Self-realization is the implementation of individual and personal capabilities of the “I” through one’s own efforts, as well as collaboration with other people. Self-realization is activated in relation to those traits, properties and qualities of a person that are rationally and morally acceptable and supported by society. At the same time, a person is what he makes himself, as far as he feels himself. Self-realization is an attribute of human existence itself.
Consequently, the social system, historical circumstances, natural and ecological conditions, social environment and even chance determine the manifestation of human activity. However, a person can realize his “self” because he is able to recognize his worth, rise above circumstances, have plans and goals for his activities, and take into account the real situation and long-term consequences. The criterion of self-realization, which is included in the evaluation system of each person’s mental activity, reflects society’s satisfaction with the individual and the individual’s satisfaction with social conditions. Consequently, the effectiveness of self-realization will depend not only on real external conditions, but also on how a person understands and evaluates them in relation to himself. This understanding and assessment is determined by knowledge and practical experience, personal characteristics and social skills.
Self-realization plays a crucial role in the entire life path of an individual, in fact, determining it. The prerequisites for self-realization are inherent in human nature itself and exist as inclinations, which, with the development of a person, with the formation of his personal properties, become the basis for the ability to self-realization. The image of the world also changes throughout a person’s life. It must become more and more complete and adequate. However, the condition for successful self-realization is a dynamic functional unity, where the image of the world and the image of “I” are balanced through an adequate understanding of one’s place in the world and the use of adequate social skills. In case of certain violations of this balance, a person has to look for conditional compensatory ways, such as psychological defense, to solve problems of self-realization.
§ 18.2. SELF-POWER AND SELF-ESTEEMSelf-esteem is the central link and motive of the self-concept. Self-concept is the core of personality, an important part of a person’s self-awareness. It includes unconscious ideas that are consistent and should not contradict conscious properties. Self-concept– a stable, internally consistent and consistent idea of a person about himself, recorded in verbal definitions. It performs important functions in a person’s life: it ensures internal consistency of a person’s knowledge about himself, contributes to the interpretation and motivation of new experience, and is a source of expectation of certain actions in relation to himself. The term “I” has many meanings. It includes bodily feeling, body image; self-identity (“I” is a lasting integrity); extension (“I” are my thoughts, and my things, and my group, and my religion, etc.), being a point of reference (egocentrism), etc. Our “I” has spatial and temporal features as a point between past and future.
An important point is the concept of the power of the “I”, which was introduced by 3. Freud. The strength of “I” is a measure of personal freedom from guilt, rigidity, and anxiety. When we talk about a strong character, we mean first of all the strong will of this person; when we talk about a strong personality, we mean a strong “I”, a person’s ability to self-organize and self-realize, mental endurance and self-esteem, as well as great social potential.
There are 6 indicators of the strength of the “I”. Let's call them: this is tolerance to external threats, psychological discomfort; freedom from panic; struggle with feelings of guilt (ability to compromise); the ability to effectively suppress unacceptable impulses; balance of rigidity and compliance; control and planning; adequate self-esteem. A weak “I” presupposes a strong development of psychological defense, which increases the inadequacy of the perception of the environment and the individual’s behavior.
Self-respect. Self-esteem is a generalized characteristic that develops in early childhood and is difficult to change. Self-esteem is synonymous in everyday speech as self-esteem. The level of self-esteem is reflected in the prevailing motivation.
T. Shibutani shows the connection between the desire for power and low self-esteem. Adequate self-esteem presupposes a small and well-regulated feeling of guilt, independence from other people's assessments.
The lower self-esteem, the more intolerant a person is towards criticism and humor.
W. James proposed a psychological “formula”:
Self-esteem determines a person’s adequacy in the world around him. Low self-esteem entails for an individual inadequacy in areas that are significant to him, a tendency to self-deception, fear of the truth, dominance of self-affirmation motivation and high development of many forms of psychological defense. Self-respect determines the nature of relationships with others (for example, the more a person does not respect himself, the more he does not value and fears others, and seeks to assert himself by belittling his partners).
Low self-esteem can manifest itself as a feeling of low worth, hide behind self-confidence and bravado, and result in a constant underestimation of one’s capabilities and self-deprecation. These people, as a rule, evaluate others inadequately: they expect aggressive actions or praise.
Adequacy of self-esteem and self-esteem depends on upbringing in early childhood. If a child is perceived as property, he or she develops a feeling of unworthiness. This is influenced by the lack of an emotional, warm atmosphere in the family, the predominance of harsh measures, authoritarianism and despoticism of parents and much more. Low self-esteem requires large expenditures of energy for psychological defense. Such children often develop a psychology of self-flagellation, constant psychological discomfort, and complexes (but they can be overcome); Shyness, fear of mistakes, strong self-control, and lack of spontaneity are usually present.
There are different ways to compensate for low self-esteem. You can lower your level of aspirations. For other people, this results in an escape from themselves, their problems and difficulties (i.e., various forms of psychological defense are formed). A more worthy way is to change your attitude to the situation and change your behavior, reduce the level of aspirations to your capabilities.
People with low self-esteem develop a greater internal distance from other people. Often they experience hobbies and passion, which are quickly replaced by fears, anxiety, suspicion, the inevitable fear of losing a loved one, and jealousy. These contradictory feelings are explained by self-doubt, a painful feeling of low value, which forces one to demand constant proof of respect and love from a partner, and lead to an acute experience of loneliness and the inevitability of the formation of forms of psychological defense.
The term “defense mechanisms” was proposed by Z. Freud in 1926. In his opinion, protection is a necessary condition for maintaining the stability of the personal structure in conditions of constant pathogenic conflict between different levels of self-awareness.
In a broad sense, psychological protection– any (conscious or unconscious) method by which a person is protected from influences that threaten tension and lead to disintegration of the personality.
Its general functions are the destruction of fear and the preservation of self-esteem.
A fairly close psychological concept that denotes stable and complex methods of psychological defense is complexes. Complexes are a strongly emotionally charged set of traits, images, ideas regarding one’s own personality traits and appearance, arising from disappointment and misfortune; is expressed in the form of protective and compensatory behavior and is corrected.
The most famous is the inferiority complex. It is present in other manifestations of experiencing one’s (perhaps only supposed) inferiority, for example, the old maid complex, the complex of poor people, the complex of provincialism, the complex of short stature, obesity and other physical defects, the complex of a loser or the complex of low level of achievements, the sexual complex.
§ 18.3. LEADERSHIP POTENTIALTo date, mainly three independent theories have been formed that explain the origin and essence of leadership potential. They can be roughly called the “great man” theory, the “situational” theory and the “determining role of followers” theory.
Combining the positive aspects of the listed leadership theories allows us to formulate the following definition. Leadership potential is a set of psychological qualities that meet the needs of the group and are most useful for resolving the problem situation in which this group finds itself. Absolute leaders - leaders everywhere and in everything - do not exist, just like absolute “followers”. A leader in business can be a follower in leisure and a scapegoat in family life. Moreover, in a certain field of activity, the assessment of the leadership potential of a particular person is not always unambiguous: the director of an enterprise can be a true leader for his deputies and shop managers, a formal leader from the point of view of middle management workers, and in the perception of workers - act as a source of confusion and bureaucratic lawlessness (i.e., “anti-leader”).
Leadership is leadership in stimulating, planning and organizing group activities. If we talk about groups of people, then behind the ability to lead are such integral characteristics as “danger alertness,” “managerial abilities,” and high “personal activity.”
“Danger alertness” refers to high performance under stress, as well as qualities such as sensitivity to potential danger and fearlessness.
Actions under stressful conditions that are most consistent with the role of a true leader lie in his primacy in protecting the group, in organizing group actions, in attacking actions, in choosing the strategy and tactics of group behavior. Sensitivity to potential danger is the leader's ability to anticipate the possibility of stressful circumstances and options for their development. Fearlessness conventionally denotes a quality that allows a leader to withstand threats directed at him for the longest time and recover faster from certain defeats.
The second most pronounced integral quality of a leader can be considered his management abilities. In their structure, the leading functions are the suppression of intragroup aggressiveness (conflicts) and the provision of support to weak members of the group, planning the upcoming actions of the group.
In third place is the leader’s high personal activity, which includes a fairly wide range of private manifestations - from initiative and contact to physical mobility and a tendency to form temporary alliances with different members of the group.
Particular manifestations of leadership potential are a high speed of orientation in the environment, a clear and large-scale vision of a positive future for the group, and the perception of the group as part of one’s own “I”. The scale of the goals generated by a potential leader inevitably prompts him to search for “his” group.
Every person can develop and improve their inherent leadership potential. The ability to lead increases significantly as people grow older and gain professional skill and a variety of life experiences. The main difficulty here is to determine the area of activity for the best application of one's strengths.
A particular way to develop leadership potential is to consciously practice such methods of behavior that people around them involuntarily perceive as leadership. This includes clearly observable elements of appearance, posture, facial expressions, gestures and speech: the absence of pretentious, deliberately “beautiful” elements of appearance, the maximum possible perceived body size (straight posture and head position, turned shoulders, high-soled shoes, etc. .), smoothness and some slowness of movements and gestures (except for situations requiring adequate manifestations of activity and aggressiveness), asymmetry of gestures of the right and left hands, a direct, long-fixed gaze at the opponent, measured and laconic speech, low timbre of voice, moderation of manifestations of outside physiological reactions.
