Speaking about the uniqueness and uniqueness of each person, they mean, first of all, his inner world, the totality of those personality traits that affect behavior and attitude towards others. This alloy of individual psychological characteristics, volitional, moral qualities, motives of behavior, attitudes and values is character.
What is character
This concept itself appeared in the era of Antiquity and came from the Greek word “imprint”. Indeed, character manifests itself in a person’s behavior and leaves an imprint on him, making him unique and recognizable. And the stronger the character, the more striking and unique are the results of the personality’s activity. But a person who is deprived of this power, that is, that inner “I” that controls behavior, is often called spineless. Not in the sense that he has no character, but because his actions are determined by external circumstances, and not by internal convictions and moral qualities.
Character is a complex system of personality traits and qualities, therefore their combination and degree of expressiveness make each person unique. The character traits that make up its structure are usually divided into two large groups:
- biologically given (congenital);
- formed in the process of personality development (acquired).
The biological basis of character structure
The character is based on innate features of higher nervous activity:
- the speed of the course of nervous processes;
- the strength of these processes;
- the ratio of excitation and inhibition in the nervous system.
The combination of these features is the temperament or type of higher nervous activity of a person. There are only 4 types of temperament (phlegmatic, melancholic, sanguine and choleric), but they practically do not occur in their pure form. These are complexes of traits, features of higher nervous activity, which are present in humans in different combinations and varying degrees of severity. That is, if we take, for example, such a paired characteristic as introversion-extraversion, then a person can be more or less an extrovert or an introvert.
And there are several such characteristics that make up temperament. For instance:
- rigidity and plasticity;
- emotional stability and emotional imbalance, sensitivity (sensitivity), etc.
Due to their combination, a unique biological basis for character is created, and in the process of its formation, innate individual psychological traits are melted under the influence of the environment, mixed with social qualities, acquired properties, characteristics and a completely unique personality is created.
Along with the innate, biologically given basis, character includes personality traits that are formed under the influence of society in the process of upbringing and self-education, development and self-development.
It should be emphasized here that a person is not a passive object of society’s influence. He actively interacts with the environment, passes through himself everything that he receives from the surrounding reality, melts it in his inner world, and already on the basis of this transformed experience, his character is formed. Therefore, it is completely wrong to blame society (family, school, society as a whole) for the shortcomings of one’s own character. We create ourselves and we ourselves are responsible for both our positive and negative qualities. The proof is the example of the fact that children with completely different characters grow up in the same family.
The character has a rather complex structure, in which, along with the biological basis, 4 groups of qualities are distinguished, which are formed under the influence of the social environment.
Moral traits
Moral or moral qualities of a person are associated with norms of behavior, values, ideals and attitudes accepted in society. Moral character traits are manifested:
- in the social sphere;
- in dealing with people;
- in relation to them and to socially significant values.
The formation of these character traits is a complex process that occurs not only under the influence of a person’s immediate environment, but also under the influence of the media, fiction, traditions, beliefs and legends.
The variety of channels of influence and the active interaction of a person with them, as well as the originality of his individual psychological makeup, provide a unique set of moral traits inherent in each person. Among the most significant are the following positive moral qualities:
- a sense of duty – the ability to subordinate your personal desires to the needs of society;
- justice – the ability to distinguish between good and evil and the desire to defend good and fight against evil;
- honesty – loyalty to one’s obligations, striving for truth, rejection of lies in one’s behavior;
- politeness – respect for other people, adherence to the norms of behavior in relation to each member of society, regardless of social status or age;
- loyalty – loyalty to another person, society, ideals, manifested even in the most difficult circumstances;
- friendliness is the ability not only to respect people, but also to have positive feelings for them, a desire to support and help.
These are just the most basic positive moral qualities, in fact, there are much more of them, you yourself can continue this list. Along with the positive, there are also negative features, of which there are also many:
- deceit;
- coarseness;
- impudence;
- meanness;
- cowardice;
- greed, etc.
There are no perfect people. The peculiarity of the character of any person is that both positive and negative qualities can be present in him, manifesting in different situations, creating a unique, individual appearance of a person. For example, a man bravely rushing to save people from a burning building may be desperate to coward before going to the dentist.
