The concept of temperament.

Considering mental processes, psychologists point to individual differences in their course. But it must be remembered that the bearer of mental processes is a specific person. Feels, thinks, feels a person with a certain personality. Only this particular personality creates the unity of the human psyche.

Therefore, psychology faces the task of studying those individual psychological characteristics of the personality, which, including differences in the course of individual mental processes, are at the same time new qualitative formations that give originality to the mental appearance of a person.

Temperament is one of the manifestations of individual psychological characteristics of a person. Under Temperament is understood as the individual-peculiar properties of the psyche that determine the dynamics of a person’s mental activity, which are equally manifested in a variety of activities, regardless of its content, goals, motives, remain constant in adulthood and, in their mutual connection, characterize the type of temperament.

Human temperament is manifested in different areas of mental activity. It appears especially brightly in the emotional sphere, in the speed and strength of emotional excitability. There are people who are emotionally responsive, impressionable. Even minor events find an emotional response in them. They warmly respond to the events of social life, work with enthusiasm and passion. On the other hand, there are people with reduced excitability, unimpressive. Only especially important events in public and private life cause them joy, anger, fear, etc. To everyday events, they relate without excitement; work energetically, calmly.

Other people quickly establish their attention, quickly think, speak, remember. Conversely, there are people whose characteristic feature is the slow, calm flow of mental processes. They think slowly, they speak slowly. Their speech is monotonous, inexpressive. Slowness is found in them in other mental processes, as well as in attention. Temperamental differences are also manifested in the features motility: in body movements, in gestures, in facial expressions. Some people have fast, energetic movements, plentiful, sharp gestures, expressive facial expressions. In others, movements are slow, smooth, gestures are mean, facial expressions are inexpressive. The first is characterized by liveliness, mobility, the second - motor restraint. Temperament affects the characteristics of moods and the nature of their change. Some people are most often cheerful, cheerful; their moods change often and easily, while others are prone to lyrical moods; their moods are stable, their change is smooth. There are people whose moods change abruptly, unexpectedly.

The nature of the course of mental activity depends on temperament. 1. The speed of occurrence of mental processes and their stability, for example, the speed of the mind, the speed of perception, the duration of concentration. 2. Mental tempo and rhythm. 3. The intensity of mental processes - the activity of the will, the strength of emotions, etc. 4. Orientation of mental activity. That is, the focus on certain objects, for example, the desire for new impressions or the appeal to oneself, to one's ideas, etc.

Definition of temperament: temperament is called an individual psychological feature of a person, which manifests itself in the degree of emotional excitability, in the speed and energy of the course of mental processes, in the speed and expressiveness of movements, facial expressions and gestures, and in the features of changing moods. Temperament- this is a peculiarity of the dynamics of human mental activity.

You can give the following definition of temperament: Feature the individual from the side of his dynamic features, that is, the speed, pace and rhythm of mental processes and mental states.

The development of the doctrine of temperament.

The founder of the doctrine of temperament is the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, who lived in the 5th century BC. BC. Hippocrates claimed that there are four fluids in the human body: yellow bile and black bile, blood and mucus. These liquids are mixed with each other in a certain proportion. Hippocrates called the proportion or ratio of four liquids in a mixture the ancient Greek word "crasis". This word was subsequently translated into Latin by the word temperamentum. The common word "temperament" comes from the said Latin term. Hippocrates believed that in mixing four

liquids, one of them may predominate. From the predominance of a certain liquid in mixing, a type of temperament arises. According to Hippocrates, there are four main types of temperament - choleric, melancholic, phlegmatic and sanguine.

The choleric temperament arises from such a mixture of the four fluids, in which yellow bile predominates. The name of this temperament established by Hippocrates - choleric comes from the ancient Greek word hole. Translated into Russian, it means - "bile". The word "choleric" in Russian means "bilious". The mixture of the four liquids, dominated by black bile, was called by Hippocrates the melancholic temperament. The name of this temperament comes from two ancient Greek words: melan - black and hole - bile. Hence the word "melancholic" in translation into Russian means "black bile." Hippocrates called the mixing of the four liquids with an excess of mucus the phlegmatic temperament. From the Greek word phlegma, phlegm. Finally, the fourth type of temperament arises when the four blood fluids predominate in the mixture. Hippocrates did not give this temperament a special name. Later it was called sanguine. From the Latin word sanguts - blood. Hence "sanguine" can be translated into Russian with the word "bloody".

Hippocrates approached the problem of temperaments from a medical point of view. He believed that this or that temperament creates a predisposition to certain kinds of diseases. Hippocrates' teaching in its content corresponded to the level of development of the sciences of his time and was long outdated. However, the name of Hippocrates will always live in the history of the science of temperament. His merit is that he was the first to put forward the idea of ​​temperament, which has existed for over two and a half thousand years.

The terms introduced by Hippocrates to denote certain types of temperament turned out to be tenacious: choleric, melancholic, phlegmatic. Words such as "temperament", "sanguine", although they do not belong to Hippocrates himself, but their appearance in science is associated with his teaching on temperament.

Hippocrates' doctrine of temperament aroused great interest in this problem among ancient scientists - philosophers, doctors. Already in antiquity, many different teachings about temperament appeared (Aristotle, Galen, etc.). Some of them argued that the mental qualities of a person also depend on temperament.

The founder of the psychological doctrine of temperament is the German philosopher Kant. The characteristics of the four temperaments (sanguine, melancholic, choleric and phlegmatic) vividly written by him were considered classical for a long time and had a great influence on the development of teachings about temperament in empirical psychology. Kant's doctrine of temperament and the numerous theories of temperament created by empirical psychologists are based on idealistic philosophy and cannot be considered scientific.

In addition to psychological theories of temperament, many others have been created - chemical, physical, physiological. Some scientists looked for the basis of temperament in the chemical composition of the body and blood. Others - in the movement of tissue molecules; the third - in the nature of the metabolism in the body, in the speed and strength of the movement of blood in the vessels, in the activity of the endocrine glands, etc.

E. Kretschmer in 1921 proposed to consider the dependence of the psyche on the type of physique. This typology is called constitutional typologies. He singled out four constitutional types: 1. Leptosomatic is characterized by a fragile physique, tall stature, and a flat chest. The shoulders are narrow, the lower limbs are long and thin. 2. Picnic - a person with pronounced adipose tissue, excessively obese and clumsy, characterized by small or medium stature, a swollen body with a large belly and a round head on a short neck. 3. Athletic - a person with well-developed muscles, strong physique, broad shoulders, narrow hips. 4. Dysplastic - a person with a shapeless, irregular structure (disproportionate physique, etc.).

With the named types of body structure, Kretschmer correlates the three types of temperament he singled out: schizothymic(closed, stubborn, inactive); ixothymic(calm,

Unimpressive, with low flexibility of thinking); cyclothymia(his emotions waver between joy and sadness, he easily contacts people and is realistic in his views).

In the 40s of the 20th century, W. Sheldon also developed his constitutional concept of temperament. It should be noted that in psychological science, most of the constitutional concepts have become the object of sharp criticism.

