What is human character in psychology. Human character traits, good and bad

Each person has certain characteristics that are expressed in emotional manifestations, selection of specific actions and reactions. All this happens automatically and is defined by people as character traits. There are many personality types for quick definition what kind of person it happens to.

Everyone knows what character is. This is a set of qualities that are inherent in a particular person. Character is developed throughout life. As a child, he is flexible and quickly changing. Over the years he gains greater stability and at the end it is fixed.. What is it and what features does it have? this phenomenon, the article will tell.

What is personality character?

Every person encounters the character of another person. What it is? This is a characteristic of the psyche that combines permanent and stable qualities that determine the behavior and attitude of an individual. Translated from Greek, character means “trait”, “sign”. This is a stable characteristic that affects behavior, ways of reacting, activities and individual manifestations of a person.

We can say that the character of a person determines a person’s entire life, his destiny. They say that fate is predetermined. In fact, a person who does not obey specific rules and strategies creates his own destiny, which he then lives.

By changing your character, you can change your destiny, since character determines a person’s reaction, behavior, and decisions that he makes in life. specific situation. If you look closely, you can see that people who are similar in character live the same life. Only the details differ, but their methods and behavior are the same.

Character is formed throughout a person's life. It can be changed at any time, which in adulthood is possible only under the influence own desire and willpower. If a person cannot change his character, then his life does not change and its development is predictable.

Personality Traits

Character changes depending on the type of activity, society, social circle, attitude towards oneself and the world as a whole. If any of these aspects change, this may affect the change in the quality of character. If everything in a person’s life remains unchanged, then character traits remain unchanged.

Personality traits

The character of a person is also formed under the influence of the values ​​and moral beliefs that a person uses. The more stable they are, the more people is consolidated in its behavior and manifestations. Main feature personal nature is its certainty, where one can note the leading features, of which several always stand out. Definition of character disappears if there are no stable qualities.

Character is also based on the interests that a person has. The more stable and constant they are, the more a person becomes focused, persistent and integral in his manifestations.

You can determine the character traits of another person by his actions and their direction. Both actions and the results that he achieves after completing them are important. They are the ones who show a person's character.

Temperament and personality

The relationship between personality and character is also visible. Although these characteristics are determined by the human psyche, they are different sizes. Temperament is determined by structure nervous system, that makes him innate quality, the manifestations of which cannot be changed, but you can simply do something.

Character is a flexible aspect that is formed throughout life. A person can change it, which is determined by his life activity.

Character is formed based on the temperament with which a person is born. Temperament can be called the basis on which the entire branch of his character qualities is built. At the same time, temperament does not change depending on external circumstances and type of activity.

Temperament is characterized by three directions, each of which has its own complex structure:

1. Mobility (activity). It manifests itself in active work, self-expression, manifestation of oneself, which can be either sluggish or overly active.
2. Emotionality. There is a variety of moods and feelings here. Defined by:

• Lability – the speed of change from one mood to another.
• Impressiveness - the depth of perception of external emotional stimuli.
• Impulsivity is the speed at which an emotion transforms into a motivating force for action without thinking it through and making a decision to carry it out.

1. Motor skills.

Personality types

Psychologists from different times tried to identify personality types to determine specific groups of people. E. Kretschmer identified 3 groups of people according to their body type:

1. Picnic people prone to typing excess weight, short, with a large face, neck, plump. They are easily adaptable to the conditions of the world, sociable and emotional.
2. Athletic people, characterized by well-developed muscles, are tall and broad-shouldered, hardy and with a large chest. They are not impressionable, domineering, calm and practical, restrained in gestures and facial expressions, and do not adapt well.
3. Asthenic people, characterized by thinness and undeveloped muscles, a narrow face, long arms and legs, flat chest. They are stubborn and serious, withdrawn and poorly adaptable to change.

K. Jung proposed another typology that divides people by type of thinking:

• Extroverts. Very sociable and active people who tend to make a lot of acquaintances. They are direct and open. They love to travel, have parties, and be the life of the party. They focus on objective circumstances, and not on the subjective opinions of people.
• Introverts. Very closed people, fenced off from the world. They have few friends because they find it difficult to make contacts. They constantly analyze everything that is happening. They are very anxious and prefer to be alone.

