Basic socio-psychological properties of personality

A socio-psychological characteristic is a set of certain socio-psychological phenomena that characterize the properties, characteristics and qualities of an individual, various social groups, groups, etc., caused either by factors of the social environment, its influence, or by factors of a psychological nature.

The formation and development of an individual, social groups, and collectives are influenced by relationships within groups and individuals with each other, activities, political situation, ideology, cultural heritage, religion, upbringing and much more.

Family socio-psychological characteristics

The concept of “personal social and psychological characteristics” is also applicable to a certain group, collective of people, or even a social unit, for example, a family.
It should be noted that the concept of family implies not only a generally accepted unit of a cell in modern society, but also the most ancient institution in human history

Throughout its existence, regardless of the historical era, national, political and cultural characteristics of society, the family in it goes through a certain series of stages: this is the initial formation of the family, through marriage between the future father and mother, the subsequent birth of the first child, followed by the birth of the last child and therefore the marriage of the last of the children. There is also a separate stage, often called the “empty nest” stage, which is characterized by the death of one of the spouses.

It goes without saying that family socio-psychological characteristics directly depend on the relationship between spouses, that is, the elders in the family. Of secondary importance is the peculiarity of their interactions with children, as well as the spouses’ parents, their close relatives and friends. In this case, the dominant role is played by the process of communication, as the main and unique method of information exchange. The atmosphere in the family and the relationship between husband and wife depend on the specifics of communication.

The following series of functions are identified that a full-fledged family should perform:

• An educational function that is based on the processes of socialization of the younger generation and instilling in them certain cultural and moral principles and values.
• A household and economic function, which is to most effectively maintain the health of all family members as a unit of society. Also in this case, care for children or elderly, sick people is considered.
• The economic function is the adequate use of financial and material resources, their distribution and support of disadvantaged, old or minor family members. Spiritual function. It implies spiritually rich communication, cultural development of all family members.
• A status or social function, which is based on the acceptance by all family members of certain traditional social statuses regarding their position in the family or society.
• Emotional. This function includes the need to provide any psychological or sensory support to any of the family members. Responsibility for the psychological well-being of each participant.
• Leisure function. Formation and regulation of free time for all family members. Joint recreation and free entertainment.

Understanding personality in social psychology

Social and psychological parameters of personality analysis

Personal maturity

“Mature person”, “mature personality” - these phrases are widespread in everyday language no less, and perhaps even more, than in scientific language. Actually, scientific ideas themselves go back to everyday and philosophical ideas about the nature of man, the value of his existence. As A.V. Solovyov notes, “ideas about a mature personality are initially formed within the framework of the so-called implicit theory of personality, that is, in the normative canon of a person inherent in any culture” (101, p. 134). In fact, an initially mature personality is a pronounced bearer of the social typical: the owner of the best human qualities, a full-fledged member of society, an object of respect, a role model. In modern psychology we can see a reflection of this point of view on personal maturity. Thus, for T. Shibutani, maturity and socialization act as synonyms: “... a person is considered mature not when he is fully formed biologically, but only after he is able to take responsibility and control his own actions. A person is socialized, therefore, when he is able to participate in concerted actions based on conventional norms” (131, p. 397).

In psychology, one can distinguish at least two diametrically opposed approaches to defining a mature personality: through the description of an “immature” personality and through the description of a mature one.

In the first case, the solution to the problem follows a well-trodden path: health is contrasted with illness and is described through the absence of painful symptoms, maturity is defined through the absence of signs of personal immaturity. At the same time, a certain parallel is drawn between immaturity and such manifestations of mental illness as psychopathy, neuroses, character accentuations: “Often, when faced with psychopathic manifestations, we involuntarily get the impression of something undeveloped, childish...” (28). An important point that follows from this approach to the analysis of a mature personality is the following: mental health is an important condition for the formation of a mature personality.

The second approach - describing the traits of a mature personality - is represented by very different points of view. For some authors, a mature personality is a unique, outstanding, and therefore isolated phenomenon. For others, it is a generally natural phenomenon, quite widely represented in society. For still others, this is an ideal achievable only through serious work on oneself.

I. P. Shkuratova, based on the personality theory of I. M. Paley and V. S. Magun, identifies three criteria for a mature personality:

Q acts not under the influence of momentary factors, but on the basis of his value system, which has developed over the years;

Q is capable of performing actions even under the threat of punishment (for example, from the authorities) and the loss of many life benefits.

Q can promote the growth and personality development of others

people (104).

A.V. Solovyov defines a mature personality with the following parameters:

Q mental health is a necessary condition for development

personalities;

Qj efficiency and optimality - the predominance of active forms of adaptation to the environment, the choice of a specific form based on expediency;

Q harmony - an internal tendency to resist destabilizing external influences;

Q “full functioning” (A. Maslow’s term) - activity, creative realization of oneself in the world.

Q differentiation - the desire to accumulate diverse internal experience, knowledge, skills and ideas, which it draws from its own activities of communication and introspection;

Q integration - determining for yourself the meaning of life;

Q successful resolution of various types of internal conflicts that inevitably arise due to the excessive complexity of human social existence (101).

A special approach to understanding a mature personality is presented in humanistic psychological concepts, where it is presented as being in constant development. K. Rogers, in his early work “The New Man,” describes such a personality through the following characteristics:

Q is open to the world - both internally and externally;

Q values ​​communication as a means of presenting things as they are and rejects hypocrisy, deception and duplicity;

Q has a deep distrust of our current economy and technology;

Q doesn't feel very comfortable in a segmented world. She strives for a holistic life;

Q believes that the fundamental truth of existence is the ability to change, and therefore is constantly in development;

Q sympathizes with his neighbor, is always ready to provide help where it is really needed; does not trust professional assistants;

Q feels a direct connection with nature and is ready to protect it;

Q has an antipathy towards hyper-structured, inflexible bureaucratic structures;

Q trusts his own experience and has a deep distrust of external authorities.

Q is indifferent to material interests and rewards;

Q is in constant search, she would like to find the meaning of life and goals that would be higher than the individual. Its heroes are spiritual people: Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Teilhard de Chardin (7, p. 29).

There is a certain polemicism in the theses proposed by the author: it seems that the author really wants to separate his “new people” from all the others, to contrast their view of various current world problems: environmental, political, managerial, with the view of the majority.

Similar ideas about a mature personality were formulated back in the 60s. XX century A. Maslow: “Self-actualized individuals (more mature, more humane) already, by definition, act as people who have satisfied their basic needs, people whose lives are governed by higher motives. They can be called “metamotivated” (60, p. 23). Maslow gives an impressive list

characteristics, qualities and aspirations of metamotivated people. They were identified by him as a result of observations of those whom he called the best people in terms of intelligence, creativity, character, strength, success, etc.

Understanding personality in social psychology

Personality is a multifaceted concept. It is included in the categorical apparatus of many humanities disciplines and is widespread in literary and everyday languages. And if for most sciences that use it, it is still not completely clear what theoretical model and empirical reality are behind the concept of “personality,” then for a single individual its interpretation does not cause any particular difficulties: personality is me.

Let's try to correlate the concept of “personality” with the sphere of interests of social psychology. This matter is very difficult, since it is necessary either to declare it the property of social psychology (personality is a product of human existence in the world of interpersonal and intergroup relations), or to isolate a special “part” of personality, which can only be considered in the system of socio-psychological knowledge.

There are quite a lot of approaches that tend to consider personality as a purely socio-psychological concept. In fact, the etymology of the word itself points towards this. The word persona in ancient theater referred to acting masks that depicted one or another type. According to another version, it goes back to the phrase “per - sonar”, which means “to sound through a mask” (91). In ancient theatrical performances, the mask did not hide the true face of the character, but rather socially voiced his character, assigned social meaning to the experiences and states that a specific person, the hero, experienced under the mask.

Later, this word began to be used to refer to the actor himself and his role. That is, personality, by its original meaning, was a social role, or function, of a person (97).

