Question No. 41. The problem of periodization of mental development.

In contrast to chronological age, which expresses the duration of an individual’s existence from the moment of his birth, the concept of psychological age denotes a qualitatively unique stage of ontogenetic development, determined by the laws of the formation of the organism, living conditions, training and upbringing and having a specific historical origin (that is, at different times age had different psychological content, for example, primary school age was distinguished with the introduction of universal primary education).

Age in psychology is a specific, relatively time-limited stage in the mental development of an individual and his development as a personality, characterized by a set of natural physiological and psychological changes that are not related to differences in individual characteristics.

The first attempt at a systematic analysis of the category of psychological age belongs to L.S. Vygotsky. He viewed age as a closed cycle with its own structure and dynamics.

Age structure includes (components of the development structure):

1.social development situation- the system of relations in which a child enters society; it determines which areas of social life he enters. It determines those forms and the path by which the child acquires new and new personality traits, drawing them from social reality as the main source of development, the path along which the social becomes individual. The social situation of development determines how the child navigates the system of social relations and what areas of social life he enters. According to Elkonin, this is a specific form of relationship that a child enters into with an adult in a given period.

2.leading type of activity- activity in which other types of activity arise and differentiate, basic mental processes are restructured and personality changes (Leontiev). The content and forms of leading activity depend on the specific historical conditions in which the child’s development takes place. Leontiev also described the mechanism of changing the leading type of activity, which manifests itself in the fact that in the course of development, the previous place occupied by the child in the world of human relations around him begins to be perceived by him as inappropriate to his capabilities, and he strives to change it. In accordance with this, his activities are being restructured.

3.central age neoplasms- at each age level there is a central new formation, as if leading the entire development process and characterizing the restructuring of the child’s entire personality on a new basis. Those. this is a new type of personality structure and its activity, those mental. and social changes that first arise at a given age level and that determine the child’s consciousness, his internal and external life, the entire course of his development. Around this neoplasm, all other particular neoplasms and developmental processes associated with neoplasms of previous ages are located and grouped. Vygotsky called those developmental processes that are more or less closely related to the main new formation the central lines of development. Vygotsky’s law of uneven child development is closely related to the concept of the main new developments of age: each side of the child’s psyche has its own optimal period of development - the sensitive period. In turn, the concept of sensitive periods is closely related to Vygotsky’s hypothesis about the systemic structure of consciousness: no cognitive function develops in isolation, the development of each function depends on what structure it is included in and what place it occupies in it.

4.age crises- turning points on the developmental curve that separate one age from another. Foreign psychologists, contemporaries of Vygotsky, viewed age-related crises either as growing pains or as a result of disruption of parent-child relationships. They believed that there could be a crisis-free, lytic development. Vygotsky viewed crisis as a normative phenomenon of the psyche, necessary for the progressive development of the individual. The essence of the crisis, according to Vygotsky, lies in resolving the contradiction between the previous social situation of development, on the one hand, and the new capabilities and needs of the child, on the other. As a result, an explosion of the previous social situation of development occurs, and a new social situation of development is formed on its ruins. This means that the transition to the next stage of age development has taken place. Vygotsky described the following age-related crises: the newborn crisis, the one-year crisis, the three-year crisis, the seven-year crisis, the thirteen-year crisis. Of course, the chronological boundaries of crises are quite arbitrary, which is explained by significant differences in individual, sociocultural and other parameters. The form, duration and severity of crises can vary markedly depending on the individual typological characteristics of the child, social conditions, features of upbringing in the family, the pedagogical system as a whole. Thus, for Vygotsky, age-related crises are the central mechanism of age dynamics. He derived the law of age dynamics, according to which the forces driving the development of a child at a particular age inevitably lead to the denial and destruction of the very basis of development of his age, with internal necessity determining the annulment of the social situation of development, the end of a given era of development and the transition to the next age steps.

Answering the second part of the question, we note that there are many different periodizations of mental development, both foreign and domestic authors. Almost all of these periodizations end with high school age; very few authors described the entire life cycle (primarily E. Erikson).

We will consider the periodizations of L.S. Vygotsky, as the creator of the doctrine of age, D.B. Elkonin, as a generally accepted concept in our country, D.I. Feldstein, Z. Freud, as the founder of psychoanalysis, a direction that is very popular in the world, E. Erikson, since it was he who first described the entire life cycle.

Age - this is a specific, relatively time-limited stage of mental development of an individual and his development as a person. Age is not related to the type of nervous system, temperament, or character. Specific socio-historical conditions, as well as upbringing, activity and communication, play a large role in determining age. Each age has its own specific developmental situations.

Vygotsky believed that when creating a periodization of mental development, it is necessary to take into account the dynamics of the transition from one age to another, when smooth “evolutionary” periods are replaced by “jumps.” During lytic periods, qualities accumulate, and during critical periods, their realization occurs. The problem of periodization of mental development is a problem of the laws and patterns of the change from one age period to another.

The generally accepted concept in our country is Elkonin’s concept, which is based on the idea of ​​changing the leading type of activity. Considering the structure of activity, Elkonin noted that human activity is two-faced, it contains human meaning, that is, the motivational-need side and the operational-technical side.

In the process of child development, the motivational-need side of the activity is first mastered, otherwise objective actions would not make sense, and then the operational-technical side is mastered. Then they alternate. Moreover, the motivational-need side develops in the “child-adult” system, and the development of the operational-technical side occurs in the “child-object” system.

Elkonin’s concept overcame an important drawback of foreign psychology: the opposition between the world of objects and the world of people.

Elkonin reconsidered the problem: the child and society” and renamed it “the child in society.” This changed the view on the relationship between “child and object” and “child and adult.” Ellko6nin began to consider these systems as “a child is a social object” (since for a child, socially developed actions with him come to the fore in the object) and “a child is a social adult” (since for a child an adult is, first of all, a bearer of certain types of social activities).

The child’s activity in the “child – social object” and “child – social adult” systems represents a single process in which the child’s personality is formed.

According to Elkonin, the crises of 3 and 11 years are crises of relationships, after which orientation in human relationships arises. And the crises of the 1st year and 7th year are crises of worldview that open up orientation in the world of things.

David Iosifovich Feldshtein developed the ideas of Vygotsky and Elkonin and created on their basis the concept of a pattern of level-by-level development of personality in ontogenesis. Its concept is based on the idea of ​​shifts in leading activities.

Feldstein considered the problem of personality development as a process of socialization, and he considered socialization not only as a process of appropriating socio-historical experience, but also as the formation of socially significant personality qualities.

According to this concept, a purposeful consideration as an object of research of the characteristics of the social development of children, the conditions for the formation of their social maturity and the analysis of its formation at different stages of modern childhood allowed the author to isolate two main types of actually existing positions of the child in relation to society: “I am in society.” and “me and society.”

The first position reflects the child’s desire to understand his Self - what am I? What can I do?; the second concerns awareness of oneself as a subject of social relations.

