How do the concepts of man, individual, and personality differ? The relationship between the concepts of “person”, “individual”, “personality”, “individuality” and “subject”

As has already been said, man has a dual nature. He is a creature biosocial, a bearer of both biological and social qualities and properties. At the level of social existence and within the framework of social theory, the human problem is transformed into a problem relationship-individual And personality. This means that from the outside biological nature, man acts primarily as individual, and from the side social - How personality.

This difference in the understanding of man as an individual and personality was well understood by the Russian philosopher N.A. Berdyaev. “Personality must be distinguished from the individual,” he wrote. “Personality is a spiritual-religious category, while the individual is a naturalistic-biological category” 2. In our opinion, when explaining personality, we should talk not only and not so much about religiosity or irreligion, but about the culture and spirituality of a person in general.

A person is seen as individual as a single representative of the human race. The definition of this concept does not require any specific characteristics. An individual is always one of many, and he is always impersonal. In this sense, the concepts of “individual” and “personality” are opposite both in scope and content. The concept of an individual does not capture any special or individual social qualities of a person, therefore it is very poor in content. But it is equally rich in volume, because each person is an individual.

If we say “human individual,” we mean only the species community of all people homo sapiens and the individual

1 Fromm E. Adolf Hitler: a clinical case of necrophilia. - M.: Higher
school, 1992. - P. 27.

2 Berdyaev N.A. My philosophical worldview // N. Berdyaev about Russian philosophy
fii. - Part 1 - Sverdlovsk: Ural University Publishing House, 1991. - P. 21.


representative of the human race. But as soon as we begin to indicate some other qualities of the human individual, we certainly limit the scope of the concept, highlighting special social groups. That is, the law of inverse proportionality between the volume and content of a concept operates here. So, by saying “poor people” or “rich people”, we have already identified certain groups, separating them from others. And the more we specify the concept, the poorer it will be in scope and richer in content. As a result, by personifying the individual, the individual, we will come to the only one, individual representative of the human race. In this regard, an extremely personalized individual is personality.“Personality” is a concept very rich in social content, including not only general and special characteristics, but also individual, unique properties of a person.


It should be said that personality is social individuality. Here a person is considered not only from the perspective of his general and specific social qualities, but also from the perspective of individual social properties. After all, what makes a person a person is, of course, his social individuality, those. a set of social qualities characteristic of a person, social identity. The concept of “personality” usually does not include the natural individual characteristics of a person. And this is apparently correct. But it should be borne in mind that natural individuality influences the development of personality and its perception to the extent that the biological generally influences the social in a person.

A person’s social individuality certainly does not grow out of nowhere or only on the basis of biological prerequisites. A person is formed in a specific historical time and social space, in the process of practical activity and education. Therefore, a person as a social individual is always a concrete result, a synthesis and interaction of very diverse factors that stand “behind his back.” And the more significant a personality is and the more it can be called a personality, the more it accumulates a person’s sociocultural experience and, in turn, makes an individual contribution to his development.

Personality has a complex structure, so different approaches to its consideration are possible, which, although interconnected, also have important differences. So, in general psychology


personality usually means some integrating principle that links together the various mental processes of an individual and imparts the necessary stability to his behavior. Starting point sociological Personality research consists not in studying the individual characteristics of a person, but in analyzing the social functions (roles) that it performs. These roles are determined by the social structure of society, the social group in which the individual is included. The role concept of personality is built on this basis.

The problem of personality in science- this is the question of what is the essence of man as an individual, what is his place in the world and in history. Personality is seen here as individual expression and subject of social relations, activities and communication of people. The quality of public relations and communication has a huge impact on the formation historical type of personality, its specific state and properties. The same can be said about the influence of activity on personality. Human activity is the basis on which and thanks to which the development of the individual occurs and the fulfillment of various social roles in society. Only in activity does a person emerge and assert himself as an individual, otherwise it remains a “thing in itself.” A person himself can think whatever he wants about himself, build any illusions, but what he really is is revealed only in action. It is no coincidence, of course, that the famous Confucius not only “listened to the words of people,” but also “looked at their actions,” and the no less famous Aristotle wrote that only those “who participate in competitions” receive victorious wreaths.

