Character is a lifetime formation. This means that it is formed after the birth of a person. The origins of a person's character and the first signs of its manifestation should be sought at the very beginning of life.

Many character traits are formed in a person very early. The sensitive (most sensitive) period of formation of basic character traits is the age from 2 to 10 years, when children communicate a lot and actively both with surrounding adults and with peers. During this period, they are open to outside influences, they readily accept them, imitating everyone and in everything. Adults at this time enjoy the boundless trust of the child, have the opportunity to influence him with words, deeds and actions, which creates favorable conditions for consolidating the necessary forms of behavior. This period in a person's life is associated with an intensive process of his socialization based on the imitation of socially approved standards of behavior.

Before others, such traits as kindness, sociability, responsiveness, as well as their opposite qualities - selfishness, callousness, indifference to people, are laid in the character of a person. There is evidence that the beginning of the formation of these character traits goes deep into preschool childhood, to the first months of life and is determined by how the mother treats the child.

Those character traits that are most clearly manifested in work - diligence, accuracy, conscientiousness, responsibility, perseverance - are formed somewhat later, in early and preschool childhood. They are formed and fixed in the games of children and the types of domestic work available to them. Stimulation by adults adequate to the age and needs of the child has a strong influence on their development. In the character of the child, mainly such traits are preserved and fixed that constantly receive support (positive reinforcement).

In the elementary grades of the school, character traits are formed that manifest themselves in relationships with people. This is facilitated by the expansion of the sphere of communication of the child with others due to the many new school friends, as well as teachers. In adolescence, strong-willed character traits are actively developed and consolidated, and in early youth, the basic moral, worldview foundations of the personality are formed. By the end of school, a person’s character can be considered basically established, and what happens to him in the future almost never makes a person’s character unrecognizable to those who communicated with him during his school years.

It should be noted that the character is not a frozen formation, but is formed and transformed throughout the life of a person. Character is not fatally predetermined. Although it is conditioned by the objective circumstances of a person's life path, these circumstances themselves change under the influence of a person's actions. Therefore, after graduating from an educational institution, the character of a person continues to form or change. At this stage, a person himself is the creator of his character, since the character is formed depending on the worldview, beliefs and habits of moral behavior that a person develops in himself, on the deeds and actions that he performs, on all his conscious activity. This process in modern psychological literature is considered as a process of self-education.

The most effective means of character formation is labor. Strong characters are possessed by people who set themselves great tasks in their work, persistently achieve their solution, overcome all the obstacles that stand in the way of achieving these goals, and exercise systematic control over the implementation of what was planned. Therefore, we have the right to assert that character, like other personality traits, is formed in activity.

PSYCHOLOGY

1 . Character in the structure of personality

Even in ancient times, philosophers, doctors, and then psychologists drew attention to the fact that each person manifests his own specific features in work, communication, and especially in style or behavior, that is, each person differs from others in his special signs. The combination of special features characteristic of a given individual was called character. Translated from Greek, the word character means “chasing”, “sign”. And, despite the fact that even thirty centuries before the new era, the ancient Babylonian sage Akkader built the first typology of characters, research on this versatile, multifaceted phenomenon continues to this day.

In modern psychology character understood a set of stable individual characteristics of a person that develops and manifests itself in activities and communication, causing typical behaviors for her.

The stable distinctive features of a person related to his character are called character traits. The diversity and versatility of character as a mental property of a person can be described by a large number of features. So, for example, the English psychologist R. Cattell, to study the phenomenon of personality, based on a dictionary of 18 thousand words, chose 4.5 thousand words denoting personality traits and behavior. Currently, about 1,500 names are used to designate characterological personality traits in the Russian language.

To describe the character, each of his traits can be represented as a scaled parameter that has negative and positive values ​​in the extreme limits. For example: greed - generosity, isolation - sociability, laziness - hard work, etc.

Character is not just a collection of traits. The character of a person receives the most explicit expression in his actions, actions and behavior. The algorithm for the formation of a person's character and the significance of his actions are succinctly expressed in the well-known oriental saying: "Sow an act - you reap a habit, sow a habit - you reap a character, sow a character - you reap a destiny." The actions that a person repeatedly repeats become his habits, then they are assimilated as special, distinctive features of him and constitute the essence of his character. A complex of interrelated habitual actions and deeds of a person form the foundation of his character.

Habitual actions and deeds for an individual become those that are important and significant in his life, through which he has repeatedly managed to successfully solve important tasks for him. Only such actions and deeds are assimilated by the personality and become stable in their manifestations. It is the combination of such stable features that makes up the character of this person.

