Brief review of the doctrines of temperament. From the history of teachings about temperament Teachings about temperament

Under temperament understand certain natural features human behavior, typical for a given person and manifested in the dynamics of tone and balance of reactions to vital properties and influences.

Human behavior depends not only on social conditions, but also on the characteristics of the natural organization of the individual, and therefore is detected quite early and clearly in children in the game, classes and communication.

Temperament colors everything of the individual, it affects the nature of the flow and thinking, volitional action, affects the pace and rhythm.

The doctrine of temperament appeared in antiquity. Doctors Hippocrates, and then Galen, observing individual manifestations of people's behavior, made an attempt to describe and explain these features. The founder of the doctrine of temperament is considered to be the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates (5th century BC). Hippocrates believed that there are four fluids in the human body: blood, mucus, yellow and black bile. The names of temperaments, given by the name of liquids, have come down to our days.

Yes, choleric temperament the word chole "bile" comes from, sanguine - from sanguis "blood", phlegmatic from - phlegma "mucus", melancholic temperament - from melan chole "black bile".

Hippocrates believed that temperament depends on a certain way of life of a person and the climatic conditions of its course. So, with a sedentary lifestyle, phlegm accumulates, and with a mobile life - bile, hence the manifestations of temperaments. Hippocrates correctly described the types, but could not scientifically explain their origin.

In recent times, in addition to humoral, chemical, physical, anatomical, neurological and purely psychological theories have been put forward. However, none of them gives a correct and complete description of temperament.

Significant contribution to scientific rationale temperament introduced, who discovered the properties of nervous activity. Unlike his predecessors, he took for research not the external structure of the body - (German psychologist E. Kretschmer and the structure of blood vessels - P.F. Lesgaft, but the body as a whole, and singled out the brain in it as such a component that, firstly, regulates activity of all organs and tissues; secondly, it unites and coordinates the activity of diverse parts in the system; thirdly, it experiences the influence of all organs and, under the influence of the impulses they send, functionally restructures the maintenance of life in organs and tissues; fourthly, it is in in the truest sense of the word, an organ of communication between the organism and the outside world.

The doctrine of temperament and its types has a long history. It was founded by Hippocrates, who, using a humoral approach, identified four types of "kra-sis" (translated from Greek - "mixing"), i.e. the ratio of four fluids (juices) in the body: blood, yellow and black bile and slime. Each liquid has its own properties (blood - heat, mucus - cold, yellow bile - dryness, black bile - moisture), and therefore the predominance of one of them determines the state of the body, its tendency to certain diseases.

The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, who lived a little later than Hippocrates, saw the reason for the differences between people not in the predominance of one or another juice, but in the differences in the composition of the most important of them - blood. He noticed that blood coagulation in different animals is not the same. The faster one is due, in his opinion, to the predominance of solid or earthy particles, while the slower one is due to the predominance of water or liquid particles. Liquid blood is cold and predisposes to fear, while blood rich in dense substances is warm and gives rise to anger. The influence of Aristotelian theory persisted for a very long time.

In popular literature and textbooks, Hippocrates is considered to be the founder of the doctrine of four types of temperament, which has survived to this day - sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic and melancholic. However, this is not entirely true. He really singled them out, but the names of these types themselves are associated with the names of Roman doctors who lived several centuries later and used Hippocrates' ideas about mixing liquids. They replaced the Greek word "krasis" with the Latin word temperamentum ("proper ratio of parts, proportionality"), from which the term "temperament" derives.

One of them, Galen (II century AD), gave the first detailed classification of temperaments, based on the same humoral ideas of Hippocrates about “redder”. It included 13 types, including those mentioned above. From his point of view, the predominance of yellow bile (lat. chole - "chole") indicates a choleric temperament, blood (sanguis - "sanguis") - about sanguine, black bile (melanos chole - "melanos hole") - about melancholic, and mucus (phlegma - “phlegm”) - about a phlegmatic temperament.

The concept of temperament in those days was significantly different from the present. Psychological characteristics were then almost absent. Basically, ancient doctors talked about the body and even about individual organs.

This theory was preserved in a somewhat modified form until the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. For example, P.F. Lesgaft (1910) believed that the latitude of the lumen and the thickness of the walls of the vessels play a very important role in the origin of temperaments: in choleric people, there is a small lumen and thick walls, which leads to a rapid and strong flow of blood; sanguine people have a small lumen and thin walls, which contributes to a fast and weak flow of blood, etc.

1. Introduction page 3

2. The history of the doctrine of temperament p. 4

3. Psychological characteristics of temperament types

3.1. General characteristics of temperament types page 7

3.2. Melancholic temperament page 9

3.3. Phlegmatic temperament p. 11

3.4. Choleric temperament page 13

3.5. Sanguine temperament page 15

4. Conclusion page 17

5. Literature p. 18

Introduction

Each person is born with a certain set of biological features of his personality, manifested in his temperament.

Significant differences in people's behavior, due to the properties of temperament, are even among sisters and brothers, among twins who have lived side by side all their lives. Temperaments differ among Siamese twins, all children who have received the same upbringing, have the same worldview, close ideals, beliefs and moral principles. That. we can conclude that the type of temperament does not depend on the upbringing, biological characteristics or environment of a person, so what does it depend on, which of the properties of the human body or psyche affects the presence of one or another type of temperament?

According to many psychologists, temperament is a manifestation of the type of nervous system in human activity, individually psychological features personality, in which the mobility of his nervous processes, strength and balance are manifested.

Jan Strelyau worked on confirming the reliability of this definition, and in his works he clearly defined not only the correctness of this definition, but also developed the so-called test - a questionnaire with which he can clearly determine what type of temperament yours belongs to. The study of temperament has a complex and controversial history. It is unlikely that in psychology there is still such a fundamental concept that would be so well understood by everyone at the level of common sense, but in fact would be so little studied, despite numerous publications devoted to it.

