Founder humanistic psychology XX century A. Maslow made an approximate description of the "self-fulfilling personality." This psychologist was deeply interested in the type of people who often naturally find themselves among the intellectual and moral elite of mankind.

According to Maslow, self-fulfilling personalities have the following traits:

Better perception of reality. That a person more often sees the surrounding reality, what it is, that he is less subject to imposed stereotypes of perception and understanding.

Acceptance of self, others and nature. Self-actualizing people have the ability not to be overcritical of themselves and not to burden themselves with feelings of shame, guilt, and anxiety. They are also very satisfied with their physical nature and enjoy life. Their sex life is not burdened with prohibitions and gives them pleasure. In the same way they perceive other people and do not have a tendency to teach and control them. Their worldview includes an understanding of the need for suffering, aging and death. They calmly endure the weaknesses of others and are not afraid of their strength.

Immediacy, simplicity and naturalness. They are alien to demonstrativeness. When necessary, they follow the established rules and traditions, most often because of their unwillingness to inconvenience others and not waste their lives on wasted conflicts.

Focus on the problem. Without exception, all self-actualizing personalities, according to Maslow, are centered on ideas that go beyond their personal needs and constitute an existential value. They believe that this is their mission in life and that they should work hard for it. They pay little attention to problems that seem insignificant to them, and on this basis are able to clearly distinguish between the important in this world and the unimportant.

Independence, the need for solitude. Self-actualizing personalities are very protective of their inner world from various kinds of attacks, and in this regard they prefer loneliness. However, they do not seek to establish relationships depending on the social status of the individual. This allows them to be independent, to establish relationships with other people on the basis of sincere friendship and Mutual disposition. This kind of behavior is very often perceived by other people as arrogance, indifference, etc.

Autonomy: independence from culture and environment. Understanding human culture as a myth forces the Toltec to use it only as a limited tool. This is not a denial of culture, but a distance from it, the elimination of social hypnosis, which inevitably stands behind the process of “cultivating” a person.

freshness of perception. The ability to perceive even the ordinary as an object of pleasure.

Summit or mystical experiences.

Deep interpersonal relationships. This quality is realized in the desire to establish deep relationships with their own kind. Their circle of friends is small because of the serious moral and time costs required to maintain such a high level of interpersonal relationships.

Democratic character. No prejudice against people of any race, nationality, religious affiliation gender, age, origin, profession, etc.

Separation of means and ends. Self-actualizing personalities clearly define the boundaries between good and evil (from their point of view), permitted and prohibited means of achieving goals.

Creativity. This can be expressed in the creation of works of science and art, philosophical treatises, monographs, novels, poems, paintings, music. But Maslow expands this concept and believes that creativity can extend to the most insignificant and everyday actions.

Resistance to cultivation.

The need for self-development is a fundamental property of a mature personality. The idea of ​​self-development and self-realization is central or at least extremely significant for many people. modern concepts about a human. For example, it occupies a leading position in humanistic psychology, which is considered one of the most powerful and intensively developing areas of modern psychological science and practice. Central location the idea of ​​"self" (self-realization, self-development, self-improvement) also belongs to acmeology.

The desire for self-development is not an idee fixe about achieving an absolute ideal. It is difficult to be perfect, and it is hardly necessary. At the level of everyday consciousness, one can agree with the idea that, perhaps, it is more difficult only to live with an ideal person. But the constant striving for self-development is something else.

The actual need for self-development, the desire for self-improvement and self-realization are of great value in themselves. They are an indicator of personal maturity and at the same time a condition for its achievement. Among other things, self-development is the source of human longevity. At the same time, we are talking about active longevity, and not only physical, but also social, personal. The constant desire for self-development not only brings and consolidates success in the professional field, but also contributes to professional longevity, which has been repeatedly confirmed by experimental data.

The idea of ​​self-development and self-actualization, taken “in its pure form”, without connection with the phenomenon of self-transcendence, is insufficient for building a psychology of personal maturity. This requires the idea of ​​self-actualization and self-transcendence as single process based on the effect of complementarity - the so-called "superposition".

The phenomenon of self-transcendence of human existence takes important place both in humanistic psychology and in existential-humanistic philosophy. At the same time, self-transcendence is associated with a person’s going beyond the limits of his “I”, with his primary orientation to others, to his social activity, in other words, to everything that one way or another cannot be identified with himself.

There is an opinion that in humanistic psychology, with its dominant focus on unlocking the potential of a person, on achieving self-identity and self-acceptance, there is a potential risk of egocentrism. At the same time, the idea of ​​self-transcendence seems to be forgotten. However, it occupies far from the same place among different representatives of humanistic psychology. For example, in K. Rogers, she is not given such significant role, like, say, V. Frankl or A. Maslow. Perhaps the first of the major representatives of humanistic psychology, who drew attention to the danger of ignoring self-transcendence, was V. Frankl. It was this disproportion in the relationship between the ideas of self-actualization and self-transcendence that he had in mind when he asked the question “how humanistic is humanistic psychology” (V. Frankl).

Self-transcendence means that a person first of all enters into some kind of relationship with an external reality. In a more categorical form, this idea is formulated in the statement: “To be human means to be directed not at oneself, but at something else” (V. Frankl). One way or another, but the categorical opposition of self-transcendence and self-actualization as two alternatives, in our opinion, is inappropriate. The strength of the humanistic approach and the prospects for its development lie in the organic combination of these principles. Unfortunately, this problem has so far been given insufficient attention even in humanistic psychology itself, despite the fact that its importance has been recognized by scientists for a long time. It is noted that work contributes to self-actualization (A. Maslow); in service to a cause or in love for another, a person fulfills himself (V. Frankl); the affirmation of one's own life, happiness, freedom of a person is rooted in his ability to love, and love is indivisible between "objects" and one's own "I" (E. Fromm).

The goal of human existence is both one's own perfection and the well-being of others, because the search for "personal happiness" alone leads to egocentrism, while the constant striving for "the improvement of others" brings nothing but dissatisfaction (I. Kant).

