Each person has his own views on life, aspirations, ideals, interests, desires and goals, and in psychology the totality of this has a name - personality orientation.
Orientation is formed depending on upbringing and environment, because any person is influenced by society to some extent. Personality orientation is an important characteristic of a person; in psychology it is also replaced by the term “dynamic tendency”, which affects his character and activity.
Focus and motivation
The orientation of the individual should highlight goals and motives. A goal is what a person strives for, and a motive is the reason why he strives for this goal. A person can set the same goal for different reasons - therefore, the motives will be different.
For example, someone wants to become a doctor, but does not understand what exactly attracts him to this profession. Another also wants to become a doctor, but at the same time he realizes that he wants to treat people. The third wants to make a good career and achieve material well-being with the help of the medical profession. As we see, everyone has the same goal, but the motives are different, as is the degree of their awareness.
At the same time, you need to realize that human behavior is rarely dictated by any one motive. A specific action is most often the result of a whole complex of motives and motivations. Thus, a person can go to work at the same time because he needs money, because he likes this activity, and because it allows him to make new friends. If any of these motives ceases to operate, then the person’s behavior changes - for example, he may move to another organization or try to get a new profession.
A “test” of personality and its direction can occur at the moment of confrontation with any difficult situation. Indeed, all our goals and motives exist in our minds, therefore, they may differ from the actual picture of the world. A problematic situation arises when the real world has noticeable inconsistencies with our inner world. Facing a problem can sometimes change the entire personality structure. Some people call this situation “enlightenment” or “revelation.”
There are three options for the consequences of a difficult event on the psyche
:
- If a person’s beliefs, attitudes and values assumed such a scenario, then they are consolidated: the person understands that “he was right.”
- When an event partially confirms attitudes and values, then their further development occurs, they become richer and more diverse. A person seems to be telling himself that “life, it turns out, is much better (worse, scarier, more fun) than he thought.”
- The third option is the complete destruction of all value guidelines and attitudes. A person recognizes previous personal development as in vain; he becomes disappointed in life.
The devastating impact of a difficult event can even lead to pathology, as well as suicide. However, this is only the most extreme version of the outcome of the matter; Often a person makes enormous volitional efforts, striving to find himself again. A significant role here is played by the strong-willed qualities of the individual, her sincere desire to live and take her place in the world. It was about such situations that Nietzsche said: “Everything that does not kill us makes us stronger.”
Often the problem arises that a person is not prepared for the variability of the world around him. Clearly set goals would have been feasible in the original situation, but circumstances have changed, and the goal can no longer be achieved by the same means. Of course, the opposite situation also happens: a person suddenly has the opportunity to do something that was previously only a dream.
Functions
- Guide: indicates the path, where to go, what to strive for, how to develop. The problem is that many motives and needs remain unconscious, but even in this form they can influence a person’s choices and actions;
- Encouraging: inspires, provokes active activity of the individual. After all, it is very difficult to force a person to do something that he does not want. And the results of such work will be sad;
- The regulatory function is closely related to prioritization. What is more important in a given situation has greater significance;
- Meaning-forming: gives value to what a person does.
How to love yourself - what does this mean in psychology, acceptance of your personality
Orientation as a system
Direction as a system of relationships of an individual to reality represents the following triad: attitude towards other people as members of a team; attitude towards work and results, products of labor; attitude towards oneself, one’s personality. It includes the drives, desires, interests, inclinations, ideals, views, beliefs of a person, his worldview, character traits and self-esteem. In other words, the orientation of a person’s personality is a set of stable motives that orient the activity of the individual and are relatively independent of existing situations.
In accordance with this, a distinction is made between interaction orientation (ID), business task orientation (TO) and personal orientation or self-direction (NS).
Determining the orientation of the personality of a particular employee is of utmost importance for the practice of personnel work, since the effectiveness of the selection, placement and further use of personnel in production depends on this. This position will become clear after familiarization with the characteristics of various types of orientation.
Focus on interaction
Focus on interaction
occurs when an employee’s actions are determined by his need for communication and the desire to maintain good relationships with fellow workers. As a rule, people with a focus on interaction yield to group pressure and do not take leadership. Such an employee shows interest in joint activities, even if this does not contribute to the successful completion of the task, and his actual assistance is minimal. He is interested not so much in the final result of the activity as in the joint activity itself.