Maybe this concept is already outdated and has outlived its usefulness and should be replaced by other concepts? In Western psychology, for example, temperament, with rare exceptions, has not been singled out as an independent concept for a long time, but is considered practically as a synonym for the concepts of "personality" or "character". If the concept of "temperament" is productive for psychology, then what is its specificity? How does the content of temperament differ from other closest psychological concepts, such as "personality" or "character"? What are the sources and mechanisms of temperament formation? I will try to answer some of these questions in my work.

The history of the doctrine of temperament

For a more complete study of the issue, I decided to first consider the history of the doctrine of temperament, which, by the way, has more than two thousand years.

The word "temperament" itself comes from the Latin temperamentum, and is a translation of the Greek word "krasis", meaning "proper ratio of parts."

The first attempts to create a clear classification of temperament types were made by Hippocrates, the Greek physician and father of medicine, who lived about 2400 years ago, and the Roman physician Galen (c. 130 - 200 AD). Since the theory of four fluids (juices) of the human body was generally accepted among physicians of that time, Hippocrates and Galen distinguished four main types of temperament or personality, as they say now, depending on their proportional content in the human body, namely: red blood, yellow bile liver, black bile (actually gore) spleen and tenacious mucus or phlegm.

Thus, they characterize the four types of temperament as follows:

People with excess blood were cheerful, enthusiastic, easily excitable and optimistic and had a sanguine temperament. (from lat. sanguis - blood)

Excess yellow bile made a person irritable, painfully sensitive, unrestrained and angry, which spoke of a choleric temperament (from the Greek chole - bile).

Too much black bile plunged a person into a state of sadness, depression and depression, which corresponded to a melancholic temperament (from the Greek melano - dark or black).

· An excess of mucus marked people who were calm, not energetic and apathetic and was a sign of a phlegmatic temperament (from the Greek phlegm - mucus).

Why is this so-called false theory firmly held in our everyday and scientific knowledge? One of the reasons is, apparently, that the humoral (liquid) theory of individual differences (or temperament) reflected some elements of true knowledge and was a kind of prototype, a model of modern, more developed ideas about the natural prerequisites for individual differences. The ancient Greeks did not know and could not know the whole wealth of the natural characteristics of a person, the structure of his brain, the properties of the nervous system, etc.

From this historically developed an understanding of temperament as such an aspect of individual psychological differences, which is due mainly to the biological properties of the human body. With such a broad interpretation of temperament, at least two main questions arise:

1) What is the psychological specificity of temperament properties?

2) What exactly are the properties of the body that underlie temperament?

It is interesting to note that in the history of the development of the doctrine of temperament, the first question, that is, the question of the psychological components of temperament, its characteristics (still far from being resolved at the present time), surprisingly, did not acquire such acuteness as the second question - the question about what biological grounds, what particular properties of the organism should be taken as the basis of temperament.

For a long time, at least until the end of the 19th century, it was believed that the properties of the blood or the characteristics of the circulatory system play a special role in the determination of temperament. And only at the beginning of our century did drastic changes in interpretation biological basis temperament. The works of E. Kretschmer played a huge role in this. In his well-known book Physique and Character, E. Kretschmer tried to link the features of temperament no longer with humoral systems, but with the structural features of the human body. He argued that each body type corresponds to a certain psychological temperament, or, in his terminology, character. Asthenics are characterized by isolation, emotional vulnerability, fatigue; picnics - people are talkative, sociable, lovers of good food, make friends easily, etc. Athletes are aggressive, power-hungry, etc.

American researchers W. Sheldon and S. Stephens also attempted to derive a certain mental warehouse, or temperament, of a person from the body type. Their physique scheme was much more complicated than that of E. Kretschmer. They assessed the physique according to the development of the three main human tissues - ecto-, meso- and endomorphic. According to W. Sheldon and S. Stevens, ectomorphs, that is, people in whom the development of ectomorphic tissues (skin, hair, nervous system) predominate, are characterized by a cerebrotonic temperament, namely, craving for aesthetic pleasures, coldness, etc. Endomorphs, people with well-developed internal organs, are distinguished by a lively, sociable temperament. Mesomorphs, that is, people with well-developed bone and muscle tissues, tend to be competitive, aggressive, etc.

A decisive shift in the study of the biological foundations of temperament occurred in the early 1930s. of our century thanks to the works of I. P. Pavlov. He was the first to suggest that temperament is based not on the properties of liquids or bodily tissues, but on the features of the functioning of the nervous system. I.P. Pavlov uniquely associated the properties of the nervous system - a combination of strength, balance and mobility - with one or another type of temperament. It is important to note that I. P. Pavlov not only did not doubt the correctness of the psychological typology of temperament, which in those years was widely represented by four Hippocratic types (sanguine, choleric, melancholic, phlegmatic), but tried, taking these types as something really existing, provide them with a scientific physiological basis:

ü a sanguine person has a strong, balanced, mobile type of nervous system;

ü choleric - a strong, mobile, but unbalanced type of nervous system;

ü phlegmatic - a strong, balanced, but inert type of nervous system;

ü melancholic - a weak type of nervous system.

Such a typology (that is, the ideas of I. P. Pavlov in the early 1930s) is still taught in schools and universities, although the works of the school of B. M. Teplov and V. D. Nebylitsyn have long shown that there are not three properties of the nervous system - strength, balance and mobility, but much more, and the problem of the types of the nervous system is still far from its complete solution.

So, at different times, different biological subsystems of the human body were put forward as the basis of temperament:

a) humoral - I in the teachings of Hippocrates, temperament was associated with a different ratio of blood, bile, black bile and mucus;

b) somatic - E. Kretschmer, W. Sheldon, S. Stephens associated temperament with the characteristics of the human physique, or with the severity of certain tissues of the human body, and, finally

c) nervous - a person's temperament is associated with the characteristics of the functioning of the central nervous system, types of GNI or, in last years, with different severity of certain brain structures.