In other words, the social and active characteristics of a person underlie his socialization, in the process of which the formation of personality occurs. Socialization - This is the process of assimilation by an individual of a certain system of knowledge, norms and values, allowing him to carry out his life activities in a way adequate for a given society. It occurs as a person assimilates social experience, but is carried out primarily through his involvement in certain social relations, forms of communication and activities.

At the same time, socialization is carried out both in phylogenesis (the formation of generic properties and qualities of humanity) and in ontogenesis (the formation of a specific personality). Both in terms of the historical development of man and in ontogenesis, personality is not a prerequisite, but a result of the socialization of the individual. Due to this


A.I. Leontyev wrote that “one is not born with a personality, one becomes a person” 1 . Since socialization is dynamic in nature, the personality is always process, constant becoming. A personality frozen in its formation, in its aspirations, is a degrading personality. Personality degradation also occurs when an individual is completely subordinate to someone else’s will or his actions are programmed in detail, so that there is no room for freedom of choice and action.

Since the formation of personality is based on the social and active essence of a person, depriving him of communication and the possibility of choice, a certain freedom of action, also negatively affects the development of the individual’s personality. It is no coincidence that isolation of a person from society, deprivation of communication has always been considered one of the most severe punishments. And this is understandable, because constant isolation and loneliness contradict the essence of personality. But the imposition of someone else’s will and thoughts on the individual has an even more negative impact. A person who is completely subordinated to someone else’s will and deprived (through suggestion, ideological duping, propaganda, etc.) of his own worldview, thoughts and views ceases to be a person. It is also difficult to call an individual a person who is deprived of reason and reason for some other reason. People who lack freedom of action, will or reason cannot be responsible (without freedom there is no responsibility) and should not be held accountable for their actions, because this not by them conditioned and therefore, essentially, not them actions.

We have come to a very important characteristic of personality - its moral and spiritual essence. IN The content of personality as the most important component includes the direction of its consciousness, personal orientations determined by the level of consciousness, worldview, morality and responsibility. Of course, the social environment has a significant impact on the formation and behavior of the individual. But to no lesser extent, personal orientations and behavior are determined by the inner, spiritual world of a person. It is no coincidence that they say that everyone is the architect of their own destiny and happiness. The more clearly a person’s intellectual, moral and volitional qualities are expressed, the more his life orientations coincide with universal human values ​​and the more strongly he positively influences the development and affirmation of these values.

Leontyev A.N. Activity. Consciousness. Personality. - M.: Politizdat, 1975. - P. 176.


ties, the more colorful and significant his personality. In this case, it is characterized by strength of spirit, freedom, creativity and goodness. From this side, the personality seems to rise above the natural basis and, in a certain sense, even overcomes it, leaving its mark and the fruits of activity even after biological death.

The willpower and spirit of a person, his moral goodness and purity cannot be confirmed and realized in any other way than through real practical activities and in certain social conditions. A person’s actions, which are the most important factor characterizing a person, are not words, but deeds. Apparently, it is no coincidence that even the biblical scripture speaks of rewarding “everyone according to his deeds.” It is then, when it comes to real actions, that it becomes clear how difficult and difficult it is to be an individual, to be free, honest, principled, etc. Because if an individual really considers himself a person or strives to be one, he must be responsible not only in thoughts, but above all in actions, and this is always a heavy burden. Thus, characterizing personality from the point of view of freedom is certainly necessary. Freedom is an attribute of personality. But freedom without responsibility is arbitrariness. Therefore, responsibility is not less, but to a greater extent, an attribute of the individual, because being free and responsible is more difficult than simply being free.

