Leonhard's theory of accentuated personalities quickly proved its validity and usefulness. However, its use was limited by the age of the subjects - the questionnaire for determining accentuation was designed for adult subjects. Children and adolescents, lacking relevant life experience, could not answer a number of test questions, so their accentuations turned out to be difficult to determine.
The domestic psychiatrist Andrei Evgenievich Lichko took up the solution to this problem. He modified it for use in childhood and adolescence, reworked the descriptions of the types of accentuation, changed the names for some of them and introduced new types. A.E. Lichko considered it more appropriate to study accentuations in adolescents, since most of them are formed before adolescence and are most clearly manifested during this period. He expanded the descriptions of accentuated characters with information about the manifestations of accentuations in children and adolescents, and the changes in these manifestations as they grow older. Peru A. E. Lichko owns the fundamental monographs “Adolescent Psychiatry”, “Psychopathy and Character Accentuations in Adolescents”, “Adolescent Narcology”.
Accentuations of character from the point of view of A. E. Lichko
A. E. Lichko was the first to propose replacing the term “personality accentuation” with “character accentuation,” citing the fact that it is impossible to unite all a person’s personal characteristics by defining only accentuation. Personality is a much broader concept, including worldview, characteristics of upbringing, education, and response to external events. Character, being an external reflection of the type of nervous system, serves as a narrow characteristic of the characteristics of human behavior.
Accentuations of character according to Lichko are temporary changes in character that change or disappear in the process of growth and development of the child. However, many of them can turn into psychopathy or persist for life. The path of development of accentuation is determined by its severity, social environment and type (hidden or obvious) of accentuation.
Like Karl Leonhard, A.E. Lichko considered accentuation a variant of character deformation, in which individual traits become excessively pronounced. This increases the sensitivity of the individual to certain types of influences and makes adaptation difficult in some cases. At the same time, in general, the ability to adapt remains at a high level, and with some types of influences (that do not affect the “place of least resistance”), accentuated individuals cope more easily than ordinary ones.
A. E. Lichko considered accentuations as borderline states between normality and psychopathy. Accordingly, their classification is based on the typology of psychopathy.
A. E. Lichko identified the following types of accentuations: hyperthymic, cycloid, sensitive, schizoid, hysteroid, conmorphic, psychasthenic, paranoid, unstable, emotionally labile, epileptoid.
Hyperthymic type
People with this accentuation are excellent tacticians and poor strategists. Resourceful, enterprising, active, easy to navigate in rapidly changing situations. Thanks to this, they can quickly improve their professional and social position. However, in the long term, they often lose their position due to the inability to think through the consequences of their actions, participation in adventures and the wrong choice of comrades.
Active, sociable, enterprising, always in a good mood. Children of this type are active, restless, and often play pranks. Inattentive and poorly disciplined, teenagers of this type are unstable students. Conflicts with adults often arise. They have many superficial hobbies. They often overestimate themselves, strive to stand out and earn praise.
Cycloid accentuation of character according to Lichko is characterized by high irritability and apathy. Children prefer to be alone at home instead of playing in the company of peers. They experience any troubles hard and become irritated in response to comments. The mood changes from good, elated, to depressed at intervals of several weeks.
With growing up, the manifestations of this accentuation usually smooth out, but in some people they can persist or remain stuck for a long time in one stage, often a depressed-melancholic one. Sometimes there is a connection between mood changes and the seasons.
Sensitive type
It is highly sensitive to both joyful and frightening or sad events. Teenagers do not like active, active games, do not play pranks, and avoid large companies. They are timid and bashful with strangers and give the impression of being withdrawn. They can be good friends with close friends. They prefer to communicate with people younger or older than them. Obedient, love their parents.
It is possible to develop an inferiority complex or difficulty adapting to a team. They place high moral demands on themselves and the team. They have a developed sense of responsibility. They are assiduous and prefer complex activities. They are very careful in choosing friends, preferring older ones.
Schizoid type
Teenagers of this type are withdrawn, preferring loneliness or the company of elders to communicating with peers. They are demonstratively indifferent and not interested in communicating with other people. They do not understand the feelings, experiences, condition of others, and do not show sympathy. They also prefer not to show their own feelings. Peers often do not understand them, and therefore are hostile towards schizoids.
