Who is an individual: signs, behavior, difference from personality

The explanation of how an individual differs from a person lies in the duality of human nature. A person is born with a set of unique characteristics and properties. One can speak of a baby only as an individual, a representative of the species Homo sapiens. Life in society gives each individual the opportunity to socialize, develop their natural inclinations and form personal qualities. We can talk about such characteristics of a person as personality and individuality only when he is a full member of society.

Numerous examples from life, when, for various reasons, small children find themselves in the company of animals, confirm that the development of man as an individual continues according to general laws. The child grows, but does not acquire personal qualities, as he is deprived of human communication. This confirms the significant role of socialization in the formation of personality.

Who is a person - definition

A person is a biosocial being who manifests his psychological traits in interaction with others.

Philosophy, revealing the essence of the concept of “man,” puts the comparison of people and animals at the forefront. Philosophers consider the main difference between a person and an animal to be his consciousness and the ability to subordinate his instincts to willpower.

A person receives his biological essence through hereditary means. A newborn baby has these biological properties of the human species.

A person can be characterized in accordance with the following scientific approaches:

1. An objectivist approach that characterizes man as a being dependent on nature.
2. Subjectivist approach. Representatives of this concept give brief definitions in which the emphasis is placed on the fact that an individual is a representative of the human race with freedom.
3. Synthesis approach. Representatives of this approach based their definition of a person on a combination of natural (biological) and public (social) characteristics.

Despite the obvious differences between beast and man, some philosophers did not draw a clear line between these definitions. But the line between personality and man is clearly drawn by all researchers: a biological being (individual) is capable of performing actions characteristic of a person, but is not able to relate its needs to the needs of other individuals. Therefore, many authors’ definition of personality is based precisely on those qualities that characterize the characteristics of interpersonal communication and collective activity of people.

Differences between concepts

To summarize the above, let us list once again the main features and differences of the concepts under consideration. So, man is a general concept. Unlike the others, it can be used in a biological sense to refer to a member of the species Homo Sapiens. Moreover, in almost any context, the terms “personality” and “individual” can be replaced by the word “person”. But the statement will be more generalized.

An individual is a specific person. It is a technical or legal concept used in legal documents. It does not include any personal characteristics, but strictly indicates a specific person. From the point of view of law, an individual is a subject of legal relations (owner, heir, culprit of an accident). When we consider people as individuals, we consider them the same and neglect all their characteristics, except those that are important within the framework of the problem being solved.

A personality is a socialized person with character, temperament and worldview, actively interacting with other individuals. Personality does not arise on its own; it is formed through socialization that occurs in the process of growing up.

Individuality is a set of properties and qualities that make a person unique. It is formed in parallel with the personality. To better understand how personality differs from individuality, it is worth paying attention to what epithets these words are usually used with. About a person we can say that she is “strong”, “independent”, “independent”. Such epithets as “bright”, “memorable” or “unique” are more suitable for individuality.

Who is the individual

The concept of “individual” comes from the Latin word “individuum”, which translates as “whole, indivisible”. This concept is used to describe the socio-psychological characteristics of a particular person.

A social individual is a person as a representative of society, a certain social group.

The term "individual" is used in various sciences.

1. In social psychology, the individual is the basic definition around which concepts and theories of interpersonal interaction, communication, conflict resolution, and social management are built.
2. In sociology, this term is used to study public opinion and the behavior of large groups. When conducting sociological surveys, researchers use the concept of “individual” to create typical characteristics of a particular age group of subjects and study the individual characteristics of representatives of a particular profession or category of the population.
3. Physiologists use this term to study processes occurring in a particular organism. This concept allows physiologists to study the human body.
4. In medicine, this term is used to choose treatment tactics for a particular disease in a particular patient. The causative agents of the infection may be the same, but the nature of the course of the disease in two different people will be different. Therefore, doctors take into account the individual characteristics of the patient when prescribing certain medications.
5. In pedagogy, this term helps the educator or teacher implement a person-oriented approach to the child. In kindergarten, teachers create a developmental subject environment in which every child can satisfy his needs for knowledge of the world around him, in engaging in activities that he likes. A teacher at school must not only provide students with material on one or another discipline of the curriculum, but also create conditions for the creative self-realization of each of them.
6. In geography, the concept of an individual is used as a unit for measuring population density and studying the ethnocultural characteristics of a particular people.
7. In history, with the help of the term “individual”, an idea of ​​a particular era or historical event is formed. Thanks to this concept, historians have been able to create psychological portraits of outstanding figures.
8. In art, the concept of the individual formed the basis of different directions. The features of a particular genre in literature, music, and painting did not appear spontaneously. They are the result of the activities of brave individuals who were able to successfully realize their creative potential.