The formation of the position “I and society” is associated with the actualization of activities aimed at mastering the norms of human relationships, ensuring the implementation of the individualization process. The child strives to express himself, highlight his I, contrast himself to others, express his own position in relation to other people, having received from them recognition of his independence, taking an active place in various social relationships, where his I acts on an equal basis with others, which ensures his development a new level of self-awareness in society, socially responsible self-determination.

The subject-practical side of the activity, during which the child’s socialization occurs, is associated with the affirmation of the position “I am in society.”

In other words, the development of a certain position of the child in relation to people and things leads him to the possibility and necessity of realizing the accumulated social experience in such activities that most adequately correspond to the general level of mental and personal development. Thus, the position “I am in society” is especially actively developed during the periods of early childhood (from 1 to 3 years), primary school age (from 6 to 9 years old) and senior school age (from 15 to 17 years old), when subject-practical side of the activity. The position “I and society,” the roots of which go back to the infant’s orientation toward social contacts, is most actively formed in preschool (from 3 to 6 years) and adolescence (from 10 to 15 years) when the norms of human relationships are especially intensively absorbed.

Identification and disclosure of the characteristics of the child’s different positions in relation to society made it possible to identify two types of naturally occurring boundaries of the social development of the individual, designated by the author as intermediate and key.

The intermediate stage of development - the result of the accumulation of elements of socialization - individualization - refers to the child’s transition from one period of ontogenesis to another (at 1 year, 6 and 15 years). The nodal turning point represents qualitative shifts in social development, carried out through the development of personality; it is associated with a new stage of ontogenesis (at 3 years, 10 and 17 years).

In the social position that develops at the intermediate stage of development (“I am in society”), the developing personality’s need to integrate himself into society is realized. At the key turning point, when the social position “I and society” is formed, the child’s need to determine his place in society is realized.

Z. Freud, in accordance with his sexual theory of the psyche, reduces all stages of human mental development to stages of transformation and movement through different erogenous zones of libidinal energy. Erogenous zones are areas of the body that are sensitive to stimulation; when stimulated, they cause satisfaction of libidinal feelings. Each stage has its own libidinal zone, the stimulation of which creates libidinal pleasure. The movement of these zones creates a sequence of stages of mental development.

1. Oral stages (0 – 1 year) are characterized by the fact that the main source of pleasure, and therefore potential frustration, is focused on the area of ​​​​activity associated with feeding. At this stage, there are two phases: early and late, occupying the first and second years of life. It is characterized by two sequential libidinal actions - sucking and biting. The leading erogenous zone is the mouth. At the second stage, the “I” begins to emerge from “It”.

2. Anal stage (1 – 3 years) also consists of two phases. Libido is concentrated around the anus, which becomes the center of attention of the child, accustomed to neatness. The “Super-I” begins to form.

3.phallic stage (3 – 5 years) characterizes the highest level of child sexuality. The genital organs become the leading erogenous zone. Children's sexuality becomes objective, children begin to experience attachment to parents of the opposite sex (Oedipus complex). “Super-I” is formed.

4. latent stage (5 – 12 years) is characterized by a decrease in sexual interest, libido energy is transferred to the development of universal human experience, the establishment of friendly relations with peers and adults.

5.genital stage (12 – 18 years) is characterized by the return of childhood sexual desires, now all former erogenous zones are united, and the teenager strives for one goal - normal sexual communication

E. Erikson considered the stages of personality development from the point of view of the tasks that society sets for a person, and which a person must solve. He considers each stage separately from each other. Each stage of the fuss. Regardless of the previous one, it does not determine the driving force of psycho-social. development and specific mechanisms, cat. connect the development of the individual and society. The social link of the social situation falls out of Erikson's periodization. Each stage of development is inherent in society's expectations. An individual may or may not justify them; he is either included in society or rejected. The concept has 2 concepts: group identity (focused on inclusion in the community) and ego-identity (integrity of the individual, sense of stability and self). Occurs throughout life and goes through a number of stages. For each stage, society puts forward its own task, and the development of the individual depends on the spirituality of society.

1.infancy (0-1) – formation of basic trust in the world / mistrust

2.early age (1-3) – autonomy / shame, doubt about one’s own independence, independence

3. preschool age games (3-6) – initiative / feeling of guilt and moral responsibility for one’s desires

4. school age or pre-teenage (6-12) – achievement (formation of hard work and ability to handle tools) / inferiority (as awareness of one’s own ineptitude)

5. adolescence or youth (13-18) – identity (the first integral awareness of oneself, one’s place in the world) / diffusion of identity (uncertainty in understanding one’s Self)

6.youth or early adulthood (20-25) – intimacy (searching for a life partner and establishing close friendships) / isolation

7.maturity or middle age (25-65) – creativity / stagnation

8. old age or late maturity (after 65) – integration (formation of a final, integral idea of ​​oneself and one’s life path)/ disappointment in life

Question No. 42. History of the formation of socio-psychological ideas.

The period in question dates back to the middle of the 19th century. By this time, significant progress could be observed in the development of a number of sciences, including those directly related to various processes of social life. Great development received linguistics. Its necessity was dictated by the processes that were taking place in Europe at that time: it was a time of rapid development of capitalism, multiplication of economic ties between countries, which gave rise to active migration of the population. The problem of linguistic communication and mutual influence of peoples and, accordingly, the problem of the connection of language with various components of the psychology of peoples have become acute. Linguistics was not able to solve these problems by its own means. In the same way, by this time significant facts had been accumulated in the field anthropology, ethnography and archeology, who needed the services of social psychology to interpret the accumulated facts. The English anthropologist E. Taylor completes his work on primitive culture, the American ethnographer and archaeologist L. Morgan studies the life of the Indians, the French sociologist and ethnographer Lévy-Bruhl studies the peculiarities of the thinking of primitive man. All of these studies required taking into account the psychological characteristics of certain ethnic groups, the connection of cultural products with traditions and rituals, etc. Successes, and at the same time difficulties, characterize the state criminology: the development of capitalist social relations gave rise to new forms of illegal behavior, and an explanation of the reasons determining it had to be sought not only in the sphere of social relations, but also taking into account the psychological characteristics of behavior.

This picture allowed the American social psychologist T. Shibutani to conclude that social psychology became independent partly because specialists in various fields of knowledge were not able to solve some of their problems (Shibutani, 1961).

Interest in socio-psychological knowledge in the field developed differently. sociology. Sociology itself emerged as an independent science only in the middle of the 19th century. (its founder is considered to be the French positivist philosopher Auguste Comte). Almost from the very beginning of its existence, sociology began to make attempts to explain a number of social facts through laws drawn from other areas of knowledge (Essays on the history of theoretical sociology of the 19th - early 20th centuries, 1994). Historically, the first form of such reductionism for sociology was biological reductionism, especially clearly manifested in the organic school (G. Spencer and others). However, the miscalculations of biological reduction forced us to turn to the laws of psychology as an explanatory model for social processes. The roots of social phenomena began to be sought in psychology, and outwardly this position seemed more advantageous: the appearance was created that, unlike biological reductionism, the specifics of social life were actually taken into account here. The fact of the presence of a psychological side in every social phenomenon was identified with the fact of determination by the psychological side of a social phenomenon. At first it was a reduction to individual psyche, as exemplified by the concept of the French sociologist G. Tarde. From his point of view, an elementary social fact lies not within one brain, which is the subject of intracerebral psychology, but in the contact of several minds, which should be studied by intermental psychology. The general model of the social was depicted as a relationship between two individuals, one of whom imitates the other.