The famous psychologist X. Eysenck believes that a person's personality includes four levels: I - the level of individual reactions; II - the level of habitual reactions; III - the level of individual personality traits; IV - level of typical traits: intro-extraversion, emotional instability (neuroticism), psychopathic traits, intelligence.

Neuroticism is emotional and psychological instability, susceptibility to psychotrauma. In persons with increased neuroticism, due to excessive impressionability and resentment, even over trifles, emotional stress can occur. They endure conflicts for a long time, “cannot pull themselves together”, are often depressed, upset, irritable, anxious, the circle of their friends usually narrows. These traits are quite persistent and can be smoothed out in the process of persistent self-education.

Extraversion in combination with increased neuroticism causes the manifestation of the choleric temperament; "introversion plus neuroticism" determines the temperament of the melancholic; the opposite of neuroticism is emotional stability, balance, combined with extraversion, manifests itself as a sanguine type.

A scientific solution to the problem of temperaments became possible only thanks to the teachings of I.P. Pavlova about types of higher nervous activity. Temperament - these are the innate characteristics of a person that determine the dynamic characteristics of the intensity and speed of response, the degree of emotional excitability and balance, and the features of adaptation to the environment.

There are no better or worse temperaments - each of them has its positive aspects, therefore, the main efforts should be directed not to reworking the temperament (which is impossible due to the innate temperament), but to the reasonable use of its merits and leveling its negative sides.

Mankind has long tried to highlight the typical features of the mental make-up of various people, to reduce them to a small number of generalized portraits - types of temperament. Such typologies were practically useful, since with with their help it was possible to predict the behavior of people of a certain temperament in specific life situations.

Temperament, translated from Latin, is a mixture, proportionality.

Types of higher nervous activity and their correlation with temperaments.

Experimenting on dogs, I.P. Pavlov noticed that each animal has its own individual characteristics. One dog - live, mobile; she quickly develops conditioned reflexes, both positive and inhibitory; the stereotype is changed relatively quickly. Another dog is distinguished by its calmness and slowness; she slowly develops positive conditioned reflexes and relatively easily - inhibitory ones; alteration of the dynamic stereotype is not easy for this type of dog. From an attempt to find out the reasons for these differences, the teaching of I.P. Pavlov about the types of higher nervous activity.

Type of higher nervous activity, according to Pavlov, - This a peculiar complex of the basic properties of the nervous processes of excitation and inhibition- strength, balance and mobility.

Under by the power of nervous processes I.P. Pavlov understood the performance of nerve cells, their ability to endure strong stress without falling into a state of inhibition (outrageous inhibition). The strength of nervous processes depends on the stock of reactive, or functional, substance in the nerve cells. I.P. Pavlov said: “A cell with a small supply of functional substance will be a weak cell and, accordingly, a weak nervous type, and with a large supply of functional substance, it will be strong.”

The first property is strength. The strength of the process of excitation and inhibition, depending on the performance of nerve cells. A strong nervous system is characterized

great strength of nervous processes - excitation and inhibition; the latter is due to the large stock of reactive substance in the nerve cells. A weak nervous system is associated with a small supply of functional substance in nerve cells; it is characterized by weakness of the main nervous processes - excitation and inhibition. A strong nervous system is able to endure great tension, but a weak one cannot endure such tension.

The second property, laid down by I.P. Pavlov in determining the type of higher nervous activity is balance of the main nervous processes- excitation and inhibition, the degree of compliance of the excitation force with the inhibition force or their balance. Equilibrium follows from the ratio of the processes of excitation and inhibition in terms of their strength. If both nervous processes are approximately of the same strength, then they balance each other. Such a nervous system is called balanced. If one of the nervous processes (usually excitation) prevails in strength over the other (inhibition), then such a nervous system will be unbalanced.

The third property that determines the type of higher nervous activity, is the mobility of the main nervous processes- excitation and inhibition, i.e. the rate of change of excitation by inhibition and vice versa. The nervous system of man and animal is constantly exposed to environmental influences, which are characterized by inconstancy and variability. The balance of the organism with the environment is achieved only if both nervous processes - excitation and inhibition - keep pace with the fluctuations of the environment in terms of the speed of the flow and the speed of the change. I.P. Pavlov defines the mobility of nervous processes as the ability to "quickly, at the request of external conditions, give way, give preference to one stimulus over another, stimulus over inhibition and vice versa."

Excitation. Excitation is a property of living organisms, an active response of excitable tissue to irritation. For the nervous system, excitation is the main function. The cells that form the nervous system have the property of conducting excitation from the site where it arose to other sites and to neighboring cells.

Thanks to this, nerve cells have acquired the ability to transmit signals from one body structure to another. Excitation became a carrier of information about the properties of stimuli coming from outside and, together with inhibition, a regulator of the activity of all organs and systems of the body. The process of excitation occurs only at a certain intensity of the external stimulus, which exceeds the absolute threshold of excitation characteristic of this organ.

In the course of evolution, along with the complication of the nervous system, methods of transmitting excitation were also improved, in which this process extends to the end of the path without any weakening, which allows excitation to carry out a regulatory function in the whole organism. The process of excitation together with inhibition forms the basis of higher nervous activity. Their dynamics leaves a seal on all acts of behavior, up to the most complex ones, and their individual characteristics determine the type of higher nervous activity.

Braking. Inhibition is an active process, continuously associated with excitation, leading to a delay in the activity of nervous processes or working organs. In the first case, braking is called central, in the second - peripheral. Peripheral inhibition was discovered in 1840 by the Weber brothers, who received a delay in heart rate during rhythmic stimulation of the vagus nerve. Central inhibition was discovered by I.M. Sechenov in 1863. This discovery had a profound impact on the study of not only neurodynamics, but also the regulation of mental processes.

At present, two different ways of inhibition of cellular activity have been identified: inhibition can either be the result of the activation of specific inhibitory structures, or arise as a result of preliminary excitation of the cell.

The mobility of the nervous processes of an animal in laboratory conditions is determined by converting a positive reflex into an inhibitory one and vice versa. If in a series of experiments the sound stimulus is reinforced by the action of the unconditioned (food), and the light stimulus is not reinforced, then the animal develops a positive conditioned reflex

leke to the sound and brake - to the light. If, in subsequent experiments, the reverse is done: the light stimulus is reinforced by the action of the unconditioned (food), and the sound stimulus is not reinforced, then the positive conditioned reflex must be converted into an inhibitory one and the inhibitory one into a positive one. In animals with a mobile nervous system, this alteration occurs relatively quickly. and painless; animals with sedentary nervous system such alteration is given with with great difficulty. Speed and ease of alteration of positive conditioned reflexes in brake and inhibitory to positive is an indicator of the mobility of nervous processes. On the basis of mobility, the nervous system can be mobile or inert.

The mobile nervous system is characterized by the rapid course of nervous processes, rapid and easy change of the process of excitation by the process of inhibition and vice versa. A characteristic feature of the inert nervous system is the relatively slow flow of the main nervous processes - excitation and braking and the difficulty of their interchange.