The most important factors in the formation of character are manifestations of personality in the system of relations to the surrounding reality., including to oneself as to another. This system includes:

An individual with respect to each type of relationship can form both positive and negative character traits. What character trait will be characteristic of a particular personality depends on the conditions and factors under the influence of which it was formed. These include: temperament, family, school, social groups and the nature of the activity. Consider the influence of each of these factors on the formation and development of character.

Some character traits are found at an early age. Some of them are due to the peculiarities of the natural organization of man and mainly the type of nervous system. Features of temperament can both promote and inhibit the development of certain character traits. As a result, the properties of temperament and character form a strong alloy that determines the dynamic side of character. Such naturally conditioned character traits are quite stable and little changeable with age.

In the family, the character of the child is formed and developed in communication with other people. . Through direct learning through imitation and emotional reinforcement, the child learns the forms of adult behavior. The ways adults treat a child, the way adults communicate with each other in his presence, the actions of the mother and father in relation to him, the way of life, material conditions and moral conditions can cause a different psychological effect of influence, significantly affect the quality of the formation of character traits. In the family, first of all, such traits as sociability - isolation, generosity - greed, responsiveness - callousness, philanthropy - mesanthropy (misanthropy) are laid in the first place.

At preschool age, business qualities are formed in children, since during this period they are included in feasible household work, business games, and perform labor assignments, both at home and in kindergarten. In character, those traits that constantly receive approval from adults are reinforced and preserved. It is believed that it is during this period that “business” features are laid: diligence - laziness, conscientiousness - dishonesty, responsibility - irresponsibility, etc.

With the beginning of schooling, the sphere of communication of the child with others expands. In the primary grades, first of all, those character traits that receive support and approval at school are fixed. Most often, they persist throughout life. Other character traits that a child has acquired at home may not receive support from either peers or adults. In these cases, a breakdown of character begins, which, as a rule, is accompanied by emotional tension, external and internal conflicts. The correct and coordinated application of upbringing techniques by teachers and parents can lead to a partial change in character traits or the formation of compromise behavior. Temporary disguise (concealment) of certain character traits is also possible.

With the development and consolidation of volitional and emotional character traits in adolescence and the basic moral and worldview qualities in early youth, the formation of the personality's character basically ends.

Social groups have a great influence on the formation of character. (companies of friends, peer groups, subculture groups, religious communities and organizations), micro-society (yard, quarter, microdistrict, village, township). The formation of character traits is carried out at the stage of individualization of the personality, when the contradiction between the needs "to be like everyone else" and "to become oneself" is exacerbated. Depending on what is the norm for a given group, and how this contradiction is resolved, such traits as openness or secrecy, courage or cowardice, honesty or deceit, adherence to principles or conformity, firmness or weakness of character can be formed. In a social group of a high level of development, the most favorable conditions are created for the development and consolidation of the best character traits.

The content and nature of the activity in which the subject is involved can have a significant impact on the development and formation of character. Activity and behavior are determined by the motives, goals, and orientation of the individual. Depending on the prevailing motives, needs and goals, various character traits can be formed. So for one person, the basis of activity is material needs, and for another, spiritual needs. One person lives and works in order to eat, the other eats in order to live and work. There are people who become slaves of things, others are completely absorbed in creativity. Someone loves and can overcome difficulties along the way, while someone goes with the flow. Depending on the orientation of the personality, such traits as morality or immorality, purposefulness or aimlessness, optimism or pessimism, tact or tactlessness can be formed.

Character is largely the result of self-education – relatively late acquisition of ontogeny. When a person reaches a certain level of self-awareness and the ability to self-determination, self-education becomes a significant force in the formation, change and adjustment of various character traits. Each person, using the techniques of self-education - self-order, self-approval, self-hypnosis - is able to correct and mint his character in the process of adapting to the real world.

From the above, it becomes obvious that the structure of character is a complex formation. The character structure includes individual traits and groups of traits that are not isolated from each other, but are interconnected and form a single whole. Among the features, one can single out those that are leading, basic, and those that act as secondary. At the same time, the latter may be determined by the main ones, or they may not be in harmony with them. In accordance with this, in life there are both individuals with an integral, and with a contradictory character.

The presence of a large number of characterological personality traits led to the need for classification (typology) of characters.

A special branch of psychology deals with the study of the problem of typology of characters - characterology which has the same long history as psychology itself. Throughout the history of characterology, attempts have been repeatedly made to build a typology of characters, using various signs for this: the position of the stars (Ptolemy), the structure of the soul (Plato), the presence in the body of a certain humor(Hippocrates), cosmogonic factors (Paracelsus), body type (Kretschmer), spiritual inclinations (A.F. Lazursky), dynamic features of the character structure (L.S. Vygotsky), etc. All these classifications are based on the results of observations and their generalizations, therefore, are not scientifically sound.

