Psychological analysis of personality: methodology and personality assessment

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

The mental state of a person depends on many reasons. This includes his biological characteristics, physical condition, the environment in which he was born and raised. The term "individual" refers to an individual person of any age. Personality refers to the level of its development. She is considered a person who has achieved a certain social status, able to fit into a particular group. Based on this, not every individual can be called a person.

Psychological personality traits

Psychologists identify the following psychological personality traits:

• temperament;
• character;
• interests;
• inclinations;
• ability.

Personality theories

Today we will consider different theories of personality analysis in the existing currents of psychology. Understanding how a person develops always depends on the direction in which one ordifferent concept.

Start with dispositional personality theory. She has different directions. In one, greater importance is attached to congenital features, and in the other, acquired ones. We will discuss the general outline of this theory. It consists in the following: a personality is a set of certain internal traits that predetermine our reaction in a new situation.

For example, a person deceives not because it is convenient at a certain moment, but because he is inherently deceitful. The most popular within this direction is the theory of temperament. Thus, an individual with a congenital weak nervous system will react in one way, and by nature morally stable in another.

The second direction of personality research is the behavioral approach. Its essence is understood in the same way as everything else within the framework of behaviorism (a set of reflexes developed over a lifetime, and nothing more).

Next comes the humanistic theory. Here, the personality manifests itself as a certain structure of motives, either in the form of a real "I" or an ideal "I". In the latter case, a person strives for his perfect image, and then he realizes himself. When the subject fails to do so, he develops a feeling of worthlessness and falls into a neurosis.

Next comes the cognitive theory of personality, founded by George Kelly. He came to the conclusion that a developing person is determined by mental operations: the perception of reality and its interpretation. In the process, he develops specific cognitivescheme. And with their help he interprets his external experience. Any person is a combination of certain schemes that allow us to realize practical wisdom. Each person can have their own hierarchy of cognitive plans. Because of this feature, each individual is unique.

And finally, we will consider the active, that is, the Russian concept of the development of human essence. It includes:

• of the individual, that is, the animal part of the personality;
• subject of activity - human consciousness;
• the personality itself, that is, its social part.

What is personality structure?

This is how the structure of personality analysis in psychoanalytic theory is deciphered, in which Freud distinguishes three parts:

• Id - essentially identified with the individual and is the carrier of our instincts, energy, desires.
• Ego - coincides with the concept of the subject of activity, is the driving force of our consciousness and the regulation of behavior, and a way of adapting to the external environment.
• Super "I", which contains moral principles and norms: it is also personified with a personality.

You can roughly subdivide Bern's personality structure when he divided a person into a parent, an adult and a child. True, unlike Freud, he considered these parts of the ego, and not the unconscious, conscious and supraconscious parts.

Personality and character. Psychological analysis of personality

In life, the manifestation of personality and character is veryclosely intertwined. They are very similar in many ways. Not always, these two concepts are not distinguished not only by ordinary people, but even by psychologists. Here we will talk about the theory of personality analysis. You can find quite a few textbooks on psychology in which character is considered a property. And it is on the basis of genetically embedded traits in particular that personality analysis is carried out, and it is not always clear what differences are visible here.

Indeed, we are all different. And the features of a socially developed person, as well as character traits, manifest themselves in different ways. Everyone has their own way of social analysis of personality. And, of course, when science deals with individual characteristics, one of the most popular methods of psychological knowledge and classification of these differences is called typology. Indeed, everyone is different and unique. Nevertheless, in the total individuality there are moments of the general, the concept of repetition. The combination of these two concepts underlies the construction of a typology. Due to this association, certain types of people can be distinguished.

On the one hand, each of them speaks of individuality, dissimilarity to others. The second edge is when the type includes unique yet common features.

Circumstances of modern psychology

It is necessary to take into account the fact that in modern psychology there is no single idea about the subject of analysis of personality development, which means that there is no one generally accepted theory that would be confirmed by all specialists in this field. On the contrary, about a hundredyears ago, all psychological science was divided into many schools and directions, each of which came up with its own analytical concept. Namely: with an understanding of the subject as a whole, with specific ideas about the individual components of mental reality and his own theory of personality analysis. However, the view on the concept of "individual development" differed in exactly the same way. We rely on the tradition that is associated with the Moscow Psychological School, that is, with the establishment of Alexei Nikolaevich Leontiev. But, despite this, one common feature can be distinguished: a person is a common object for many different sciences. Each of them has its own purpose and method of personality analysis. In accordance with this, in man as in a general object, each science singles out its own narrow subject.

Who else is researching personality?

Recall: historians are also studying this theory. But they do it within a certain time period. Interested in the role of man in the historical process, without using the structure of personality analysis. That is, not by the extent to which each designated event can be due to the actions of a particular celebrity, but by the extent to which what is happening is a manifestation of the general laws of the development of society.

Educators are also engaged in the study of human abilities, but they are primarily interested in this in terms of educational work. This is their main goal. They use other methods of personality analysis.

Sociologists explore similar concepts. There is a large section in this area called "sociologypersonalities." The goal is to find patterns of various social phenomena that arise as a result of the unification of people. Personality in this science is considered as an element of various social strata.