Another classification divides people into 4 psychotypes depending on their combination of character and temperament:

1. Cholerics are unbalanced, fast, impetuous, passionate people. They quickly become exhausted due to the senseless expenditure of energy. Prone to emotional outbursts and mood swings.
2. Phlegmatic people are stable in their manifestations, emotions and views, unhurried, unperturbed people. They tend to be calm and balanced, persistent in their work. Outwardly they do not show emotions.
3. Melancholics – vulnerable people, prone to constant experience emotions. Very impressionable, react sharply to external manifestations.
4. Sanguine people are lively, mobile and active people. They react quickly to external circumstances and tend to receive many impressions. They are productive at work. They easily endure failures and troubles.

Psychological character of personality

Changes that are happening in psychological nature Personalities are divided into regular (typical) and individual (atypical).

Natural changes occur as a person grows up and goes through certain changes in his body. Childish features disappear, replaced by adult ones. Childhood traits include capriciousness, irresponsibility, fears, and tearfulness. To adults - wisdom, life experience, tolerance, reasonableness, prudence, etc.

Much here is determined by the situations that a person often encounters. Communication with people, various circumstances, successes and failures, tragedies determine a person’s change of views and values. That's why people are alone age group differ from each other because everyone had their own life experiences. Here individual traits are formed, which depend on the life circumstances through which each person passes.

Traits are quickly replaced by others if they are similar to or include previous ones.

Social character of personality

The social character of a person is understood as those qualities that should be characteristic of absolutely all people of a particular society. When going out into society, a person must show not only individual traits, but also those qualities that are considered acceptable, approved, and normal. This set is formed by society, the media, culture, education, educational institutions, religion, etc. It should be noted that parents also raise their children depending on the framework and norms that are accepted in society.

According to E. Fromm, the social character of a person is a person’s way of adapting to the society in which he is located. This is an unpunished and free way of existing in a particular society. He believed that no society allows a person to self-realize in full force, because it always dictates its own rules and norms, which must be exceeded individual characteristics and desires. This is why a person is always in conflict with society, when he must obey in order to be accepted, or tries to protest, which can be punishable.

Society will never allow a person to express himself in full force, which prevents him from realizing his inclinations and harms the individual himself. A distortion of character must occur when everyone fits themselves into certain frameworks and norms accepted in society. Only through development in man social nature society makes it safe for itself. What is important here is not the personality, but its safe manifestations that will be acceptable in society. Otherwise, there will be punishment for any individual self-expression that does not fit into the framework.

Accentuation of personality character

The accentuation of a person’s character is understood as a set of qualities that are clearly manifested by an individual within normal limits. It is divided into:

• Hidden - traits that appear infrequently or never at all. However, under certain conditions they can appear.
• Explicit - traits that manifest themselves to the extreme of the norm and are characterized by constancy.

K. Leongrad identified types of accentuation:

1. Hysterical – thirst for attention, egocentrism, need for honor and approval, recognition of individual characteristics.
2. Hyperthymic – sociability, mobility, tendency to mischief, excessive independence.
3. Asthenoneurotic – anxiety, high fatigue.
4. Psychosthenic – indecision, a tendency to demagoguery, analysis and soul-searching, suspiciousness.
5. Schizoid – detachment, isolation, unsociability.
6. Excitable – periodic sad moods, accumulation of irritation.
7. Sensitive – increased touchiness, sensitivity, shyness.
8. Infantile-dependent – ​​delay in childhood when a person does not take responsibility.
9. Emotionally labile – mood variability.
10. Unstable - a tendency towards idleness, pleasure, entertainment, idleness.

Bottom line

Personality character often helps in understanding the personality itself, since everything revolves around its inner world, which has manifestations in the form of reactions, emotions, behavior, actions and even achievements that this moment available. Consideration various types character can lead to the following result - quick and easy to understand of people.

Character is a flexible characteristic that can be changed at any time. It can change both unconsciously and under the influence of the willpower of a person who controls the manifestation of a particular quality. How longer person exhibits a specific quality, the more it is consolidated and becomes one of its characteristics that influence the future development of life.

