Type of lesson: informative lecture.

Topic of the lesson: "Psychology of personality"

The lesson is held in a group of second-year students of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics.

The purpose of the lesson: to provide students with the necessary information on this topic, to reveal all new concepts for them, to increase the cognitive motivation of students.

Tasks educational material:

1) disclosure of the specifics of the socio-psychological approach to the study of personality, concepts of socialization, its mechanisms, stages and institutions, disclosuresocio-psychological qualities of the individual, as well as the concept of social attitude, the traditions of its study and the influence of social attitude on the behavior of the individual;

2) development of skills, ability to work with the text of the textbook, diagrams;

3) personal development, increasing cognitive motivation, motivation for self-knowledge and self-development.

Lecture structure:

4. Social attitude.

Form of organization of students: traditional.

Basic teaching methods: conversation, explanation, clarification, examples.

Teaching tools: verbal and informational - lecture material, textbooks, teaching aids; visual diagrams.

Bibliography:

1. Andreeva G.M. Psychology of social cognition. - M., 2000

2. Asmolov A.G. Personality as a subject of psychological research. - M., 1988

3. Badmaev B.Ts. Methods of teaching psychology: a teaching aid for teachers and graduate students of universities. - M.: VLADOS, 1999.

4. Belinskaya E.P. Personality Research: Traditions and Perspectives // Social Psychology in modern world. M., 2002

5. Belinskaya E.P., Tikhomandritskaya O.A. Social psychology of personality. - M., 2001

6. Kuznetsova I.V. Methods of teaching psychology: a textbook for students. - Smolensk: Universum, 2006

7. Yadov V.A. Social identification of the person. - M., 1994

1. Andreeva G.M. Social Psychology. - M., 2004
2. Belinskaya E.P., Tihomandritskaya O.A. Social psychology of personality. - M., 2001
3. Dubovskaya E.M. Socialization in a changing world // Social psychology in the modern world. - M., 2002
4. Social psychology / Ed. S. Moskovichi. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2007

Psychology of Personality

Plan

1. Specifics of the socio-psychological approach to the study of personality

2. The concept of socialization, mechanisms and stages of socialization, institutions of socialization.

3. Socio-psychological qualities of a person. Personality and social role.

4. Social attitude.

1. Specificity of the socio-psychological approach to the study of personality

Personality - is the subject of relations and conscious activity, it is a relatively stable system of socially significant features that characterize a person as a member of a particular society or community.

The essence of the personality lies in the nature of the social relations in which it lives, and, consequently, the personality is born and exists in society, in social relations.

The approach to personality in social psychology differs from the approach to it in sociology and psychology.

The specificity of the socio-psychological approach to the study of personality lies in the fact that it involves the combination of two approaches: sociological and general psychological.

1. The sociological approach is characterized by the fact that in it the personality is considered mainly as an object of social relations.
2. general psychological - by the fact that the emphasis is placed only on the universal mechanisms of the individual's mental activity.

The task of social psychology is to reveal the entire structural complexity of the personality, which is both an object and a subject of social relations.

Social psychology, using the definition of personality given by general psychology, finds out how, i.e. First of all, in which specific groups, the personality, on the one hand, assimilates social influences (through which of the forms of its activity), and on the other hand, in what specific groups it realizes its social essence (through what specific types of joint activities).

For social psychology, the main guideline in the study of personality is the relationship of the individual with the group, the result that is obtained from this relationship.

To identify through which groups the influence of society on the individual is carried out, it is important to study a specific life path personality, those cells of the micro- and macroenvironment through which it passes - this is the problem of socialization.

It is important to analyze how a person acts in conditions of active communication with other personalities in those real situations and groups where his life activity takes place - this is the problem of social attitude.

The result of the study of personality problems in social psychology should be considered the integration of the personality in the group: the identification of those qualities of the personality that are formed and manifested in the group, the feeling of group belonging that arises on the basis of the reflection of these qualities is the problem of the social identity of the individual.

2. The concept of socialization

Socialization - a process that includes, on the one hand, the assimilation of social experience by an individual by entering the social environment, the system of social ties; on the other hand, the process of active reproduction by the individual of the system of social ties due to his vigorous activity, active inclusion in the social environment.