Depending on the originality of the combination of these three basic properties of nervous processes - strength, balance and mobility, there are peculiar types of the nervous system. This was pointed out by I.P. Pavlov: “As a result of possible fluctuations in the basic properties of the nervous system and possible combinations of these fluctuations, types of the nervous system should occur and, as arithmetical calculations indicate, at least twenty-four, but, as reality testifies, in a much smaller number, and precisely four types, especially sharp, conspicuous ... ".

Emphasizing the possibility of a wide variety of combinations of the basic properties of the nervous processes of strength, balance and mobility, I.P. Pavlov argued that four variants of these properties are most often found in life. They determine the four main types of higher nervous activity.

Physiological the characteristics of the four types of higher nervous activity can be represented as follows: Type I - strong, balanced, mobile; II type - strong, unbalanced; III type - strong, balanced, inert; IV type - weak.

The doctrine of the types of higher nervous activity by I.P. Pavlov developed as a result of experiments on animals (dogs). He was always cautious about the possibility of transferring data obtained through experiments on animals to humans. However, he considered it possible to extend the doctrine of the types of higher nervous activity to man. I.P. Pavlov believed that the type of higher nervous activity is manifested in the behavior and animal activity and person. The imprint that the type of higher nervous activity leaves on behavior and human activity, I.P. Pavlov called temperament. I.P. Pavlov drew a parallel between the four main types of higher nervous activity and temperaments, the existence of which was first noticed by Hippocrates.

In addition to these basic temperaments, there are many others - individual, or mixed. The most studied in psychology are the four basic temperaments; individual or mixed temperaments have not been studied enough.

temperament properties.

1. Sensitivity It is determined by what is the smallest force of external influences necessary for the occurrence of any mental reaction of a person, and what is the rate of occurrence of this reaction.

2. Reactivity characterized by the degree of involuntary reactions to external or internal influences of the same strength (a critical remark, an offensive word, a sharp tone, even a sound).

3. Activity indicates how intensely (energetically) a person influences the outside world and overcomes obstacles in achieving goals (persistence, focus, concentration). The ratio of reactivity and activity determines what human activity depends to a greater extent: on random external or internal circumstances (mood, random events) or on goals, intentions,
beliefs. Plastic and rigidity indicates how easily and flexibly a person adapts to external influences (plasticity) or how inert and inert his behavior is. The rate of reaction, the characteristic speed of various mental reactions and processes, the rate of speech, the dynamics of gestures, the speed of the mind.

5. Rate of reactions. We judge this property by the speed of various mental reactions and processes, that is, the speed of movements, the pace of speech, the speed of memorization, the quickness of the mind, resourcefulness.

6. Plastic- rigidity. The ease and flexibility of a person's adaptation to external influences is plasticity. Rigidity - inertia, inertia of behavior, habits, judgments.

7. Extraversion, introversion determines what the reactions and activities of a person mainly depend on - from external impressions that arise at the moment (extrovert), or from images, ideas and thoughts related to the past and future (introvert).

8. emotional excitability, How weak an impact is necessary for the occurrence of an emotional reaction and at what speed it occurs.

Psychological characteristics of temperament types.

The psychological characteristics of the main types of temperament stem from its psychological essence and are closely related to its definition. They reveal the features of emotional excitability, the speed and energy of the course of mental processes, the features of motor skills, the nature of the prevailing moods and the features of their change. The characteristics reveal the originality of the dynamics of the psychological activity of the individual, due to the corresponding type of higher nervous activity.

Given the above, the psychological characteristics of the main types of temperaments can be presented in the following form:

I. Sanguine temperament, which is based on a strong, balanced, mobile type of higher nervous activity, is characterized by mild emotional excitability, rapid mental processes, fast, numerous, varied movements, an abundance of light, graceful gestures, rich facial expressions, a predominance of a cheerful, cheerful mood , quick, painless mood swings.

2. Choleric temperament, which is based on a strong, unbalanced (with a predominance in strength of the excitation process), mobile type of higher nervous activity, psychologically characterized by increased emotional excitability, rapid, energetic flow of mental processes, fast, energetic movements, sharp gestures , expressive facial expressions, stable cheerful mood and a sharp transition from one mood to another.

3. Phlegmatic temperament, which is based on a strong, balanced, inert type of higher nervous activity. It is characterized by the following features: reduced emotional excitability; slow, calm flow of mental processes; slow, few movements, rare, inexpressive gestures, inexpressive facial expressions; smooth, stable moods and their slow and smooth change.

4. Melancholic temperament, which is based on a weak type of nervous system, is characterized by high emotional excitability (sensibility), asthenic feelings, slow mental processes, relatively rapid fatigue, slow movements, weak facial expressions, few, low-energy gestures with weak expression, a tendency to sad lyrical moods, slow change of moods.

Research B.M. Teplova and V.D. Nebylitsin showed that the structure of the basic properties of the nervous system is much more complicated, and the number of combinations is much greater than previously thought. However, these four types of temperament, as the most generalized ones, can be used to study individuality. According to V.D. Nebylitsin, the so-called inhibitory type is distinguished, characterized by strength, mobility, imbalance, with a predominance of the braking process in terms of strength.

Character The general concept of character.

Features of temperament do not reveal the social appearance of a person. Knowing them, we cannot say anything about a person's life goals, the strength of his patriotism, honesty, diligence, perseverance and other qualities of his personality. People with the same temperaments can treat their duties differently, behave differently.

The behavior of a person as a member of society is considered, first of all, from the moral and volitional side. At the same time, they mean not the random actions of a person, but the stable features of his personality, psychological properties.

Patriotism, diligence, honesty, truthfulness, modesty are the moral qualities of a person. Decisiveness, initiative, perseverance, self-control, independence, courage are the volitional properties of a person. The moral and volitional side of behavior is most clearly expressed in a complex personality trait called "character".

The word "character" of ancient Greek origin and translated into Russian means "feature, sign, sign, feature."

Character- an individual combination of stable mental characteristics of a person, causing a typical way of behavior for a given subject in certain life conditions and circumstances.

Character in the dynamic sense of analytical psychology is the specific form that a person's energy is given by the dynamic adaptation of his needs to a particular mode of existence of a given society. Character, in turn, determines the thinking, emotions, and actions of individuals. It is rather difficult to see this, because we are usually convinced that thinking is an exclusively intellectual act and does not depend on the psychological structure of the personality. This, however, is not so, and the less true the more our thinking is confronted with ethical, philosophical, political, psychological or social problems, and not just with the empirical manipulation of specific objects. Such thinking, in addition to the purely logical elements involved in the act of thinking, is largely determined by the personality structure of the person who thinks. This applies equally to any doctrine and theoretical system, as well as to individual concepts: love, justice, equality, self-sacrifice, etc.

Each person has his own special character, inherent only to him, in which some features are more pronounced, others are weaker. A peculiar combination of character traits creates his individuality. Therefore, in life there are no people whose characters would be similar.