When explanatory models of this kind clearly demonstrated their failure, sociologists proposed more complex forms of psychological reductionism. The laws of the social have now begun to be reduced to laws collective psyche. A special direction in the system of sociological knowledge is finally taking shape - the psychological direction in sociology. Its founder in the USA is L. Ward, but, perhaps, the ideas of this trend were formulated especially clearly in the works of F. Giddings. From his point of view, the primary social fact is not the consciousness of the individual, not the “national spirit,” but the so-called “consciousness of the race.” Hence, social fact is nothing other than social reason. Its study should be carried out by “social psychology”, or, what is the same, sociology. Here the idea of ​​“reduction” is taken to its logical conclusion.

Thus, in the development of the two sciences of psychology and sociology, a counter movement emerged, which should have ended in the formulation of problems that became the subject of the new science. These mutual aspirations were realized in the mid-19th century and gave birth to the first forms of socio-psychological knowledge proper. By the middle of the 19th century. There are three most significant theories: the psychology of peoples, the psychology of masses, the theory of social instincts. Behaviors.

Psychology of peoples (M. Lazarus, G. Steinthal, W. Wundt).

Psychology of peoples as one of the first forms of socio-psychological theories developed in the middle of the 19th century. in Germany. From the point of view of the criterion we have identified, the psychology of peoples offered a “collectivistic” solution to the question of the relationship between the individual and society: it allowed the substantial existence of a “supra-individual soul”, subordinate to the “supra-individual integrity”, which is the people (nation). The process of nation formation, which was carried out at that time in Europe, acquired a specific form in Germany due to the need to unite the fragmented feudal lands. This specificity was reflected in a number of theoretical constructions of German social science of that era. It also had a certain influence on the psychology of peoples. Its theoretical sources were: Hegel’s philosophical doctrine of the “national spirit” and Herbart’s idealistic psychology, which, in the words of M.G. Yaroshevsky, was “a hybrid of Leibnizian monadology and English associationism.” The psychology of peoples tried to combine these two approaches.

The direct creators of the theory of the psychology of peoples were the philosopher M. Lazarus (1824-1903) and the linguist G. Steinthal (1823-1893). In 1859, the journal “Psychology of Peoples and Linguistics” was founded, where their article “Introductory Discourses on the Psychology of Peoples” was published. It articulates the idea that the main force of history is the people, or the “spirit of the whole” (Allgeist), which expresses itself in art, religion, language, myths, customs, etc. Individual consciousness is only its product, a link in some psychic connection. The task of social psychology is “to understand psychologically the essence of the spirit of the people, to discover the laws according to which the spiritual activity of the people proceeds.”

Subsequently, the ideas of the psychology of peoples were developed in the views of W. Wundt (1832-1920). Wundt first formulated his ideas on this matter in 1863 in his “Lectures on the Soul of Man and Animals.” The idea received its main development in 1900 in the first volume of the ten-volume “Psychology of Peoples.” Already in his Lectures, based on a course given in Heidelberg, Wundt outlined the idea that psychology should consist of two parts: physiological psychology and the psychology of peoples. According to each part, Wundt wrote fundamental works, and it was the second part that was presented in “Psychology of Nations.” From Wundt's point of view, physiological psychology is an experimental discipline, but experiment is not suitable for studying higher mental processes - speech and thinking. Therefore, it is from this “point” that the psychology of peoples begins. It must use other methods, namely the analysis of cultural products: language (language represents the concepts with the help of which thinking is carried out and consciousness is determined); myths (in them one can find the original content of concepts and emotional attitudes towards certain phenomena); customs, traditions (it is easier to understand the behavior

This concept raised the fundamental question that there is something other than individual consciousness that characterizes the psychology of the group, and individual consciousness is to a certain extent determined by it.

Psychology of the masses (G. Tarde, G. Le Bon, S. Siegele).

Psychology of the masses represents another form of the first socio-psychological theories, because, according to the criterion proposed above, it provides a solution to the question of the relationship between the individual and society from an “individualistic” position. This theory was born in France in the second half of the 19th century. Its origins were laid in the concept of imitation by G. Tarde. From Tarde's point of view, social behavior has no other explanation than through the idea of ​​imitation. Official, intellectually oriented academic psychology tries to explain it, neglecting the affective elements, and therefore fails. The idea of ​​imitation takes into account irrational moments in social behavior, and therefore turns out to be more productive. It was these two ideas of Tarde - the role of irrational moments in social behavior and the role of imitation - that were adopted by the direct creators of mass psychology. These were the Italian lawyer S. Sigele (1868-1913) and the French sociologist G. Lebon (1841 - 1931). Siegele mainly relied on the study of criminal cases, in which he was attracted by the role of affective aspects. Le Bon, being a sociologist, paid primary attention to the problem of contrasting the masses and elites of society. In 1895, his main work “Psychology of Peoples and Masses” appeared, which sets out the essence of the concept.

From Le Bon's point of view, any accumulation of people is a “mass”, the main feature of which is the loss of the ability to observe. Typical features of human behavior in the masses are: depersonalization (which leads to the dominance of impulsive, instinctive reactions), a sharp predominance of the role of feelings over the intellect (which leads to susceptibility to various influences), a general loss of intelligence (which leads to the abandonment of logic), loss of personal responsibility (which leads to a lack of control over passions). The conclusion that follows from the description of this picture of human behavior in the mass is that the mass is always disordered and chaotic by nature, so it needs a “leader”, whose role can be played by the “elite”. These conclusions were made based on the consideration of isolated cases of manifestation of mass, namely its manifestation in a situation of panic. No other empirical evidence was provided, as a result of which panic turned out to be the only form of mass action, although later observations of this single form were extrapolated to any other mass actions.

A certain social coloring is clearly manifested in the psychology of the masses. The end of the 19th century, marked by numerous mass protests, forced the official ideology to look for means of justifying various actions directed against these mass protests. The assertion that the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century is becoming widespread. - this is the “era of the crowd”, when a person loses his individuality, obeys impulses, primitive instincts, and therefore easily succumbs to various irrational actions. The psychology of the masses was in line with these ideas, which allowed Le Bon to speak out against the revolutionary movement, interpreting it as an irrational movement of the masses.

As for the purely theoretical significance of mass psychology, it turned out to be twofold: on the one hand, the question was raised about the relationship between the individual and society, but, on the other hand, its solution was in no way justified. Formally, in this case, a certain primacy of the individual over society was recognized, but society itself was arbitrarily reduced to a crowd, and even on this “material” it looked very one-sided, since the “crowd” or “mass” itself was described only in one single situation of its behavior, panic situations. Although mass psychology did not have any serious significance for the future fate of social psychology, nevertheless, the problems developed within the framework of this concept are of great interest, including for the present time.