§ 18.4. IMAGE IN LEADERSHIP FORMATIONSince ancient times, famous commanders and rulers have tried to perpetuate their image, the power of the state and achievements in the field of politics. In Ancient Rome, a ruler was a sacred figure, a bearer of unlimited power based on the customs of his ancestors. In Ancient Egypt, the king was associated with the lion, a symbol of power and strength. The king's head was decorated with rich decorations. In Rus', princely dignity was emphasized by a koch - a mantle, a hood - a hat. The symbols of royal power were the eagle and the lion. External attributes of royal power were used: throne, crown, scepter. Our ancestors sought to identify greatness with a visual image, designing their appearance and using rituals of behavior.
In Ancient Greece, knowledge of three areas of the face was used to create an image: from the hairline to the eyebrows, from the eyebrows to the tip of the nose, from the tip of the nose to the chin. With the help of special makeup, faces were given different characters: the top of the face – the spiritual essence of a person, the middle of the face – everyday life, the bottom of the face – eroticism, grotesque, eccentric.
The famous Niccolo Machiavelli described the qualities that a leader should exhibit when making recommendations for statesmen.
Currently, research into the image of leadership behavior is becoming relevant due to the practical significance of rationalization and management efficiency, especially in the highest echelons of political and economic power.
The rapid development of such industries as political psychology, PR activities, commercial and political advertising, management psychology requires knowledge about the psychological characteristics of leadership, especially its external manifestations. The experience of conducting political campaigns and presentations of business leaders indicates the emergence of such professionals as an image consultant. Image makers use a wealth of material accumulated in psychological studies of behavior, historical and memoir literature about outstanding commanders and rulers.
Creating an image is a problem of our time, caused by the rapid development of high technologies, the complication of the sphere of management, an overabundance of information, and the rapid change of events. Modern society is immersed in an information environment where communication processes are leading. It is difficult to distinguish between reality and symbolic representation. New information technologies and media that change consciousness become sources of power and influence. Image is a natural product of processing large amounts of information. The image becomes a label, a sign, a symbol.
The concept of “image” was introduced into scientific psychology by Gustave Le Bon and Walter Lippmann. Usually, in the most general sense, image refers to the image of a person. The concept of “leader’s image” is actively used in PR, political and commercial advertising, and in the modern direction of “imageology”. Currently, there is a wide variety in the interpretation of image. Some researchers in the field of PR, such as Sam Black, Edward Bernays, either do not use the concept of “image” or are against it. Most PR practitioners recognize the importance of image for an organization or leader. In modern psychology, emphasis is placed on the need for scientific development of the image of a leader. The image of a leader as a constructed image largely determines the influence and effectiveness of government. If you do not purposefully form the image of a leader, it may turn out to be unpredictable. This situation is unacceptable during election campaigns. The following key problems of image formation are identified: – psychological content of the concept of “image”;
– what are the components of the image;
– ethical problems of using image;
– image building technologies.
Leaders are born in a particular community. The main feature of the relationship between the leader and the group is the relationship of power. J. Blondol considered power to be a key feature of leadership. Power is potential, it is realized in influence. In psychology, influence is understood as a process in which the behavior of one or groups of people changes the state of other people. As a result of the influence, knowledge (cognitive aspect), feelings, values, motivation, attitudes, and behaviors change.
Influence is the psychological basis of leadership. Thus, a leader not only has potential power, but also constantly influences other people. Influence is always an interaction between the leader and the group. Moreover, the influence is asymmetrical, since the leader has a greater opportunity to influence other people. There are two types of leadership: “face to face” leadership and “distant” leadership, that is, political leadership of leaders influencing the masses. The success of a leader is largely determined by the communication situation: “face to face” or indirectly through the media. In this regard, researchers pay special attention to the features of the image. In direct communication, the public interacts with a real person. In mediated communication, an intermediate element appears - the image of the leader. A leader acts in the area of changing the state of people. Power allows a person to achieve maximum self-realization. Influence is considered from the point of view of socially determined norms of behavior and ethical criteria. The model of power action is described in the categories “goal-means-result-feedback”. The goal is the satisfaction of a need, the means are various resources of influence on a person, the result is the state of the object of power, feedback influences the subject of power - the leader, changing his actions. A special role in the implementation of power relations is played by externally observable characteristics of behavior, in connection with the problem of choosing means of influence. These include:
1) means of influence associated with the official role, position in society (role characteristics, the power of custom);
2) personal influence: physical strength, charm, beauty, intelligence;
3) influence using speech. Depending on the choice of means of influence, the problem of style of self-presentation and construction of the public “I” is solved. In this case, the reliance is placed not on the life world of the leader, but on the living space of the group, where the archetype plays a special role; which is based on historically formed connections between object – feeling – action. Thus, there is a generalized model of how a person interacts and understands another person. The starting point for describing people’s behavior is the emotional criterion, which generates the actual meaning.
The problem of image is related to the everyday experience of a person, the development of consciousness and self-awareness.
S. L. Rubinstein, discussing the problem of communication between people, noted that a person orients himself in the behavior of others as if he “reads another person,” deciphers the meaning of his external data and reveals the meaning of his behavior. In the process of life, each person develops a certain, automatically functioning psychological mechanism for understanding other people.
According to psychological research, it is known that the choice of political orientation in all historical periods is made only by a minority of people on the basis of a political concept. The majority are characterized by a personalized choice. The perception and evaluation of leaders' images replaces the work of understanding the content of the political situation. Thus, only the emotional-sensory level of perception works.
In the studies of E. Yu. Artemyeva on the study of the subjective picture of the world, the leading role of the emotional-evaluative properties of an object in the process of its perception is clearly demonstrated, and the process of development of the meanings of human actions is described. The moment of “first vision”, the first impression, is highlighted, when the relationship of the object to the subject (pleasant, dangerous) is formed - this is an analogue of the individual unconscious. Personal meanings are identified with the collective unconscious, an archetype according to C. Jung.
The first impression is formed on the basis of the perception of words (content) - 7%, characteristic features of the voice - 38%, appearance and non-verbal signals - 55%. Visual symbols lead in terms of impact effectiveness. It is this feature of psychological influence that is used in creating information “for everyone,” when they try to rewrite almost all variants of messages in a visual form. The increase in the level of image reliability in the case of visual communication is explained based on the analysis of the patterns of the visual field. Visual communication codes are not rigid. This allows the observer to weave them into their own context, the image becomes natural. An image created on the basis of visual signals is stored in memory longer and is more effective.
Using this data, it is possible to quite correctly formulate the image characteristics of the leader in accordance with the expectations of the public.
The components of a leader's image are divided into the following groups of characteristics: 1) physical - age, gender, type of constitution, health, racial or national characteristics; 2) psychological – character traits, the course of mental processes, mental states; 3) social – the status of the leader, role behavior models (these characteristics of the leader’s image are quite flexible, as they depend on the current social situation and social norms); 4) characteristics of the leader’s image as a symbol of ideology, an image of the expected future (these features are stable, as they are associated with a cultural archetype, the “leader-father” archetype, aggressive, altruistic).
Taken together, they represent a holistic image associated with a specific individuality. Each of these groups of characteristics makes a different contribution to the formation of a leader’s personal power and can be constructed to varying degrees.
External manifestations of leadership qualities are associated with appearance (clothes, shoes, hairstyle, cosmetics), appearance features (beauty or charm, physical strength, health, age), speech features (expressiveness, smoothness, loudness, ease of speech, correct grammatical constructions, lexical peculiarities). Nonverbal signals are included in a special group of external image signs. They are always situational, spontaneous and involuntary. The most significant for “reading” are the leader’s facial expressions, posture, and gestures. The leader's face carries the maximum information load: mouth, eyebrows, face as a whole, spatial orientation of the head, direction of gaze. What is important is the leader’s position in space and the distance between the leader and the audience. These characteristics are closely related to the culture of a particular society. More often, leaders are positioned apart from the public, at the top or in front, which is typical, in particular, of European culture. The distance and spatial location of the leader indicate the attitude towards a specific person. With the help of these features, rituals of leadership behavior are formed. Speech features make it possible to judge the leader’s decisiveness, confidence, importance and accessibility. According to research results, it has been established that most often men become leaders. The choice by age depends on the nature of the political situation in society - stable or unstable. In an unstable situation, as a rule, a young leader is chosen, which indicates the influence of the leadership archetype on the choice: strong, energetic, capable of leading, active, healthy. In stable societies, older leaders have a chance of being elected. Factors that ensure the effectiveness of power include charisma or personal charm. M. Weber described charismatic leaders as gifted with supernatural powers and properties. Le Bon interpreted charisma based on the concept of “charm”, “magnetic charm”. Such leaders are able to instill their ideas, feelings, and infect the public with their own energy and emotions. The main weapon of charisma is the power of emotional expression. The emergence of charismatic leaders is usually associated with a crisis situation that requires change. Researchers include high energy potential, self-confidence, conviction in the significance of goals and accomplishments, expressiveness, external expressiveness, brilliant oratorical skills, beauty, and modeling of role behavior as the main features of a charismatic leader.
Existing image developments are mainly based on a specific situation, i.e., the reflected situation. Image is understood as the directed formation of a person’s image, which is specially organized and structured. For this purpose, mass communications are used. Technologists associate image with everyday consciousness. It acts as a symbol in the form of visual and sound signals, which are perceived on an emotional level, without reaching the level of logical constructions (meanings). This way the image becomes accessible to the broad masses, as it affects the lower levels of the psyche. It is schematic and simplified. When creating an image, only certain aspects of the leader’s personality are used. In the field of political activity, due to the indirect nature of communication between the leader and the public, it is much easier to create the required image.
