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- according to emotional traits — balanced and unbalanced, etc.
No less important character traits that reveal person’s characteristics are also
indicators of their focus, initiative, creativity, responsibility, ethics and a number of
others.
The variability of character traits is manifested not so much in their qualitative
diversity as in their quantitative expression. When it reaches extreme values, socalled accentuation of character occurs, meaning excessive expression of its individual traits or their combination. It is believed that this is an extreme version of the norm
of behavior.
In modern psychology, to systematize accentuated character traits, in most cases, the approach developed by K. Leonhard is used, who identified the following thirteen types:
- cycloid — alternating phases of good and bad mood with different periods;
- hyperthymic — constantly elevated mood, increased mental activity with a
thirst for activity and a tendency not to complete the work started;
- labile — a sharp change in mood depending on the situation;
- asthenic — fatigue, irritability, tendency to depression;
- sensitive — increased impressionability, timidity, heightened sense of inferi-
ority;
- psychasthenic — high anxiety, suspiciousness, indecisiveness, tendency to in-
trospection, constant doubts;
- schizoid — fenced off from the outside world, isolation, emotional coldness,
manifested in a lack of empathy;
- epileptoid — a tendency to an angry-sad mood with accumulating aggression,
manifested in the form of rage and anger;
- stuck — increased suspicion and touchiness, desire for dominance, rejection
of the opinions of others, conflict;
- demonstrative — a pronounced tendency to repress unpleasant facts and
events, deceit, pretense, “flight into illness” when the need for recognition is not satisfied;
- dysthymic — predominance of low mood, tendency to depression, focus on
the gloomy and sad aspects of life;
- unstable — tendency to easily succumb to the influence of others, search for
new experiences and companies, superficial nature of communication;
- conformal — excessive subordination and dependence on other people, lack
of criticality and initiative.
92
As already noted, a person’s character is formed in a certain social environment on the basis of the physiological predetermination of one’s psyche, including
their abilities.
Abilities are the correspondence of a person’s mental characteristics to the re-
quirements imposed on them by a specific type of activity. This is a mental property
of a person, reflecting the manifestation of such characteristics that allow them to
successfully perform various types of activities. The development of most applied
problems of personality psychology, including methods of professional selection, is
based on this understanding.
It is necessary to take into account that abilities are a holistic reflection of the
individual psychological characteristics of a person and are manifested in the motivational, operational and functional mechanisms of one’s activity.
The motivational mechanism is a kind of “trigger device” for activating the
psyche, tuning and mobilizing it for upcoming activities, and creating conditions for
the functioning of other mental mechanisms. The operational mechanism of abilities
includes a set of operations or methods by which the realization of a conscious goal
into the final result is carried out. The functional mechanism is provided by the previously discussed mental processes, and therefore people who have developed imagination, memory, thinking, etc. have higher abilities.
Among the types of abilities there are: private ones, realized in one action; special, used in specific activities; general, used in all spheres of human activity. General
ones, in particular, include intellectual abilities (intelligence10) of a person.
Levels of ability predetermine the quality of the corresponding human activity.
These include:
- inability — discrepancy between the mental characteristics of a person and
the psychological requirements of the activity they perform;
- simple ability — compliance of the mental characteristics of a person with the
psychological requirements of the activity they perform;
- giftedness — the ability of an individual to achieve high results in a specific
field of activity;
- talent — the ability to achieve outstanding results in one of the areas of a per-
son’s activity;
- genius — the ability to achieve outstanding results in a specific area of human
activity.
10
Intelligence (from Latin intellektus — understanding, comprehension) is a relatively stable structure of an
individual’s mental abilities, manifested in the form of conscious and subconscious processes that ensure mental pro-
cessing and evaluation of information of different quality.
93
It should be borne in mind that abilities are already formed mental properties
and should be distinguished from proclivities and aptitudes. If a proclivity is a per-
son’s desire for a certain activity, then aptitudes are innate mental characteristics that
allow a person to effectively perform a specific activity. Both, unlike abilities, represent only a person’s potential and may turn out to be completely unclaimed.
