Character in psychology is interpreted ambiguously. It is difficult to distinguish from temperament. He is too connected with the concept of "personality." In the specialized literature on psychology, these terms are used as synonyms. Character depends on personality, and personality influences character. But these concepts should not be confused.
Character in psychology has a narrower definition. This is a set of human properties, which reflects the ways of behavior and response to various situations. We can say that these are traits of the individual that determine his attitude to other people or to work. And if an assessment is made of the character of a person and his personality, then it can be unequal for these concepts, and in some cases be directly opposite. Everyday terminology suggests that these are completely different formations.
As an example, you can take outstanding personalities who had a "heavy" or "cool" character. But this did not prevent them from becoming “creative” and “outstanding” people. And this proves that these two concepts are not the same. They say that the results of the creation of personality are used by descendants, and the people who surround the person are faced with the character.
Authors who study character in psychology emphasize that it can be less or more pronounced.
There are three types of intensity of human behavior. This forms the following types of character in psychology:
- “normal”;
- pronounced (accentuation);
- severe deviations (psychopathy).
The first two definitions apply to the norm. Accentuation can be explicit and hidden. Such character traits are not constantly detected, but only in a certain situation, in the current situation, but they do not appear under ordinary conditions. The third type is pathology. Of course, these boundaries are blurred, but still there are criteria that allow you to determine whether you belong to a particular intensity.
Regarding psychopathy, the character in psychology can be considered a pathology, if during the life it is stable, it does not change much with time. The second sign is that the same manifestations of behavior are found everywhere: at home, at work, among friends, in any circumstances. If a person is alone at home, and in public - another, then he can not be considered a psychopath. An important sign of this pathology is social maladaptation. A person constantly gets into difficult situations, he has problems, he experiences difficulties that can affect people around him.
In the history of psychology , attempts have repeatedly been made to create typologies of characters. One of the first scientists in this field was the German scientist E. Kretschmer. Among our domestic colleagues, A. Lichko was engaged in the classification of human behavior. His area of study was psychology, the theme "The Character of a Teenager."
Strengthening of certain behaviors that do not go beyond the norm, but border on pathology, can most often be observed in adolescence and adolescence. Such manifestations reveal weaknesses and allow timely prescribing of preventive measures. Accentuation develops mainly during the formation of character and is smoothed out when a person grows up.