Man, individual and personality are key concepts in psychology, which are no less important in social science, since man is the main element of society. What is the difference in these three terms?
Human.
Human- a term of a biological nature. This is a link in the development of living beings on our planet. Homo sapiens, in the form in which they exist now, existed tens of thousands of years ago. The biological, physiological, and anatomical structures did not change significantly during this time. But the difference between a modern university student and a hunter of ancient Mesopotamia is obvious to everyone. What is this difference?
Individual.
Individual translated from Latin (individuum) means “indivisible”. This is a specific representative of humanity, a human individual who has psychological and biological characteristics characteristic only of her. A more expanded concept - individuality, that is, the combination of these biological and psychological qualities that distinguishes this particular individual from the rest.
Thus, an individual is a specific person with his own characteristics given to him from birth, individuality is more of a psychological term than a biological one - a set of skills (character, ability, knowledge) acquired in the process of life.
Personality.
Personality- the most difficult concept. This social image of a person. It is society that shapes the individual into a personality. This is what distinguishes a person from an animal. An individual raised separately from others, for example on a desert island, will become an individual. But he will not become a person, because the key factor here is communication and relationships with other people. To become a person, a person goes through a path socialization, and its formation occurs throughout life.
Basic elements of socialization:
- communication;
- upbringing;
- education;
- mass media;
- social control system.
In the process of socialization (personality formation), a person develops physical skills and abilities, psychological characteristics, moral factors, scientific knowledge, political worldviews, religious values, etc. Sociologist Leontiev described personality as a set of social relations that are realized in various types of activities. Simply put, an individual is a member of society, and in this definition - everything that can be meant by this.
The difference between the concepts of man, individual and personality.
The difference between the concepts of man, individual and personality is for this purpose. For those who are not very familiar with sociology and psychology, it is easy to explain with a simple example from life.
Let's say you start playing a computer RPG - a game like Fallout or Skyrim. First you choose a race - elf, dwarf or human. This is the concept of man, that is, a biological difference from other types of creatures. From the very beginning, your character has certain skills and abilities (strength, endurance, intelligence, etc.). In this form, at the very start of the game, we have before us an individual who differs from the rest (in many games you set these initial parameters yourself) by the characteristics given from birth. During the gameplay, your character develops, acquires new character traits, knowledge, abilities, and by the end of the game we have a hero with a certain charisma and karma, a set of skills, completely different from the one we received at the beginning. This is already a personality.
There are many such comparisons that can be made (even with “World of Tanks”), but the point is to understand that one is born a person, and becomes a person in the process of communication and interaction with other members of society.
- a single representative of the human race, a specific bearer of all psychophysical and social traits of humanity.
General characteristics of the individual:
integrity of the psychophysical organization of the body;
stability in relation to the surrounding reality;
activity.
Otherwise, we can say that an individual is a “specific person” from birth to death. The individual is the initial state of a person in phylogenetic and ontogenetic development.
Personality is considered as the result of the development of the individual, the embodiment of human qualities. Personality is the social essence of a person.
Definition.Personality - this is a specific person who is the bearer of consciousness, capable of cognition, experiences, transformation of the surrounding world and building certain relationships with this world and with the world of other individuals.
Personality is considered as the embodiment in a particular person of social qualities that are acquired in the process of activity and communication with other individuals. One is not born a person, one becomes a person.
It is more difficult to define the concept of “individuality” because, in addition to personal characteristics, which are the main components of individuality, it includes biological, physiological and other characteristics of a person. We can give the following definition of individuality.
Definition.Individuality - This is a specific person who differs from other people in a unique combination of mental, physiological and social characteristics, manifested in behavior, activity and communication.
The concept of “individuality” most often emphasizes the originality and uniqueness of each person. On the other hand, in individuality we encounter those personality qualities and individual properties that everyone has, but have varying degrees of expression and form combinations. All individual qualities are manifested in various ways of behavior, activity, and communication.
36>35. CIVIL SOCIETY - sphere spontaneous self-expression of free individuals and voluntary associations and organizations, protected by law from direct interference and arbitrary regulation of their activities by government authorities. G.o. includes the entire set of non-political relations in society, namely: economic, social, family, spiritual, moral, national, religious relations, etc.
Civil society is a term that, starting from the 18th century, has been used to designate public, and in the narrow sense, property relations. The lack of theory of civil society among English and French materialists was manifested in a lack of understanding of its dependence on the development of methods of production. They explained its formation by the natural properties of man, political objectives, forms of government and legislation, morality, etc.
Civil society, that is, the totality of social relations, was considered by them as the environment in which the activities of individuals unfold. G. Hegel understood civil society as a system of needs based on private property, property and class relations, a system of legal relations, and also guessed about some laws of social development. Hegel's idealism manifested itself in the recognition of the dependence of civil society on the state, which, unlike civil society, he considered the true form of objective spirit. Hegel clearly raises the question of the relationship between the socio-economic and legal aspects of civil society. He distinguishes between civil society and the political state. Civil society in his understanding is the sphere of realization of private goals and interests of an individual. Hegel identifies three main aspects of civil society:
1) system of needs;
2) administration of justice;
3) police and cooperation.