A complete realistic image is an ideal time capacitor, a multi-valued phenomenon for the recipient, and represents only objective information. The image is filled with ethical (humanistic) and aesthetic (realistic) content. This is proven by studies of images in journalism and art.
To construct an image, a stereotype is used, which, like the image, is a product of a specific situation. The lifetime of a stereotype is limited by the lifetime of the situation. Technological image makers usually use a stereotype to stimulate the primitive needs of people, thereby causing a simplified vision of the situation. TV channels especially use stereotypes. A stereotype is associated with a specific idea about a person. The leader is identified as “friend” or “stranger.” The exploitation of a stereotype leads to stimulation of primitive forms of perception: eroticization of advertising, cinema, and variety shows.
Image and stereotype can only be effective in specific situations. A change in the situation destroys them, and suddenly it turns out that “the king is naked.” Disappointment and disgust towards the leader sets in. Such examples can be observed after the end of the election campaign, if the leader does not care about developing his own image, loses charm, and then power. In the practice of consulting leaders, a system of stereotypes has been developed:
1) individual-personal (“weaker sex”, “real man”);
2) family (“the man is the head of the family”);
3) production (“real boss”);
4) social, class (“elite”, “strong man”);
5) state (Russia is a great power, the USA is a stronghold of democracy);
6) national (“lazy Russian”, “pedantic German”, “frivolous Frenchman”);
7) formational (information society, post-industrial society).
It must be remembered that a stereotype and image simplify real ideas and have maximum social results. In this case, a prerequisite is the preservation of the ethical principle of working with the image, non-compliance with which also leads to the defeat of the leader.
§ 18.5. COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCECommunicative competence usually refers to the ability to establish and maintain necessary contacts with other people. Competencies include a set of knowledge, skills and abilities that ensure effective communication. This kind of competence presupposes the ability to change the depth and range of communication, to understand and be understood by communication partners. Communicative competence is a developing and largely conscious experience of communication between people, which is formed in conditions of direct interaction. The process of improving communicative competence is associated with personality development. The means of regulating communicative acts are part of human culture, and their appropriation and enrichment occurs according to the same laws as the development and enhancement of cultural heritage as a whole. In many ways, the acquisition of communicative experience occurs not only during direct interaction. From literature, theater, and cinema, a person also receives information about the nature of communicative situations, problems of interpersonal interaction and ways to solve them. In the process of mastering the communicative sphere, a person borrows from the cultural environment the means of analyzing communicative situations in the form of verbal and visual forms.
Communicative competence is directly related to the characteristics of the social roles performed by a person.
Communicative competence presupposes adaptability and freedom of use of verbal and non-verbal means of communication and can be considered as a category that regulates the system of a person’s relationships with himself, the natural and social world.
Thus, both individual personal qualities and socio-cultural and historical experience contribute to the formation of competence in communication.
One of the tasks of communicative competence is the assessment of cognitive resources that provide adequate analysis and interpretation of situations. To diagnose this assessment, there is currently a large block of techniques based on the analysis of “free descriptions” of various communicative situations. Another method of studying communicative competence is observation in natural or specially organized game situations with the use of technical means and meaningful analysis of the information received. Depending on the goals of the study, one can take into account the rate of speech, intonation, pauses, non-verbal techniques, facial expressions and pantomime, and the organization of communicative space. One of the diagnostic parameters may be the number of techniques used, another may be the adequacy of their application. Of course, such a diagnostic system is quite labor-intensive and high-quality implementation requires a lot of time and high qualifications of the observer. The difficulty of assessing communicative competence also lies in the fact that in the process of communication people are guided by a complex system of rules for regulating joint actions. And if the situation of interaction can be analyzed, then the rules by which people enter this situation are not always realized.
One of the means of developing communicative competence is socio-psychological training (SPT). This relatively new scientific and practical direction of psychology is currently undergoing intensive development as an integral and important part of the psychological service system. With all the variety of specific forms of SPT, they all have a unifying feature - it is a means of influence aimed at developing certain knowledge, skills and experience in the field of interpersonal communication. We can say that psychologically this means the following:
– development of a system of communication skills and abilities;
– correction of the existing system of interpersonal communication;
– creating personal prerequisites for successful communication.
An analysis of the possible impacts of socio-psychological training reveals that in the process of group work, the deep personal formations of the training participants are also affected. After all, a person receives new specific information about himself. And this information affects such personal variables as values, motives, and attitudes. All this speaks in favor of the fact that SPT can also be associated with the process of personality development, or rather, with the beginning of this process. Indeed, the new information about oneself and others obtained in the training, which, as a rule, is acutely emotionally mediated, encourages one to rethink the existing self-concept and the concept of the “other.”
Mastering deep communication is both a means and a result of exposure within the framework of SPT.
Personal development consists not only in building higher levels of its structure, but in weakening existing and ineffective ones.
Thus, we can say that the development of competence in communication presupposes an adequate choice and use of the entire set of tools focused on the development of personal subject-subject aspects of communication and the subject-object components of this process.
In the broadest sense, a person's communication competence can be defined as his competence in interpersonal perception, interpersonal communication and interpersonal interaction.
Communication in interpersonal communication is not identical to simply the exchange of information, because:
– certain interpersonal relationships arise between people;
– these relationships are changeable;
- “a thought is not equal to the direct meaning of the word.”
A special feature of human communication is the presence of barriers that prevent the penetration of information. The appearance of barriers, however, is quite logical, because communication is impact. If the influence is successful, a person may experience some changes in his understanding of the world. Not everyone is ready for this and wants it, because such changes violate his stability, opinion about himself and other people, so a person will protect himself from the influence.
It is quite clear that not every influence in communication is threatening. On the contrary, there are a large number of situations in which the information received is positive, strengthens a person’s position, and gives him emotional satisfaction. Thus, a person must be able to recognize useful and harmful information. How can this be done?
Let's monitor the emergence of barriers. Speech in human communication is the main method of influence. If the listener trusts the speaker as much as possible, then he completely accepts the speaker’s thoughts, while protecting himself from the influences of the speaker, the listener “releases” trust to him very carefully. Consequently, not every speaker inspires and influences when faced with counter psychological activity, which is the basis for the emergence of barriers to communication. These barriers include: avoidance, authority, misunderstanding. Thus, methods of protection against exposure are:
– avoiding contact with sources of exposure;
– orientation towards one’s own culture, logic, style, language and misunderstanding of someone else’s language, semantic field, style and logic.
Accordingly, to overcome barriers it is necessary:
– attract and retain the attention of a communication partner;
– use a universal feedback mechanism to clarify the understanding of the situation, words, feelings and logic of the interlocutor;
Considering the interactive side, researchers study various types of interaction situations during communication. In the most general form, we can distinguish the dichotomous division into competition and cooperation proposed by Deutsch. Various types of interactions can be captured through observation. In one of the most famous observation schemes, developed by R. Bales, the following categories are identified with which interaction can be described: the area of problem formulation, the area of problem solving, the area of positive emotions, the area of negative emotions. When considering the interactive side of communication, it is necessary to take into account the parameters and characteristics of the situation in which the interaction occurs. Currently, the situational approach, in which the starting point for analyzing communication is the parameters of the situation, is becoming increasingly developed.
§ 18.6. CHOOSING A SUBJECTIVE-OPTIMAL LIFE PATHA person’s awareness of his subjectively optimal life path is an important element of his personal maturity. This is clearly recorded in definitions indicating the absence of such awareness - a “unlucky” or even “dissolute” person. The social experience of many generations of people, reflected in these expressions, shows that each person, with all the variety of possible directions of movement in life, has one direction intended specifically for him, i.e., “his own” path.
A person is born with an individual set of intellectual and emotional inclinations, which are subsequently transformed into abilities, interests, motives for behavior and activity. By engaging precisely in those areas of life for which he has the necessary inclinations, a person turns out to be the most learnable. He develops faster and demonstrates success that certainly exceeds the average level. We will designate this hypothetical set of inclinations as development potential.
At the pragmatic level, a life path that, in its conditions and requirements for a person, fully corresponds to his development potential can be interpreted as subjectively optimal. At the metaphorical level, it is nothing more than a deep psychological preparedness for some purely individual mission, for the implementation of which a given person came into this world for the benefit of others and for his own pleasure.
The pre-preparedness of life's path, unfortunately, does not mean its obvious destiny. The path is chosen by a person based on rational grounds or by the will of circumstances, that is, for reasons that have practically nothing to do with his real inclinations. Therefore, selection errors are highly probable. In youth, they are inevitable, since the experience of testing oneself in various activities is still small, and the accuracy of self-understanding is minimal. The flexibility of the developing psyche, in principle, allows young people to adapt to any type of activity, even the most unsuitable for them.
The wrongness of the chosen direction of life becomes pronounced in adulthood. Long-term following a path that is not one’s own leads to a gap between conscious behavior and the needs inherent in development potential. This gap is subjectively expressed in the appearance of dysphoric experiences and increased neuropsychic tension.