Character is formed throughout a person's life in accordance with the conditions of life, practice and social experience of a person. In turn, character has an impact on the formation of personality. The formation of character and personality as a whole is greatly influenced by education and self-education. In essence, the formation of personality continues throughout life, under the influence of the surrounding microenvironment (family) and macroenvironment (team). At the same time, in addition to a positive example of the family and others, a large role belongs to self-education, and if a person is aware of the shortcomings of his character or his personality traits, then it is never too late to correct them.

It often happens that a child grew up and was brought up in an unfavorable environment, in conditions of frequent conflicts between parents and other family members, often was not only a witness, but also a participant in these quarrels, which undoubtedly influenced the formation of his character and personality traits. The alcoholism of one or more family members has a particularly adverse effect on the formation of character and other personality traits. In addition to frequent conflicts, manifestations of the negative properties of human nature, a severe neurotic (psychogenic) situation is created in the family, which adversely affects the process of forming the character and personality of a teenager. Attraction to active work, communication with people of high psychological orientation and conviction, their positive way of acting and thinking make a teenager take a fresh look at the unsightly life of his parents, resist it. A teenager develops a new life perception, he makes the first attempts at self-education. The emerging needs for a different life, not like the unsightly life of parents, give rise to new interests.

In high school or in senior years of educational institutions, a worldview is formed. If this happens spontaneously, then the wrong formation of personality is possible. Needs may turn out to be perverted (the need for lies, etc.), and interests may be limited (interest in personal enrichment and well-being, the search for an "easy" life, etc.). Here, the team where a person studies or works is of great importance.

In the future, a lot depends on the abilities, character traits and strong-willed qualities. It should be emphasized that all these qualities can be developed in the process of education and growth, with persistent and purposeful self-education. Naturally, the natural inclinations of different people are different, and each one achieves success precisely in the activity for which he is most capable. Therefore, it is important that a person chooses a profession in accordance with his capabilities.

Character- this is an individual type of mental reactions to the action of direct stimuli and impressions of reality.

The character of a person is formed under the influence of the totality of social relations in which a person is included and which determine the way of his life. The leading role in shaping the character of a person belongs to education.

1. From the history of teachings about temperament

The doctrine of temperament arose in antiquity. The word "temperament" in Latin means "proper ratio of parts"; the Greek word “krasis”, equal in meaning, was introduced by the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates (Y-IY centuries AD). He first defined the concept of "temperament" and described temperaments in more or less detail. By temperament, he understood the anatomical, physiological and psychological individual characteristics of a person. He, and then Galen, observing the individual characteristics of people's behavior, made an attempt to explain these features. According to the Hippocratic theory, the differences between people are determined by the ratio of the main types of fluids in their body. If they are mixed correctly, a person is healthy, if they are mixed incorrectly, they are sick. One of the fluids predominates, which determines the temperament of a person. According to Hippocrates, there are four such fluids: blood, two types of bile and mucus (or lymph). In sanguine people, blood predominates (lat. sanguis), in choleric people - yellow bile (lat. chole), in phlegmatic people - mucus (lat. pegma). And finally, melancholics are people with an excess of black bile (Latin melanos chole). The names of temperaments have survived to this day.

Further development of the doctrine of temperament took place in the following directions.

The psychological characteristics of temperament expanded more and more. The Roman physician Galen (II century), unlike Hippocrates, characterizes the types of temperament along with physiological, psychological and even moral properties.

German philosopher I. Kant at the end of the 18th century. considers temperament only as mental properties. Until recently, the characteristic of temperament remained predominantly psychological. In this regard, the concept of types of temperament is changing. They are characterized by a proportion of not physiological, but mental properties. For Kant, this is the ratio of different feelings and different degrees of activity. He argued that in a sanguine person the main desire is the desire for pleasure, combined with a slight excitability of feelings and their short duration. He is fond of everything that pleases him. His inclinations are fickle, and one cannot rely too much on them. Trusting and gullible, he enjoys building projects but soon abandons them.

In the melancholic, the dominant inclination is the inclination towards sadness. Trifle offends him, everything seems to him that he is neglected. His desires are sad, his suffering seems unbearable and beyond all consolation.

The choleric temperament exhibits remarkable strength in action, energy and perseverance when under the influence of some passion. His passions instantly ignite from the slightest obstacle, and his pride, revenge, ambition, the strength of his feelings know no limits when his soul is under the influence of passion. He thinks little and acts quickly, because that is his will.

And, finally, according to Kant, feelings do not take hold of the phlegmatic quickly. He does not need to make great efforts on himself in order to maintain his composure. It is easier for him than for others to refrain from a quick decision in order to think it over before. He is difficult to be irritated, rarely complains, endures his sufferings patiently and is little indignant at the sufferings of others. (, p.208)

For Wundt (the end of the 19th century), temperament is the ratio of the speed and strength of “spiritual movements”. In the process of developing the doctrine of temperament, the characteristics of the four main types of temperament change. The idea of ​​their number is being revised. Starting with Kant, they began to distinguish the properties of temperament from other individual mental properties (the nature of the personality), although strict criteria for such a distinction were not proposed.

In the history of teachings about temperament, the understanding of the physiological foundations of temperament has changed. There were two main directions: explanation of temperament types by the ratio of the activity of the endocrine glands (German psychologist Kretschmer, American Sheldon), or by the ratio of the properties of the nervous system (I.P. Pavlov) (, pp. 407-408).

Since ancient times, researchers, observing a significant variety of behavior, coinciding with differences in physique and physiological functions, have tried to streamline them, somehow group them. Thus, a variety of typologies of temperaments arose. Of greatest interest are those in which the properties of temperament, understood as hereditary or innate, were associated with individual differences in physique. These typologies are called constitutional typologies. So the typology proposed by E. Kretschmer, who in 1921 published his famous work “Body Structure and Character”, was most widely used. His main idea was that people with a certain type of constitution have certain mental characteristics. He carried out many measurements of body parts, which allowed him to distinguish 4 constitutional types (,,):

Leptosomatic (asthenic type) - characterized by a fragile physique, high growth, flat chest. The shoulders are narrow, the lower limbs are long and thin.

Picnic - a person with pronounced adipose tissue, excessively obese. characterized by small or medium stature, a spreading body with a large belly and a round head on a short neck.

Athletic - a person with well-developed muscles, a strong physique, characterized by high or medium height, broad shoulders, narrow hips.

Dysplastic - people with a shapeless, irregular structure. Individuals of this type are characterized by various body deformities (for example, excessive growth, disproportionate physique).

With these types of body structure, Kretschmer correlates 3 selected types of temperament, which he calls: schizothymic, ixothymic and cyclothymic. The schizothymic has an asthenic physique, he is closed, prone to fluctuations in emotions, stubborn, not very responsive to changing attitudes and views, hardly adapts to the environment. In contrast, the ixothymic has an athletic physique. This is a calm, unimpressive person with restrained gestures and facial expressions, with low flexibility of thinking, often petty. The picnic physique is cyclothymic, his emotions fluctuate between joy and sadness, he easily contacts people and is realistic in his views,.