This is the content of personality psychology. The previously given division of
its elements into three groups (mental processes, formations and properties) is very
arbitrary and is used only for educational purposes. They all act simultaneously,
complementing and influencing each other. In confirmation of this, S. L. Rubinstein’s
conclusion is very significant that the mental phenomena of the individual “are prac-
tically inseparable from each other. On the one hand, all mental processes in their
course depend on the properties and characteristics of the individual..., on the other
hand, each type of mental process, fulfilling its role in the life of the individual, in the
course of activity transforms into its properties.”
Knowledge of the psychological structure of the individual, understanding of
the mechanisms of its functioning and the characteristics of its manifestation is one of
the important conditions for the effectiveness of management activities of all categories of managers. In this case, not only are conditions created for understanding and
explaining the actions and deeds of subordinate personnel and colleagues, but also for
the effective management of their joint professional activities.
Questions and tasks for self-testing of knowledge
1. Justify the logic of human development in ontogenesis in the sequence: indi-
vidual — personality — subject — individuality.
2. What is the fundamental difference in existing approaches to defining per-
sonality and its structure?
3. What specificity does the worldview and socio-psychological components of
one’s personality give to a person’s behavior and activity?
4. What is the significance of mental formations in the functioning of a per-
son’s personal sphere?
5. Determine what role various types of human activity play in the formation of
individual psychological components of the personality structure.
94
Additional literature
1. Бороздина, Г.В. Психология и педагогика : учебник для бакалавров /
Г.В. Бороздина. — 2-е изд., испр. и доп. — Москва : Юрайт, 2016. — 477 с.
2. Психология и педагогика: в 2 ч. Ч. 1: Психология : учебник для академического бакалавриата / под общей редакцией В.А. Сластенина, В.П. Каширина. — Москва : Юрайт, 2016. — 230 с.
95
CHAPTER 3
STUDYING THE PSYCHOLOGICAL SPHERE OF PERSONALITY
Personality as an object of study. Methodological foundations for the study of
personality. The structure of psychological characteristics. Content of knowledge
about a person. Requirements for studying an employee. Ethical requirements for the
use of the results of psychological studies of employees.
Diagnosis of the psychological sphere of personality. Methods for studying
psychological characteristics of personality. The concept and possibilities of
psychodiagnostics. Types and forms of psychodiagnostic techniques. Basic
requirements for diagnostic techniques. Methods for diagnosing mental phenomena
of personality. Self-knowledge technique.
The problem of studying people has always been the focus of attention of those
who, for one reason or another, have to work with people. In this regard, one of the
founders of Russian pedagogy, K.D. Ushinsky, back in the 19th century. wrote: “If
pedagogy wants to educate a person in all respects, then it must first get to know him
in all respects. The educator must recognize man as he really is, with all his
weaknesses and in all his greatness, with all his everyday, petty needs and with all his
great spiritual demands... Only then will he be able to draw means from the very
nature of man educational influence..."11.
The words of our compatriot remain relevant today. In addition, in the
professional activity of a higher school graduate (manager, specialist), they acquire
special significance. After all, he has to deal not only with his employees, but also
solve management problems in various economic, legal, psychological and other
spheres of modern society. Consequently, an objective diagnosis of the psychological
sphere of an individual allows him not only to effectively manage staff, but also to
more effectively interact with specialists in other professional fields.
3.1. PERSONALITY AS AN OBJECT OF STUDY
Before considering the problem of personality as an object of special
psychological and pedagogical study, it should be noted that in domestic scientific
thought in recent years there has been a sufficient variety of approaches to resolving
11
Ушинский К.Д. Педагогические сочинения: в 6 т. М.: Педагогика, 1990. Т. 5. С. 15.
96
it. A number of researchers focus on the content and level of development of its basic
mental properties (direction, temperament, character and abilities). Others suggest not
to ignore another group of phenomena that have a psychological nature of formation
and existence — knowledge, skills and abilities. It is also impossible not to note
another approach that substantiates the importance of taking into account the mental
component in the personal structure, the characteristics of which depend on the level
of development of cognitive and emotional-volitional processes.
Analysis of the presented approaches allows us to conclude that they do not
contradict each other. Each of them reflects one or another level of knowledge of a
particular person. The most complete information about a person is of interest to
specialists in professional selection (recruitment) groups, as a result of which they
pay attention to all three components — processes, formations and properties. For the
head of a structural unit (manager), the level of professional preparedness
(knowledge, skills, abilities) and the maturity of the employee’s personal qualities are
very important. For other specialists, information about the characteristics of only
individual elements of the personal sphere (for example, character) of a colleague or
employee is sufficient.
