Human CHARACTER - what is it. Types and types of character

Character as a personality property

Character (from the Greek charakter - “seal”, “minting”) is an individual combination of stable psychological characteristics of a person that determine a typical way of behavior for a given person in certain life conditions and circumstances. Character expresses the most typical essential features of a person, knowledge of which allows us to some extent foresee how a person will act in certain situations.

The character of each person reveals a unity of stable and dynamic properties: while remaining himself, a person can show more or less frankness or reticence, decisiveness or indecisiveness, hardness or softness.

The main core of character develops gradually and becomes typical for a given person, and specific manifestations of character can change depending on the situation, under the influence of other people, etc. Temporary mental states also influence changes in human behavior: a cheerful and cheerful person can become gloomy and grumpy, a calm person can become impulsive, etc.

In human character, the natural and the acquired are interconnected.

The manifestations of character and the process of formation of its individual traits are affected primarily by the type of nervous system:

• strength-weakness,
• balance-imbalance,
• mobility-inertia of nervous processes.

This is manifested in a person’s reactions, behavior and activities. In addition, other features of the body (cardiovascular, digestive and endocrine systems) influence character: it has been established that various disorders in the activity of different systems affect a person’s character.

On the other hand, the resulting character traits influence the manifestation of the natural properties of the individual: character can mask one of the innate manifestations, enhance others, inhibit others due to the formation and strengthening of new reflex connections, etc.

The sensitive period of life for the development of character can be considered the age from 2-3 to 9-10 years. Before others, such traits as kindness, sociability, responsiveness, as well as their opposite qualities: egocentrism, callousness, indifference to people are laid down in a person’s character. Those character traits that are most clearly manifested in work are hard work, accuracy, conscientiousness, responsibility, perseverance, etc. - develop somewhat later, in early preschool age. In the elementary grades of school, character traits that manifest themselves in relationships with people are developed. During adolescence, strong-willed character traits are actively developed and consolidated, and early adolescence lays its basic moral and ideological foundations. By the end of school, a person’s character is considered to be basically established, and what happens to him in the future almost never makes the person’s character unrecognizable to those who interacted with him during his school years.

The formation of character significantly depends on the properties of temperament, and character traits arise when temperament is already sufficiently developed, i.e. character develops on the basis of temperament, but temperament does not predetermine character: people with the same temperamental properties can be completely different in character. As personality develops and the influence of the social environment increases, the relationship between character and temperament changes. By developing character and will, mastering his needs, feelings, thoughts, a person can influence the manifestations of his temperament.

The character has expressive features. Character leaves its mark on actions and actions.

In addition, character is manifested in the characteristics of speech: loud or quiet, fast or slow pace, verbosity or isolation, emotionality or restraint, etc.

Character finds its expression in a person’s appearance (facial expressions, gait, gestures). For example, wrinkles on the face are not only a result of age, but also a consequence of habitual movements of the facial muscles: some people often smile, others frown, the face of one expresses contempt, another - surprise. Facial expressions typical for a particular person manifest themselves reflexively when a person finds himself in different life situations. In addition to facial expressions, character is also reflected in a typical pose: for example, arrogant people tilt their body back, sticking out their chest and throwing their head back; modest people try to be inconspicuous, slouch, lower their head down, pulling it into slightly raised shoulders; the sycophant tilts his entire torso forward, while looking at his interlocutor, a wide, obsequious smile on his face, and a barely noticeable sly laugh in his eyes. Gait also eloquently characterizes a person: whether he walks with sweeping or small steps, in what position his hands are, etc.

Many character traits can also be recognized by the state of appearance (clothing, attributes), which can indicate sloppiness, a disdainful attitude towards one’s appearance or, on the contrary, pedantry, neatness, frugality, etc.

When determining character by appearance, it is necessary to take into account that some people try to hide the inner content of character under a mask. But no matter how skillfully a person plays, in certain situations he has to reveal his true face (for example, in conflict situations or in extreme circumstances).

Character is a holistic formation, a system of personality properties that are in certain relationships to each other. In the structure of character, several groups of traits are distinguished that express different attitudes of the individual to reality.

1. attitude to activity;
2. attitude towards oneself;
3. attitude towards others;
4. attitude towards others.

A person’s attitude towards other people plays a decisive role in the formation of character. Often, during long-term communication, the mutual influence of people on each other leaves a significant imprint on their character: both mutual similarity and the emergence of opposite but complementary traits are possible.

Relationships with other people are decisive in relation to activity, causing increased activity, tension, or, on the contrary, complacency and lack of initiative.

In turn, the attitude towards other people and towards activities determines a person’s attitude towards his own personality, towards himself: a correct evaluative attitude towards another person is the main condition for self-esteem. Consequently, attitude towards other people is not only an important part of character, but also the basis for the formation of a person’s self-awareness.

It is necessary to remember a certain convention for separating character traits, since there is a close relationship and interpenetration of these aspects of relationships.