Hysteroids are distinguished by a high need for attention to themselves and egocentrism. Demonstrative, artistic. They do not like it when someone else pays attention to them or praises others. There is a high need for admiration from others. Teenagers of the hysterical type strive to occupy an exceptional position among their peers, attract attention to themselves, and influence others. They often become the initiators of various events. At the same time, hysterics are unable to organize those around them, cannot become an informal leader, or earn authority among their peers.
Conmorphic type
Children and adolescents of the conforming type are characterized by a lack of their own opinion, initiative, and criticality. They willingly submit to groups or authorities. Their attitude in life can be characterized by the words “be like everyone else.” At the same time, such teenagers are prone to moralizing and are very conservative. In order to protect their interests, representatives of this type are ready to do the most unseemly actions, and all these actions find explanation and justification in the eyes of a conforming personality.
Psychasthenic type
Adolescents of this type are characterized by a tendency to reflect, introspect, and evaluate the behavior of others. Their intellectual development is ahead of their peers. Their indecision is combined with self-confidence; their judgments and views are categorical. At moments when special caution and attentiveness are needed, they are prone to impulsive actions. This type changes little with age. They often have obsessions that serve as a means of overcoming anxiety. It is also possible to use alcohol or drugs. In relationships they are petty and despotic, which interferes with normal communication.
Paranoid type
The types of character accentuation according to Lichko do not always include this variant of accentuation due to its late development. The main manifestations of the paranoid type appear by the age of 30-40. In childhood and adolescence, such individuals are characterized by epileptoid or schizoid accentuation. Their main feature is an overestimation of their personality, and, accordingly, the presence of overvalued ideas about their exclusivity. These ideas differ from delusional ones in that they are perceived by others as real, although exaggerated.
Teenagers show an increased craving for entertainment and idleness. There are no interests, no life goals, they do not care about the future. They are often characterized as “going with the flow.”
Emotionally labile type
Children are unpredictable, with frequent and severe mood swings. The reasons for these differences are minor little things (a sideways glance or an unfriendly phrase). During periods of bad mood, they require the support of loved ones. They feel good about how others treat them.
Epileptoid type
At an early age, such children are often whiny. In the older ones, they offend the younger ones, torture animals, mock those who cannot fight back. They are characterized by power, cruelty, and pride. In the company of other children, they strive to be not just the boss, but the ruler. In the groups they control, they establish cruel, autocratic orders. However, their power rests largely on the voluntary submission of other children. They prefer conditions of strict discipline, know how to please management, take over prestigious positions that provide the opportunity to exercise power, and establish their own rules.
They are pointed. One has only to create certain conditions, and conflicts of the same type may arise.
Personality accentuation is the hypertrophied development of some character traits against the background of others, which leads to disruption of relationships with others. In the presence of such a symptom, a person begins to show excessive sensitivity to certain factors that cause a stressful state. This is despite the fact that the rest are relatively stable.
Accentuation may be so pronounced that its symptoms are barely noticeable to close people, but its level of manifestation may be such that doctors may consider making a diagnosis such as psychopathy. But the latter disease is characterized by constant manifestations and regular relapses. Or it may smooth out over time and become close to normal.
As practice shows, this symptom most often occurs in adolescents and young men (in approximately 70% of cases). Personality accentuation does not always manifest itself clearly, therefore it can be determined using specially designed psychological tests. During them, people may behave in a specific way, and it is important for the doctor to be able to anticipate such a reaction.
There are such personality types in psychology, which depend on the degree of manifestation of accentuation:
- The hyperthymic type is characterized by high mood, increased talkativeness, and sociability. People with this form of the disease, as a rule, very often lose the original thread of the conversation, do not respond to comments made and deny all punishments. They are very energetic, mobile, non-self-critical, and love unreasonable risks.
- The personality accentuation may be of the dysthymic type, which is the complete opposite of the previous one. A representative of this species is constantly depressed, sad and has a closed personality. He is burdened by noisy society, he does not get along closely with employees, and does not like communication. If he becomes a participant in conflicts (which happens extremely rarely), he acts as a passive party in them.
- characterized by frequent mood swings. If it is elevated, the person actively communicates, which makes him similar to a representative of the hyperthymic type. If a person is in a more depressed state, his behavioral reactions resemble people of the dysthymic type.