Each person has a unique set personality traits. Another way to call it is character. How and when its formation is determined, and what it is like, depends on many reasons, which will be discussed below.

All the people we meet in our lives differ in their lifestyle, thinking, and behavior. These differences are largely determined by character - that is, by the totality of mental properties. Personal qualities determine almost everything that will happen in personal life the individual in his relationships with other people. Mental properties make it possible to predict many human actions. But in order to say that a person has this or that character, one must always keep in mind that certain features of his psyche must be constant and not depend on the situation.

We react differently to different situations, we exhibit different character traits. It also happens that in different situations a person demonstrates the same type of behavior, regardless of its consequences. If any traits become dominant and play an increasingly important role in behavior and relationships, then they speak of character accentuations. This is the norm, but it is an extreme, borderline version. Under certain, often negative, circumstances, accentuation degenerates into a personality disorder.

Character is the totality of all the mental and spiritual properties of a person, revealed in his behavior.

Accentuation of character is an extreme version of the norm, in which certain character traits are overly enhanced, as a result of which selective vulnerability to a certain kind of psychogenic influences is revealed, with good resistance to others.

How is character formed?

Some personality traits appear in a person from birth, for example, sociability or isolation. From the first days of life, a baby can catch his mother’s gaze, coo, turning to her, demand to be picked up, love to be surrounded by people. Or vice versa, the child may feel comfortable alone. Character develops in the first years of life, acquiring certain features by the age of three to five.

In many ways, it is genetic, children often inherit certain traits of their parents, many personality traits are determined by lifestyle, social conditions, life circumstances. But the main thing that influences the formation of character is being in a team, communication with other people.

The first collective is the family, it is in it that the initially inherent personality traits begin to develop or be suppressed. The formation of character occurs during the school and teenage years, when a person is not just in a group (most often he joins it already in early childhood), but learns to build relationships with people. Based on what values ​​the particular group to which the individual belongs professes, he will develop certain character traits. It turns out that the character of a person develops throughout his life changing depending on life situations.

Classification and list of character traits

IN modern psychology define four groups into which mental properties can be combined:

As a man relates to other people(character traits such as respect - contempt, sociability - isolation, responsiveness - callousness);

As a man applies to his business, to work (responsibility - irresponsibility, hard work - laziness, accuracy - dishonesty, a tendency to creativity - a tendency to routine, initiative - passivity);

As a man refers to oneself(self-criticism - vanity, feeling self-esteem- conceit, modesty - arrogance, etc.);

As a man refers to things(careful handling - careless handling, neatness - sloppiness).

Groups of character traits are combined in different ways and manifest themselves in different ways, but scientists have long tried to derive a typology human characters. For example, based on physique, constitution. German psychologist Ernest Kretschmer identified three types of character that correspond to one or another body type:

1. Asthenics (schizothymics) are thin, with long limbs. The predominant character traits are seriousness, isolation, stubbornness.
2. Athletics (ixothymics) - tall, with developed muscles, skeleton, proportional build (calmness, authority, practicality, restraint).
3. Picnics (cyclothymics) are of average height or short, with short limbs, plump or prone to obesity, with a large head (sociability, emotionality, sensitivity).

An introvert is a person directed inward. He lives in his own inner world and is little interested in external events.

An extrovert is directed outward, he lives by events, not experiences, actions, not thoughts. They behave differently: the introvert wears practical, discreet clothes, the extrovert wears bright, decorative clothes. An introvert is more likely to avoid social interaction, while the extrovert is looking for it.

This section psychological science, like socionics, and completely distributes human types, their characters are similar to famous people(there is a personality type “Napoleon”, “Dostoevsky”, “Huxley” and many others), each of which has such mental function, like logic, ethics, sensory and intuition.

Strong and weak character

There has long been such a definition of a person as “spineless.” What does it mean?

In situations that require overcoming and struggle, some people show persistence in achieving their goals over and over again, while others stop fighting all the time. For the former, character is fueled by will, that is, firmness and constancy in achieving the goal. The latter do not have such firmness, there is no internal core that leads to the goal. The first character can be called strong, the second - weak. People with strong character get what you want more often achieve more than those with weak character.