And what does psychology highlight in the process of human development? Of course, specialists are interested in what drives a person, the main acting forces. In this case, a person can be controlled by various motivations (economic, legal, social, cultural). But psychology has its purpose. Since she studies the reality of human essence and can give an analysis of the characteristics of the individual, it is obvious that among the diverse motives she will look for precisely psychological driving forces. And they, in turn, are united by a common collective word - motivation.

Main source of strength

Motivation is a collective concept that includes a variety of motivating forces of the individual, such as needs, motives, drives, inclinations, aspirations, interests. All of them are different psychological realities, but they have one thing in common: they are the driving forces of the emotional side of life.

SWOT personality analysis

The main task and idea of this type of analysis is quite simple. To complete it, all you need is a piece of paper and a pen, as well as thirty minutes of free time. This option is suitable when you are confused in a situation and do not know what to do at all. It is very useful to do a SWOT analysis at a time when you need to make an important decision. The results will help you do the right thing, andwill also show your true path.

Draw a square on a sheet of paper, which will be divided into equal cells. The two columns are favorable and unfavorable. The two lines are internal and external.

Step 1. Reflect on what is positive for you and your action process at this time. Write down the data, all without exception, in 1 column. In the same way, think about it, that under these conditions it is risky and capable of harming you, that which is most likely to interfere, from which you will be exhausted. It was column 2.

Step 2. Try to ask yourself: can I influence these things, or does the given in this situation depend on me in any way? In the event that you can influence these factors, this will be regarded as your inner quality, a characteristic feature. If any change seems impossible, and one only needs to take into account this impact, then this is an external phenomenon.

Now all our cells are filled. What can help you and is internal are your strengths, and what hinders you are your weaknesses. In this case, what can become help for you and stay outside the zone of control are opportunities. They can also be called abilities. And what is an obstacle and located outside of you are threats.

Sometimes it is believed that after filling in these 4 fields, the SWOT study is completed, and the analysis of the concept of personality is completed. In fact, this is just the beginning. Now we have to figure out what to do with all this.next.

General advice would be:

• We are writing a strategy in which we strive to rely primarily on our own strengths, and either compensate for weaknesses with something or invest forces in their formation so that they stop being like weaknesses.
• At the same time, we strive to use our revealing abilities to the maximum and somehow avoid these dangers. In particular, we thoroughly weigh two combinations: strengths + abilities. This is what we can do directly at the present time and show our best side. The second acceptable combination is weaknesses + threats. Given in this case is what we can lose almost everything, and it is most dangerous if external threats are superimposed on our mental limitation and impotence.

SWOT: example

We propose to analyze a common sample. Suppose an individual is looking for a job. Often we are quite conservative if we have previously worked in some place. In this case, for some reason, we can look for subsequent work in such a way that it is similar to the previous one. However, if we didn’t like it in the same place, then a SWOT study can help get out of the rut. Someone is able to make us understand some other ways.

Suppose you know these strengths in yourself: optimal mathematical preparation, understanding of 2 languages, analytical intelligence. Weaknesses: you have moved away from your own sphere a little, for a long timethey did not observe the developments and novelties in any way, and they are not very sociable and somewhat closed in themselves. The dangers that are important to you have every chance of being associated with this organization in which you work. Maybe your plans as a whole will soon be covered up, and the working category will be disbanded. Or perhaps your project had powerful rivals, here you can analyze the personality of a person. Now let's take a closer look at the abilities - this is what will help to introduce you to society in the shortest possible period. For example, some very good employer may currently be looking for employees with your qualifications. Or they are currently recruiting for an internship at a good experimental center.

Let's say you decide to think about the opportunity and take a closer look at this internship. The ability to understand languages will be a mainstay, because this is your forte. But being a little sociable and uncommunicative, you will experience difficulties. You will have to compensate for these traits, thus, this is your weak side.

Now, looking at the preliminary results of the SWOT analysis, you can make some conclusions, form projects. For example, prepare a portfolio and at the same time start an interview when looking for a new job, or send an application for an internship.

When used consistently, SWOT research can help prevent problems and track abilities for the purpose of personality formation and growth.

Child Development

Development andthe analysis of the personality of the child should be given special attention.

There are many ways that help to understand at what stage of psychological and intellectual growth this or that baby is. But, given the low interest of children in such activities, experts offer an alternative method - the study of children's drawings.

Baby began to eat and sleep badly? Do you notice that there is something wrong with him? Drawings will help to translate the mood of your child from "childish" to "adult" language! In them, babies unconsciously express what worries them. Usually they start drawing with circles - the sun and the faces of little men. This is normal up to two or three years. From these simple images, you can immediately understand whether everything is fine with your child. But with age, the pictures will become more complicated. So a person who is not qualified and professionally competent in this matter is likely to interpret this incorrectly. It is important to pay attention to the colors that the child uses. The first alarm signal is the predominance of dark colors. Of course, one drawing may not answer your question, but it can be the most important signal that should not be missed.

Children's drawings are especially valuable material in cases where you need to find out if a child has any problems. To some extent, they help to conduct a psychological analysis of the personality. You just need to learn how to read the work of a young artist. Most often, such images have a deep, sacred psychological meaning. The parent can do the decryption personally, but allIt should also be noted that this kind of analysis may not always be reliable. Therefore, psychologists strongly recommend contacting specialists.