Psychologists and representatives related sciences, in particular acmeologists, have given several similar definitions of self-actualization and self-realization. In particular, according to one of the founders of humanistic psychology, A. Maslow, "... the essence of human development (self-actualization) is the desire to realize one's innate potential in the process of life." A. Maslow in his generalizing studies on humanistic psychology gave a detailed psychological description of self-actualizing people, noting the following: personality traits:

more effective perception of reality;

accepting oneself, others and nature;

immediacy, simplicity and naturalness;

Problem-centeredness

Independence and the need for solitude;

autonomy: independence from culture and environment;

· freshness of perception;

summit or mystical experiences;

public interest;

Deep interpersonal relationships

· democratic character;

a distinction between means and ends;

Philosophical sense of humor

· creativity;

resistance to cultivation.

Acmeologists also note that not only the processes of self-realization are important for a person, but also their orientation. At the same time, a predominant focus on competition can be detrimental to mental health and personal development, because competition saturates all areas of life, it sometimes forms a position of contempt for the weak and envy of the strong.

Acmeology, which focuses the personality on the humanistic orientation of development, aims to protect the personality from such psychological deformations, in particular in the acmeological understanding “... the level of development is determined by how much the subject is warmth and light for others. Evaluation of the highest - in terms of how it changes and improves in other people. (S.L. Rubinshtein).

Self-actualization and self-realization of a personality are combined with its adaptation, individualization and integration in the process of a person entering a new (any) social environment. At the same time, the humanistic orientation of individualization is noted. Simply “to stand out” is no longer an end in itself, it is important to achieve professional, personal or spiritual heights precisely in the process of individualization.

From the point of view of acmeology, the following general personal qualities can be attributed to the subjective properties of a person that contribute to the achievement of a high level of professional skill almost regardless of the type of activity:

Developed anticipation, manifested in the ability to accurately, "far" and reliably predict, anticipate the development of situations that arise in the process of performing activities;

The strength of personality;

A high level of self-regulation, which is manifested in the ability to manage one's condition, high efficiency, high stress resistance, constant readiness for stressful actions, the ability to mobilize one's resources at any time;

Ability to make decisions, including courage in decision-making, reliability of decisions, their timeliness and accuracy, originality and efficiency;

Creativity, manifested not only in high creative potential, but also in special skills to solve professional problems in an unconventional, but effective way;

High and adequate achievement motivation.

Thus, modern psychology and related sciences, in particular, acmeology, give a complete and exhaustive answer to the question of what self-actualization of a person is, what are the key stages of self-realization, pitfalls and difficulties.
In socionics, the process of self-actualization and self-realization is described in sufficient detail. Self-actualization means, first of all, the awareness of one's innate preferences, innate preferences in a person according to socionics, and self-actualization is their maximum development, including in the professional field.

Objective Prerequisites to achieve high professional results (self-realization in the professional field) lie, first of all, in the field of application of strong functions, the strong and weak functions of each person. Considering the problem of self-actualization and professional self-realization from this angle, one can understand why not all people strive to develop their innate potential (in this case meaning the strong functions of the psychotype).

First, for the most part, people do not realize what exactly their potential is, i.e. what functions they have initially strong, what can and should be relied upon.
Secondly, not all functions are equally in demand in society - the very structure of society implies more favorable interaction with people of some psychotypes and conflict - with people of other psychotypes.

4. life crises

Developmental psychology studies the facts and patterns of mental development healthy person. Traditionally, it is customary to divide its life cycle into the following periods:

1) prenatal (intrauterine);

2) childhood;

3) adolescence;

4) maturity ( adulthood);

5) advanced age, old age.

In turn, each of the periods consists of several stages, and has a number of characteristic features.

All these stages have their own specifics associated with the level of physiological functioning, the degree of mental development of a person, his psychological qualities and prevailing desires, prevailing forms of behavior and activity.

The prenatal period is divided into 3 stages:

pre-embryonic;

Germinal (embryonic);

Fetal stage.

The first stage lasts 2 weeks and corresponds to the development of a fertilized egg until it is embedded in the wall of the uterus and the umbilical cord is formed. The second - from the beginning of the third week after fertilization until the end of the second month of development. At this stage, anatomical and physiological differentiation occurs. various bodies. The third begins from the third month of development and ends by the time of birth. At this time, the formation of body systems that allow it to survive after birth takes place. The fetus acquires the ability to survive in the air at the beginning of the seventh month, and from that time it is already called a child.

The period of childhood includes the stages:

Birth and infancy (from birth to 1 year);

Early childhood (or "first childhood" - from 1 year to 3 years) - the period of development of functional independence and speech;

Preschool age (or "second childhood" - from 3 to 6 years), is characterized by
development of the child's personality and cognitive processes;

junior school age (or "third childhood" - from 6 to 11-12 years old) corresponds to the inclusion of the child in social group and development of intellectual skills and knowledge.

Adolescence is divided into two periods:

Teenage (or puberty);

Youthful (juvenile).

The first period corresponds to puberty and lasts from 11-12 to 15 years. At this time, under the influence of constitutional changes, a new idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthemselves is formed in a teenager. The second period lasts from 16 to 20-23 years and represents the transition to maturity. From a biological point of view, the young man is already an adult, but has not yet reached social maturity: youth is characterized by a feeling of psychological independence, although a person has not yet assumed any social obligations. Youth acts as a period of making responsible decisions that determine the entire later life of a person: the choice of a profession and one's place in life, the search for the meaning of life, the formation of one's worldview, self-awareness, the election of a life partner.

During the transition from one age stage to another, critical periods, or crises, when the former form of human relations with the outside world is destroyed and a new one is formed, which is accompanied by significant psychological difficulties for the individual and his social environment. There are small crises (crisis of the first year, crisis of 7 years, crisis of 17/18 years) and large crises (crisis of birth, 3 years, adolescent crisis of 13-14 years). In the case of the latter, the relationship between the child and society is rebuilt, while small crises are outwardly calmer, they are associated with the growth of skills and independence of a person. During periods of the critical phase, children are difficult to educate, stubborn, show negativism, obstinacy, and disobedience.

