinking, etc. At the ordinary level, typical common features create certain stereotypes. Most of us have our own idea about the inhabitants of a particular country, about their habits and customs: about Italians, French, Japanese, etc.

All this is true to some extent: character is not an innate or hereditary trait, it formed in the process of personality development as a member of a group or community. This is a product of society, which can explain similar or different features in the mores of people of different groups.

accentuation- this is an increased development of certain traits characteristic of the individual. So, there are extroverts (open and sociable people) and introverts (closed and uncommunicative).

There is the following classification of character according to accentuation, according to which they distinguish the following types character:

1. Hyperthymic. The defining properties of this type are: talkativeness, sociability, such people have well-developed facial expressions. Along with this, such people are often irritable and frivolous, however, they are very energetic and proactive.
2. distymny. The features that define this species are isolation and pessimism. Such people avoid noisy companies, but highly value friendship, they have a heightened sense of injustice. Taking important decisions They are often slow and clumsy.
3. Cycloid. For this type of accentuation, the defining feature is a frequent change of mood, depending on which they are either closed in on themselves, or, on the contrary, sociable beyond measure.
4. Excitable. Distinctive feature this type of accentuation is conflict. Such people are difficult to communicate, often authoritarian in the family, and quarrelsome in the team. They are neat and attentive when they are calm, but in a bad mood they are often irritable and quick-tempered.
5. stuck. These are very intractable individuals who love to teach everyone. Often they are the cause of various conflicts. The demands they make on others (as well as on themselves) are very high.
6. Pedantic. The defining feature of this species is an increased (sometimes excessive) attention to detail. Such people do not strive for leadership, they are conscientious, but they like to grumble for any reason.
7. alarming. Individuals with this type are insecure. They tend to avoid conflict situations, and in such cases they seek support from others. Friendliness and self-criticism are also defining features of their character, but the lack of proper willpower often makes them the subject of jokes or ridicule.
8. Demonstrative. Representatives of this type of character easily make contact, can adapt to any situation, are prone to intrigues. One of their defining properties is self-confidence, which often causes disputes and conflicts. People with this character are artistic and courteous, they have non-standard thinking. They can often be boastful, hypocritical and selfish.

In modern psychology, there are many classifications.

Types of temperament

Temperament has a huge influence on the formation of a particular type of character, which has been noted since ancient world. So, even Hippocrates divided all temperaments into four main types:

1. - a cheerful, cheerful, balanced person, soberly assessing the situation and acting deliberately.
2. Choleric- a person who quickly reacts to external events, often he can be unreasonably harsh and inclined to commit rash acts. As a rule, choleric people are quick-tempered and unbalanced.
3. - a person who is distinguished by emotional stability and endurance. It is almost impossible to bring him out of a state of peace of mind and peace.
4. melancholic- an individual with increased nervous sensitivity, nervous stress and shock are categorically contraindicated for people of this type.

It should be noted, however, that in the so-called pure form, these types of temperaments are extremely rare. As a rule, temperament is mixed (one type may have some features of both phlegmatic and sanguine, both choleric and melancholic).

The relationship between temperament and character of a person

Often the words "character" and "temperament" are compared with each other, often they replace each other.

In psychology, there are four fundamental views on the relationship between them:

1. the unity of temperament and character, their identification (according to the teachings of E. Kretschmer and A. Ruzhitsky);
2. opposition of temperament and character, their antagonism (the teachings of P. Viktorov, V. Virenius);
3. recognition of a person's temperament as the core or element of his character (according to S. Rubinshtein, S. Gorodetsky);
4. recognition of temperament as the natural basis of the whole character (according to L. Vygotsky, B. Ananiev).

Both the types of temperament and the types of human character depend on the characteristics of his physiology and on the type nervous system. The character of a person is formed when his temperament is quite developed. Temperament is the basis of character, but does not predetermine it. People with the same type of temperament may have different character traits. The type of temperament can influence the assistance or obstruction for the formation of certain character traits. For example, it is much more difficult for a phlegmatic person to cultivate sociability in himself than a sanguine person, and a choleric person needs much more effort to become balanced than a phlegmatic person, etc.

The character and temperament of a person are closely interconnected with each other, together they make up the individuality of a person, the basis and description of his behavior.