The main disadvantage of such approaches lies in the fact that not the entire biological subsystem of a person is taken as the basis of temperament as a holistic psychological formation, but only one or another part of it, each of which (humoral, somatic or nervous) in itself does not have the necessary and properties sufficient for this. Research in the field of psychology on the issue of temperament continues, and will continue for a long time, since this problem is not only relevant, but also interesting to psychologists around the world.

2.1. The emergence of the doctrine of temperament. Humoral theories of temperament types

The doctrine of temperament and its types has a long history. It was founded by Hippocrates, who, using a humoral approach, identified four types of “krasis” (translated from Greek - “mixing”), i.e. the ratio of four fluids (juices) in the body: blood, yellow and black bile and mucus . Each liquid has its own properties (blood - heat, mucus - cold, yellow bile - dryness, black bile - moisture), and therefore the predominance of one of them determines the state of the body, its tendency to certain diseases.

The great scientist and physician of ancient Greece, Hippocrates was born in 460 BC. e. on the island of Kos. He came from a family whose members from generation to generation were engaged in the art of healing. Already at the age of 20, Hippocrates enjoyed the fame of an excellent doctor and became a priest. After an internship in Egypt, he returned to his native island and founded his own medical school there. Towards the end of his life, he moved to Thessaly, where he died, as they say, in 377 BC. e. For many years his grave was a place of pilgrimage.

The influence of Aristotelian theory persisted for a very long time. Even Immanuel Kant in his work "Anthropology" (1798) correlated the type of temperament with the characteristics of blood: light-blooded, or sanguine; heavy-blooded, or melancholic; warm-blooded, or choleric (remember that a quick-tempered person is said to have “hot blood”); cold-blooded or phlegmatic.

In popular literature and textbooks, it is customary to consider Hippocrates the founder of the doctrine of four types of temperament, which has survived to this day - sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic and melancholic. However, this is not quite true. He really singled them out, but the names of these types themselves are associated with the names of Roman doctors who lived several centuries later and used Hippocrates' ideas about mixing liquids. They replaced the Greek word "krasis" with the Latin word temperamentum(“proper ratio of parts, proportionality”), from which the term “temperament” originates.

One of them, Galen (II century AD), gave the first detailed classification of temperaments, based on the same humoral ideas of Hippocrates about "krasis". It included 13 types, including those mentioned above. From his point of view, the predominance of yellow bile (lat. chole-"chole") testifies to the choleric temperament, blood (sanguis-"Sangvis") - about sanguine, black bile (melanos chole -"melanos chole") - about melancholic, and mucus (phlegma-"phlegm") - about the phlegmatic temperament. True, the psychological characteristics of these types of temperament in Galen were not rich, but over time it expanded more and more. So, Immanuel Kant considered the sanguine and melancholic types as temperaments of feeling, and the choleric and phlegmatic types as temperaments of action (from modern positions, the first two are characterized by increased emotionality, and the second - by increased activity). According to Kant, a sanguine person is a cheerful and carefree person, a melancholic person is gloomy and anxious, a choleric person is quick-tempered and active, but not for a long time, a phlegmatic person is cold-blooded and lazy.

In this regard, Wilhelm Wundt wrote that in everyday joys and sorrows of life one must be sanguine, in important events life - a melancholic, with regard to the drives that affect our interests - a choleric, and in the performance decisions taken- phlegmatic. Unfortunately, this is completely impossible.

It should be noted that the concept of temperament in those days was significantly different from the present. Psychological characteristics were then almost absent. Basically, ancient doctors talked about the body and even about individual organs. For example, Galen spoke about the temperament of body parts - the heart, liver, brain.

The development of anatomy and physiology during the Renaissance led to innovations in the explanation of temperament types. They are increasingly associated with the structural features of the body. For example, a number of scientists, in addition to the physical properties of blood, based the division on the difference in tissues and the width of the lumen of blood vessels. Light blood, loose tissues and moderately dilated vessels, according to these scientists, facilitate the course of life processes and give rise to a sanguine temperament. With a significant density in the tissues, the blood lingers in the vessels, the pulse becomes stronger and faster, the overall warmth of the body increases - this creates a choleric temperament. With dense blood and narrow vessels in the tissue, only a liquid, watery part of the blood appears, due to which a phlegmatic temperament is born. The person characterized by it has little warmth and pale skin color. Finally, dense, dark blood with narrow tissue pores and a wide lumen of the vessels leads to the formation of a melancholic temperament.

The famous Roman physician Claudius Galen was born in 130 in the city of Pergamon (Asia Minor).

He was the son of a well-rounded architect. At first he studied at a philosophical school in his native city, but a few years later he moved to Smyrna and began to study medicine there under the guidance of the famous physician Pelon. On his advice, he went to Alexandria, which at that time was the center of science and culture, to study the works of Hippocrates. In Alexandria, Galen fully mastered the art of medicine and, returning to Pergamum, became a doctor of gladiators. A few years later he moved to Rome, where he won universal respect and fame. There Galen wrote several treatises on medicine. By old age, he returned to Pergamon to continue his studies in peace and quiet. In this city he died in 200.

This theory was preserved in a somewhat modified form until the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. For example, P.F. Lesgaft (1910) believed that the latitude of the lumen and the thickness of the walls of the vessels play a very important role in the origin of temperaments: choleric people have a small lumen and thick walls, which leads to a fast and strong flow of blood; sanguine people have a small lumen and thin walls, which contributes to a fast and weak flow of blood, etc.

Another anatomical direction in explaining the types of temperament concerned the structure of the central nervous system, since it is the brain that is most closely associated with those mental characteristics that characterize various temperaments. Some saw the main basis of the latter in the size of the brain and the thickness of the nerves, others in the specifics of their functioning.

So, Albrecht Haller, the founder of experimental physiology, who introduced the concepts of excitability and sensitivity, important for physiology and psychology, argued that the main factor in differences in temperament is the excitability of the blood vessels themselves through which blood passes. His student G. Vrisberg connected temperament directly with the characteristics of the nervous system. In his opinion, choleric-sanguine is due to a large brain, "strong and thick nerves" and high excitability of the senses. People with a phlegmatic-melancholic temperament are characterized by a small brain, "thin nerves" and low excitability of the senses. The idea that the specificity of temperament is associated with certain anatomical and physiological characteristics of the nervous system can be traced in one way or another in the teachings of many philosophers, anatomists and doctors of the nineteenth century.