Emotional traits
The emotional qualities of a person are largely determined by the properties of temperament. For example, the increased excitability and expressiveness of a choleric person create a kind of emotional background, which is characterized by mood swings, amorousness, irascibility or excessive cheerfulness. On the other hand, in the process of upbringing, serious attention is paid to the formation of the ability to restrain one’s emotions, to control them.
Therefore, emotional traits are largely due to the social factor and the corresponding norms of behavior adopted in society. For example, the excessive (in our opinion) emotionality of Italians is quite tolerated by their culture. But in Japan, an open display of your emotions is considered not very decent.
The variety of manifestations of human emotions determines the variety of emotional traits. Unlike moral qualities, it is difficult to distinguish positive and negative among emotional ones. It’s all about the degree of manifestation of these traits and their relevance. Agree, cheerfulness at a wedding is normal and even welcome, but at a funeral it looks clearly indecent.
The following are the most common emotional personality traits:
- sensuality;
- passion;
- cold;
- cheerfulness;
- gloom;
- amorousness;
- impressionability;
- restraint;
- aggressiveness;
- shyness, etc.
The manifestation of the emotional qualities of a personality is largely associated with the need for communication, therefore, in less sociable introverts, the set of these qualities and their severity differs from the extroverted personality type.
Strong-willed traits
The success of a person’s activity and how he is assessed in society largely depend on his ability to regulate and organize his behavior, that is, on volitional qualities. It is they that allow you to smooth out and overcome such negative character traits as laziness, timidity, shyness, indecision, etc.
Volitional qualities are brought up from childhood, are formed under the influence of society and are closely related to the awareness of the need to subordinate one’s freedom to the requirements of society. Will largely determines both the degree of a person’s activity and his ability to restrain himself. Most psychologists consider volitional qualities as basic personality traits, which largely determine the content of its character.
The leading volitional qualities include the following:
- endurance – the ability to restrain your emotions and impulsive actions;
- patience – the ability to maintain a high intensity of activity by volitional effort, despite fatigue or illness;
- purposefulness – a conscious setting of a goal and the ability to achieve it;
- adherence to principles – the presence of stable principles and adherence to them in any situation;
- independence – the ability to make independent decisions and organize activities for their implementation;
- responsibility for their activities, behavior, ideas, etc.
There are much more volitional qualities than are listed here, but even these basic ones prove how important this area of character is for a person.
Intellectual traits
Intellectual qualities of character are what distinguishes our cognitive activity and leaves an imprint on all aspects of the personality. Because it is not only mental abilities and qualities of attention and memory, but also interests, hobbies, orientation of cognitive activity.
Intellectual traits largely determine a person’s ability to master new types of activity, the ability to independently organize the process of cognition. The basic intellectual traits include the following:
- the quality of thinking (level of intelligence, flexibility, creativity or standardization, consistency, intuitiveness, etc.);
- curiosity – the need for new knowledge;
- resourcefulness – the ability to quickly find an answer to a difficult question;
- quick wits;
- thoughtfulness;
- lightheadedness, etc.
Intellectual qualities not only affect all other character traits, but also participate in creating a unique image of a person. It is not for nothing that they say: “They are greeted by their clothes, but they are escorted according to their minds.”
Character structure: content and form
The same character traits appear in different ways in different people. Therefore, content and form are distinguished in its structure.
The content of the character is determined by the basic values of a person, attitudes, ideals, formed in the process of development by habits. Content is a product of personality formation, and it reflects the influence of the social factor to the greatest extent. The decisive role in the content of the character is played by the worldview as a system of views of a person and his relationship to people, the world and his place in this world.
However, people differ not only in the set of features, but also in the form of their manifestation in activities, the type of behavior in society. At present, attempts to classify sociotypes have become popular. Despite different approaches to such classifications, it is not possible to find an ideal one that would suit all people. Neither type matches the real character of a person 100%. Why? Because the type of behavior as a form of manifestation of character is unique for each person. It’s like a fingerprint – never repeated.
To understand the content of a person’s character, you need to eat a pound of salt with him. And the uniqueness of the form is visible and noticeable, if not at first glance, then from the second for sure. Even if a person is withdrawn, secretive, then this is also noticeable at first glance, and it is precisely secrecy that will be a form of manifestation of his character.