Business orientation
Business orientation
reflects the predominance of motives associated with the group achieving its goal. An employee with this orientation takes leadership into his own hands. When it comes to choosing a task, he tries to reasonably prove his point of view, which is considered useful for completing the task. Typically, such an employee strives to cooperate with the team and achieve the greatest productivity in the work of his subordinates. It is characterized by passion for mastering new skills and abilities, the process of activity itself, and the desire for knowledge.
Personal focus
Personal focus
creates a predominance of motives for one’s own well-being, the desire for personal primacy and prestige. Such a person is most often busy with himself, his feelings, experiences and little reacts to the needs of the people around him, ignores employees or the work that he must do. In work he sees, first of all, an opportunity to satisfy his aspirations, regardless of the interests of other employees and colleagues.
Education as the basis for personality formation
Raising a child should be a purposeful and methodically organized process. When raising a child, parents give him certain moral guidelines, instill a certain system of values - most often using for these purposes the same model that is dominant for them. The main task of parents in this situation is to adequately reflect reality and measure the relationship between the “ideal” educational model and the strengths, capabilities, character and inclinations of their child. After all, the main thing that a family can give to a new person is a sense of security, self-confidence, encouragement (that feedback that will give the child the opportunity to grow up as a self-confident, purposeful person, capable of achieving the tasks assigned to him without entering into an “ethical conflict” with the surrounding world).
The culture of relationships with others and with oneself, the general culture of the individual, is primarily the task of family education. This is why researchers today pay special attention to childhood psychology, since it is child psychology that lays down the basic forms of future behavior and shapes a person’s psychotype.
Professional orientation of the individual
Each of the professions known to people assumes that a person applying for a particular position must have the appropriate character qualities
After all, when making decisions, acting in the workplace, we are often required to have a high concentration of attention (read about human attention), greater resistance to stress, etc. If these qualities remain undeveloped, the person will not cope with his responsibilities
Professional orientation is a whole system of motives that drive a person.
Below is a classification of personality types with characteristics showing in which area they are most likely to achieve success.
- Realistic type. These are people with a stable nervous system. They strive for maximum accuracy in everything and prefer to work with real objects. Most often, they engage in physical labor. Suitable professions: technicians, mechanics, builders, sailors.
- Conventional type. This group includes people who are focused on precision and accuracy. They are great performers and like to do everything on time. They often engage in activities that require great concentration and attentiveness. Professions: librarian, economist, accountant, merchandiser.
- Intellectual type. These are real thinkers. People of this type can sit in one place for a long time, immersed in thought. They make far-reaching plans for the future and carefully plan their activities. Most of all, they are attracted to research work that allows them to get closer to discovering the truth, some particular law. Professions: teacher, scientist, writer.
- Enterprising type. Here you can meet excellent leaders who love to manage and strive to take a leading position in everything. The desire for primacy determines their personal success. Professions: business manager, businessman, administrator.
- Social type. These people have an open heart and a willingness to care for others. They structure their professional activities in such a way as to help as many people as possible. They have a highly developed sense of responsibility, humanism, and empathy. Professions: doctor, veterinarian, social worker, teacher, educator.
- Artistic type. Here are perhaps the most unpredictable people who find it difficult to maintain a certain schedule at work. In their activities, they are guided rather by their own feelings, do not like boundaries, and highly value freedom and independence. Professions: actor, artist, poet, designer.
Thus, the orientation of a person entirely determines his success. Diagnosis of personality orientation largely depends on how satisfied the person himself is with what he does.
Structure
- Finding yourself begins with the first step - with attraction. This is a primitive form, here the need still remains unconscious.
- When it becomes conscious, attraction develops into desire. Already at this stage, a person begins to think through methods for its implementation. Directly through desires a person comes to a goal.
- If an individual becomes able not only to dream, but also to make certain efforts, desire turns into aspiration. Quite often at this stage the individual has a plan of action.
- Against the backdrop of the desire to learn new things, interest is born. It gives meaning to any activity of an individual. You can already judge by interests what a person is like.