Is it possible to “cultivate” a strong character?

Since it is largely based on temperament, that is, on the characteristics of the nervous system, everything depends on what kind of temperament a person has. A phlegmatic person, with his slowness and low reaction speed, finds it more difficult, say, to become sociable. While it is difficult for a sanguine person to engage in routine, monotonous, but important matters. Changing character traits requires great job over oneself, it is possible, but, as a rule, it begins by a person only when he is strongly motivated: for example, a big goal, or character changes under the influence of strong love.

Character is the leader, but not the only characteristic of a person. There is also the mind and actions by which a person is judged. And then the one who is called weak-willed does good deeds or makes an intellectual breakthrough, which ultimately has higher value for society.

Surely you have heard the phrase: “There are as many characters as there are people.” From a psychological point of view, this statement is correct, because there are no two identical people. We are distinguished by our principles, favorite hobbies, reaction to various events and irritants. It is the types of human character, the individual combination of personal qualities that determine people’s actions.

Temperament - features and classification

The definition of character is a set of persistent, relatively constant characteristics that determine a person’s attitude to the world around him and his behavior. Experts identify several criteria by which temperaments are classified.

It should be noted that psychologists consider temperament and character as two complementary concepts. The formation of personality occurs under the influence of individual behavioral characteristics. It should be understood that character traits are formed and manifested under the influence of temperament.

Understanding the terminology

Before moving on to the topic - personality education - it is necessary to understand the basic concepts, namely, temperament and character - what are the differences.

• - human behavior in different situations. This is a combination of individual qualities that a person acquires throughout life. Personality characteristics are determined by the social environment in which the personality develops.
• Temperament – emotional response to external stimuli. These are innate human properties determined by biological and mental characteristics personality.

It is important! Certain character traits are revealed depending on social environment and the environment where the person finds himself. Temperament does not change and remains constant regardless of the conditions and accompanying circumstances.

In psychology, it is customary to evaluate only the traits and types of individual qualities of a person. We can say that a person has a good, bad or strong character, but such assessments do not apply to temperament. Based on value judgments, the specialist identifies personal shortcomings and selects a strategy to eliminate them.

Various typologies of individual qualities

The most popular is the typology proposed by the German psychologist Kretschmer. In his opinion, a person’s character types depend on the characteristics of his figure and physique.

Kretschmer classification

1. "Picnics" Outwardly, these are dense people who tend to be overweight, of short or medium height, with a large head, short neck and small facial features. WITH psychological point In terms of view, such people - cyclothymics - are emotional, easily make contact, quickly adapt to new circumstances and living conditions. It is in this category that people prone to manic-depressive syndrome are most often found. Read about disharmonious personality development.
2. "Athletics". Outwardly it is tall people with broad shoulders, strong muscles and chest. From a psychological point of view, people of the “ixothymic” type are practical and reserved. Weak sides character - authority, inability to show emotions and adapt to new circumstances. With complex psychological disorders, such people develop epilepsy.
3. "Asthenics". People of this type can be recognized by their thin physique, underdeveloped muscles, long legs, arms and elongated face. Psychological type– schizothymic people – they are characterized by stubbornness, isolation and inability to adapt to life circumstances. People of this psychological group prone to schizophrenia.

Character types in Jung's classification

Another classification was proposed by the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung. The dominant criterion of the typology is dominant emotional functions– feelings, intuition, thinking and sensations. In his opinion, in every person, to a certain extent, the external or internal world prevails. In this regard, Jung classifies people into two types - introverts and extroverts.

Introverts are reserved and focused on their own inner world, deliberately fence themselves off from external circumstances. They tend to analyze events, worry, listen to personal feelings, etc. It is difficult for such people to meet people and change habits.

Extroverts are direct, open to communication, and active. They have many friends, because the worst thing for an extrovert is loneliness. My favorite hobby is traveling, and my favorite way to relax is to spend time with friends, tell jokes and, of course, become the life of the party.

Personality by temperament

Another common classification is the comparison of a certain temperament with specific individual qualities. IN in this case it must be taken into account that in Everyday life It is impossible to meet a person with pronounced traits of a particular temperament. People are more inherent mixed types temperaments.