Civil society requires not only the functioning of private property, but also its protection by the law, courts and police. According to the Hegelian concept, civil society and the state are related like reason and reason. Hegel connects the formation of civil society with the development of the bourgeois system.
K. Marx, criticizing Hegel, used the term civil society. He understood civil society as the organization of the family, estates and classes, property relations and distribution, in general the forms, methods of existence and functioning of society, the actual life and activity of man (this term is used to designate bourgeois society). Marx emphasizes their objective nature and economic basis. Subsequently, he replaces this term with a system of scientific concepts (economic structure of society, economic basis, method of production, etc.).
He proceeded from the fact that the key to understanding the historical process should be sought in civil society. This is not accidental, because according to the logic of Marxism, the socio-economic sphere of society is fundamental. This sphere and the property relations present in it are characterized as the main link in the development of civil society.
Summarizing the developed concepts, we can say that in a truly civil society, every person has the opportunity to freely express themselves and satisfy their needs. At the same time, he will use all the means of legal and social protection of the state.
"The terms are used"", "individual", "individuality". Substantially, these concepts are intertwined.
Man (with a small letter) is a generic concept that indicates the relation of a being to the highest degree of development of living nature - to the human race. The concept of "man" affirms the genetic predetermination of the development of actually human features and qualities.
At the same time, when they talk about a person, they sometimes talk about a Man with a capital letter, and this is about something else. "When will you become Human?" - this is the question “When will you become reasonable and decent?”
An individual is a single representative of the species "homo sapiens". As individuals, people 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).
Individuality is the unity of the unique personal properties of a particular person. This is the uniqueness of his psychophysiological structure (type of temperament, physical and mental characteristics, intelligence, worldview, life experience).
The relationship between individuality and personality is determined by the fact that these are two ways of being a person, two different definitions of him. The discrepancy between these concepts is manifested, in particular, in the fact that there are two different processes of the formation of personality and individuality.
The formation of a personality is a process of socialization of a person, which consists in the development of a generic, social essence. This development is always carried out in the concrete 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.
The formation of individuality is the process of individualization of an object. Individualization is the process of self-determination and isolation of the individual, its isolation from the community, the design of its separateness, uniqueness and originality. A person who has become an individual is an original person who has actively and creatively manifested himself in life.
The concepts of “personality” and “individuality” capture different aspects, different dimensions of a person’s spiritual essence. The essence of this difference is well expressed in the language. With the word “personality” such epithets as “strong”, “energetic”, “independent” are usually used, thereby emphasizing its active representation in the eyes of others. Individuality is said to be "bright", "unique", "creative", referring to the qualities of an independent entity.
"When will you become a person?" - this is a question about inner freedom: “When will you start living with your own head, making your own decisions?” There may be a bright, free, strong personality and, to a small extent, a Human being - for example, a bandit. There may be a reasonable and decent person, and at the same time to a small extent a personality - for example, a good ordinary person who lives simply as
Hello, dear readers of the blog site. Despite the fact that this concept is used by many scientific directions, biology is rightfully considered its ancestor.
She interprets this term as individual, a living organism endowed with characteristics and qualities that distinguish it from other species of living things. That is, an individual can be called an individual camel, a person, a ciliate, a shoe, and so on.
Individual of the human race studied by psychologists, sociologists, and social scientists. This will be discussed in this article.
Definition - what is an individual
An individual in social science is absolutely any person with a characteristic set of characteristics that determine his belonging to Homo sapiens (translated from the Latin word individuum literally means indivisible).
Some qualities are given to him at birth, others are acquired in the process. For example, I, as a person, differ from a dog in that I walk upright on two legs, I have hands - tools that I use in activities.
In addition to instincts, I have thinking, memory, perception, and other mental processes. I can create something new, improve the old, and many other things that are unusual for a dog. Therefore, I will never become her, and she will never become me (although, who knows). She and I are individuals, but belonging to different living groups.
The individual is impersonal concept: it does not take into account gender, age, or services to the Fatherland. Everyone is born as such and continues to be such throughout their lives. Human? So, an individual.
Properties of an individual (human)
In psychology, the definition of an individual is not limited only to his belonging to the human race. An individual is someone who also belongs to a particular social group. Based on these facts, three signs are identified that indicate that we have an individual:
- integrity and commonality of psychophysiological traits;
- the ability to adapt to society and the surrounding reality;
- own position and corresponding activity.
To briefly answer the question “who is an individual”, it is this particular person.
Individual, individuality, personality - what's the difference?
Close to the term individual are two more: and. Some even think that they mean the same thing, but this is not entirely true. Or rather, not at all like that. I will quote from a statement by A.G. Asmolov - a modern psychologist and politician:
“An individual is born, a person becomes, individuality is defended.”