This approach to solving this problem in most cases has developed empirically
and so far satisfies the needs of interpersonal interaction in conditions of joint
educational, professional and other activities of people. At the same time, for an
unambiguous understanding of the essence and indicators of certain elements of a
person’s personal sphere it is important for various specialists (teachers, lecturers,
social workers, managers, etc.) to proceed from common scientific positions. This
function is implemented by the general methodological foundations of studying a
person’s personal characteristics.
Methodological basis for the study of personality
The study of personality is not only the official duty of an employee of a
pedagogical, social, economic, etc. structure, but also an applied area of psychology
and pedagogy. Both sciences believe that in this case the leader deals with constant
(biologically determined, innate) and variable (socially dependent) quantities that
characterize the internal (psychological) world of a person. In order for them to be
identified and objectively interpreted, sufficient theoretical work must be carried out
based on the relevant principles. The most significant of them in modern science include:
97
- the principle of reflection, the essence of which is that adequate perception
(reflection) of the surrounding world by consciousness provides a person with effective regulation of their activities;
- the development principle guides a manager or specialist to study the conditions for the emergence of certain personality traits of an employee (subordinate), the
dynamics of their improvement, specific quantitative, qualitative and other indicators;
- the principle of the dialectical connection between essence and phenomenon,
which presupposes the mutual conditioning of these philosophical categories in the
professional activity of a specialist in the service, economic, social, etc. spheres, even
if they are not identical;
- the principle of the unity of consciousness and activity requires taking into
account that a person’s consciousness is formed and developed in their activity,
which, in turn, is controlled (regulated) by consciousness;
- the personal principle requires the manager to have a holistic perception of
the individual characteristics of the employee, taking into account the specific life
situation, his ontogenesis.
The listed principles should be the basis for work on studying the personal
characteristics of subordinate employees or fellow employees. At the same time, this
work assumes a focus on solving a number of specific problems of personality
diagnostics.
1. Identification of the relative level of personal development of a person over
a certain period of time. The solution to this problem is carried out through the socalled “research sections” — diagnosing the characteristics of the personal sphere in
one direction or another. For example, to determine the level of mental development,
it is necessary to isolate its indicators and only then conduct a specific study of them.
The level of development of other components of intellectual development (for
example, memory, imagination, thinking, etc.) is determined in a similar way.
Further, the same approach should be used in relation to other mental phenomena of
the individual.
2. Analysis of changes in the level of personal development of a person under
the influence of certain factors. To analyze the nature of changes in the level of a
person’s mental development under the influence of certain situations or targeted
professional, educational and other types of interactions, it is necessary to know both
the possible ways of such a change and the methods of fixing it. Using diagnostic
techniques, it is important to obtain several sections to identify trends in personal
development and then, based on the data obtained, evaluate the practical effectiveness
of existing external (educational, professional activities, etc.) factors.
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3. Identification of potential opportunities for further mental development. The
solution to this problem is the implementation of the predictive function of the
process of studying a person’s personal characteristics. It becomes possible because
the results already achieved by the individual in development form the basis for
further improvement (“zone of proximal development”). All this gives special
significance to the search and application of methods for establishing not only the
existing level of mental development, but also the directions of its subsequent
change.
Along with the specific diagnostic tasks presented, it is advisable to consider
more specific requirements for the selection and application of methods for studying
the personal characteristics of people. First of all, when conducting a psychological
study of personal characteristics, it is necessary to use not just one method, even a
very reliable one, but a system of them that serves the solution of a given diagnostic
problem. The components of its methods should, if possible, be natural in nature (i.e.,
implemented in normal conditions of educational, work or other activities) and
selected taking into account the age, professional and other individual characteristics
of the subjects.
To obtain the most reliable results, it is necessary that the methods and
techniques not only cover all aspects of the phenomenon under study, but also
overlap each other. At the same time, it is necessary to select methods so that each of
them allows both qualitative and quantitative analysis of the data obtained and, at the
same time, is quite simple and does not require cumbersome procedures for
processing and interpreting the results obtained.
