Social character is a set of traits characteristic of a group of people united by nationality, gender, religion, professional and other characteristics. Social character is a designation of a stable system of personality orientation. It is the opposite of individual character, which distinguishes people from each other. The formation of social character is most influenced by the society surrounding a person, the economic and political situation.
The process of socialization begins from the moment a person defines himself and his relationship to other people, building one or another model of relationships, which leads to the establishment of a certain social character.
Teachings of Erich Fromm
Erich Fromm, a German sociologist and philosopher, argued that the type of human activity is determined by his considerations and living conditions, considerations, in turn, are determined by the structure of the personality. According to his teaching, several types of social character can be distinguished.
Receptive (passive or masochistic)
Beliefs: the source of all benefits is external, it is impossible to create anything on your own, the only way to achieve what you want is to resort to outside help.
Characteristics: they try to resort to the help of others, are extremely irresponsible, in case of failures they shift the blame onto someone else, are highly dependent on authority figures in their social circle, and never occupy leading positions.
Social relationships: they want to be loved, but do not want to love themselves, are not proactive, dependent.
Exploitative (sadistic)
Beliefs: the source of all benefits is in the external environment, it is impossible to achieve what you want on your own, you cannot create something yourself, but you can steal and recycle someone else’s.
Characteristics: they achieve what they want through manipulation and cunning, impose their life beliefs on others, do not tolerate dissent, are easy to work with and are very productive in their field of activity.
Social relationships: interested only in those who need to be conquered or “recaptured”, strive to take a leading position, extremely sociable, but often hostile; They evaluate others according to their degree of usefulness, they are cynics, they treat new acquaintances with suspicion, they are envious of the successes of others and are very jealous.
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Hoarding (acquisitive, destructive)
Beliefs: it is impossible to create - you need to protect and save what you already have, they strive to get as much as possible and give as little as possible.
Characteristics: their home is their main fortress, which they strive to make as comfortable as possible by placing a huge number of things there, they try to restore order everywhere, they do not like change.
Social relationships: they are always under someone’s control, rarely take initiative, are silent and think a lot, structuring and analyzing thoughts, they are stingy with emotions and do not like conflicts.
Market (conformist)
Beliefs: success depends on the ability to present oneself correctly; everyone, including themselves, is a commodity with which they must compete.
Characteristics: they follow the “demand” and quickly adapt to the latest trends, losing their individuality in the process, often adopting the images that are broadcast by the media, and often sacrifice their self-esteem.
Social relationships: they ask the price of others, strive to make useful acquaintances, do not tolerate criticism and other threats to self-esteem, are often unsure of themselves, rarely experience real feelings - they neither love nor hate, do not become attached to anyone and do not value anyone, easily break up communications.
Perceiver
Beliefs: It is impossible to create on your own, but it is possible to help others create.
Characteristics: dependent on others, lack individuality, often live someone else’s life.
Social relationships: sociable, sincerely happy about the successes of others, talk a lot and laugh loudly, always have a large social circle.
>> Types of development, diversity of societies
Necrophiliac
Beliefs: they don’t think about creation, life is a tragedy.
Characteristics: extremely destructive, prone to depression, have a flexible psyche, and are often religious fanatics or ardent adherents of radical movements.
Social relationships: dependent on other people, suggestible.
Social (sociophilic)
Beliefs: development is the main task of life; they can either create it independently or help others in this.
Characteristics: mature, harmonious individuals, attentive to details, strive to study the world around them, do not oppose themselves to society, but also do not strive to meet its requirements, are aware of their strengths.
Social relationships: they love people, are patient, strive to surround loved ones with care, in the process of their development they try to involve others in the development.
Character from a psychological point of view
I think many people know that the word “character” is translated from ancient Greek as “sign” or “seal”. But in psychology, character is understood not as one quality that leaves an imprint on a person’s behavior, but as a complex of traits. They do not exist on their own, but appear exclusively in different areas of activity.
You can often hear the statement that character is given from birth. What to do if a person was born this way? This is actually a myth. Character traits are formed throughout life from early childhood. The content and combination of these traits are influenced by the social environment, life circumstances, culture and traditions of society.
Congenital mental characteristics or temperament also influence character, but this influence is not absolute, but is mediated by the interaction of a person and society. Human nature is, as it were, polished by society. Therefore, with age, character can change - some features become brighter, more distinct, while others seem to be muffled, going into the shadows.