Myers-Briggs developed a concept according to which all people can be divided into the following types:

• sensory extrovert (vividly expresses himself, self-confident, socially active);
• sensory introvert (friendly, sociable, charming);
• intuitive extrovert (they talk a lot, but do little, live in dreams and discussions about possibilities, like to make grandiose plans, but do not implement them);
• intuitive introvert (makes decisions based on his own feelings);
• thinking extrovert (loves clarity, algorithms, logic, rationality in everything);
• thinking introvert (socially passive, uncommunicative, but generates brilliant ideas);
• feeling extrovert (tends to give advice, criticize);
• feeling introvert (prone to vivid experiences and emotional outbursts);
• decisive extrovert (impulsive, speaks first, thinks later);
• decisive introvert (calm, reserved, reasonable);
• perceiving extrovert (overflowing with vital energy, easy-going);
• a perceptive introvert (a creative person who draws inspiration from the world around him).

Strong-willed traits of people

Business communication - types, rules and culture of speech, how to develop skills

To achieve goals, an individual needs the ability to mobilize his own psyche. Willpower is the foundation of this skill.

Note! The volitional qualities of a person are not always innate. Often an individual has to train them on his own. It takes a lot of time to learn. The main thing is that training should be repeated periodically even after obtaining good results.

How will is formed

There are many methods for studying the volitional properties of a subject. The most common are:

• test N.N. Obozov “Self-esteem of willpower”;
• observation method A.I. Vysotsky;
• general assessment of will in adolescents according to N.E. Istanbulova.

Human volitional traits are divided into 2 types:

• moral;
• extraordinary.

The second type of qualities is the basis for improving the moral side of a person. Among the main volitional traits of an individual are:

1. Energy. Thanks to this property, a person is able to act quickly and make responsible decisions.
2. Self-control. This strong-willed quality protects the individual from impulsive and rash actions. With self-control, the subject is his own leader.
3. Courage. Allows a person to overcome internal fears and fears.
4. Patience. With the help of this volitional effort, the individual is able to achieve his goals, despite the presence of internal obstacles: fatigue, boredom, headache.
5. Initiative. Thanks to this quality, a person is able to show mental activity, creativity and independence to achieve better performance results.
6. Strategic. Allows a person to correctly set priorities not only in his personal life, but also in the business sphere.
7. Determination. This strong-willed trait helps the individual to consciously set himself the necessary tasks and actively act to achieve them.
8. Integrity. A strong-willed trait allows an individual in any field to be based on his own views, and not follow the lead of other people.

Signs of an individual

In psychology, the main distinguishing feature of the concept “individual” is the opposition of the characteristic social features of the subject of social life to the instinctive model of animal behavior. In simple terms, the difference between an animal and a single representative of the human race lies in the latter’s ability to adapt to the specific conditions of social interaction.

A person becomes an individual in the process of interaction with other people. The characteristics of an individual are:

• consciousness;
• intelligence;
• speech;
• upright posture.

How psychologists view this term

An individual is called the exact bearer of all the traits that are given to humanity. But in psychology, the term individual is characterized by the integrity of the psychophysical organizations of the body, its activity, as well as resistance to manifest actions.

A person lives as an individual from the beginning of his birth until the moment of death. This condition is the initial one on the planet from the point of view of its phylogenetic formation, as well as ontogenetic development. It is a concrete product of the creation of life, which actively interacts with a variety of surrounding criteria, and not a series of conditions that appeared suddenly. One thing is clear: it is impossible to consider a personality without close attention and emphasis on his individual characteristics.

They thus act as the foundation of human content. It is on them that a number of conditions for the development of each representative of the human race will depend, that is, on the inclinations that were invested in him at the genetic level. An individual has a number of basic functions, and specifically there are two of them. One is classified as conservation, thanks to which the process of distribution of energy and dynamic characteristics occurs, as well as a number of resource characteristics. But the other one is responsible for the function of so-called changes, from the point of view of plasticity of behavior.

Development of the individual

The development of the individual occurs constantly. The prerequisites for this process are:

• quantitative and qualitative changes occurring in the tissues and organs of the body during the growth and maturation of the individual;
• formation of personality consciousness;
• human cognitive interest;
• natural curiosity;
• communication with other representatives of a small social group in particular and society in general;
• genetic predisposition of a person to master new types of activities;
• genetically determined human ability to imitate.