- Emotional Personality accentuation in this case is manifested by excessive sensitivity of character and vulnerability. A person begins to deeply experience even minimal troubles, takes comments and criticism very painfully, is sensitive if he suffers failure, and therefore is often in a sad mood.
- The demonstrative type is always in the center of attention and achieves goals at any cost.
- A person of an excitable type is often unrestrained, hot-tempered, prone to rudeness and overly conflicted.
- Stuck type. Representatives are fixated on their feelings and emotions, act as an active party in conflicts, and are prone to protracted disputes.
- The pedantic type is characterized by “boring” in everything, from everyday life to professional activities.
- they fear for themselves and for those around them, are unsure of themselves, and take defeat seriously.
- The exalted type is characterized by mood swings, vivid emotions and talkativeness.
- Schizoid personality accentuation, as a rule, manifests itself in isolation, self-absorption, restraint and coldness in communication.
- The last type in this classification - extroverted - is characterized by an increased degree of talkativeness, lack of personal opinion, disorganization, and lack of independence.
Accentuations- overly expressed character traits. Depending on the level of expression, there are two degrees of character accentuation: explicit and hidden. Explicit accentuation refers to extreme variants of the norm, characterized by the constancy of traits of a certain type of character. With hidden accentuation, the traits of a certain type of character are weakly expressed or do not appear at all, but can clearly manifest themselves under the influence of specific situations.
Accentuations of character can contribute to the development of psychogenic disorders, situationally determined pathological behavioral disorders, neuroses, and psychoses. However, it should be noted that character accentuation cannot in any case be identified with the concept of mental pathology. A rigid boundary between conventionally normal, “average” people and accentuated personalities does not exist.
Identifying accentuated individuals in a team is necessary to develop an individual approach to them, for professional guidance, assigning to them a certain range of responsibilities that they are able to cope with better than others (due to their psychological predisposition).
The main types of accentuation of characters and their combinations:
- Hysterical or demonstrative type, its main features are egocentrism, extreme selfishness, an insatiable thirst for attention, the need for veneration, approval and recognition of actions and personal abilities.
- Hyperthymic type - high degree of sociability, noisiness, mobility, excessive independence, tendency to mischief.
- Asthenoneurotic- increased fatigue when communicating, irritability, a tendency to worry about one’s fate.
- Psychosthenic- indecision, tendency to endless reasoning, love of introspection, suspiciousness.
- Schizoid- isolation, secrecy, detachment from what is happening around, inability to establish deep contacts with others, unsociability.
- Sensitive- timidity, shyness, touchiness, excessive sensitivity, impressionability, feelings of inferiority.
- Epileptoid (excitable)- a tendency to repeated periods of melancholy-angry mood with accumulating irritation and a search for an object on which to vent anger. Thoroughness, low speed of thinking, emotional inertia, pedantry and scrupulousness in personal life, conservatism.
- Emotionally labile- extremely changeable mood, fluctuating too sharply and often for insignificant reasons.
- Infantile-dependent- people who constantly play the role of an “eternal child”, who avoid taking responsibility for their actions and prefer to delegate it to others.
- Unstable type- constant craving for entertainment, pleasure, idleness, idleness, lack of will in study, work and fulfilling one’s duties, weakness and cowardice.
To start a conversation about such a psychological concept as character accentuation, you must first decide what character is. In psychology, this term refers to a set of basic, established personality traits of a person that not only distinguish him from others, but also leave a certain imprint on his life.
Character is manifested in everything - in relation to life, work, oneself, the opposite sex, etc. We can say that it is thanks to their character that people are interesting to each other. Imagine that people have no character, then they will most likely be like robots.
Sharpening or exacerbation
Character traits make people unique or even unique. But sometimes it happens that throughout life certain character traits in people begin to manifest themselves most intensely, i.e. become aggravated or sharpened. Moreover, this usually happens unexpectedly, under the influence of some external factors.
It is precisely this sharpening that is commonly called accentuation. It turns out that the concept of character accentuation means excessive saturation of personality traits, which manifests itself in the uniqueness of a person’s behavior in a given situation, his attitude towards life, himself and the people around him.