The process of socialization is a set of all social processes, thanks to which the individual acquires a certain system of norms and values ​​that allow him to function as a member of society.

socialization- the result of socialization, a person's compliance with social requirements.

Socialization in its content is a process of personality formation, which begins from the first minutes of a person's life.

There are three areas in which this formation of personality is carried out -socialization mechanisms:

1) activity (throughout the entire process of socialization, the individual deals with the development of ever new types of activity; at the same time, orientation takes place in the system of connections present in each type of activity and between it various types, centering around the main, chosen type, subordinating all other types of activity to it and mastering new roles by the personality in the course of implementing the activity and understanding their significance);

2) communication (considered from the side of its expansion and deepening:the expansion of communication can be understood as the multiplication of a person's contacts with other people, the specifics of these contacts at each age limit; deepening of communication is, first of all, the transition from monologue to dialogic communication, decentration, i.e. ability to focus on a partner);

3) self-consciousness (the process of socialization means the formation of the image of his “I” in a person: the separation of the “I” from activity, the interpretation of the “I”, the correspondence of this interpretation with the interpretations given to the personality by other people.

In the process of socialization, three facets can be distinguished:

1) transmission of culturally assigned values, behavior patterns, methods of social categorization (inculturation);

2) actual assimilation, internalization of various modes of social experience;

3) socialization (result - adaptation)

4) the process of constructing social reality.

Stages of socialization

The stages of socialization are distinguished on the basis of two criteria:

1) biological - age and gender;

2) the criterion of a social nature - social crises experienced by a person.

The stages of socialization cover the whole life of a person:

1. Childhood is a sociocultural phenomenon:

2. Adolescence (11 - 16 years).

3. Youthful age.

4. Youth.

5. Adulthood - early socialization:

5. Old age.

6. Old age.

In domestic social psychology, the emphasis is placed on the fact that socialization involves the assimilation of social experience, primarily in the course of labor activity, therefore, the relation to it serves as the basis for the classification of stages.

Highlighted main stages:

1. Pre-labor stage socialization covers the entire period of a person's life before the start of labor activity. In turn, this stage is divided into two periods:

a) early socialization, covering the time from the birth of a child to his admission to school - the period early childhood;

b) the stage of learning, including the entire period of adolescence.

1. labor stage socialization covers the period of a person's maturity - this is the entire period of a person's labor activity.
2. post-labor stage- Reproduction of social experience in old age.

Institutes of socialization

Institutes of socialization- these are sustainable forms of organizing joint activities of people, a set of norms, values ​​that regulate various areas of human activity and fix this activity in a system of roles and statuses.

At the pre-labour stages of socialization such institutions are:

▪ During early childhood – family and pre-school institutions. In the family, children acquire the first skills of interaction and communication, master the first social roles.

▪ During the period of study, the main institution of socialization is the school. The school provides the student with a systematic education, which is the most important element of socialization, expands the child's opportunities in terms of his communication.

at work stage, the most important institution of socialization is the labor collective or its modern varieties - the team, the organization.

At post-work stages of socialization institutions can be various public organizations whose members are predominantly pensioners.

3. Socio-psychological qualities of a person

The socio-psychological qualities of a person are qualities that are formed in real social groups, in conditions of joint activities with other people, as well as in communication with them.

These can be classified into four categories:

1) ensuring the development and use of social abilities (social perception, imagination, intelligence, characteristics of interpersonal assessment);

2) formed in the interaction of members of the group and as a result of its social influence;

3) more general, related to social behavior and position of the individual (activity, responsibility, inclination to help, cooperation);

4) associated with general psychological and socio-psychological properties (a tendency to an authoritarian or democratic way of acting and thinking, to a dogmatic or open attitude to problems, etc.)

An analysis of the socio-psychological qualities of a person is necessary in order to understand how a person "fits" into a group, is aware of his belonging to it, in other words, is identified with the group.

Social identity of the individual- this is the self-determination of the individual in referring himself to a certain social group.

Social identity is made up of those aspects of the image of "I", which follow from the individual's perception of himself as a member of certain social groups.

