Individuality- this is the possession of a set of certain characteristics that help to distinguish an individual from others and establish his uniqueness. Individuality includes a set of qualities that help distinguish a person from representatives of his species, as well as a phenomenology of the ways in which they are interrelated. This set of qualities develops and is shaped by the surrounding people, society, family, and accumulated childhood experience. However, what is important is the extent to which the individual will independently shape himself and follow the chosen individual path.
In psychology, individuality is a collection of qualities of perceptual processes and interests. There are expressed and hidden forms. With pronounced individuality, external distinctive features appear - an open manifestation of abilities; with internal it is assumed that the unique abilities inherent in nature do not find a place of application or conditions for manifestation. Each of the stages of development, from the borrowed and generally accepted manner of behavior to its own uniqueness in life, has its own version, its own individual pattern. Man is called to develop his uniqueness.
The concept of individuality
The concept of individuality has entered into several scientific fields and is based on different components of the definition, respectively. From a biological perspective, this concept includes the uniqueness and originality of each individual within a species, and the species itself among other living beings. Biological characteristics of individuality include genetically transmitted parameters, such as appearance, life expectancy, age-related changes, intraspecific and feminine-masculine features of manifestation.
However, regarding the human being, it is worth considering individuality as a special unique form of being in society; this allows us to move away from an exclusively biological consideration of this concept, where everything is initially laid down by nature. Since it is impossible to consider only the uniqueness of the retina or fingerprints as individuality, it is necessary to take into account social qualities and the psychological aspect; uniqueness consists of unique combinations of biological and social.
Let's dwell on the psychological characteristics. A person’s individuality appears as a set of psychological categories: temperament, intelligence, character, habits and hobbies, communication and choice of activities, features of perceptual processes. However, simply having unique qualities is not enough to understand individuality; it is very important to pay attention to the type of unique relationships between these qualities.
In psychology, individuality is the analysis (qualitative and quantitative) of a person's unique characteristics. Individuality can manifest itself in one or several areas at the same time. The difference in the degree of development and predominance of any characteristics and qualities, together with different ways to use the stored data, gives rise to the uniqueness of each.
Man is not an isolated, separate being, but a member of a collective. An individual is individual when he prefers not to be limited by collective norms, but transforms them and his own personality in order to reach a higher level.
Individual personality traits are largely considered acquired, with the exception of those few characteristics that are characteristic of everyone. The dissimilarity of each person develops and is formed from several basic components. The first component is heredity. The biological property of a living organism in humans predetermines both external signs and behavioral reactions to certain types of events. The second component is the environment. This includes the culture in which a person was born and raised, norms of behavior, ideals, and values of this culture; family, where life scenarios, behavioral stereotypes, prejudices about people and phenomena originate; belonging to certain social groups. The third component is the characteristics of temperament, character, i.e. The very individuality of a person also has no small influence on the formation of further individuality.
Nowadays, the issue of erasing individuality with the help of the media is increasingly being raised, where reactions are standardized, the ability for active thinking and analysis is weakened, the variability of behavioral reactions is reduced, so everything is presented in a ready-made form, with priorities set and hints to the necessary conclusion. For people who have not formed their individuality (children, teenagers), this can lead to standardization of thinking and actions, lack of criticism and a stop in the formation of their own personality. When society imposes standards of behavior and response, it calls into question the formation of personality as such. There is a massification of consciousness, the disappearance of individuality, personal responsibility, and one’s own decisions.
A person with a formed individuality is a mature person who is quite independent, relies in decisions on his own opinion, independent of the majority, and whose motivational sphere is developed.
Personality and individuality
The concepts of man, individuality, personality within the framework of the consideration of psychology are not identical, although for a certain time they were used interchangeably. Man, individuality, personality are concepts of the same order, although their sharp division is wrong, because characterize one object. A person is inherently binary - he can be guided by both sociality and sociality.
