- 1. Personality as a subject of social relations. Personality structure
- 2. Personality typology
- 3. Social statuses and roles. The role of the status-role structure of society
- 4. Socialization of the individual. Mechanisms and agents of socialization
LECTURE No. 5. Sociology of personality
1. Personality as a subject of social relations. Personality structure
One of the central areas of sociology is the study of personality.
This is due to a number of factors:
1) the individual is one of the main subjects of social relations;
2) the functioning of society is impossible without taking into account the needs and interests of the individual;
3) personality is an indicator of social development.
However, before we begin to consider personality, it is necessary to analyze such terms close to this concept as “person”, “individual”, “individuality”.
Human
- this is the highest level of living organisms on Earth, a subject of socio-economic activity and culture.
Individual
– an individual person as a representative of a family.
Individuality
- specific natural and social qualities that have developed in a person on the basis of inherited biological prerequisites, his social status and upbringing.
In the process of development of sociological knowledge, various approaches to the consideration and analysis of personality have been formed. Among them there are six main approaches
.
1. Dialectical-materialistic approach, according to which a person is initially a social being, and his formation as an individual occurs under the influence of four factors: the biology of the individual, his social environment, education and self-education skills.
2. An anthropological approach, in which a person is considered as a bearer of universal human properties, as a generic concept designating a representative of the human race, thus coinciding with the concepts of man and individual.
3. A normative approach, within which a person is defined as a social being with a number of positive qualities related to consciousness and activity.
4. Sociological approach, the essence of which is to understand each person as an individual, which is considered as a specific expression of the essence of the individual, a holistic embodiment and implementation in him of a system of socially significant features and qualities of a given society.
5. Personalistic approach, in which personality is a set of mental reactions of a person to the opinions of others about him, and the main mechanism of its formation is “I - perception”.
6. The biological-genetic approach assumes that human behavior is determined by his bioprogram.
Analyzing all of these approaches, we can give a systematic definition of personality, which should be based on the following principles:
1) the personality acts as both a subject and an object of both social and biological relations;
2) a person has a certain freedom to choose his behavior, which is determined by the discrepancy between social and biological conditions;
3) personality, being a biosocial phenomenon, combines both the traits of a person’s biological species and the social community in which it exists;
4) the behavior of an individual depends on his unique personal characteristics, through which social and personal life experience is refracted.
Taking into account all these principles, personality can be defined as an integral concept that characterizes a person as an object and subject of biosocial relations and unites in him what is universal, socially specific and individually unique.
The study and analysis of personality as a complex social phenomenon involves identifying its structure.
Based on the indicated characteristics of personality as a phenomenon, the following elements of its structure can be distinguished: biological, psychological and social.
Biological level
includes natural, common personality qualities (body structure, gender and age characteristics, temperament, etc.).
Psychological level
personality is united by its psychological characteristics (feelings, will, memory, thinking). Psychological characteristics are closely related to the heredity of the individual.
Finally, the social level of the individual is divided into three sublevels
:
1) proper sociological (motives of behavior, interests of the individual, life experience, goals), this sublevel is closely related to social consciousness, which is objective in relation to each person, acting as part of the social environment, as material for individual consciousness;
2) specific cultural (value and other attitudes, norms of behavior);
3) moral (morality, ethics).
When studying personality as a subject of social relations, sociologists pay special attention to the internal determinants of its social behavior.
Such determinants include, first of all, needs and interests.
Needs
– these are those forms of interaction with the world (material and spiritual), the need for which is determined by the characteristics of the reproduction and development of its biological, psychological, social certainty and which are realized and felt by a person in some form.
Interests
- These are the conscious needs of the individual. The needs and interests of an individual underlie his value attitude towards the world around him, the basis of his system of values and value orientations.
2. Personality typology
An important component of the sociological doctrine of personality is its typology.
Social personality type
- this is a way for a person to carry out various types of activities, a certain set of personality properties that expresses the individual’s belonging to a social group.
The concept of “social personality type” captures the reflection of a set of recurring social qualities of individuals belonging to any social community. As already indicated, personality is a complex multi-level phenomenon, which leads to the existence of various variations. Sociology has accumulated significant material on this problem. Let us dwell on the most developed and existing classifications.
The first attempt to create a personality classification system was made by E. Spranger
in 1914. The researcher developed
six “ideal types” of personality
based on their motivational orientation.
1) theoretical type – focus on obtaining new knowledge;
2) economic type - the basis of behavior is a pragmatic orientation;
3) social – desire for communication, focus on the social environment;
4) aesthetic – a tendency to impressions, experiences and self-expression;
5) political – the desire for dominance and distribution of social roles, as well as a tendency to submit;
6) religious – orientation towards the search for the highest meaning of life, communication with God.