- When serious work is added to interest, it turns into addiction. A person does not want to leave this type of activity and constantly returns to it, feeling a burning desire to engage in it. He is ready to spend a lot of time on mastering new skills and will strive to achieve impeccable performance.
- An ideal is a picture, a perfect image in a person’s head, to which he strives and what he wants to achieve in the chosen direction.
- The next step is worldview. These are the laws that a person relies on in life. With their help, he makes plans for the future and chooses a style of behavior in different circumstances. Worldview is a view of the people around you, the world as a whole and your place in it.
- According to psychology dictionaries, the highest form of human orientation is conviction.
Volitional personality traits - what is it in psychology, their formation
Belief
All these steps of the substructure are strongly interconnected; it is difficult to say where exactly the line between attraction and desire is, when desire turns into interest. Direction begins with an unconscious attraction and develops into a conviction. However, it cannot be said that the components of a personality’s direction are formed once and for all; they do not stand still, change, and develop throughout human life.
Definition
Each person has his own views on life, his place in the world, on society. The orientation of a person is her priorities and worldview, hobbies and needs, goals and desires. It develops largely due to upbringing and environment, and depends on the level of morality of society. Thus, a child often adopts his parents’ worldview, their fears, interests and priorities. Relatives are undoubtedly influenced by the social environment.
In a religious society, direction is greatly influenced by faith. A devout Christian will see his path in serving God and people; a prudent Chinese is often guided by the saying “if you are not caught, you are not a thief.”
Personal orientation is the path to self-realization and goals.
How to find out your type
There is a test for this. The orientation of a person can be found out in 5-7 minutes; completing the questionnaire will not take more time. In total, it includes 30 items with three answer options. These are not questions, but proposals that are proposed to be continued. You need to mark two options out of three: one is “most of all”, and the other is “least of all”. Here are examples:
- Question: “What gives me satisfaction in life...” How can I answer: most of all, the realization that the work was completed successfully. Least of all is the assessment of my work. The third option, which remained unmarked, sounds like this: “The consciousness that you are among friends.”
- Question: “I’m glad when my friends...” How can I answer: most of all - when they are true and reliable. Least of all, they help outsiders when given the opportunity. The third option, left unchecked, sounds like this: “They are intelligent, have broad interests.”
- Question: “If I could become any of the options offered, I would like to be...” How can I answer: most of all - an experienced pilot. Least of all - the head of the department. The third option, which remained unmarked, sounds like this: a scientist.
Also, the personality orientation test includes the following questions: “When I was a child, I loved...”, “I don’t like it when I...”, “I don’t like groups in which...”, etc.
Based on the test results, the person will know the result. It is recommended to answer without thinking, since the first answer that comes to mind usually reflects the true thoughts.
Afterword
Thus, personality orientation is a psychological property that implies a set of internal attitudes, aspirations and life goals. Some people see the purpose of life in creativity, some in work, some in crimes. The orientation of a person stems from beliefs and determines a person’s actions.
Orientation reflects the content of a person as a participant in public life. It reflects what a person does and how, how he relates to his responsibilities, what value and usefulness he represents to society.
Interest
This is not even a structural component of a person’s orientation, but an entire cognitive form and a separate motivational state.
So, interest is a person’s emotional orientation towards certain objects. They have a special sustainable significance, as they are associated with his individual needs.
Interests can be spiritual and material, versatile and limited, stable and short-term. How deep and wide they are determines the fullness of a person’s life. After all, it is with interests that his inclinations, passions and desires are connected.
You could even say that they determine a person’s lifestyle. This is easy to prove. Is the person interested in business, career, making big money, different business industries and the secrets of successful entrepreneurship? This means that for him the main thing in life is success and material well-being. And he will do everything to achieve this goal, acting in accordance with his interests.
One more thing. By the breadth, significance and globality of interests, one can determine the orientation of a person. This is studied separately in psychology.
A person who embraces different aspects of life, develops himself in several directions, is interested in many industries, and has an expanded view of this world. He knows a lot, can consider opportunities and problems from several angles at once, and is characterized by high erudition and developed intelligence. Such people are capable of more than others. They even have a stronger desire.
But people with small interests tend to be mediocre, boring and unsuccessful. Why? Because they are not interested in anything other than satisfying natural needs. Food, drink, sleep, Friday night at the bar, home, work, sex, and all over again. There is no intellectual burden in their interests. They don't develop.