The concept of a person reflects the type of mammal - a biosocial creature that is endowed with consciousness, thinking, has speech, logic, is distinguished by upright posture, and has a highly developed brain and sociality. From many facts it is known that children who grew up outside of human society remain at the level of development of the animals of the group that was close, even with subsequent training (the fairy tale about Mowgli is a myth). A person is born in a world where the conditions and rules of life were already formed by other people before him, and accordingly acquires adaptive abilities and skills that meet the standards of this world.
Individuality in psychology is the reflected originality of an individual, taken separately from a species, its biological properties (this description of the concept can be applied to both humans and animals). The initially inherent physiological unique characteristics of a person, as a result of socialization and development, receive enormous variability in personal manifestation. Personality is directly related to a person’s ideological position, social conditioning, and the development of one’s own uniqueness.
The concepts of man and individuality are interconnected, flowing and determining each other as separate elements. Personality is unthinkable without individuality, since, subject to social influence, a person chooses individual paths of self-expression.
Individuality is considered not together and synonymously with personality, but separately, as its independent property. The formation of personality is subordinated to individuality; A person’s reactions are determined by the non-standard nature of his consciousness and inherent characteristics.
Individuality, as a part or characteristic of the phenomenological personality, is a person’s own, unique way of living his life, appears as a way of expressing his own unique world and path, which is determined by a combination of the influence of a person’s own discretion and social predispositions. On this path of becoming unique and realizing all individually inherent potential, a personality begins to form.
The concept of personality appeared to reflect the subjective activity of a person, reflecting the life-creative orientation and social components.
The development of any form of personality in its vector of orientation differs from the vector of individuality development. The formation of personality is predetermined by socialization, the development of general norms of behavior for everyone. Individuality is manifested in the separation of a person from society, in his isolation, dissimilarity, the ability to express himself, to distinguish himself.
Personality is a human essence, whose actions have a social definition, are socially oriented, and meet spiritual, ideological and moral social norms; constant and . The phenomenology of personal qualities does not include biological qualities and those abilities that are not socially conditioned. Human personality is dynamic, a system capable of flexibility and change, while maintaining stability.
Personal development comes with the ability to adjust one’s attitude towards oneself, one’s worldview, to reevaluate and revise the experience gained due to changes in information, conditions and knowledge. The personality itself is comparable to a set of social masks (boss, father, lover, etc.). Interaction not at the level of role masks is impersonal. Personality changes occur when there are dramatic changes in life situations, when a person’s social role changes and it is necessary to reconsider one’s behavior, skills, and self-perception.
The combination and dualistic opposition of individuality and personality can be traced in this structure of the relationship between the biological and the social in human development:
- lower - biological factors transmitted genetically (appearance, age and species characteristics);
— perceptual features;
— human social experience;
- highest - personality orientation (character, world views, social ideas).
In childhood, biological factors that determine uniqueness predominate; over time, they become involved, and then the social aspects of determining personality characteristics take on a leading role. Changes occur thanks to the individual himself and his socialization, during which the conscious assimilation of social principles must occur.
Personality traits and qualities are stable characteristics that remain clearly manifested even when the external circumstances of the subject’s life change. Under the same conditions, completely different personalities develop, or the same different personalities remain. How everything will turn out and what it will transform into depends on the qualities initially received by the individual, the direction and aspiration of his individuality, the degree of personal development and the construction of a unique creative life path. The inner world, personal manifestation does not depend on the external introduction of facts, but on the internal work of processing incoming information.
It’s easier to be an individual, but it’s more difficult to be a person; it requires awareness, responsibility, and constant development. But such an attractive idea that everyone in society should have the most developed level of individuality poses a danger to the social system in the form of a threat to its stability.
Individuality
Large psychological dictionary. - M.: Prime-EVROZNAK. Ed. B.G. Meshcheryakova, acad. V.P. Zinchenko. 2003 .
Individuality
INDIVIDUALITY (With. 263)
In most psychological works, individuality is defined as a set of traits that distinguish a given person from other people and determine the uniqueness of his personality. This definition leaves a number of important questions unanswered. Can every characteristic of a person be attributed to his individuality? Should the characteristics of the course of mental processes or human abilities be attributed to the properties of individuality? How to evaluate a trait that is a matter of similarity for some people and difference for others?