Fulfillment of the stated principles, specific tasks and particular requirements
for the study of the characteristics of a person’s personal sphere are of great
importance. Its results can be transferred for use by other employees (managers of
other areas of the company, organization), since they will be based on a single
methodological basis.
However, to accurately and completely characterize an employee, it is not
enough to rely solely on uniform methodological positions. It is also necessary to
reflect the qualitative and quantitative indicators of all professionally important
mental phenomena of one’s personality. This necessitated the formation of a unified
approach to the structure of the psychological characteristics of a subordinate.
99
Structure of psychological characteristics
As practice shows, the constant study of subordinate employees and their
characteristics is one of the most difficult responsibilities of a manager, especially in
the first months and sometimes years of his professional activity after graduation.
Often, due to the inability to accurately characterize a co-worker or a formal
approach to this work, manager develops a distorted social image, which negatively
affects further professional activity (unjustified promotion or demotion, dismissal,
etc.). This places fairly high service and ethical demands on the manager. To carry
them out, you need to know what to study in a person and how to interpret the results
obtained in his characteristics.
The well-known Russian psychologist S.L. Rubinstein formulated a succinct
answer to the question of what to study in personality. “The study of the mental ap-
pearance of a person includes three main questions,” he wrote. — “The first question
to which we seek an answer... is: what does he want, what is attractive to him, what
does he strive for? It is a question of direction, attitudes and tendencies, needs,
interests and ideals. But, naturally, a second one comes up next: what can he do? This
is a question about a person’s abilities and gifts. However, abilities are at first only
possibilities; in order to know how a person implements and uses them, we need to
know what he is, what of his tendencies and attitudes has become part of his flesh and
blood and has become entrenched as the core characteristics of his personality. This
is a question about a person's character12.”
The foregoing helps to see the characteristics of an employee that should be
studied by a manager in the interests of increasing the effectiveness of managerial
and pedagogical work with him. What is the content of what should be studied in the
personality of a subordinate?
What a person wants is what attracts them, motivates them to action,
determines their determination and characterizes the orientation of the individual,
one’s worldview. To get an answer to this question means to study the interests and
needs of the employee (what they need more spiritually and materially); ideals (who
is an example for them, who and what they would like to imitate); immediate and
long-term goals (what they strive for in working on themself, communicating with
other people, what plans they are making); primary motivation in relation to
12
Рубинштейн С.Л. Основы общей психологии: В 2 т. М.: Педагогика, 1989. Т. 2. С. 99.
100
professional training and activities (what exactly motivates them to activity; the
development of feelings of corporate duty, honor, dignity, responsibility; interest or
self-interest, fear or other forces); attitude towards religion (what they profess, the
influence of religiosity on their attitude towards their work, professional training, the
people around them and themselves).
The information obtained about the orientation and worldview of a subordinate
will help the manager to better understand the uniqueness of the employee’s attitude
towards the performance of their official and professional duties, to help other people
anticipate their possible behavior in various situations, to determine the direction of
their work in order to strengthen (develop, change) certain views and attitudes,
interests, ideals.
What a person can do is a question about the level and characteristics of their
professional knowledge, skills and abilities; talents, possibilities for the manifestation
of their personal characteristics in something, predisposition to one or another type of
professional activity. It characterizes the features of the development of mental
processes of the individual: cognitive (peculiarities of attention, thinking, memory,
imagination, ideas, speech); emotional (cultivation of feelings, their moral content,
manifested in relation to the performance of duty, people, various events); strongwilled (courage, determination, perseverance, perseverance, etc.).
The level of development of the listed phenomena predetermines the quality of
the employee’s professional abilities based on the implementation of their existing
knowledge, skills and abilities. At the same time, recognizing employee’s
capabilities, the manager can more purposefully and substantively build relationships
with them in professional training, corporate education, achieving the required level
of knowledge, skills and abilities, and the formation of professionally important
personal properties and qualities.
What a person is — that is the established core characteristics of the
personality. As already noted, this is primarily a question about a person’s character,
their life position, and habits. Each employee has their own stable characteristics.
This is the essence of one’s individuality. These personality traits are manifested in
employee’s attitude towards themself, their vision of themself (criticism, striving for
self-improvement or narcissism); attitude towards professional duties, events taking
place in the company, and other people; personal attitudes, principles, rules;
communication; activities; activity.
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