Maturity. It is divided into a number of stages and crises. The stage of early maturity, or youth (from 20-23 to 30-33 years old), corresponds to the entry of a person into an intense personal life and professional activity. This is the period of "becoming", self-assertion in love, sex, career, family, society. AT mature years their crisis periods. One of them is the crisis of 15 years, when, having reached a certain social and family status, a person begins to think with anxiety: “Is this all that life can give me? Is there really nothing better? And some begin to feverishly change jobs, spouses, places of residence, hobbies, etc. Then comes a short period of stabilization - from 35 to 40-43 years, when a person consolidates everything that he has achieved, he is sure of his professional excellence, authority, has an acceptable level of success in his career and material well-being, his health, marital status and sexual relations are normalized.

Following the period of stability comes the critical decade of 45-55 years.

A person begins to feel the approach of middle age: health is deteriorating, signs of loss of beauty and physical fitness appear, alienation sets in in the family and in relationships with grown-up children, there comes a fear that you will not get anything better either in life, or in a career, or in love. As a result of this, there is a feeling of fatigue from reality, depressive moods, from which a person hides either in dreams of new love victories, or in real attempts to “prove his youth” in love affairs, or a career takes off. The final period of maturity lasts from 55 to 65 years. This is a period of physiological and psychological balance, a decrease in sexual tension, a gradual withdrawal of a person from active labor and social life. The age from 65 to 75 is referred to as the first old age. After 75 years, age is considered advanced: a person rethinks his whole life, realizes his Self in spiritual thoughts about the years he has lived - and either accepts his life as a unique destiny that does not need to be redone, or understands that life was in vain.

In old age (old age), a person has to overcome three sub-crises. The first of them is a reassessment of one's self, which is not related to the professional role, which for many people remains the main one until retirement. The second sub-crisis is associated with the realization of the deterioration of health and aging of the body, which is an opportunity for a person to develop the necessary indifference to this.

As a result of the third sub-crisis, self-concern disappears, and now one can accept the thought of death without horror.

Faced with its inevitability, a person goes through a series of stages. The first one is denial. The thought “No, not me!” - the usual and normal reaction of a person to the announcement of a fatal diagnosis. Then comes the stage of anger. It embraces the patient when asked “Why me?”, pours out on other people who care about this person and, in general, on any healthy person. In order for such a stage to come to an end, the dying person must pour his feelings outward.

The next stage is "bargaining". The patient is trying to prolong his life, promising to be an obedient patient or an exemplary believer, trying to prolong his life with the help of medical achievements and repentance before God for a sheaf of sins and mistakes.

All these three phases constitute a period of crisis and develop in the order described, there are returns to the previous stage.

After the resolution of this crisis, the dying person enters the stage of depression. He realizes: "Yes, this time it is I who will die." He withdraws into himself, often feels the need to cry at the thought of those whom he is forced to leave. This is the stage of preparatory sadness, in which the dying person renounces life and prepares to meet death, accepting it as his last life stage. He is further and further separated from living people, withdrawing into himself - a state of “social death” sets in (a person has already moved away from society, from people, as if he had died in a social sense).

The fifth stage is the "acceptance of death." A person realizes and agrees, resigns himself to the inevitability of imminent death and humbly awaits his end. This is a state of “mental death” (psychologically, a person has, as it were, abandoned life). Clinical death occurs from the moment the heart stops working and breathing stops, but within 10-20 minutes, medical efforts can still bring a person back to life.

Brain death means the complete cessation of brain activity and its control over various functions organism, and the result is the death of brain cells. Physiological death corresponds to the extinction of the last functions of the body and the death of all its cells. According to some religious views and the opinion of a number of scientists, with the death of the body, the soul, the human psyche, does not die. There is a hypothesis that it continues to exist in the form of an information clot after the death of a person and connects with the global information field. The traditional materialistic understanding denies the possibility of preserving the soul, the psyche of a person after his death, although the latest studies of physicists, doctors, and psychologists are no longer so categorical.

The concept of "self-actualization" belongs to the humanistic direction in psychological science. Humanistic psychology proceeds from the position that the desire to comprehend true values ​​and, on the basis of them, the implementation of practical activities is a necessary factor in the full development of a person. At the same time, the main direction of the transformation of society and its social institutions should be such that it will allow each person to develop his inclinations to the maximum throughout his life and realize them for the benefit of society and for his own benefit. In the center of her attention of the humanistic approach is the problem of education and development of a harmonious and competent person, who realizes his potential to the maximum in the interests of personal and social growth.

Humanistic psychology sees the main means of solving the problem of personality development in the organization and improvement of the process of self-actualization. This process involves creative direction in human activities. At the same time, the prerequisites for a person's creative activity are created only in the process of successfully solving adaptive, situationally determined problems. A person who is able to act creatively develops throughout life from an adaptive person.

Self-actualization and self-realization are concepts that determine the processes of a person's movement towards the new in the world of reality. The tendency towards self-actualization, according to K. Rogers, is a manifestation of a deep tendency towards actualization. The scientist believes that self-actualization is characteristic of all processes and phenomena.

The content of the concept of "self-actualization" is revealed within the framework of two areas of humanistic psychology. The first, "clinical", is presented in the views of the American psychologist C. Rogers and is focused on finding methods and approaches to the therapeutic solution of the problem of self-actualization. The second direction, "motivational", developed American explorer A. Maslow, suggests the determination of the process of self-actualization by the need-motivational sphere of a person.

Representatives of humanistic psychology consider innate tendencies towards self-actualization to be the main source of personality development. Personal development is the unfolding of these innate tendencies. According to K. Rogers, there are two innate tendencies in the human psyche. The first one, which he called the “self-actualizing tendency”, initially contains the future properties of a person in a collapsed form. The second - "organism tracking process" - is a mechanism for monitoring the development of personality. On the basis of these tendencies, a special personal structure of the “I” arises in a person in the process of development, which includes the “ideal I” and the “real I”. These substructures of the "I" structure are found in difficult relationship- from complete harmony (congruence) to complete disharmony.