NOVOSIBIRSK STATE ARCHITECTURAL

BUILDING UNIVERSITY (Sibstrin)


Faculty of Evening and Correspondence Studies


The relationship between the concepts of “man”, “individual”, “personality”, “individuality” and “subject”


Sayapov Yaroslav

Scientific adviser:

Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor L.I. Scriabin


Novosibirsk 2013


Introduction


Human

Individual- a specific person with all the characteristics given to him by nature (gender, age, height, weight, nervous system, etc.). It manifests itself in properties transformed in the course of individual development. An individual is the smallest unit in the system of the species Homo sapiens.

Personality

Individuality

Subject

Above were scientific definitions of the concepts: “person”, “individual”, “personality”, “individuality” and “subject”. These concepts can be classified as eternal. Each new generation of people, each person rediscovers them, formulates them for himself, tries to give his own version of the answer. These concepts are close, but do not coincide, they cannot be identified. In my work, I tried to consider each concept separately and in more detail.

.Consider each concept separately;

.Find the relationship between concepts.


. Human


Human- is a biological creature belonging to the class of mammals of the species Homo sapiens, endowed with consciousness, i.e. the ability to cognize the essence of both the external world and one’s own nature and, in accordance with this, act and act wisely. Man is the bearer of consciousness, which in itself is a social product. The pinnacle of human consciousness development is his self-awareness.

Let's start from this definition. Indeed, the body structure of a baby born into the world has the ability to walk upright, the structure of the brain has a potential developed intelligence, the structure of the hands has the prospect of using tools, etc., and with all these capabilities the baby differs from a baby animal and its belonging to the human race is confirmed . As already mentioned above, a person is a living biological being, and like all living things, he has an organism, a body, is in relationship with the outside world, and is subject to biological and physiological laws.

Man is a multifaceted, multidimensional, complexly organized being. He is endowed with consciousness, speech, the ability to work, create value, etc. These properties are not inherited by a person, but are formed by him throughout his life, in the process of assimilating the culture created by previous generations. The development of humanity is impossible without the active transmission of human culture to new generations. Without society, without assimilation of the socio-historical experience of mankind, it is impossible to become a person, to acquire special human qualities, even if a human being has biological usefulness. There is evidence that if children develop outside society from a very early age, they remain at the level of development of animals; they do not develop speech, consciousness, thinking, and do not have an upright gait. No person’s personal experience can lead to the fact that he independently develops a system of concepts. By participating in work and various forms of social activity, people develop in themselves those specific human abilities that have already been formed in humanity. But, on the other hand, without the biological usefulness inherent in man as a biological species, it is impossible even under the influence of society, upbringing, and education to achieve the highest human qualities.

A person is a bearer of consciousness, which means he is aware, since awareness is the result of the inclusion of consciousness on what is happening. In turn, awareness as a way of life is the ability, ability and habit to accompany with consciousness one’s current states, one’s actions, one’s activities, the course of one’s life.

And finally, self-knowledge. Self-knowledge is a person’s study of his own mental and physical characteristics, understanding of himself. It begins in infancy and continues throughout life. It is formed gradually as it reflects both the outside world and self-knowledge.

From the above, we can conclude that a child born into the world is a human being, since it has all the external signs of Homo sapiens. He is small, defenseless, but has enormous development potential. He has a natural desire for improvement and self-knowledge, which develops as he grows up.


. Individual


An individual is a specific person with all the characteristics given to him by nature (gender, age, height, weight, nervous system, etc.). It manifests itself in properties transformed in the course of individual development. An individual is the smallest unit in the system of the species Homo sapiens.