Factors influencing the individual and group

What is the difference between an individual and an individual?

Although these two words have the same root, they have completely different meanings. The first term can be applied to virtually any person who lives among people, has adapted to society and is not only a biological species, but also a representative of society. But the second definition involves the development of the individual. You can develop natural, innate properties (never cut your hair, they will grow to incredible sizes), or you can get acquired ones.

Often people consider themselves individuals only because they try to go against the general opinion. Such informals really differ from the crowd, but the problem is that there are a lot of them, they are already creating their own informal mass. Among her, tattoos, ripped jeans, green hair and ear tunnels become commonplace. Thus, only one that is invented independently and not copied from another can be considered an individual solution.

Group and individual

Since man is a social being, it is impossible to imagine his full life outside of society. Life in society is so organized that each individual is a representative of a variety of social groups. The most significant social groups for an individual are:

• family;
• kindergarten group;
• a group of peers in the yard;
• classroom;
• student group;
• production team;
• clubs and interest groups.

In order to feel comfortable, an individual needs to be accepted into the group. To do this, he must follow the rules established in this group:

• recognize the authority of the group leader;
• have appropriate external attributes (specific clothing style, accessories, gadgets);
• share the group’s opinion, beliefs and value orientations;
• identify with this group.

As a member of a group, an individual is constantly in a situation of choice: agree with the group or show his true colors. If an individual has charisma and leadership abilities, he feels confident even in those moments when his personal position does not coincide with the opinion of the majority of group members. He is not afraid to voice his opinion. Since he backs up his thoughts and beliefs with arguments, group members listen to him, and sometimes even take his side, changing their views.

If an individual has low self-esteem, he is afraid to express his disagreement with the opinion of the majority in the group. He is forced to pretend, wear a mask, flatter, wanting to impress the leader of the group. His behavior will remain insincere as long as it is beneficial for a person to be a member of a given social group.

The influence of a group on an individual can be seen in some professions:

1. Salesman. There are certain standards for customer service, according to which the seller must be friendly, polite, and smiling. This professional standard does not allow a salesperson on the job to demonstrate his bad mood or negative attitude towards an unkempt customer.
2. Teacher. There may be completely different children in a school class. Some of them have high learning motivation, while others have low motivation. The teacher, as a rule, sees children who are interested in acquiring knowledge, but he cannot teach only them. In accordance with the job description, the teacher must treat all students equally. Professional standards prohibit a teacher from picking favorites in the class. The teacher’s personal attitude towards a particular child should not leave an imprint on his teaching.
3. Conveyor worker. This procession does not imply the manifestation of individuality. An employee of a factory or factory must perform certain operations in the required sequence. The group for this employee will be the production workshop. If an individual copes well with his duties, then other assembly line workers are loyal to him. If he makes a mistake, he will face sanctions from other workers, because his mistake will certainly affect their work.

The group influences the individual, shaping his system of life values ​​and principles. But the individual also influences the group if he has sufficient personal potential. It turns out that not only the group forms certain personal characteristics of its members, but also each individual who is a member of the group influences its socio-psychological characteristics.

2.6. Man, individual, personality

Social studies tutorial - Man

The concepts indicated in the title are often used as synonyms. However, there are significant semantic differences between them. Man is a being of the biological species homo sapiens. An individual is a representative of the human race, endowed with special traits that are different from other people. Each of us is an individual. Each person from birth is endowed with a special appearance, character, abilities, etc. The specific features that distinguish a person from the totality of his own kind constitute his individuality. It presupposes not only features of external appearance, but also a complex of socially significant qualities of an individual.

Each person is individual, but not every individual can become an individual. What qualities should a person have? At what age do they become one? There is no clear answer to these questions. From one point of view, a personality is a person who has a set of positive characteristics. According to another point of view, personality appears as something special, taken in a social aspect.

Personality is the integrity of a person’s social properties, a product of social development and the inclusion of the individual in the system of social relations through active substantive activity and communication.