The most striking manifestations of adult “unsuccessfulness” are the so-called “burnout syndrome” in professions related to public activity, as well as the “midlife crisis”, attributed by various authors to the age range from 35 to 45 years. The peculiarity of this crisis is that it develops gradually among socially and psychologically prosperous people. The psychological discomfort that grows as the crisis develops for a long time has no logical basis for them: in a subjective sense, everything in life is good individually, but as a whole, everything is bad. The camouflage of the internal cause of discomfort makes it impossible to purposefully combat it and ultimately leads to extraordinary actions and behavior.
In the evolution of the animal world, some differences have developed in the mental makeup of male and female individuals, which are significant for the problem we are discussing. In particular, we are talking about less, on average, pliability to learning, rigidity in the methods of mental activity and behavior, and a narrow focus of the inclinations of development potential in a male individual. Because of this, men are much more likely to not discover “their” path and are not able to fully adapt to the path they have already taken.
The first step out of the crisis towards “your” path is the awareness of the experienced dysphoric states as a consequence of the systemic crisis of your life as such, and not as a situationally developed set of particular difficulties. Despite the relativity of subjective self-assessment, we can recommend for self-diagnosis several sensory (i.e., formed by the subconscious) indicators that reveal the fact of following a “not your own” path in life:
1. A feeling of persistent bad luck, “everything is going against...”. The experience of failure is due to the fact that a “not one’s” goal, a goal that lies outside “one’s” path, does not trigger the work of subconscious thinking. Thus, the results of the work of conscious thinking are not supplemented by generalized data (across the entire amount of information available in a person’s experience on the problem being solved) in the form of intuition. Limiting the information basis of a decision to only its conscious part sharply reduces the adequacy of planning and causes the resulting low success of action.
2. Tiring of achievements, unpleasant fatigue as a constant experience. The tediousness of “not your own” action is explained by the fact that the subconscious denies immediate interest in it as the most effective stimulant of performance, and activity, performed primarily due to volitional tension, is highly energy-consuming and therefore tiring.
3. Lack of full satisfaction (joy, pride, jubilation) upon achieving success, joylessness of long-awaited events or victories. The subjective bleakness of success can be considered the most accurate indication of the fallacy of the actions taken. It can be understood as a message from the subconscious that the goal achieved was not truly “yours.” Consequently, in the sense of progress along the individual life path, there is no achievement, and therefore the emotional reinforcement of the work performed is not included.
The deep meaning of the listed indicators is that they unobtrusively create such subjective conditions that push a person to abandon activities that, in terms of their requirements and probable results, are “not theirs.”
The mechanism of the crisis is the loss of dynamism in personality development. The uncertainty of one’s own “I” and one’s future is the leading problem of youth. It is solved by testing oneself in different matters and situations (hence the teenage “I want to know everything”, “I need to try everything in life”). As a result of such efforts, the young man gradually determines what he is. And thus he falls into a psychological trap with far-reaching consequences. His subjective “I” becomes a very local territory, reliably cut off from the “not-I” (from uncertainty) by prohibitions and self-prohibitions. The overdetermination of the present becomes over time the leading problem of adulthood. Stopping changes in yourself and in the world is the end of life.
Part of the general loss of psychological dynamism is the ossification of the picture of the surrounding world. In fact, as many people as there are, there are so many different pictures of the world, including those that are directly opposite in their fundamental positions, and ideas about each other’s personality. However, for every adult it seems self-evident and does not need any justification that his ideas about himself and the world around him are quite accurate and, most importantly, objective, and any deviations from them in his life partner are evidence of his poor knowledge of the “real” life, weakness of mind or dishonesty.
Under these circumstances, the situation of a person experiencing a midlife crisis is truly dramatic. All his attempts to logically correct his joyless life are fundamentally doomed to failure. The diffuse experience that “everything is not as it should”, the feeling of “loss of meaning in life” arises because, given the ideas about one’s capabilities in a given subjective world, the desire for a “correct” life (energetic, effective and joyful) in principle cannot be satisfied.
The specific forms in which an adult finds “his or her own” path in life can be infinitely varied. Therefore, let us outline at least the main stages of such acquisition. It seems that in its expanded form, finding the path consists of three successive stages: awareness of the crisis, self-identification, reorientation.
The realization that life has reached a dead end and further existence in its previous form is impossible requires considerable courage from a person. Moreover, the subconscious, fulfilling its protective function, exposes to the consciousness a set of “obvious” minor problems (I’m such an anxious person... relationships with employees don’t work out... children don’t listen to me... etc.). It is much easier for a consciousness that has ceased to change to delve endlessly into any set of petty pseudo-problems than to understand that it is impossible to live like this any longer. At the peak of experiencing the meaninglessness of their existence, every adult has the opportunity to choose from three solutions:
1. Fear the inevitable upheavals of the previous way of life, “pull yourself together” and pretend that everything is in order. To frantically engage in something: work, fishing, order in the house, reading, etc. In fact, this is the path of noble degradation of the soul, its death, followed by the destruction of the body (high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, ulcers, hormonal disorders) It won’t take too long to do it.
2. “Knock out a wedge with a wedge,” drown out the feeling of the meaninglessness of life with more intense experiences. The wretchedness of the goal itself gives rise to the wretchedness of the means used: alcohol, the desire for risk as such, a riotous lifestyle, and less often, drug use. Suicide is the most radical of this kind of means.
3. Begin to consistently destroy your old world. In the shell of familiar ideas, of course, it’s bad - it’s stuffy, musty, and cramped. But, on the other hand, it protects against the unknown and the dangers and hardships associated with it. Therefore, anyone who decides to free himself from it must be prepared for the fact that at first “in freedom” he will be met mainly only by new difficulties and problems. True, they will be qualitatively different than in his previous world.
Self-identification consists in a complete, active and, accordingly, not distorted external expression and awareness of one’s “I”. Everyone is probably familiar with bittersweet thoughts like: “Oh, if only I could... (some subjectively attractive action), but then... (motivation why this should not be done).” Until everything attractive is actually tried, illusions cannot be separated from the truth. Only by fully expressing yourself outwardly can you fully see whether it is you.
Communication with a professional psychologist (consultant, psychotherapist) can significantly help speed up self-identification. Not “voiced” judgments about oneself and the world can remain inconsistent and contradictory for as long as desired—the person himself may not notice this. As with solving many other problems, accurate self-understanding requires an external action (story) directed at the outside world (at the consultant). The consultant’s task in this case is to serve as a smart mirror in which the client can see his whole self without the usual distortions, retouching and “blind spots”.
Reorientation is understood as finding (discovering for oneself) a new orienting basis in the perception and assessment of circumstances and situations of the world. While a person looks around him with “old” eyes, he will be able to see only what he saw before: the old world, the old problems, the old inability to somehow resolve them. A person trying to get out of a life crisis always asks the consultant: “So what should I do?” But the difficulty of the answer lies precisely in the fact that the entire set of actions available to this person at the moment is an organic element of his former life, and their use can only lead to its temporary resuscitation. The only adequate action in a crisis is the rejection of self-stereotypical, “obvious” and “objectively conditioned” expectations, attitudes and reactions.
Errors in the choice and subsequent correction of a subjectively optimal life path are inevitable and in this sense normal. Overcoming a life crisis (with the help of its awareness, self-identification, reorientation) leads to a more complete and accurate understanding of “your” path, experiencing the meaning of your life and satisfaction with it.
§ 18.7. CONDITIONAL COMPENSATORY WAYS IN SELF-REALIZATIONOne of the most important is self-realization in the field of professional activity. For various reasons, self-realization may take the path of conditional compensation for the subjective complexity of professional activity.
In this area, the phenomenon of “emotional burnout” is known among psychotherapists involved in conducting socio-psychological training. It consists in the therapist’s gradual loss of the ability to be steadily and diversely involved with his emotions in the training process. Experienced doctors have a specific “detachment” from the patient’s experiences and suffering when they perform necessary but painful medical procedures. The same “detachment” may be characteristic of law enforcement officials who perform some standard actions in relation to violators.
We have most fully described professional-specific psychological defense mechanisms for major political figures and high-ranking civil servants. As a result of observing their behavior and public speaking, it was possible to identify at least three specific types of defense mechanisms. The following conventional names are used to denote them: “I am exceptional,” “Life is a game,” and “Everything is bad for you.”
Defense mechanism "I"– exceptional". The difficulty of moving up the career ladder pushes people who have achieved certain success along this path to perceive themselves as not quite ordinary, especially gifted in some ways, different from ordinary people. The higher the rank a person occupies in any hierarchical system, the less inclined he is to identify himself with the “people”, with the “masses”. Senior officials in a large organization, as a rule, stop listening to advice from below, completely relying on their personal experience and intuition.
The reason for the appearance of this kind of experience is the discrepancy between the enormous difficulty of achieving high status and the real possibility of losing it instantly.
The emerging experience of one’s own exclusivity and therefore fundamental indispensability at the helm of power serves to reduce this kind of anxiety. A particular, but quite indicative example of the action of the mechanism under consideration is the excessive attention currently paid by the supreme authorities to the fate of the remains of the last Russian emperor and his family: only he, as the highest leader, alone (out of hundreds of thousands of people who died unknown during that period) is recognized as capable of becoming "a symbol of repentance and reconciliation."
