Character formation and the system of relationships
Character is formed during upbringing by copying the behavior of authoritative figures (parents, and for adolescents, peers). Knowledge of these patterns serves a prognostic function: the physician can anticipate how a patient will react to a diagnosis or treatment.
Behavioral features are closely related to the system of relationships (according to V.N. Myasishchev's concept). Character traits are grouped depending on how an individual relates to various aspects of life:
- To oneself: level of self-love, self-criticism, sense of self-respect, self-confidence, or selflessness.
- To others: egoism or altruism, suspiciousness, magnanimity, stubbornness or compliance, vindictiveness.
- To work: conscientiousness or negligence, pedantry, passivity, diligence or laziness, thoughtfulness or frivolity.
- To belongings: generosity, thriftiness, neatness.
General properties of character include its integrity (consistency), stability, plasticity, and firmness.
Personality orientation and the self-concept
Personality orientation is a set of stable motives and needs. It includes interests (stimulate information-seeking), inclinations (readiness to participate in activity), and attitudes. An attitude is a persistent, often unconscious and biased readiness to perceive information in a certain way. It is characterized by categoricalness and alogism (example: the belief that "no one can be trusted"). The highest forms of orientation are worldview and beliefs, which are formed in youth and are extremely rarely subject to reassessment (especially political and religious ones).
Behavior is also strictly regulated by self-awareness and the self-concept — an internal picture of oneself through which a person evaluates their own qualities and builds plans. Self-esteem is not static and changes under the influence of external events (success) or internal state (decreases in depression, increases in mania).
- Elevated self-esteem leads to unachievable plans, attempts to dominate beyond one's abilities, which causes irritation in others.
- Lowered self-esteem manifests as restrictive behavior, pessimism, and withdrawal from problems.
Behavioral patterns: role, mask, and state
When diagnosing a personality, it is necessary to separate stable traits from temporary ones. A state (e.g., fatigue or a somatic illness) is a changeable category. However, there is a range of permissible reactions: even in an atypical state, a person behaves characteristically for themselves (one vents anger, another keeps it inside). A state can create a false impression: depression is easily confused with natural reclusiveness.
Behavior is also adjusted by social patterns:
- Role: a forced behavioral stereotype dictated by social norms (son, boss, physician). A role strictly regulates permissible actions and statements.
- Mask: purposeful concealment of emotions. For a physician, a mask is necessary for productive work (to hide boredom, fatigue, or confusion). Patients, however, often hide their true qualities behind a mask of formalism or stubbornness, which complicates diagnosis.
Temperament: from antiquity to the teachings of Pavlov and Jung
Historically, the study of personality traits began with temperaments. The humoral theory (Hippocrates and Galen) linked the psyche to the predominance of one of the bodily fluids: sanguis (blood), chole (yellow bile), melanchole (black bile), and phlegma (phlegm). In the 18th century, the physician J. Brown suggested dividing people into sthenic (tireless, persistent, ready for conflict to defend their interests) and asthenic (easily fatigued, conflict-avoidant, moody).
I.P. Pavlov provided the scientific basis for the typology, linking temperament properties with the strength, mobility, and balance of excitation and inhibition processes in the central nervous system:
- Melancholic: weak type (weakness of all nervous processes).
- Choleric: strong, unbalanced (excitation prevails).
- Phlegmatic: strong, balanced, but low-mobility.
- Sanguine: strong, balanced, mobile (ideal ratio, but in life they often yield to others due to carelessness and impatience).
Pavlov also identified types based on the dominance of signaling systems: artistic (reliance on emotions, intuition, rapid but superficial judgments) and rational-logical (deep analysis, operating with facts, but confusion under time constraints).
C.G. Jung supplemented these classifications with the concept of extraversion — the orientation of the psyche outward. Extraverts are responsive, strive to participate in the lives of others, and depend heavily on external opinions. Most often this manifests as active sociability, but sometimes as passive adjustment to the interlocutor.
Briefly: answers to topical questions
What types of character accentuations are distinguished according to K. Leonhard's classification?
Sources indicate that K. Leonhard is the author of the term "accentuation," but do not directly link the listed types to his classification. The materials describe the following types of accentuations: demonstrative, hyperthymic, dysthymic, introverted, stuck (perseverating), excitable, pedantic, and hypothymic.
According to what criteria of Gannushkin-Kerbikov does character accentuation differ from psychopathy?
Psychopathy is characterized by the relative stability and totality of pathological character traits, as well as social maladaptation — this is P.B. Gannushkin's triad. Accentuated personalities, on the other hand, are considered healthy and retain a sufficient capacity for social adaptation; their traits are excessively expressed, but this is not described as total pathological disharmony. Sources specifically indicate that psychopathies may be associated with a combination of pathological heredity, early organic central nervous system damage, and improper upbringing; psychopathies arising predominantly due to improper upbringing are called boundary psychopathies according to O.V. Kerbikov.
Class and exam questions
What is the difference between a social role and a mask?
A social role is a behavioral stereotype dictated by societal rules (for example, subordination between a doctor and a patient). A mask, however, is the conscious concealment of one's true feelings and intentions to achieve a goal or for self-protection.
What is the vulnerability of the rational-logical type of higher nervous activity?
People of this type are accustomed to relying on evidence and deep analysis of facts. In situations where decisions must be made under conditions of time or information scarcity, they often get lost and exhibit strong doubts.
Why are sanguines not always more successful than other temperament types?
Despite the ideal ratio of strength and mobility of nervous processes according to Pavlov, sanguines are characterized by carelessness, impatience, easy distractability, and groundless hope for luck, which is why they often fail to finish what they started.
What else to study on this topic
- Features of attitude formation and their influence on the patient's worldview
- Dynamics of self-esteem and self-concept in various affective states
- Positive and negative traits of classical temperament types
- Specifics of physician-patient interaction within the framework of role models
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Other topics in "Chapter 3. Healthy and Pathological Personality"
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