In the context of the theory of K. Rogers, the tendency of self-actualization is the process of a person realizing his potential throughout his life in order to become a fully functioning personality. Trying to achieve this, a person lives a life filled with meaning, search and excitement. A self-actualizing person lives existentially, naturally enjoying every moment of life and fully participating in it. According to Rogers, there is no need for any special motivation for a person to be active. Each person is initially motivated simply by the fact that he lives. Motives and drives do not explain the goal-directed activity of the organism. Humanity is fundamentally active and self-actualizing by virtue of its own nature. Self-actualization as such is not a final state of perfection. K. Rogers believed that not a single person becomes self-actualized enough to discard all motives. He always has talents to develop, skills to improve, more efficient and enjoyable ways to satisfy biological needs. However, one can speak of people who have achieved greater self-actualization than others; they have moved further than others to such functioning, which can be called more complete, creative and autonomous.

A. Maslow emphasized the role of needs in human self-actualization and identified two types of needs that underlie personality development:

• "deficit", which cease after their satisfaction:
• · "growth", which, on the contrary, only increase after their implementation.

In total, according to A. Maslow, there are five levels of motivation:

• 1. Physiological (needs for food, sleep);
• 2. Security needs (need for housing, protection);
• 3. Needs for belonging and love (reflect the needs of one person in another person, for example, in creating a family);
• 4. The need for recognition (positive assessment of others, status);
• 5. The need for self-actualization (self-embodiment, the desire for identity).

The most important for a person is the needs of the fifth level, but they come to the fore when the above needs are sufficiently satisfied.

A. Maslow characterized self-actualization as a person's desire to become what he can become. A person who has reached this highest level achieves the full use of his talents, abilities and potential of the individual. Self-actualization means reaching the peak of our potential, following our nature, realizing ourselves in those activities that allow us to develop our abilities to the maximum. A. Maslow made the assumption that most people, if not all, need internal improvement and are looking for it, the motivation to realize our potentials is natural and necessary. And yet only a few - usually gifted - people achieve it. The biggest problem is that many people simply don't see their potential; they do not know about its existence and do not understand the benefits of self-cultivation. A. Maslow called this phenomenon the “Jonah complex”. It is characterized by a fear of success that prevents a person from striving for greatness and self-improvement.

At the same time, the social and cultural environment of a person often suppresses the tendency to actualization. An example of such blockers can be cultural stereotypes, public opinion, social attitudes, prejudices. Therefore, the actualization of higher potentials in most cases is possible only when favorable conditions. It is necessary to create an atmosphere of security, acceptance and stimulation for self-realization and development. From this point of view, no society in human history did not provide an optimal opportunity for self-actualization of all its members, although some are still much better than others in terms of providing conditions for self-improvement of the individual.

The last obstacle to self-actualization, mentioned by A. Maslow, is a strong negative influence exerted by security needs. The process of growth requires a constant willingness to take risks, to make mistakes, to give up old habits. It takes courage. Therefore, anything that increases a person's fear and anxiety also increases the tendency to return to seeking safety and protection. Most people have a strong tendency to form patterns of behavior and stick to them. long time. After all, there is nothing more reliable than the old tried and tested ways of interacting with the world. The fulfillment of our need for self-actualization requires openness to new ideas and experiences. A. Maslow argued that children raised in a safe, friendly, caring atmosphere are more likely to acquire a healthy understanding of the growth process. In conditions where nothing threatens the satisfaction of basic human needs, growth brings pleasure, and a person strives to become as good as his abilities allow. Conversely, people who fail to develop their true potential - to become what they could become - experience deprivation of their basic needs.

Thus, an unstable position, anxiety, blocking of human needs entails a violation, and sometimes makes the process of self-actualization impossible. If he still succeeds, then a self-actualizing personality, according to A. Maslow, acquires the following characteristics:

• 1. More effective perception of reality. Self-actualizing people are able to perceive the world around them, including other people, correctly and impartially. They see reality as it is, not as they would like to see it. They are less emotional and more objective in their perception and do not allow hopes and fears to influence their assessment.
• 2. Acceptance of self, others and nature. Self-actualizing people can accept themselves for who they are. They are not overcritical of their shortcomings and weaknesses. They are not weighed down by excessive feelings of guilt, shame and anxiety. Self-acceptance is also clearly expressed in physiological level. Self-actualizing people accept their physiological nature with pleasure, feeling the joy of life. They have a good appetite, sleep, they enjoy their sex life without unnecessary inhibitions. Main biological processes considered part of human nature and are favorably received. In a similar way they accept other people and humanity in general. They do not have an overwhelming need to teach, inform, or control. They can bear the weaknesses of others and are not afraid of their strength.
• 3. Immediacy, simplicity and naturalness. The behavior of self-actualizing people is marked by spontaneity and simplicity, lack of artificiality or desire to produce an effect. Their inner life (thoughts and emotions) is unconventional, natural and spontaneous. They know how to adapt so as to protect themselves and other people from pain or injustice. At the same time, they do not hesitate to reject social norms when they feel it is necessary.
• 4. Focused on the problem. All self-actualizing personalities are committed to some task, duty, calling, or favorite job that they consider important. They are not ego-centered, but rather problem-oriented above their immediate needs. In this sense, they live to work rather than work to live; work is subjectively experienced by them as their defining characteristic.
• 5. Independence, the need for privacy. Self-actualizing people are in dire need of inviolability inner life and loneliness. Since they do not seek to establish dependency relationships with others, they can enjoy wealth and the fullness of friendship. Self-actualizing people can be alone without feeling lonely.
• 6. Autonomy: independence from culture and environment. Self-actualizing people are free in their actions, regardless of the physical and social environment. This autonomy allows them to rely on their own potential and internal sources of growth and development. They see themselves as self-determined, active, responsible, and self-disciplined masters of their own destiny. They are strong enough to ignore the opinions and influences of others, so they do not seek honors, high status, prestige and popularity. They consider such external satisfaction less significant than self-development and internal growth.
• 7. Freshness of perception. Self-actualizing people have the ability to appreciate even the most ordinary events in life, while feeling novelty, awe, pleasure. Unlike those who take happiness for granted, self-actualizing people value good fortune, health, friends, and political freedom. They rarely complain about a boring, uninteresting life.
• 8. Summit or mystical experiences. In the process of self-actualization, many people have peak experiences. These are moments of great excitement or high tension, as well as moments of relaxation, peace, bliss and tranquility. They are ecstatic states that are experienced at the climax of love and intimacy, in impulses of creativity, insight, openness and merging with nature.
• 9. Public interest. Even when self-actualizing people are troubled, saddened, and even angered by the shortcomings of the human race, they nevertheless share a deep sense of closeness with it. Hence, they have a sincere desire to help their "mortal" brethren improve themselves. This desire is expressed by a feeling of compassion, sympathy and love for all mankind. Often this special kind brotherly love, like the attitude of an older brother or sister towards younger brothers and sisters.
• 10. Deep interpersonal relationships. Self-actualizing people seek deeper and more intimate personal relationships than "ordinary" people. Self-actualizing people tend to form close relationships with those who share similar personalities, talents, and abilities. Usually the circle of their close friends is small, because. Self-actualizing friendships require a lot of time and effort.
• 11. Democratic character. Self-actualizing individuals are free from prejudice, and therefore they respect other people, regardless of what class, race, religion, gender they belong to, what their age, profession, and other indicators of status. Moreover, they readily learn from others without exhibiting superiority or authoritarian tendencies.
• 12. Separation of means and ends. In everyday life, self-actualizing individuals are more determined, consistent, and firm than ordinary people about what is right and what is wrong, good or bad. They adhere to certain moral and ethical standards. They liked to do something for the sake of the process itself, and not because it is a means to an end.
• 13. Philosophical sense of humor. Another notable characteristic of self-actualizing people is their clear preference for philosophical, benevolent humor. If a a common person may enjoy jokes that make fun of someone's inferiority, humiliate someone or obscene, then a healthy person is more attracted to humor that ridicules the stupidity of humanity as a whole.
• 14. Creativity. Self-actualizing people have the ability to be creative. However, the creative potential of his subjects did not manifest itself in the same way as that of outstanding talents in poetry, art, music or science. It is creativity that is present in everyday life as a natural way of expressing an observant, perceiving new and invigoratingly simple way of personality.
• 15. Resistance to cultivation. Self-actualizing people are in harmony with their culture, while maintaining a certain internal independence from it. They have autonomy and self-confidence, and therefore their thinking and behavior is not subject to social and cultural influence.