Defense mechanism: “Everything is bad for you.” Its action is closely connected with the very essence of the phenomenon of leadership. A leader is a figure who emerges in a difficult situation in order for a group of people to overcome some problem that is significant to them. Therefore, it is much easier to lead when the group, the population, is clearly in bad shape, when the socio-psychological climate is dominated by anxiety and confusion, but there is still hope for a favorable outcome. A striking example of this can be some Russian leaders who act decisively and effectively in public only in extreme situations such as a putsch or an election campaign. Such situations are their element. It is here, on the verge of life and death, that they gain justifiable popularity among the masses. When ordinary, “sluggish” life comes, these leaders disappear from television screens, become socially passive, from time to time attracting public attention with unexpected and not always adequate actions.
A significant part of people in power are not true leaders by their psychological make-up. They “went into power” and found themselves in it in a sense situationally - such are the troubled times. It is precisely this kind of leaders who are characterized by an involuntary desire to create more comfortable operating conditions for themselves by intensifying, intensifying, and partly provoking neuropsychic tension in those around them. In a leader’s public speech, an obvious indicator of such a desire is a fixation on depicting, sometimes grotesquely, already existing problems, troubles and difficulties, but especially predictable additional hardships for the population.
Defense mechanism “Life is a game.” The well-being of very large groups of the population largely depends on the actions and decisions of the holders of power. Erroneous or insufficiently professional actions of the former may pose a threat to the integrity and stability of the state. Constantly being aware of this would be a powerful stressor for them. The psychological mechanism “Life is a game” serves as a defense against it: many leaders develop an attitude towards their activities as a specific game for a limited circle of people. And like any game, it can be played successfully or with mistakes and defeats. But in any case, it really affects the interests of only the players. For any active participant in the game, its rules and conditions, the behavior of other players, etc. are very important. And therefore, it is quite natural that in the speeches of political leaders of various ranks there is an exceptionally large proportion of statements on internal party issues, factional issues, political personalities, and regulations and procedures, removal and appointment of certain personalities, i.e., in fact, on technological (“game”) issues that are not directly related to the interests and needs of voters.
Psychological defense mechanisms, formed at the involuntary level, are an important component of a person’s systemic adaptation to the general and specific conditions of his life and activity. The conditional-compensatory nature of this form of psychological adaptation is given by its primary focus on maintaining the subjective comfort of the individual, rather than on the objective tasks of activity. Timely detection of the action of defense mechanisms and the establishment of the reasons for their activation serve as prerequisites for increasing the effectiveness of activities while maintaining the integrity and harmony of the “I”.
Have you ever wondered how famous and successful people got to where they are today? A Do you want to change your own life? Make it better and more interesting, achieve real success?
Whatever the specific reasons for the success of a particular person, the main thing that characterizes all successful people is a high level of their personal self-realization.
By self-realization, humanitarian psychology, the founder of which is considered the famous American psychologist and philosopher A. Maslow ***, understands the state of fulfillment of a person’s inner nature. Self-realization means becoming more and more fully yourself, expressing your inner essence on the external level of life. This is what makes a person an extraordinary person.
Self-realization is the discovery of one's own capabilities - and this is the path that leads a person to a happier and more successful life.
Self-realization is the highest human need
Psychology and neurophysiology generally proceed from the fact that modern man realizes on average only 5-10% of his potential. If you imagine that a pianist uses only his left little finger when playing, you will get a clear idea of what this means. Can such a game bring pleasure to the pianist himself, not to mention success with the audience?
A. Maslow is the author of the hierarchical model of human needs - the so-called " pyramids of needs"The “higher” the level of needs, the more happiness their fulfillment can bring a person. The highest level of happiness and satisfaction is brought by" higher“needs that are directly related to a person’s self-realization and self-development.
However, for now more " inferior“needs are not satisfied, it is difficult for a person to turn his attention to needs of a higher order and feel the joy that they are able to give. Everyday worries about food and clothing, work and housing often completely absorb a person. There is little joy and little meaning in such a life. From the point of view of A. Maslow, this is a kind of preparation for life, rather than actual life. It is no coincidence that many people in modern society experience frustration, depression associated with a vague or obvious awareness of the routine and meaninglessness of their existence, their unrealization. According to medical estimates made at the WHO International Conference, held in Moscow on April 28, 2011, about 30% of the population of the Western world suffers from depression, and in 20 years this figure will already be 50%.
The last three levels: "cognition", "aesthetic needs" and "self-realization" are collectively called the "need for self-expression" or spiritual needs.
A. Maslow proceeds from the fact that human life acquires more meaning and satisfaction the more one does to realize the so-called " extreme" or " core values" i.e. love, freedom, truth, justice and beauty.
But feedback is also important: the higher the level of a person’s self-realization (the level of disclosure of one’s own abilities), the easier the person achieves his goals in terms of satisfying lower-order needs. Self-realization means the growth of a person’s personal effectiveness in any area of life.
As a result, a self-realized person keeps idealism and materialism, “higher” and “lower” in balance. The material side of life brings him the same satisfaction as the spiritual one.
Self-realization - personality maturity
Self-realization means the fullest possible disclosure of not only individual, but also universal qualities inherent in every developed human being.
Self-realization is the formation of certain personality qualities that most fully reflect the inner nature of a person, which is perfect.
The inner nature of a person is consciousness, which, being the most essential characteristic of a person, determines the entire style of his thinking and behavior. Therefore, self-realization is directly related to unlocking the full potential of human consciousness. We can say that self-realization is an indicator of a certain inner maturity of consciousness person. More and more complete use of the potential of a person’s consciousness makes him an increasingly perfect person.
A. Maslow studied people who became extraordinary individuals (artists, entrepreneurs and politicians). As a result, he established the signs that characterize self-realized people.
- Those who have achieved the goal of revealing their own capabilities (self-realization) perceive reality more clearly. He is able to better distinguish between reality and hope, expectation or faith.
- A self-actualized person accepts himself as he is.
- The behavior of someone who has achieved a high level of self-realization is characterized by spontaneity, simplicity and naturalness. Artificiality and passion for effects are alien to him.
- A person who has achieved self-realization is focused not on himself, but on solving the problem. He is not overly concerned with himself, but lives to accomplish a task, goal, or mission that is important to everyone. A self-actualized person acts with responsibility, and not as a “chess piece.”
- Loneliness does not oppress him. He is self-sufficient.
- People who have achieved a high degree of self-realization more easily endure the so-called “blows of fate,” deprivation, frustration, etc. They are more independent of the influences of the surrounding world. This lifts them above their circumstances, allowing them to direct their lives in the direction they want.
- They are able to constantly reassess basic life values, no matter what impression this may make on other people. This also means that self-actualized people never experience boredom.
- People who achieved self-realization sometimes experienced mystical feelings, such as: unlimited possibilities, indescribable surprise in relation to reality, the infinity of time and space, etc.
- Self-realization makes the relationships of people who have achieved it with other people more fulfilling and harmonious. Self-actualized people feel connected to others more clearly than the average person, but their circle of close friends is limited.
- People who have achieved self-realization have a democratic character: they are equally friendly towards people of any type. They are always open to learning something from everyone.
- Such people have clear moral ideas and strong ethical principles. They do not need to be told what is right and what is wrong; but their views on good and evil often do not coincide with the opinion of the majority.
- They understand humor, but do not laugh at malicious jokes that hurt other people, as well as jokes that ridicule the weaknesses of others. Therefore, compared to “ordinary people,” they look reserved.
- Creativity, originality or ingenuity are indispensable companions of self-realization and are inherent in all self-realized people. Self-actualized people constantly come up with new ideas.
- People with a high level of self-realization are quite tolerant, but in critical situations they show determination and courage.
- Self-actualized people are extremely devoted to their family.
Self-realization and Transcendental Meditation Technique
Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation technique is a simple and effective way to develop a person's full mental potential and increase his level of self-realization. As confirmed by numerous tests conducted with meditators, after only 2 months of meditation, the subjects showed progress in such indicators as integration and personality stability, emotional maturity, determination, high self-esteem, the ability to maintain good relationships, flexibility in achieving goals, adaptability to difficult conditions and other characteristics characteristic of a person with a high level of self-realization.
During meditation, deep stresses and tensions accumulated over a lifetime, which are the cause of all stereotypical reactions and patterns of behavior inherent in the psyche of a person, dissolve. This removes the blocks and restrictions that usually weigh on a person throughout his life, and allows him to reveal all the richness of a person’s inner world.
Meditation increases self-esteem and allows you to integrate certain suppressed parts of your personality. It eliminates the need to constantly suppress your qualities, which are considered negative. Instead, it provides the meditator with the opportunity to listen to his inner self. Here's how one of the women meditators put it:
"I used to learn to be what others wanted me to be. The price for this was losing contact with myself. With meditation, the sense of my personality came to life again. Slowly but surely, I began to feel various features of my inner reality. I became freer and freer to be guided in my thoughts and actions by my own experience. I began to trust my own impressions and feel more and more confident. Meditation gave me a chance to restore broken contacts with myself. I agree to be who I am, without the help of constant orders and prescriptions like: " Say something too,” “Be more attentive,” etc. And suddenly everything went much easier and more natural.”
Meditation eliminates the very cause of all thought patterns and “vicious circles” and releases forces that can change patterns of behavior that lead to stagnation and self-destruction.
Self-realization is a natural, automatic consequence of the development of consciousness that occurs as a result of meditation. Discovering one's own capabilities is a natural process that begins when there is no significant mental resistance in the consciousness of the person himself.
Self-realization is the goal of life
Self-realization, self-disclosure means, according to A. Maslow, the process leading to becoming more humane. Self-realization leads to achieving a higher degree of perfection, to becoming more and more person.