A person whose character traits manifest themselves clearly and leave an imprint on his entire behavior is said to have a strong character. Weakness of character is manifested in inconstancy and instability of personal qualities that make up the character. For example, when at home a person manifests himself as a narcissistic tyrant, and at work as a coward and sycophant.
Thus, character is a multi-colored mosaic, the individual elements of which create a unique personality image. When talking about the formation and development of character, we mean its individual traits that are important and significant for a person’s existence in society. And in each society in different historical eras these can be completely different personality traits.
Personality structure according to Bratus
Russian sociologist and psychologist, Boris Sergeevich Bratus, created his own classification of social types, taking as a basis a person’s relationship to himself and to others.
Thus, the scientist identifies the following levels in the personality structure:
- Egocentric level. Characterized by a desire exclusively for personal comfort, gain and prestige; attitude towards others is dismissive, consumerist; representatives of this category treat people as things, evaluate them from the point of view of usefulness.
- Group-centric level. A person builds a model of behavior depending on his membership in a particular social group. He considers himself valuable only when he is an integral part of something, dividing those around him into “us” and “strangers”. Personal happiness is linked to the happiness of the group.
- Prosocial (humanistic) level. Characterized by equal respect for oneself and others, tolerance. Activities are focused on achieving results that can provide benefit not only to one specific person, but also to society.
- Spiritual level. For representatives of this category, a person is an immortal being, they strive to make their existence highly spiritual, and they associate the end of life with the transition to a new level.
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The relationship between temperament and character
Character and temperament are often identified, but they are different concepts.
In psychology, different points of view have been expressed on this matter:
- both concepts are identical;
- temperament is a part, the core of character;
- two concepts are antagonists;
- temperament is the natural basis of character.
Temperament is more closely related to the properties of the human nervous system and is directly determined by them. Character is greatly influenced by society and upbringing. If character is subject to correction, then temperament is an innate property that remains with the individual for life.
The social environment in which an individual grew up and lives has a strong influence on character, while temperament remains unchanged. The content of a person’s actions depends on character, but only their manner and style depend on temperament.
Important: temperament cannot be assessed as “good” or “bad”, but character consists of those traits that can be regarded as positive or negative.
The type of temperament and character are connected and interact with each other in a single appearance of a person, forming an inseparable alloy - a characteristic of his individuality.
Temperament is a set of certain properties of the human psyche. They influence human behavior and activities. The nervous system is responsible for temperament. It is given to a person from birth.
Character is certain human qualities that are manifested in his relationships with the outside world. Character traits are formed under the influence of external factors.
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The type of character, as well as a person’s temperament, influence the choice of profession. Predisposition to a particular type of activity is also taken into account.
Strong-willed traits of people
- willpower - the level of effort to achieve the desired result;
- perseverance – the ability to mobilize to overcome troubles;
- endurance - the ability to limit feelings, thinking and actions.
Courage, self-control, commitment are the personal qualities of strong-willed people. They are classified into simple and complex acts. In a simple case, incentives to action flow into execution automatically. Complex acts are carried out on the basis of motivation, drawing up a plan and taking into account the consequences.
Psychological character of a person
Character is one of the components of the psychological portrait of a person. But it alone is not enough to form a full-fledged opinion about a person, which is necessary, for example, for hiring a responsible job or making an informed choice in your personal life.
At the same time, you need to determine the person’s temperament.
There are four in total:
- sanguine A person with a stable nervous system is quite mobile and balanced. The processes of excitation and inhibition of the nervous system quickly appear and also quickly decline. Optimistic, sociable. The downside is that they are capable of irresponsibility and frivolity.
- choleric. A very mobile nervous system. It gets excited quickly, but cools down slowly. Extremely restless, always having to do something, energetic. Disadvantages: conflict-ridden, aggressive, hot-tempered.
- phlegmatic person. The nervous system is very stable and balanced, but not dynamic. Cannot switch from one topic to another, does not work at “high speeds”. But the result will be impressive - everything is thought out to the smallest detail. Reliable, responsible. Disadvantages - clumsy, rather dry in communication.
- melancholic. The nervous system is very weak, vulnerable, impressionable. Soft, sensitive people. Cons: low performance, suspiciousness, isolation.
The third component within the psychological portrait is the following abilities of the individual:
- general, formed under the influence of intelligence. This is mental flexibility, hard work, and the ability to adapt.
- special, appealing to a certain direction: to oneself personally, to communication, to completing a task.
To compile a psychological portrait, the following are also taken into account: intelligence, emotionality, feelings, communication skills, stress resistance, self-esteem.
