Character Formation

Character usually means the totality of some outstanding (noticeable to others) mental properties of an individual person. This refers to those mental properties that are formed after the birth of a person. Temperament, for example, has physiological and genetic roots, and therefore does not relate to character, because it is largely formed before birth.

Character begins to form from the first months of life. The main role in this belongs to communication with other people. In actions and forms of behavior, the child imitates his loved ones. With the help of direct learning through imitation and emotional reinforcement, he learns adult behavior patterns.

Although the character begins to form from the first months, nevertheless it is distinguished special Sensitive period for character development: age from two to three to nine to ten years. At this time, children communicate a lot and actively both with the adults around them and with their peers. During this period, they are open to almost any outside influence. Children readily accept any new experience, imitating everyone and in everything. Adults at this time still use boundless trust child, so they have the opportunity to influence him with word, deed and action.

For the development of a child’s character, the communication style of the people around him is important:

Adults with adults

Adults with children

Children with children.

The child adopts the communication style and tries to adapt to it, which in turn also affects the development of character. It is generally accepted that the way a mother and father act towards a child many years later becomes the way he treats his children when the child becomes an adult and starts his own family. However, this is both true and not true. The child not only adopts communication styles, he criticizes in my own way. How older child and the more developed his intellect and the more willingly he uses the capabilities of his mind, the more critical he is. That is why the core of character always includes person's attitude to truth. The inquisitiveness of a child’s mind cannot but leave an imprint on the formation of his character.

Some of the first traits in a person’s character are:

Kindness-selfishness,

Sociability-isolation,

Responsiveness-indifference.

Research shows that these character traits begin to form long before the start of the school period of life, even in infancy.

Later, other character traits are formed:

Hard work is laziness,

Neatness-inaccuracy,

Good faith-maliciousness,

Responsibility-irresponsibility,

Perseverance is cowardice.

These qualities, however, also begin to form in preschool childhood. They are formed and reinforced in games and available types of household work and other everyday activities.

Stimulation from adults is of great importance on the development of character traits. Both low and very high demands can have a detrimental effect on the formation of character.

In the preschool period, mainly those traits that constantly receive support (positive or negative reinforcement) are preserved and consolidated.

IN primary school Schools, under the influence of new experience, character traits that appear in relationships with people are formed and corrected. The child begins to live full-fledged social life, communicate with a large number of people, including those he knows little. The child’s responsibility for the results of their activities increases. They begin to compare him with other children. Therefore, it is in primary school such an important character trait as self-attitude is formed. School success can build confidence in one's own intellectual worth. Failures can form a kind of “loser complex”: the child stops trying because he still a bad student.

IN adolescence Strong-willed character traits are most actively developed and consolidated. The teenager gradually masters new areas of activity and tries his hand at them.

In early youth finally the basic moral and ideological foundations of the personality are formed, which most people carry through the rest of their lives.

We can assume that by the end of school, a person’s character as a whole is established. What happens to a person in the future almost never makes his character unrecognizable to those who interacted with him during his school years.

However, character is not a frozen formation, but is formed and transformed throughout a person’s life path. After graduation, the biggest "innovation" in character will occur in the first few years of work young man. Interesting job, productive relationships with colleagues and superiors will give rise to a love of work and labor achievements. Routine work and destructive relationships with colleagues can give rise to passivity and dependent attitudes.

Many adult, conscious people are the creator of their own character. They analyze their behavior, their thoughts and feelings. If you don’t like something about yourself, then you educate yourself. People capable of self-education usually achieve significantly more success in life than their more passive “antagonists.”