1. Choleric - he is characterized by such manifestations as impetuosity, speed of decision-making, passion and imbalance. What character traits require correction - emotional imbalance and fatigue. Cholerics tend to quickly get carried away and waste their energy irrationally.
2. Phlegmatic - unhurried, emotionally stable, does not show emotions. What are the dominant qualities - perseverance, poise, productivity and diligence in work.
3. A melancholic person is a person who tends to worry about every even minor event. Character weaknesses - emotional vulnerability, excessive impressionability.
4. A sanguine person is an active, “alive” person with frequent mood changes. What character traits are dominant - reacts quickly to all events, easily experiences troubles. He has expressive facial expressions and high productivity in work, provided that the task at hand is interesting to him.

Many people are interested in the question of whether character changes. Indeed, personal qualities are formed and change throughout life. The process begins in early childhood. The first individual traits of a child appear already in preschool age, parents can highlight a certain way of behavior and attitude towards the world.

If you want to raise a child strong personality, to develop perseverance, courage and endurance in your child, introduce him to group games with a certain plot and rules.

How to build character and teach a child to work and responsibility? From childhood, instruct your child simple tasks, gradually making them more complex. Thus, the child develops discipline, self-control, behavior is determined, and the baby learns to evaluate his actions and decisions. Thus, it happens.

New stage begins when the child enters school, when his ability to communicate with classmates and perform new responsibilities is demonstrated. As a result of a change in environment and lifestyle, the child develops organization, accuracy, and hard work.

It is important! In childhood, the personality of the baby is influenced by the character of the parents and their habits. At school, the main role in character education is played by school team- classmates, teachers.

A child’s character is revealed through the following areas during school:

• organization and systematicity;
• determination and perseverance;
• accuracy and hard work;
• discipline;
• consciousness of duty and responsibility to the school community;
• collectivism and camaraderie.

IN adolescence personal characteristics develop most actively, because at this age the child is attracted to adult life, he is subject to more high requirements. Feelings such as duty, responsibility, participation in the collective life of the class manifest themselves more consciously.

It is possible to change a child's character. Psychologists note that there are no children whose personal characteristics could not be re-educated. However, the process requires the participation of a specialist who can identify character flaws and select the most effective strategy further actions.

How to develop better personality characteristics

The best guide on the path to character improvement is a book David Brooks "The Path to Character". It tells why many successful people they say: “Yes, you can awaken your best personal qualities and fully realize yourself.”

First of all, a strong character requires education with early age. The task of parents is to form in the child a certain worldview that determines behavior and actions. To do this, they use a certain system, which involves a combination of play, work and educational activities, in the process the child accumulates useful skills of correct behavior.

It is necessary to place the child in such conditions that the child’s activities fully comply with the instilled principles. You cannot develop strong character if you do not offer the child conditions in which he needs to show courage.

The most important means of education strong character– labor. By entrusting your child with socially significant tasks that require overcoming difficulties, you develop in your child the following traits of a harmonious and successful personality:

• determination;
• persistence;
• collectivism.

It is important! One of the conditions for a competent organization educational activities– consistency of educational activities at school and parental education.

Self-education of character - the most important stage formation of personal qualities. Teach your child to read, because by example literary heroes he compares his behavior, learning to make decisions, contacting friends and adults. Another stage of successful self-education is the ability to restrain unwanted habits. Remember the expression - if you sow a habit, you reap a character. To avoid having to correct negative ones in the future individual qualities, pay attention to children's habits.

To promptly recognize and eliminate negative traits character, parents should interact with educators in kindergarten and teachers at school. A child’s personal qualities are largely formed under the influence of the judgments and actions of adults.

About types of people and personal qualities– look at the video.

We talk about the main character traits and what they depend on. Read how to determine character by facial features in our material.

The main character traits of a person influence not only the formation of his personality, but also relationships with other people, building a career and mutual understanding in the family. A person’s qualities and their importance cannot be ignored when you choose your life path. You need to be able to determine strengths and understand that there may also be weaknesses that need to be improved. Then you can become comprehensively and personally developed person, who can conquer more than one peak.