The origin of the concept of “personality” from an ancient theatrical term referring to playing in a type mask is reflected in various modern approaches and paradoxes. Thus, G. Allport owns the following paradox: personality means something unreal, false, the way a person wants to appear in the eyes of other people, while at the same time personality is the genuine, essential thing in a person. This paradox is resolved differently in numerous approaches. Thus, in personological theories, the so-called stage model of personality is developed. According to this model, “personal psychological mechanisms are formed in a person as a condition for convincing other people that he (this person) is who and what he claims to be. Therefore, personality is art (not the art of being a personality, but personality itself as the creation of art), a unique language, a way of expressing the results of an individual’s creativity in shaping himself” (91, p. 129).

Another option for resolving this paradox is presented in interactionism and role theories (T. Sarbin, E. Goffman, R. Linton, etc.). In these theories, a person is considered as a bearer and implementer of a certain system of social roles. Social roles are born from the stable expectations of surrounding people in relation to human behavior. To more accurately define the interactionist approach to role, we will use the words of T. Shibutani: “Every person plays a role; and the role, not the individual, is the unit to be studied...roles cannot be defined in terms of behavior in itself, but only as a pattern of mutual rights and responsibilities. An obligation is something a person feels compelled to do because of the role they play; other people expect and demand that he act in a certain way. ...Acting in a certain role, each person also has rights in relation to other participants. His right is formed by expectations addressed to other participants and encouraging them to do something for his sake. ...Playing a role consists of fulfilling the duties that the role imposes and exercising one’s rights in relation to others” (131, pp. 46-47). We have already noted that among the authors of role theories themselves there is no unity in understanding how and to what extent a role determines a person’s social behavior: it dictates, sets a certain range of possibilities, concerns the essence of relationships or only their external pattern, etc. Shibutani talks about playing a role,

G. Bloomer - about
playing a role,
M. Kuhn - about
playing,
or
accepting a role.
Recognizing the productivity of the role approach to understanding personality, V. I. Slobodchikov and E. I. Isaev especially emphasize that it is fundamentally important to determine how the personality and the roles assigned to it relate to each other: “... social roles are not the final, but the initial point in understanding the essence of personality. ...A person as an individual freely and consciously accepts one or another social role, is aware of the possible consequences of his actions to implement it and accepts full responsibility for their results” (97, p. 344). The authors consider personality as a special way of human existence—existence as a subject of one’s social relations (personality as a reality for others). They use the words “manager” and “initiator” as synonyms for the term “subject”. Personality is a characteristic of a person who is able to responsibly, freely and independently set his position in the system of social relationships, his place in the space of culture and the time of history. Personality is manifested through a special form of social behavior - actions.

Thus, from the point of view of many authors, a person as an individual exists in the space of social relations and manifests himself through various forms of social behavior. A person as an individual can be described and understood using such specific concepts as role, position, as well as value orientations, personal choices, independence and responsibility, personal word, code of honor, personal dignity and others (97).

In domestic psychology 1970-1980. There was quite an active discussion about the socio-psychological line of personality analysis. The very formulation of the problem shows that for many authors, personality as a systemic, multi-level education in its content went beyond the conventional boundaries of social psychology. A person was considered not only as a subject of his own social relations, but also as a bearer of certain mental properties and qualities, as a subject of objective activity, etc. (A. N. Leontyev, K. K, Platonov and others). The question of the specifics of the socio-psychological approach to personality was discussed. K.K. Platonov considered social psychology as a science that studies mental phenomena characteristic of either a group of individuals or an individual in a group. G. M. Andreeva also emphasized the interaction between the individual and the group. V. E. Shorokhov in the mid-1970s. formulated her view on the problem as follows: “The peculiarity of the socio-psychological analysis of personality is that all forms of social influence on the personality are studied in the process of origin, development, formation... of the internal psychological structure of the personality and its performance as a regulator of behavior”1. In fact, social psychology of personality is the psychology of human social development, the formation of mental mechanisms that regulate his social behavior. This approach still seems promising today.

At the same time, one cannot but agree with B. Parygin’s conclusion that changes in both social and scientific situations require a certain revision of our ideas about the possibilities and tasks of socio-psychological analysis of personality. The author emphasizes that it is necessary to develop “a new socio-psychological vision of ways to solve the ever-present problem of the individual, associated with his need for self-realization as a unique individuality, making his feasible contribution to the universal and national culture in the space and time allotted for his life” (77, p. 153). Unfortunately, solving such a problem is extremely difficult within the framework of the categorical apparatus that is available today to the social psychology of personality. The entire diversity of human social existence, existence as a subject of social relations, traditionally comes down to two concepts: socialization and social attitude. Within the framework of this manual, we will try to present this problem as broadly as possible, touching on such aspects as social development of the individual (content and stages of development), socio-psychological characteristics of the individual (adaptation, maturity, identity, adequacy, status), mechanisms of human social behavior ( attitudes, value orientations, dispositions).

1.2. The process of social development of personality

The concept of “social personal development” was used in the late 1970s. V. I. Bobneva to designate “a special type of individual human development” that forms the psychological basis of the processes of socialization and education (103). Socialization and social development are considered as two equal components of a single process of a person’s entry into the world of culture and social relations. Socialization in this case is understood as a process that ensures a person’s inclusion in a particular social group or community, his formation as a representative of a certain group, a bearer of its norms, values, and orientation. Socialization is primarily aimed at the formation not of individually unique, but of typical group properties and abilities of a person. The social development of a person is his “individual development within the framework, context, conditions of society, a social group, social contacts, and communication. Each person himself - individually, personally, directly - goes through the path of social development. The assimilation of knowledge included in public consciousness cannot replace a person’s process of personal social experience, accumulated as a result of individual comprehension of social laws.”

In other words, everything that is offered by the social environment for assimilation as examples of norms and values ​​is lived and subjectively processed by a person, becoming part of his inner world. Then this learned and personally modified experience becomes part of a person’s social behavior, a model for assimilation by other people. Obviously, the degree of subjective processing varies from person to person; it also depends on the nature of the experience being acquired. Moral principles of behavior are one thing, aesthetic ideas about the beautiful and the ugly are quite another.

In the process of social development, two interrelated, oppositely directed trends can be distinguished: typification and individualization of personality. Typing

“responsible” for the formation of both personal characteristics specified by the groups to which a person belongs, and those common to their representatives. Thanks to typification, modal (general), stereotypical features penetrate into the inner world of a person, and the mental basis of normative “grouped” behavior is created. The main way to form the modal content of a person’s inner world is targeted social learning through role models.

Personalization -

This is the process of developing one’s own experience of social interaction and communication, an individual attitude towards prescribed roles and positions in a group. Thanks to individualization, personal norms and beliefs, personal meanings, and a subjective picture of the world of human relations are formed. The individual content of a personality is formed in the course of spontaneous social interaction and independent knowledge of social patterns. Each stage of social development is characterized by its own unique combination of typification and individualization processes, which allows us to talk about some patterns, general personality traits of people going through one or another stage. Below we will dwell on the characteristics of some of the most important stages of social development in childhood and adolescence.

What, in fact, psychological mechanisms ensure the process of human social development? N. Smelser identifies four mechanisms of socialization. This:

• imitation - conscious copying of a certain social model;

• identification - assimilation through likening oneself to an object of imitation;

• shame is a state, a feeling that arises in a person from the feeling that he has been exposed;

• guilt is a feeling based not on the fear of exposure, but on the torment of conscience. Smelser classified imitation and identification as positive means of assimilation of social experience, shame and guilt as negative. He called shame and guilt negative on the grounds that by their action they prohibit certain social behavior and block it (98).

A different approach was proposed in the work of V.V. Abramenkova. Based on domestic and Western approaches (L. S. Vygotsky, E. Erikson, V. S. Mukhina, etc.), she identifies a pair of interconnected and opposite in direction mechanisms of social development - identification and alienation, which, in fact, ensure the flow of processes of typification and individualization and their relationship (2). Alienation in this case is the child’s ability to go beyond the system of relationships “I am another,” “I am a social norm,” or “I am a thing” and look at these relationships independently, aloofly. Thanks to this mechanism, a person’s free, personal attitude towards the world, activity and communication, and himself is formed.