The anatomist I. Henle (J. Henle, 1876), well-known in his time, proposed an original and, admittedly, of interest at the present time theory of temperaments. It proceeded from the "tone" of the nervous and muscular systems (or, as they say now, the level of rest activation). From the point of view of this scientist, the tone of the nervous system is different for different people. The larger it is, the easier a person is excited, the less surplus irritation is required in order to evoke in him the corresponding sensations, feelings or actions. A low degree of tone is characteristic of phlegmatic people - this is due to the general lethargy of their movements, emotional calmness, weakness of facial expressions, slowness of gait, etc. Due to their low physical activity, they experience abundant exudation of nutrient fluids in body tissues and significant deposition of fat. Sanguine and choleric people are distinguished by mild excitability, however, in the former, the excitement passes as quickly as it arose, while in the latter it lasts longer, on which the constancy and depth of their feelings and perseverance of actions depend. The melancholy temperament is characterized, from the point of view of Henle, by a mismatch between strong, deep feelings and a poorly developed propensity for activity.

Close to this theory is the attempt by the French philosopher A. Fouille (A. Fouille, 1901) to build a theory of temperaments based on the theory of metabolism in the body. What Henle calls the tone of the nervous system, according to Fulier, comes down to a greater or lesser intensity of the processes of decay and restoration of substances in the tissues of the body, especially in the central nervous system (i.e., to what is now called the intensity of metabolic processes). According to Fulier, in some cases, the processes of decay of energy sources predominate, in others, the processes of restoration. Accordingly, the sanguine temperament is characterized by a predominance of recovery, an excess of nutrition, a quick, but weak and short reaction. Melancholic (or nervous) - the predominance of the restoration of the nervous substance, its insufficient nutrition, a slow, but strong and prolonged reaction. The choleric temperament is characterized by a rapid and strong decay, while the phlegmatic temperament is characterized by a slow and weak decay of the nervous substance.

A number of scientists in our country also adhered to the humoral-endocrine theory of the origin of temperament types. P. P. Blonsky (1927) believed that the characteristics of human behavior depend on how balanced and coordinated the sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions of the autonomic nervous system work. Vagotonics are slow and calm, not inclined to fantasize, they think soberly and realistically. Sympathicotonics, on the contrary, are impulsive, resolute, often carried away and detached from reality.

Attempts to build a classification of types of human behavior, taking into account the increased or decreased activity of individual endocrine glands, were made by N. A. Belov (1924), B. M. Zavadovsky (1928) and others. So, according to B. M. Zavadovsky, differences in temperaments are due to the interaction of the thyroid and adrenal glands: in a sanguine person their activity is high, in a phlegmatic person it is weak; in choleric - weak activity of the thyroid gland, but strong adrenal glands; the melancholic is the opposite.

Also known is the chemical theory of temperament, put forward in the 1920s. W. McDougall. It is directly adjacent to the ancient humoral concept. At the same time, the Japanese psychologist T. Furukawa pointed out that the main method for diagnosing temperament is the determination of the chemical composition of the blood.

What is temperament

The problem of temperament is one of the most developed problems in Soviet psychology. L. S. Vygotsky attributed to temperament the features of the warehouse of all innate and hereditary reactions, the hereditary constitution of a person. According to his ideas, temperament is that sphere of personality, which is found in the instinctive, emotional and reflex reactions of a person. L. S. Vygotsky singled out two main characteristics of temperament: 1) bodily expressiveness and 2) the nature and pace of movements.

IP Pavlov identified temperament with the type of nervous system. “Our types of nervous system,” he said, “is what the word “temperament” means,” and further: “Temperament is the most general characteristics his nervous system, and this latter places one or another imprint on the whole activity of each individual.

A more detailed definition of temperament is given by B. M. Teplov in 1946 in his textbook for high school: "Temperament is the individual characteristics of a person, expressed: 1) in emotional excitability ..., 2) in a greater or lesser tendency to a strong expression of feelings outside ..., 3) in the speed of movements, the general mobility of a person."

S. L. Rubinstein's ideas about temperament were reduced to emphasizing its dynamic characteristics, which, in his opinion, are expressed in impulsivity, tempo, strength, stability, tension, amplitude of oscillations, etc. of mental processes. At the same time, S. L. Rubinshtein emphasized that the dynamic characteristic of mental activity does not have a self-sufficient character; it depends on the content of the activity and the specific conditions of the activity, on the attitude towards these conditions and what he (the person) does.

B. G. Ananiev attributed to temperament those “individual characteristics of the organism”, which are determined by the activity of “motor organs, sensory organs and the entire neuro-brain apparatus”. He considered temperament as "a set of physiological and mental characteristics of a person." As the leading characteristics, he singled out the strength, speed and stability of mental processes. He considered the other most important indicators of temperament to be the sensitivity and impressionability of a person, the features of experiencing one's own actions and actions.

A similar idea of temperament was developed by N. D. Levitov. “Under temperament,” he writes, “we will understand that side of the personality, based on the innate type of higher nervous activity, which is expressed in emotional excitability (speed of suggestion, stability and brightness of emotions) and the pace of mental processes associated with this excitability” (V M. Rusalov, 1979, pp. 164–165).

2.2. Description of temperament types by I. Kant

Immanuel Kant (1966) gave a formal description of four types of temperament, which he divided into two groups. Sanguine and melancholic types were considered by him as temperaments of feeling, and choleric and phlegmatic - as temperaments of action. (From a modern point of view, the former can be associated with such a characteristic of temperament as emotionality, and the latter with activity.)