The classifications developed by the German psychologist and psychiatrist K. Leonhard and the domestic psychiatrist A.E. are recognized as the most developed classifications. Lichko. The signs of their classification are the problems of psychopathy in a person's communication with other people and his attitude to work. These classifications are based on the concept of "accentuated personality".

character accentuation - this is an extreme version of the norm as a result of strengthening individual features. If we represent any character trait as a scaled parameter, then the quantitative expression of the extreme limit of the norm will be an accentuated trait. Accentuation of character makes a person vulnerable to certain kinds of influences and, as a rule, for some time makes it difficult for a person to adapt in a social group. The most vivid and total accentuation is manifested in adolescence. As they grow older, most people smooth out accentuated features. At the same time, "weak points" that are most sensitive to certain conditions remain in the character. However, it cannot be argued that accentuation is a diagnosis, and that it is always bad. The excess of one or another character trait can have both a negative and a positive effect. There are several classifications of character accentuations.

A.E. Lichko proposed a classification of characters, including eleven types: hyperthymic, cycloid, labile, asthenoneurotic, sensitive, psychasthenic, schizoid, epileptoid, hysteroid, unstable and conformal. The classification of the German scientist K. Leonhard includes twelve types of accentuations: demonstrative, pedantic, stuck, excitable, hyperthymic, distimic, cycloid, labile, exalted, anxious, emotive, extroverted, introverted.

Since descriptions of accentuated features by A.E. Lichko and K. Leonhard largely identical, below are brief descriptions of character accentuations according to K. Leonhard.

Speaking about the individual differences of people, in particular about character traits, it must be remembered that in each of us there is good and bad, convenient and inconvenient for others. When communicating with a representative of one or another pronounced accentuation of character, one must take into account his weak and strong points, adapting his individual qualities to them. Only in this case, communication with other people can be conflict-free and productive.

2 . Abilities in personality structure

Each person in his life is faced with the fact that he manages to master one type of activity quickly and easily, while others - with great difficulty. . In some activities, success is achieved naturally and without much effort, while in others, even hard and long work does not bring the desired result. To understand and explain these facts in psychology, the concept is used. capabilities.

Capabilities - these are individual psychological characteristics of a person, which are a condition for the successful implementation of one or another productive activity.

Ability is found in the extent to which an individual easily and quickly, reliably and thoroughly acquires knowledge, acquires skills and masters the skills that form the basis for the organization and implementation of a particular type of activity.

In the wide variety of human abilities, different types can be distinguished. Thus, abilities can be divided into natural and specific human.

natural ability , or natural, basically biologically determined. These include elementary forms of perception, memory, thinking and interaction at the level of expression.

Specific human abilities have a socio-historical origin and provide the individual with life and development in the social environment. This is general and special abilities.

General abilities appear in all activities. This group includes mnemonic, mental, speech, communication abilities, etc. Special abilities determine success in specific activities. These include mathematical abilities, musical, sports, literary, technical, linguistic and a number of others. If a person has a certain combination of general and special abilities, then they say that he has versatile abilities. A qualitatively peculiar combination of highly developed general and special abilities, which ensures the success of the performance of an activity, is denoted by the term giftedness.

There are also theoretical and practical capabilities. The abilities that predetermine a person's propensity for abstract-theoretical reflections are called theoretical. Successes in concrete, practical actions are ensured practical abilities. In the structure of personality, theoretical and practical abilities, as a rule, do not combine with each other.

In addition, there are abilities educational and creative. The success of training and education, the assimilation of knowledge, skills and abilities by a person is determined by educational abilities. Creative abilities ensure the development of new ideas, inventions and discoveries in various fields of human activity, the creation of objects of material and spiritual culture.

Any ability has a complex structure, being a combination of mental qualities. So, for example, the structure communication skills includes: the ability to correctly build speech; the ability to come into contact with various people and their disposition towards oneself; the ability of interpersonal perception and evaluation of communicating people, providing the necessary influence on them; the ability of socio-psychological adaptation to various conditions, situations and circumstances; the ability to convince others and achieve mutual understanding, etc.

Success in the implementation of a particular type of activity cannot be ensured by one separate ability: it is the result of a certain combination of several abilities. At the same time, abilities influence each other, compensating for the missing ability with other, highly developed abilities. This most important feature of the human psyche opens up wide opportunities for him: hard work and persistent development of compensatory abilities make it possible to achieve mastery.