Self-realization- the most complete realization of one’s own inner nature is the true goal of every person’s life.
“Man by nature strives for a fulfilled and absolute being, for an ever more complete realization of his existence - just as an acorn strives to become an oak tree.”
A. Maslow
Yu. Sycheva, Candidate of Economic Sciences,
Transcendental Meditation Teacher
*** Abraham Maslow (English: Abraham Maslow, April 1, 1908 - June 8, 1970) is a prominent American psychologist, founder of humanistic psychology. His ideas are most fully outlined in his 1954 book, Motivation and Personality.
Considering professional activity as a subject of study in psychology, it is necessary to note the following. Professional activity is studied as a special function of the subject in the process of work. In this sense, the study of professional activity is inextricably linked with the analysis of those features of objective reality that determine its content, as well as with the analysis of changes in human development as a consequence of the subject’s implementation of this type of activity.
The problem of professional development of an individual is directly related to the issues of mastering professional activities, with issues of development and realization of the individual at various stages of his professional path.
L.I. Belozerova interprets professional development as a process of development from the desire to realize one’s creative potential to understanding one’s calling and the formation of professionalism. She argues that professional development is carried out through the development of individual self-awareness. Professional self-awareness finds expression in self-improvement and self-education of the individual. Professional development occurs as the student is trained, educated, and self-educated, being an integrating process in relation to him.
The term “self-realization” was first used in the Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology, published in 1902. Currently, this term is absent in domestic reference literature, while in foreign literature it is interpreted ambiguously. Most often, the concept of “self-realization” is interpreted as “realization of one’s own potential.”
Self-realization of an individual in the professional sphere along the path of life involves the following stages: professional self-determination (choice of the type and direction of activity), formation in the chosen profession, professional growth and development of professional competence. However, periodically a person clarifies and corrects the course of his self-realization, returning to one or another stage. The genesis of difficulties and difficulties of self-realization in the professional sphere is already laid down in the prerequisites for self-realization of the individual and subsequently takes place at each of the identified stages, and the difficulties themselves are reflected in the specifics of the profession.
The first stage of self-realization is self-determination. Self-determination is one of the central mechanisms for the development of personal maturity, which consists in a person’s conscious choice of his place in the system of social relations. The emergence of the need for self-determination indicates that an individual has reached a fairly high level of development, which is characterized by the desire to take his own, fairly independent position in the structure of informational, ideological, professional, emotional and other connections with other people.
The concept of professional development of personality is a process of progressive change in personality under the influence of social influences, professional activity and one’s own activity aimed at self-improvement and self-realization.
E.F. Zeer believes that professional development is a large part of human ontogenesis, which covers the period from the beginning of the formation of professional intentions to the end of professional life. The scientist claims that the movement of the individual in the space and time of professional work is called the professional formation of the subject of activity. The author gives a brief definition of professional development - this is the “shaping” of the personality, adequate to the activity, and the individualization of the activity by the personality. E.F. Zeer formulated the following conceptual provisions:
professional development of an individual has historical and sociocultural conditionality;
· the core of professional development is the development of personality in the process of vocational training, mastering a profession and performing professional activities;
· the process of professional development of an individual is individually unique, unique, however, qualitative features and patterns can be identified in it;
· professional life allows a person to realize himself, provides the individual with opportunities for self-actualization;
· the individual trajectory of a person’s professional life is determined by normative and non-normative events, random circumstances, as well as a person’s irrational drives;
· knowledge of the psychological characteristics of professional development allows a person to consciously design his professional biography, build, create his own history.
Professional development is a productive process of personal development and self-development, mastering and self-designing professionally oriented activities, determining one’s place in the world of professions, realizing oneself in the profession and self-actualization of one’s potential to achieve the heights of professionalism.
Professional development is a dynamic process of “formation” of a personality, adequate activity, which involves the formation of professional orientation, professional competence and professionally important qualities, the development of professionally significant psychophysiological properties, the search for optimal ways of high-quality and creative performance of professionally significant activities in accordance with individual psychological personality traits. The system-forming factor of this process at different stages of development is the socio-professional orientation, formed under the influence of the social situation of a complex of interconnected developing professionally significant activities and professional activity of the individual.
The transition from one stage of formation to another is initiated; changes in the social situation, change and restructuring of leading activities - which leads to - the professional development of the individual, the crisis of its psychological organization, the formation of a new integrity, followed by disorganization and the subsequent establishment of a qualitatively new level of functioning, the center of which becomes professionally determined psychological new formations.
Professional development of an individual is a process of raising the level and improving the structure of professional orientation, professional competence, socially and professionally important qualities and professionally significant psychophysiological properties through resolving contradictions between the current level of their development, the social situation and developmental leading activities.
The process of professional development is mediated by professionally significant activities and social situation. The dynamics of professional development are subject to the general laws of mental development: continuity, heterochrony, unity of consciousness and activity.
The effectiveness of professional development of an individual depends on the following conditions: psychologically justified choice of profession; professional selection of optants who have an interest and inclination for the profession, shaping their professional orientation, giving the content and technology of the vocational educational process in an educational institution a developmental character; consistent development by a specialist and professional of a system of interrelated activities.
At the initial stages of professional development, the contradictions between the individual and the external conditions of life are of decisive importance. At the stages of professionalization and especially professional mastery, contradictions of an intrasubjective nature, caused by intrapersonal conflicts, dissatisfaction with the level of one’s professional growth, and the need for further self-development and self-realization, take on leading importance. Resolving these contradictions leads to finding new ways of performing professional activities, changing specialty, position, and sometimes profession.
The transition from one stage of professional development to another is accompanied by crises. Since they are psychologically justified, we will call them normative. The collapse of professional intentions, termination of professional education, forced dismissal, retraining are also accompanied by crises (let's call them non-normative). It should also be noted that any professional activity deforms the personality and leads to the formation of socially and professionally undesirable qualities and character traits.
In the process of professional development, contradictions of two kinds arise:
· between the personality and the external conditions of life.
· intrapersonal.
The main contradiction that determines the development of personality is the contradiction between the existing properties, qualities of the individual and the objective requirements of professional activity.
Education, professional knowledge and skills, general and special abilities, socially significant and professionally important qualities constitute the professional development potential of a specialist. Realization of potential depends on many factors:
human biological organization,
· social situation,
· nature of professional activity,
· personality activity, its needs for self-development and self-actualization.
But the leading factor in the professional development of an individual is a system of objective requirements for him, determined by professional activity, in the process of which new properties and qualities arise. A change or restructuring of the methods of its implementation, a change in attitude towards leading activities determine the staged nature of personality development.
In professional development, socio-economic conditions, socio-professional groups and the activity of the individual themselves are also of great importance. A person’s subjective activity is determined by a system of persistently dominant needs, motives, interests, orientations, etc.
The determination of professional development of an individual is interpreted differently by different psychological schools.
Socio-psychological theories consider professional development as a result of social selection and socialization preceding the choice of profession.
Psychodynamic theories consider instinctive impulses and emotionally charged experiences gained in early childhood as determinants of a person’s professional development. An important role is played by the real situation in the world of professions, which is observed by the individual in childhood and early adolescence.
Representatives of developmental psychology consider the child’s previous (before choosing a profession) education and mental development to be factors in professional development.
L.M. Mitina identifies two models for the development of professional activity:
· an adaptive model, in which a person’s self-awareness is dominated by the tendency to subordinate professional work to external circumstances in the form of fulfilling instructions, algorithms for solving professional problems, rules, and norms. The adaptive model reflects the formation of a specialist who is a bearer of professional knowledge, skills and experience.
· a model of professional development, which is characterized by the ability of an individual to go beyond the boundaries of established practice, turn their activities into the subject of practical transformation and thereby overcome the limits of their professional capabilities. The model of professional development characterizes a professional who is proficient in professional activities as a whole, capable of self-design and improvement; the driving forces for the development of a specialist are the contradictions between the increasingly complex requirements of professional work and individual style, experience and abilities. The main driving force for the development of a professional is the intrapersonal contradiction between the “acting self” and the “reflected self.” Experiencing this contradiction encourages a professional to search for new ways of self-realization.
The following trajectories of professional development can be distinguished:
1. Smooth, conflict-free and crisis-free professional development within one profession.
2. Accelerated development in the initial stages of formation, followed by stagnation and decline. As a rule, it is also implemented within the framework of one profession.
3. Stepwise, spasmodic personal and professional development, leading to peak achievements (not necessarily within the same profession) and accompanied by crises and conflicts of professional development.
Changes in the pace and vector of development occur mainly when the stage of formation changes. Changes in the social situation of development, leading activities and the individual’s own activity are of decisive importance. Each of the three main options for becoming has various versions.
During professional development, difficulties may arise, which, in turn, are superimposed on previously existing difficulties in the course of professional self-determination (choosing a profession). In this case, the personality is either “redefined” and adapted during professional development, or finds himself in a situation of unemployment. It is also possible to acquire a new profession in which a person will be able to self-realize in a more adequate way than before. However, in this case, it is necessary to have significant personal potential and the ability to reach a different, higher level of self-realization.