Motives
Exist:
- Motives for preventing failures. The individual takes careful actions and weighs every step. In this case, less significant actions are performed.
- Motives for achieving the goal. When solving problems, the maximum amount of resources is used.
Types of connection between motivation and orientation:
- Ideological and spiritual. A person has a desire to study the universe. The individual begins to think in the direction of development and preservation of humanity.
- Instinctive-physiological. It is manifested by the desire to satisfy bodily needs in order to preserve oneself and one’s species.
- Individual and personal. The desire to satisfy one’s own needs, maintain individuality, and self-expression.
Motivated actions often take place against the background of internal contradictions. A person has competing, multidirectional drives. Motivation helps to temporarily suppress them in order to achieve something faster.
Forms of personality orientation in psychology
Every person needs something. There are things that all or almost all people need: we all want to eat, be healthy, protected from sudden and violent death, almost everyone wants to live as long as possible. Such primary needs are characteristic not only of humans, but also of animals; To a certain extent, we can talk about the same needs in plants. In addition to biological ones, there are social needs that are unique to humans. Some of them are also characteristic of the vast majority of people: these are the needs for clothing, housing, etc. But there are needs that are characteristic only of individual people and are not important for everyone else. For example, the need to realize oneself in nuclear physics or the desire to create music. In general, the need for self-realization is the highest desire of the individual and is inherent in a relatively small number of people.
Not all human needs can be satisfied immediately, and not all of them can even be satisfied in principle. Unmet needs take different forms depending on the content and how aware the person is of his goals.
Settings
These are unconscious states that characterize a person’s readiness to engage in some activity. Attitudes most often arise when some situation, called attitudinal, is repeated repeatedly, during which a person naturally reacts in one way or another. Once formed, an attitude can sometimes persist for a very long time. However, the rate of formation and disappearance of attitudes varies from person to person. Various studies have made it possible to identify three types of attitudes: cognitive (what a person is ready to learn), emotional-evaluative (his likes and dislikes in relation to the object) and behavioral (readiness to act in some way in relation to the object).
Attractions
These are partially realized needs, the reason for which, however, may be unclear to the person. This is a kind of transitional stage, after which the need can either be realized or fade away.
Interests
This is the name given to a person’s selective attitude towards an object due to the fact that this object is somehow attractive to him - emotionally or “vitally”. The emotional side of cognitive activity is of interest; it is associated with a positive perception of some object, phenomenon or event. An individual can have many interests, and they can all be different in content, depth, volume, etc.
Tendencies
These are motives that strongly express a person’s needs in engaging in any type of activity. The most stable and strong interests often develop into inclinations.
Desires
These are motives based on conscious needs, which are not yet strong incentives to action. Desires often characterize a person’s attitude towards an object that he wants to achieve, but realizes the impossibility of achieving this at the moment.
Aspirations
These are motivations that express the desire to achieve certain conditions of existence that are currently absent, but can be realized in the process of organized activity. Aspirations come in different types: it can be a dream (an imaginary image of what is desired), an ideal (a motive expressing the need to imitate some model, to follow a certain example), passion (a motive reflecting the need for an irresistible force).
Beliefs
This is a set of needs that encourage her to act in accordance with her views, ideas and principles. Beliefs are based on certain knowledge about the world.
Worldview
This is a person’s system of views on the world. First of all, worldview reflects social existence. It is the main regulator of human behavior and forms certain types of personality orientation.
Peculiarities
This aspect of the psyche is characterized:
- Dominance of motivations in the structure of orientation.
- The significance for the individual or society of the identified goals.
- Using all other components for implementation.
- Interrelation with all elements of personality.
- The leading role of systematization and structuring of human activity.
- Clear directional system.
- Its dynamic balance depending on external and internal conditions.
Types of personality orientation
Psychologists talk about the presence of several directions that determine how a person behaves in different situations. Each type affects one area of activity, so it cannot be called good or bad.