Let us take as an example a personality trait such as anxiety. In people without “sharpness,” it manifests itself as some anxiety in unexpected situations. But in the case of accentuation, it is presented as nervousness, anxiety, or even persecution mania. Thus, accentuation is not a pathology, but it is no longer the norm, it is like a borderline condition, which, if measures are not taken in time, can become psychopathy and require treatment.
The fact is that accentuations go beyond the framework of behavior that is familiar and accepted in society, and therefore many perceive such a person as not entirely normal and, of course, have a negative attitude towards this kind of personality manifestation. The particular danger of this psychological phenomenon is that over time and under the influence of external factors it intensifies, and this can lead to serious mental disorders.
Various classifications
The concept of “personality accentuation” was introduced by a German psychologist named Leonhard. He divided overly expressed personality traits into 12 main types. So, here are the main accentuations of character according to Leonard:
2. Dysthymic is, first of all, silence, inhibition of reactions and behavior, and some slowness. People with this accentuation always experience a heightened sense of justice and try to find the truth everywhere and in everything. This is the so-called fighter for truth.
3. Affectively labile - this type is expressed in a person’s constant orientation towards standards, which he strives to strictly comply with.
4. Affectively exalted – manifested by increased excitability, inspiration and emotionality. Such people are always inclined to contacts, and the value of communication for them is excessive, and they also strive to elevate feelings - both their own and those of others.
6. Emotive type - expressed as kindness, impressionability, diligence, timidity, as well as the desire to always help everyone and a tendency to compassion.
7. The demonstrative type of accentuation is excessive boastfulness, ambition, turning into vanity. People with this type almost always focus in life on their “I” and place themselves much higher than those around them, considering themselves the standard. At the same time, they are characterized as deceitful and hypocritical.
8. Pedantic type of accentuation - the name speaks for itself. Such a person is extremely punctual, demanding, incredibly clean and neat to the point of unbearability. On the other hand, this type is indecisive and non-conflict, and is also often unsure of itself.
10. Excitable – manifested by a quick temper and pedantry. Such people are slow-moving and live mainly by instincts.
11. Extroverted – the attitudes of such a person are, first of all, contact and openness, as well as extreme sociability, sometimes reaching the point of frivolity. Such people often commit spontaneous, thoughtless actions.
12. Introverted is the opposite of the previous accentuation, and, therefore, it manifests itself as isolation, silence, gloominess and restraint.
Typology according to Lichko
There is also a slightly different typology of accentuations. Its author was the Soviet psychiatrist A.E. Lichko. He was sure that character accentuation was an extreme variant of the norm, and argued that this could not be considered a psychological pathology.
It is worth noting that Lichko was the first psychologist who traced the development of character accentuations throughout a person’s life. According to his research, this phenomenon begins in people when they are in puberty.
Over time, accentuations can be smoothed out or compensated, and then, under the influence of external traumatic factors, one or another accentuation develops. Against their background, a person’s behavior changes, and then this can even become the cause of psychopathy.
So, here are the accentuations of character according to Lichko:
- Sensitive the type of accentuation is often expressed in the form of hyper-responsibility and sensitivity. Such people usually have unstable self-esteem; they are very impressionable, but at the same time fearful and timid.
- Hyperthymic type - its owners are often in a good mood, sometimes irritable and hot-tempered, but they are constantly active, feel good and have high performance.
- Cycloid– is expressed in frequent changes in mood, from complete calm to excessive irritability and depression. Moreover, this change occurs cyclically, by alternating phases. These people often have such a character trait as exaltation - an elevated mood that reaches incredible enthusiasm.
- Labile the type of character accentuation is manifested by fragility and some immaturity, as well as the need for friendship and support.
- Asthenoneurotic– it is characterized by moodiness, low concentration, high fatigue, weakness and irritability.
- Schizoid type of accentuation manifests itself as isolation, low emotionality, delving into oneself, dryness in relation to even close people.
- Psychasthenic type - primarily characterized by increased suspiciousness. At the same time, the psychasthenic type is expressed in pedantry and excessive prudence.
- Epileptoid The type combines suspicion, accuracy, hostility, and irritability. Also, epileptoid accentuation is manifested by determination and painstakingness.
- Hysterical accentuation is expressed in the form of excessive emotionality and instability of self-esteem. People who are characterized by hysterical accentuation often require increased attention from others. Moreover, this applies to both close people and strangers.