Against the background of social identity, a person develops a certain social role - this is the expected type of behavior of the individual in accordance with a certain interaction of people in society based on their rights and obligations.

According to Parsons, the social role is characterized by:

Emotionality (some roles are characterized by emotional stress);

Scale (the ability to influence a certain number of people, for example, the role of a teacher, leader);

Formalization (if a social role is focused on standard norms and rules, then this is a formal social role, for example, a professional one; informal social roles are roles focused on interpersonal relationships)

The social role in a certain way regulates the behavior of a person in society

4. Social attitude

social attitude- this is a certain disposition of the individual, in accordance with which the tendency of his thoughts, feelings and possible actions are organized taking into account the social object.

In Western social psychology, the term "attitude" is used to denote social attitudes. For the first time the concept of attitudewas introduced by W. Thomas and F. Znaniecki in 1918.

attitude - this is the state of consciousness of the individual regarding some social value, the experience by a person of the meaning of this value.

According to Allport, attitude - this is a state of psycho-nervous readiness that has developed on the basis of experience and has a directing and (or) dynamic influence on the individual's reactions to all objects or situations with which he is associated.

There are four periods in the study of attitudes in Western social psychology:

1) from the introduction of this term in 1918. before the Second World War - the rapid growth in the popularity of the problem and the number of studies on it.

2) 1940-1950s - the decline of research in connection with a number of discovered difficulties and dead-end positions.

3) 1950-1960s - the revival of interest in the problem, the emergence of a number of new ideas, but at the same time the recognition of the crisis state of research.

4) The 1970s is a clear stagnation associated with an abundance of contradictory and incomparable facts.

5) 1980-1990s - new growth interest in the problem, associated with the demands of practice.

Domestic learning setting associated with the school D.N. Uznadze. By definition of Uznadze, installation - this is the primary holistic reflection, against the background of which a contemplative or active reflection can arise, which consists in establishing readiness for those mental or motor acts to appear in it that will provide a contemplative or effective reflection adequate to the situation.

A.N . Leontiev and Osmolov consideredsemantic attitude- as an expression of personal meaning in the form of readiness for a certain way directed activity, which gives the activity a sustainable character.

Attitude structure

M. Smith defined a three-component structure of attitude, which includes:

Cognitive component (comprehension of the object of social attitude);

Affective component (emotional assessment of the object, revealing feelings of sympathy or antipathy towards it);

Behavioral (conative) component (sequential behavior in relation to the object).

Also, the behavioral intention is included in the structure of the attitude, i.e. plans, intentions of action.

Attitude functions

1) adaptive (sometimes called utilitarian, adaptive) - the attitude directs the subject to those objects that serve to achieve his goals;

2) the function of knowledge - the attitude gives simplified instructions on the way of behavior in relation to a particular object;

3) the function of expression (sometimes called the function of value, self-regulation) - the attitude acts as a means of releasing the subject from internal tension, expressing oneself as a person;

4) the function of protection - the attitude contributes to the resolution of internal conflicts of the individual.

There is a complex relationship between attitude and personality behavior. On the one hand, attitude allows you to predict behavior.On the other hand, there are reasons that “complicate” the impact of an attitude on behavior, and at the same time factors that can counteract these reasons: the strength of the attitude (an attitude is considered strong if it arises immediately in response to a stimulus), the expectation of an attitude (“I and knew!").

One way or another, knowledge of the attitude is useful because it allows - with varying degrees of confidence - to predict behavior.

For the most accurate study of the social attitude in its integrity, V.A. Yadov proposed"dispositional concept of regulation of social behavior of the individual". The main idea underlying this concept is that a person has a complex system of various dispositional formations that regulate his behavior and activities. These dispositions are organized hierarchically.

V. A. Yadov suggested that on different levels needs and in more complex, including social, situations, different dispositional formations operate, moreover, they arise every time a certain level of needs and a certain level of situations of their satisfaction “meet”.