Character Traits of a Successful Person

Let’s look at what qualities there are and what are in a successful adult in order. First of all, let's clarify what character is. After all, we are talking about a set of traits that are constant. It is a person’s traits that influence his behavior, attitude towards others and himself, as well as towards work and the world around him. The description of character from the point of view of psychology focuses on individual indicators by which reactions, behavior and actions can be predicted and predicted. For example, a desire to learn new things, sociability and openness instill in a person a desire to travel.

A character trait is one of the most important components of a personality, since it contains the basis of a person, as well as a way of solving problems. Transfer exact list Damn it's difficult to explain. We are born with some traits, while others acquire them throughout life (and they are the most changeable). A person’s character is not only a list of individual traits, but also an entire psychological system.

List of persistent traits and their relationship to various systems like this:

Also, the division of character traits occurs according to the principle of cognition or emotionality:

• Intellectual skills include criticality, thirst for knowledge, resourcefulness, analyticalness, flexibility and practicality;
• emotional include passion, sentimentality, impressionability;
• strong-willed include confidence, courage, uncertainty, perseverance;
• Moral values ​​include kindness, openness, deceit, cruelty, and humanity.

To make it easier to explain human behavior and his actions, psychologists divided traits into instrumental and motivational. In the first case we are talking about own style, unsurpassedness, and in the second case, about what motivates a person and forces him to perform this or that action.

It's no secret that a person develops in society. In this regard, traits are divided into typical and individual. By typical we mean a set of standard qualities that are inherent in a certain group of people (family, team, population of one city). If a certain trait is used by a person most often, sometimes in unusual situations, then it becomes individual and distinguishes the person from the rest.

Positive character traits of a person

List of positive and good features a person's character may differ depending on what type of communication we're talking about. So, in work the following are considered positive qualities:

• determination;
• persistence;
• responsibility;
• hard work;
• organization;
• attentiveness.

When communicating with other people, such traits as honesty, openness, humanity, tolerance, justice, loyalty and sociability are important. Only with such manifestations can you build strong and fulfilling relationships with other people. In the process of personality formation Special attention pay attention to morality and humanity. Distortion of these features or a large number of shortcomings cannot allow a person to develop. When compiling a list for your resume, you should indicate your positive traits, which are important for the employer:

• perseverance;
• determination;
• responsibility;
• honesty;
• communication skills;
• stress resistance;
• attention to detail and perfectionism;
• self-criticism;
• hard work.

Negative character traits of a person

Negative and negative traits A person's character is formed if the attitude towards oneself is better than towards other people. Talking about what there are bad qualities, the following can be distinguished:

• pride, self-confidence;
• selfishness;
• laziness;
• irresponsibility;
• envy;
• stinginess;
• contempt;
• coarseness;
• aggression.

The more developed negative qualities, and the less attention a person pays to self-improvement, which is fraught with conflicts with the outside world.

Human character based on facial features

How to determine and how to recognize a person’s character by facial features? After all, not everyone knows that thin lips or the shape of the eyes can determine what quality is inherent in us, how we can act in a given situation. You can recognize features by the shape of your face:

• Confidence is determined by the ratio of the width and length of the face. If the width is less than 60% of the length, then we are talking about cautious and unsure people;
• Friendliness can be determined by the position of the eyebrows. For example, if the eyebrow line is higher, then we are talking about increased facial expressions and sociability;
• wide eyes are characteristic of people who more often forgive other people's mistakes and mistakes;
• Not long distance between upper lip and nose is characteristic of people with a sense of humor, but sometimes jokes are taken personally. a long distance speaks of sarcasticness, flatness of humor;
• full lips indicate a more open and sociable person, while thin lips indicate isolation and secrecy;
• a thick fold on the eyelid is characteristic of individuals who have analytical thinking, and a thin fold or lack thereof is characteristic of those who impulsively perform actions;
• Charismatic individuals have a deeper and more unusual eye color.