- Conformal type is, first of all, a high ability to adapt to types of behavior characteristic of a particular social group into which the individual falls.
- Unstable– usually expressed by a person’s weak will and the fact that he is unable to resist negative influences.
Let us note that Lichko studied such a concept as character accentuation in adolescence, but despite this, the types of character accentuation he identified can also be applied to adults.
Testing
In order to determine what accentuation of character traits is characteristic of a particular person, psychologists use a special test called the MMPI. It can be used to identify, for example, paranoid accentuation. It is expressed in the form of painful sensitivity, increased suspicion, high levels of conflict and the desire to dominate a large number of people.
The same test can determine the excitable type of accentuation, which is characterized by increased impulsiveness, insufficient self-control, especially in relation to one’s drives and impulses, as well as insufficient ability to control oneself.
However, under the mask of such a tough person, self-doubt and dissatisfaction with life are often hidden. If work on such accentuation is not started in time, it can lead to the development of psychopathy.
Only a professional psychologist can determine what type of accentuation a person has. If you carefully read what the typology of character accentuations is and find that you have similar traits, then contact a specialist who will not only conduct testing, but also tell you what to do so that the expressed traits do not develop into psychological pathology.
Parents of teenagers should pay particular attention to this issue, because their accentuations often violate value guidelines and can be causes of deviant behavior. Author: Elena Ragozina
The typology of characters is usually built on the existence of certain typical traits. Typical are traits and manifestations of character that are common and indicative of a certain group of people.
Accordingly, a character type should be understood as the expression in the individual character of traits common to a certain group of people.
It should also be noted that all typologies of human characters, as a rule, proceed from a number of general ideas.
1. A person’s character is formed relatively early in ontogenesis and throughout the rest of his life manifests itself as a more or less stable personal formation.
2. The combinations of personality traits that make up a person’s character are not random.
3. Most people, in accordance with their main character traits, can be divided into typical groups.
The concept of “accentuation” was introduced into psychology by K. Leonhard. His concept of “accented personalities” was based on the assumption of the presence of basic and additional personality traits. There are significantly fewer main traits, but they are the core of personality and determine its development, adaptation and mental health. When the main traits are significantly expressed, they leave an imprint on the personality as a whole, and under unfavorable circumstances they can destroy the entire structure of the personality.
According to Leonhard, personality accentuations primarily manifest themselves in communication with other people. Therefore, when assessing communication styles, we can identify certain types of accentuations. The classification proposed by Leonhard includes the following types:
1. Hyperthymic type. He is characterized by extreme contact, talkativeness, expressiveness gestures facial expressions, pantomimes. Such a person often spontaneously deviates from the original topic of conversation. He has occasional conflicts with people around him because he does not take his work and family responsibilities seriously enough. People of this type are often the initiators of conflicts themselves, but are upset if others make comments to them about this. Among the positive traits that are attractive to communication partners, people of this type are characterized by energy, thirst for activity, optimism, and initiative. At the same time, they also have some repulsive traits: frivolity, a tendency to immoral acts, increased irritability, projectism, and an insufficiently serious attitude towards their responsibilities. They find it difficult to endure conditions of strict discipline, monotonous activity, and forced loneliness.
1.Dysthymic type. He is characterized by low contact, taciturnity, and a dominant pessimistic mood. Such people are usually homebodies, are burdened by noisy society, rarely enter into conflicts with others, and lead a secluded lifestyle. They highly value those who are friends with them and are ready to obey them. They have the following personality traits that are attractive to communication partners: seriousness, conscientiousness, and a keen sense of justice. They also have repulsive features. This is passivity, slowness of thinking, clumsiness, individualism.
3. Cycloid type. He is characterized by fairly frequent periodic mood changes, as a result of which the manner of communication with other people also often changes. During periods of high mood, such people are sociable, and during periods of depressed mood, they are withdrawn. During periods of elation, they behave like people with hyperthymic accentuation of character, and during periods of decline, they behave like people with dysthymic accentuation.
4. Excitable type. This type is characterized by low contact in communication, slowness of verbal and non-verbal reactions. Often such people are boring, phony and gloomy, prone to rudeness and abuse, to conflicts in which they themselves are an active, provoking party. They are difficult to get along with in teams and domineering in the family. In an emotionally calm state, people of this type are often conscientious, neat, and love animals and small children. However, in a state of emotional arousal, they are irritable, quick-tempered, and have poor control over their behavior.