Hierarchical system of dispositional regulation of social behavior of a person (V.A. Yadov)

In this scheme, the needs are classified according to one single basis - from the point of view of the inclusion of the individual in various areas. social activities corresponding to the expansion of the needs of the individual. The first sphere where human needs are realized is the immediate family environment (1), the next is the contact (small) group, within which the individual directly acts (2), then the wider sphere of activity associated with a certain area of ​​work, leisure, and everyday life. (3), finally, the sphere of activity, understood as a certain social class structure, in which the individual is included through the development of the ideological and cultural values ​​of society (4). Thus, four levels of needs are revealed, according to the areas of activity in which they find their satisfaction.

Further, a hierarchy of situations (C) conditional for the needs of this scheme is also built, in which an individual can act and which “meet” certain needs. These situations are structured according to the length of time "during which the basic quality of these conditions is preserved." The lowest level of situations are subject situations that are rapidly changing, relatively short-lived (1"). The next level is situations of group communication, characteristic of the activity of an individual within a small group (2"). More stable conditions of activity that take place in the sphere of labor (occurring within the framework of some profession, industry, etc.), leisure, life, set the third level of situations (3 "). Finally, the most long-term, stable conditions of activity are characteristic of the most a wide sphere of the life of the individual - within a certain type of society, the broad economic, political and ideological structure of its functioning (4 "). Thus, the structure of situations in which a person acts can also be depicted using the characteristics of its four stages, understood as a certain social class structure, in which the individual is included through the development of the ideological and cultural values ​​of society (4). Thus, four levels of needs are revealed, according to the areas of activity in which they find their satisfaction.

"4" - activity

3 "- a series of actions

"2" - act ( primary action)

"1" - behavioral act

value orientations of the individual

basic social attitudes

socially fixed attitudes (attitudes)

elementary fixed installations

In his Everyday life we are faced with such heterogeneous and important phenomena for us as communication; role, interpersonal and intergroup relations; conflicts; rumors; fashion; panic; conformism. The phenomena listed and similar to them are based, first of all, on the mental activity and behavior of people who interact with each other as social subjects. In other words, we are talking about phenomena generated by the interaction of both individuals and their associations - social groups: this is a family, and a production team, and a company of friends, and a sports team, and Political Party, and the whole people constituting the population of a country.

Any of the mentioned social subjects - a specific person or a specific social group - interacts with another social subject (subjects) in accordance with certain patterns that have a psychological and at the same time social nature. However, this psychological is so closely intertwined with the social that an attempt to separate them in a concrete interaction of people is doomed to failure in advance.

For example, the course of a conflict between two students will certainly be influenced by the characteristics of their characters, temperaments, motives, goals, emotions, social statuses, roles and attitudes. But; however, factors of a completely different order will be decisive here, namely: the actual behavior of these persons, their mutual perception, relationships, as well as the social situation in which all this takes place. Even without a deep analysis, it is clear that each of these factors is, as it were, an alloy of the social and psychological. Therefore, the designation "socio-psychological" is best suited to these factors and their corresponding phenomena. In turn, the science that studies such phenomena and their patterns can rightly be called social psychology.

Here it should immediately be noted that social psychology studies not only socio-psychological phenomena. As an applied science, it explores the socio-psychological aspect (or side) of any real phenomena in the life and activities of people in almost all areas. This fully applies to the spheres of economy, politics, law, religion, national relations, education, family, etc.

In order to show how the socio-psychological aspect relates to aspects of other sciences and how these sciences themselves relate in the study of a particular phenomenon, let us take an ordinary examination as an example. From the point of view of sociology, this is a type of interaction between representatives of two social groups (teachers-students), aimed at realizing their public and personal interests and goals. From the point of view of general psychology, an exam is an episode of mental activity and behavior of a certain individual (subject). At the same time, if a teacher is taken as a subject, then the student here will be nothing more than an object of his activity. If the position of the subject is assigned to the student, then, accordingly, the teacher becomes the object of his activity. From the standpoint of pedagogy, the exam is one of the forms of control over the assimilation of knowledge by students, and from the standpoint of informatics, it is a special case of information exchange. And only from the point of view of social psychology, the exam is considered as a specific communication of individuals within the framework of their specific social roles and interpersonal relationships.