Personal focus
It is characterized by the desire for one’s own self-realization, the implementation of personal goals and aspirations. Such people are often called selfish, because they seem to care little about others, but think more about themselves, build constructive plans in their heads and meaningfully move towards their implementation
Character traits characteristic of such people: self-confidence, determination, the ability to focus on an important problem, organization, responsibility for the actions performed. People of this orientation will never blame others for their own failures
They do not expect help from others, but prefer to take everything into their own hands. Sometimes they develop a so-called desire for loneliness and have difficulty entrusting their affairs to anyone. This difficulty is dictated by the individual’s lifestyle, his strong-willed character (read the article “Strength of Character”). These are inherently incredibly strong individuals who are able to move forward, relying only on their own support, counting on their own strength.
Focus on other people
Characterized by an increased need for communication and approval from other people. Such a person is too focused on the opinions of others, and therefore is not able to make his own plans and realize individual aspirations and dreams. Before taking any action, a person will mentally or vocally coordinate his actions with the opinion of society. He is afraid to go beyond what is considered acceptable or normal in society, so he most often does not express his own opinion.
Focus on other people is also accompanied by a great desire to participate in public life, to fulfill requests at the request of relatives, friends and colleagues. Such people are very popular in teams - they are trouble-free, easily get along with almost any person, and are ready to help at the right time. A healthy psychological climate in the team and at home is a fundamental component for them.
Business orientation
Characterized by high demands on one’s own personality, the ability to organize affairs in such a way that both the individual himself and the society in which he lives are in an advantageous position. Such a person is distinguished by a businesslike approach to everything that surrounds him. He does not necessarily seek to engage in business or develop his own business. The ability to find benefits in different situations (not only for oneself, but also for other people) puts a person in an advantageous position in front of colleagues and friends. As a rule, this is a sociable person who really loves the company of other people, however, at the same time, he is quite freedom-loving and always plays by his own rules.
Emotional orientation of the individual
Characterized by a tendency to worry about everything. Such a person is most often responsive and not indifferent to the sorrows of other people. His ability to empathize is developed to a fairly large extent, so those who are in great need of it at the moment often turn to him for advice. People of this type are characterized by increased impressionability, emotional instability, and their mood often changes. Any minor incident can throw them out of their state of mental balance and give rise to a lot of anxiety.
In addition to the above, they are well versed in art, in particular music and literature, as they have a bright, unique ability to feel the experiences and moods of fictional characters.
Social orientation of the individual
Characterized by increased attentiveness to the outside world and people. Such individuals always notice what is happening around them and delve into the essence of social and political changes. As a rule, people of this type cannot live outside society. They can be both managers and subordinates, the main thing is that their activities develop within society.
Meaning and significance:
In the modern world, it is necessary to take into account the psychological characteristics of a person’s personality orientation. In large corporations, for example, such phenomena have already become quite frequent - a psychological portrait of an employee is compiled and studied by specialists.
Determining the orientation of the individual, the psychotype of a person, his inclinations, goals, temperament - all this is extremely important, since it allows the psychologist or personnel selection specialist to form an understanding of the orientation of the personality and motivation of the employee with whom he works. This approach allows you to find suitable motivation that ensures comfortable work and maximum productivity in any field. But even outside the professional sphere, a modern person must strive to understand himself, determine for himself those qualities, solve those problems that will allow him to develop harmoniously in any aspect of his life.
Direction and motives of the individual’s activity
The degree of success in solving the assigned tasks largely depends on how well the individual himself is motivated to obtain a favorable result. There are several factors that have a huge impact on any activity carried out by a person.
Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
External motivation is called motivation aimed at external events and surrounding people. For example, if you need to immediately prepare a report on history just to get the manager’s approval and close the session, then there is external motivation. In the case when it is necessary to carry out research work because it represents the scientific or creative interest of the researcher himself, then we talk about internal motivation.
It must be said that internal motivation is much stronger than external motivation, because it encourages a person to self-development, some new achievements, discoveries.
Awareness – unawareness of motives
When there is a clear understanding of why this or that activity is being performed, the effectiveness of its implementation increases several times. Monotonous work, devoid of much meaning and significance, only brings melancholy and despondency. It happens that a person for a long time cannot realize the true motives of his actions and this leads him to error.
