Individuality is the ability to be different from others. This word applies to everything that surrounds us. An ordinary pebble on the road, a flower in a field or in a flower bed, any tree or bush, bird or other animal is unique in its own way. Everything is found in nature in a single copy, even if it is part of a complex of stones, a whole bouquet, a forest full of trees and bushes, even if it is part of an entire class or order of a certain species of animal. Everything in our world is different. Naturally, this also applies to humans.
From a psychological point of view, of course, it is more interesting to learn about a person’s individuality. We are all different. This difference begins in the difference in the genetic code, the set of chromosomes and ends in the dissimilarity of behavior, temperament and character of each of us. Everyone has something personal: their own eye color, hair color, height and weight, body type; speaking style and voice; your character and temperament; your attitude towards the environment. This makes us different in the deepest sense of the word. Everyone thinks and acts differently. However, individuality is something broader than just a set of characteristics established by nature. The individuality of a person as an individual develops throughout life. Biologically, as individuals, that is, as representatives of the human race, we are very similar. From birth, everyone has two eyes and two ears, one mouth and nose, two arms and two legs. Some people have the same characteristics: the same eye or hair color, the same skin color, similar nose and lip shapes, etc. However, we are very different from each other. This difference accumulates gradually and gives us individuality.
What are the differences between the terms individual, individuality and personality: characteristics
- An individual is a single representative of the human race, a separate person, regardless of his real anthropological and social characteristics.
- Individuality is the unique originality of a person’s manifestations, emphasizing the versatility and harmony, naturalness and ease of his activities.
- Personality is a human individual who is a subject of conscious activity, possessing a set of socially significant traits, properties and qualities that he realizes in public life.
Individuality in psychology
In this regard, the concept is related to the term “individual” - a representative of a community of people.
In this understanding of psychologists, the differences between people consist of physiological and mental characteristics. Among the first: height, hair color, eyes. Secondly, there is a set of abilities, a type of temperament, and a level of emotionality. The formation of individuality always takes place differently for everyone. A person becomes isolated on a personal level and goes through a process of self-determination. As a result, he feels unique and unrepeatable.
An individual personality is always original, takes an active social and creative position, and manifests itself in a large number of life forms. This often occurs during the process of socialization. First, a person learns the norms and rules of behavior accepted in society, and then forms an individual interpretation of diverse patterns of behavior and communication.
A characteristic reflection of the concept of individuality has become such epithets as creativity, originality, brightness, talent. As for personality, words such as fortitude, energy, determination, and independence are most often used here.
Psychologists often equate the concept of individuality with personality. This applies to interpretation options that are taken in a broad sense and mean all the distinctive features that are characteristic only of a particular person. But more often, scientists attribute individuality to personal properties.
Charismatic personality - what is it like?
What is the difference between an individual and an individual?
Yes, these are words with the same root, but they mean two completely different concepts. The first term is applicable to absolutely any person who lives among people, is socialized in society and is not only a biological species, but also a representative of humanity. The second definition, in turn, presupposes the path of development of the individual.
Often, most people consider themselves individuals only because they are trying to resist the world around them. They are truly different from everyone else, but as long as there are not too many of them. Therefore, only one that is invented independently and not copied from another can be considered an individual solution.
Individuality of a person and the oppressive rules of society
Be yourself! Stay as you are. Express yourself. People are talking from all sides. Meanwhile, they themselves are thinking about how to make them look good in the eyes of others and make their lives comfortable. The fact is that a person’s individuality is not a very convenient thing for society. And some pressure begins from early childhood.
Mothers explain to their daughters that going to kindergarten with a crown on your head is not a good idea, and it is also better to leave the princess carnival dress at home. Some boys keep up with the girls and want to visit the children's community, in the form of Batman or, for example, Catboy. But there is a limit here, and the individuality of a little person can be successfully expressed with beautiful bows on his head or a bright T-shirt with his favorite hero.
Our next example of how a person's individuality suppresses society is not so joyful. Someone came up with the idea that in a school or institute, where such concepts as the individual, individuality, and personality are actually studied, there should be exactly that many hours of mathematics. Someone decided that all school graduates should know chemistry at such and such a level, and pass just such and such laboratory work in biology. Of course, the state cannot provide each child with an individual educational program and it is simply easier this way.
School, army, work in municipal bodies and other public institutions greatly suppress a person’s individuality. What can we say about situations where people are forced to live under a dictatorship: the dictatorship of government regimes, or under the influence of not very good street company or even their own relatives at home in the family.
In small communities and families, a person’s individuality can also be suppressed
Why a person is an individual: description
Every person is an individual.