The theory of E. Kretschmer was very common in Europe, and in the USA the concept of temperament by W. Sheldon, formulated in the 40s of our century, gained popularity. Sheldon's views are also based on the assumption that the body and temperament are 2 human parameters related to each other. The structure of the body determines the temperament, which is its function. W. Sheldon proceeded from the hypothesis of the existence of basic body types, describing which he borrowed terms from embryology. They distinguished 3 types (, , ):

1. Endomorphic (mostly internal organs are formed from the endoderm);

2. Mesomorphic (muscle tissue is formed from the mesoderm);

3. Ectomorphic (skin and nervous tissue develop from the ectoderm).

At the same time, people with an endomorphic type are characterized by a relatively weak physique with an excess of adipose tissue; the mesomorphic type tends to have a slender and strong body, great physical stability and strength; and ectomorphic - a fragile body, a flat chest, long thin limbs with weak muscles.

According to W. Sheldon, these types of physiques correspond to certain types of temperaments, named by him depending on the functions of certain organs of the body: viscerotonia (lat. viscera- “insides”), somatotonia (Greek soma - “body”) and cerebrotonia (lat. cerebrum - "brain").

Types of temperament (according to W. Sheldon)
Viscerotonia	Somatotonia	Cerebrotonia
Relaxation in posture and movement. Love for comfort. Slow response. Passion for food. Socialization of food needs. Pleasure from the process of digestion. Love for companies, friendly outpourings Sociophilia (love for social life). Kindness to everyone. Thirst for love and approval of others. Orientation to others. Emotional balance. Tolerance. Serene contentment. Good dream. Lack of explosive emotions and actions. Softness, ease of handling and outward expression of feelings. Sociability and relaxation under the influence of alcohol. The need for people in difficult times. Focused on children and families.	Confidence in posture and movement. Propensity for physical activity. Energy. Need for movement and pleasure from it. The need for dominance. Risk appetite in the game of chance. Decisive manner. Bravery. Strong aggressiveness. Psychological insensitivity. Claustrophobia (fear of closed spaces). Lack of compassion. Spartan pain endurance. Noisy behavior. Appearance corresponds to older age. Objective and broad thinking, directed outward. Self-confidence, aggressiveness under the influence of alcohol. The need for action in difficult times. Orientation towards youth activities.	Inhibition in movements, stiffness in posture. Excessive physiological reactivity. Increased rate of reactions. A tendency to seclusion. Disposition to reasoning, exclusive attention. secret feelings, emotional retardation. Self-control of facial expressions. Social phobia (fear of social contacts). Inhibition in communication. Avoidance of standard actions. Agrophobia (fear of open space). Unpredictability of attitudes (behavior). Excessive sensitivity to pain. Poor sleep, chronic fatigue. Youthful vivacity and subjective thinking. Concentrated, hidden and subjective thinking. Resistance to the action of alcohol and other repressants. The need for solitude in difficult times. Orientation towards old age.

In psychological science, most constitutional concepts have become the object of sharp criticism. The main drawback of such theories is that they underestimate, and sometimes simply openly ignore, the role of the environment and social conditions in the formation of the individual's mental properties.

Characteristics of temperament, such as the socialization of food needs, love of company and friendly outpourings, tolerance and lack of compassion, cannot be considered hereditary properties of the same order as physique. It is known that such properties, arising on the basis of certain anatomical and physiological characteristics of the individual, are formed under the influence of education and the social environment (,).

Hormonal theories of temperament one-sidedly exaggerate the role of the endocrine glands and are unable to explain the adaptation of temperament to the requirements of activity (, p. 409).

In fact, the dependence of the course of mental processes and human behavior on the functioning of the nervous system, which performs a dominant and controlling role in the body, has long been known. The theory of the connection of some general properties of nervous processes with types of temperament was proposed by I.P. Pavlov and was developed and experimentally confirmed in the works of his followers.

The most successful attempt to connect temperament with the characteristics of the human body was made by the Russian scientist-physiologist I.P. Pavlov, who discovered the properties of higher nervous activity. In Pavlov's laboratories, where conditioned reflexes were studied on dogs, it was found that in different animals conditioned reflexes are formed in different ways: in some they are formed quickly and persist for a long time, in others, on the contrary, slowly and fade quickly; Some animals can endure heavy loads under strong stimuli, while others fall into a state of inhibition under the same conditions. (, p.208-209)

Based on the results of research, Pavlov showed that each of the four temperaments is based on one or another ratio of basic properties, which was called the type of higher nervous activity. Unlike his predecessors, he took for research not the external structure of the body, as the German psychiatrist Kretschmer did, and not the structure of blood vessels (P.F. Lesgaft), but the body as a whole and isolated the brain in it (, p. 307).

Teachings of I.P. Pavlov. They identified three main properties of the nervous system:

one). the strength of the process of excitation and inhibition, depending on the performance of nerve cells;

2). balance of the nervous system, i.e. the degree of compliance of the excitation force with the braking force (or their balance);

3). mobility of nervous processes, i.e. the rate of change of excitation by inhibition and vice versa.

The strength of excitation reflects the performance of the nerve cell. It manifests itself in functional endurance, i.e. in the ability to withstand prolonged or short-term, but strong excitation, without passing into the opposite state of inhibition.

The strength of inhibition is understood as the functional performance of the nerve cell in the implementation of inhibition and is manifested in the ability to form various inhibitory conditioned reactions, such as extinction and differentiation.

Speaking about the balance of nervous processes, I.P. Pavlov had in mind the balance of the processes of excitation and inhibition. The ratio of the strength of both processes decides whether a given individual is balanced or unbalanced when the strength of one process exceeds that of the other.

The mobility of nervous processes is manifested in the rapidity of the transition of one nervous process to another. The mobility of nervous processes is manifested in the ability to change behavior in accordance with changing living conditions. The measure of this property of the nervous system is the speed of transition from one action to another, from a passive state to an active state, and vice versa. The opposite of mobility is the inertness of nervous processes. The nervous system is the more inert the more time or effort is required to move from one process to another (, p.384).

I.P. Pavlov found out that the temperament of each animal does not depend on one of the properties, but on their combination. Such a combination of the properties of the nervous system, which determines both the individual characteristics of conditioned reflex activity and temperament, he called the type of the nervous system, or the type of nervous activity. (, p. 408).

I.P. Pavlov distinguished 4 main types of the nervous system (,,):

one). strong, balanced, mobile (“alive” according to I.P. Pavlov - sanguine temperament);

2). strong, balanced, inert (“calm” according to I.P. Pavlov - phlegmatic temperament);

3). a strong, unbalanced type with a predominance of the excitation process (“unrestrained” type, according to I.P. Pavlov - choleric temperament);

4). weak type (“weak”, according to I.P. Pavlov - melancholic temperament).

The main combinations of properties and types of the nervous system identified by I.P. Pavlov, on which temperament depends, are common in humans and animals. Therefore, they received the name of general types. Thus, the physiological basis of temperament is the general type of the nervous system (, p. 408). Pavlov connected the general types of the nervous system with the traditional types of temperament (choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic and melancholic), although he understood that other properties of the nervous system must also exist. , and other combinations of them, and, consequently, other types of temperament.