Thus, social development is a multifaceted process that involves:

• transmission of the group experience of a specific individual through typical content;

• creation through the processes of individualization of a new group experience;

• filling with social meaning certain qualities and capabilities of a person and thereby determining socially significant prospects for their development;

• formation of socially significant personality qualities.

Let us dwell on each of these aspects of the process of social development.

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Character as a psychological characteristic of personality

Definition 3

Character is a complex of stable personality traits that characterize a person’s attitude towards himself and the people around him; it is formed and strengthened under the influence of life circumstances, a person’s upbringing style and behavior.

The character of a person depends on the goals that give direction to his activities.

Orientation is a selective attitude towards reality that defines a person and influences his activities.

Attentiveness is considered a mental characteristic of orientation. Attentiveness is revealed in both involuntary and voluntary attention

When a person concentrates attention on many things, then this is involuntary attentiveness. Conscious, intentional attentiveness is an indicator of such significant strong-willed character traits as perseverance and endurance

A personality trait is a stable and unchanging pattern of behavior. They are divided into:

• leading traits that determine the manifestation of personality;
• secondary ones, which are subordinate to the leading ones or are not always detected, are less manifested.

It is the leading character traits that characterize a person’s activity and attitude towards assessing the world around him. Yet not every attitude that a person expresses speaks volumes about his character.

It is necessary to take into account circumstances and willpower when a person decides what reaction to show.

Psychological analysis of personality

Character and personality manifestations are closely intertwined and in many ways similar.

Personality analysis is carried out on the basis of genetically determined traits.

For psychological analysis of personality, there is a clear and simple system that every person can apply in their life. This system is called psychogeometry. It was created in 1989 by Doctor of Psychology S. Dellinger. The system of psychological analysis of personality is quite accurate and makes it possible to classify a person as one of the personality types.

Figure 2. Psychogeometry. Author24 - online exchange of student work

Having understood psychogeometry and talked with a person, you can immediately determine his personality type, after which he becomes an open book for you.

Psychogeometry is based on five personality types, each type has its own geometric figure.

Figures should be ranked according to the degree of attractiveness for each person.

The first figure selected will represent the core personality figure. All the rest will be additional figures with halftones, and their significance will decrease. The last figure will remind you of itself when a person is upset about something. Moreover, not only one, but two figures can dominate, then the psychological type of personality will be combined.

Decoding of figures:

The square represents the solid and correct type; it is a tireless worker. People of this type are hardy and attentive to details, they observe order, rules and moral standards in everything. As a rule, they live according to a plan, they know how to organize themselves and others, so they can work as leaders, but, nevertheless, it is better when they work as executors. The conversation of these people is quiet, the speech is clear, logical and thorough. In clothes they prefer soft, restrained tones. The vital value of squares is stability, safety, reliability.

Discipline, punctuality, accuracy are strong qualities.

Weak qualities include dryness, pedantry, poor imagination, isolation, and stinginess. Squares make good accountants, analysts, inspectors, and local police officers.

The triangle is a symbol of leadership, the characteristic feature of which is the ability to concentrate on the main goal. These are energetic, strong individuals who set clear goals and achieve them. The need of triangles to always be right and decide not only for themselves, but also for other people. Their dominant attitude is victory, success. They are often categorical and have difficulty changing their decisions. The negative quality of triangles is strong egocentrism; they do not show particular scrupulousness when moving towards their goal. Their main life values ​​are career, leadership, power, victory. They play the role of warrior and prophet.

Strengths: leadership, energy, rationality, courage, initiative.

Weak qualities include authority, self-confidence, selfishness, and categoricalness.

Rectangle . Rectangle people are in a state of transition and change. They are not satisfied with the lifestyle they lead now, so they are busy looking for something better. The main features of rectangles are inconsistency and unpredictability. Even within one day they can change greatly. Their self-esteem is low. They are gullible, suggestible, naive, so they can easily be manipulated. Rectangles are the owners of unclear, confused, uncertain speech. Their life values ​​depend on external circumstances. In life, this is usually a weakling, a scapegoat, a bungler, a loser.

Strengths: readiness to change, sensitivity, gullibility, openness.

Weak qualities - spinelessness, uncertainty, unreliability.

Circle . The mythological symbol of harmony is the circle. Of all the five psychological forms, the circle is the most benevolent. This is the “glue” that holds both the team and the family together. Circles are the best listeners, therefore the best communicators. They feel other people's joy and pain as their own. They have high sensitivity, the ability to empathize and sympathize. The business sector is a weak point for them. Circles strive to ensure that everyone always gets along, so interpersonal conflict is difficult for them. During a conflict, the circles concede first. General well-being, comfort and helping people are their life values. The role assigned to them is that of a peacemaker, a homebody, a keeper of comfort.

Strengths: gentleness, delicacy, tolerance, sociability, kindness.

Weaknesses - passivity, conformism, sloppiness, indecisiveness, dependence on other people's opinions.

Zigzag . The zigzag is a symbol of creativity and creativity, so this figure is one of the rarest. This is a “right-brain” thinker. Zigzags have a well-developed aesthetic sense. Success is achieved not by concessions, but by a conflict of ideas, using natural wit. Quite sarcastic. They prefer independence at work and are focused on the future. Zigzag is the most enthusiastic and most excitable psychotype. They strive to tell the whole world their new idea. They are not restrained and expressive. Self-expression, risk, speed, creativity and novelty are their life values. They are assigned the role of an artist, an extreme sportsman, a heartthrob, a flighty type.

Strengths include wit, easy-going, and creativity.

Weak qualities - uncontrollability, unpredictability, excitability, unreliability, recklessness.

Classification

Social and psychological phenomena of social psychology and their manifestations depend on many things. From the communities, small and large groups in which they arise.

Also on their type. Communities can be both organized and unorganized. The phenomena that arise in them are called mass-like (this will be discussed below), and the behavior is called spontaneous.

The class of psychological phenomena also matters. Phenomena can be rationally meaningful (opinion, belief, values), emotionally ordered (mood, social feelings), functioning in certain conditions (for example, in extreme or conflict situations). And of course, they can be both conscious and unconscious.

Abilities as individual psychological characteristics of a person

Definition 4

Abilities are individual psychological qualities that distinguish one person from another and are related to the effectiveness of activities.

When talking about abilities, you need to keep the following in mind:

• these are the characteristics that distinguish one person from another;
• abilities serve the effective implementation of activities;
• Abilities are characterized by the ability to transfer developed skills and abilities to a new situation.

Special abilities – abilities for established types of activities (abilities in mathematics, music, pedagogy, etc.).

General abilities are the ability to form special abilities.

Definition 5

Giftedness is a qualitatively specific combination of abilities, on which the possibility of achieving greater or lesser success in performing a particular activity depends.

The basis of abilities is made up of inclinations.

Note 3

Inclinations are natural prerequisites that seem to be a circumstance in the formation of abilities, not only in the sense that they give originality to the process of their formation, but also in the sense that, within certain limits, they can predetermine the content side and influence the degree of achievement.

The formation of abilities largely depends on the conditions that make it possible to realize inclinations.

Social and psychological characteristics of the group

A person does not live separately from others. Sooner or later, he classifies himself as a member of a certain group - an association in which more than two people are united by interests, common goals, activities, motives, tasks, etc. A group is a single organism that includes individuals with their own socio-psychological characteristics . This, in turn, forms the characteristics of the group with its socio-psychological orientation.

Small groups play an important role in the life of every individual. Small groups are families, teams, friends, school classes or college groups. All of them include on average up to 30 people who are united by a common cause and goals, interests and views. Here there is a greater impact on each individual.

A group is a cell to which an individual is attached. One of its characteristics is the commonality on which people unite. Cohesion is the second socio-psychological characteristic.

The composition of a group is the qualitative composition, that is, the characteristics of its members. Size is the number of group members (that is, a quantitative characteristic).

In a group, two factors become important:

1. Communication – its culture, manners, language, etc.
2. The relationships between its members are morals and ethics, rules and norms.

The relationship between biological and social

Man is a biological organism that appeared as a result of evolution. Various natural processes occur in the body of each person, which to some extent determine his behavior.

But it is impossible to evaluate a person from a biological point of view alone, since he is at the same time a social being.