5. Stuck type. He is characterized by moderate sociability, boringness, a penchant for moralizing, and taciturnity. In conflicts, such a person usually acts as an initiator, an active party. He strives to achieve high performance in any business he undertakes and places increased demands on himself; especially sensitive to social justice, at the same time touchy, vulnerable, suspicious, vindictive; sometimes overly arrogant, ambitious, jealous, makes exorbitant demands on loved ones and subordinates at work.
6. Pedantic type. A person with this type of accentuation rarely enters into conflicts, acting as a passive rather than an active party in them. In his service, he behaves like a bureaucrat, making many formal demands on those around him. At the same time, he willingly cedes leadership to other people. Sometimes he torments his family with excessive claims to neatness. His attractive traits are conscientiousness, accuracy, seriousness, and reliability in business, while his repulsive traits that contribute to the emergence of conflicts are formalism, boringness, and grumbling.
7. Anxious type. People with this type of accentuation are characterized by: low contact, timidity, self-doubt, and a minor mood. They rarely enter into conflicts with others, playing a mainly passive role in them; in conflict situations they seek support and support. They often have the following attractive traits: friendliness, self-criticism, and diligence. Due to their defenselessness, they also often serve as “scapegoats”, targets for jokes.8. Emotive type. These people prefer to communicate in a narrow circle of select people with whom they establish good contacts and whom they understand “at a glance.” They rarely enter into conflicts themselves, playing a passive role in them. They carry grievances within themselves without “splashing” out. Attractive traits: kindness, compassion, heightened sense of duty, diligence. Repulsive traits: excessive sensitivity, tearfulness.
9. Demonstrative type. This type of accentuation is characterized by the ease of establishing contacts, the desire for leadership, the thirst for power and praise. Such a person demonstrates high adaptability to people and at the same time a tendency to intrigue (with an externally soft manner of communication). People with this type of accentuation irritate others with their self-confidence and high claims, systematically provoke conflicts themselves, but at the same time actively defend themselves. They have the following traits that are attractive to communication partners: courtesy, artistry, the ability to captivate others, originality of thinking and actions. Their repulsive traits: selfishness, hypocrisy, boasting, shirking from work.
10. Exalted type. He is characterized by high contact, talkativeness, and amorousness. Such people often argue, but do not lead to open conflicts. In conflict situations, they are both active and passive parties. At the same time, persons of this typological group are attached and attentive to friends and relatives. They are altruistic, have a sense of compassion, good taste, and show brightness and sincerity of feelings. Repulsive traits: alarmism, susceptibility to momentary moods.
11. Extroverted type. Such people are highly contactable, they have a lot of friends and acquaintances, they are talkative to the point of talkativeness, open to any information, rarely enter into conflicts with others and usually play a passive role in them. When communicating with friends, at work and in the family, they often cede leadership to others, prefer to obey and be in the shadows. They have such attractive traits as a willingness to listen carefully to another, to do what is asked, and diligence. Repulsive peculiarities: susceptibility to influence, frivolity, thoughtlessness of actions, passion for entertainment, participation in the spread of gossip and rumors.
12. Introverted type. It, unlike the previous one, is characterized by very low contact, isolation, isolation from reality, and a tendency to philosophize. Such people love solitude; They come into conflict with others only when they attempt to unceremoniously interfere in their personal lives. They are often emotionally cold idealists with relatively little attachment to people. They have such attractive traits as restraint, strong convictions, and integrity. They also have repulsive features. This is stubbornness, rigidity of thinking, persistent defense of one’s ideas. Such people have their own point of view on everything, which may turn out to be erroneous, differ sharply from the opinions of other people, and yet they continue to defend it, no matter what.
Later, A.E. Lichko proposed a classification of characters based on a description of accentuations. This classification is based on observations of adolescents. Accentuation of character, according to Lichko, is an excessive strengthening of individual character traits, in which deviations in human behavior that do not go beyond the norm, bordering on pathology, are observed. Such accentuations, as temporary mental states, are most often observed in adolescence and early adolescence. Lichko explains this fact as follows: “Under the influence of psychogenic factors that address the “place of least resistance,” temporary adaptation disorders and deviations in behavior may occur” (Lichko A. E., 1983). As a child grows up, the characteristics of his character that appeared in childhood, while remaining quite pronounced, lose their sharpness, but over time they can clearly appear again (especially if a disease occurs).