So, I.P. Pavlov understood the type of the nervous system as innate, relatively weakly subject to changes under the influence of the environment and upbringing (, P. 386).

The type of nervous system is a concept used by a physiologist, while a psychologist uses the term temperament. In essence, these are aspects of the same phenomenon. It is in this sense that one can say, following I.P. Pavlov, that the temperament of a person is nothing but a mental manifestation of the type of the higher nervous system.

In the 1950s, laboratory studies of the behavior of adults were undertaken. In the works of B.M. Teplov and V.D. Nebylitsyn, ideas about the properties of the nervous system were expanded, two new properties of neural processes were discovered: lability and dynamism. The dynamism of nervous processes is a property that determines the dynamism of excitation or the dynamism of inhibition (the ease and speed of the formation of positive and inhibitory conditioned reflexes), the lability of nervous processes is a property that determines the rate of occurrence and termination of nervous processes (excitatory or inhibitory process),.

In contrast to I.P. Pavlov, other combinations of properties of the nervous system were found. For example, in addition to the unbalanced type with a predominance of excitation, there is an unbalanced type with a predominance of inhibition, etc.

The mental properties of temperament and the physiological properties of the nervous system are closely interrelated. The biological meaning of this relationship lies in the fact that with its help the most subtle, clear and timely adaptation to the environment is achieved. Where the adaptive function of any property of the nervous system cannot be carried out with the help of one property of temperament inherent in it, it is carried out with the help of another property of temperament inherent in it, which compensates for the first. For example, low performance of a weak type can sometimes be compensated for by a long absence of emotional satiety.

The origin of the types of the nervous system and temperament and its change. I.P. Pavlov called the general type of the nervous system a genotype, that is, a hereditary type. This is confirmed in experiments on animal selection and in the study of identical and fraternal twins in humans brought up in different families. Despite this, certain properties of temperament change within certain limits due to the conditions of life and upbringing (especially in early childhood), due to illnesses, under the influence of living conditions and (in adolescence and even adulthood) depending on the psychological conflicts experienced. For example, under parental overprotection, a child can grow up to be a cowardly, indecisive, insecure person, touchy to the extreme and vulnerable to an extreme degree.

The maturation of temperament should be distinguished from such changes in the properties of temperament. The type of temperament is not formed immediately, with all its characteristic properties. The general patterns of maturation of the nervous system leave their mark on the maturation of the type of temperament. For example, a feature of the nervous system in preschool and preschool age is its weakness and imbalance, which leaves an imprint on the properties of temperament. Some properties of temperament, depending on the type of nervous system, are not yet sufficiently manifested at this age, appear somewhat later, in fact already at school age.

Distribution of group roles and promotion of leaders. Conclusion In the course of the work carried out, literary sources were analyzed on the problems of studying the influence of temperament on interpersonal relations in a student group. Many researchers note the importance of studying the relationship, the mutual influence of interpersonal relations on individual personality traits. temperament problem...

Temperament should be understood as individually peculiar properties of the psyche that determine the dynamics of a person’s mental activity, which are equally manifested in a variety of activities, regardless of its content, goals, motives, remain constant in adulthood and, in interconnection, characterize the type of temperament.

Before proceeding to the consideration of various types and features of temperament, it should immediately be noted that there are no better and worse temperaments - each of them has its positive aspects, and therefore the main efforts should be directed not at its correction, but at its reasonable use in a specific activity. merits. From time immemorial, man has made attempts to isolate and realize the typical features of the mental make-up of various people, trying to reduce all their diversity to a small number of generalized portraits.

Such generalized portraits from ancient times were called types of temperaments. Such typologies were practically useful, since with their help it was possible to predict the behavior of people with a certain temperament in specific life situations.

The term "temperament" goes back to the views of ancient science on the nature of individual psychological differences. Ancient Greek medicine, represented by its largest representative, Hippocrates (5th century BC), believed that the state of the body depends mainly on the quantitative ratio of “juices” or liquids present in the body. Blood, bile, black bile and mucus (phlegm) were considered such “juices” necessary for life, and it was assumed that their optimal ratio was necessary for health. The four "juices" Hippocrates assigned the same role in human life, which is assigned in nature to the main elements: fire, earth, water and air. The balance of the elements leads to a favorable climate, without droughts and floods, without storms and earthquakes. It is exactly the same in the human body: health (“kraza”) occurs with a successful, even mixing of “juices”, “dyscrasia” (improper mixing) leads to deviations in health. Roman physicians, working a few centuries later, began to use the word temperamentum, which means "proper ratio of parts", from which the term "temperament" came to mean "proportion" in mixing fluids.

Hippocrates did not stop only at the descriptions of temperaments. He went further and suggested possible variants of disease states in people with one or another temperament, described subtle psychological observations. So, according to Hippocrates, phlegmatic people are affected by tenesmus; bile - prolonged diarrhea. Melancholics are dominated by silence, timidity and sadness, and "if the feeling of fear or cowardice continues for too long, then this indicates the onset of melancholy." Melancholics "... are full of all sorts of fears, complain of pain in the abdomen, as if they were pricked with thousands of small needles", they often have dreams with images of the dead.

Recognizing the influence of external conditions on the formation of temperament, Hippocrates also spoke about the inheritance of personality traits: “... a phlegmatic person is born from a phlegmatic person, a bilious person from a consumptive person, a person with a diseased spleen from a person with a diseased spleen ... since birth comes from all parts body, then from healthy it will be healthy, and from sickly it will be sickly.

Gradually, in ancient science, the idea was recognized that not only the bodily functions, but also the mental characteristics of people are an expression of their temperament, i.e. depend on the proportion in which the main "juices" are mixed in the body.

Roman anatomist and physician Claudius Galen, who lived in the II century. BC, for the first time gave a detailed classification of different types of temperament. Subsequently, representatives of ancient medicine reduced the number of temperament types to four. Each of them was characterized by the predominance of any one liquid.

Aristotle (384 - 322 BC) also spoke of four temperaments. Aristotle put the properties of blood as the basis for dividing people into types. In his opinion, the ability of blood to coagulate is associated with its "earthy" component, and its insufficient coagulation is associated with the predominance of moisture in it, the "watery" component. The temperament of a person depends on the temperature of the blood, the predominance of “earthy” or “watery” principles in it. People with cold, watery blood are prone to fear, anxiety, and are characterized by uncertainty in their judgments and actions. Hot, rich in fibers (now known to be fibrinogen and fibrin), rapidly clotting blood is characteristic of angry, easily excited, brave, imprudent natures. People with watery and cold blood are characterized by rationality, prudence. The best, according to Aristotle, should be considered warm, thin and pure blood, which, contributing to courage, also provides sufficient rationality.