3. The theory of instincts social behavior V. McDougall.

The third concept, which ranks among the first independent socio-psychological constructs, is the theory instincts of social behavior English psychologist V. McDougall(1871 - 1938), who moved to the USA in 1920 and subsequently worked there. McDougall's work "Introduction to Social Psychology" was published in 1908, and this year is considered the year of the final establishment of social psychology in independent existence (in the same year the sociologist's book was published in the USA E. Rossa“Social psychology”, and thus it is quite symbolic that both a psychologist and a sociologist in the same year published the first systematic course on the same discipline). This year, however, can only very conditionally be considered the beginning of a new era in social psychology, since back in 1897 J. Baldwin published “Studies in Social Psychology,” which could also claim to be the first systematic guide.

The main thesis of McDougall's theory is that innate instincts are recognized as the cause of social behavior. This idea is the implementation of a more general principle accepted by McDougall, namely the desire for a goal, which is characteristic of both animals and humans. It is this principle that is especially significant in McDougall's concept; in contrast to behaviorism (which interprets behavior as a simple reaction to an external stimulus), he called the psychology he created “target” or “hormic” (from the Greek word “gorme” - desire, desire, impulse). Gorme acts as an intuitive driving force that explains social behavior. In McDougall's terminology, gormé is “realized as instincts” (or later “inclinations”).

The repertoire of instincts in each person arises as a result of a certain psychophysical predisposition - the presence of hereditarily fixed channels for the discharge of nervous energy.

Instincts include affective (receptive), central (emotional) and afferent (motor) parts. Thus, everything that happens in the area of ​​consciousness is directly dependent on the unconscious principle. The internal expression of instincts is mainly emotions. The connection between instincts and emotions is systematic and definite. McDougall listed seven pairs of interconnected instincts and emotions: the instinct of fight and the corresponding anger and fear; flight instinct and sense of self-preservation; reproductive instinct and jealousy, female timidity; instinct of acquisition and sense of ownership; instinct of construction and sense of creation; herd instinct and sense of belonging. All social institutions are derived from instincts: family, trade, various social processes, primarily war. Partly because of this mention in McDougall’s theory, people were inclined to see the implementation of the Darwinian approach, although, as is known, being transferred mechanically to social phenomena, this approach lost any scientific significance.

Despite the enormous popularity of McDougall's ideas, their role in the history of science turned out to be very negative: the interpretation of social behavior from the point of view of some spontaneous striving for a goal legitimized the importance of irrational, unconscious drives as the driving force not only of the individual, but also of humanity. Therefore, as in general psychology, overcoming the ideas of the theory of instincts later served as an important milestone in the development of scientific social psychology.

Result: Thus, we can summarize what kind of theoretical baggage social psychology was left with after these first concepts were built. First of all, obviously, their positive significance lies in the fact that really important questions that need to be resolved were identified and clearly posed: about the relationship between the consciousness of the individual and the consciousness of the group, about the driving forces of social behavior, etc. It is also interesting that in the first socio-psychological theories, from the very beginning they tried to find approaches to solving the problems posed, as it were, from two sides: from the side of psychology and from the side of sociology. In the first case, it inevitably turned out that all solutions were proposed from the point of view of the individual, his psyche; the transition to the psychology of the group was not worked out with any precision. In the second case, they formally tried to go “from society,” but then “society” itself dissolved in psychology, which led to the psychologization of social relations. This meant that neither the “psychological” nor the “sociological” approaches themselves provide the right solutions if they are not interconnected. Finally, the first socio-psychological concepts turned out to be weak also because they were not based on any research practice, they were not based on research at all, but in the spirit of old philosophical constructions they were only “reasoning” about socio-psychological problems. However, an important thing was done, and social psychology was “declared” as an independent discipline with a right to exist. Now it needed to provide an experimental basis for it, since psychology by this time had already accumulated sufficient experience in using the experimental method. The next stage in the formation of the discipline could only become an experimental stage in its development.

Question No. 43. Psychology of large groups and mass phenomena.

The structure of large social groups.

Numerically large formations of people are divided into two types: randomly, spontaneously arising, fairly short-lived communities, which include the crowd, public, audience, and in the exact meaning of the word social groups, i.e. groups formed during historical development societies that occupy a certain place in the system of social relations of each specific type of society and are therefore long-term and stable in their existence. This second type should include, first of all, social classes, various ethnic groups (as their main variety is nations), professional groups, gender and age groups (from this point of view, for example, youth, women, elderly people, etc. .d.).

All large social groups identified in this way are characterized by some common features that distinguish these groups from small groups. In large groups there are specific regulators of social behavior that are not present in small groups. This - morals, customs And traditions. Their existence is due to the presence of specific social practices with which this group is associated, and the relative stability with which the historical forms of this practice are reproduced. Considered in unity, the features of the life position of such groups, together with specific regulators of behavior, provide such an important characteristic as Lifestyle groups. His research involves the study of special forms of communication, a special type of contact that develops between people. Within a certain lifestyle, they acquire special significance interests, values, needs. Not the least role in the psychological characteristics of these large groups is often played by the presence of a specific language. For ethnic groups, this is a self-evident characteristic; for other groups, “language” can act as a certain jargon, for example, characteristic of professional groups, such age group like youth.

However, the common features characteristic of large groups cannot be absolute. Each type of these groups has its own uniqueness: it is impossible to line up a class, a nation, any profession and youth. The significance of each type of large group in the historical process is different, as are many of their features. Therefore, all “end-to-end” characteristics of large groups must be filled with specific content.

The structure of psychology is large social group includes a number of elements. In a broad sense, these are various mental properties, mental processes and mental states, just as the psyche of an individual person possesses these same elements. In domestic social psychology, a number of attempts have been made to more accurately determine the elements of this structure. Almost all researchers (G.G. Diligensky, A.I. Goryacheva, Yu.V. Bromley, etc.) identify two components in its content: 1) mental makeup as a more stable formation (which can include social or national character, morals, customs, traditions, tastes, etc.) and 2) the emotional sphere as a more mobile dynamic formation (which includes needs, interests, moods). Each of these elements should become the subject of special socio-psychological analysis.

Characteristics and types of spontaneous groups.

In the general classification of large social groups, it has already been said that there is a special variety of them, which in the strict sense of the word cannot be called a “group”. These are short-term associations of a large number of individuals, often with very different interests, but nevertheless gathered together for a specific reason and demonstrating some kind of joint action. The members of such a temporary association are representatives of various large organized groups: classes, nations, professions, ages, etc. Such a “group” can be organized to a certain extent by someone, but more often it arises spontaneously, does not necessarily clearly understand its goals, but nevertheless can be very active. Such education cannot in any way be considered a “subject of joint activity,” but its importance cannot be underestimated either. IN modern societies Political and social decisions often depend on the actions of such groups. Among spontaneous groups in the socio-psychological literature, they most often distinguish crowd, mass, audience. As noted above, the history of social psychology to a certain extent “began” precisely with the analysis of such groups (Le Bon, Tarde, etc.).