At a scientific, and not at an everyday level, the concept of individuality requires a deeper meaningful analysis, which was carried out by a number of domestic psychologists. Thus, V.S. Merlin developed the theory of integral individuality.
According to this theory, a person’s individuality consists of individual characteristics related to different levels of his organization - from biochemical to social. Merlin distinguishes three hierarchical levels.
The lower level of individuality consists of biochemical, general somatic (bodily) and neurodynamic properties of the body.
The average level is represented by individual mental properties (features of temperament and).
The highest level is occupied by socio-psychological properties, the components of which are the social roles of a given person in small (for example,) and large (for example, people) groups.
This idea removes the question of at what age a person acts as an individual. At the moment of birth, a person’s individuality is limited only by the properties of his body. As he develops temperamental characteristics, personality traits are formed, his individuality expands and covers higher and higher levels. A mature person occupies a certain social position, and his behavior represents the entire hierarchy of his individuality, which, however, does not mean its immutability. When performing new roles, acquiring new experiences, individuality undergoes changes.
Individuality is characterized not only by the totality of individual properties, but also by the originality of the relationships between them. Thus, if two people have the same sets of properties (which in itself is extremely unlikely), then they will still differ in their worldview and behavior, since the connections between the properties will be different.
It should be noted that not all psychologists share such a broad understanding of individuality. Thus, A.G. Asmolov attributes individuality to the level of personality properties and connects it with semantic relationships and attitudes of a person. “One is born as an individual, one becomes an individual, and individuality is defended,” he asserts. This emphasizes that individuality is responsible for resolving issues related to the meaning of life, value orientations, and a person’s personal position. When solving these issues, it is natural for conflicts to arise - both internal (intrapersonal - for example, the conflict of opposing motives and drives) and external (between the individual and others). In the process of this struggle, individuality is formed, and the results of the struggle determine its persistence and scale.
How to correlate the concepts of “personality” and “individuality”? They can be graphically represented as two circles superimposed on each other in such a way that, while not completely coinciding, they have a common intersection area. This area reflects those personality traits that form the basis of its individuality. The remaining part of the circle, symbolizing the personality, corresponds to those of its properties that are socially typical and characterize it as a representative of many large and small groups. The remaining part of the circle of individuality is represented by biochemical, general somatic and neurodynamic properties that are not part of the personality structure. Thus, these concepts are equal in scope, but coincide in content only partially.
Popular psychological encyclopedia. - M.: Eksmo. S.S. Stepanov. 2005.
Synonyms:See what “individuality” is in other dictionaries:
INDIVIDUALITY- unique originality of k.l. phenomena, dep. beings, human beings. In the most general sense, I. as something special, characterizing a given individuality in its qualities. differences, is contrasted with the typical (see Type) as common, inherent in all... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia
INDIVIDUALITY- (from Lat. individuum indivisible whole). Distinctive characteristics of an individual creature that distinguish it from other individuals of its species. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. INDIVIDUALITY is the whole sum of qualities and... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language
individuality- See personal... Dictionary of Russian synonyms and similar expressions. under. ed. N. Abramova, M.: Russian Dictionaries, 1999. individuality person, personal, non-standard, originality, originality, personality, specialness, unconventionality ... Synonym dictionary
individuality- and, f. individualité f. 1. Features, distinctive features inherent in an individual. BAS 1. He Levkoev could talk about everything coherently and thoroughly, but as soon as the speech, even lightly and in passing, touched on philosophy, it appeared in his head... ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language
INDIVIDUALITY- INDIVIDUALITY, individuality, women. (book). 1. units only distracted noun to individual. Individuality of qualities. 2. A set of characteristic individual characteristics and properties that distinguish one individual from another. He is a completely human... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary
INDIVIDUALITY- INDIVIDUALITY, the unique originality of any phenomenon, person; the opposite of the general, typical, in social psychology collective (group) ... Modern encyclopedia
INDIVIDUALITY- the unique originality of any phenomenon, individual being, person; the opposite of general, typical, in social psychology collective (group). How the philosophical concept was developed in the doctrines of the atom (individual), monad... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
Individuality- (from the Latin indiduum indivisible, individual) a concept denoting in experimental psychology a unique set of more or less standard psychological qualities characteristic of an individual... Psychological Dictionary
from lat. individuum - indivisible, individual) - the pinnacle of human development both as an individual, and as a person, and as a subject of activity. A person as an individual reaches the actual peaks of his development, realizing his physical, mental and spiritual potential, as a result of which he approaches a unique, holistic, authentic state that is relevant to him. Among them: moral significance and unconditional value for the community of people, the ability to creatively solve problems, the formation of an internal picture of health, self-sufficiency. Individuality can also be defined as a self-actualizing person, a spiritualized individual, a specific personality. In Russian psychology of individuality, the first names are B. G. Ananyev, V. S. Merlin, B. F. Lomov, L. I. Antsyferova, M. K. Tutushkina and others.