An individual becomes a personality in the process of mastering social functions and developing self-awareness. Self-awareness is the awareness of one’s uniqueness as a subject of activity as a member of society. (The most important quality of a person is social activity, which can be considered in two manifestations. The first involves considering social activity as a property of a person, conditioned by his natural data and enhanced by qualities that are formed in the process of upbringing, education, communication and practical activity. Some people are naturally active , are energetic and active, which becomes noticeable already in early childhood. Others, on the contrary, are passive and inactive. Under the influence of many social factors, activity can develop, intensify or weaken. The second manifestation of social activity is associated with activity as some specific measure of activity. In this case activity can be expressed in specific indicators. An example is the measurement of labor activity. The criterion for social activity is the results of activity. The concept of “social activity” is closely related to the concept of “social subject” - a person capable of active social activity.

Sociology distinguishes such types of personality as normative (basic) and modal. A normative (basic) personality is a personality type accepted by the culture of the corresponding society, which most reflects the characteristics of a given culture. This is a kind of ideal type that society focuses on in raising the younger generation. In any social group, one can identify an individual with characteristics that most fully express the goals, conditions and patterns of functioning of this group. Thus, at a university there are ideas about what a student should be, in the army - a military man, at a factory - a worker, etc.

A modal (from the word “fashion”) personality is a person committed to the same cultural patterns as the majority of members of a given society. That is, this is the personality type that is most common in a given territory and at a given point in time. Modal personality reflects the real position of a person in society. For example, in the last decade of the 20th century. In Russia, the type of profit-oriented trading person has become widespread. It should be noted that in society there may be several types of modal personality, depending on the presence of different social groups.

The modal personality never corresponds to the normative one, although sometimes there are some overlaps. Deviations from the normative type, if they are quite significant, encounter resistance from society, which forces individuals to comply with generally accepted norms. In addition, a normative personality is more constant, while a modal personality is more dynamic. As living conditions change, personality types also change. Thus, a democratic society is characterized by a politically active type of personality, and an anti-democratic one is characterized by a type that obeys guidelines.

In conditions of radical changes in social life, a marginal personality type is becoming widespread, i.e. borderline personality: a person who has fallen out of his previous social environment and has failed to adapt to changed circumstances experiences mental discomfort, uncertainty about the future and seeks to join any social group to stabilize his position.

The formation of personality is influenced by many factors. First of all, it is heredity. From parents a person receives a set of individual properties of appearance, health, psyche, etc. But at the level of heredity, only psychophysiological properties are transmitted to a person. In most cases they play a secondary role. They can act as the main ones when a person is significantly different from those around him. In extreme cases, these are either physical and mental pathologies, or giftedness.

Another, more important factor is education - the process of purposeful influence on a person to form certain qualities in him. A person experiences educational influence from parents, teachers, and friends.

An important factor in personality formation is the social environment, i.e. those people among whom a person revolves, on whom he depends or who depend on him, on whom he is oriented or who are oriented towards him. There is a macro-environment (society as a whole, the system of education, upbringing, etc.) and a micro-environment (work collective, family, school). The individual and society interact with each other. Society can influence the formation of an individual and his actions. At the same time, the individual is capable of changing the social environment. The relationships that are formed and implemented in the process of such interaction are called social.

Social relations are a stable system of connections between individuals that have developed in the process of their interaction with each other in the conditions of a given society. Social relations develop between people included in various social groups. Man cannot exist in isolation. In his activities he must take into account the interests of other people. So, to achieve success at work, it is not enough to be a good specialist. It is necessary to be able to build the right relationships with both bosses and colleagues. All human actions are derivatives of social relations, which include two levels: the social level (interaction of people through various social groups) and the psychological level (direct interpersonal relationships).

A situation is possible when, despite favorable conditions, the process of personal development is suspended, since the person himself does not make any effort to do so. For the formation of personality, a person’s desire for self-improvement is necessary. Every person has enormous potential, which can only be revealed if a person sets goals for himself and makes attempts to achieve them.

A person’s abilities play an important role in the development of personality. Abilities are the individual mental qualities of a person that allow him to successfully acquire knowledge, skills and abilities. The wider a person’s range of interests, the easier it is to identify his true abilities. There are often cases when parents force a child to engage in some type of activity (mathematics, sports), but he has abilities in a completely different area (for example, in literature and art).

A clearly expressed ability is called talent. Ability and talent are innate qualities. But if they are not developed, they may fade away. Talent needs to be recognized in a person in time. This is the task of parents, schools, and other public institutions. The development of talent largely depends on the person himself. We call a talented person who constantly develops his abilities and achieves high results in his activities a genius. All brilliant people who left their mark on history were individuals.