Sanguine was defined by I. Kant as a person of a cheerful disposition, who is a good conversationalist, knows how and loves to communicate, easily makes friends. Such a person is full of hope and faith in the success of all his undertakings. Carefree and superficial, can attach excessive importance to something and immediately forget about it forever. If upset, he does not experience deep negative emotions and is quickly comforted. Promises and does not keep his promises, because he does not think in advance whether he is able to fulfill them. This is a sinner: he sincerely repents of his deed, easily forgets about his repentance and sins again. His work quickly tires, and the activities to which he gives himself are more like a game for him than a serious matter.

The melancholic was characterized by I. Kant as a gloomy person. He is distrustful and full of doubts, ready to see in everything a cause for alarm and fear. He is wary of making promises, as he thinks through in detail all the difficulties associated with their fulfillment. Violate the same given word he can't - it's unpleasant for him. He rarely has fun and does not like it when others have fun.

Choleric is a hot-tempered person. He is easily irritated and enraged, but just as easily retreats, especially if he is inferior. Very active; starting to do something, he acts energetically, but this fuse does not last long; he has no patience and endurance. Prefers to lead others. He is ambitious, loves to participate in various ceremonies, wants to be praised by everyone, therefore he surrounds himself with flatterers. His concern for other people and his generosity are ostentatious - he loves only himself. He tries to look smarter than he really is, and is constantly afraid that others will understand this. The choleric temperament, more than other types, causes opposition from others, therefore I. Kant believed that its owners are unfortunate people.

A phlegmatic person is a cold-blooded person who is not subject to affective outbursts. Its disadvantage is a tendency to inactivity (laziness) even in situations that urgently require activity. But, having started something to do, he necessarily brings it to the end. prudent, adheres to principles and is perceived as a wise man. Insensitive to attacks, does not offend the vanity of other people, and therefore accommodating. However, he can subjugate the will of other people to his will, and unnoticed by them. I. Kant considered this type of temperament to be the most successful.

2.3. W. Wundt's new approach to temperament

Gradually, scientists became more and more convinced that the properties of temperament are most clearly manifested in those forms of behavior that are directly related to the energy expenditure of the body - with the ways of accumulating and expending energy and quantitative characteristics these processes. Therefore, most researchers of temperament paid attention primarily to the emotional and motor reactions of the individual, especially emphasizing their strength (intensity) and flow in time. A classic example of such an approach is the typology of temperaments proposed by W. Wundt (W. Wundt, 1893). He understood temperament as a predisposition to affect - this idea was expressed in the following thesis: temperament for emotion is the same as excitability for sensation.

Adhering to this view, W. Wundt singled out two bipolar properties of temperament: the strength and speed of change (stability - instability) of emotions, thereby emphasizing the importance of the individual's energy characteristics (see Table 2.1). Strong emotional reactions combined with emotional instability form a choleric temperament, a small strength of emotional reactions combined with their instability form a sanguine temperament, etc.

Wilhelm Wundt was born in 1832 in Germany.

Founder of experimental psychology. In 1879 he opened the world's first Institute of Experimental Psychology at the University of Leipzig. He has written more than 500 scientific articles and books on psychology, philosophy, and linguistics. Died 1920

Thus, W. Wundt moved away from a purely descriptive approach, highlighting two characteristics that can be measured. Therefore, the description of temperament types could now be based not only on observation of behavior and speculative conclusions, but also on objective data. He also expressed the important idea that each temperament has its positive and negative sides.

Table 2.1. Classification of temperaments (according to Wundt).

2.4. Constitutional Approach to Temperament

In a broad sense, the concept of the constitution covers all hereditary or congenital anatomical, physiological and mental properties of the individual.

Under the influence of anthropologists, who drew attention to differences in body structure, and psychiatrists, who emphasized individual differences in predisposition to mental illness, at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. a concept was formed, according to which there is a connection between the physique and the properties of temperament. This idea, which is widespread primarily among Italian, French and German researchers, received the most complete expression from the French physician Claude Sigo (S. Sigaud, 1904).

He created a typology based on the idea that the human body and its disorders depend on the environment and innate predispositions. Each system of the body corresponds to a certain external environment that affects it. Thus, air is the source of respiratory reactions; food entering the digestive system forms a source of food reactions; motor reactions take place in the physical environment; the social environment causes various brain reactions. Based on this, K. Seago distinguishes - depending on the predominance of one of the systems in the body - four main body types: respiratory, digestive, muscular and cerebral (Fig. 2.1).

The predominance of any one system over the others leads to a specific reaction of the individual to certain changes. environment, thanks to which each of the body types corresponds to certain features of temperament. Viola, having identified three types of constitution, made them dependent on the length of the limbs and the size of the internal organs. P. P. Blonsky divided people, based on body size, into two groups: “soft and raw” and “dry and hard”. The former, in his opinion, are affective, absent-minded, suggestible; the second are intelligent, independent, have good attention, and are cruel. The views of C. Seago, as well as some other concepts of that time, linking the physique with the mental characteristics of the body, had a significant impact on the formation of modern constitutional theories that have become widespread in the psychology of temperament.

Among them, especially popular were those in which the properties of temperament, understood as hereditary or innate, were directly associated with individual differences in physique - height, fullness or proportions.

Rice. 2.1. Body types (according to K. Seago): a - respiratory, b - digestive, c - muscular, d - cerebral.

E. Kretschmer's constitutional typology

The main ideologist of constitutional typology was the German psychiatrist E. Kretschmer, who published in 1921 a work entitled "Body structure and character" (in Russian translation, the book was published in 1924, the last reprint - 1995). He drew attention to the fact that each of the two types of diseases - manic-depressive (circular) psychosis and schizophrenia - corresponds to a certain type of physique. This allowed him to argue that body type determines the mental characteristics of people and their predisposition to the corresponding mental illnesses. Numerous clinical observations prompted E. Kretschmer to undertake systematic studies of the structure of the human body. Having made many measurements of its various parts, the author identified four constitutional types.

1. Leptosomatic(gr. leptos-"fragile", soma-"body"). It has a cylindrical body, a fragile physique, high growth, a flat chest, an elongated egg-shaped face (full face). Long thin nose and undeveloped lower jaw form the so-called angular profile. The shoulders of a leptosomatic are narrow, the lower limbs are long, the bones and muscles are thin. E. Kretschmer called individuals with extreme severity of these features asthenics (Greek. astenos-"weak").