The dynamics of character are directly dependent on the dynamics of external reality; the manifestation of certain traits depends not only on past experience, but also on the requirements that are presented to a person at the moment, on the situation in which he finds himself. Therefore, the structure of character must be considered comprehensively, analyzing behavior in various situations, and not in general, but in development, depending on living conditions and upbringing.

The most common character traits are considered to be the following:

• strength - weakness;
• hardness - softness;
• integrity - inconsistency;
• breadth - narrowness.

Strength of character is understood as the energy with which a person pursues his goals (the ability to be passionate, develop great tension, the ability to overcome difficulties); weakness of character is associated with the manifestation of indecision, instability of views, cowardice, etc.

Strength of character is determined by rigid consistency, perseverance in achieving goals, defending views, etc.; gentleness of character means flexible adaptation to changing conditions, finding reasonable compromises.

Integrity is the harmony of leading and secondary character traits and the absence of contradiction in aspirations and interests; the inconsistency of character is expressed in a sharp contrast between leading and secondary traits.

The breadth (completeness) of character is manifested in the versatility of a person’s aspirations and hobbies, the variety of his activities; Narrowness of character is understood as a tendency to self-restraint, narrowing the scope of one’s interests, claims, and activities.

It should be borne in mind that the versatility of character does not exclude the manifestation of different (and even opposite) properties; this is where the unity of character is manifested.

The study of character - characterology - has a long history of development; the main problems are the establishment of character types and their definition by its manifestations in order to predict human behavior in various situations.

Attempts to classify characters have been made repeatedly, but many of the classifications are based on grounds that are external, indirect factors in personality development.

One of the oldest attempts to predict human behavior is to explain his character by the date of his birth; such methods of predicting the fate and character of a person are called horoscopes. Almost all horoscopes are compiled in the same way: the time period is divided into certain intervals, each of which has its own sign, symbol, and through the prism of the various properties of this symbol, a description of the person’s character is made.

No less famous is the attempt to find a direct connection between a person’s character and his name.

The development of characterology was greatly influenced by the doctrine of the connection between a person’s external appearance and his character - physiognomy (from the Greek physis - “nature”, gnomon - “knowing”). Even Aristotle and Plato believed that it was possible to determine the character of a person by finding in his appearance something in common with some animal and attributing the characteristic features of this animal to the person. Particular attention was paid to such a facial feature as the nose: for example, a thick nose like that of a bull symbolized laziness, and a nose like that of a lion symbolized importance.

The most famous physiognomic system is I.K. Lavater, who considered the main way to understand human character to be the study of the structure of the head, the configuration of the skull, facial expressions, etc. For example, one of his followers noted that the degree of pursing of the lips is directly proportional to the strength of character: relaxed lips are a sign of possessing “feminine” traits (softness, courtesy), etc.

Palmistry (from the Greek cheir “hand”, manteia - “fortune-telling”, “prophecy”) has a famous and rich history - a system for predicting a person’s character traits and his fate based on the skin relief of the palms. Palmistry experienced its greatest flourishing in the 16th-18th centuries. Scientific psychology has always rejected palmistry, but it would be more correct to consider it as an anatomical or physiological feature of the body.

There is a theory that determines character types based on the predominance of reason, will, and emotions:

• rational character with a predominance of rational thinking;
• emotional character with a predominance of emotional impulses;
• strong-willed character with a predominance of purposefulness, activity, activity.

The classification according to the personality’s orientation towards the internal or external world is well known (C. Jung):

• introverted (internally focused, withdrawn);
• extroverted (open person, active, sociable).

In addition, there is a division into types according to the degree of individual independence:

• conformist (easily agreeing with the opinions of others, submitting to the opinions of others);
• independent (distinguished by the tenacity of his convictions, imposing his will and opinion on others).

M.I. offers his classification of characters. Enikeev:

• harmoniously integral type (well adaptable, characterized by stable relationships, sociable, strong-willed, principled);
• internally conflict type, but externally consistent with the environment (tendency to impulsive actions, stable system of relationships, communication connections are sufficiently developed);
• conflict type with reduced adaptation (conflict between emotional impulses and social characteristics, predominance of negative emotions, underdeveloped communicative properties);
• variable type (instability of positions, unprincipledness, adaptation to external circumstances).

What is character?

Character is a system of relatively constant mental properties that determine the behavior of an individual and the main features of his interaction with the outside world. Character is formed and developed throughout life. It includes many personal qualities, patterns of behavior and habits that are formed under the influence of external and internal factors.

The term "character" is derived from the ancient Greek word χαρακτήρ (read as "character"), which is translated as "special mark", "distinctive feature" or "sign".

The character has two key features:

• character traits are stable if we take into account a short period of time, but they change with the accumulation of knowledge and life experience;
• character determines a person’s entire life, influencing most of his decisions, actions and statements.

The most typical personality traits are manifested in character. Thus, knowing well the character of a certain person, it is possible to predict his behavior in different situations and reaction to certain events with fairly high accuracy.

In psychology, an entire section is devoted to the study of character—characterology. She studies the essence of character and its types, as well as the processes of its formation and development.