As a product of society , a person undergoes a process of socialization, as a result of which certain norms, principles of behavior, rules, views, etc. are adopted.

Moreover, during socialization, the individual traits of a particular individual have a great influence on the assimilation of all these principles, since he passes all the information transmitted by society through the prism of his own consciousness .

Thus, information stored at the genetic level distinguishes a person from other living organisms and forms his biological nature. And the education and upbringing received in the process of socialization forms the social component .

Concept and tasks

In modern psychology, the concept of “social group” is a collection of individuals who have similar features, perform the same type of activity, and perceive themselves as members of a community. The group has 3 main qualities:

• mandatory interaction between participants;
• unity of goals for which the group was created;
• all members have a characteristic unique to this community.

Social psychology of groups studies the process of group formation, its types, structure and influence on the individual. The task of the industry is to assess and forecast the development of the group, identify the characteristics of interaction, and the main criteria. Throughout life, a person simultaneously belongs to several groups and often moves from one to another. This is due to a change in activity or status: for example, a schoolchild becomes a student, a worker becomes a pensioner. In this regard, we can highlight the main task of social psychology of groups - classification according to certain criteria.

The meaning of psychological characteristics in life

It is important to use psychological characteristics when determining tactics for raising children and adolescents and instilling practical skills. At the same time, it is possible to generate interest in socially useful areas that are important to society

Having an idea of ​​a child’s predisposition to any activity, caring parents will never miss the chance to develop their child’s creative or other abilities.

The head of a company, striving to form an active workforce, must promptly take into account the individual psychological characteristics of the recruited employees and gain an idea of ​​their mental characteristics. In such a team, correct communication connections will be formed, and common efforts will be aimed at achieving results.

History of development

Social psychology began studying groups only at the beginning of the 20th century. Previously, the object of study was the individual, not society. They examined in depth the characteristics of perception, attitudes, and interpersonal interaction, but did not try to evaluate a person as an integral part of formation.

Some psychologists completely denied the existence of groups as objects of study. This approach in social psychology was called personalistic. But in parallel with it, another way of studying developed - sociological. Its proponents argued that one cannot fully understand the motives of a person's behavior if one studies him only as an individual. A group, as an association of people, inevitably influences a person and this cannot be ignored.

The study of group processes has developed more actively in the United States. Under the leadership of K. Levin, research was carried out in the laboratory studying the dynamics, types of leadership, cohesion and other categories that determine the behavior of formations.

Already in the middle of the 20th century, personalistic and sociological psychology joined forces. This happened under the influence of government agencies interested in the emergence of new effective methods of managing industrial and military organizations. Interest in the study of various formations only increased by the end of the 20th century. Nowadays, research methods continue to expand and improve.

E. Erikson's theory of psychosocial development

E. Erikson argued that a person develops throughout his life.

From birth to death, it goes through 8 stages, each of which is accompanied by a certain crisis :

• infancy (0-1 year),
• early childhood (1-3 years),
• childhood (3-6 years),
• school age (6-12 years),
• adolescence and youth (12-20 years),
• early maturity (20-25 years),
• middle age (25-65 years),
• late maturity (after 65 years).

Every crisis can end well or negatively .

If a person successfully overcomes it, then he moves on to the next stage of life with good prerequisites for further personal development.

If the crisis is not overcome, then the transition to the next level still occurs, but unresolved problems at the new level remain with the person.

Phenomena among the masses

Society is a form of unification of people. Accordingly, such a concept as mass psyche directly relates to the topic under discussion. Other terms also follow from it. Mass consciousness, for example. It is one of the most common. Or the mass mood. We have all heard these concepts at least once.

Here, for example, are mass phenomena of the psyche. This is the name given to certain phenomena that arise, exist and develop in fairly large social groups. These are the mass sentiments. These are mental states that affect a large number of people. The prerequisites for their occurrence are usually events of a political, social, economic and even spiritual nature. Naturally, most often negative mass sentiments are most clearly manifested. Which are capable of destroying socio-political systems that have become established in society and are disgusting to it. The turbulent events of the 'nineties showed how influential sentiments can be.

Analysis Options

The socio-psychological parameters of personality analysis are as follows:

1. Maturity . The highest level of maturity is the presence of certain life attitudes and views. A mature person is guided in his actions by an individual value system. He occupies a respected position in society and is an object to be emulated; he does not give up his views even under the threat of violence. Such a person can contribute to the development of other members of society who take their example from him. An immature personality is characterized by the absence of a clear value system and a low level of social responsibility.
2. Adaptation .
   This is the degree of adaptation of a person to the life of society. With conflict adaptation, non-acceptance of social norms occurs, which leads to psychological tension and difficulties with self-realization. With average adaptation, a person fully gets used to the surrounding reality and functions more or less successfully in society. With a high level of adaptation, the individual not only adapts to the surrounding reality, but also successfully develops in the proposed conditions.
3. Adequacy . This is the acceptance and assimilation by a person of the norms and principles existing in society. An individual does not simply externally adjust his behavior to generally accepted models, but internally transforms himself in the process of socialization. People who are adequate from a social point of view are distinguished by a high level of morality and ethics.
4. Identity . This is the result of a person's self-identification. Having realized his “I”, an individual can compare the demands put forward by society and the opportunities provided with his abilities and desires. As a result, a mechanism for regulating behavior in society is developed, taking into account ideas about oneself.

What is a socio-psychological characteristic?

What is a socio-psychological characteristic? This is a set of social and psychological phenomena that explain the qualities, characteristics, properties of an individual, team, family, society, etc. Personal characteristics are determined by the psychological qualities of each component or social factors that influence it.

The characteristics of a group, family, team are determined by the psyche of each member, their relationships, common activities, religion, culture, upbringing, political situation and other factors.

Concept

A person cannot exist outside of society .

This is its main difference from animals.

A social personality is any individual who belongs to social groups, enters into social relations, and is an independent member of society with certain rights and responsibilities.

Each person has many social personalities, since his life in society, as a rule, is quite multifaceted . The same person can be perceived differently from a social point of view by different people in his environment.

For example, the social personality seen by colleagues may have nothing in common with the personality familiar to friends or relatives.

The socio-psychological side of any personality includes a complex of specific individual parameters. Each personality is a separate person, with an inherent set of social and psychological traits.

The formation of a socio-psychological portrait of an individual is influenced by many factors: anatomical features, mental properties, immediate environment, social groups, education, sphere of professional activity, ideology, religion, etc.

Each person is initially a “blank slate”, which, in the process of socialization, under the influence of the above factors, begins to form into a specific personality with its own individual set of psychological and social traits.

Social characteristics of the family

It is better to prepare a conclusion for a child in two stages. First, the psychologist who conducted the examination processes the results of the tasks, discusses them and comes to certain conclusions about the level of development of cognitive activity, speech, emotional-volitional sphere, personality, behavior of the child and signs of originality in his development, and also decides on the nature of correctional assistance that can be provided to the child. The psychologist then formalizes the results obtained in the form of a written report. Such a conclusion is written in free form, but nevertheless, certain rules must be followed when writing it. Typically, the conclusion consists of three relatively independent parts.

The first part indicates the reasons for examining the child, the purpose of the examination, and the characteristics of the child’s behavior during the examination. Be sure to note the motivation to complete tasks, features of contact, methods of interaction with a psychologist, methods of completing tasks, the nature of the activity, reaction to encouragement, failure, remark

Particular attention should be paid to the child’s ability to use help productively, the types of this help, and the ability to transfer the solution found together with the psychologist to a similar problem. The presence or absence of verbal accompaniment of actions, the nature of statements, and the child’s ability to talk about his actions are noted.

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Uniting and achieving results

This is what collaboration means. Cohesion is a process during which a specific connection is formed between people, due to which they unite into a “single organism”. Everything, again, is done to achieve certain goals and results. Each of the group members is interested in this.

It is customary to distinguish levels of cohesion. And at the first stage, the development of emotional contacts usually occurs - the manifestation of sympathy and disposition of people towards each other, for example. The second level involves the process of convincing each person that his value system coincides with others. And the third is where the common goal is shared.

All this influences the formation of the so-called socio-psychological climate in the team, which contributes to maintaining a general mood, a decent level of performance and well-being.