In other words, if the exam interests us as a kind of communication (conflict or contact, role-playing or interpersonal, etc.), during which its participants influence each other, as well as this or that development of their mutual relations, then we must turn to specifically to social psychology. In turn, this will allow the use of theoretical knowledge adequate to the problem being solved, the conceptual apparatus, optimal means and methods of research. At the same time, in order to understand the whole essence of what is happening during a particular exam, in addition to social psychology, certain knowledge in the field of sociology, general psychology, pedagogy and, of course, in that academic discipline for which this exam is taken.

Social psychology has relatively recently entered the state educational standard for all pedagogical specialties. For a long time, only students of psychological faculties studied social psychology, and most of the domestic textbooks and manuals on social psychology were focused specifically on them. In fact, s.p. as a science and a branch of knowledge, it is relevant for all specialists working in the field of "human-to-human".

(and you will understand this as soon as we touch on the subject of its study)

Social psychology as an independent branch of scientific knowledge began to take shape at the end of the 19th century, but the concept itself began to be widely used only after 1908 in connection with the appearance of the works of W. McDougall and E. Ross. These authors were the first to introduce the term "social psychology" into the title of their works. Some questions of s.p. were set a very long time ago within the framework of philosophy and were in the nature of understanding the features of the relationship between man and society. However, the study of socio-psychological scientific problems proper began in the 19th century, when sociologists, psychologists, philosophers, literary critics, ethnographers, physicians began to analyze the psychological phenomena of social groups and the characteristics of mental processes and human behavior depending on the influence of people around them.

By this time, science was quite "ripe" in order to identify some socio-psychological patterns. But it turned out that the problems posed were very difficult to study within the framework of the then existing sciences. Integration was needed. And above all - the integration of sociology and psychology, because psychology studies the human psyche, and sociology - society.

Regularities are the most significant, recurring phenomena that occur every time, under certain conditions.

G. M. Andreeva defines the specifics of social. psychology as follows: - is the study of the patterns of behavior and activities of people, due to their inclusion in social groups, as well as the psychological characteristics of these groups.

S.P. is an industry psychological science, which studies the patterns of emergence and functioning of socio-psychological phenomena that are the result of the interaction of people as representatives of different communities. (Krysko V. G.)

For comparison, the definitions of the American school of social. psychology:

SP is the scientific study of the experience and behavior of an individual in connection with the impact on him of a social situation.

SP is the scientific study of the relationship of individuals to each other, in groups and in society. (from the book by P.N. Shikhirev “Modern joint venture of the USA”)?

SP is a science that studies how people learn about each other, how they influence and relate to each other (David Myers) - he gives this definition based on the fact that SPs, in his opinion, study attitudes and beliefs, conformity and independence, love and hate.



Chapter 8 The Problem of the Group in Social Psychology

Specifics of the socio-psychological approach

The problem of groups into which people unite in the course of their life activity is the most important issue not only of social psychology, but also of sociology. The reality of social relations is always given as the reality of relations between social groups, therefore, for sociological analysis, an extremely important and fundamental question is the question of what criterion should be used to isolate groups from the variety of various kinds of associations that arise in human society. It should immediately be noted that in the social sciences, in principle, there can be a double use of the concept of "group". On the one hand, in practice, for example, demographic analysis, in various branches of statistics, conditional groups are meant: arbitrary associations (grouping) of people according to some common feature necessary in a given system of analysis. This understanding is widely represented, first of all, in statistics, where it is often necessary to single out a group of people with a certain level of education, suffering from cardiovascular diseases, in need of housing, etc. Sometimes, in this sense, the term “group” is also used in psychology, when, for example, as a result of test tests, a group of people is “constructed” who have given indicators within certain limits, another group with other indicators, etc.

On the other hand, in the whole cycle of social sciences, a group is understood as a real-life formation in which people are gathered together, united by some common feature, a kind of joint activity or placed in some identical conditions, circumstances (also in the real process of their life activity), are in a certain way aware of their belonging to this formation (although the measure and degree of awareness can be very different).