So, let's figure out what the concept of individual means. The concept of an individual contains an indication of a person’s similarity to all other people, of his commonality with the human race. It follows that every person is an individual. But it also says that he differs from others in such features as height, skin color, weight, eye color, etc. We are also talking about how he manifests himself anywhere, taking into account his individual development. Indeed, there are no people with the same external characteristics, just as there are no people with the same characters. There may be some similarities, but there simply is no such thing as a perfect match. From the above we can conclude that an individual is a single (specific) representative of the species “homo sapiens”. Individuals differ from each other not only in morphological characteristics (such as height, bodily constitution and eye color), but also in psychological properties (abilities, temperament, emotionality). Another question is from what moment a person is considered an individual. There is an opinion that a Man is born and then becomes an individual, but is this true? There is evidence that in the second month of a mother’s pregnancy, the central and peripheral nervous system begins to form in the fetus, the embryo begins to respond to pain and tries to move away from the light, which is directed directly at the mother’s abdomen. A five-month-old embryo is able to hear loud sounds, respond to caresses and words, and become frightened or angry. Thus, the behavior of the fetus completely depends on the mood of the pregnant mother, as a result of which at this stage the formation of the emotional and intellectual life of the child begins. Thus, the individual develops in the prenatal period. Thus, we can conclude that the concept of an individual is formed at its inception.


3. Personality

personal individual psychological

Personality- a conscious individual who occupies a certain position in society and performs a certain social role. The position of an individual is manifested through the system of its social relations. A person constantly acts in some role. A role is a social function of an individual. Each person is formed as an individual only in society and manifests himself in communication with other people. There is no individual outside of society. It is characterized by five potentials: cognitive, value, creative, communicative, artistic.

Translated into simple language, we can say that a person is a person who builds and controls his own life, a person as a responsible subject of will. A person is one who is not equal to his natural inclinations, who may not be their slave, but may be superior to them. Normal children, having gone through the crisis of three years, can already subordinate their immediate impulses to social norms: to what is necessary.

A person is one who is capable of consciously managing his own behavior. Among obedient children, one encounters “spontaneous morality”: a person, especially a child, may not be aware of what exactly made him act in a certain way, but nevertheless act quite morally. This is how he was raised, these are his habits. But it was not he who acted, but his habits that guided him.

A personality is one who has his own self. A large number of people live mechanically, following the desires of their body and thoughtlessly, according to patterns, reacting to external demands. If the body has good drives, external requirements are reasonable and social habits are adequate, we will have a completely decent socialized person. But - not a person. He doesn't have his own self.

A person is someone who is not just strong, but internally strong. Not just a person who knows a lot, but a smart person. Not just interesting to talk to, but a person with a rich inner world. Not just naturally gifted, but “self made” - a person who has made himself. Not just lucky, but able to be successful.

The formation of personality is the process of socialization of a person, which consists in his assimilation of a generic, social essence. This development is always carried out in the specific historical circumstances of a person’s life. The formation of personality is associated with the individual’s acceptance of social functions and roles developed in society, social norms and rules of behavior, and with the formation of skills to build relationships with other people. A formed personality is a subject of free, independent and responsible behavior in society.

At all times, people who stood out from the masses due to their internal qualities attracted attention. A personality is always a person who stands out, although not everyone who stands out is a personality. Despite the fact that each of us has personal characteristics, not everyone is called a “personality”. They say about a person with respect: “This is a personality!” when he stands out among other people with his internal characteristics that make him worthy.

Let's summarize. From the above it is clear that Personality is the same person, but taken from the side of his social significance and social activity. Personality is the most important thing in a person, his most important social characteristic.

What stands out in a person is, first of all, his social essence. Outside of society, outside of a social and professional group, a person cannot become an individual, he will not develop a human appearance, i.e. Nature creates man, but society shapes him. Depending on the manifestation of a person’s personal qualities, one can judge his positive and negative moral and spiritual qualities.

And the most important thing is that you are not born a personality, you become a personality! Or they don't...

Individuality.

Individuality- this is a personality in its originality, which distinguishes a person from other people due to the originality and uniqueness of the individual. Individuality is described by individual life history, experience, the totality of personal characteristics, and the significance of the products of activity. Individuality is the form of existence of a person. Motivation, temperament, ability and character? basic parameters of individuality.