After all, we were all born on Earth and are representatives of the human race. In most modern theories, what distinguishes humans from animals is culture, which plays a decisive role in determining human behavior and actions. After all, human nature is recognized as binary, that is, man is a biosocial being. A table proving that a person is an individual.
| Animal | Human |
| Life is accompanied by instincts. | Along with instincts, a person has thinking and articulate speech. This directs human activity. |
| All actions are initially programmed; the activities of animals are unconscious. | Carries out conscious, purposeful creative activity. A person is able to keep his instincts under control. |
| Reproduces only its biological essence. The tools of their labor are primitive objects of the environment. | Reproduces its not only biological, but also social essence; makes tools; creates material and spiritual values. |
Social formation of the individual
If we understand the individual in the social aspect, then we can imagine the following understanding of this word: this is a person who participates in the socio-cultural life and activities of society, revealing his individual traits in the process of communicating with other people. Therefore, an individual can exist, as it were, in two forms: firstly, he is a separate person, a subject of certain relationships, and in this sense, every person is such; secondly, it is a member of a society who has a set of stable qualities: an actor, a writer, an athlete, a politician, a scientist... In the second case, one must become an individual, or a personality, in the process of social development.
The social development of an individual is a fairly broad concept, the elements of which are various influences on a person exerted from his very birth: purposeful and random, positive and negative. They also talk about socialization - the process of including an individual in the system of social relations, independently producing such relations and assimilating social experience.
Purposeful and systematic influence on an individual is also called education. First of all, this applies to a child, but they are also educated in adulthood - in the broader sense of the word. Education is designed to form the necessary moral qualities of a person, which also affects his socialization. The role of education, however, changes as the child develops: in the first years of life it is the main type of social influence, and at an older age its importance decreases - a person becomes more independent.
At the same time, the social development of an individual may have certain difficulties. For example, normal socialization may be hampered by the characteristics of his mental and physical development. Normal social relationships in such a situation (especially if the problems are mental) are difficult, and the child needs help for socialization.
In the social development of an individual, it is customary to distinguish three groups of external factors. The first is a “large” group, which includes space, the world, planet, country, state; these factors shape the socialization of very large groups of people, including the population of the entire planet. The second group is “average”, in which groups of people are distinguished according to a certain criterion: place of residence (city, village), nationality, audience of a media outlet (the public of a certain TV channel, movie fans, radio listeners, etc.). The third group is “small”, it covers factors that directly affect a particular person: family, friendly group, school, etc.
The social formation of an individual is, one might say, the highest level of development of a person as a social being and his highest need. In the process of such development, a person strives not only to consume (food, entertainment, knowledge, etc.), but also to give something, to make his feasible contribution to the further formation of society. At the same time, we must not forget about the internal potential of a person: the original characteristics of the future personality are still inherent in him at birth; Each of us has a certain temperament, character, certain inclinations, and a certain level of physical development. With the help of education, of course, you can shape any personality, but the approach must be individual, taking into account all the characteristics of a particular person. What works well for one individual may not work for another.
Sanguine people, for example, are more inclined to communicate and share their own experiences with other people than phlegmatic people. Cholerics are more hot-tempered and unbridled than representatives of other temperaments.
The social formation of an individual is an extremely important process for human society. If only because humans, as scientists confirm, have no instincts at all. We can say that man is the only creature who is not born by himself, but only becomes one in the process of upbringing and other types of social influence. “Mowgli people” who grew up in the forest have long ceased to be a curiosity; Since childhood, having no contact with a society of their own kind, such creatures are not capable of even basic actions. They don’t even have the instinct of self-preservation, so the very fact of such people surviving in the wild seems incredible. Animals, unlike humans, at birth already have a set of “recorded” behavioral models for all major life occasions, and these models are often quite complex. Thus, cats from a certain age begin to bury their waste, even if they were raised without a mother from birth.
At the same time, it is not yet completely known what formed first: human helplessness, forcing one to live in society, or a society in which life led to the loss of innate instincts. One thing is clear - in the process of his development, man finally “broke himself away from nature,” and since then social activity has become his main way of existence.
At the same time, the role of the individual has also changed. In the animal world, every creature strives to leave behind offspring, to continue “its blood.” This, in general, is the main goal of any living organism. But in human society, the self-reproduction of each of its members ceases to be the main goal, and another need comes to the fore - the maintenance and development of society. This is achieved by performing certain labor tasks. Only a limited part of people are able to leave behind healthy offspring, but turning these children into full-fledged people is already the task of the whole society. The biological male parent is not the only father for the child: often other “fathers” and “mothers” are more important - teachers, various celebrities (musicians, actors, writers), scientists, politicians. This is confirmed by constant socio-economic problems: often both biological parents are forced to work hard to feed their children, and then their upbringing is transferred to outside forces - these can be grandparents and other relatives, someone is “raised on the street”, someone something “brings up TV”...