To understand the essence of this phrase, let's take a closer look at the terms it contains.
Really, all people are born individuals as members of the human race. The first part of our lives we try to “fit into” society, and for this we need to comply with the norms and rules established in this society. The latter fact forces us to learn to be like everyone else through imitation of adults.
First, we understand that we need to clean up our toys after ourselves, then that we shouldn’t hit the weak, and in general it’s not good to fight. We understand that we must respect our elders, give way to the elderly, and help those in need. It is not good to talk loudly, climb out of line, and so on.
Now you know what an individual is, but what happens next? After all, people differ not only from other representatives of the living world, but also from each other, including.
Individuality
Individual, individuality, personality - in that order, you cannot immediately skip over a step. Individuality presupposes unique set of qualities that distinguish a person from his "brothers".
That is, we acquire our individuality when we grow and learn to live among others. The presence of individuality in a person does not always mean that he is a person.
Personality
In the process of this learning, the individual acquires many of his own specific characteristics and becomes a personality. It is the result of learning interaction with society.
It is important to add here that if everyone is born an individual, then not everyone becomes an individual.
If you like, this is the next stage of human mental development. Before that, you looked at others and did as they did. But the moment you decide to do something, but in your own way, and also take responsibility for this decision, personality is born.
She knows how to set goals and achieve them in her own unique ways, and is an active and therefore effective unit in society.
The individual is self-organized, highly developed and occupies a significant place in his group or society.
Brief summary
The distinction between the individual and the individual has become clear. But there is more. What can you say about this? A person is always an individual, but not always a person..
Good luck to you! See you soon on the pages of the blog site
You may be interested
What is personality and how to develop it What is development: definition, characteristics and types Humane - what is it, what is humanity, who are humanists and what are their distinctive features Deviant behavior - what it is, types and causes of deviation, as well as ways to correct it What is adaptation - its types, purpose and areas of application (biology, psychology, personnel adaptation) What is ambition - traits of an ambitious personality, the pros and cons of ambition What is a need - its types, classification, as well as the pyramid of human needs from Maslow Socialization is what will allow you to live in harmony with the world What is life - definition and 4 main stages of human life What is affect: signs, types and causes of the state of affect What is infantilism: signs of infantile behavior in men and women, causes of infantilism
Man, as a biosocial being, is multifaceted: he can interact with other people and perform different roles. In social science, there are several concepts related to man. Let's learn briefly about a person, an individual, a personality.
Man, on the one hand, is a biological species that has the characteristics of an animal. On the other hand, he is a social being and develops only in society.
Mowgli, the hero of R. Kipling's work, lived among wolves. Such cases happened in life, but children who lived among animals had difficulty returning to human society, had developmental delays, could not speak, and it was no longer possible to teach them what their peers could do.
Let's understand the concepts and identify the relationship between the concepts - person, individual, personality, individuality.
- Individual - a single person. This concept designates a person as a living being of a given species, without highlighting his social qualities;
- Personality – a person who has qualities acquired during his life, who knows how to interact with other people;
- Individuality - a person who has special character qualities, unique, that distinguish him from other people.
Personality
The first and most important quality inherent in a person is consciousness, that is, an understanding of one’s activities, the ability to set goals, dream, and reflect one’s attitude towards the world around us.
Signs that characterize personality:
TOP 4 articleswho are reading along with this
- awareness of oneself in society, one’s “I”;
- the ability to engage in various types of activities (depending on age - play, study, work);
- the ability to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for successful activities.
All people are individuals, but there are those who do not meet the requirements of society: a criminal personality, an undeveloped personality, and so on.
Respect for the individual. Society approves or condemns a person.
The attitude towards it depends on:
- from human labor;
- from the attitude to the surrounding world;
- from his assessment of himself.
Individuality
Each person is an individual. It is unique in nature and different from other people :
- appearance: physique, eye and hair color, facial features;
- character traits: someone is active, talks a lot, needs communication and friends, and someone loves loneliness;
- abilities for one activity or another: singing or music, drawing, sports.
Strong personality
Often people appear in society who are called strong personalities. They are characterized by the ability to give up personal interests in favor of other people, their homeland, to overcome serious difficulties.
Ludwig van Beethoven, a world-famous composer, lost his hearing early, and then his eyesight, but despite this, he continued to compose music and share it with others. Now his works do not lose popularity, but few people know that their author wrote, literally feeling the music.
What have we learned?
The concepts of man, individual, personality, individuality are united by the fact that they all characterize people as biological and social beings with natural properties and qualities acquired in the process of life and interaction with other members of society. Such a system of concepts helps to streamline the properties of a person and consider him from different angles. An individual is a biological being, one of all people. Personality – possessing a number of social qualities. Individuality – having a set of properties and characteristics that is unique in nature. Each person is an individual, personality and individuality.
Test on the topic
Report Evaluation
Average rating: 4.6. Total ratings received: 736.