The external information background has a huge impact on the formation and development of character in all periods of life:

Judgments of other people about life

The actions of the people around you

Fiction (judgments and actions of fictional characters),

Federal Agency for Education

State educational institution

higher professional education

“Kovrov State Technological Academy named after. V.A. Degtyareva”

Department of OP and A

ABSTRACT ON PSYCHOLOGY

Subject: Character Formation

Head: E.A. Muravyova

Performer: O.T. Ogareva

Art. gr. MS - 105

Kovrov 2007

1. General information about character

1.1 The concept of “character”

1.2 Character structure

1.3 Typology of characters

2. Theoretical and experimental approaches to character research

2.1 Character accentuation

2.2 Classification of character accentuations in adolescents Lichko

3. Character Building

Conclusion

List of used literature

1. General information about character

1.1 The concept of “character”

Usually, when trying to evaluate or characterize specific person, talk about him character(from Greek character- printing, minting). In psychology, the concept "character" means a set of individual mental properties that develop in activity and manifest themselves in typical this person methods of activity and forms of behavior.

The main feature of character as a mental phenomenon is that character always manifests itself in activity, in a person’s relationship to the reality and people around him.

Character is a lifetime formation and can be transformed throughout life. The formation of character is closely related to the thoughts, feelings and motives of a person. Therefore, as a certain way of life of a person is formed, his character is also formed. Consequently, lifestyle, social conditions and specific life circumstances play an important role in the formation of character.

Character, along with temperament, is one of the most significant forms of personality manifestation. But if temperament determines the dynamic side of personality, then character is the content of personality. Each person has a unique character. Character leaves its mark on all a person’s actions, thoughts and feelings. By these manifestations we judge the character of a particular person. However, not all human features should be considered characteristic, but only significant and stable ones.

Character - this is a substructure of personality, formed by an individually unique set of stable personal characteristics, expressing his attitude to reality and determining the typical behavior for a given person.

The character of the human personality is always multifaceted.

In particular, a group of traits is identified in which a person’s attitude towards the people around him and towards society as a whole. These can be collectivism, sociability, sensitivity, devotion, kindness, honesty, truthfulness, sincerity and others: these are positive traits of this group. But there are also negative qualities - selfishness, callousness, deceit, hypocrisy, etc.

The next group of personality traits includes character traits that express a person's attitude towards himself ,personal self-esteem. Such a person, comparing himself with others, endows himself with a set of certain qualities. Depending on self-esteem, a person can be satisfied with himself or condemn himself, agree with himself or be in a state of internal struggle. As a rule, a realistic self-assessment of one’s personal qualities. But quite often, inflated self-esteem also arises, which serves as the basis for conflict between the individual and the people around him. Something else also happens - a person is too strict with himself, underestimates himself. This gives rise to lack of confidence in one’s strengths, self-perceptions, and shyness.

Another group of character traits are those that characterize person's attitude to activity . This refers not only to a person’s attitude to a specific type of work performed, but also to activity in general. The main condition for the formation of character - presence of life goals. A spineless person is characterized by the absence or scattering of goals. Character traits associated with attitude to activity are also expressed in a person’s sustainable interests. Moreover, superficiality and instability of interests are often associated with great imitation, with a lack of independence and integrity of a person’s personality. And vice versa, the depth and content of interests indicate the purposefulness and perseverance of the individual. However, similarity of interests does not imply similarity of character traits. Thus, among people with similar interests there can be cheerful and sad, modest and obsessive, selfish and altruistic. Moreover, people with similar orientations can take completely different paths to achieving goals, using their own special techniques and methods to achieve this. This dissimilarity also determines the specific character of the individual, which manifests itself in the situation of choosing actions or modes of behavior.

There are quite a few classifications of character traits. In the domestic psychological literature, two approaches are most often found. In one case, all character traits are associated with mental processes and therefore distinguished volitional, emotional and intellectual traits. At the same time, to strong-willed character traits include determination, perseverance, self-control, independence, activity, organization, etc. emotional character traits include impetuosity, impressionability, ardor, inertia, indifference, responsiveness, etc. intellectual Traits include thoughtfulness, intelligence, resourcefulness, curiosity, etc.