Individuality is the unique identity of the psyche of every person who carries out his life activities as a subject of the development of socio-historical culture.
The uniqueness of his psyche is determined by the organic unity and integrity of the process of development of his needs and abilities, which are formed only in active communication with living, unique carriers of this culture. The necessary mediators (means) of this communication are the objective forms, methods and means of culture; tools and products of all types of socio-historical activity (labor), language, knowledge, skills, abilities, etc. In communication, the human content of the goal of developing the entire set of abilities and needs of the individual is determined.
A person’s individuality is formed on the basis of inherited inclinations in the process of upbringing, then in the process of conscious self-education.
All this should be kept in mind, since in empirical natural science (and after it in psychology and pedagogy) the term “individuality” is often used as a synonym for the term “individual”, which, in turn, is only a designation of a unique set of characteristics inherent in an individual. organism and distinguishing this organism from all others belonging to the same species (to the same population). In the same way, empirical natural science determined the essence of the species (including man), reducing it to a set of properties common to all individuals, i.e., to a set of abstract definitions. Therefore, each isolated individual Homo sapiens is an individual insofar as his very human essence was formed as the purposeful implementation of his own relationships, that is, as his own, created by him, unique biography, as the history of his life.
a term denoting the uniqueness of a human being. If the definition of individual emphasizes that an individual person is a representative of a species, then the concept of individuality, on the contrary, reveals the specificity, originality of a given representative of universality, in which he is not similar to others.
Excellent definition
Incomplete definition ↓
INDIVIDUALITY
1) originality, a set of qualities and distinctive properties that express the essence of a special, separate individual; imprecisely used to designate a single individual, as opposed to an indistinguishable mass of people (each, however, having its own individuality). 2) In contrast to the personality, it is specific, unique in the individual. Individuality as such has an ideal value character, i.e. individual value is independent of actual personality. The ethical value of a person lies in remaining true to himself, in the authenticity and positivity of his essence. In a broad sense, it is equivalent to Kant's intelligible character. The implementation of this ethical value, i.e. self-realization of the individual is a virtue. But this virtue as such is unattainable; it can only be achieved through the individual implementation of fundamental values (goodness, nobility, perfection, purity). The individual's responsibility for his self-realization as a person coincides with the responsibility for everything that is within the sphere of his freedom and power. In particular, the individual “ethos” (Ethos is the moral value of the individual) consists of the main direction chosen in the process of self-realization of fundamental values, i.e. it is characterized by the form in which an action is performed in the presence of single-order values (see Ethics). In accordance with this, the personality is axiologically autonomous (see Imperative, Man). Historically, a “great individual” should by no means be particularly virtuous, but should always clothe his characteristic main direction of realizing values in a particularly bright and effective form. The greatness of individuality lies in the specificity of the relationship to the realm of values. The attractiveness of true individuality lies in the fact that for the person living with it, on the one hand, it opens up a new kingdom of values, and on the other hand, a stable and clear structure.