It is within the framework of this second interpretation that social psychology primarily deals with groups, and it is precisely on this plane that it needs to clearly indicate the difference between its approach and the sociological one. From the point of view of the sociological approach, the most important thing is to find an objective criterion for distinguishing groups, although in principle there may be many such criteria. Group differences can be seen in religious, ethnic, and political characteristics. For every system of sociological knowledge, it is important to take some criterion as the main one. From the point of view of this objective criterion, sociology analyzes each social group, its relationship with society, with the individuals included in it.

The problem of a small group is one of the most important in social psychology, since a small group acts as the primary environment in which a person takes the first steps and continues on his path of development.
It is obvious that from the first days of life a person is associated with certain small groups. He not only experiences their influence on himself, but also receives in them and through them the first information about the outside world, and subsequently organizes his activities.
First of all, it should be noted that the concept of "group" can be used in different meanings.
One of them is related to the tasks of sociological or demographic statistical analysis, in which case arbitrary associations (groupings) of people are distinguished according to some common feature that is necessary within the framework of a specific system of this analysis.
Another understanding of the term "group" takes place in psychology, when, as a result of test tests, groups of people are constructed who have given indicators within some of the same limits.
Finally, a group is understood as a real-life formation in which people are gathered together, united by some common feature or type of joint activity, placed in some identical conditions, circumstances, in a certain way they are aware of their belonging to this formation, although the degree of such awareness may be quite different.
From the point of view of the sociological approach, a certain objective criterion for distinguishing groups is chosen, and within its framework, each social group is analyzed, its relationship with society, with the individuals included in it.
For the socio-psychological approach, a different angle of view is used. Performing various social functions, a person is a member of numerous social groups. It is formed, as it were, at the intersection of these groups, where various group influences intersect. This has two important consequences for the personality: on the one hand, its objective place in a given community of people is determined, on the other hand, the consciousness of the personality is formed. The personality is included in the system of views, ideas, norms, values ​​of numerous groups.
For social psychology, a simple statement of a multitude of people or even the presence of some kind of relationship within it is clearly insufficient. Social psychology investigates, first of all, the patterns of people's behavior, due to the fact of their inclusion in real social groups. Consequently, the focus of analysis here is precisely the substantive psychological characteristics of such groups.
The commonality of the content of the activities and behavior of groups also gives rise to the commonality of their psychological characteristics: group interests, group needs, group norms, group values, group goals, group opinion.
For an individual entering a group, awareness of belonging to it is carried out primarily through the acceptance of precisely these characteristics, which allows him to identify himself with this group. It is proved that the main, purely psychological characteristic of the group is the presence of the so-called "we-feelings", in contrast to the other - "they".
“We-feeling” expresses the need to distinguish one community from another and serves as an indicator of a certain socio-psychological identity.
The specificity of the socio-psychological analysis of the group manifests itself precisely here. Real social groups identified by the means of sociology are considered, and those features are determined in them that together make the group a psychological community.

Source: R. Mokshantsev, A. Mokshantseva. Social Psychology. Textbook for high schools. Publishers: Siberian Agreement, Infra-M, 2001. 2001(original)

Introduction

The psychology and behavior of each individual essentially depend on his social environment, or environment. The social environment is a complex society, consisting of numerous, diverse, more or less stable associations of people called groups.

There are groups that are different in size, in the nature and structure of the relations existing between their members, in individual composition, in the characteristics of values, norms and rules of relationships shared by the participants, in interpersonal relations, in the goals and content of the activity, i.e. these features are not permanent. General rules behaviors that all members of a group must adhere to are called group norms. All these characteristics are the main parameters by which groups are distinguished, divided and studied in social psychology.

Specifics of the socio-psychological approach

People who have a common meaning social sign, based on their participation in some activity, are combined into groups. The problem of groups in sociology and social psychology is the most important issue.

In human society, many different kinds of associations arise, and therefore the fundamental question of sociological analysis is the question of what criterion should be used to isolate groups from them. In the social sciences, the concept of "group" can be used in different ways. In demographic analysis or statistics, for example, we mean conditional groups.

Conditional groups are arbitrary associations of people according to some common feature necessary in a given system of analysis.

That is, a group is considered to be several people who have some common feature, who have given certain indicators, etc.