In another case, character traits are considered in accordance with the orientation of the personality. Moreover, the content of the personality’s orientation is manifested in relation to people, activities, the surrounding world and oneself. For example, a person’s attitude towards the world around him can manifest itself either in the presence of certain beliefs or in unprincipledness. This category of traits characterizes the life direction of a person, i.e., his material and spiritual needs, interests, beliefs, ideals, etc. The direction of a person determines a person’s goals, life plans, and the degree of his life activity. In a formed character, the leading component is a belief system. Conviction determines the long-term direction of a person’s behavior, his inflexibility in achieving his goals, confidence in the justice and importance of the work he is doing.

All human personality traits can be divided into motivational And instrumental . Motivational encourage and direct activities, and instrumental give it a certain style. Character can manifest itself in the choice of the goal of action, i.e., as a motivational personality trait. However, when the goal is defined, the character acts more in its instrumental role, that is, it determines the means of achieving the goal.

It must also be emphasized that character is one of the main manifestations of personality. Therefore, personality traits may well be considered as character traits. Among such traits, first of all, it is necessary to include those personality properties that determine the choice of activity goals (more or less difficult). Here, rationality, prudence, or the qualities opposite to them can appear as certain characterological traits. Secondly, the structure of character includes traits that are manifested in actions aimed at achieving set goals: perseverance, determination, consistency, etc. In this case, character comes closer to the will of a person. Thirdly, character includes instrumental traits directly related to temperament, for example, extroversion-introversion, calmness-anxiety, restraint-impulsiveness, switchability-rigidity, etc.

All personality traits or qualities are significant to her. But for each specific individual, among the character traits, some act as basic , leading, setting the general direction of the entire complex of manifestations. Along with this there are minor features that in some cases are determined by the basic ones, and in others may not be in harmony with them. Thus, character traits do not exist in isolation, separately from each other, but are linked together, forming more or less integral character structure.

1.2 Character structure

The structure of character is revealed in the natural relationship between its individual traits. Psychologists using factor analysis on large number The subjects were determined which personality traits correlated with each other (positively or negatively) and which were weakly correlated. Positively correlated traits- these are the ones , which are more often combined in one person. For example, in a study W. Sheldon it was found that if a person discovers a love of comfort, then he is likely to have a good appetite, friendliness, sociability, and a thirst for praise and approval. As a rule, he will not have increased anxiety. Love of comfort and anxiety give a high negative correlation. The same negative correlation, for example, exists between cowardice and initiative. If a person is a coward, then he is not characterized by decisiveness and independence in making decisions, characteristic of initiative, since decision-making presupposes personal responsibility. A coward is afraid of such responsibility and avoids it in every possible way.

However, the negative and positive correlation of character traits is not absolute. Therefore, in life there are often both contradictory and integral characters. Integral character - this is a character in which a positive correlation of its traits predominates. The existence of integral characters makes it possible, among the enormous variety of characters, to isolate their specific types endowed with common traits. In psychology, there are a number of typologies of characters built on various foundations.

The main condition formation and development of character is the social environment. Character formation occurs in preschool age. Moreover, it is almost impossible to establish clear age boundaries for this process due to the fact that character as a stable set of certain traits is “filled” with them gradually, as the child is included in social and business relationships through group games, communication and study. At the same time, it is believed that the most intensive character formation occurs in the period from two to ten years. This is the age of high sensitivity of the child to the words, actions, and behavior of adults and their peers.

Of course, physiological conditions cannot be discounted. After all, the peculiarities of the functioning of the brain (processes of excitation, inhibition, the degree of mobility of nervous processes) largely determine the differences in mental reactions to the same influences. It is these physiological conditions that early stages A child’s life significantly determines the formation of specific character traits.

As is known, temperament is also determined by physiological mechanisms. However, it is not a prerequisite or an unambiguous trajectory for character formation. Temperament only promotes (or hinders) the development of certain character traits in a given person. For example, individuals with a choleric temperament may have different character traits.

During preschool age, primary character traits develop. It is known that trust in others, openness to communication, kindness (or their antipodes) begin to form earlier than other traits under the influence of how adults, primarily parents, treat the child. These traits are reinforced by elements of the system of rewards and punishments that the child constantly experiences.