The classification of character accentuations in adolescents, which Lichko proposed, is as follows:
1. Hyperthymic type. Teenagers of this type are distinguished by their mobility, sociability, and a penchant for mischief. They always make a lot of noise into the events happening around them, and they love the restless company of their peers. Despite good general abilities, they show restlessness, lack of discipline, and study unevenly. Their mood is always good and upbeat. They often have conflicts with adults - parents and teachers. Such teenagers have many different hobbies, but these hobbies, as a rule, are superficial and quickly pass. Teenagers of the hypertympiac type often overestimate their abilities, are too self-confident, strive to show off, boast, and impress others.
2. Cycloid type. Characterized by increased irritability and a tendency to apathy. Teenagers with accentuation of this type of character prefer to be at home alone, instead of going somewhere with their peers. They have a hard time with even minor troubles and react extremely irritably to comments.
Their mood periodically changes from elated to depressed (hence the name of this type). The periods of mood swings are approximately two to three weeks.
3. Labile type. This type is characterized by extreme mood variability, and it is often unpredictable. The reasons for an unexpected change in mood can be the most insignificant, for example, someone accidentally dropped a word, someone’s unfriendly look. All of them are capable of sinking into despondency and a gloomy mood in the absence of any serious troubles or failures. The behavior of these teenagers largely depends on their momentary mood. The present and future, depending on the mood, can be perceived either in light or in dark tones. Such teenagers, being in a depressed mood, are in dire need of help and support from those who can improve their mood, who can distract them and cheer them up. They understand and feel the attitude of the people around them well.
4. Asthenoneurotic type. This type is characterized by increased suspiciousness and capriciousness, fatigue and irritability. Fatigue is especially common during intellectual activity.
5. Sensitive type. He is characterized by increased sensitivity to everything: to what pleases and to what upsets or frightens. These teenagers do not like large companies or active games. They are usually shy and timid in front of strangers and therefore are often perceived by others as withdrawn. They are open and sociable only with those whom they know well; they prefer communication with children and adults to communication with peers. They are obedient and show great affection for their parents. In adolescence, such adolescents may experience difficulties adapting to their peer circle, as well as an “inferiority complex.” At the same time, these same teenagers develop a sense of duty quite early and display high moral demands on themselves and the people around them. They often compensate for deficiencies in their abilities by choosing complex activities and increased diligence. These teenagers are picky about finding friends and acquaintances for themselves, show great affection in friendships, and adore friends who are older than them.
6. Psychasthenic type. Such adolescents are characterized by accelerated and early intellectual development, a tendency to think and reason, to introspect and evaluate the behavior of other people. However, they are often stronger in words than in deeds. Their self-confidence is combined with indecision, and categorical judgments are combined with haste in actions taken precisely at those moments when caution and prudence are required.
7. Schizoid type. The most significant feature of this type is isolation. These teenagers are not very drawn to their peers; they prefer to be alone, in the company of adults. They often demonstrate outward indifference to the people around them, lack of interest in them, poorly understand the conditions of other people, their experiences, and do not know how to sympathize. Their inner world is often filled with various fantasies and special hobbies. In the external manifestations of their feelings, they are quite restrained, not always understandable to others, especially to their peers, who, as a rule, do not like them very much.
8. Epileptoid type. These teenagers often cry and harass others, especially in early childhood. Such children, as Lichko notes, love to torture animals, tease younger ones, and mock the helpless. In children's companies they behave like dictators. Their typical traits are cruelty, power, and selfishness. In the group of children they control, such teenagers establish their own strict, almost terroristic orders, and their personal power in such groups rests mainly on the voluntary obedience of other children or on fear. Under conditions of a strict disciplinary regime, they often feel at their best, try to please their superiors, achieve certain advantages over their peers, gain power, and establish their dictatorship over others.