Individuality, like personality, does not manifest itself in a person, literally, from birth. A newly born child is an individual who does not have human individuality, since he is not capable of independent individual activity. Only with age does one acquire a social personality and the ability to independently choose a life path and develop using individual methods. The essence of individuality lies in the independence of each individual and his ability to be himself in the sphere of the social system. The most important role of the innate inclinations and developmental characteristics of each individual is mediation by social factors. In the process of the dynamic influence of many qualities, one’s own personal characteristics are formed in all spheres of life. The development of individuality itself is a necessity for the movement of progress in human history. The improvement and individualization of personality are associated with the transformation of society, mutual assistance in society and the conditions of cooperation. Individuality is understood as the originality of each person; originality is manifested in the totality of personality characteristics that are inherent only to a given person.

Individuality is an indispensable and most important sign of personality. Individuality characterizes a person more specifically, in more detail, more completely. It is a constant object of research in the study of personality psychology and other areas of psychology. Usually the word “individuality” is used to define any dominant feature of a person that makes him different from those around him. Each person is individual, but the individuality of some manifests itself very clearly, while of others it is barely noticeable.

So, it turns out that individuality is a set of characteristic features and properties that distinguish one individual from another. And it, undoubtedly, does not grow on the basis of biological prerequisites or from scratch.


4. Subject


Subject- an active and cognitive individual. It is characterized by a set of activities and their productivity. Subject activity? a person’s ability to make socially significant transformations in the world based on the appropriation of material and spiritual culture, manifested in creativity, acts of will, and communication.

A person is always a subject (participant, performer) of the historical and social process as a whole, a subject of specific activity, in particular a source of knowledge and transformation of objective reality. The activity itself in this case acts as a form of human activity, allowing him to improve the world around him and himself.

The subject can show initiative and independence, make and implement a decision, evaluate the consequences of his behavior, change and improve himself, and determine the prospects for his multidimensional life activity. The subject is able to give an account of his actions, is capable of self-knowledge, self-awareness and self-responsibility. He can relate his past, present and future. The subject changes in the process of life in its own direction. There are significant individual differences between subjects.


Conclusion


The concepts of “person”, “individual”, “personality”, “individuality” and “subject” are inextricably linked. They all relate, in one way or another, to humans. The only thing that distinguishes them from each other is that each concept separately characterizes a person on a certain path in life or some life situations. So, for example, the concept of man. A child is born, and he is already a person, since he has all his external signs. He is also an individual. Later, when growing up, a person becomes an individual. Personality can be said to be a description of the personal qualities of a person or personality. The subject is an actively acting and cognizing individual.


Literature


1.Psychology and pedagogy / Ed. A.A. Radugina. ? M.: Publishing house CENTER, 1997. ? 256 pp.

2. Psychology and pedagogy: textbook / Ed. E.V. Ostrovsky. - M.: University textbook, 2006. - 384 p.


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In psychology and sociology, the problem of human formation, which is associated with the stages of his growing up, is very important. The separation of the concepts of individual and personality is the cornerstone of assessing a person’s activity. People are not only born unique, but also become unique in the process of life. To the question “what have you achieved?” Almost every person answers differently.
Individual is a unique combination of human properties received from parents at birth and acquired during life. This concept is characterized by integrity: a set of qualities without which a person will lose his identity. Special traits include details such as gender, age, height and weight, personality, eye color, skull shape, and much more.
Personality is a unique representative of the human race who has manifested himself in socio-cultural action. This is a stable system of traits that manifests itself only in the process of living in society. A person who is on a desert island retains his identity, but becomes a person only through the recognition of other members of society. This property is best manifested in Indian culture: having performed a significant action, a person receives a name, that is, public support.
Each person is an individual by nature, and he becomes an individual in the process of growing up and communicating with other people. At the same time, the preservation of the human genetic code, its transmission and development is carried out according to the will of nature. But any representative of the human race can become a person, even if he has limited capabilities (no limbs, internal organs, speech, hearing).
You can remain an individual no matter how others treat you. But recognition, authority, characteristic of an individual are those “medals” that only society can award. Torn out of society, a person quickly loses his individual traits, ceases to understand other people and even forgets his language. At the same time, the need for personalization and uniqueness is one of the highest human needs.