But not only talents and geniuses become individuals. Personality is the result of the formation of an individual, the development of his abilities, and the accumulation of experience. A person is characterized by developed self-awareness, a strong position in life, the ability to make decisions and the ability to take responsibility for one’s actions. She always has her own point of view on certain problems and in some cases can oppose herself to society. A person is distinguished by developed willpower, the ability to force himself to act as necessary in a given situation.

Personality formation occurs during socialization. Socialization is the process of mastering social roles, acquiring social statuses and accumulating social experience. The process of socialization begins with a person’s birth and continues throughout his life.

The human life cycle consists of certain age stages: childhood, adolescence, maturity and old age. The age boundaries of these stages are quite blurred. Nevertheless, there are signs by which one can distinguish a child from a youth or a mature person from an old man. Depending on age, stages of socialization are also distinguished. The period of childhood and adolescence constitutes initial socialization, the period of maturity and old age constitutes continued socialization. In the process of socialization, a person is influenced by parents, school, friends (at the stage of initial socialization), and then by college, the army, work, and the state (at the stage of continued socialization).

Education plays an important role in socialization—instilling in a person the values ​​and ideals common in society. Education, as noted above, is a process of purposeful influence on a person to develop certain qualities in him. But there is another side to education, namely, the spontaneous assimilation of rules of behavior. In the first case, education is carried out by parents, school, and university. In the second, the child perceives patterns of behavior, imitating parents, older comrades, idols of cinema, pop, and sports. Purposeful education is always associated with the task of forming a set of positive qualities in a child. Negative patterns of behavior can also be spontaneously absorbed.

In upbringing, purposeful and spontaneous can correspond to each other, or they can come into conflict, for example, when parents constantly tell their child about the dangers of smoking, but they themselves smoke. Therefore, the upbringing process requires responsibility and self-control on the part of parents.

But education does not end when a person grows up. The process of learning norms of behavior continues throughout life. Only its direction changes. If in childhood a person was raised by those around him, then with age he influences himself, forcing him to perform certain actions. This process is called self-education.

Self-education is a property of a developed personality. It requires willpower and the desire for better results. Dissatisfaction with the achieved position, efforts to move forward, a state of constant search are signs indicating the status of an individual. A society consisting of bright personalities develops more dynamically and moves faster along the path of social progress.

Questions and tasks

1. What is the difference between the concepts “person”, “individual”, “personality”?

2. What is social activity? What are its manifestations?

3. Describe the concepts of normative and modal personality. What is their relationship? Give examples.

4. What factors influence the formation of personality?

5. What role do abilities and talent play in the development of personality?

6. What is socialization? What are its stages? What factors influence the socialization process?

7. What role does education play in the development of personality? What is the relationship between purposeful and spontaneous education?

8. What is the importance of self-education? Are you involved in your own education?

9. Read the statement by G.V. Plekhanov.

“A great man is great because he has characteristics that make him most capable of serving the great social needs of his time... A great man is precisely a beginner because he sees further than others and wants stronger than others. He solves scientific problems put on the agenda by the previous course of mental development of society; it indicates new social needs created by the previous development of social relations; he takes upon himself the initiative to satisfy these needs.”

What characteristics of a great man does he highlight?

2.7. The spiritual world of man →

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2.6. Man, individual, personality

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What is human individuality

Individuality is a unique set of personal characteristics of a person, which ensures his natural harmony and versatility. Individuality determines a person’s attitude towards himself, towards the people and things around him, towards his own and other people’s activities.

The socio-psychological paradox lies in the fact that every person wants to be different from others, to express themselves through creativity. But at the same time, everyone fears that others will not be able to understand and accept his self-expression. Therefore, people, as a rule, try to be like everyone else.

The structure of individuality consists of:

• type of temperament;
• a person's appearance;
• personality communication style;
• person's character;
• intellectual abilities of the individual;
• interests and inclinations of a person

A person’s individuality emerges in the course of his life. Everyone has this personality characteristic. It is difficult to find two people who have the same personality characteristics. Even twins have opposite personalities, which indicates the unique individuality of each person.

A person’s individuality is noticeable from infancy. Kids have differences in appearance and temperament. Even children's crying is different.

How does personality differ from individuality or individual?

The main difference is maximum self-awareness and the ability to control one’s own actions, take responsibility for them, and make decisions. The peculiarity is in willpower, which is expressed not in the desire to be different from others, but in the desire to become better than oneself. Usually, personal qualities, although they are manifested in comparison with others, are assessed by the person himself in relation to himself. That is, for example, the abstract “I” stole and has pangs of conscience not because a neighbor/friend or a policeman said that this should not be done. The reason is the awareness of values ​​and their violation. The individual will be ashamed first of all of himself.