9. Hysterical type. The main feature of this type is egocentrism, a thirst for constant attention to one’s own person. Adolescents of this type often have a tendency toward theatricality, posing, and panache. Such children have great difficulty in enduring when in their presence someone praises their friend, when others are given more attention than themselves. For them, an urgent need is the desire to attract the attention of others, to listen to admiration and praise addressed to them. These teenagers are characterized by claims to an exceptional position among their peers, and in order to influence others
to attract their attention, they often act in groups as instigators and ringleaders. At the same time, being unable to become real leaders and organizers of the cause, or to gain informal authority, they often and quickly fail.
10. Unstable type. He is sometimes mischaracterized as a weak-willed, go-with-the-flow type of person. Adolescents of this type show an increased tendency and craving for entertainment, indiscriminately, as well as for idleness and idleness. They do not have any serious, including professional, interests; they almost never think about their future.
11. Conformal type. Teenagers of this type demonstrate opportunistic, and often simply thoughtless submission to any authority, to the majority in the group. They are usually prone to moralizing and conservatism, and their main life credo is “to be like everyone else.” This is a type of opportunist who, for the sake of his own interests, is ready to betray a comrade, to leave him in difficult times, but no matter what he does, he will always find a “moral” justification for his action, and often more than one.
There are other classifications of character types. For example, a typology of character is widely known, built on the basis of a person’s attitude to life, society and moral values. Its author is E. Fromm, who called this classification a social typology of characters. “Social character,” writes Fromm, “contains... a selection of traits, an essential core of the character structure of the majority of group members, which developed as a result of the basic experience and way of life, common for this group" *. According to the author of this concept, social character determines the thinking, emotions and actions of individuals. Different classes and groups of people existing in society have their own social character. On its basis, certain social, national and cultural ideas develop and gain strength.
However, these ideas are passive in themselves and can become real forces only when they meet special human needs.
Having summarized observational data on the behavior of various people and correlating them with the practice of working in the clinic, E. Fromm derived the following main types of social characters.
1. “Masochist-sadist. This is the type of person who tends to see the reasons for his successes and failures in life, as well as the reasons for observed social events, not in the prevailing circumstances, but in people. In an effort to eliminate these causes, he directs his aggression towards a person who seems to him to be the cause of failure. If we are talking about himself, then his aggressive actions are directed towards himself; if other people act as the cause, then they become victims of his aggressiveness. Such a person does a lot of self-education, self-improvement, and “remaking” people “for the better.” With his persistent actions, exorbitant demands and claims, he sometimes brings himself and those around him to a state of exhaustion. Such a person is especially dangerous for others when he gains power over them: he begins to terrorize them, based on “good intentions.”
According to Fromm, people of this type, along with masochistic tendencies, almost always have sadistic tendencies. They manifest themselves in the desire to make people dependent on themselves, to acquire complete and unlimited power over them, to exploit them, to cause them pain and suffering, to enjoy the way they suffer. This type of person was called by Fromm an authoritarian personality. Similar personal qualities were characteristic of many despots known in history; Fromm included among them Hitler, Stalin and a number of other famous historical figures.
2. ^Destroyer.” It is characterized by pronounced aggressiveness and an active desire to eliminate, destroy the object that caused frustration and the collapse of hopes in a given person. “Destructiveness,” writes Fromm, “is a means of getting rid of the unbearable feeling of powerlessness.” People who experience feelings of anxiety and powerlessness and are limited in the realization of their intellectual and emotional capabilities usually turn to destructiveness as a means of solving their life problems. During periods of great social upheaval, revolutions, and upheavals, they act as the main force that destroys the old, including culture.
3. “Conformist automaton.” Such an individual, faced with intractable social and personal life problems, ceases to “be himself.” He unquestioningly submits to circumstances, to any type of society, to the requirements of a social group, quickly assimilating the type of thinking and mode of behavior that is characteristic of most people in a given situation. Such a person almost never has either his own opinion or an expressed social position. He actually loses his own “I”, his individuality and is accustomed to experiencing exactly those feelings that are expected of him in certain situations. Such a person is always ready to submit to any new authority; if necessary, he quickly and easily changes his beliefs, without particularly thinking about the moral side of such behavior. This is a type of conscious or unconscious opportunist.
The classification of characters depending on belonging to the extroverted and introverted type, proposed by K. Jung, has become widespread. As you remember, extroversion-introversion is considered by modern psychology as a manifestation of temperament. The first type is characterized by the personality’s focus on the surrounding world, the objects of which, like a magnet, attract the interests, vital energy of the subject, what in