Why bother understanding other people at all?

Quite a logical question, isn't it? We live in peace, try to understand ourselves, and then study others too! Nevertheless, we assure you: this skill will be useful to you, and here’s the point...

Society is the social shell into which we find ourselves immediately after the body. Communications form the basis of any society, because it is no coincidence that the words “society” and “communication” have the same root. But communication is also a skill that must be learned to achieve effective interactions that benefit everyone involved. Profiling just helps to learn as much as possible about a person, to recognize the benefits and threats, advantages and risks brought as a result of this interaction. And drawing up a socio-psychological portrait is the first stage of personality analysis.

There is a point of view according to which it is impossible to create a socio-psychological portrait of a person based only on a short interaction. Ildar Zinurov, a writer and coach, a practicing psychologist of our time, adheres to precisely this position and argues that videos of the famous person being studied, riding in the elevator every morning with a neighbor or lectures with a teacher at a university cannot serve as a full-fledged basis for drawing up psychological portraits of these people [ AND. Zinurov, 2019]. And of course, profiling is not a miracle technique that helps you read a person in a couple of minutes.

In fact, this is a whole science and, perhaps, even a feature of an individual person. It is known that a person is born with such a quality as empathy (the ability to understand and grasp the state of another person, his emotions and mood), and this is one of the fundamental qualities of any profiler. By the way, profiling is often used in the field of criminology when investigating crimes, when compiling psychological portraits of criminals.

Here are examples of the most famous profilers from the history of criminology:

1. Robert Ressler. Or, as he is also called, Sherlock Holmes of the 20th century. Ressler was an FBI agent, at the same time he lectured on criminology and wrote several books on the psychology of crime. In his works one can see many descriptions of portraits of murderers, rapists and other criminals. Ressler's character served as the inspiration for Jack Crawford's character in The Silence of the Lambs.
2. Paul Ekman. Professor at the University of California at San Francisco, one of the most famous American psychologists, Paul Ekman is an expert in the field of detecting lies, as well as classifying human emotions. It is this area of ​​scientific research and interests that, of course, does not leave aside such organizations as the FBI, CIA, large corporations, including the animation studios Pixar and Industrial Light and Magic. You may have even watched the popular TV series Lie to Me, for which a scientist served as a consultant.
3. Joe Navarro. Cuban-American author who also spent time as an FBI agent. Navarro has written several books on nonverbal communication, mainly focusing on what lies behind a speaker's words. As a public speaker, Navarro advises people, teaches them to notice what is not usually said, and “read” others by their body language.

As you can see, knowledge from the field of profiling helps not only to acquire useful skills related to communications, but also to achieve career success. Often, corporations invite profilers to interviews in order to select a suitable candidate for a vacancy, and government security agencies even hunt professional profilers in order to investigate crimes more effectively. Therefore, you may need the ability to draw up a socio-psychological portrait of a personality as one of the key areas of profiling in a variety of situations [Zh. Rizabekova, 2020].

You can take a closer look at the biographies and scientific works of the above authors yourself, and we will share with you what a socio-psychological portrait of a personality consists of.

Temperament as a psychological characteristic of personality

Definition 2

Temperament is a complex of psychodynamic properties of an individual, which are revealed in the characteristics of his mental activity.

Temperament seems to be the natural basis for the manifestation of psychological qualities of an individual.

The first typology of temperaments was formed by the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, who characterized them depending on which fluid dominates in the human body.

• phlegmatic - balanced, strong, the type of nervous system is inert;
• sanguine - balanced, strong, type of nervous system is mobile;
• choleric - unbalanced, strong, type of nervous system is mobile;
• melancholic - the type of nervous system is weak.

The key psychological characteristics of temperament include:

• sensitivity (sensitivity), which reveals the picture of what the smallest force of external actions causes reactions in the individual’s psyche and what is the speed of this reaction;
• reactivity, demonstrating the level and intensity of an individual’s involuntary reactions to external and internal stimuli (threat, criticism, etc.);
• activity, which determines the level of performance, energy of an individual in activity, his ability to overcome obstacles, perseverance, focus, concentration on activity, etc.;
• the relationship between activity and reactivity, which reveals a picture of what the individual’s activity depends on - random internal and external factors, moods, random events or consciously set goals, life plans, aspirations, etc.;
• the pace of reactions, which determines the speed of movements, actions, speed of speech, speed of mental operations, etc.;
• extroversion;
• introversion;
• plasticity, which determines the ease of a person’s adaptation to unexpected and new circumstances, flexibility of behavior;
• rigidity, demonstrating an individual’s predisposition to inert behavior, ingrained stereotypes and habits of life, and manifestations of inertia.

Note 2

Thus, temperament belongs to the so-called genotypic aspects of personality, depends entirely on hereditary factors and does not change throughout life.

The structure of a socio-psychological portrait of a personality

Before understanding the components of a socio-psychological portrait of a personality, let’s answer the question: “What is it anyway?” The definition of this phenomenon is as follows: a comprehensive psychological assessment of a person with an explanation of the set of his internal characteristics, as well as potential actions in significant situations. One of the most important characteristics is its stability, leading to a sequence of actions, as well as their predictability [L. Kopyrina, 2016].

Now we can talk in more detail about the components of the socio-psychological portrait of a person. In total, the structure of the portrait includes from 5 to 8 components. Let us list them and reveal the essence of the most important ones.

Temperament

Perhaps the basic thing when drawing up a socio-psychological portrait of a person. Temperament is a kind of biological (determined as a result of innate qualities) human attunement, manifested in a set of individual mental properties that together form a certain type of temperament.

Many doctors and scientists (Hippocrates, Galen, E. Kretschmer, W. Sheldon, I. Pavlov, etc.) put forward various theories regarding what criteria should be used to distinguish between certain types of temperament - from the predominant “body juice” (blood , phlegm, bile, black bile) to the peculiarities of the course of nervous processes. Today, the scientific psychological world knows four main types of temperament:

• sanguine;
• choleric;
• phlegmatic person;
• melancholic.

How to distinguish a sanguine person from a phlegmatic person? Let's briefly describe each type:

• Sanguine. An active person with lively facial expressions, energetic movements, enthusiastically involved in new processes, able to laugh heartily and conveying the entire emotional spectrum on his face. Sanguine people are efficient, resourceful, speak at a normal or fast pace, may not notice weak stimuli (weak light, quiet sounds, etc.), are not prone to a monotonous mood, and are mostly extroverted.
• Choleric. The most explosive type of temperament, impatient, unrestrained and at the same time quite inert, less flexible than a sanguine person. The choleric person is quite stubborn, persistent, and proves his position despite counterarguments. Switching attention from one type of activity to another is not so easy for a choleric person. More extrovert than introvert.
• Phlegmatic person. A passive person with poor facial expressions and meager gestures. The emotional palette of a phlegmatic person is not so colorful and varied - in general, it is not so easy to induce him to express feelings - calmness and equanimity are evident (and on his face). Speech is not very fast. Switching from one type of work to another is quite difficult, however, when immersed in work, the phlegmatic person shows efficiency and depth. Patience, perseverance, self-control, the presence of inversion - all this is characteristic of a phlegmatic person.
• Melancholic. The greatest introvert of all temperament types. The most vulnerable and touchy, whiny and insecure. Such a person does not have the ability to work; he needs support and constant stimulation. A melancholic person does not have a large supply of energy. A quiet voice, constrained and uncertain movements, a meager emotional presentation of events - this is the portrait of a melancholic person [Ya. Strelyau, 1982].

Note that there are no people with any one distinct type of temperament - as a rule, people have a dominant type, and all the others (or some) are present to a lesser extent. Think about what type of temperament is most pronounced in you, and be sure to share in the comments what pros and cons you find in it.

So, determining the type of temperament is the first step towards drawing up a socio-psychological portrait of a person. Next, let's talk about equally important points.

Intelligence

Or, in other words, abilities (although in some sources these concepts are presented as two different components of a socio-psychological portrait). Many argue that a person is born with a set of abilities, pointing to a genetic way of acquiring intelligence. However, we urge you not to succumb to such provocations - a person is born with inclinations, and only by living in society can he turn his inclinations into abilities. How? We think that you yourself have already guessed... Of course, by developing and working on yourself.