The stage of professional growth includes the development of professional competence and the subsequent adaptation of not oneself to the profession, but the profession to oneself (E.P. Ilyin). Of course, there is continuity, a smooth transition between the stages of professional formation and professional growth. The latter corresponds to a high level of personal self-realization - the level of meaningful life and value realization (essential authenticity). In the structural-functional model of personal self-realization, there is a balance between the blocks of the model with some prevalence of the “I want” block, which is interconnected with life meaning and value orientations. Moreover, the “I want” block contains a pronounced component of authenticity. A low level of self-realization is characterized by the predominance of this block, primitively expressed, with a prevailing need component. It is at this level that various kinds of difficulties of self-realization in the professional sphere accumulate.
The concept of personal maturity and its formation is associated with the levels of self-realization and the genesis of personal self-realization, which is especially important in the professional sphere as one of the main spheres of life. A characteristic attributively inherent in a person who is self-realizing in the professional sphere is personal autonomy. Thus, autonomy can serve as one of the conditions for personal maturity and, accordingly, a high level of personal self-realization.
Close concepts to the concept of professional development and self-determination is the concept of “professional self-realization”, revealed by A. Maslow “through passion for meaningful work”, by K. Jaspers through the “deed” that a person does. This concept also emphasizes the activity of the individual in the process of professionalization of a person. But the concept of “professional self-realization” is narrower than the concept of “professional self-determination” and characterizes only one stage of professional self-determination.
So, E.F. Zeer argues that the professional development of a person enriches the psyche, fills a person’s life with special meaning, and gives significance to a professional biography. Professional development is a productive process of personal development and self-development, mastering and self-designing professionally oriented activities, determining one’s place in the world of professions, realizing oneself in the profession and self-actualization of one’s potential to achieve the heights of professionalism.
Zueva S.P. Self-realization of a person in professional activity // Concept. -2013.- No. 02 (February). - ART 13027. - 0.4 p.l. -URL: . - Mr. reg. El No. FS 77-49965. - ISSN 2304-120X.
Zueva Svetlana Petrovna,
Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of General and Developmental Psychology, Kemerovo State University, Kemerovo zueva [email protected]
Annotation. The article is devoted to the problem of successful personal self-realization, which is determined by a person’s awareness of his own capabilities and potentials in various types of his activity. Adequate professional activity combines the instrumental and social aspects of self-realization, which allows it to be considered as the most favorable space for a person’s conscious self-realization.
Key words: self-realization, consciousness, activity, personality, professional activity, goal setting, goal achievement.
Currently, Russian society is focused on modernization and development, both in socio-economic terms and in relation to the individual. In this regard, research into mental phenomena and mechanisms of personal self-realization is in demand. The reduction in production in the country and changes in the professional structure of society have led to the need to study the relationship between the characteristics of professional activity and the process of human self-realization.
Self-realization of a person is manifested in the fulfillment of desires, hopes, and the achievement of personal goals. S.I. Kudinov points out that the term “self-realization” was first given in the “Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology.” In modern research, the concept of “self-realization” is predominantly interpreted as “realization of one’s own potential.” S.I. Kudinov notes that back in 1940, the Ukrainian psychologist G.S. Kostyuk, considering the idea of self-development, noted “conscious determination” as an essential characteristic of the process. “With such determination, the individual, to some extent, begins to direct his own mental development.”
The problem of personal self-realization is studied using the foundations of various psychological directions. At the same time, it is not possible to single out a single concept of self-realization. It should be noted that the existence of a large number of theoretical studies has not led to the development of a theory of self-realization balanced in terms of points of view. It is also difficult to develop a unified definition of this concept. Attempts are being made to consider self-realization through concepts that are close in meaning - such as life strategy in Russian psychological theory, identity in the theory of E. Erikson, self-actualization in the theory of A. Maslow. In humanistic psychology, self-realization is considered as the meaning of a person’s life; the relationship between self-realization and a person’s social contribution is noted, both in relation to close people and to all of humanity, depending on the scale of a person’s personality.
The methodological problem is the uncertainty of the conceptual status of self-realization. The correlation of the phenomenon of self-realization with the three modes of the psyche requires clarification - whether it should be considered as a process, a state (need) or a personality trait.
A number of researchers define self-realization as a phenomenon caused by the desire for self-actualization inherent in human nature. In research
Self-realization of a person in professional activity
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a point of view is also presented that considers the possibility of procedural determination of the phenomenon of self-realization.
The impossibility of direct observation of the phenomenon of self-realization and, due to this circumstance, the need to be content with recording the elements of its manifestation in the behavior of subjects complicate both the theoretical description of the phenomenon of self-realization and its empirical research. The difficulty of measuring self-realization is due to the high degree of its subjectivity. It is necessary to develop specific techniques and methods for monitoring and controlling the effects of self-realization during the experiment, since it is necessary to take into account the influence of a significant number of factors.
Different approaches are found both when considering the nature of self-realization and the mechanisms of its implementation, and in the analysis and description of the conditions and factors that influence its course and success.
It is proposed to consider (R. A. Zobov, V. N. Kelasev, L. A. Korostyleva) subjective and objective factors influencing the content and dynamics of the process of self-realization.
1. Dependent on a person (subjective) - value orientations, a person’s desire and ability to work with himself, reflexivity, moral qualities, will, etc.
2. Objective ones that do not depend on a person) - the socio-economic situation in the country, standard of living, material security, the influence of the media on a person, the environmental status of a person’s life).
A number of researchers (I.P. Smirnov, E.V. Selezneva) note the importance for the process of self-realization of the influences of the external environment on the human psyche in the form of the results of education, socialization, job training, interpersonal interaction, communication with other people.
It should also be assumed that the actual psychological aspect of self-realization lies in the deployment of all personal potentials of a person in any type of activity or area of life. Translated from Sanskrit, the word “self-realization” is literally translated as “manifestation of one’s spirit.” It can be assumed that human consciousness is the very spirit, the manifestation of whose activity is the process of self-realization. It will probably not be enough to consider the process of self-realization as a simple manifestation of human capabilities, abilities, knowledge, and skills.
The question arises: is the fullest development of a person’s abilities really possible only in socially significant activities? Is self-realization always a process with a plus sign, a positive phenomenon, socially acceptable? In the context of the problem of a person’s freedom of choice, we can conclude that the ethical, moral, social parameters of a person’s self-realization are not significant or essential. However, we find an appeal to moral categories when considering the problem of self-realization in the statement of T.V. Skorodumov, who claims that self-realization of an individual is the process of a person realizing in himself and in society the ideas of good and truth in their ontological unity. This approach means the fact that self-realization of the individual should be considered as a positive phenomenon, corresponding to human nature and contributing to his ascent to the heights of the spirit and development.
Personal self-realization is possible provided that a person realizes the need for self-realization in life, believes in his individual destiny, and sees in it the highest meaning of his life. Without a person’s awareness of his ways,
http://e-koncept.ru/2013/13027.htm
scientific and methodological electronic journal
Zueva S.P. Self-realization of a person in professional activity // Concept. -2013.- No. 02 (February). - ART 13027. - 0.4 p.l. -URL: http://e-koncept.ru/2013/13027.htm. - Mr. reg. El No. FS 77-49965. - ISSN 2304-120X.
personalities, interests, life preferences, self-realization cannot be realized. Probably, an equally important condition for personal self-realization is a person’s awareness of his integration into the world around him, his ability to harmoniously and constructively interact with other people and nature.
D. A. Leontyev proposes to consider the process of self-realization from the position of personal growth, noting its social orientation towards other people, society in the form of creating spiritual, cultural content or a material object for them.
The instrumental aspect of personal self-realization is associated with the knowledge, skills and abilities a person has that allow him to perform specific work activities and build systems of relationships with people and society.
Among the factors that complicate the self-realization of the individual, one should note the atomicity, solitude of a person’s existence, his lack of involvement in active life, spiritual and cultural limitations, underdeveloped consciousness, and inadequate professional choice. Such phenomena as the priority of material and narrowly pragmatic values, joining criminal structures, drug addiction, alcoholism, etc. have an unconstructive influence on the process of personal self-realization.
If in the community, socio-cultural and socio-economic space of a person’s existence there are not enough conditions for his self-realization, stagnation may occur, and socio-psychological grounds for a social and economic crisis may be created. E. E. Vakhromov notes: “The implementation of policies by the power elites aimed at impeding the processes of self-actualization is fraught with antisocial manifestations of extremism and terrorism. The growth of involutionary tendencies, the involvement of large groups of people in the processes of involution, the marginalization of individual regions and countries are fraught with a serious threat to the development of civilization and culture as a whole.” The external form of personal self-realization is represented by the individual’s activity in the profession, creativity, sports, art, study, political and social activities, etc. The internal form represents a person’s self-improvement in various aspects: moral, spiritual, physical, intellectual, aesthetic.
Thus, a person’s professional activity is one of the essential necessary conditions for the development of the process of personal self-realization. Taking into account the requirements of the activity approach, one should assume the presence in the analysis of this kind of psychological reality of the category of consciousness. It is consciousness that determines the nature of the relationship between professional activity and the process of personal self-realization.
V.V. Davydov defined consciousness as “a person’s reproduction of the ideal plan of his goal-setting activity and the ideal representation of the positions of other people in it.”
Conscious human behavior involves reflecting and taking into account the needs, interests and positions of other individuals. Probably, we should assume a relationship between the process of personal self-realization and the reflection, representation, and activity of society and other people.