Humanity understood this in ancient times. It is not for nothing that the concepts of “spiritual father” and “godfather” appeared in ancient religious cultures. Such “parents” were initially given greater responsibility for raising the child than biological fathers and mothers. Gradually, not a single individual could do without his “spiritual father.”
Of course, the social formation of the individual did not appear suddenly. Something similar, in a more simplified form, can be noted in the so-called social animals. These are ants, bees, termites and some other insects, as well as a number of mammal species - naked mole rats (African underground rodents), wolves, etc., including, of course, primates. Only a limited number of males and females are engaged in the constant reproduction of offspring in the communities of these animals; in ants, this is usually one single female and one to three males; in this case, there can be several million individuals in the entire anthill. What are all the other members of the community doing? They get food, protect the territory, conduct reconnaissance work - that is, in various ways they ensure the safety of the community and, in particular, the young. The ability of workers to reproduce does not play a special role in the survival of the community: in some species they can also sporadically produce offspring, in others they are asexual and cannot physically reproduce. But their existence is no less important for the young than the existence of their biological parents. If all working individuals stop doing their activities and begin to reproduce without exception, the community will die. Human society is very similar to the communities of these animals, except that people have much more “professions” (in the narrow and broad sense).
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.
Personality Traits
Single individual
The specificity of this concept lies in the set of characteristics inherent only to it. Personality traits integrate a large set of qualities that are formed in the process of human activity.
They have both social and purely psychological characteristics. To a number of physiological personality traits
psychologists include:
- Inherited appearance.
- Behavioral features.
- Adaptive properties.
Social personality traits
:
- Cultural characteristics that leave an imprint on the characteristics of a person and form his individuality.
- Characteristic values instilled in the family.
- Stability of behavior.
- Self-esteem.
- Behavior control system.
A very important point in assessing personality traits is a person’s age.
Throughout their lives, people go through a huge number of different stages of socialization and at each stage the characteristics of an individual can change. Whether it's drastic or not is another question. More often not radically. As for the process of socialization itself, it cannot be said that it ends after the formation of personality. Even an elderly person can socialize. For example, the desire to learn how to use technical means that were not there in his youth is already a process of socialization.
A person not only learns the basics of handling a phone or laptop from a technical point of view, but also absorbs the basics of the culture of communication in the Internet space when using certain gadgets. This culture and values may differ significantly from those previously adopted. Their interpretation is manifested in a different set of new personality traits.
You don’t always find individuality among people. Georgy Mikhailovich Vitsin
Reflection in psychology - what is it?
Personality structure
Personality is a rather complex system, to structure which psychologists use four levels:
- Lower. Innate mental properties, as well as those determined by age, gender and physiological characteristics.
- Second. Peculiarities of perception, thinking and behavior, formed under the influence of first-level factors.
- Third. Personal experience, including acquired knowledge and skills. The formation of this level depends on social interaction and life experiences.
- Higher. At the highest level are principles, ideals, self-esteem, desires, interests and other “personal” things. It is this level that determines the inner content of a person.
At each level you can find unique features that characterize a specific person. The ability to distinguish between them and the personal qualities associated with them is a very useful skill, having mastered which, you can learn to better understand your loved ones and yourself.
Personality is inner freedom and originality
Personality is liberation from the laws of necessity, non-subjection to the domination of nature, the ability to freely determine oneself. In most cases, a person acts on natural impulses; it is determined by its temperament, its character, its heredity, cosmic or socio-psychic environment, even its own “historicity”.
But the truth of a person is beyond any conditionality, and his dignity lies in the ability to free himself from his nature: not in order to destroy it or leave it to itself like an ancient or eastern sage, but in order to transform it.
(N.O. Lossky)
This view of personality and the essence of man arose in the 4th century in Christian theology, and was somehow present in the consciousness of European peoples and among us. He is still present. Our mentality is irreversibly Christianized - regardless of our attitude towards this religion. Do you agree that our vague ideas about personality correspond to this description?
In eastern philosophical systems, for example, in India, China, Tibet, Japan, ideas about man are completely different. There, “I” is something that needs to be gotten rid of, and the true essence of a person is impersonal and must dissolve in the Absolute. I have always been amazed in Chinese films, for example, by how much there is no value for the individual, respect for the individual and her freedom - a bit outlandish for our view...
Christian and post-Christian humanistic philosophy affirms the god-like personality, the unconditional value of the personality of each person and its uniqueness. The main personality traits - freedom and self-determination , are recognized as an integral need of a person, realized after he breaks out of the shackles of natural and social convention.
And when we talk about a Personality, we mean a person who was able to say his word or do a deed that exceeds what is available to everyone in the “natural” order of things. This is not just individuality, but realized originality that has revealed its potential and given the world something new - an accomplished person. A. Maslow called such people self-actualized individuals.