The formation and development of abilities is due to a number of factors, both biological and social. Biologically determined prerequisites for the development of abilities are makings - congenital anatomical and physiological features of the nervous system, brain and organism as a whole. Inclinations form the natural basis for the development of abilities. This is only one of the conditions for the formation of abilities. So, the flexibility and high growth of a person are only inclinations, but not athletic abilities.

The makings appear in inclinations - the desire to engage in a particular activity, the ease of assimilation of attractive material and the ability to design something new.

The basis for the formation of abilities is the activity of a person, which, in turn, is determined by the cultural environment and the characteristics of training and education. Whether the inclinations turn into abilities, and abilities into practical knowledge and skills, depends on how adequately the social environment stimulates the cognitive, labor and social activity of the individual. Capabilities cannot exist otherwise than in a constant process of development. If a person in practice ceases to use this ability, then over time this ability is lost. With constant conduct by a person of special classes and exercises, abilities can become highly developed.

The level of development of abilities is expressed in terms of talent and genius . Talent - this is a combination of abilities that gives the individual the opportunity to successfully, independently and originally perform any complex labor activity. The talent structure, as a rule, includes a set of special abilities. Important favorable conditions for the development of talent are the urgent needs of society, the state, and the era. Talent involves the implementation of intense hard work, in the process of which specific life experience is accumulated, the necessary set of skills and abilities is acquired, which forms the basis for the realization of talent, turning it from a possibility into reality. The manifestation and realization of talent in reality constitutes a genuine skill . Talent is a prerequisite for mastery, and mastery is the possibility of manifestation of talent that has become a reality.

The highest level of ability development is genius , which is expressed in the creative results achieved in a number of areas and constituting an era in the development of culture and the life of society.

To achieve success in activities, in addition to the presence of abilities and inclinations, such personality traits as diligence, organization, purposefulness, and perseverance are necessary. Self-criticism, exactingness to oneself, modesty are those character traits that contribute to the further development of abilities. Confidence in one's exclusivity, nourished by praise and admiration, is often detrimental to one's abilities.

In addition to external signs, individuals have differences from each other in physical features and mental abilities, mental and spiritual properties, in character. The worldview of a person, his environment, type of activity, and sometimes his appearance depend on its properties. Knowing what character is, one can better understand the essence of personality.

What is character in psychology?

The human character is influenced not only by psycho-emotional factors, but also by the features of the nervous system, the environment and the social circle. The temperament of a person is a combination of individual ones that determine the specifics of her behavior, lifestyle and interaction with others.

From the point of view of psychology, character combines the specific features of the mental and human, which are constant and stable. In most cases, it is formed throughout the life course and may undergo some changes depending on the lifestyle and environment.

Types of human character

There are the following types of character:

1. Choleric- often unbalanced, enthusiastic, with a sharp change in mood, quickly emotionally exhausted.
2. sanguine- mobile, productive, plunges headlong into interesting work, loses interest in boring business, quickly reacts to changes in the situation and easily puts up with failures.
3. melancholic- often worried, vulnerable, impressionable, not much dependent on external factors.
4. Phlegmatic person- calm, hiding emotions, with a stable mood, balanced, calm, with high performance.

What determines a person's character?

Strengths of a person's character

The advantage can be the positive qualities of a person’s character:

• honesty;
• diligence and conscientiousness;
• stress tolerance;
• independence;
• discipline and diligence;
• communication skills, resourcefulness and self-confidence;
• punctuality.

With the help of the considered qualities, a person is able to achieve his goals, interact with others, be a reliable friend, life partner or partner. The development of such properties can contribute to the expansion of horizons, career growth and the emergence of new acquaintances.

Can a person change his character?

The question of whether it is possible to change the character of a person is always relevant, but there is no exact answer to it. There are a number of opinions regarding how the character of a person is revealed, each of which has the right to exist. Someone says that the basis of temperament lies in the genes or is formed in the first years of life, and all subsequent changes only slightly change the moral traits or add minor adjustments to them.

Another opinion is that throughout the entire life path an individual is able to change characteristic qualities depending on the environment that surrounds him, new interests and acquaintances. For example, the following changes may occur:

• a person can become more emotional or, conversely, restrained;
• become cautious, reasonable or reckless with age;
• responsible or careless;
• sociable or uncommunicative.

In the modern world, a person has many different options for self-realization and changing some of his character traits. You can try to do this by changing activities, choosing an environment, changing your worldview and outlook on life. It is important that such actions are aimed at developing positive and worthy character traits.