The shape of a face can tell just as much about its owner. For example, a round face in those who are more emotional, sexual personalities, with which you can build serious relationship. Oval shape Egoists, practitioners and methodical people have faces, but it is difficult to build relationships with them. Triangular face in hot-tempered and creative people. Square - for smart, aggressive and dominant people.

It is also worth paying attention to such facial features that indicate the presence of certain qualities:

• creative people have a curved forehead, and progressive ones have a straight forehead;
• thin eyebrows for indecisive individuals, thick eyebrows for persistent and decisive ones;
• expressive eyes of responsive and good people, small for nervous ones;
• Closely spaced eyes indicate good reaction and concentration; widely spaced eyes are characteristic of people with a broad outlook;
• a straight nose is characteristic of individuals who are distinguished by kindness, warmth, they set a high bar for themselves, and a big nose speaks of rage. An upturned nose occurs in sociable people, and a hump on the nose occurs in strong-willed individuals;
• small mouth humble people, and talkative people have a big mouth;
• full lips for sensitive people, small ones for egoists, raised corners indicate optimism, and downturned ones indicate that the person is almost impossible to please;
• I have wrinkles around my eyes sociable person, and wrinkles between the eyebrows speak of determination and hard work.

And these are not all the ways to learn about a person’s qualities and behavior without personal communication. There are traits that are determined by the alphabet (letters in the first and last name), by date of birth, there is even a connection with certain diseases and your favorite shades. So, if a person loves yellow, then he is characterized by optimism, openness and honesty, and lovers of purple are sensitive, emotional and not understood by everyone.

All these factors together leave an imprint on our personality. We no longer have to talk about ourselves and undergo psychological tests so that we can understand what kind of personality we are talking about. A wrinkle on the forehead, favorite shade, eye shape, smile, zodiac sign and clothing preferences can describe everything. A little more attention to those around us, and it will become easier to find mutual language or see hidden qualities. Everything is in our hands, or rather, the eyes, face shape and lips.

Character is a unique set of qualities that determine the originality and uniqueness of each specific person, his personality and behavior. Understanding character facilitates the process of communication between people, helps to avoid controversial or conflict situations. The very concept of “character” has Greek origin and denotes the characteristics of an individual’s psycho-emotional manifestation and expression.

Character traits

Each of us, without much thinking, can easily and quickly name diverse character traits. This list can be very capacious. But in order to determine characteristic type of a particular individual, you should know not only his main features, but also be able to indicate which of them are defining and which are only complementary. In modern psychology there are:

• leading traits, which in fact are the determinants of character as a whole;
• secondary traits that complement and individualize a particular personality.

Knowing the leading features allows you to determine the essence of all character, its “backbone”.

The presence of two identical traits in two people does not indicate the identity of their character. So, both have a love of truth and timidity at the same time. If the first one has fearfulness leading feature, then, most likely, he will not outwardly express his disapproval of the actions or behavior of others that contradict his internal beliefs. He would rather remain silent, arguing in his heart about the wrongness of those around him. And vice versa, if another’s leading quality is love of truth, and the secondary one is timidity, then he will not fail to point out to others that they are wrong, fearing only in the depths of his soul the consequences of his statements.

The characteristic features are divided into the following main groups in relation to various everyday aspects:

• attitude towards other people (tactfulness, friendliness, rudeness, sociability, isolation, sincerity, truthfulness, deceit, etc.);
• attitude to work, activity (responsibility, hard work, dishonesty, laziness, irresponsibility, etc.);
• attitude towards oneself (self-criticism, narcissism, modesty, arrogance, self-confidence, pride, vanity, etc.);
• attitude towards property and property (generosity, frugality, accuracy, carelessness, sloppiness, etc.).

The dominant group is the first (i.e., attitude towards others), since man is a social being, the main features of his behavior are formed and manifested in society. The assessment of behavior by others influences the formation and understanding of character as a whole.

Character Structure

The structure highlights the following features: individual properties, and general for a certain group of people: national, age or professional. The image and way of life, features of everyday life, even language and national structure influence the formation of common features for groups and even entire nations. Thus, people of one nationality differ from another in their lifestyle, habits, type of thinking, etc. At the everyday level, typical common features create certain stereotypes. Most of us have our own idea about the inhabitants of a particular country, their habits and morals: the Italians, the French, the Japanese, etc.