2. Picnic(gr. pγκnos-"thick, dense"). He is characterized by excessive obesity, small or medium stature, a swollen torso, a large belly, a round head on a short neck. Relatively large perimeters of the body (head, chest and abdomen) with narrow shoulders give the body a barrel-shaped shape. People of this type are prone to stoop.

3. Athletic(gr. athlon-"struggle, fight"). It has good musculature, a strong physique, high or medium height, a wide shoulder girdle and narrow hips, which is why the frontal view of the body forms a trapezoid. The fat layer is not expressed. The face is in the form of an elongated egg, the lower jaw is well developed.

4. Dysplastic(gr. dγs-"bad", plastos-"formed"). Its structure is shapeless, irregular. Individuals of this type are characterized by various body deformations (for example, excessive growth).

The selected types do not depend on the height of a person and his thinness. It's about about proportions, and not about the absolute dimensions of the body. There can be fat leptosomatics, puny athletics, and skinny picnics.

Ernst Kretschmer was born in 1888 in Germany. He was the director of the neurological clinic in Marburg, the head of the clinic at the University of Tübingen. In 1939, he refused to take the post of president of the German Psychiatric Association, expressing disagreement with the theory of racial inferiority preached by the official psychiatry of Nazi Germany. Died 1964

Most patients with schizophrenia, according to E. Kretschmer, are leptosomatic, although there are also athletics. Picnics, on the other hand, form the largest group among patients with cyclophrenia (manic-depressive psychosis) (Fig. 2.2). Athletes, who are less prone to mental illness than others, show some tendency to epilepsy.

E. Kretschmer suggested that in healthy people there is a similar relationship between physique and psyche. According to the author, they carry within themselves the germ of mental illness, being to a certain extent predisposed to it. People with one or another type of physique develop mental properties similar to those that are characteristic of the corresponding mental illnesses, although in a less pronounced form. So, for example, a healthy person with a leptosomatic physique has properties that resemble the behavior of a schizophrenic; picnic in his behavior shows features typical of manic-depressive psychosis. Athletics is characterized by some mental properties that resemble the behavior of patients with epilepsy.

Rice. 2.2. The distribution of mental illness depending on the type of physique (according to E. Kretschmer).

Depending on the tendency to different emotional reactions, E. Kretschmer identified two large groups of people. The emotional life of some is characterized by a dyadic scale (i.e., their moods can be represented as a scale, the poles of which are “joyful - sad”). Representatives of this group have a cyclothymic type of temperament. The emotional life of other people is characterized by a psycho-aesthetic scale (“sensitive – emotionally dull, unexcitable”). These people have a schizothymic temperament.

Schizothymic(this name comes from "schizophrenia") has a leptosomatic or asthenic physique. With a mental disorder, it reveals a predisposition to schizophrenia. Closed, prone to fluctuations in emotions - from irritability to dryness, stubborn, inflexible to change attitudes and views. With difficulty adapts to the environment, prone to abstraction.

Cyclothymic(the name is associated with circular, or manic-depressive, psychosis) - the opposite of schizotimic. Has a picnic physique. In violation of the psyche reveals a predisposition to manic-depressive psychosis. Emotions fluctuate between joy and sadness. Easily contacts with the environment, realistic in views. E. Kretschmer also singled out a viscose (mixed) type.

The relationship between body type and some mental properties or, in extreme cases, mental illness, E. Kretschmer explained by the fact that both the type of body structure and temperament have the same reason: they are due to the activity of the endocrine glands and the chemical composition of the blood associated with it , - thus, the chemical properties depend largely on certain features of the hormonal system.

Carried out by E. Kretschmer, a comparison of body type with emotional types of response gave a high percentage of coincidence (Table 2.2).

Table 2.2. Relationship between body structure and temperament, % (E. Kretschmer, 1995).

Depending on the type of emotional reactions, the author distinguishes cheerful and sad cyclothymics and sensitive or cold schizothymics.

Temperaments. They, as we firmly empirically know, are due to the humoral chemistry of the blood. Their bodily representative is the apparatus of the brain and glands. Temperaments constitute that part of the mental, which, probably along the humoral path, is in correlation with the structure of the body. Temperaments, giving sensual tones, delaying and stimulating, penetrate into the mechanism of "mental apparatuses". Temperaments, as far as it is possible to establish empirically, obviously have an influence on the following mental qualities:

1) psychesthesia - excessive sensitivity or insensitivity in relation to mental stimuli;

2) on the coloring of mood - a shade of pleasure and displeasure in mental contents, primarily on the scale of cheerful or sad;

3) on the mental pace - acceleration or delay of mental processes in general and their special rhythm (tenaciously holding, unexpectedly jumping off, delay, formation of complexes);

4) on the psychomotor sphere, namely on the general motor pace (mobile or phlegmatic), as well as on the special nature of the movements (paralytic, fast, slender, soft, rounded) (E. Kretschmer, 2000, p. 200).

The theory of temperament by E. Kretschmer has become widespread in our country. Moreover, it seemed to some (for example, MP Andreev, 1930) that the question of the relationship between the physique and the mental make-up of a person was finally resolved. As proof of the correctness of Kretschmer's theory, P. P. Blonsky referred to the work of a professor of livestock breeding, who gave a description of "dry and wet" breeds of horses, pigs, cows and sheep. In this regard, P. P. Blonsky considered human “biotypes” as special cases of the manifestation of common biotypes of the animal world.

Soon, however, disappointment set in, as attempts to reproduce the results described by E. Kretschmer showed that most people cannot be classified as extreme options. Relationships between body type and features of emotional response did not reach the level of reliability. Critics began to say that it was unlawful to extend the patterns identified in pathology to the norm.