Thus, the process of self-actualization is, on the one hand, the result of a person's harmony with the world. In other words, this is the process of personality development, in which the content of the “I-concept” is adequate to the surrounding world and reflects harmony with oneself both in cognitive, evaluative and behavioral components. On the other hand, the mismatch with the outside world of the "I-concept", and, as a result. the presence of anxiety, inadequate overestimated or underestimated self-esteem, blurring of attitudes and beliefs, entails blocking the process of self-realization, revealing a person's potential, deprives him of the opportunity to self-actualize. The process of self-actualization and the content of the "I-concept" depends on the conditions that develop in certain period human life. If a this process from birth to the beginning of youth accompanies and is interdependent with the process of mental formation and development of a person, then in the period of middle age it is largely determined by environmental factors, the social environment. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the features of the formation of the "I-concept" and self-actualization in this age period.

Humanistic psychology proceeds from the position that the desire to comprehend the true values ​​of Being and their implementation in practical activities is a necessary factor in the full development of a person. She considers the main direction of the transformation of society and its social institutions to be one that will allow every child entering the world to develop his inclinations to the maximum throughout his life and realize them for the benefit of society and for his own benefit. In the center of her attention is the problem of educating and developing a harmonious and competent personality, which realizes its potential to the maximum in the interests of personal and social growth. She offers theory of self-actualization as a way to solve this problem.

The development of humanistic psychology has led to the fact that many sociologists and futurologists, who until recently defended the need to educate an “adapting person”, today talk about the need for the survival and normal development of civilization as a whole to create conditions for self-development and self-improvement of an “acting person”. The complexity of solving this problem is associated with the fact that the prerequisites for creative, “above-situational activity” (V.A. Petrovsky’s term) mature throughout life only in the process of a person’s successfully solving adaptive, situationally conditioned problems. A person who is able to act creatively develops and “grows” throughout his life from an adapting person; the ability for supra-situational activity is built on top of the formed social and individual competencies.

These are scientific concepts that refer to certain processes in the world of reality. At the global, metapsychological level, the tendency to self-actualization, however, is a manifestation of a deep tendency to actualization: “This is confirmed by the universality of the manifestation of this tendency in the universe, at all levels, and not just in living systems ... We are connected to a trend that permeates all actual life and revealing all the complexity of which the organism is capable. On an even broader level, I believe we are dealing with a powerful creative trend that has shaped our universe, from the tiniest snowflake to the huge galaxy, from the most insignificant amoeba to the most subtle and gifted personality. Perhaps we are touching the tip of our ability to transform ourselves, to create new, more spiritual directions in human evolution.”

At the level of a person, he defines self-actualization “as such a development of a personality that frees a person from a deficit of growth problems and from neurotic (or infantile, or imaginary, or “unnecessary”, or “unreal”) problems of life. So that he can address the "real" problems of life (essentially and ultimately human problems, unremovable "existential" problems that have no final decision), - and not only to turn, but also to resist them, and take up them. That is, self-actualization is not the absence of problems, but the movement from transient or fake problems to real problems.

The process of self-actualization of a person should be considered and described "from within" a person's life, from his point of view, as a definite, conscious choice of life goals and ways to achieve them. And it is seen from this point as a certain sequence of episodes, situations, in each of which “I” encounter certain problems, accept the challenge, and, making my own efforts, as I solve problems, I improve, develop, consciously choose even more difficult ones for myself ( but corresponding to my strengths and capabilities, my "self") realistic problems. Or I degrade, not accepting challenges, refusing to apply my own efforts in solving problems or choosing those that do not correspond to my strengths and capabilities, my “self”. In this case, not finding a timely solution, the “I” also inevitably comes as a result of a collision with more difficult problems, but of a different, “neurotic” quality, the solution of which will be forced, will narrow the possibilities of my self-determination, will require psychological, social or medical care. Maslow emphasizes that the choice in favor of growth, in the direction of self-actualization, must be made by a person in every situation of choice.