Crowd is formed on the street in response to a variety of events: a traffic accident, the capture of an offender, dissatisfaction with the actions of a government official or just a passing person. The duration of its existence is determined by the significance of the incident: the crowd of onlookers may disperse as soon as the element of entertainment is eliminated. In another case, especially when it is associated with an expression of dissatisfaction with some social phenomenon (they didn’t bring groceries to the store, refused to accept or give out money in the savings bank), the crowd can become more and more excited and move on to actions, for example, to move in the direction of some - institutions. At the same time, its emotional intensity can increase, giving rise to aggressive behavior of participants; elements of an organization can arise in the crowd if there is a person who can lead it. But even if such elements have arisen, they are very unstable: the crowd can easily sweep away the organization that has arisen. The elements remain the main background of crowd behavior, often leading to its aggressive forms.

Brown defined a crowd as "a cooperative, shoulder-to-shoulder, anonymous, casual, temporary, unorganized community." There are types of crowds depending on their degree of activity: active crowd (the crowd itself) and passive crowd (public and audiences). An active crowd is also classified depending on the dominant behavior of the participants: aggressive (rioting crowds, which are characterized by aggression towards people or objects); fleeing (form of behavior - panic); acquisitive (involvement in competition for a certain scarce object); expressive (onlookers).

Characteristics of a crowd: 1. Spiritual unity or “mental homogeneity”; 2. emotionality – meh emots. Infection works maximally; 3. irrationality. For the first time, Le Bon (French writer) studied the mechanisms of the emergence and characteristics of crowd behavior. He created a theory of crowd behavior - the theory of “contempt of the masses.” I highlighted the trail. basic features: 1. consciousness disappears. Personality and the “collective soul”; 2. occurrence spiritual unity of the crowd; 3. unconscious. character of behavior that is susceptible to logical influence. There are 3 levels of behavior: instinctive, impulsive and rational (volitional, conscious).

Weight usually described as a more stable formation with rather fuzzy boundaries. The mass may not necessarily act as a momentary formation, like a crowd; it can turn out to be much more organized when certain sections of the population quite consciously gather for the sake of some kind of action: manifestation, demonstration, rally. In this case, the role of the organizers is higher: they are usually not nominated directly at the moment of the start of action, but are known in advance as the leaders of those organized groups whose representatives took part in this mass action. In the actions of the masses, therefore, both the final goals and tactics of behavior are more clear and thought out. At the same time, like a crowd, the mass is quite heterogeneous; various interests can also coexist or collide, so its existence can be unstable.

Public represents another form of a spontaneous group, although the element of spontaneity here is less pronounced than, for example, in a crowd. An audience is also a short-term gathering of people to spend time together in connection with some kind of spectacle - on the stands of a stadium, in a large auditorium, on a square in front of a speaker while listening to an important message. In more confined spaces, such as lecture halls, the audience is often referred to as audience. The public always gathers for a common and specific purpose, so it is more manageable, in particular, it more closely follows the norms adopted in the chosen type of organization of spectacles. But the public remains a mass gathering of people, and the laws of mass apply within it. Here, too, an incident is enough for the public to become uncontrollable.

Groening suggested a trail. class of audience (or public): 1. non-public (people minimally included in the situation); 2. latent (people who notice their connections or interactions with other people, as well as with organizations in an actual situation); 3. conscious (people who understand that they depend on the influence of other people in the current situation, but do not express it); 4. active (people and cats are included in communication and organizational systems to correct the situation).

Psychological characteristics of the masses.

The masses as carriers of mass consciousness, according to B. A. Grushin’s definition, these are “situationally emerging (existing) social communities, probabilistic in nature, heterogeneous in composition and statistical in forms of expression (functioning)” (Grushin, 1987).

Main types of masses are distinguished by a number of leading characteristics. Accordingly, masses are divided into: 1) large and small; 2) stable (constantly functioning) and unstable (pulse); 3) grouped and ungrouped, ordered or disordered in space; 4) contact and non-contact (dispersed); 5) spontaneous, spontaneously arising, and specially organized; 6) socially homogeneous and heterogeneous. However, this is just a theoretical division.

Among mass qualities the most important are the following. Firstly, it is static - that is, the amorphousness of the mass, its irreducibility to an independent, systemic, structured integral formation (group), different from the elements that make up the mass. Secondly, this is its stochastic, probabilistic nature; there is openness, blurred boundaries, uncertainty in the composition of the mass in quantitative and qualitative terms. Thirdly, it is situational, the temporary nature of its existence. Finally, fourthly, there is pronounced heterogeneity in the composition of the mass.

Mass consciousness is a kind of extra-structural “archipelago” in the social-group structure of public consciousness; the formation is not stable, but, as it were, “floating” as part of a broader whole. Today this archipelago may include some islands, but tomorrow it will include completely different ones. This is a special kind of, as it were, “supergroup” consciousness.

1. The main difference between the masses and classically identified social groups, strata, classes and layers of society is the presence of a special, self-generating, unorganized and poorly structured mass consciousness. This is an everyday type of social consciousness that unites representatives of different classical groups by common experiences. Such experiences arise under special circumstances that unite members of different groups and are equally significant for them, and so significant that these experiences acquire a supra-group character.

2. Unlike classical groups, stable and structured, the masses act as temporary, functional communities, heterogeneous in composition, but united by the significance of the mental experiences of the people included in them. The commonality of experiences among the masses becomes more important than all the parameters of joining classical social groups. Masses are divided depending on their main features. The main features that distinguish masses from each other include their size, the stability of their existence over time, the degree of compactness of their presence in social space, the level of cohesion or dispersion, the predominance of factors of organization or spontaneity in the emergence of a mass.

3. The mass is always changeable and situational. Its psychology is determined by the scale of events that cause general mental experiences. Mass consciousness can spread, capturing more and more new people from different classical groups, or it can narrow, reducing the size of the mass. This dynamic size and variability of the boundaries of the mass makes it difficult to create a typology of mass consciousness. The only productive way out is considered to be the construction of complex, multidimensional, spherical models of mass consciousness. Only at the intersection of different coordinates can one identify different really existing types of mass consciousness.

4. The main psychological properties of mass consciousness include emotionality, infectiousness, mosaic, mobility and variability. Public opinion and mass sentiments stand out as the leading macroforms of mass consciousness.

Public opinion, propaganda.

Public opinion should be considered as a kind of collective product, but as such it is not some kind of unanimous opinion with which every individual who makes up the public agrees, and not necessarily the opinion of the majority. Public opinion always moves towards some kind of decision, even if it is sometimes not unanimous.

Universality of speech. The formation of public opinion occurs through the opening and acceptance of discussion. Arguments and counterarguments become the means by which it is framed. For this process of discussion to develop, it is essential for the public to have what has been called the universality of speech, i.e. to have some common language or the ability to agree on the meaning of some basic terms.