Thus, abilities are personality traits, with the development of which a person can achieve success in performing any activity. They are divided into:

• general (helping in any activity, for example, developed imagination, good visual memory, ability to notice little things, etc.);
• special (helping in a certain area, for example, mathematical, physical, artistic, etc.)

An intelligent person is not so easy to notice, but stupidity is always visible, so try to eradicate any manifestations of it. We define intelligence as the effectiveness of absolutely any reactions. Among some of the characteristics characteristic of an intellectual person, we highlight the following: curiosity, openness to new (often non-standard) knowledge, hard work, developed self-control, strategic thinking, the ability to see connections and draw parallels, adaptability, etc.

Today, a number of tests have been created to help determine the level of intelligence, however, when we meet a person, we do not have the opportunity to test him. But noticing these characteristics in work can be easier and sometimes more effective.

Now let's move on to the next point.

Character

When describing and drawing up a socio-psychological portrait, it is impossible to ignore such a fundamental component as character, which is the totality of a person’s mental properties, manifested in his behavior [V. Lukashevich, E. Pronina, 2001]. Here are the main types of character identified in psychological science:

1. Hyperthymic is an active, mobile type with a constant desire to communicate and have fun, and cannot tolerate loneliness and monotony.
2. Cycloid - most susceptible to mood swings - from depression to inspired performance.
3. Astheno-neurotic – constant fatigue, a desire to rest along with constant introspection and impulsiveness.
4. Sensitive - sensitive, good-natured and responsive, tries to serve other people, which is why they begin to take advantage of him.
5. Psychasthenic – careful monitoring of life events and conditions, scrupulousness and increased demands on oneself, hence self-criticism, but also reliability in relationships with other people.
6. Schizoid - closedness, detachment from the world, low level of empathy, unsociability, concentration on what you love.
7. Epileptoid is an explosive, impulsive, angry person with a constant intention of control.
8. Hysterical – desire to be in the center of attention and events, demonstration of superiority, excessive initiative, activity and sociability.
9. Unstable - impatience of control, lack of consistency, unpredictability of behavior, disorder, and to some extent asociality.
10. Conformal - the need for a team and society with which he merges and does not stand out, and thus can achieve career heights; does not create conflicts, adapts to different situations.
11. Labile - dependence of mood on the words of strangers, praise inspires and inspires, and criticism demotivates and frustrates [V. Stepanova, 2017].

These types are called character accentuations, which means the prevalence of the described qualities. Just as with temperament, it is impossible to meet a person exclusively with a hysterical or other type of character; of course, they are considered in combination with the dominance of one accentuation.

You can learn more about the descriptions of these types in the video below:

And we move on to the next component of the psychological portrait.

Focus

When formalizing the orientation of a person, one should indicate, first of all, the motives that prompt him to change. The orientation, as you can see, is not stable and is prone to change due to age, reassessment of situations, changes in ideals and even worldview.

Personality orientation also consists of the following components:

• attraction is an unconscious motive, an emerging desire with an insufficiently clear need;
• desire is a conscious need for some phenomenon, but insufficient to motivate action;
• aspiration is a motive to achieve the desired result, expressed in the form of a dream, passion, ideal and sufficient to intensify actions;
• interest is a motive for learning about some phenomenon on the basis of a positive emotional background;
• attitude – an individual’s unconscious readiness to perceive the world and react to its phenomena from a certain angle;
• inclination is a motive in which a person experiences a pronounced need to implement a certain activity;
• intention is a motive in which a person not only anticipates the result, but also realizes and understands the means to achieve it;
• worldview - a set of general ideas of a person about the world, his place in this world, possibilities and ways of translating these possibilities into reality;
• conviction is a person’s view of some phenomenon that sets the direction for his actions.

Looking at this list, we can conclude that the orientation of a person is exclusively his motivational sphere, i.e. everything that moves a person and encourages him to act. Here you should also realize that we are talking about personal orientation, but we should not forget about the existence of business orientation (motives that drive the behavior of a group aimed at achieving a certain result) [I. Shupeiko, 2008].

Let's consider the following component of the socio-psychological portrait of the individual.

Feelings and emotions

It is impossible to understand what a person is psychologically like if we do not understand his feelings. This structural element of the socio-psychological portrait includes several positions. Let's describe each of them:

1. Emotions . Instant human reactions resulting from external and internal stimuli. Emotions are classified as basic reactions (delight, fear, surprise, disappointment, shame, etc.). One of the signs of a mature personality is the ability to control one’s emotions, hide them at the right moment (and profilers learn to recognize even such hidden emotions, which is often and this is a great difficulty), bring to a new level and develop emotional intelligence [A. Taiga, 2018].
2. Feelings . A person’s attitude towards the world around him, events, people. Feeling is a more complex concept based on emotions. For example, if we have been experiencing positive emotions for a long period of time towards a cat that appeared in the yard a month ago and lives off the fact that we feed it, then it is likely that a deeper feeling may arise for it, and perhaps we will even adopt it home. Those. feelings also push us to take specific actions.
3. Mood . The long-term influence of emotions on a person, resulting in a lasting psychological state. The mood palette can also change as a result of short-term stimuli, but its main characteristic is the duration of action.
4. Affect . A short-term emotional state of a person, characterized by its extreme expression and caused by a strong external stimulus. In a state of passion, a person loses self-control, emotions take over, and often shows aggression, anger, and in some cases even assault. Situations with emotions should be strictly avoided, because they are harmful both to the individual himself and to his environment.
5. Stress . The body's reaction to negative environmental influences. In this state, we lose the strength to fight negative stimuli, and emotional calm also leaves us. People who cope with stress better than others have stress tolerance, which helps them interact with different social groups.

The five points considered make up the collective concept of feelings and emotions. Tracking emotions is always a difficult process, because we ourselves are also prone to experiencing feelings. Accordingly, a real profiler tries to be as impartial and objective as possible, so as not to make mistakes when drawing up a psychological portrait of a particular person.

So, summarizing all the above material, let us highlight the main components of the structure of the socio-psychological portrait of a personality once again:

1. Temperament
2. Character
3. Intelligence (ability).
4. Personality orientation.
5. Feelings and emotions [H. Israilova, 2018].

Based on this structure, you can create a portrait of any person. The main thing is to be careful when choosing certain positions of the elements considered, as well as to confirm your conclusions with real evidence, and to be confident in your argumentation.

By the way, our online “Profiling” program, which includes a lot of useful materials and interactive exercises, will allow you to master the skill of “reading” people in 5 weeks. You will be able to understand their hidden motives, analyze gestures and facial expressions and, of course, more successfully draw up a socio-psychological portrait of any person.

The concept of "Family"

Definition 1

The family is the basic unit of society, a social institution characterized by voluntary marriage, common life, and marital relations.

Man is a social being, therefore he always strives to be part of a group. Few people can derive pleasure from solitude, so people build close connections with other people. This circumstance is determined by the structure of the human psyche at the level of instincts. Thus, family is one of the ways to be with someone in this world.

Human ancestors, as scientists say, lived in large communities in which families gradually began to appear. Over time, the primitive family changed its organization, acquired new conditions of existence, and internal responsibilities.

Modern scientific trends interpret the definition of family differently; sociologists, for example, understand family as an association of several people related by blood or who have legitimized their relationship in the registry office. In their opinion, a family is a husband and wife. Moreover, a young couple, together with their parents and children, is also called a family.

In jurisprudence, a family is people who are officially married and live together.

Note 1

Combining these definitions, we can say that a family is a separate unit of society, confirmed at the state level, connected by a common way of life, similar goals, interests and worldview.

The family has its own characteristics:

• registered relationship between a man and a woman;
• living together and living together;
• jointly acquired material assets;
• close intimate relationships;
• joint children (spouses without children are also considered a family).

The family performs important functions and, above all, the birth of children in marriage, which ensures continuation of the family. Together, husband and wife create and accumulate material wealth, run a common household, which makes it possible to achieve a higher standard of living.