Refusal of a person from efforts to realize his potential is fraught with the emergence of pathology: nervous or mental disorders, somatic diseases or, in the most severe case, development metapathology, "coagulation" of individual abilities, involution, degradation. The absence in a particular region, country, community of conditions for self-actualization of a person leads to phenomena of stagnation, social and economic crisis. The conduct by the power elites of a policy aimed at preventing the processes of self-actualization is fraught with anti-social manifestations of extremism and terrorism. The growth of involutionary tendencies, the involvement of large groups of people in the processes of involution, the marginalization of individual regions and countries are fraught with a serious threat to the development of civilization and culture as a whole.

About self-actualization in the broad sense of the word, one can speak at each age stage of human development. The act of self-actualization can be seen, for example, in a child's mastering a certain skill (say, riding a bicycle), in a teenager's mastering the technique of playing the guitar, in a student's mastering a certain amount of knowledge sufficient for successful admission to a university. In each case, we are talking about the fact that more and more prolonged efforts of a person at some point lead to the realization: I can! I know! Quantitative changes accumulated by hard work for a long time bring a new quality that immediately manifests itself, characterizing itself in the practice of life as a certain social or personal competence. This kind of awareness, supplemented by the positive assessments of friends, examiners, adults, brings peak experiences that reflect a state of happiness.

In the strict sense of the term, self-actualization is a behavioral manifestation of the ability to self-regulate. Therefore, speaking of a child's self-actualization, we must remember that his behavioral acts are determined for the most part by unconscious motives, but are regulated by basic emotions directly related to the satisfaction of biological needs, and external control factors. The lower age limit of the possible observation of full-fledged acts of self-actualization refers to adolescence and is associated with (1) the acquisition of a conceptual level of thinking by a teenager; (2) the presence of a certain maturity of central inhibition mechanisms; (3) the experience accumulated in the previous period of development in the positive solution of situationally determined problems; (4) the presence of a tendency towards self-development in the motivational sphere. In this case, it is possible, but not inevitable, for a teenager to move from fantasizing, dreams, and play motives that dominate in childhood to drawing up realistic life plans and attempts to implement them through multi-step strategies and self-regulation. It is in these first attempts at self-actualization that “docking” and harmonization takes place. motivational sphere, mechanisms of cognitive analysis and volitional aspects necessary for the fulfillment of the plan. Successes in attempts of self-actualization allow a teenager to form a hierarchical structure of motives acquire higher forms of emotions and personal meanings.

Let us clarify the relationship between the concepts self-actualization and self-realization. Realization, as interpreted by the Oxford Dictionary of Modern of English language for students (1984) it is, first of all, awareness, mental (cognitive) activity. Actualization (actualization) - has the meaning of activity as a process, a waste of energy (from the Latin root actus - an act), which has a material result. The concept of "self-realization" means, therefore, the mental, cognitive aspect of activity, theoretical activity, work on the inner plane. Self-realization is manifested in the construction and adjustment, restructuring of the “I concept”, including the “ideal I”, pictures of the world and life plan, awareness of the results of previous activities (formation of the concept of the past).

Self-actualization and self-realization Thus, they turn out to be two inseparable sides of one process, the process of development and growth, the result of which is a person who has maximally revealed and used his human potential, a self-actualized personality.

The act of self-actualization- this is a certain finite number of actions performed by the subject on the basis of the goals consciously set in the course of self-realization and the developed strategy for achieving them. Each act of self-actualization ends with a specific emotional reaction- "peak experience", positive in case of success, and negative (pain, disappointment) - in case of failure.

Literature:

1. Vakhromov E.E. Psychological concepts of human development: the theory of self-actualization. - M.: International Pedagogical Academy, 2001
2. Humanistic and transpersonal psychology. / Comp. K.V. Selchenok. - M.: AST, 2000.
3. Maslow A. Far beyond human psyche. - St. Petersburg: Eurasia, 1997
4. Maslow A. Motivation and personality. - St. Petersburg: Eurasia, 1999
5. Psychology of being. - Kyiv, 1997
6. Psychology with human face. Humanistic perspective in post-Soviet psychology. / Ed. YES. Leontiev, V.G. Schur. - M.: Meaning, 1997
7. Rogers K. A look at psychotherapy. The formation of man. - M.: Progress, 1998

UDK 159.923.5 Voyushina Ekaterina Alexandrovna

postgraduate student of the Northern (Arctic) federal university named after M.V. Lomonosov

ON CORRELATION OF THE CONCEPTS "SELF-REALIZATION", "SELF-ACTUALIZATION" AND "ACME"

Annotation:

The article deals with the concepts of the personality of foreign authors, as well as individual ideas of humanistic psychology, affecting the problems of self-realization. The views of researchers on the origin of self-realization, conditions, mechanisms that prevent or contribute to its achievement are shown. The introduction of the concept of "acme" as a complex formation associated with a person's achievement of the heights of his development is substantiated, and its connection with the term "self-realization" is also proved.

Keywords:

self-actualization, self-realization, personality development, acme, humanistic psychology, personality concepts, potential, abilities, needs.

Voyushina Ekaterina Alexandrovna

PhD student, Northern (Arctic) Federal University

CORRELATION OF "SELF-FULFILLMENT", "SELF-ACTUALIZATION" AND "ACME" CONCEPTS

The article deals with the theories of personality developed by the foreign scholars, as well as some ideas of humanistic psychology about the problems of self-fulfillment. The paper reviews researchers" views on the origin of self-fulfillment, conditions and mechanisms preventing or contributing to its achievement. The author justifies the introduction of the "acme" concept as a complex phenomenon associated with the achievement of the peak of personal development and proves its connection with the "self-fulfillment" term.

self-actualization, self-fulfillment, personal development, acme, humanistic psychology, theory of personality, resources, skills, needs.

The current sociocultural situation is developing in such a way that the transformations taking place in society lead to a revision of the values ​​​​accepted in society, a change in priorities (including scientific ones), promote A New Look to existing problems. Political instability, economic uncertainty, an increase in the pace of life require a person to quickly adapt to changing conditions. During this period of constant change, a person may experience doubts in the state, society, lose confidence in the people around him, so he needs to rely on himself, to realize his potential.