In other sciences, a group means a real-life education. In such a group, people are united by some common feature, type of joint activity, or placed in any identical conditions, circumstances in the process of life. At the same time, people consciously refer themselves to this group (to varying degrees).

Social psychology deals primarily with real-life groups. In this regard, her approach differs from the sociological one. The main problem of the sociological approach is to find an objective criterion for distinguishing groups. These differences can be in religious, political, ethnic characteristics. From the point of view of some objective criterion accepted as the main one for each system of sociological knowledge, sociology analyzes each social group, its relations with society and the interpersonal relations of its members.

In the course of his life, a person performs various social functions, and can be a member of various social groups. Therefore, the socio-psychological approach considers a person as a point of intersection of various group influences. That is, a person is formed at the intersection of these groups. This determines the place of the individual in the system of social activity, and also affects the formation of the consciousness of the individual. The personality is included in the system of views, values, ideas, norms of the various groups in which he is a member. It is important to determine the resultant of all group influences. And for this it is necessary to establish the significance of the group for a person in psychological terms, which characteristics are important for this member of the group. Here in social psychology it is necessary to correlate the sociological approach with the psychological one.

If the sociological approach is characterized by the search for objective criteria for distinguishing between really existing social groups, then the psychological approach is characterized mainly by consideration of the very fact of the presence of a multitude of persons, in the conditions of which the activity of the individual takes place. In this case, interest is focused not on the substantive activities of the group, but on the form of actions. this person in the presence of other people and interaction with them. The question was posed in this way in socio-psychological research at the early stages of the development of social psychology. The group here is not considered a real social cell of society, a microenvironment of personality formation. However, for some purposes, just such an approach is necessary, especially within the framework of general psychological analysis. The question is whether this approach is sufficient for social psychology. The definition of a group as a simple set, of which a person is an element, or as an interaction of people who have a common social norms, values ​​and are in certain relationships to each other, is only a statement of the presence of many people acting side by side or together. This definition does not characterize the group in any way, and in the analysis there is no content side of this multitude of persons. Words about the presence of certain relations within the group also say little: the presence of relations in any association is important, but without describing the nature of these relations, this addition is insignificant. When relationships are a characteristic of a social group included in some system of social activity, then it is possible to determine the significance of these relationships for the individual.

All of the above allows us to conclude that for social psychology, a simple statement of a multitude of people or even the presence of some kind of relationship within it is not enough. The task is to combine the sociological and (we will call it so) "general psychological" approach to the group. If we admit that social psychology, first of all, explores the patterns of behavior and activities of people, due to the fact of their inclusion in real social groups, then we must also recognize that the focus of analysis is precisely the content characteristic of such groups, identifying the specifics of the impact on the personality of a particular social groups, and not just an analysis of the "mechanism" of such an impact. This formulation is logical from the point of view of the general methodological principles of activity theory. The significance of the group for the individual, first of all, is that the group is a certain system of activity, given by its place in the system of social division of labor, and therefore itself acts as the subject of a certain type of activity and through it is included in the entire system of social relations.

In order to provide this kind of analysis, social psychology needs to rely on the results of the sociological analysis of groups, i.e. turn to those real social groups that are identified according to sociological criteria in each this type society, and then on this basis to carry out a description of the psychological characteristics of each group, their significance for each individual member of the group. important integral part such an analysis is, of course, also the mechanism for the formation of the psychological characteristics of the group.

If we accept the proposed interpretation of the group as a subject of social activity, then, obviously, we can single out some features that are characteristic of it as a subject of activity. The commonality of the content of the group's activity also gives rise to the commonality of the psychological characteristics of the group, whether we call them "group consciousness" or some other term. The psychological characteristics of the group should include such group formations as group interests, group needs, group norms, group values, group opinion, group goals. And although the current level of development of social psychology has neither the tradition nor the necessary methodological equipment for the analysis of all these formations, it is extremely important to raise the question of the "legitimacy" of such an analysis, because it is precisely in these characteristics that each group psychologically differs from the other. For an individual entering a group, awareness of belonging to it is carried out primarily through the acceptance of these characteristics, i.e. through the realization of the fact of some mental community with other members of this social group, which allows him to identify with the group. We can say that the "border" of the group is perceived as the boundary of this mental community. When analyzing the development of groups and their role in the history of human society, it was found that the main, purely psychological characteristic of the group is the presence of the so-called "we-feelings". This means that the universal principle of the mental formation of the community is the distinction for individuals in the group of a certain formation "we" in contrast to another formation - "they". “We-feeling” expresses the need to differentiate one community from another and is a kind of indicator of the awareness of a person’s belonging to a certain group, i.e. social identity. The statement of belonging of an individual to a group is of considerable interest for social psychology, allowing us to consider the psychological community as a kind of psychological "section" of a real social group. The specificity of the socio-psychological analysis of the group manifests itself precisely here: the real social groups identified by means of sociology are considered, but in them, further, those features of them are determined that together make the group a psychological community, i.e. allow each member to identify with the group.