Interest groups. The public usually consists of interested groups and some more detached and disinterested body of individuals similar to the audience. A public-building issue is usually posed by competing interest groups. These interest groups have some immediate private concern about how to solve the problem, and therefore they try to win the support and loyalty of an external disinterested group. This puts the disinterested group, as Lipman noted, in the position of judge or arbiter. It is its disposition that usually determines which of the competing plans is most likely and most widely taken into account in the resulting action.

The role of public debate. It is clear that the quality of public opinion depends to a large extent on the effectiveness of public debate. In turn, this effectiveness depends on the availability and flexibility of mass communication mechanisms, such as the press, radio, and public meetings. The basis for their effective use is the possibility of free discussion.

Propaganda can be understood as a deliberately instigated and directed campaign to influence people to accept a given point of view, sentiment or value. Its peculiarity is that, in seeking to achieve this goal, it does not provide an impartial discussion of opposing views. The goal dominates, and the means are subordinated to this goal.

Thus, we see that the primary characteristic of propaganda is the attempt to achieve acceptance of a point of view not on the basis of its merits, but by appeal to some other motives. It is this feature that makes propaganda suspicious. In the sphere of public debate and public discussion, propaganda functions with the aim of forming opinions and judgments not on the basis of the merits of a given subject, but mainly by playing on emotional attitudes and feelings. Its goal is to impose a certain attitude or value that people begin to perceive as something natural, true and authentic and, thus, as something that is expressed spontaneously and without coercion.

Basic propaganda procedures. There are three main ways in which propaganda, as a rule, achieves its goal. 1. The first consists of simply falsifying facts and providing false information. People's judgments and opinions are obviously shaped by the data available to them. By manipulating facts, hiding some and distorting others, a propagandist can maximize the formation of a particular attitude. 2. The propagandist must strive to make people identify his views with their in-group attitudes, and opposing views with their out-group attitudes. It is the presence of this in-group/out-group entourage that explains the exceptional effectiveness of propaganda during the war. 3. Using emotional attitudes and prejudices that people already possess. His task in this case is to build an association between them and his propaganda mission. Thus, if he can connect his views with certain favorable attitudes that people already possess, these views will gain acceptance.

Gossip- these are special types of functioning of unreliable information or distortion of any information, giving it specific features, transmitted exclusively orally, as if informally and “in secret”. From a socio-psychological point of view, this is a massive phenomenon of interpersonal exchange of distorted, emotionally charged information. Rumors usually arise in the absence of complete and reliable information on an issue that is relevant to people. This is a specific type of interpersonal communication, during which a plot, to a certain extent reflecting real or fictitious events, becomes the property of a vast diffuse audience, the masses.

Gossip- false or true, verified or unverifiable, but always incomplete, biased, although plausible information about things and circumstances that can be considered personal, but have a wide social resonance because they relate to the closed aspects of the life of closed, elite social groups. Gossip performs six main socio-psychological functions: information-cognitive, affiliative-integrative, entertainment-game, projection-compensatory, the function of social control over the elite and the tactical function in social struggle.

Social movements, the problem of the leader and leaders.

Social movements are a special class of social phenomena. A social movement is a fairly organized unity of people who set themselves a specific goal, usually associated with some change in social reality. Social movements have different levels. The socio-psychological mechanisms of the emergence of mass movements are associated with situations in which some people cannot satisfy their needs. At the same time, both the needs (economic, political, cultural, etc.) and the reasons for their dissatisfaction can be different. Unmet needs cause dissatisfaction, frustration, and a switching of energy mobilized to satisfy the need to new tasks - the struggle against real or virtual obstacles. As a result, a state of emotional tension arises, anxiety, which, spreading, can acquire a social character. Widespread social anxiety manifests itself in discussions, informal discussions related to the search for ways to resolve a disturbing situation. This is the basis for the emergence of mass movements.

Whatever the level of a social movement, it exhibits several common characteristics. First of all, it is always based on a certain public opinion, which, as it were, prepares the social movement, although subsequently it itself is formed and strengthened as the movement develops. Secondly, any social movement has as its goal a change in the situation depending on its level: either in society as a whole, or in a region, or in any group. Thirdly, during the organization of the movement, its program is formulated, with varying degrees of elaboration and clarity. Fourthly, the movement is aware of the means that can be used to achieve goals, in particular whether violence is acceptable as one of the means. Finally, fifthly, every social movement is realized to one degree or another in various manifestations of mass behavior, including demonstrations, manifestations, rallies, congresses, etc.

From the point of view of social psychology, the following three questions are extremely important: mechanisms of joining the movement, the relationship between the opinions of the majority and the minority, and the characteristics of leaders.

In modern, predominantly sociological, literature, two theories have been proposed to explain the reasons for an individual’s joining a social movement. Relative deprivation theory states that a person feels the need to achieve a goal not in the case when he is absolutely deprived of some good, right, value, but in the case when he is relatively deprived of it. In other words, this need is formed by comparing one’s position (or the position of one’s group) with the position of others. Criticism rightly notes the simplification of the problem in this theory or, at least, the absolutization of a factor that may actually occur. Another theory is resource mobilization - emphasizes the more “psychological” reasons for joining the movement. It is argued here that a person is guided by the need to identify to a greater degree with the group, to feel part of it, thereby feeling his strength, and mobilizing resources. In this case, one can also make a reproach for one-sidedness and overestimation of only one of the factors.

The second problem concerns ratio of majority and minority positions in any mass movement, including social movement. This problem is one of the central ones in the concept of S. Muscovy.

The concept of S. Muscovy offers characteristics of the conditions under which a minority can count on influence in the movement. The main one is a consistent style of behavior. This means ensuring consistency in two “sections”: synchrony (unanimity of participants at any given moment) and diachrony (stability of the position and behavior of minority members over time). Only if such conditions are met, negotiations between the minority and the majority (and this is inevitable in any movement) can be successful. It is also necessary to study the style negotiations: the ability to reach a compromise, remove excessive categoricalness, readiness to move along the path of finding a productive solution.

The third problem that arises in a social movement is problem of the leader or leaders. It is clear that a leader of such a specific type of mass behavior must have special traits. Along with the fact that it must most fully express and defend the goals accepted by the participants, it must also, purely outwardly, appeal to a fairly large mass of people. Leader image social movement should be the subject of his daily attention. As a rule, the strength of the leader's position and authority largely ensures the success of the movement. These same qualities of a leader also contribute to keeping the movement within the accepted framework of behavior, which does not allow for easy changes in the chosen tactics and strategy of action (Yanitsky, 1991).

Representatives of mass psychology believed that social behavior can be explained through such socio-psychological mechanisms as...

Solution:
Representatives of mass psychology believed that social behavior can be explained through such socio-psychological mechanisms as, for example, imitation (G. Tarde) or psychological contagion (G. Le Bon).

The concept of instincts of social behavior states that...

