How does an individual differ from personality and individuality: the main differences between characteristics - examples of differences in human qualities: what is the difference between the concepts

In sociology, psychology and a number of other sciences, terms such as “person”, “personality”, “individual” and “individuality” are widely used. Many perceive them as synonyms, however each of these words has its own meaning and implies a specific set of characteristics. Therefore, these terms are not interchangeable and the context should be well understood when using them. Today we will analyze in detail how they differ from each other and how not to make mistakes when using these words in your own speech.

Let's give a terminological definition with brief characteristics

I will list the most popular words that are often confused by ordinary people. Let's take a wide range of explanations - from everyday and colloquial to scientific.

Human

First of all, this name is used in biology, history, and archeology to distinguish a biological species that has certain structural features of the body and brain. It is an upright creature endowed with cognitive abilities. The word is appropriate to use both in combination with the more social “humanity” and when contrasted with the animal world. This can be called absolutely every one of our “relatives” - from children to adults.

Characteristic features that distinguish a person from a personality:

The result of the evolutionary process.
The presence of consciousness and self-awareness.
The need to be in society, the need to communicate with others like oneself.
A single way of communication through language, that is, the work of speech recognition and speech reproduction, with the exception of those who have lost the opportunity or have not had it since birth due to their anatomical structure.
Features of anatomy - upright posture, the presence of fingers and toes.
The ability to use devices to achieve a goal - any objects used for their intended purpose.

Subjective meaning (that is, a person as a subject of relationships, historical process and cultural) turns a biological species into a social being.

Individual

From Latin the word individuum is translated as “indivisible.” We actually completely copied it (but the meaning of “individual” is still different).

This concept can be called every person living in a group, society and possessing qualities that make him the same as his closest relatives. However, it is an independent unit with intrinsic value. This occurs due to the uniqueness of each individual organism on two levels - physiological and psychological. These are not qualities acquired over the years, but traits that are innate - narrow or wide-set eyes, the presence of a dimple on the chin, timbre of voice or ringing laughter.

Characteristics, what is the difference between an individual and personality:

The object of the human population cannot be alone, it is inseparable from its own kind.
Social activity - the presence of roles, statuses, for example, husband or wife, daughter, son, mother, father or neighbor, teacher, friend.
The ability to adapt on a psycho-emotional level to those around you – the ability to find a compromise and adapt to the demands of society.

These are any qualities that are determined in comparison with other people, in contrast or in accordance.

How personality differs from individuality and individual, examples

The term comes from the word “Person”, and in English the tracing paper from Latin is established - persona.

The definition is inextricably linked with personal qualities, that is, it continues the concept of individuum, making it even more personalized. If earlier we talked about the individual characteristics that a person had innately, now it is more correct to talk about the acquired character, which is revealed in communication and relationships with other people. It is impossible to talk about personal traits without comparison or contrast with society.

Psychologist Daria Milai

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The term is used in many sciences and reflects individual characteristics. Let's go through scientific areas:

Linguistics. “Language, speech and communicative personality.” Everything can be tied into a single knot; often these three persons develop synchronously. They are all in one person. The quality can be called acquired, because the child at birth does not have speech. The first concept reflects the depth of constructed thoughts, sentences, and the structure of texts. The second explains the degree of verbal expression skill. The third is the ability to engage in various verbal interactions.
Philosophy. In this science, the most common interpretations of the term appeared; it became a stumbling block. For the first time, the concept of “face” began to reflect a person and his inner world. Over time, philosophical wrangling, experts came to a consensus that a person, unlike an individual, has three traits: free will, reason and feelings.
Sociology. There are many ideas, but the fundamental one is how the society in which a person lives affects his personal qualities, abilities, and character traits. This once again emphasizes the social orientation of the term.
Psychology. Perhaps the psychological approach is the most correct. It is at the level of consciousness and the unconscious that a set of developed habits, preferences, experience, knowledge, established opinions and stereotypes of thinking appears. All these features determine a person’s attitude to nature, culture, history, and other people.

Let's give an example. Having your own opinion about the political situation means having the traits of personal development. A young man, and especially a child, can only repeat what was said or heard on TV, but not generate his own assessment.

Personality and man, what is the difference, characteristic features:

presence of temperament;
pronounced character - people talk about his inclinations even in infancy;
individual abilities - they need to be developed;
all actions have motivation.

In general, we can say that personal qualities are cultivated in oneself and controlled, adjusted independently.

Individuality

The last term that is often confused within the listed definitions. Usually it is understood as personal striking features. The word has its root in the same Latin individuum, that is, “indivisible.” The differences between an individual’s personality and individuality are that the latter distinctive features can be displayed not only in behavior and psychology, but also in purely external manifestations. An example is an individual, author’s, unique style of clothing.