A child’s involvement in group games accelerates the formation and development of communicative and business character traits (sociability, hard work, perseverance, accuracy, etc.).
Educational conditions in primary school either destroy existing primary character traits or reinforce them depending on the influence of the environment.

This trend continues until graduation. In high school, the specific influence of society depends on:
- a teenager’s personal attitude towards a person, his attitude towards himself, the degree of self-confidence, as well as the level of self-esteem;
- mass media (television, international computer networks such as INTERNET, etc.).

At the age of 7-15, the traits that define relationships with people are formed, and the emotional-volitional sphere is formed.

By the age of 15-17, a person acquires a fairly high characterological stability, which persists throughout life. A person's character, however, is not preserved. The conditions of personal life make their own changes. They play an important role in shaping an individual’s worldview, his moral character and other psychological phenomena. In turn, these phenomena determine the direction of the process of human self-education. The results of self-education are especially visible in adolescence and adolescence. The effectiveness of this process can only be discussed with a clear understanding of its necessity and the corresponding strength of motivation. So, for example, a young man who dreams of becoming a pilot is unlikely to smoke frivolously, abuse alcohol, etc.

Everyday life, school, family, circle of acquaintances, communication, the specifics of professional activities - all this has a significant impact on the views, motives, attitudes and goals of the individual, shapes his orientation, makes his behavior predictable in various situations. In other words, it builds character.

The general trend of characterological dynamics up to the age of 25-30 is the weakening of “childish” traits (childish capriciousness, teenage maximalism, general impulsiveness, etc.) and the strengthening of rational traits (judgment, endurance, responsibility, etc.).

After the age of 30, the likelihood of characterological changes sharply decreases (unless this is caused by various types of mental illnesses). Possible changes may be due to a focus on current and long-term plans life path. It is she who consolidates such traits as perseverance, determination, perseverance, desire for knowledge, propensity to learn, etc.

At the age of 50, a person, according to Professor R. Nemov, passes the line at which the past meets the future, gives up dreams and fantasies and tries to conform to current circumstances. At a later age, “dreams about the past,” memories, and health concerns occupy an increasing place in a person’s life. A person enters a phase of a peaceful, leisurely, measured life.

Thus, in the early stages of a person’s life, the limits character“hones” mainly life itself. Gradually, the initiative increasingly passes into the hands of the individual himself.

Character (Greek “charaktety> - seal, embossing) is a set of stable mental traits of a person, influencing all aspects of his behavior, determining his stable attitude towards the world around him, other people, activities, himself and expressing the individual peculiarity of the personality, manifested in the style of activity and communication.

Character- a core mental property of a person that leaves an imprint on all aspects of a person’s life.

A person’s character is manifested in his activities, speech and appearance. In a person’s activities one can see his relationship to the environment, to work, to his comrades, leaders, and to himself. You can determine the presence of positive and negative qualities of character, its strength, stability and integrity.

Strong - a person persistently and consistently achieves his goals. Acts in accordance with his convictions, is relatively independent in his actions and judgments.

Weak - inconsistency of actions and actions, subject to the influence of other people and external circumstances, fear of difficulties.

Stable - a hierarchical scale of values, principles and beliefs are unchanged over a long period of time.

Unstable - a hierarchical scale of values, principles and beliefs are constantly subject to change.

Whole- inner world agreed, thoughts, words, actions, feelings, views, attitudes, actions, motives coincide with beliefs,

Contradictory - incompatible views, relationships, actions, goals, motives, desires.

German psychologist K. Leonhard believes that in 20-50% of people some character traits are so sharpened (accentuated) that they have a decisive influence on their behavior, leading to conflicting forms of relationships and nervous breakdowns.

Exaggerated development of certain character traits to the detriment of others, which leads to a deterioration in the process of interaction with other people.

