What does the term “individual” mean? From Latin the word is translated as “indivisible,” a unique complex of innate and acquired qualities that a person possesses. We are all born as individuals, and over time, thanks to the experience gained, a transition is made to a completely different level, a person becomes an individual. Psychologists use a number of methods to study an individual, considering the person as part of some group in society.
Everything is very simple, in psychology this concept is usually used in a broad sense, but the foundation is the presence of a special integrity, as well as the unity of the subject and a number of features that are characteristic of him. Psychology characterizes an individual as a result of the development of life, the so-called product of interaction with people around him. Each person is the bearer of a special series of properties that were given to him by nature and now, in the process of their development and improvement, they have become mature. Properties can change and also become more complex due to the conditions that change in the life of each person.
What are the differences between the terms individual, individuality and personality: characteristics
- An individual is a single representative of the human race, a separate person, regardless of his real anthropological and social characteristics.
- Individuality is the unique originality of a person’s manifestations, emphasizing the versatility and harmony, naturalness and ease of his activities.
- Personality is a human individual who is a subject of conscious activity, possessing a set of socially significant traits, properties and qualities that he realizes in public life.
What is the difference between an individual and an individual?
Yes, these are words with the same root, but they mean two completely different concepts. The first term is applicable to absolutely any person who lives among people, is socialized in society and is not only a biological species, but also a representative of humanity. The second definition, in turn, presupposes the path of development of the individual.
Often, most people consider themselves individuals only because they are trying to resist the world around them. They are truly different from everyone else, but as long as there are not too many of them. Therefore, only one that is invented independently and not copied from another can be considered an individual solution.
How psychologists view this term
An individual is called the exact bearer of all the traits that are given to humanity. But in psychology, the term individual is characterized by the integrity of the psychophysical organizations of the body, its activity, as well as resistance to manifest actions. A person lives as an individual from the beginning of his birth until the moment of death. This condition is the initial one on the planet from the point of view of its phylogenetic formation, as well as ontogenetic development. It is a concrete product of the creation of life, which actively interacts with a variety of surrounding criteria, and not a series of conditions that appeared suddenly. One thing is clear: it is impossible to consider a personality without close attention and emphasis on his individual characteristics.
They thus act as the foundation of human content. It is on them that a number of conditions for the development of each representative of the human race will depend, that is, on the inclinations that were invested in him at the genetic level. An individual has a number of basic functions, and specifically there are two of them. One is classified as conservation, thanks to which the process of distribution of energy and dynamic characteristics occurs, as well as a number of resource characteristics. But the other one is responsible for the function of so-called changes, from the point of view of plasticity of behavior.
Why a person is an individual: description
Every person is an individual.
After all, we were all born on Earth and are representatives of the human race. In most modern theories, what distinguishes humans from animals is culture, which plays a decisive role in determining human behavior and actions. After all, human nature is recognized as binary, that is, man is a biosocial being. A table proving that a person is an individual.
| Animal | Human |
| Life is accompanied by instincts. | Along with instincts, a person has thinking and articulate speech. This directs human activity. |
| All actions are initially programmed; the activities of animals are unconscious. | Carries out conscious, purposeful creative activity. A person is able to keep his instincts under control. |
| Reproduces only its biological essence. The tools of their labor are primitive objects of the environment. | Reproduces its not only biological, but also social essence; makes tools; creates material and spiritual values. |
Let's give a terminological definition with brief characteristics
I will list the most popular words that are often confused by ordinary people. Let's take a wide range of explanations - from everyday and colloquial to scientific.
Human
First of all, this name is used in biology, history, and archeology to distinguish a biological species that has certain structural features of the body and brain. It is an upright creature endowed with cognitive abilities. The word is appropriate to use both in combination with the more social “humanity” and when contrasted with the animal world. This can be called absolutely every one of our “relatives” - from children to adults.
Characteristic features that distinguish a person from a personality:
- The result of the evolutionary process.
- The presence of consciousness and self-awareness.
- The need to be in society, the need to communicate with others like oneself.
- A single way of communication through language, that is, the work of speech recognition and speech reproduction, with the exception of those who have lost the opportunity or have not had it since birth due to their anatomical structure.
- Features of anatomy - upright posture, the presence of fingers and toes.