Interests and significant needs
Acting out of one's own interests, a person always increases his or her labor efficiency. In other words, when what we do excites the imagination, evokes pleasant feelings, and works much better. Satisfying the needs for recognition, approval from the team, and self-realization, the individual grows, learns and expands his own capabilities. New prospects for further advancement and development are emerging. When the activity being performed is in no way connected with the leading needs, the personal and spiritual components are not satisfied, a person gradually begins to doubt himself, his strength decreases over time.
Ability to set a goal
Whatever we strive for, it is extremely important from the very beginning to correctly determine the direction, the final goal, and understand what we want to achieve as a result. It is also necessary to set the appropriate rhythm to the movement and maintain it throughout the entire period - then any work will be effective
The ability to see the end result of an activity will help you predict possible difficulties in advance in order to cope with them in a timely manner. It would be a good idea to keep in mind the so-called ideal of achievement, that is, to track how much the current reality corresponds to a given model.
Self confidence
No business can be accomplished if a person is not confident in his own abilities. Even if a person has rare and exceptional talents, he will not be able to achieve success as long as he engages in self-flagellation and doubts that he will succeed. Self-confidence is an essential tool for building strong and trusting relationships with the outside world. It is possible to cultivate self-confidence, but only when a person is ready to devote time to working with feelings, studying educational issues, and gaining new knowledge - this cannot be avoided.
Correct goal setting and self-confidence
In order to achieve success, a person needs to decide on his desires and goals. It is also important to come up with a plan to achieve them. To improve your work efficiency, you should present the result of your work and the achievement of your goal.
Also, in order to achieve success, you need to be confident in your abilities. Only a self-confident person can take concrete steps towards achieving a goal. Self-confidence can be developed, because it is also necessary for building relationships with others.
The orientation of the individual is formed from childhood during training and upbringing. Each personality develops in society and is influenced by it, while some later develop independence from the opinions of others. Personality orientation is the motives, desires and goals of a person that influence his activities and behavior. Therefore, the orientation of a person determines how successful he will be and how he will achieve his goals.
Professional orientation by personality type
Psychologist J. Holland identified several types of professional orientation of an individual.
They depend on what type of person the person is.
:
- Realistic type
. Such people prefer to work with real objects. They are practical-oriented and want to achieve quick results. They have well-developed practical thinking; however, they prefer professions based on manual work. These are drivers, beekeepers, signalmen, radio installers, etc. As a rule, communication skills are not required here. - Intellectual type
. Such people are observant, intelligent, and at the same time they are independent and have original thinking. People of this type prefer scientific professions. - Social type
. Its representatives are active, sensitive, emotional, and need constant communication with other people. The content of the professions of such people is interaction with people. Preferred professions are teaching, service, information activities. - Conventional type
. Such people have high perseverance, they are disciplined and careful. They can do their job well when they have clear and precise instructions. They are best at performing typical tasks, but difficulties may arise with non-standard ones. The preferred professions for such people are clerical ones: accountant, notary, economist, etc. - Entrepreneurial type
. Its representatives are active, mobile, have unconventional thinking, and are prone to risk. They strive to take initiative and take leadership. People of this type prefer tasks where they need to make quick decisions, and do not like work that requires perseverance and attentiveness. Loves and knows how to interact with other people. The professions of such individuals are politicians, entrepreneurs, journalists, etc. - Artistic type
. Such people have imaginative thinking and creative imagination, they are very sensitive and emotional. They build communication with people on the basis of their intuition and personal feelings. Representatives of this personality type are artists, musicians, designers, actors, translators, etc.
This classification can be used in tests to determine professional suitability, choice of profession, and educational institution.
What else does understanding the mechanisms of personality orientation give us? Through their study, it becomes clear to us that the foundations of all our civilized life are rooted in innate qualities and attitudes formed in the early years of life. In the future, they can be changed and adjusted many times, but they do not appear “out of nowhere.”
Self-concept
"I-concept"
is a dynamic system of a person’s ideas about himself, which includes a person’s awareness of his qualities (physical, emotional, intellectual), self-esteem, as well as subjective perception of external factors influencing a given personality.
“I-concept” is close to the concept of “self-awareness”, but rather “I-concept” is the result of self-awareness.
“I-concept” arises as a result of a person’s social interaction with his environment. The environment influences the formation of the “I-concept”, however, then the “I-concept” begins to determine the way a person interacts with the social environment.