If you feel ordinary, one in a million, and do not find any special characteristics in yourself, this may mean:

either you have nothing to express;
or you don't know how.

In my personal consultations, women open up and learn to better understand themselves.

What is personality?

A personality is a person who has a unique set of characteristics that determine his character, behavior and characteristics of interaction with other people. In everyday communication, the word “personality” is often used as a synonym for the word “person” or “individual”, but the meaning of these terms is still different.

In addition to the above, there are other definitions of the term “personality”. In particular, it can be used to reflect the social nature of man. That is, when a person is called a person, it is meant that he is part of a certain society and is revealed in social interaction. Sometimes the word “personality” is used to emphasize the moral maturity of a person, his responsibility and a high level of prudence.

All people change over time, sometimes quite dramatically. And if the changes in someone are too noticeable, they sometimes say about him: “He has become a completely different person!” Everyone understands that this is the same person, but these words imply that in communication he has become completely different, and old acquaintances “do not recognize” him.

Based on the foregoing, we can conclude that the concept of “personality” implies a set of psycho-emotional properties of a person , formed under the influence of his life experience and determining his character, tastes, relationships with others, the level of personal and social responsibility, behavior in various life situations and other characteristics.

Thus, the term “personality” is quite multifaceted, but it has two main meanings:

A set of characteristics of the psyche and behavior, formed on the basis of a person’s self-esteem, as well as on the basis of how he evaluates his life and environment.
A unique person with his own value system, habits, way of thinking and other individual characteristics.

The term “personality” in Russian is derived from the word “personal” (that is, belonging to a specific person). Sometimes it is also associated with the word “mask” (previously it was the name of a mask or part of a helmet that covers the face). In English and other European languages, the term personality, derived from the Latin word persona (person), is used to denote this concept.

What characterizes a person as a person

Initially, the word was almost a dirty word. This term is derived from "Face", and this word, in turn, had a negative connotation in everyday life. It meant what we would now call a mask, a role played—deception. For a long time, the concept was not applied directly to people; about the part of the body that we now call so, they said “face”, “guise”.

From this we can deduce the following. Just as an actor puts on a mask during a performance, so an individual becomes a person only in the process of interaction with other people - a kind of role that the character has built for himself.

Properties

I will list those aspects of life that, one way or another, influenced the formation:

hereditary predisposition;
parental education (these two factors are easy to confuse; it is often said that the child’s character is similar to the mother’s, but basically this is the adoption of habits);
people with whom there is frequent interaction - friends, relatives, classmates, employees.

Particular personality traits may be expressed at one moment and deliberately or unintentionally suppressed at another. This is a significant difference between a personality and an individual, because the latter has a constant set of traits that he is not able to correct at will and through willpower, for example, eye color.

Personality

Personality is a concept used primarily in psychology. This is a subject with self-awareness, emotional experiences and the ability to know. Personality is formed exclusively in the process of socialization, and its basic properties are manifested in interaction with other individuals. From a psychological point of view, one of the key personality properties is the ability to play a certain role that meets the expectations of others.

The main characteristics of a personality are its potentials:

creative – the ability to purposefully create material and intangible values;
cognitive – the ability and desire to learn;
communicative – the ability to interact with other individuals and develop through this interaction, while maintaining one’s own identity;
value - a system of values, ideals, aspirations and beliefs acquired by an individual in the process of socialization;
artistic – the level of artistic needs of the individual, manifested both in the creation and consumption of works of art.

The basis for personal development is considered to be her ability to control her life, make strong-willed decisions and act rationally, guided by logic and common sense, and not by immediate desires. A person who copes well with this is called a strong personality.

Obviously, a five-year-old child cannot be a strong personality. He still does not understand why and for what he should deny himself momentary pleasures. In addition, he has not yet developed responsibility, since he has no idea how serious the consequences of a seemingly harmless act can be.

It also happens that a fully grown person is not a mature person. He submits to desires and cannot subordinate them to his will. However, he is not necessarily such a rake. This may be a decent person with a good education and job, whose personality is still in the process of formation.

Personality formation is a very long process that includes 4 key elements:

choice of social roles and related functions.
awareness of the rules of behavior in force in society.
relationship building and other social skills.
the ability to make decisions and be responsible for their consequences.

A person who is a mature personality is easy to notice. As a rule, he is quite independent and does not worry about what people think about him , so he does not try very hard to meet the expectations of others. But this does not prevent him from behaving with dignity. Thanks to this combination, others often choose such individuals as role models.

What is individual?

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

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

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

What is individuality?