“Whoever and whenever acts,” noted G.P. Shchedrovitsky, “he must always fix his consciousness, firstly, on the objects of his activity - he sees and knows these objects, and secondly, on the activity itself - he sees and knows himself as acting, he sees his actions, his operations, his means, and even his goals and objectives.”
http://e-koncept.ru/2013/13027.htm
scientific and methodological electronic journal
Zueva S.P. Self-realization of a person in professional activity // Concept. -2013.- No. 02 (February). - ART 13027. - 0.4 p.l. -URL: http://e-koncept.ru/2013/13027.htm. - Mr. reg. El No. FS 77-49965. - ISSN 2304-120X.
Considering the system of functions of consciousness in the context of professional activity as an activity space for human self-realization, we can distinguish in the structure of professional consciousness professional goals, professional knowledge, professional attitude, professional plans and programs, professional self-awareness, etc.
Among the main conditions for personal self-realization, A. I. Kataev notes the presence in a person of such derivatives of consciousness as developed self-awareness and reflection with an updated ability to cognize and be aware of oneself and the world around him, real and potential abilities and opportunities, interests and values, prospects for personal and professional growth.
To analyze the phenomenon of self-realization, it is necessary to provide for the parameter of goal setting and goal achievement. Self-realization is not only the manifestation of oneself, but also the implementation by a person, the achievement of any results in the activity he realizes. The degree of a person’s awareness of himself, his goals, capabilities, potentials and resources can act as a regulatory principle, a mechanism of the process of self-realization.
Professional activity, reflected in a person’s consciousness as a space of self-realization, can provide three aspects of self-realization: the actual psychological, sociocultural and instrumental. The psychological aspect of self-realization, as noted above, acts as awareness and expression of personal potentials in professional activities. The instrumental aspect of self-realization presupposes the demand and use of potentials, resources, experience in the form of knowledge, abilities, skills, and abilities of a person. The sociocultural aspect is manifested in a person’s awareness and fulfillment of an individual mission through his professional activities in relation to other people, society, and humanity. Probably, it is precisely this construct regarding professional activity, which is formed in a person’s mind, that contributes to the successful self-realization of the individual.
The effectiveness of such a construct is determined by a person’s positive value attitude towards his professional activity, the adequacy of professional choice, and the optimality of professional self-determination. The goal of professional self-determination is the gradual formation of a person’s internal readiness to consciously and independently build, adjust and realize the prospects for their development (professional, life and personal). Taking into account the dynamism and variability in modern conditions of the structure of professional employment in society, it should be noted that the process of professional self-determination in connection with its self-realization is open, incomplete, and, consequently, relevant for the individual.
A person’s readiness to consider himself developing over time and independently find personally significant meanings in specific professional activities largely determines the effectiveness of the process of self-realization. N. R. Khakimova notes that in modern psychological research, professional self-determination is considered as “choosing oneself” in a profession, choosing a method of self-realization. Empirical research data confirms the importance for optants of such a motive for choosing a profession as the “opportunity for self-realization” motive.
At the same time, the question arises about the relationship between substantive (the purpose and meaning of professional activity as the mission of an individual in society) and pragmatic material aspects (profession as a source of income) of professional activity.
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scientific and methodological electronic journal
Zueva S.P. Self-realization of a person in professional activity // Concept. -2013.- No. 02 (February). - ART 13027. - 0.4 p.l. -URL: http://e-koncept.ru/2013/13027.htm. - Mr. reg. El No. FS 77-49965. - ISSN 2304-120X.
telnosti, conscious of man. The predominance in a person’s consciousness of constructs associated with the pragmatism of professional activity for him complicates his self-realization in the profession.
The substantive aspect of a profession is reflected in a person’s consciousness by a set of ideas about the objects, goals, results and meanings of professional activity. The demand and significance for society of the results of professional activity, as well as a person’s own ideas about this, act as conscious prerequisites for the formation of a person’s attitude towards his profession as a mission in society and his own existence.
A person’s ability to fully realize himself through a profession is determined by the adequacy of his professional choice. At the same time, theoretically, one should assume the possibility of the existence of fragmentary, partial self-realization of the individual in the profession.
Thus, we can identify a number of parameters that determine the conditions for a person’s self-realization in professional activity: the degree to which a person is aware of his personal potential and instrumental resources; degree of adequacy of professional choice; the level of development of society and social production capable of ensuring accessibility to a person’s professional choice; the formation of a person’s ideas about self-realization as a mission in relation to other people and society.
1. Kudinov S.I. Experimental and theoretical aspects of the study of basic personality properties // Personal development of a specialist in the conditions of university education: Materials of the All-Russian scientific-practical conference. - Tolyatti: TSU, 2005. - pp. 95-98.
3. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya K. A. Life strategy. - M.: Mysl, 1991. - 299 p.
4. Erickson E. Identity: youth and crisis. - M.: Progress, 1997. - 340 p.
5. Maslow A. Self-actualization // Personality Psychology. Texts / Ed. Yu. B. Gippenreiter, A. A. Bubbles. - M.: Moscow State University Publishing House, 1982. - P.108-117.
6. Galazhinsky E. V. Systemic determination of personality self-realization. - Tomsk: Tomsk State University Publishing House, 2002. - 212 p.
7. Korostyleva L. A. Problems of self-realization of the individual in the system of human sciences // Psychological problems of self-realization of the individual. - St. Petersburg, 1997. - P. 3-19.
9. Vakhromov E. E. Psychological concepts of human development: the theory of self-actualization. - M.: International Pedagogical Academy, 2001. - 180 p.
10. Ibid.
11. Davydov V.V. Problems of developmental education. - M., 1996. - 240 p.
12. Shchedrovitsky G. P. Selected works. - M., 1995. - 800 p.
13. Kudinov S.I. Decree. op.
Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, associate professor at the chair of general psychology and psychology of development of Federal State Budget educational institution “Kemerovo State University" zueva [email protected]
Self-realization of man in professional activities
Abstract. The success of a person’s self-realization is defined by man’s realizing of his own possibilities and potentials in different kinds of his activity. In an adequate professional activity instrumental and social aspects of self-realization are combined and it allows to examine it as the most favored are of man’s conscious self-realization.
Keywords: self-realization, consciousens, professional activity, aim relief, aim achievement.
Gorev P. M., candidate of pedagogical sciences, editor-in-chief of the magazine “Concept”
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Each personality is unique in its own way. The life path of an individual person can never be repeated. But if the length of our life is destined from above, then its width depends only on us. And here many people have a problem and it lies in the self-realization of a person as an individual. Some manage to find their niche, others spend their whole lives searching, and still others completely waste their best years. How to find yourself and reach your full potential? This is what we will talk about now.
Psychology of personal self-realization
Self-realization is not only a process of personal improvement and self-knowledge. This is also the result of constant growth and working with internal potential. People who were able to realize their inner resources are usually said to have achieved success in life. However, for this to happen, a person must constantly develop. Psychological problems of personal self-realization lie in the discrepancy between a person’s energetic and intellectual potential and the degree of its actualization. In other words, due to various life circumstances, the true potential of an individual may not coincide with the final result of its activities. This often leads to a feeling of dissatisfaction with one's life. Despite this, the need for self-realization remains in every individual, and this phenomenon has been studied by leading psychologists in the world for a long time.
In his research, S.L. Rubinstein came to the conclusion that the main mechanism of personality formation is motives. They manifest themselves in a person’s thoughts and actions. If, for example, a person takes responsibility, courage in making decisions and works with his fears, then subsequently these actions will take root in his consciousness in the form of certain character traits. As a result, all new properties will be connected into a single system, with the help of which a person will be able, or vice versa, will not be able to reveal himself.
K. Rogers identified two personality types:
- fully functioning;
- unadapted.
However, his other colleague S. Maddi compared several theories of personality and took the following characteristics of a full-fledged person as a basis for his research:
- creativity – without it, personal fulfillment in life is impossible;
- the “here and now” principle - includes the mobility of the individual, its high adaptability and spontaneity in decision making;
- freedom of action in all life situations - a sense of control over your life.
Strategies for personal self-realization
Self-realization is a process that lasts throughout a person’s life. It becomes possible only when the individual himself realizes his abilities, interests and needs. In other words, a person’s entire life is built on a chain of actions aimed at self-realization and achieving life goals. To succeed in life, it is important to make efforts that consist of certain strategies. The implementation of these strategies is the main condition for personal self-realization.
As a person’s age changes, his needs change, which means that goals and life strategies also change. For example, in youth a person begins to decide on his choice of professional activity, and many at first begin to resolve issues of their personal life. When the first stage of self-realization has been achieved and a person has acquired a family and profession, correction and modification of strategies begins. When the need to acquire a position disappears, adaptation to this position, environment, etc. begins. As for the family, something similar happens there too. Strategies are chosen by the individual, taking into account age, character and needs. Although there are often cases when the “here and now” principle is triggered, when a person does not have time to think or the benefit of the action that comes up is obvious.
A reasonable question arises - what are the ways of personal self-realization? What tools does a person use to achieve social recognition and take his place in life? It's actually quite simple. Every day we reveal ourselves in work, in hobbies and interests, and recently a new way of self-realization has appeared - the global network and global information space. However, the main and main means through which a person’s full potential passes is creativity. Psychologists believe that only creative activity can lead a person to above-standard activity without pursuing any specific goal. In other words, creativity is a voluntary activity on which a person is ready to spend all his strength in order to express himself and his capabilities. But what motivates a person to work long and painstakingly on himself? These are generally well known 
and universal human values, needs and mechanisms.