Personality structure

The personality structure is formed by the characteristics of an individual acquired in the process of social interaction. These include:

• developed willpower;
• willingness to take responsibility for your words and actions;
• independence;
• self-discipline;
• self-organization;
• high level of self-control:
• high level of morality.

Psychologists have combined the characteristics of personality, creating its socio-psychological structure:

Social and psychological structure of personality

What is individual?

The main difference is the lack of specific, unique features. This is a person who belongs to the crowd, has similar characteristics, conforms to basic stereotypes and is susceptible to public opinion.

Such a person has not grown personally. At the everyday level, we can cite the following traits of an individual who never became a person:

• inability to make decisions;
• lack of responsibility for events;
• low social adaptability;
• following the opinion of the majority;
• lack of point of view;
• the ability to manipulate the person in question.

Personality qualities

An individual who is a person has come a long way from a person as a representative of a biological species to an individual endowed with social properties. An individual as a person is characterized by such qualities as:

• energy;
• uniqueness;
• creativity;
• initiative, enterprise;
• social activity;
• responsibility;
• high motivation to achieve goals;
• ability to control emotions;
• independence from the majority opinion;
• the ability to protect one's individuality.

Asya Rakhovich

Psychologist with more than 8 years of experience. Consultant on interpersonal and marital relationships, self-discovery.

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What does the term “personality” mean in social science?

The term “personality” plays an important role in social science and is studied primarily in the section “Man and Society”.

Personality is an individual person as a subject of social life, communication and activity with his own socially conditioned and individually expressed qualities.

Personality is characterized by a unique combination of the individual’s natural properties (age-sex, biochemical, neurodynamic and others) and social qualities formed in a particular environment.

The concept of “personality” allows us to consider a person as a bearer of certain social roles, and to correlate his activities with normatively established principles.

In humanistic philosophical concepts, personality is considered as the highest value for the sake of which social development is carried out.

Personal development

According to teachers and psychologists, the process of personality formation begins when a child turns 3 years old. The baby develops a need to do everything on his own. However, in his quest for independence, he encounters some difficulties: it turns out that he cannot yet perform most of the activities that are so interesting to him on his own. This contradiction between the baby’s desires and his helplessness causes violent negative behavioral reactions. The child is often capricious, cries, and refuses to comply with the parents’ demands.

Adults need to treat the child with understanding and patience during this period, since contradictions are the driving force of development. Several months will pass, and the baby will find the right ways to master new activities. This will be his first step towards personal development.

For an individual to become a person, special conditions are needed. Personal development occurs if:

1. Parents are interested in the development of the child, so from early childhood they create a developmental environment at home. Children need to read fairy tales, sing lullabies at night, and take part in children's games. All this forms the child’s moral and ethical basis for personal development.
2. The child must attend a preschool educational institution.

The degree of success of personal development is manifested in critical situations when a person faces a moral choice. A person who has been able to become a strong personality is able to overcome different life situations with dignity. He places spiritual values ​​above material ones. He is capable of:

• refuse dubious proposals from comrades;
• show willpower;
• be purposeful in your work;
• treat your loved ones carefully.

It is impossible to justify a person’s illegal and criminal actions by the fact that he was unable to socialize and express himself in socially encouraged activities. To commit a crime or not is a choice that not an individual is capable of, but a personality. The criminals made their choice consciously. This means they are individuals.

Individual character traits

Special psychology - what is it?

Individual psychological traits that characterize personality are studied by differential psychology and criminology. The dynamic structure of human characteristics includes 4 main groups:

• biological traits: inclinations, temperament, primary needs;
• social properties of the individual: worldview, moral qualities, orientation;
• individual abilities: talent, giftedness or genius;
• experience: skills, abilities, habits and knowledge.

It must be taken into account that not all individual characteristics of an individual can become character traits.

Inclinations and abilities

Important! All character traits relate to personality traits. This fact occupies a special place in criminological practice.

Thanks to individual psychological traits, a person is able to achieve success and improve in activities.

The influence of society on personality

Being in society, a person experiences pressure from others. Society influences the formation of a person’s system of value orientations and influences his actions.

The behavior of an individual is regulated not only by his own volitional efforts, but also by public opinion.

A person feels happy only in those moments when he can do what he really likes, while feeling understanding and support from loved ones.