Having understood what character is, you can try to understand the intricacies of its definition. An interesting point is the ability to determine the features of temperament by the outlines of the face:

• a square-shaped face can speak of uncompromisingness and independence;
• people with a round face are often smart and practical, but emotional;
• oval - one of the signs of deep intelligence and diligence;
• the triangular shape of the face often accompanies creative, creative people.

Sometimes character traits can surprise others with the fact that they are very contradictory. So, strong, brave people are closed, and merry fellows and jokers are the most faithful friends and reliable companions in life. There may be diametrically opposite situations, because mother nature has not in vain endowed each person with individuality.

It is often said that a person has a complex, gullible, docile or terrible character. A variety of emotions is associated with the characteristics of a person's psychotype, his state of mind, hereditary factors or upbringing. Knowing what character is, allows you to understand the individual characteristics of a person. But it is important to remember that not only character can be decisive for assessing a person.

The formation of a person's character occurs through education. Parents and environment have a huge impact on how a little person grows up. It seems to me that the character of the child directly depends on the example of the parents. Psychology says that we inherit character and temperament from our parents. This has a sacred meaning. After all, it is our parents who bring up real people in us, help us to realize ourselves in society. The formation of a person's character occurs through conflicts with himself and with his parents. Conflict does not always mean something negative. Firstly, it helps to understand yourself and accept the way you are. Secondly, this is one of the ways, even if not easy, of recognizing the world.

The conflicts of generations are most clearly presented in the novel “Fathers and Sons” by I.S. Turgenev. Evgeny Bazarov and his nihilism immediately come to mind. What is it?

Nihilism, in my opinion, is not only a denial of unshakable foundations, but also a conflict between generations. sees the love of parents for him as an animal instinct. He feels bad in his father's house, because he cannot find a common language with his parents. The love of old people for their son is not like an instinct: this feeling is spiritualized and selfless. The mother understands her son and tries not to surround him with excessive care. Bazarov considers parents underdeveloped. Maybe because he himself did not reach such a level of development to understand older people?

The formation of character occurs in the very childhood of the child. The Bazarovs were unable to teach their son respect for older people. But Eugene has his own principles, which he tirelessly follows. For this quality, Bazarov's parents should be given their due. On the threshold of death, Bazarov wakes up a son's feeling. Thanks to the conflict, he realized his mistake and set out on the path to correct it. There's just not enough time left for that.

The formation of the character of Natasha Rostova from the novel "War and Peace" took place in a loving family, where kind parents put their whole soul into raising their children. Conversations, personal example, respect for each other - all these activities helped to raise children with both strong and sympathetic character. Rostov Sr. need not worry that their beloved Natasha and Petya will turn off the straight road. Parents have invested in their children the values ​​that were valued centuries ago and will continue to be valued.

The formation of a person's character is a long process, the main role of which is assumed by the parents. It is they who are responsible for the lives of their children and for their values. Character is formed through persuasion, suggestion, analysis, and conflict throughout a person's life. Parents should show their children by their own example how to live and enjoy life.

It's no secret that the inner world of a person is a phenomenon that is constantly undergoing changes throughout life. Just one moment can make us completely different than we were a minute ago. And naturally, what is inside of us is reflected in our behavior. In particular, this applies to character. Every event that we experience leaves its mark on our individual behavior. And it would be wrong to ignore the conditions and mechanisms of character formation. At least in order to understand how and where certain personality traits came from in us.

Development and formation of character

Character can confidently be called the basis of personality. This is a kind of core that allows you to react in a certain way to various manifestations of life. The problem of character formation has been considered by science for more than a dozen years. It is generally accepted that this doctrine of the individual characteristics of a person was first discovered by Julius Bansen, who considered character as a set of certain personality traits. Following him, world-famous psychologists (Freud, Jung, Adler) considered the formation of a person's character as a process that is outside consciousness and is caused by sexual or other urges. Also today, the question of what forms character is also dealt with by anthropologists. The object of their close attention is the value of character for the individual.

Factors influencing the formation of character

The formation and change of character is a process that occupies a major part of life. Having innate personality traits transmitted genetically through parents, a person year after year, like an onion, begins to acquire different layers of traits and qualities that are formed mainly under the influence of the social environment in which he grows and develops. That is why the ways of character formation are of particular interest to psychologists. And, despite the fact that this process has an individual character, no one has canceled the concept of the norm. And the main stages of character formation are as follows:

Thus, at the beginning of life, the influence of the family and the social environment on the formation of character is the basis. But the older a person becomes, the more the future depends on work on oneself and one's inner world.