Solution:
The concept of instincts of social behavior states that the causes of human social behavior are associated with innate instincts; All social institutions are built on the action of instincts. The author of the theory of instincts of social behavior is W. McDougall. The main thesis of his theory is that innate instincts are recognized as the cause of social behavior. This idea is the implementation of more general principle, accepted by W. McDougall, namely the desire for a goal, which is characteristic of both animals and humans. Also, the concept of instincts of social behavior states that social institutions are built on the action of instincts: family, trade, various social processes, primarily war.

Methods of social ps.

Methods of active socio-psychological training include the ___________ method.

High subjectivity in data collection, relative limitations in generalizing research results are disadvantages of the method...

Personal problem In the joint venture

The combination of situational and personal aspects of social behavior was proposed within the framework of the __________ approach to the problem of personality.

Solution:
The unification of the situational and personal aspects of social behavior was proposed within the framework of the interactionist approach to the problem of personality. Having put forward “interaction” as a basic category, interactionists most fully define the very content of the concept of “social essence of the individual.” J. G. Mead substantiates the thesis that a person becomes a social being only when he includes other people in his inner world, when he correlates his own actions with possible reactions or assessments of them.

An approach to the problem of socialization, which is based on the position about the decisive importance of early childhood for the future of the individual, is called ...

Direct communication in joint venture

The mechanism of mutual understanding in the process of communication, which is based on a person’s understanding of how he is perceived by his partner, is called ...

Solution:
The mechanism of mutual understanding in the process of communication, which is based on a person’s understanding of how he is perceived by his partner, is called reflection. In the course of mutual reflection of communication participants, reflection is a unique feedback, which contributes to the formation of both the behavioral strategy of the subjects of communication and the correction of their understanding of the characteristics of each other’s inner world.

Associated with behaviorism. The basis of the behavior of society and people is instinct: an innate reaction to external influences, a psychophysical predisposition. Any instinct is accompanied by a corresponding emotion, which is not conscious, but determines further behavior.

The instinct to fight is anger, fear;

I. flight - self-preservation;

I. acquisitions – ownership;

I. construction - a feeling of creation;

I. herdism - a sense of belonging: the most social and main instinct, because thanks to it people are grouped, activities acquire a collective character, the consequence of this is the growth of cities, mass gatherings, etc. How is it different from an animal society then?

M. Dowgall identifies group intelligence as the result of evolution.

In the course of evolution, the truth was enclosed by the intellect. Thanks to the difference between man and animal, based on the intellect, the spirit of reason is distinguished, which has 3 forms of spiritual interconnection:

1) Sympathy

2) Suggestion

3) Imitation

41. “Psychology of Nations”

It is based on a purely philosophical concept. home driving force history is the spirit of an entire people, it is expressed in art, religion, language, customs and rituals. The most important thing is national consciousness, which determines the direction of activity. The spirit of an individual is not an independent whole, it is only part of the whole. Everything is decided in favor of society, the individual is only a link. Then he suggested researching the language, customs and mythology. Wundt created the world's first psychological laboratory for the study of individual psychology. Wundt contrasted individual psychology with the psychology of nations. Thinking and speech and other psychological phenomena cannot be understood outside the psychology of peoples. Language, myth, custom are not fragments of the national spirit, but this very spirit of the people in its relatively untouched individual form. Language contains the general form of ideas living in the spirit of the people and the laws of their connection. Language contains great meanings; different languages ​​are unique (word order, lexical meaning). Peoples think differently; myths - the content of these ideas; The word “myth” refers to the entire primitive worldview. customs are the general direction of the will arising from these ideas. under the word “custom” are all the beginnings of the legal order. Human psychology explores these three areas and, just as important, their interaction: language is a form of myth; custom expresses myth and develops it. Thus, the methods of psychology of peoples according to W. Wundt are the analysis of cultural products (language, myths, customs, art, everyday life

The essence of social behavior

Human social behavior is one of the objects of study of sociological science. Research in this area began to be carried out in the mid-19th century, and, in addition to the concept of “social behavior,” elements such as social action and interaction were included in the same category.

Definition 1

Social behavior of a group - in sociological science, this is a qualitative characteristic of social action and social interaction, which are inextricably linked with each other.

Social behavior characterizes the behavior of an individual or social groups in certain conditions, in a particular social situation and environment. Social behavior can be different situations uncharacteristic. For example, a certain number of deputies take part in the work State Duma, that is, they are actively involved in political activities. But their behavior is ambiguous, since some are interested in their activities, while others ignore their activities and responsibilities, staying at work only “for show,” because this is necessary to obtain benefits.

The behavior of participants in mass events can also be characterized in different ways. For example, some participants demonstratively peacefully follow the column, while others seek to show their deviant behavior, break the rules in order to demonstrate a negative attitude towards the current regime and a desire for change. All of these actions also fall under the category of “social behavior.” In other words, all people are equally participants in a socio-political event, but each participant behaves differently, depending on their interests, needs and worldview.

Thus, social behavior acts as a special way for the subject of a socio-political event (actor) to demonstrate his motives, preferences and attitudes, which are aimed at the implementation of social action and interaction.

Development of behavior in society

Social behavior plays a very important role in human life. Hence the importance for sociological science of not only studying this concept, but also a detailed analysis of its development.

Note 1

Social behavior is very multidimensional, and includes not only the social interactions of people with each other, but also the interaction of a person with the entire vast world of things that have their own unique meaning for him at each stage of development and socialization.

The development of social behavior of an individual or a separate, broader social group directly depends on various biological and psychological processes in the human body. Such processes include:

• puberty,
• level and development of perception, awareness, understanding of the surrounding world and its processes,
• development of memory and learning ability.

As soon as a person forms his own worldview, view of things and events, interpretation of specific concepts, then the motives of social behavior are realized, clearly defined goals appear, an assessment of his own intellectual, physical and psychological characteristics and opportunities. This is the essence of the development of social behavior - the presence of awareness of oneself and one’s place in the world around us. Social behavior is formed depending on the diversity of its types, which we will reveal in the next section.

Theories of social behavior and its development

Since social behavior is the object of research by a number of sociologists and psychologists, it is worth noting the presence of a fairly large number of theories that reveal the essence of social behavior, the features of its development and varieties.

One of the earliest and most studied theories of social behavior is the theory of individuality development by B.G. Ananyeva (“Organism. Individual. Personality. Individuality”). He examines a number of characteristics that represent differences between higher animals and humans. These include the following signs that influence social behavior:

1. Anatomical and morphological differences;
2. Differences in the organization of the psyche;
3. Development in interaction with the world (as subjects).

The development of a person’s individuality occurs based on the characteristics of his individual properties (psychological, physiological, intellectual). The entire set of these properties influences the formation of social behavior and the presentation of oneself as part of this world.

The next theory is disposition. It affects more the basis of the rule of law; it is for this reason that the disposition is called part of the rule, which contains the entire set of rules of behavior that all possible subjects of law must comply with and follow. The rules of law are provided depending on the Constitution, legislative documents and acts.

T. Hilton's situational theory, which determines not only the social behavior of an individual, but also the nature of his leadership. Thus, the nature of leadership stems from the basic and outstanding human qualities that are also inherent in leaders: communication skills, responsibility, self-confidence, belief in team spirit, the desire to act for the benefit of the public, and not just taking into account one’s own interests and needs.