Constitutional typology of W. Sheldon

Somewhat later in the United States, the concept of temperament, put forward by W. Sheldon (W. H. Sheldon, S. S. Stevens, 1942), which was formulated in the 1940s, gained popularity. The basis of Sheldon's ideas, whose typology is close to Kretschmer's concept, is the assumption that the structure of the body determines the temperament that acts as its function. But this dependence is masked due to the complexity of our organism and psyche, and therefore it is possible to reveal the connection between the physical and the mental by highlighting such physical and mental properties that most demonstrate such a dependence.

W. Sheldon proceeded from the hypothesis of the existence of the main body types, which he described, using a specially developed photographic technique and complex anthropometric measurements. Evaluating each of the 17 measurements he identified on a 7-point scale, the author came to the concept of somatotype (body type), which can be described using three main parameters. Borrowing terms from embryology, he called these parameters as follows: endomorphy, mesomorphy and ectomorphy. Depending on the predominance of any of them (a score of 1 point corresponds to the minimum intensity, 7 points to the maximum), W. Sheldon identified the following body types.

1. Endomorphic(7–1–1). The name is due to the fact that mainly internal organs are formed from the endoderm, and in people of this type, their excessive development is just observed. The physique is relatively weak, with an excess of adipose tissue.

2. mesomorphic(1–7–1). Representatives of this type have a well-developed muscular system, which is formed from the mesoderm. A slender, strong body, the opposite of the baggy and flabby body of an endomorph. The mesomorphic type has great mental stability and strength. 3. ectomorphic(1‑1‑7). From the ectoderm develops the skin and nervous tissue. The body is fragile and thin, the chest is flattened. Relatively weak development of internal organs and physique. The limbs are long, thin, with weak muscles. The nervous system and senses are relatively poorly protected.

If the individual parameters are expressed in the same way, the author attributed this individual to the mixed (medium) type, evaluating it as 1‑4‑4.

As a result of many years of research on healthy, normally eating people of different ages, W. Sheldon came to the conclusion that certain types of temperament correspond to these body types.

He studied 60 psychological properties, and his main attention was paid to those properties that are associated with the characteristics of extraversion - introversion. They were evaluated, as in the case of the somatotype, on a 7-point scale. Using correlation, three groups of properties were identified, named after the functions of certain organs of the body:

- viscerotonia (lat. viscera-"insides")

- somatotonia (gr. soma-"body"),

- cerebrotonia (lat. segebgit -"brain").

In accordance with this, he identified three types of human temperament:

- viscerotonics (7‑1‑1),

– somatotonics (1‑7‑1),

- cerebrotonics (1‑1‑7).

According to W. Sheldon, each person has all three named groups of physical and mental properties. The predominance of one or another of these determines the differences between people. Like E. Kretschmer, W. Sheldon claims that there is a great correspondence between body type and temperament. So, in persons with the dominant qualities of an endomorphic physique, the properties of temperament related to viscerotonia are expressed. The mesomorphic type correlates with the somatotonic type, and the ectomorphic type correlates with the cerebrotonic type. The ratio of body types with their characteristic properties of temperament is shown in fig. 2.3 and in table. 2.3.

Rice. 2.3. Body types (according to W. Sheldon).

Table 2.3. Types of temperament and their characteristics (according to W. Sheldon).

Krechmer's approach to temperament found supporters among psychiatrists, teachers and psychologists in our country. One of them, K. N. Kornilov (1929), associated body type with the speed and intensity of human reactions. On these grounds, he singled out four types of people: - motor-active (quickly and strongly responsive);

- motor-passive (reacting quickly, but weakly);

- sensory-active (reacting slowly and strongly);

- sensory-passive (reacting slowly and weakly).

Here, for example, is how he described the sensory-passive type.

1. From the history of teachings about temperament

The doctrine of temperament arose in antiquity. The word "temperament" in Latin means "proper ratio of parts"; the Greek word “krasis”, equal in meaning, was introduced by the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates (Y-IY centuries AD). He first defined the concept of "temperament" and described temperaments in more or less detail. By temperament, he understood the anatomical, physiological and psychological individual characteristics of a person. He, and then Galen, observing the individual characteristics of people's behavior, made an attempt to explain these features. According to the Hippocratic theory, the differences between people are determined by the ratio of the main types of fluids in their body. If they are mixed correctly, a person is healthy, if they are mixed incorrectly, they are sick. One of the fluids predominates, which determines the temperament of a person. According to Hippocrates, there are four such fluids: blood, two types of bile and mucus (or lymph). In sanguine people, blood predominates (lat. sanguis), in choleric people - yellow bile (lat. chole), in phlegmatic people - mucus (lat. pegma). And finally, melancholics are people with an excess of black bile (Latin melanos chole). The names of temperaments have survived to this day.

Further development of the doctrine of temperament took place in the following directions.

The psychological characteristics of temperament expanded more and more. The Roman physician Galen (II century), unlike Hippocrates, characterizes the types of temperament along with physiological, psychological and even moral properties.

German philosopher I. Kant at the end of the 18th century. considers temperament only as mental properties. Until recently, the characteristic of temperament remained predominantly psychological. In this regard, the concept of types of temperament is changing. They are characterized by a proportion of not physiological, but mental properties. For Kant, this is the ratio of different feelings and varying degrees activity activity. He argued that in a sanguine person the main desire is the desire for pleasure, combined with a slight excitability of feelings and their short duration. He is fond of everything that pleases him. His inclinations are fickle, and one cannot rely too much on them. Trusting and gullible, he enjoys building projects but soon abandons them.

In the melancholic, the dominant inclination is the inclination towards sadness. Trifle offends him, everything seems to him that he is neglected. His desires are sad, his suffering seems unbearable and beyond all consolation.

The choleric temperament exhibits remarkable strength in action, energy and perseverance when under the influence of some passion. His passions instantly ignite from the slightest obstacle, and his pride, revenge, ambition, the strength of his feelings know no limits when his soul is under the influence of passion. He thinks little and acts quickly, because that is his will.