TheDifference.ru determined that the difference between an individual and a personality is as follows:

Interaction with society. To remain an individual, a person just needs to be himself. But he can become a person only through social interaction, which manifests itself either in cooperation or in confrontation.
Adequacy. Every person is born an individual, but he becomes a personality only in the process of conscious life.
Quantity. There are about 7 billion individuals in the world, and individuals, according to various estimates, from several hundred to several tens of millions.
Confession. Every person has equal rights with other people, that is, his right to individuality is inalienable. However, individuals express themselves somewhat more clearly, receiving certain social privileges (authority, power, recognition).
Mindfulness. To remain an individual, it is enough to simply live, fitting into the framework of society or isolating yourself from it. The path to personality development is a conscious action, accessible only to a select few.

The explanation of how an individual differs from a person lies in the duality of human nature. A person is born with a set of unique characteristics and properties. One can speak of a baby only as an individual, a representative of the species Homo sapiens. Life in society gives each individual the opportunity to socialize, develop their natural inclinations and form personal qualities. We can talk about such characteristics of a person as personality and individuality only when he is a full member of society.

Numerous examples from life, when, for various reasons, small children find themselves in the company of animals, confirm that the development of man as an individual continues according to general laws. The child grows, but does not acquire personal qualities, as he is deprived of human communication. This confirms the significant role of socialization in the formation of personality.

Individual and Personality Differences

The duality of human nature, his biosocial essence has repeatedly become the object of study by many philosophers, sociologists and psychologists. The representative of the Russian philosophical school N.A. Berdyaev classifies the concept of personality as a religious-spiritual category, and the concept of an individual as a naturalistic-biological category.

A precise description of the differences between an individual and a personality was given by the famous psychologist A.G. Asmolov, who claims that one is born as an individual, but becomes a person.

  • Development

An individual is a specific person characterized by activity, mental and physical integrity, and a stable attitude towards the surrounding reality.

The life of an individual is aimed at satisfying his own needs. Needs are a kind of stimulus that encourages targeted actions. The lowest are natural needs; their satisfaction is aimed at ensuring the functioning of the body to maintain life. A person provides himself with food, drink, clothing, creates conditions for sleep, for living and for developing relationships with individuals of the opposite sex.

Life in society makes a person dependent on social relations. Satisfying the need for communication raises the individual to the next level of development, encouraging him to engage in cultural activities. He begins to manifest himself as a member of society, as an individual, realizing his place in it and realizing his spiritual needs. The social affiliation of an individual expresses his personal essence.

  • Consciousness

When interacting with the outside world, a person develops such a sign of mental activity as consciousness. A conscious individual is a personality.

Thus, through its own needs and awareness of interaction with society, a human individual becomes a person.

  • Mental activity

The presence of a developed brain in humans is its distinctive biological feature. The development of mental activity in an individual is the foundation for the emergence of unique distinctive features that characterize him as a human personality.

Distinctive features are:

  1. a set of knowledge, skills, abilities, formed in the process of learning the methods of human activity;
  2. the ability to self-assess and analyze one’s own actions, necessary for the formation of personal characteristics;
  3. adequacy of perception of the assessment of others.

The listed traits carry the characteristics of socialization, while the traits of an individual differ only in their biological and physiological set of qualities.

  • Social status

The evolution of man is a long journey, as a result of which he took the highest point in the hierarchy of the animal world. In its individual development, each individual goes through an equally complex path of transition from individual to personality, forming individual qualities that distinguish human individuals from each other and set them apart from the general mass.

This process cannot be considered separately from society, since it is society that gives the direction of development and forms ideological ideas and principles. Any society is capable of forming a personality that meets its needs. The higher the level of development of spirituality and morality in society, the higher the demands for the formation of a highly moral spiritual person.