The mixture of fluids in the body, characterized by the predominance of blood, was called the sanguine temperament (from the Latin word "sangvis" - blood); mixing, in which lymph predominates - phlegmatic temperament (from the Greek word "phlegm" - mucus); mixing with a predominance of yellow bile - choleric temperament (from the Greek word "chole" - bile) and, finally, mixing with a predominance of black bile - melancholic temperament (from the Greek words "melain chole" - black bile).

These names of temperaments have survived to this day, but the former ideas about the organic basis of psychological differences between people are now mainly of historical interest.

During the many centuries that have passed since ancient science, various new hypotheses have been put forward, seeking to explain the cause of the differences in the dynamic manifestations of the psyche.

In the history of the study of this problem, three main systems of views can be distinguished. The oldest of them, as we already know, connects the cause of individual differences with the role of certain body fluids. These humoral theories (from the Latin humor - moisture, juice) include ideas about the special significance of blood that have become widespread in modern times.

Thus, the German philosopher I. Kant (late 18th century), who made a great contribution to the systematization of psychological ideas about temperaments, believed that the natural basis of temperament is the individual characteristics of blood.

Close to this point of view is the idea of ​​the Russian teacher, anatomist and physician P.F. Lesgaft, who wrote (at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries) that the manifestations of temperament are ultimately based on the properties of the circulatory system, in particular, the thickness and elasticity of the walls of blood vessels, the diameter of their lumen, the structure and shape of the heart, etc. which are associated with the speed and strength of blood flow and, as a result, a measure of the excitability of the body and the duration of reactions in response to various stimuli.

Long-standing ideas about the importance of body fluids have received partial confirmation in modern endocrinological studies, which have shown that such properties of the psyche as one or another dynamics of reactivity, sensitivity, emotional balance, to a large extent depend on individual differences in the functioning of the hormonal system.

At the turn of the XIX and early XX centuries. the so-called somatic concept was formed, according to which there is a connection between the properties of temperament and physique. The works of the German psychiatrist E. Kretschmer (20s of our century), which substantiate the idea that differences in the types of body structure (some features of growth, fullness, proportions of body parts) also indicate certain differences in temperament, are widely known.

The American scientist W. Sheldon (40s of our century) also put in a direct connection the bodily features that act in varying degrees of development of various tissues of the body, and the features of temperament. Somatic theories should not be overly contrasted with humoral ones: both the type of body structure and the dynamic properties of the psyche can be the result of the same cause - the result of the action of hormones secreted by the endocrine glands.

A great contribution to the further study of temperament was made by the great Russian academician, Nobel Prize winner Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849-1936).

Studying the processes of excitation and inhibition in the cerebral cortex, their duration, turnover and strength, I. Pavlov was able to distinguish four types of higher nervous activity.

Strong balanced slow type- with the predominance of inhibition processes in the cerebral cortex, low mobility in the change of excitation and inhibition. As a rule, these are calm, persistent, hardworking, even, somewhat slow people.

Strong balanced movable type, in which the processes of excitation and inhibition are equally expressed, they quickly and easily replace each other. Such people are mobile, cheerful, sociable, quite purposeful and persistent, flexible. This type of higher nervous activity corresponds to the Hippocratic sanguine.

Strong unbalanced type, with the predominance of excitation processes in the cerebral cortex. These are choleric, unrestrained, ardent, selfish, screamers and fighters, at the slightest provocation they “give out” an emotional outburst. It should be noted that a pretty choleric is, as a rule, with high intelligence. Otherwise, choleric causes irritation and hostility among others.

weak type, in which both excitatory and inhibitory processes are weak, their mobility and change are insignificant. Indecisive, always doubting people, anxious and fearful. It is clear that these are melancholic. A fairly pronounced melancholic was, for example, Berseniev from I. Turgenev's novel "On the Eve".

I. Pavlov believed that the golden mean is “phlegmatic and sanguine temperaments, balanced, and therefore healthy, stable and truly vital nervous types ... Phlegmatic is always calm, always even, persistent and stubborn worker of life. Sanguine is a hot, very productive figure, but only when he has a lot of interesting things to do, that is, constant excitement. When there is no such thing, he becomes boring and lethargic ... ".

Thus, the studies of I. Pavlov brought the scientific neurophysiological foundation to the teachings of Hippocrates about temperaments.

Undoubtedly, each person has a well-defined type of nervous system, the manifestations of which, that is, the characteristics of temperament, constitute an important aspect of individual psychological differences.

1. Introduction page 3

2. The history of the doctrine of temperament p. 4

3. Psychological characteristics of temperament types

3.1. General characteristics of temperament types page 7

3.2. Melancholic temperament page 9

3.3. Phlegmatic temperament p. 11

3.4. Choleric temperament page 13

3.5. Sanguine temperament page 15

4. Conclusion page 17

5. Literature p. 18

Introduction

Each person is born with a certain set of biological features of his personality, manifested in his temperament.

Significant differences in people's behavior, due to the properties of temperament, are even among sisters and brothers, among twins who have lived side by side all their lives. Temperaments differ among Siamese twins, all children who have received the same upbringing, have the same worldview, close ideals, beliefs and moral principles. That. we can conclude that the type of temperament does not depend on the upbringing, biological characteristics or environment of a person, so what does it depend on, which of the properties of the human body or psyche affects the presence of one or another type of temperament?

According to many psychologists, temperament is a manifestation of the type of nervous system in human activity, individually psychological characteristics of a person, in which the mobility of his nervous processes, strength and balance are manifested.

Jan Strelyau worked on confirming the reliability of this definition, and in his works he clearly defined not only the correctness of this definition, but also developed the so-called test - a questionnaire with which he can clearly determine what type of temperament yours belongs to. The study of temperament has a complex and controversial history. It is unlikely that in psychology there is still such a fundamental concept that would be so well understood by everyone at the level of common sense, but in fact would be so little studied, despite numerous publications devoted to it.

Maybe this concept is already outdated and has become obsolete and should be replaced by other concepts? In Western psychology, for example, temperament, with rare exceptions, has not been singled out as an independent concept for a long time, but is considered practically as a synonym for the concepts of "personality" or "character". If the concept of "temperament" is productive for psychology, then what is its specificity? How does the content of temperament differ from other closest psychological concepts, such as "personality" or "character"? What are the sources and mechanisms of temperament formation? I will try to answer some of these questions in my work.

The history of the doctrine of temperament

For a more complete study of the issue, I decided to first consider the history of the doctrine of temperament, which, by the way, has more than two thousand years.

The word "temperament" itself comes from the Latin temperamentum, and is a translation of the Greek word "krasis", meaning "proper ratio of parts."

The first attempts to create a clear classification of temperament types were made by Hippocrates, the Greek physician and father of medicine, who lived about 2400 years ago, and the Roman physician Galen (c. 130 - 200 AD). Since the theory of four fluids (juices) of the human body was generally accepted among physicians of that time, Hippocrates and Galen distinguished four main types of temperament or personality, as they say now, depending on their proportional content in the human body, namely: red blood, yellow bile liver, black bile (actually gore) spleen and tenacious mucus or phlegm.