An accentuated personality is, as a rule, a person with characterological deviations from the norm, expressed in the excessive strengthening of individual character traits; they are characterized by a tendency towards special socially positive or socially negative development. Personalities with accentuations of character are characterized by the so-called “places of least resistance”, special vulnerability in relation to certain factors that are psychologically traumatic for these individuals. There are obvious and hidden (latent) accentuations of character. The main types of character accentuation are:
- hyperthymic (hyperactive);
- dysthemic;
- cycloid;
- emotive (emotional);
- demonstrative;
- excitable;
- stuck;
- pedantic;
- anxious (psychosthenic);
- exalted (labile); introverted (schizoid);
- extroverted (conformal).

However, more often there are not pure types of character accentuations, but intermediate, mixed ones. They appear more often in and (50-80%). Over the years, they can significantly smooth out and approach the norm. But in old age they become worse again. Their severity can range from mild forms (almost unnoticeable) to (serious mental illness requiring isolation). To identify accentuations, special methods and tests are used (Shmishek, Kattelai, etc.)

The main condition for the development and formation of a person’s character is, of course, the social environment. In simple words all those people who surround a person in the process of growing up and beyond. There is no need to talk about clear boundaries of this process, because character is “filled” with various traits throughout life.

At the same time, psychologists tend to say that the process of character formation becomes most intense in the period from 2 to 10 years. It is during this period that the child is actively involved in social relations through communication, group games and study. At this age, the words, actions, and behavior of adults and peers have the greatest influence on children.

Another important condition for character formation are physiological prerequisites. It is difficult to argue with the fact that the peculiarities of the functioning of the brain (the processes of inhibition and excitation, the degree of their mobility) predetermine differences in human reactions to a certain influence that comes from the external environment.

It's no secret that our temperament is determined by physiology. He, in turn, can either promote or hinder the development of certain character traits.

Factors influencing the formation of a person’s character at different ages

First years of life children are associated with the formation of such basic character traits as trust in others, openness in communication, kindness (or the opposite traits). The main factor influencing the formation of character at this stage is parents. Their attitude at this time plays a key role in the formation of a sense of security, from which, for the most part, the above traits grow. Their consolidation in character also occurs with the participation of parents through their use of rewards and punishments, which the child regularly experiences. character mental personality

The first years of school can either strengthen the basic character traits formed in the family or destroy them. At this stage, the child becomes a member of the group, which contributes to the formation and development of communicative and business traits. Among them are sociability, hard work, accuracy and others.

The period from 7 to 15 years is characterized by the formation of such character traits that determine relationships with people. At the same time, the emotional-volitional sphere begins to take shape.

Around the age of 15-17, a person acquires high characterological stability, which can persist long years. However, a person’s character is not preserved by this. Life itself and its conditions make changes to it.

By the age of 20, the formation of the worldview and moral character of the individual occurs, which can “launch” the mechanism of self-education. His clear awareness and corresponding strength of motivation will not keep you waiting for results. So, for example, a young man who sees himself as a pilot in the future is unlikely to abuse alcohol and smoke frivolously.

Family, everyday life, close relationships with the opposite sex, circle of acquaintances, and the specifics of professional activities directly influence the motives, views, attitudes and goals of an individual, thereby shaping his character. It is also greatly influenced by the external information background created by the media, cinema, fiction, public ideology, etc.

The characterological dynamics of 22-30 years of age are associated with a weakening of childhood traits (such as general impulsiveness, teenage maximalism, vulnerability and capriciousness), and a strengthening of rational traits (such as endurance, prudence and responsibility).

After 30 years, the likelihood of characterological changes decreases. Those that are related to the implementation of life prospects and plans are not excluded. At this stage, character traits such as determination, perseverance, perseverance, desire for development and learning can be consolidated.

According to Professor R. Nemov, the age of 50 is the boundary at which the past and the future meet. A person says goodbye to his fantasies and dreams, chooses to focus on current circumstances, and thereby limits himself. Some more time passes and “dreams of the past” regain their place in a person’s life. Also, taking care of your health and the health of loved ones comes first. The phase of measured, leisurely and peaceful life begins.