At the same time, E. Spranger points out that all these types do not occur in their pure form, and in addition, there are many variations in the manifestation of the same type.
Another common classification in sociology is the division of personalities into basic and ideal. The basic personality is the personality most characteristic of certain social conditions.
Ideal type
- This is the person who best meets certain social conditions.
Thus, it is easy to see that in this case the basis of classification is the relationship between the individual and existing social conditions.
The difference between these personality structures is significant. The ideal, in principle, will never receive its final realization, but at any given moment it receives its embodiment in the basic type of personality.
However, it is easy to see that both of these types can also be divided into many subtypes, which may be based on other criteria.
Another classification is the typological system of E. Frome. The basis of his classification is the orientation of the individual in relations with society.
Thus, the basis of an unproductive personality is an unproductive orientation, that is, an inability to express oneself.
The basis of a productive personality is a productive orientation - the ability to change one’s environment and to express oneself.
However, the researcher himself notes that individuals with one type of orientation do not exist.
Typically, each personality combines both productive and unproductive orientations. The only question is which one dominates.
American sociologist D. Risman
proposed a division of all personality types, based on their orientation, into internal, external and “differently oriented.”
An internally oriented person has the ability to maintain a balance between the needs to achieve his life interests and the environment.
An externally oriented person is deprived of such an opportunity.
A “differently oriented” personality is able to respond to changes in the surrounding society.
Among the developments of domestic scientists in this area, one can note the identification of a new type of personality that emerged in the 30s. XX century under the influence of the socialist form of organization of public life.
This type is called the command-administrative personality type.
. This type of personality is characterized by such qualities as conformism, lack of autonomy, fear of conflicts, lack of focus on work results, lack of initiative, unwillingness to take risks, distrust of new things, hostility to change, intolerance to various deviations.
In modern conditions, under the influence of market reforms and democratic values, a new democratic type of personality is being formed in Russia.
3. Social statuses and roles. The role of the status-role structure of society
One of the most widespread theories of personality in modern sociology is the status-role concept.
Within the framework of this concept, a person is considered as an active subject who occupies a certain place in society and performs a set of functions in accordance with it.
The status-role concept was developed in the works of American sociologists J. Mead
and
R. Minton
.
The theoretical material of this theory was significantly enriched by the works of T. Parsons
.
The role theory of personality describes its social behavior with two main concepts: “social status” and “social role.”
So, according to this concept, each person occupies a certain place in society.
This place is determined by a number of social positions that imply the presence of certain rights and responsibilities.
It is these positions that are the social statuses of a person.
Thus, it is not difficult to see that each person has several social statuses at the same time.
However, one of the statuses is always the main or basic one. As a rule, the basic status expresses the position of a person.
Social status
– an integral indicator of the social status of an individual, social group, covering profession, qualifications, position, nature of the work performed, financial situation, political affiliation, business connections, age, marital status, etc.
In sociology, there is a classification of social statuses into prescribed and acquired.
Prescribed status
- this is a person’s position in society, occupied by him regardless of personal merit, but imposed by the social environment.
Most often, ascribed status reflects a person's innate qualities (race, gender, nationality, age).
Acquired status
- This is a position in society achieved by the person himself.
However, a person can also have a mixed status, which combines both types.
A striking example of mixed status is marriage.
In addition to these types, natural and professional-official statuses are also distinguished.
Natural status of personality
– a person’s place in the system of social relations, determined by the essential and relatively stable characteristics of a person.
Professional and official status
is a social indicator that records the social, economic and production position of a person in society. Thus, social status denotes the specific place that an individual occupies in a given social system.
The concept of “social role” is closely related to the concept of “social status”.
Social role
- this is a set of actions that a person occupying a given status in the social system must perform.
Moreover, each status involves performing not one, but several roles. A set of roles, the fulfillment of which is prescribed by one status, is called a role set. Obviously, the higher a person’s position in society, that is, the greater his social status, the more roles he performs.
Thus, the difference in the role set of the President of the state and the worker of a metal rolling plant is quite obvious. The systematization of social roles was first developed by Parsons, who identified five grounds on which a particular role can be classified:
1) emotionality
, that is, some roles involve a wide manifestation of emotionality, others, on the contrary, require its containment;
2) method of obtaining
– depending on the type of status, they can be prescribed or achieved by the person independently;
3) scale
– the scope of authority of one role is clearly established, while that of others is uncertain;
4) regulation
– some roles are strictly regulated, such as the role of a civil servant, some are blurred (the role of a man);
5) motivation
– performing a role for one’s own benefit or for the public good.
The implementation of a social role can also be viewed from several angles.
On the one hand, this is a role expectation, which is characterized by a certain behavior of a person depending on his status, which is expected by surrounding members of society.
On the other hand, this is role performance, which is characterized by a person’s real behavior, which he considers to be correlated with his status.
