Personality is a concept in psychology that is being studied to this day. Each person is so individual, multifaceted, dynamic in his interests, relationships and internal impulses that not a single scientist has yet been able to fully classify the personality of each. There are many classifications that approximately allow us to learn about the regular processes occurring in the
development of personality. But this is only about ...
But some still managed to "fit" all people under a certain framework of understanding in their classifications and schemes. One of these distributions according to certain criteria is the personality structure according to Platonov.
The main characteristics of the classification of Platonov
For psychological science, Platonov made a great contribution by recreating the image of the personality with the help of his structure. In domestic science, a person is usually represented as a set of grafted social traits that do not contain biological characteristics. This scientist took the dynamic component of the personality as the basis for creating his theory. What it is?
To understand the general structure of personality, there are two ways of perceiving it: statistical and dynamic. The first contains all the personality characteristics that each person can have. Here, a person is represented only by statistical data without taking into account individually changing features. The dynamic structure of the personality is the same personality, but taking into account all the changes that occur with it throughout life. The personality structure according to Platonov takes into account all changes that occur with the subject over a long time, the connection of the previous constituent elements with the newly arisen.
Directivity substructure in the system
The first substructure includes moral personality traits that are expressed through the orientation and relationship of the subject. The skills of communication, getting out of conflicts, positive communication and others are formed through education. In this subsystem, the psychologist claims, it refers to aspirations, beliefs, desires, inclinations, worldviews and ideals, as parameters not only of the social level (acquired only during education), but also of the socio-psychological one. That is, we are talking about education, as well as about the human consciousness itself. All of the above characteristics act in the personality on a par with experiences and all kinds of knowledge. It turns out that they are also an attribute of consciousness. This means that the psychological
properties of a person, such as desires, beliefs, ideals and so on, are formed both with the help of the person’s internal resources and as a result of the influence of a person’s social environment.
Substructure of experience at Platonov
The next subsystem, which speaks of the psychological mechanisms of gaining experience, is interpreted by Platonov as a socio-biological characteristic of the subject. This paragraph combines knowledge, skills, habits and skills as genetically determined personality traits. The social structure of Platonov’s personality suggests that these parameters relate specifically to its properties. He explains his theory by the fact that in the process of learning the acquired knowledge or skills for a person becomes typical, ordinary and inalienable. Therefore, they begin to relate to the personality traits of the subject. If we talk about the correlation of social and biological in this subsystem, then the first is more, since education comes to the fore. And it refers to the psychological and pedagogical characteristics.
Substructure of reflection forms, highlighted by a psychologist
This substructure contains more of the biological component of the personality. Here the psychologist Platonov speaks about the features of cognitive processes. The structure and development of personality, he argues, cannot exist without processes carried out by memory, thinking, feelings, sensations, perceptions. In addition, Platonov established a certain sequence in the functioning of these mental processes. In his opinion, the strength of the genetic and biological basis in this substructure is determined by the following sequence: functions of memory, subject's emotions, sensations, thinking, perception, feelings of personality and will. The psychological properties of the personality, says the scientist in his writings, could not exist without physiological and genetic memory, so he puts it in first place. Why is there more biological? Because sensations, emotions and some types of memory are inherent in both man and animals. This point of the structure is studied mainly individually.
Biological and constitutional properties in the Platonov system
The activity and development in this substructure is determined by the state and characteristics of the human nervous system: strength, processes of inhibition and excitation, speed. It is also noted that the features of this substructure are only biological, the social qualities of a person are practically inactive. The characteristics contained here can be improved through training. For example, a choleric can train in slowing down the response rate to an irritant, defeating his temper. Phlegmatic trains to celebrate bright events during the day, moving away from monotony, and so on. The study of this substructure takes place only at the psychophysiological or neuropsychological level.
By what criteria is the personality structure formulated according to Platonov?
Like any discovery, psychological theories of personality do not arise by themselves. To do this, a lot of time should be devoted to studying a large sample of respondents. Then decide what new can be distinguished in the characteristics of the personality and how to reduce them to generally accepted concepts. Any structure needs a theoretical and research base, as well as certain criteria by which the classification takes place. The personality structure according to Platonov is also formulated according to his criteria:
- the ratio of social and biological, acquired and innate;
- how personality traits are connected and internally close in individual substructures;
- what tool forms these or other personality characteristics (training, education, exercise, training);
- biological and social qualities of a person, formed historically (the sum of psychological properties, personality as experience).
The importance of creating this structure
Platonov’s concept gained popularity due to the fact that it is the most striking example of a structural approach to the perception, study and understanding of personality. This understanding is due to the fact that the psychologist undertook to study precisely the dynamic personality. Here you can apply both an individual approach to the study of subjects, and the general, strictly classifying them.
The structure of personality according to Platonov: scheme
It is very difficult to summarize the whole structure in a diagram, but in short it looks like this:
| Personality orientation | Worldview, personal meanings, aspirations, etc. | Social conditioning |
| Social experience | ZUN and habits | Socio-biological base |
| Individual characteristics of the psyche | Features of cognitive processes (memory, thinking, will, feelings, etc.) | Biosocial conditioning |
| Biopsychic Properties | Speed, intensity of mental processes, gender, age. | Biological conditionality |
According to the author of the theory, all the personality traits known today can be embedded in the presented substructures.