All manifestations can be divided into three large groups. These are the features:

External. These include the uniqueness of the anatomical structure, the chosen style, and the way of dressing. Having an individual style means having a subtle feel for the combinations of clothes, shoes, and jewelry. Make sure that the image corresponds to the internal content and reflects it.
Behavioral. These include: habits, habits (including negative ones), gait, non-verbal verbal methods of communication. These are any actions that are expressed through behavior. They are completely controlled by the individual. Although sometimes subconsciously.
Mental. These include the expression of emotions, as well as resentment, anger, and envy. Their positive individual traits are humor, resourcefulness, perseverance, and good memory.

Talent needs to be highlighted separately. This is what distinguishes us greatly and qualitatively from the majority. While many people have creative abilities, often acquired over several years, there are very few truly talented performers, actors, and artists. They can definitely call themselves an individual.

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How does an individual's personality develop?

Not every person can be called a person. So, for example, a newborn baby or a subject “cut off” from society immediately after birth is an individual, but he does not have the skills necessary to live in society. Thus, socialization can be called the process of personality formation that occurs throughout life. The factors influencing it are called agents of socialization - these include public institutions, individuals and events that occur in the process of human development.

“Individual” and “individual” - what is the peculiarity

The difference is made not depending on the properties of a person, but in connection with the situation. So let's imagine 2 circumstances. In the first, citizen A, like one of the previous 100, comes to a credit institution, provides a package of documents, and concludes a deal. It is difficult to assess his individual qualities here, because they actually could not manifest themselves in the most formalized setting. If you look at him as one out of 100, then he is an individual.

Second example. Citizen B is communicating with two people. She differs from them in gender, age, character, social status (wife, mother, sister) - and these differences in this particular case, in this society, are significant. This is where the individual comes into play.

Differences between the concepts of “personality”, “individual” and “individuality”

These three concepts are quite close, and each of them can be used to emphasize that we are talking about a specific person. However, they all differ somewhat in meaning. Let's look at each concept in more detail.

An individual is simply a unique person, like a character in a movie or story. For example, having met a new neighbor, you still do not know anything about him as a person or individual, but you can already quite identify him as an individual.
Individuality is a system of psychological and behavioral characteristics of an individual, temperament, and communication style. Simply put, it is a set of qualities that distinguishes him from other people.
Personality is the inner content of a person, realized in interaction with the outside world. A personality can be called an accomplished person who is unique for a reason, but because he has already formed an internal “core”. Sometimes the concepts of “individuality” and “personality” are identified.

Essentially, every person becomes an individual at the moment of birth. Gradually he grows, a certain character is formed, and individuality appears. As social experience accumulates, norms of morality and morality are formed, and principles of behavior are developed. It is these qualities that make him a person.

How does personality differ from individuality or individual?

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

Individuality

A very similar word, which, in fact, consists of the previous one, but at the same time it has a radically different meaning and to some extent carries the opposite meaning. Individuality is a collection or set of any social, biological qualities that distinguish one person from all others. If we talk about individuality, then it is a category of difference, and the individual is a category of similarity. Individuality appears in a person during his life’s journey, and at the moment we can say that some people cannot boast of such a characteristic, since they do not differ in any way from their fellow tribesmen.

Despite the fact that individuality can also be characterized by biological differences, it would be more correct and logical in this matter to pay attention specifically to the social aspects of a person’s personality. They are the ones who can make a person different from others, give him some kind of individuality, and such biological differences as black hair or a long nose do not yet make this person different from other representatives of his species.

What is the difference between an individual and an individual?

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

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

Conclusions website

Interaction with society. To remain an individual, a person just needs to be himself. But he can become a person only through social interaction, which manifests itself either in cooperation or in confrontation.
Adequacy. Every person is born an individual, but he becomes a personality only in the process of conscious life.
Quantity. There are about 7 billion individuals in the world, and individuals, according to various estimates, from several hundred to several tens of millions.
Confession. Every person has equal rights with other people, that is, his right to individuality is inalienable. However, individuals express themselves somewhat more clearly, receiving certain social privileges (authority, power, recognition).
Mindfulness. To remain an individual, it is enough to simply live, fitting into the framework of society or isolating yourself from it. The path to personality development is a conscious action, accessible only to a select few.

What does “outstanding personality” mean in social studies?

We come across all the terminology listed above at school. But the basis for everything is human predispositions. The structure of human development can be presented sequentially as follows:

Congenital prerequisites - physical and genetic characteristics.
Upbringing, communication, political situation, cultural influence or lack thereof.
Perception of social taboos, prohibitions, requirements, norms, traditions, rituals.
Self-adjustment of behavior.
Active exploration of the world through books, textbooks, films and communication with people.
Forming your own opinions, beliefs, postulates.

Points 5 and 6 can alternate endlessly. This is a normal tendency for a mature personality. With the progress of knowledge, changes occur. If they have not been there for 30-40 years or more, we can talk about orthodoxy and rigidity of thinking.

An “outstanding personality,” according to a social studies textbook, has the following qualities:

strength of will;
determination;
extraordinary abilities, including mental and physical.