However, according to the results of many studies, more and more people are losing faith in themselves, in their strengths, in the fact that they have their own internal resources to overcome difficulties. First of all, this manifests itself in the fear of expressing one's feelings, thoughts, making decisions and making choices in various spheres of life (from professional to interpersonal). In the future, this can be fraught with the emergence of psychopathologies in a person. An increase in the number of people incapable of self-realization can lead to the marginalization of the population and the growth of antisocial tendencies.

The very essence of modern information environment requires a person to rebuild, change. Society is interested in mobile, adaptive people who are responsible for their actions, ready to make efforts to realize their "I". But how to create such a personality? What needs to be influenced? What mechanisms influence these processes? Here is just a small list of issues that underlie the increased interest in the problems of personality development. Having answers to the questions posed, one can embody one's individuality, feel satisfaction from one's accomplishments, achieve an improvement in the cultural and socio-economic potential of society as a whole and the harmony of the individual in particular.

The problem of personality development and achievement by a person of peaks in his development has been of interest to scientists for a long time. Initially, it was believed that not everyone can fulfill their potential, but only individuals who have left significant footprint in the history of the development of society, therefore, the first ideas about self-realization were born in the course of studying biographies prominent people. Later it was proved that self-realization is inherent and ordinary people, which provoked a new round of interest among researchers.

Intensive development of the problem of self-realization began in the 1950s and 1960s. 20th century representatives of humanistic psychology. However, even before that there were concepts of personality, where self-realization was assigned a significant role in its formation and development. First of all, these are the works of K. Jung, A. Adler, K. Horney, E. Fromm, K. Goldstein.

The analytical theory of Carl Jung includes the principle of personality development. The scientist divided human life into two parts, each of which involves the solution of its own problems. The first half of life is devoted to the study outside world, conquering professional heights, procreation. The main values ​​here are social achievements. By the middle of life, after solving these problems, many people face the question of what to do next, what goal to set for themselves, to continue to perform the same tasks? K. Jung noted this strategy as unproductive, not bringing satisfaction to a person, leading to neurosis, fear of death. The scientist suggested that the meaning of the second half of life could be the development of "selfhood", the mastery of culture in a broad sense. K. Jung considered the acquisition of “selfhood” to be the result of the desire of personality components for unity, unity, harmony through constant self-improvement.

According to K. Jung, a person strives for the full realization of his own "I", that is, unique, whole person. This process has been called individualization - the active and evolving unification of many opposing forces and tendencies, the search for own way in life. It is individualization that helps to overcome the mid-life crisis, to focus on inner essence turn to the unconscious. The result of individualization is self-realization. It is worth noting that K. Jung considered a talented, highly educated person capable of self-realization, which makes it inaccessible to most people.

Alfred Adler also considered self-realization possible. In his individual theory of personality, he put forward an inferiority complex as the main mechanism of development, which later transforms into a desire for superiority, and then into a lifestyle. A. Adler argued that the feeling of inferiority is necessary for the desire for self-improvement as a motivating component. At the same time, the researcher understood the striving for perfection as the full realization of an ideal life, that is, having a certain basis in the form of potencies and abilities, a person strives to raise them to a higher level of functioning. In this interpretation, "striving for excellence" is very close to the term "self-realization."

References to self-realization can also be found in the works of Karen Horney devoted to anxiety. According to the author, under the influence of anxiety, neurotic personality, characteristic feature which is the alienation of the real "I". K. Horney argued that the desire for self-realization is inherent in human nature, the whole system of his values ​​is built on this basis. An anxious personality begins to form in childhood, the reason for this may be a violation of the child's relationship with adults, the lack of close emotional contact. All this leads to the formation of the so-called exalted "I", it prevents the child from following inner aspirations, hinders the development of the personality, and leads to the manifestation of aggression. At the same time, K. Horney called the realization of the real "I" effective way achievement of the integrity of the individual. The real "I" is a set of innate potentials (temperament, inclinations), which, on the one hand, act as part of heredity, on the other hand, are open to external influences, as they manifest themselves in close connection with the outside world, which opens up great prospects for their disclosure.

Kurt Goldstein was the one who introduced the term "self-actualization" into scientific circulation. He considered self-realization as the main need of the organism, which dominates over others. The scientist believed that all living organisms are driven by the idea to reveal their nature as much as possible: “The body has certain potentialities, and therefore it has a need to actualize or realize them. The satisfaction of this need is the self-realization of the organism. The very existence of the individual is understood as the realization of oneself. In this case, the inability to achieve self-realization becomes main reason mental illnesses.

It is especially worth noting that K. Goldstein was one of the first to consider environment as a source of positive change, not as a counteracting force.

Carl Rogers, in his concept of "the desire for self-actualization" expressed similar ideas. When describing self-actualization, he used the terms "I", "ideal "I", "real "I", "congruence - incongruence". According to K. Rogers, the dominant human need is to achieve perfection, completeness, integrity, that is, the movement from the "real "I" to the "ideal "I". This need is hereditary and consists in the natural maturation of the organism, its differentiation and complication.

Abraham Maslow, another prominent representative of humanistic psychology, created the so-called hierarchy of needs, the top of which was the need for self-actualization. Unlike K. Goldstein, A. Maslow believed that the need for self-actualization of a person exists along with others, and is not the only one. The scientist considered a person as a "being willing", focused on achieving personal goals, which makes his life filled with meaning.

In accordance with the concept of A. Maslow, human needs are innate and ordered hierarchically. The ascending hierarchy of needs includes: physiological, security and protection, belonging and love, self-respect and self-actualization. The lower and middle levels of the hierarchy are basic needs, they are interchangeable. At the top of the pyramid are meta-needs, ignoring which leads to the loss of the meaning of life, apathy, alienation. Effort, maximum use of one's abilities make it possible to achieve meta-life, meta-values, which makes a person mature and self-sufficient.

A. Maslow conducted a large-scale study in order to highlight the characteristic psychological features of self-actualizing people. The result was the identification of 15 traits, here are just a few of them: creativity, independence, peak experiences, willingness to learn from others, etc. .