But social behavior is considered by researchers not only within the framework of the norm, but also within the framework of antisocial (deviant) behavior. This includes a behavioral approach to the definition (determination) of deviant behavior of an individual and a social group. This theory has been considered for several years as a result of learning, and its founders are E. Thorndike, J. Watson and B. Skinner. The key idea is that social and asocial behavior of an individual and a social group is aimed at adapting to the environment, adapting to its constant dynamic changes. In this case, all of his qualities are manifested in a person, as well as the methods of behavior that he uses to achieve his goals.

Biosocial nature of instincts,

Definition of instincts of social behavior.

Definition of instincts:

Instinct is a hereditary predisposition to perceive certain objects of the internal and external world, the ability to experience special sensory arousal when perceiving such an object and to perform corresponding acts or, at least, to experience an impulse towards them.

Types of complex instinctive processes:

1. Instinctive reactions allowed by both the perception of stimulus objects and the idea of ​​them.

2. Reactions that can change and become more complex.

3. Complex ideas that arise simultaneously, when several processes are intertwined with one another (fear and love, tears and laughter).

4. Instinctive aspirations, grouped around certain objects or ideas about them.

Instincts are the root cause of human action.

Instinct groups:

I. Instincts that contribute to the self-preservation of the individual. Continuations of primary emotions:

1. flight instinct and emotion of fear;

2. instinct of repulsion and emotion of disgust;

3. instinct of curiosity and emotion of surprise;

4. the instinct of pugnacity and the emotion of anger;

5. the instinct of self-humiliation or self-confidence and the emotion of negative or positive well-being.

II. Instincts aimed at preserving the genus, species, that is, social instincts:

1. parental instinct;

2. sexual instinct (instinct of reproduction) – associated with the parental instinct, includes jealousy;

3. herd instinct.

III. Social instincts that are unique to humans, but are not particularly important:

1. instinct of acquisition;

2. building instinct.

IV. Natural tendencies that have great importance for social life. They have a general character, but do not have a permanent core of the pathogen. Pseudo-instincts.

1. sympathy – sharing emotions with another being;

2. suggestion - the process of assimilation of a transmitted thought in the absence of a logical basis for understanding this thought (one cries - everyone cries);

3. imitation: occurs through the mechanism of sympathy or the mechanism of ideomotor reactions, based on the fact that the idea seeks to turn into action, or through the mechanism of social imitation.

In other words, instinct is the ability to act expediently, but without a conscious vision of the goal and without prior training to perform this action (i.e. impulsively). This is an impulse.

A person, unlike an animal, can be aware of his behavior.

Additions to the lecture:

The beginnings of ideas about instinct can be seen in Aristotle's doctrine of the soul, which assumed the existence of a certain “animal soul” that provided the mental functions of animals. The term instinct (Latin instinctus, ancient Greek ὁρμή) appeared in Stoic philosophers. A significant breakthrough in understanding the essence of instinct was associated with the emergence of the first evolutionary teachings. The first theory of evolution was developed by Jean Baptiste Lamarck. According to the teachings of Lamarck, evolution occurs under the influence environment mediated by behavior. Lamarck considered the psyche to be inextricably linked with the nervous system.

The first psychologist to include instinct in psychological theory was Sigmund Freud. He believed that instincts serve as a source of energy for the subconscious and manifest themselves in the form of desires. According to Freud's ideas, all living organisms are characterized by oppositely directed desires for self-destruction and self-preservation. The desire for aggression and destruction is determined by the instincts of death (thanatos), sexual desire, self-preservation, love are determined by the instincts of life (eros).

According to hormic psychology, the source of motivation was a special intangible force “gorme”, manifested in the form of instincts. The concept of "gorme" was developed by American psychologist William McDougall. He also developed his own classification of instincts (the first two groups of instincts listed in the lecture).

The theory of instincts of social behavior by the English psychologist W. McDougall (1871-1938). He believed that the activity of consciousness is directly dependent on the unconscious principle. The expression of instincts is emotions(for example, the fight instinct corresponds to anger and fear). All social processes were derived from instincts. It was this situation that played a negative role in the history of science.

The main thesis of McDougall's theory is that Innate instincts are recognized as the cause of social behavior. This idea is the implementation of a more general principle accepted by McDougall, namely the desire for a goal, which is characteristic of both animals and humans. It is this principle that is especially significant in McDougall's concept; in contrast to behaviorism (which interprets behavior as a simple reaction to an external stimulus), he called the psychology he created goal-oriented or hormic (from the Greek word “gorme” - desire, desire, impulse). All social institutions are derived from instincts: family, trade, various social processes, primarily war.

Biosocial nature of instincts.

Guerin: all instincts are biosocial, man is inseparable from people.

Instincts.

Addition to lectures:

Unlimited social progress is associated with the emergence of man as a biosocial being, characterized by reason and a pronounced social orientation. As a rational being producing material means of production, man has existed for about 2 million years, and almost all this time, changes in the conditions of his existence led to changes in the man himself - in the process of purposeful labor activity, his brain and limbs improved, thinking developed, new creative skills were formed, collective experience and knowledge. All this led to the emergence of a modern type of man about 40 thousand years ago - Homo sapiens (reasonable man), who stopped changing, but instead society began to change at first very slowly, and then more and more rapidly.

The social and biological principles in man are reflected in social, biological and social formations, as well as in science and culture. Being a highly developed social being, man is the only organism on Earth that has a clearly defined social essence, collectivism, language and legal knowledge. The social essence of a person determines not only the laws of development of society, but also the level of development of his social thinking, moral qualities, ethical and religious views, etc., which makes it possible to model the structure of the society of the future.

But man is also a biological species, endowed with innate (genetic) instincts for survival, procreation and preservation of offspring (family), which at the present stage of development are increasingly closer to social instincts. Therefore, it would be more correct to characterize a person as biosocial being, that is, through a concept reflecting the duality of its nature - the dialectical unity and struggle of opposites, responsible on the one hand for peace and love, and on the other - for the destructive consequences - crimes, murders, wars, etc.

The biological and social in the nature of modern man are organically connected with each other, and are expressed at the present stage of his historical development, primarily in the instinct of reproduction and preservation of offspring, in the need for communication, friendship, love, expression of emotions, the formation of social norms of community life, and more. Since everything biological in him becomes his inheritance (biological gene pool), and the social is not genetically inherited, but is consolidated over a number of generations as collective experience (law, science, art, culture, etc.), human evolution at the present stage includes biological (reproduction, sexual behavior, care of offspring) and social dominance of the development of human society. At the present stage of development, social dominance is predominant and shapes social behavior, which certainly affects the formation of legal thinking.

Man is a biosocial being; he has both biological and social qualities. B The iological and social in a person is realized through his behavior, activity, culture, etc. Man not only creates culture, but we ourselves create it. This undeniable dialectical connection between the natural, social and cultural in man is what makes him the most complex of all living systems existing in the world.