A free society gives rise to a free person, characterized by a strong individuality, capable of self-expression and creativity. And any personality grows from an individual endowed genetically with the ability to develop.

The differences between an individual and a personality lie in the attitude towards recognition in society. The individual does not feel the need to prove his advantages over his fellows, and the individual performs actions for the sake of recognition and status.

Social status is a person’s place, the niche he occupies in society and depends on gender, age, education, and profession. Unlike the individual, at this stage there is an awareness of one’s status, which can have a temporary characteristic: be permanent (man, son, father, husband) or temporary (student, salesman, passenger, patient).

Correlation between the concepts of individual and personality

If we talk about the relationship between the concepts of “individual and personality,” then a person does not cease to be an individual; during its formation, the mental qualities that were laid down at birth develop. A person’s activities, his spiritual development and interaction with society develop distinctive properties and traits in him.

Personal properties include:

  1. Self-awareness is the conscious need for activity, development, self-improvement.
  2. Maturity is the readiness of the psyche for changes at a certain stage of development.
  3. Socialization is dependence on society and development in interaction with it, adequate perception of knowledge, norms and values ​​of society in the process of achieving one’s own goal.
  4. Orientation is the manifestation of aspects of the psyche, the ability to express oneself in different social and public roles.
  5. Privilege is the dependence of the influence of position in society on the strength of the individual.

The relationship between the components of the personality structure is built on the relationship between the concepts of “personality and individual”. Thus, the natural inclinations of an individual determine the type of his temperament, based on the innate characteristics of nervous activity. Manifestations of temperament are observed in human behavior. Behavior is a reflection of a person’s inner world, his maturity and spirituality.

Expression of individuality

The concepts of “personality and individuality” cannot be identified, since the first concept is a characteristic of the second. It is individuality that gives a person a set of unique properties and traits that distinguish him from the social mass.

Personality is an expression of an objective assessment of a person and his compliance with society, and individuality is self-esteem, a subjective perception of oneself from the point of view of acquired qualities.

A person can show his individuality in different areas of activity: in profession, in creativity, in communication. Individuality makes it possible to demonstrate versatile abilities while maintaining the integrity of the psyche.

A person’s individuality is in constant dynamics, manifesting itself in various unexpected situations and conditions. A person’s individual qualities find their vivid expression at critical moments, when it is necessary to quickly make a non-standard decision or take responsibility. At the same time, society’s assessment will not always be positive. The reaction from the outside is an additional stimulus for the development of the subject, determining its direction.

If there is a stop in development, then we can talk about degradation. Its causes can be internal motives, as well as the influence of external factors, when suppression or submission to someone else’s will occurs, excluding the choice of actions or deeds.

The concepts of “personality” and “individual” are widely used by people. However, not everyone understands how they differ from each other, so they are often confused. Psychology studies the properties of personality and the individual.

The difference between personality and individual

If you want to understand how a personality differs from an individual, you need to know the statement of the famous psychologist A.G. Asmolova: “ People are born as individuals, they become individuals, and individuality is defended." This saying speaks perfectly about the differences between the concepts of “personality” and “individual”.

An individual is characterized by the uniqueness that a person receives from birth (skin color, hair, eyes, facial features, physique). According to this, all people are individuals: an unintelligent newborn, an aborigine of a primitive tribe, a mentally ill person, and even identical twins, who, despite all their similarities, have their own unique ones (for example, moles).

Personality, unlike the individual, is not a biological, but a socio-psychological concept. An individual becomes a personality in the process of growing up, learning, development, and communication. Personality differences are especially noticeable in identical twins who grew up apart from each other.

Personality traits:

Another important quality of personality that is different from the individual is the need for recognition by society. For example, in Indian tribes, a person was given a name only when he performed some important act.

The main motive that determines the activity of an individual is interest. The process of cognition in this case depends on the desire or unwillingness of a person to learn the properties of an object and understand it. A person is more often guided by beliefs, which are the basis of a person’s principles and worldview.