Serious research on self-realization in Russian psychology appeared relatively recently - in the middle of the 20th century. In the future, the interest of scientists only increased. The phenomenon of self-realization is devoted to a number of works by A.G. Asmolova, E.I. Isaeva, D.A. Leontiev, V.I. Slobodchikov and many other researchers. In many ways, the views of domestic authors are based on the ideas of humanistic psychology.

Achievement by a person of peaks in his development in the course of the study received a large number of names - "self-realization", "self-actualization", "self-development", "self-affirmation", etc. In our opinion, the most constructive would be to call this phenomenon "acme". The concept of "acme" is considered central concept science of acmeology and has been used for a long time.

In translation from the ancient Greek act - "the top, the highest point of something." Speaking about the achievement of "acme", the Greeks meant the age period of maturity, where a person demonstrates himself to the fullest, when all his potential is at its peak. S.D. Pozharsky cites an interesting fact: when writing biographies of their prominent compatriots, ancient Greek doxographers often indicated the time instead of dates of birth and death. highest manifestation their wisdom and majesty.

The religious philosopher P. Florensky introduced the term "acme" into scientific circulation. The scientist considered "acme" as the highest achievement throughout a person's life. ““Acme” is the pinnacle in connection with the consideration of the concept of form in four-dimensional space. Not only man has "acme", and, moreover, each of the coordinates, but also animals and plants. Every thing has its flowering, the time of its greatest magnificent development, its "acme", when it especially fully and especially fully represents itself, in its four-dimensional wholeness.

Later, the founder of acmeology B.G. Ananiev put forward the idea of ​​the need for a deep study of the psyche mature person. A.A. Derkach writes: "... For the first time, the phenomenon of "acme" became the subject of study, this phenomenon is described as a multidimensional state of a person, covering a certain progressive period of his development, which is associated with great professional and individual changes." .

Purposefulness, activity, organizational skills A.A. Derkach allowed acmeology to occupy its niche among the traditional areas of psychology in Russia. Among the researchers who contributed to the development of acmeology, the names of K.A. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya, A.A. Bodaleva, V.G. Zazykina, N.V. Kuzmina.

In our opinion, "acme" is not just one of the synonyms for self-realization, but more complex education. Its structure from the highest level to the lowest can be represented as follows:

1) "acme",

2) self-realization,

3) self-actualization,

4) self-knowledge.

This system is based on self-knowledge. V.G. Maralov defines self-knowledge as a process that allows a person to identify in himself any qualities, inclinations, indicators of a personal and behavioral plan and to carry out their fixation, analysis, evaluation and acceptance.

On the basis of self-knowledge, a person develops a system of ideas about himself, other people, the laws of the external world and his place in it. A person's life is constantly changing, and this encourages him to turn inward, to his inner "I". However, this process must be purposeful. The depth of knowledge, and then the changes made, depends on how clearly a person has defined his goal. Only in this case, self-knowledge can become a cognitive basis for the development and improvement of a person's personality.

The next levels are self-actualization and self-realization. In psychology, there is a separate problem of correlating the concepts of "self-realization" and "self-actualization", very often these terms are used as synonymous.

A number of authors are trying to identify criteria for delimiting these concepts. So, L.A. Korostyleva as a criterion indicates the differences in the planes of existence of the individual: subjective, internal (self-actualization) and objective, external (self-realization). YES. Leontiev

separates the concepts through the definition of the specific needs for each of these processes and refers self-realization to the third level of needs (in creativity, in the socially transformative sphere, etc.). L.N. Antilogova refers to a different motivational basis: self-actualization is associated with the de-objectification of the human world, self-realization - with the objectification of essential forces.

We will not delve into this issue, we will only note that we share the position of L.N. Antilogova and consider self-actualization as an activity preceding self-realization: “Self-actualization is an activity specially organized by the subject, the purpose of which is to identify potential opportunities, real needs, life meanings, ideas about one's own destiny in the world and their transfer at the next stage (self-realization) into an active form in the form of motives leading to an irresistible desire for their realization, as well as the result of this activity.

Self-actualization can be correlated with the concept of "human potential" - a set of various indicators(social, spiritual, physical), which may appear, or may remain unclaimed, while the next level - self-realization - is already the so-called "human capital", which is a demanded, used opportunity.

The highest level is "acme". Many researchers, when interpreting “acme”, point to the sign of peaking, and then such definitions of “acme” appear as the peak, the flowering of a person’s powers and abilities, the peak of his capabilities, etc.

We define "acme" as mental condition conditioned by a combination of processes of self-knowledge and self-realization accompanying the physical, professional and social formation person, which ensures his relatively stable success.

"Acme" can manifest itself in physical, social (family, leisure), professional fields. Achievement by a person of "acme" implies the maximum level of the state of the human body, when he has become a citizen, professional, family man. Thus, "acme" is a system of meaning-life peaks achieved by a person.

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2. Modern psychology motivation / ed. YES. Leontiev. M., 2002. 343 p.

3. Maslow A.H. Motivation and Personality. 3rd ed. New York, 1987. 336 p.

4. Frager R., Faydiman J. Personality: theories, experiments, exercises. SPb., 2008. 608 p.

5. Acmeology of philosophy of success / ed. S.D. Pozharsky. SPb., 2010. 300 p.

6. Ibid. S. 60.

7. Derkach A.A. Acmeology in the system of scientific knowledge // The world of education - education in the world. 2007. No. 1. S. 25-33.

8. Maralov V.G. Fundamentals of self-knowledge and self-development. M., 2004. 250 p.

9. Antilogova L.N. Psychological nature, criteria and mechanisms of personality self-actualization // Psychopedagogy in law enforcement agencies. 2006. No. 3. S. 59-61.

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Adler, A 2009, Understanding Human Nature: The Psychology of Personality, London, 240 p.

Antilogova, LN 2006, "Psychological nature, criteria and mechanisms for self-actualization", Psikhopedagogika v pravookhranitel"nykh organakh, no. 3, pp. 59-61, (in Russian).

Derkach, AA 2007, "Psychology in the system of scientific knowledge", Mir obrazovaniya - obrazovaniye vmire, no. 1, pp. 2533, (in Russian).

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Maralov, VG 2004, Basics of self-knowledge and self-development, Moscow, 250 p., (in Russian).

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