- The ability to use devices to achieve a goal - any objects used for their intended purpose.
Subjective meaning (that is, a person as a subject of relationships, historical process and cultural) turns a biological species into a social being.
Individual
From Latin the word individuum is translated as “indivisible.” We actually completely copied it (but the meaning of “individual” is still different).
This concept can be called every person living in a group, society and possessing qualities that make him the same as his closest relatives. However, it is an independent unit with intrinsic value. This occurs due to the uniqueness of each individual organism on two levels - physiological and psychological. These are not qualities acquired over the years, but traits that are innate - narrow or wide-set eyes, the presence of a dimple on the chin, timbre of voice or ringing laughter.
Characteristics, what is the difference between an individual and personality:
- The object of the human population cannot be alone, it is inseparable from its own kind.
- Social activity - the presence of roles, statuses, for example, husband or wife, daughter, son, mother, father or neighbor, teacher, friend.
- The ability to adapt on a psycho-emotional level to those around you – the ability to find a compromise and adapt to the demands of society.
These are any qualities that are determined in comparison with other people, in contrast or in accordance.
How personality differs from individuality and individual, examples
The term comes from the word “Person”, and in English the tracing paper from Latin is established - persona.
The definition is inextricably linked with personal qualities, that is, it continues the concept of individuum, making it even more personalized. If earlier we talked about the individual characteristics that a person had innately, now it is more correct to talk about the acquired character, which is revealed in communication and relationships with other people. It is impossible to talk about personal traits without comparison or contrast with society.
Psychologist Daria Milai
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The term is used in many sciences and reflects individual characteristics. Let's go through scientific areas:
- Linguistics. “Language, speech and communicative personality.” Everything can be tied into a single knot; often these three persons develop synchronously. They are all in one person. The quality can be called acquired, because the child at birth does not have speech. The first concept reflects the depth of constructed thoughts, sentences, and the structure of texts. The second explains the degree of verbal expression skill. The third is the ability to engage in various verbal interactions.
- Philosophy. In this science, the most common interpretations of the term appeared; it became a stumbling block. For the first time, the concept of “face” began to reflect a person and his inner world. Over time, philosophical wrangling, experts came to a consensus that a person, unlike an individual, has three traits: free will, reason and feelings.
- Sociology. There are many ideas, but the fundamental one is how the society in which a person lives affects his personal qualities, abilities, and character traits. This once again emphasizes the social orientation of the term.
- Psychology. Perhaps the psychological approach is the most correct. It is at the level of consciousness and the unconscious that a set of developed habits, preferences, experience, knowledge, established opinions and stereotypes of thinking appears. All these features determine a person’s attitude to nature, culture, history, and other people.
Let's give an example. Having your own opinion about the political situation means having the traits of personal development. A young man, and especially a child, can only repeat what was said or heard on TV, but not generate his own assessment.
Personality and man, what is the difference, characteristic features:
- presence of temperament;
- pronounced character - people talk about his inclinations even in infancy;
- individual abilities - they need to be developed;
- all actions have motivation.
In general, we can say that personal qualities are cultivated in oneself and controlled, adjusted independently.
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Individuality
The last term that is often confused within the listed definitions. Usually it is understood as personal striking features. The word has its root in the same Latin individuum, that is, “indivisible.” The differences between an individual’s personality and individuality are that the latter distinctive features can be displayed not only in behavior and psychology, but also in purely external manifestations. An example is an individual, author’s, unique style of clothing.
If you feel ordinary, one in a million, and do not find any special characteristics in yourself, this may mean:
- either you have nothing to express;
- or you don't know how.
In my personal consultations, women open up and learn to better understand themselves.
What does the term “personality” mean in social science?
The term “personality” plays an important role in social science and is studied primarily in the section “Man and Society”.
Personality is an individual person as a subject of social life, communication and activity with his own socially conditioned and individually expressed qualities.
Personality is characterized by a unique combination of the individual’s natural properties (age-sex, biochemical, neurodynamic and others) and social qualities formed in a particular environment.
The concept of “personality” allows us to consider a person as a bearer of certain social roles, and to correlate his activities with normatively established principles.
In humanistic philosophical concepts, personality is considered as the highest value for the sake of which social development is carried out.