With this interpretation, the psychological characteristics of the group are fixed, and the group itself can be defined as "a community of interacting people in the name of a conscious goal, a community that objectively acts as a subject of action." The degree of detail with which further analysis can reveal the characteristics of such a generality depends on the specific level of development of the problem. So, for example, some authors do not limit themselves to the study of these group characteristics, but also propose to see in the group, by analogy with the individual, such indicators as group memory, group will, group thinking, etc. At present, however, there is no sufficiently convincing theoretical and experimental evidence that this approach is productive.

While the last of these characteristics are controversial in terms of whether they relate to the psychological description of the group, others, such as group norms or group values, group decisions are studied in social psychology precisely as belonging to special group formations. Interest in these formations is not accidental: only their knowledge will help to more specifically reveal the mechanism of the relationship between the individual and society. Society affects the individual precisely through the group, and it is extremely important to understand how group influences mediate between the individual and society. But in order to accomplish this task, it is also necessary to consider the group not just as a "multiple", but as a real cell of society, included in the broad context of social activity, serving as the main integrating factor and the main feature of the social group. The general participation of group members in joint group activity determines the formation of a psychological community between them and, thus, under this condition, the group really becomes a socio-psychological phenomenon, i.e. object of study in social psychology.

Much attention in the history of social psychology has been given to studies of the characteristics of groups and their impact on the individual. There are a few characteristic features such studies.

1. The group approach is considered as one of the variants of the socio-psychological approach. In American psychology, there is also an individual approach. Both of these approaches are a consequence of two origins of social psychology: sociology and psychology. Proponents of both group and individual approaches find the causes of people's social behavior. But for supporters of an individual approach, it is characteristic to search only for the immediate causes of such behavior. The group is important to them only as the fact that there are many people, but outside the broad social system in which it is included. Here - a purely formal understanding of the group.

The group approach, on the other hand, penetrates mainly beyond the limits of the group, where a given individual draws norms and values, into the social characteristics of social relations. In European social psychology, this approach is common. It substantiates the idea of ​​the need for a social context in any study. Here such a study of groups is criticized, when all group processes are divided into various fragments, while the significance of the meaningful activity of the group is lost.

2. Many authors who define a group separate the two main blocks of socio-psychological research. The first block is characterized by the study of processes that characterize human communication and interaction - communications, interactions, attractions, perceptions, etc. All of these processes are assumed to take place in a group, but studies do not present such a variable as group activity. The second block of research is related to the study of the groups themselves. He studies the size of the group, its composition, structure. The group processes studied in the first block are also mentioned, but without connection with joint group activity. Consequently, the description of the processes turns out to be isolated, the essential parameters of the group are excluded when studying its internal processes.

3. All attention in traditional social psychology is given only to a certain type of group - small groups. To a greater extent, they study the developing interpersonal relations, but it does not turn out how they depend on the nature of group activity and how they are connected with social relations.

A clear formulation of the requirements of a new approach to the study of the group is needed. The main task is to more specifically consider the patterns of human communication and interaction in real social cells, i.e. where they appear. To accomplish this task, in addition to the accepted certain methodological principles, it is necessary to set the conceptual apparatus. Within its framework, the group can be investigated and its main characteristics described. Such a conceptual scheme is necessary in order to be able to compare groups with each other, as well as to obtain comparable results in experimental studies.

social group psychological individual