The educational function is very important; parents must instill moral values ​​in their children and teach them the rules of life in society. For the first time in the family, a little person learns what is good and what is bad, learns kindness, justice, responsibility, learns to appreciate support and provide it himself.

The family passes on accumulated cultural values ​​and family traditions to the child, thereby ensuring a connection between generations.

Note 2

The human psyche contains the desire to love and be loved, and if these important needs in the family are not met, the person suffers greatly.

The structure of modern social psychology

The socio-psychological structure depends on the areas of human activity, objects and research methods. One type of joint venture structure is as follows:

• SP of the individual;
• psychology of communication and relationships (interpersonal interactions);
• psychology of small groups;
• SP between groups (intergroup interaction);
• psychology of social phenomena and large public groups.

By the way! The course and nature of any of the listed types of interaction depend on the characteristics of human activity.

JV structure

Changes in the government system, internal politics and difficulties in the labor market have caused many citizens to feel a sense of uselessness and lack of demand. Consultation with a social psychologist is one of the steps to solve an individual problem with social adaptation.

Social and psychological characteristics of personality

Definition 1

A person is a conscious and active person who has the opportunity to independently choose the most suitable lifestyle for him.

Each personality has certain qualities (psychological and personal), which must be correctly understood and taken into account when interacting with a person.

The main personality traits are:

• temperament,
• direction,
• capabilities,
• character.

The personality of each person, as a member of a certain society, is influenced by the sphere of various relationships that develop in the process of human activity, consumption of material goods and personal development. That is, the process of formation of a person’s personality is directly influenced by political, social, economic and ideological factors.

It is especially necessary to note the influence on the psychology of personality of relationships between people within a certain social group, under the conditions in which a person exists. This is due to the fact that in the process of communication and interaction there is a mutual influence of one person on another, as a result of which a community is formed in social attitudes and views, as well as other attitudes towards work, society, people and one’s qualities.

Being in a group, a person occupies a certain status and gains authority among other members of the group, occupies a certain social position and plays roles in accordance with it.

Note 1

Thus, a person is not only an object of certain social relationships, but is also a subject of these relationships, acting as an active connecting link.

The process of formation and development of personality is associated with various factors, the main of which are:

• originality and individuality of human higher nervous activity;
• anatomical and physiological characteristics of a person;
• sphere of human activity;
• natural-geographical environment and society in which people exist;
• microenvironment and macroenvironment of the individual’s existence;
• socially useful activity, in the conditions of which the most important qualities of a person’s personality are formed and developed;

Subject, tasks and methodology of social psychology

Social psychology as an independent branch of scientific knowledge began to take shape at the end of the 19th century, although the concept itself began to be widely used only after 1908. Some questions of social psychology were posed long ago within the framework of philosophy and were in the nature of understanding the characteristics of the relationship between man and society.

However, the study of socio-psychological scientific problems proper began in the 19th century, when sociologists, psychologists, philosophers, literary scholars, ethnographers, and doctors began to analyze the psychological phenomena of large social groups and the characteristics of mental processes and human behavior depending on the influence of surrounding people.

The problems posed were difficult to study only within the framework of the then existing sciences. The integration of sociology and psychology was necessary, since psychology studies the human psyche, and sociology studies society. The main stages in the development of social psychology as a science. The first stage is the formation of social psychology as a science (from the mid-19th century to 1908). The subject of study and the main problems are determined. The first fundamental works on basic issues of social psychology are published.

At this stage, the solution and theoretical analysis of socio-psychological problems attract the attention of specialists in various fields: psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, literary critics, ethnographers, etc. Most works on social psychology were published in the first period of development of this science.

The second stage (until the mid-40s of the 20th century) is characterized by the emergence of scientific socio-psychological schools, focused both on the development of fundamental theory and on applied aspects of research.

One of the most influential social psychologists of this period is K. Lewin, the creator of the theory of group dynamics. He investigated the problems of social factors of will as goal-directed behavior; social psychology of small groups, leadership, personality in a group, etc. A large amount of experimental work was carried out and at the same time fundamental theories were developed that have not lost their relevance in our time.

The third stage (from the mid-1940s to the present day). It is associated with solving practical problems and working for a social order. Experimental psychology continues its development, fundamental theoretical developments recede into the background.

Social psychology is gaining wide popularity, is being introduced into general education university programs and is one of the compulsory subjects of study for specialists in various fields. Such close attention to socio-psychological issues is caused by the needs to improve and stabilize social relations at all levels of social stratification.

So-called small theories are being developed that have specific applied significance: socio-psychological characteristics of managing a children's group, business psychology, advertising psychology, psychology of public opinion formation, etc. The combination of the words “social psychology” indicates the specific place that this discipline occupies in the system of scientific research. knowledge.

Having emerged at the intersection of the sciences of psychology and sociology, social psychology still retains a special status. This leads to the fact that each of the “parent” disciplines includes it as an integral part. This ambiguity in the position of the discipline has many reasons. One of them is the objective existence of such a class of facts of social life, which themselves can be studied only with the help of the combined efforts of two sciences: psychology and sociology.

Another reason for the dual position of social psychology is the very history of the formation of this discipline, which matured in the depths of both psychological and sociological knowledge, and was born “at the crossroads” of two sciences. All this creates difficulties both in defining the subject of social psychology and in identifying the range of its problems. The needs of social development practice dictate the need to study border problems. Requests for socio-psychological research in the current stage of social development come from all spheres of public life, especially due to the fact that radical changes are taking place in each of them today. Such requests come from the field of industrial production, various areas of education, the mass information system, the field of demographic policy, sports, the service sector, etc.

All this stimulates the intensive development of social psychology at the present stage. The need for this is aggravated by two circumstances. Firstly, the fact that in the history of the existence of Soviet social psychology as an independent science there was a rather long break and a new stage of revitalization of social psychological research began only in the late 1950s - early 1960s.

Secondly, social psychology is essentially a science that is very close to social and political problems, and therefore its results can be used by various social forces.

For social psychology, it is important to simultaneously solve two problems: developing practical recommendations obtained in the course of applied research that are necessary for practice; “completing” one’s own building as an integral system of scientific knowledge with clarification of one’s subject, development of special theories and special research methodology. When starting to solve these problems, it is necessary to outline the range of problems of social psychology in order to more strictly define the problems that can be solved by means of this discipline.

It is necessary to isolate from psychological problems issues that fall within the competence of social psychology. Since psychological science in our country, in defining its subject, is based on the principle of activity, we can conditionally define the specifics of social psychology as the study of patterns of behavior and activity of people determined by their inclusion in social groups, as well as the psychological characteristics of these groups themselves.

The subject of social psychology is determined by the question: “What does this science study as an independent, independent branch of knowledge?” Psychology and sociology are “mother” disciplines in relation to social psychology. At the same time, one cannot assume that social psychology is only a part of sociology and psychology.

The independence of this branch of scientific knowledge is due to the specifics of the subject of research, which cannot be studied only within the framework of any one science. There are several points of view on what is the subject of social psychology research. Social psychology studies personality in a group, society, society.

Unlike general psychology, social psychology studies not just the mental processes of an individual, but their specificity in connection with the system of social interactions. From this point of view, the subject of research is a person among people. If the individual characteristics of a subject are considered, it is only as a result of social development associated with upbringing and socialization. A person is studied in all the diversity of his social connections: in the process of personal development throughout life, in the system of interaction at the interpersonal and formal levels, etc. Particular attention is paid to the position of the individual in a group or team.

Social psychology studies social groups in society. These are primarily the psychological characteristics of groups, problems of intragroup dynamics, intragroup relations, intergroup relations, etc.

A social group is considered as a functional unit that has integral psychological characteristics, such as group mind, group will, group decision, etc.

Various typologies of social groups are being created, and an increasing number of criteria are being identified for analysis. The group is considered as a unique entity that cannot be understood only on the basis of studying the subjects that compose it.

A group is more than a collection of members. It has its own characteristics that exist regardless of the individual characteristics of its constituent entities. Social psychology studies the social psyche, or mass mental phenomena. Various phenomena corresponding to this concept are identified: the psychology of classes, social strata, mass sentiments, stereotypes and attitudes; public opinion and psychological climate, mass actions and group emotional states.