Excellent definition
Incomplete definition ↓
Each of us strives to be different from each other, to demonstrate our bright individuality and feel unique. When choosing clothes, a person of the fair sex strives to emphasize the uniqueness of the created image with the help of an original style, accessories, shoes, etc. Let's take a short excursion into history and remember Soviet times, when clothes that were uniform for everyone were sold in one department store and “hipsters” appeared, whose movement can be safely called a protest and a desire to show their individuality. At all times, people wanted to be different from each other in some way. Please note that even at a tiny age, children already show their own special temperament and character. One woman can give birth to twins, and she will easily distinguish between them, even if they look exactly the same.
About the concept of individuality
Behavior, habits and reactions to everything that happens will be different for each of them. The definition of the word individuality is the presence of a number of unique qualities of each person, his peculiar characteristics, which only he possesses. Among such distinctive characteristics we can safely include not only the interests of a person, but also her habits, experiences and even her mood, which is constantly changing. And this is not to mention the talents, inclinations and abilities, thanks to which a person can be called holistic, that is, unique. A person demonstrates his individuality through behavior in society, taking into account different reactions to certain events, as well as situations in general. It should be noted that the media has a key influence on the development of a person.
A number of television programs are key parameters for standardization and unilateral personal development. The ability to think and analyze is slowly suppressed and it is not so easy to “correctly” place emphasis and draw one’s conclusions. Such thinking is, first of all, very dangerous for teenagers; their personality has not yet been fully formed and the person is at the stage of socialization. Any authoritative theory that is publicly stated with propaganda of support can become the truth.
Psychological properties
You shouldn’t think that each of us is united only by external characteristics: height, eye color, build, etc. The key difference in this set of personal psychological properties that a person possesses is his character, type of temperament, abilities, emotions. Individuality is the so-called combination of a number of traits, thanks to which the process of formation and development of each individual person as an individual occurs, and turns him into something special. The desire to be different from another person forces a person to take actions that will reward him with the characteristics of a thinking and independent character.
Do not confuse two strategically important concepts: “individuality” and “personality”. The fact is that the processes of their formation differ in many respects from each other and depend on the socialization of a person in the circles of society; this process leads to the formation of personality as such. This is largely due to the norms accepted in society, as well as the rules of behavior that everyone around them obeys. The manifestation of individuality lies in the so-called isolation of the individual, as well as in the process of distinguishing him in society. We can safely continue to talk further about the manifestation of the traits that characterize individuality. Epithets allow us to understand what stands behind each of these terms. Thus, “individuality” is characterized as a “bright,” “creative,” and “unique” person. This allows you to place the right emphasis and emphasize the level of a person’s independence and his development. “Personality” is necessarily an “independent”, “strong” and “energetic” person, that is, the spiritual essence is represented.
How to show your individuality?
It can be safely noted that the concept of personality is very ambiguous; it is, first of all, a characteristic of a person’s worldview. Psychologists boldly say that personality should be considered as a system of a number of internal qualities through which a person looks at this world. This is a special connecting link, which is even understood as a number of sublime moral qualities and even nobility. Therefore, you can often find the word Personality written with a capital letter. Individuality is the totality of all the numerous unique properties of a person, what distinguishes one person from another. Each person must be an individual, from a psychological point of view, and different from the gray mass that walks around. Thanks to a pronounced individuality, a person feels special, independent, and confident in his abilities. He is used to making all decisions himself and does not need the opinion of society. Individuals have a very actively developed motivational sphere; such a person always knows what exactly he wants from life. It’s so important to set goals and confidently achieve them.
The concept of individuality includes a mature personality. People often think about “individuality” in moments when a person strives with all his might to stand out from the crowd and tries to do everything to have an attractive appearance. However, such a person will not always be a mature person; there are definitely reasons that pushed her to such changes, even if the person is silent about them. Behind the “brightness” there is often a burden of psychological problems that only accumulates over time and a person does not strive to understand himself. The concept of “individuality” is very multifaceted; it is often used not only in psychology, but also in everyday life. Still, we can say with confidence that it carries a positive connotation.