All this is true to some extent: character is not an innate or hereditary trait, it formed in the process of personality development as a representative of a certain group or community. It is a product of society, which can explain similar or different traits in the morals of people of different groups.

Accentuation- this is the increased development of certain traits characteristic of an individual. Thus, a distinction is made between extroverts (open and sociable people) and introverts (closed and unsociable).

There is the following classification of character by accentuation, according to which they distinguish following types character:

1. Hyperthymic. The defining properties of this type are: talkativeness, sociability, such people have well-developed facial expressions. Along with this, such people are often irritable and frivolous, but at the same time they are very energetic and proactive.
2. Disthymic. The traits that define this type are isolation and pessimism. Such people avoid noisy companies, but they highly value friendship; they have a heightened sense of injustice. Taking important decisions, they are often slow and clumsy.
3. Cycloid. For this type of accentuation, the defining feature is frequent change mood, depending on which they are either closed in on themselves, or, on the contrary, sociable beyond all measure.
4. Excitable. Distinctive feature This type of accentuation is conflict. Such people are difficult to communicate with, are often authoritarian in the family, and are difficult to get along with in groups. They are neat and attentive when they are calm, but in a bad mood they are often irritable and hot-tempered.
5. Stuck. These are very intractable individuals who love to teach everyone. They often cause various conflicts. The demands they place on others (as well as on themselves) are very high.
6. Pedantic. The defining feature of this type is increased (sometimes excessive) attention to detail. Such people do not strive for leadership; they are conscientious, but they like to grumble about any reason.
7. Anxious. Individuals with this type are insecure. They strive to avoid conflict situations, and in cases of such they seek support from others. Friendliness and self-criticism are also defining features of their character, but their lack of willpower often makes them the subject of jokes or ridicule.
8. Demonstrative. Representatives of this type of character easily make contact, can adapt to any situation, and are prone to intrigue. One of their defining properties is self-confidence, which often becomes the cause of disputes and conflicts. People with such a character are artistic and courteous, they have out-of-the-box thinking. They can often be boastful, hypocritical and selfish.

In modern psychology there are many classifications.

Types of temperament

Temperament has a huge influence on the formation of this or that type of character, which has been noted since Ancient world. Thus, Hippocrates divided all temperaments into four main types:

1. – a cheerful, cheerful, balanced person who soberly assesses the situation and acts thoughtfully.
2. Choleric- responsive to external events a person, he can often be unreasonably harsh and prone to commit rash acts. As a rule, choleric people are hot-tempered and unbalanced.
3. - a person who is different emotional stability and endurance. Bring him out of his state peace of mind and peace is almost impossible.
4. Melancholic- an individual with increased nervous sensitivity, nervous stress and shocks are strictly contraindicated for people of this type.

It should be noted, however, that in their so-called pure form these types of temperaments are extremely rare. As a rule, the temperament is of a mixed type (one type may have some traits of both phlegmatic and sanguine, both choleric and melancholic).

The relationship between temperament and human character

The words “character” and “temperament” are often compared with each other; they often replace each other.

In psychology, there are four fundamental views on the relationship between them:

1. unity of temperament and character, their identification (according to the teachings of E. Kretschmer and A. Ruzicki);
2. opposition of temperament and character, their antagonism (teachings of P. Viktorov, V. Virenius);
3. recognition of a person’s temperament as the core or element of his character (according to S. Rubinstein, S. Gorodetsky);
4. recognition of temperament as natural basis of the whole character (according to L. Vygotsky, B. Ananyev).

Both the types of temperament and the types of a person’s character depend on the characteristics of his physiology and the type of nervous system. A person's character is formed when his temperament is quite developed. Temperament is the basis of character, but does not predetermine it. People with the same type of temperament may have various features character. The type of temperament can influence whether it helps or hinders the development of certain character traits. For example, it is much more difficult for a phlegmatic person to cultivate sociability than a sanguine person, and a choleric person requires much more effort to become balanced than a phlegmatic person, etc.

The character and temperament of a person are closely interrelated with each other; together they constitute a person’s individuality, the foundations and description of his behavior.