It should be noted that these two role aspects do not always coincide. Moreover, each of them plays a huge role in determining a person’s behavior, since social expectations have a strong impact on a person.
The normal structure of a social role usually has four elements:
1) description of the type of behavior corresponding to this role;
2) instructions (requirements) associated with this behavior;
3) assessment of the performance of the prescribed role;
4) sanctions - the social consequences of a particular action within the framework of the requirements of the social system. Social sanctions can be moral in nature, implemented directly by a social group through its behavior (contempt), or legal, political, or environmental.
It should be noted that any role is not a pure model of behavior. The main link between role expectations and role behavior is the character of the individual. That is, the behavior of a particular person does not fit into a pure scheme.
4. Socialization of the individual. Mechanisms and agents of socialization
As already indicated, personality is a biosocial phenomenon. And if biological characteristics are inherited, then social qualities are acquired by an individual in the process of socialization.
Socialization
can be defined as the process of an individual’s assimilation of patterns of behavior, social norms and values necessary for his successful functioning in a given society.
Thus, in the process of socialization, a person acquires the qualities necessary to fulfill social roles.
The process of socialization is two-way: on the one hand, it is society transferring its experience to the individual, and on the other hand, it is the process of assimilating social experience by the individual.
In sociological science, it is customary to distinguish two main types of socialization:
1) primary – the child’s assimilation of norms and values;
2) secondary – the assimilation of new norms and values by an adult.
Socialization is a set of agents and institutions that form, guide, stimulate or limit the formation of a person’s personality.
Agents of Socialization
are specific people responsible for teaching cultural norms and social values. Socialization institutions are institutions that influence the process of socialization and guide it.
Depending on the type of socialization, primary and secondary agents and institutions of socialization are considered.
Agents of primary socialization
– parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, other relatives, friends, teachers, leaders of youth groups. The term “primary” refers to everything that constitutes a person’s immediate and immediate environment.
Agents of secondary socialization
– representatives of the administration of a school, university, enterprise, army, police, church, media employees. The term “secondary” describes those who stand in the second echelon of influence, having a less important impact on a person.
Primary institutions of socialization
- this is a family, school, peer group, etc.
Secondary institutions
are the state, its bodies, universities, church, media, etc.
The socialization process consists of several stages and stages.
1. Stage of adaptation (birth - adolescence). At this stage, uncritical assimilation of social experience occurs; the main mechanism of socialization is imitation.
2. The emergence of a desire to distinguish oneself from others - the identification stage.
3. The stage of integration, which can proceed either successfully or unfavorably.
4. Labor stage. At this stage, social experience is reproduced and the environment is affected.
5. Post-labor stage (old age). This stage is characterized by the transfer of social experience to new generations.
At each stage of socialization, a person is influenced by certain factors, the ratio of which is different at different stages.
In general, five factors can be identified that influence the socialization process:
1) biological heredity;
2) physical environment;
3) culture;
4) group experience;
5) individual experience.
Each person's biological heritage provides the "raw materials" that are then transformed into personality characteristics in a variety of ways. It is thanks to the biological factor that there is a huge diversity of individuals.
The physical environment plays an important role in the formation of personality, since climate, natural resources and other natural indicators are of great importance.
The culture of each society also has a huge influence on the socialization process.
Every society develops one or more personality types that correspond to its culture.
Duboys called a personality, which has characteristics characteristic of a given society, modal. Modal personality is understood as the most common type of personality, which has some features inherent in the culture of society as a whole.
Group and personal experiences are also included in the socialization process.
Each person, according to C. Cooley, builds his “I” on the basis of the reactions he perceives of other people with whom he comes into contact.
Cooley identifies three stages in the formation of the mirror self: our perception of how we look at others; our perception of their opinion; our feelings about this opinion. Each personal experience is unique because it cannot be repeated exactly.
The picture of individual experience is complicated by the fact that the personality does not simply summarize it, but integrates it.
Thus, we can say that the process of socialization is influenced by two of the most important environments around a person: natural and social.
Due to the fact that the social environment is an objective condition of socialization, its constituent elements also have a certain influence on this process. Such elements of society are called agents of socialization; as already mentioned, agents of socialization are people and institutions associated with it and responsible for its results.
The main agents of socialization are the family, various types of communities (collectives, ethnic groups, nationalities, classes, social strata), society as a whole - everything that includes and surrounds a person.
Each sphere of social life (material and spiritual) participates in the process of socialization - targeted and undirected education.
So, the most intensive process of socialization occurs in childhood and adolescence.
By the time a person reaches his professional and official status, the socialization process, as a rule, reaches a certain completion.