The socio-psychological aspect of traditions, morality, customs, etc. is studied. The psychological foundations of the unique semiotic systems created by humanity over the centuries are explored. Most modern social psychologists believe that social psychology studies the individual, groups, and the social psyche, but in a certain context.

Social psychologist G. M. Andreeva defined the subject of social psychology as follows: social psychology studies the patterns of behavior, activity and communication of people determined by their inclusion in social groups, as well as the psychological characteristics of these groups themselves. Within the framework of social psychology, several psychological schools can be distinguished: functionalism, behaviorism, humanistic psychology, cognitivism and interactionism. Functionalism (or functional psychology) arose under the influence of the evolutionary theory in biology of Charles Darwin and the evolutionary theory of social Darwinism of G. Spencer. G. Spencer believed that the main law of social development is the law of survival of the fittest societies and social groups.

Representatives of functionalism (D. Dewey, D. Angell, G. Carr, etc.) studied people and social groups from the point of view of their social adaptation - adaptation to difficult living conditions. The main socio-psychological problem of functionalism is the problem of the most optimal conditions for social adaptation of subjects of public life.

Behaviorism (later neobehaviorism) is behavioral psychology that studies the problems of patterns of human and animal behavior (I. V. Pavlov, V. M. Bekhterev, D. Watson, B. Skinner, etc.).

Behavior was viewed as an objective, observable reality that could be studied under experimental conditions. The central problem of behaviorism is the problem of learning, that is, the acquisition of individual experience through trial and error. Four laws of learning have been identified: the law of effect, the law of exercise, the law of readiness and the law of associative shift. The psychoanalytic direction is associated with the name of S. Freud. He investigated the problems of unconscious, irrational processes in personality and in its behavior.

He believed that the central driving force of a person is a set of drives. Some of the aspects of this direction were developed in the works of K. Jung and A. Adler. Social and psychological problems of the direction: the conflict between man and society, manifested in the clash of human drives with social prohibitions; the problem of sources of social activity of the individual.

Humanistic psychology (G. Allport, A. Maslow, K. Rogers, etc.) studied a person as a fully developing personality who strives to realize his potential and achieve self-actualization and personal growth.

Every normal person has a tendency towards self-expression and self-realization.

Cognitivism interprets human social behavior as a set of predominantly cognitive processes and places emphasis on the process of a person’s cognition of the world, his comprehension of the essence of phenomena through basic cognitive mental processes (memory, attention, etc.). The problem with cognitivism is human decision making. Representatives of the cognitive school (J. Piaget, J. Bruner, R. Atkinson, etc.) paid special attention to human knowledge and methods of its formation. Interactionism (later symbolic interactionism) explored the problems of the social aspect of interaction between people in the process of activity and communication.

The main idea of ​​interactionism: personality is always social and cannot be formed outside of society. Particular importance was attached to communication as the exchange of symbols and the development of common meanings and meanings. Most psychological schools can be distinguished only with a certain degree of convention, since they all study a person in a group, society, and the world.

The entire set of methods of socio-psychological research can be divided into two large groups: research methods and methods of influence. The latter belong to a specific area of ​​social psychology, the “psychology of influence.”

Among the research methods, a distinction is made between methods of collecting information and methods of processing it. Data processing methods are often not allocated to a special block, since most of them are not specific to social psychological research.

Methods of collecting information: observation, reading documents (content analysis), surveys (questionnaires, interviews), tests (the most common sociometric test), experiment (laboratory, natural).

Observation is an “old” method of social psychology. The main problem is to ensure that certain classes of characteristics are recorded so that the “reading” of the observation protocol is clear to another researcher.

The study of documents is of great importance, since with the help of this method it is possible to analyze the products of human activity. A special problem arises due to the fact that the document is interpreted by the researcher, a person with his own, inherent individual psychological characteristics. The most important role in studying a document is the ability to understand the text.

To overcome “subjectivity” (interpretation of a document by a researcher), a special technique called “content analysis” is introduced. This is a special method of document analysis, when special “units” are identified in the text, and then the frequency of their use is calculated. It makes sense to use the content + analysis method only in cases where the researcher is dealing with a large amount of information.

Surveys are a common technique in social psychological research. Typically, criticisms of this method are expressed in bewilderment about how one can trust the information obtained from the direct responses of the subjects, essentially from their self-reports. Among the types of surveys, interviews and questionnaires are most widely used in social psychology. The main methodological problems lie in the design of the questionnaire. The first requirement here is the logic of construction. Most often in social psychology, personality tests are used, less often - group tests.

A test is a special kind of test during which the subject performs either a specially designed task or answers questions that differ from questions in questionnaires or interviews. The questions in the tests are indirect in nature.

The point of subsequent processing is to use a “key” to correlate the responses received with certain parameters. Experiment is one of the main research methods in social psychology. There are two main types of experiment: laboratory and natural. For both types, there are some general rules that express the essence of the method, for example: arbitrary introduction of independent variables by the experimenter and control over them, the requirement to separate control and experimental groups so that the measurement results can be compared with some standard.

Family characteristics: features, rules of composition and sample

• Physical and emotional development of the child. This is the defining role of the family, which in the early stages of development cannot be replaced by educational institutions.
• Formation of psychological gender. This usually occurs in the first three years of a child's life. It is believed that it is the father who tends to differentiate differences between the sexes more strongly. Therefore, the characteristics of an incomplete family determine that the child may have problems with sexual socialization in the future.
• Child's mental development. American researchers have found that the IQ of children from prosperous and disadvantaged children differs significantly. Accordingly, this same parameter affects cultural development.
• Mastering social norms.
• Formation of value orientations. This applies to family relationships, lifestyle, aspirations and goals, communication with others.
• Social and psychological support. It is the family that lays in the child’s mind the level of self-respect, self-esteem, as well as the desire for self-realization.

Description of family structure. It should be quite short and to the point. Attention should be paid to the security, stability, openness, and spirituality of the family

It is also important to understand and describe the roles within a given unit of society, as well as the hierarchy. Description of the psychological climate To do this, you will have to work on determining the psychotype of each family member. The report should contain their description, as well as conclusions about compatibility. Parental position

We are talking about describing the lifestyle of adult family members, their social status, and type of activity. If possible, it is worth mentioning their life goals and ways to achieve them. The child's position in the family. Determining the degree of trust in parents and other adult family members, the presence of goals and aspirations appropriate to age, the presence of ideas about self-realization, academic success, state of physical and mental health.

Types

In modern science, it is customary to distinguish the following social personality types from the point of view of value orientations inherent in individuals:

1. Traditionalists . For them, law-abidingness, diligence, discipline and responsibility come first. Similar traits are observed against the background of a lack of desire for self-realization and independence.
2. Idealists . They are the exact opposite of traditionalists. They strive to prove themselves and act in accordance with their own attitudes and principles. They do not recognize authorities and traditional views on issues.
3. Frustrated type . These people do not feel involved in public life or in making important public decisions. They are characterized by low self-esteem, a constant state of depression and passivity.
4. Realists .
   Such individuals competently combine the desire for self-realization with an awareness of a sense of duty. They are able to rationally approach problems and objectively assess the proposed circumstances.
5. Hedonistic materialists. They are typical consumers who strive for immediate pleasures without thinking about the future. Their own desires always come first for them.

Personality types:

Brief description of the socio-psychological situation in the family

Groups differ in the structure and nature of the relationships that exist directly between its members, in size, in subjective composition, qualitative features of values, rules and norms of relationships that are shared by participants, interpersonal relationships, content and goals of activity. The composition of a group, which is characterized precisely by its members, is called composition. And size is the quantitative composition, i.e. composition is a quality composition.

At primary school age, children develop certain formations - voluntary behavior. At this age, the child becomes more independent. He begins to absorb certain moral values ​​and tries to follow specific rules and laws. Often this can be associated with selfish needs, for example, attracting attention and approval from adults. Thus, the behavior of younger schoolchildren comes down to one dominant property - the motive for achieving success. It is necessary to assess whether the child is able to make an adequate assessment of his actions, whether he is able to overcome his desires. At this age, the child tends to actively think about his actions and hide personal experiences.