Thus, they characterize the four types of temperament as follows:

People with excess blood were cheerful, enthusiastic, easily excitable and optimistic and had a sanguine temperament. (from lat. sanguis - blood)

Excess yellow bile made a person irritable, painfully sensitive, unrestrained and angry, which spoke of a choleric temperament (from the Greek chole - bile).

Too much black bile plunged a person into a state of sadness, depression and depression, which corresponded to a melancholic temperament (from the Greek melano - dark or black).

· An excess of mucus marked people who were calm, not energetic and apathetic and was a sign of a phlegmatic temperament (from the Greek phlegm - mucus).

Why is this so-called false theory firmly held in our everyday and scientific knowledge? One of the reasons is, apparently, that the humoral (liquid) theory of individual differences (or temperament) reflected some elements of true knowledge and was a kind of prototype, a model of modern, more developed ideas about the natural prerequisites for individual differences. The ancient Greeks did not know and could not know the whole wealth of the natural characteristics of a person, the structure of his brain, the properties of the nervous system, etc.

From this historically developed an understanding of temperament as such an aspect of individual psychological differences, which is due mainly to the biological properties of the human body. With such a broad interpretation of temperament, at least two main questions arise:

1) What is the psychological specificity of temperament properties?

2) What exactly are the properties of the body that underlie temperament?

It is interesting to note that in the history of the development of the doctrine of temperament, the first question, that is, the question of the psychological components of temperament, its characteristics (still far from being resolved at the present time), surprisingly, did not acquire such acuteness as the second question - the question about what biological grounds, what particular properties of the organism should be taken as the basis of temperament.

For a long time, at least until the end of the 19th century, it was believed that the properties of the blood or the characteristics of the circulatory system play a special role in the determination of temperament. And only at the beginning of our century there were sharp changes in the interpretation of the biological foundations of temperament. The works of E. Kretschmer played a huge role in this. In his well-known book Physique and Character, E. Kretschmer tried to link the features of temperament no longer with humoral systems, but with the structural features of the human body. He argued that each body type corresponds to a certain psychological temperament, or, in his terminology, character. Asthenics are characterized by isolation, emotional vulnerability, fatigue; picnics - people are talkative, sociable, lovers of good food, make friends easily, etc. Athletes are aggressive, power-hungry, etc.

American researchers W. Sheldon and S. Stephens also attempted to derive a certain mental warehouse, or temperament, of a person from the body type. Their physique scheme was much more complicated than that of E. Kretschmer. They assessed the physique according to the development of the three main human tissues - ecto-, meso- and endomorphic. According to W. Sheldon and S. Stevens, ectomorphs, that is, people in whom the development of ectomorphic tissues (skin, hair, nervous system) predominate, are characterized by a cerebrotonic temperament, namely, craving for aesthetic pleasures, coldness, etc. Endomorphs, people with well-developed internal organs, are distinguished by a lively, sociable temperament. Mesomorphs, that is, people with well-developed bone and muscle tissues, tend to be competitive, aggressive, etc.

A decisive shift in the study of the biological foundations of temperament occurred in the early 1930s. of our century thanks to the works of I. P. Pavlov. He was the first to suggest that temperament is based not on the properties of liquids or bodily tissues, but on the features of the functioning of the nervous system. I.P. Pavlov uniquely associated the properties of the nervous system - a combination of strength, balance and mobility - with one or another type of temperament. It is important to note that I. P. Pavlov not only did not doubt the correctness of the psychological typology of temperament, which in those years was widely represented by four Hippocratic types (sanguine, choleric, melancholic, phlegmatic), but tried, taking these types as something really existing, provide them with a scientific physiological basis:

ü a sanguine person has a strong, balanced, mobile type of nervous system;

ü choleric - a strong, mobile, but unbalanced type of nervous system;

ü phlegmatic - a strong, balanced, but inert type of nervous system;

ü melancholic - a weak type of nervous system.

Such a typology (that is, the ideas of I. P. Pavlov in the early 1930s) is still taught in schools and universities, although the works of the school of B. M. Teplov and V. D. Nebylitsyn have long shown that there are not three properties of the nervous system - strength, balance and mobility, but much more, and the problem of the types of the nervous system is still far from its complete solution.

So, at different times, different biological subsystems of the human body were put forward as the basis of temperament:

a) humoral - I in the teachings of Hippocrates, temperament was associated with a different ratio of blood, bile, black bile and mucus;

b) somatic - E. Kretschmer, W. Sheldon, S. Stephens associated temperament with the characteristics of the human physique, or with the severity of certain tissues of the human body, and, finally

c) nervous - a person's temperament is associated with the characteristics of the functioning of the central nervous system, types of GNA or, in recent years, with different severity of certain brain structures.

The main disadvantage of such approaches lies in the fact that not the entire biological subsystem of a person is taken as the basis of temperament as a holistic psychological formation, but only one or another part of it, each of which (humoral, somatic or nervous) in itself does not have the necessary and properties sufficient for this. Research in the field of psychology on the issue of temperament continues, and will continue for a long time, since this problem is not only relevant, but also interesting to psychologists around the world.

Under temperament understand certain natural features of human behavior that are typical for a given person and manifested in the dynamics of tone and balance of reactions to vital properties and influences.

Human behavior depends not only on social conditions, but also on the characteristics of the natural organization of the individual, and therefore is detected quite early and clearly in children in the game, classes and communication.

Temperament colors everything of the individual, it affects the nature of the flow and thinking, volitional action, affects the pace and rhythm.

The doctrine of temperament appeared in antiquity. The doctors Hippocrates, and then Galen, observing the individual manifestations of people's behavior, made an attempt to describe and explain these features. The founder of the doctrine of temperament is considered to be the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates (5th century BC). Hippocrates believed that there are four fluids in the human body: blood, mucus, yellow and black bile. The names of temperaments, given by the name of liquids, have come down to our days.

Yes, choleric temperament the words chole “bile” come from, sanguine - from sanguis “blood”, phlegmatic from - phlegma “mucus”, melancholic temperament - from melan chole “black bile”.

Hippocrates believed that temperament depends on a certain way of life of a person and the climatic conditions of its course. So, with a sedentary lifestyle, phlegm accumulates, and with a mobile life - bile, hence the manifestations of temperaments. Hippocrates correctly described the types, but could not scientifically explain their origin.

In recent times, in addition to humoral, chemical, physical, anatomical, neurological and purely psychological theories have been put forward. However, none of them gives a correct and complete description of temperament.

A significant contribution to the scientific justification of temperament was made by discovering the properties of nervous activity. Unlike his predecessors, he took for research not the external structure of the body - (German psychologist E. Kretschmer and the structure of blood vessels - P.F. Lesgaft, but the body as a whole, and singled out the brain in it as such a component that, firstly, regulates activity of all organs and tissues; secondly, it unites and coordinates the activity of diverse parts in the system; thirdly, it experiences the influence of all organs and, under the influence of the impulses they send, functionally restructures the maintenance of life in organs and tissues; fourthly, it is in in the truest sense of the word, an organ of communication between the organism and the outside world.