The socialization of adults is different in that it is mainly a change in external behavior (the socialization of children is the formation of value orientations); adults are able to evaluate norms (and children only assimilate them). Adult socialization aims to help a person master certain skills. For example, mastering a new social role after retirement, changing profession or social status.
Another point of view on the socialization of adults is that adults gradually abandon naive children's ideas (for example, about the unshakability of authorities, about absolute justice, etc.), from the idea that there is only white and black.
An important process of socialization is the process of identification.
Identification
- this is the process of assimilation by an individual of the norms, values and qualities of the social group to which he belongs or would like to belong.
Table of contents
Characteristics of the concept
The basis of the social existence of the social type is the setting by the individual of certain goals and objectives that help him establish contact with the surrounding society.
The characteristics of social type as a concept are as follows:
- Has knowledge, skills, needs connections and communications with other individuals.
- Strives to educate, teach, obey and share smart thoughts.
- Is humane, responsible and fair.
- Able to get used to and learn to live in any conditions.
- He considers activity and verbal abilities to be an important quality of life.
- When making decisions quickly, it is based on feelings, emotions and communication experience.
- Trying to develop professionally.
- Willingly participates in public events and events, and is not afraid to express personal opinions on processes affecting society and the state.
- Uses mutual assistance, understands the needs and moods of other people.
Any social type is always surrounded by family, groups, organizations, institutions, institutions, services. Types strive to build their lives correctly, in which there is a place for activities, a daily routine and well-organized leisure time.
Social types are active and passive. The former organize activities and events, and the latter participate, perform and accept them. Types perform social work, voluntarily participate in charity, attend meetings, and come up with various intellectual and competitive groups that functionally influence the life of the environment.
An individual combines various personality traits, combining several social types at once. For example, a tough, demanding, disciplined leader in his family is a loving father, an attentive husband, with a soft, responsive character. Or another example - a collected, responsible, competent worker in a home environment turns into a sloppy, sloppy and indifferent person.
Functions of social philosophy
Social philosophy has always sought to explain and understand the lives of people together, to present a complete picture of the world, society and the individual. This science is resorted to when it is necessary to find a way out of a crisis and new ideas are needed. Scientists note that social existence in philosophy retains a particularly important role, since the structure of society is also considered here - family, collective, individual, and political, spiritual, material aspects characteristic of the country as a whole.
The social role of philosophy is determined by five functions:
- Cognitive
. Studies how social consciousness and existence are connected. - Diagnostic
. Analyzes options for the development of society. - Prognostic
. Develops diagrams of future possible contradictions and conflicts in society. - Educational
. Provides topics for study by scholars and students. - Projective
. Develops projects to change reality within the interests of a specific group or nation.
We divide the social type of personality into groups depending on value orientation
Of course, following different values has always divided people. So, often people who have similar views on life principles and live by the same “laws” become close to each other.
- Let's start looking at traditionalists - this is a completely “boring” type of people. They are conservative, have a classical opinion, are law-abiding, have no personal goals and absolutely do not try to develop themselves psychologically. These people are content with what the state provides them and see nothing around them.
- So let’s continue, idealists are something new and completely unknown today. These people do not obey official rules, do not adapt to popular authorities, have their own point of view and are always ready to defend their opinion. Idealists are ready at any moment for personal development and self-knowledge; they are active and enjoy exploring the world, both internal and around them.
- Frustrated personality type - people with low self-esteem and a feeling of their own indecency.
- Realists - such people act within the framework of laws, are always ready to develop internally and externally, and have a sense of responsibility and duty.
- Hedonists - created to satisfy their needs and enjoy life, one might say, are a dying type of people.
What is "social philosophy"?
Social philosophy is a branch of science that answers the question of what society is, and what place is assigned to a person in it, what patterns can be traced, and how society develops from the position of the system. This science took shape in the Ancient world, but in different eras it received several names:
- ethics;
- political philosophy;
- philosophy of history.
Therefore, it finally crystallized as an independent science only in the 19th century; the term “social philosophy” was first introduced by the Frenchman Auguste Cohn. If society is represented as a connection between people in such manifestations as money, language, state and family, then the main questions that this science solves are formulated as:
- Interaction between society and people.
- The influence of the individual on society.
Methods of social philosophy
Modern approaches in social philosophy have helped researchers determine not only the patterns of possible development of complex political situations, but also crystallize personality types. This approach greatly helps psychologists and analysts in individual and collective work with people. Today the following basic methods have been formulated:
- Participant observation
. The researcher infiltrates the team, as one of the employees or activists of the movement, in order to create an internal picture. Disadvantage: it is impossible to influence the course of the process. - Social experiment
. Studying an object in specially created conditions. Plus: you can repeat the situation many times for the purity of the experiment. Disadvantage: strict exclusion of trial and error methods. It also includes modeling a situation when an object is inaccessible or the situation is only predicted.