And, finally, according to Kant, feelings do not take hold of the phlegmatic quickly. He does not need to make great efforts on himself in order to maintain his composure. It is easier for him than for others to refrain from a quick decision in order to think it over before. He is difficult to be irritated, rarely complains, endures his sufferings patiently and is little indignant at the sufferings of others. (, p.208)

For Wundt (the end of the 19th century), temperament is the ratio of the speed and strength of “spiritual movements”. In the process of developing the doctrine of temperament, the characteristics of the four main types of temperament change. The idea of their number is being revised. Starting with Kant, they began to distinguish the properties of temperament from other individual mental properties (the nature of the personality), although strict criteria for such a distinction were not proposed.

In the history of teachings about temperament, the understanding of the physiological foundations of temperament has changed. There were two main directions: explanation of temperament types by the ratio of the activity of the endocrine glands (German psychologist Kretschmer, American Sheldon), or by the ratio of the properties of the nervous system (I.P. Pavlov) (, pp. 407-408).

Since ancient times, researchers, observing a significant variety of behavior, coinciding with differences in physique and physiological functions, have tried to streamline them, somehow group them. Thus, a variety of typologies of temperaments arose. Of greatest interest are those in which the properties of temperament, understood as hereditary or innate, were associated with individual differences in physique. These typologies are called constitutional typologies. So the typology proposed by E. Kretschmer, who in 1921 published his famous work “Body Structure and Character”, was most widely used. His main idea was that people with a certain type of constitution have certain mental characteristics. He carried out many measurements of body parts, which allowed him to distinguish 4 constitutional types (,,):

Leptosomatic (asthenic type) - characterized by a fragile physique, high growth, flat chest. The shoulders are narrow, the lower limbs are long and thin.

Picnic - a person with pronounced adipose tissue, excessively obese. characterized by small or medium stature, a spreading body with a large belly and a round head on a short neck.

Athletic - a person with well-developed muscles, a strong physique, characterized by high or medium height, broad shoulders, narrow hips.

Dysplastic - people with a shapeless, irregular structure. Individuals of this type are characterized by various body deformities (for example, excessive growth, disproportionate physique).

With these types of body structure, Kretschmer correlates 3 selected types of temperament, which he calls: schizothymic, ixothymic and cyclothymic. The schizothymic has an asthenic physique, he is closed, prone to fluctuations in emotions, stubborn, not very responsive to changing attitudes and views, hardly adapts to the environment. In contrast, the ixothymic has an athletic physique. This is a calm, unimpressive person with restrained gestures and facial expressions, with low flexibility of thinking, often petty. The picnic physique is cyclothymic, his emotions fluctuate between joy and sadness, he easily contacts people and is realistic in his views,.

The theory of E. Kretschmer was very common in Europe, and in the USA the concept of temperament by W. Sheldon, formulated in the 40s of our century, gained popularity. Sheldon's views are also based on the assumption that the body and temperament are 2 human parameters related to each other. The structure of the body determines the temperament, which is its function. W. Sheldon proceeded from the hypothesis of the existence of basic body types, describing which he borrowed terms from embryology. They distinguished 3 types (, , ):

1. Endomorphic (mostly internal organs are formed from the endoderm);

2. Mesomorphic (muscle tissue is formed from the mesoderm);

3. Ectomorphic (skin and nervous tissue develop from the ectoderm).

At the same time, people with an endomorphic type are characterized by a relatively weak physique with an excess of adipose tissue; the mesomorphic type tends to have a slender and strong body, great physical stability and strength; and ectomorphic - a fragile body, a flat chest, long thin limbs with weak muscles.

According to W. Sheldon, these types of physiques correspond to certain types of temperaments, named by him depending on the functions of certain organs of the body: viscerotonia (lat. viscera- “insides”), somatotonia (Greek soma - “body”) and cerebrotonia (lat. cerebrum - "brain").

Types of temperament (according to W. Sheldon)

Viscerotonia

Somatotonia

Cerebrotonia

Relaxation in posture and movement.

Love for comfort.

Slow response.

Passion for food.

Socialization of food needs.

Pleasure from the process of digestion.

Love for companies, friendly outpourings Sociophilia (love for social life).

Kindness to everyone.

Thirst for love and approval of others.

Orientation to others.

Emotional balance.

Tolerance.

Serene contentment.

Good dream.

Lack of explosive emotions and actions.

Softness, ease of handling and outward expression of feelings.

Sociability and relaxation under the influence of alcohol.

The need for people in difficult times.

Focused on children and families.

Confidence in posture and movement.

Propensity for physical activity.

Energy.

Need for movement and pleasure from it.

The need for dominance.

Risk appetite in the game of chance.

Decisive manner.

Bravery.

Strong aggressiveness.

Psychological insensitivity.

Claustrophobia (fear of closed spaces).

Lack of compassion.

Spartan pain endurance.

Noisy behavior.

Appearance corresponds to older age.

Objective and broad thinking, directed outward.

Self-confidence, aggressiveness under the influence of alcohol.

The need for action in difficult times.

Orientation towards youth activities.

Inhibition in movements, stiffness in posture.

Excessive physiological reactivity.

Increased rate of reactions.

A tendency to seclusion.

Disposition to reasoning, exclusive attention.

secret feelings,

emotional retardation.

Self-control of facial expressions.

Social phobia (fear of social contacts).

Inhibition in communication.

Avoidance of standard actions.

Agrophobia (fear of open space).

Unpredictability of attitudes (behavior).

Excessive sensitivity to pain.

Poor sleep, chronic fatigue.

Youthful vivacity and subjective thinking.

Concentrated, hidden and subjective thinking.

Resistance to the action of alcohol and other repressants.

The need for solitude in difficult times.

Orientation towards old age.

In psychological science, most constitutional concepts have become the object of sharp criticism. The main drawback of such theories is that they underestimate, and sometimes simply openly ignore, the role of the environment and social conditions in the formation of the individual's mental properties.

Characteristics of temperament, such as the socialization of food needs, love of company and friendly outpourings, tolerance and lack of compassion, cannot be considered hereditary properties of the same order as physique. It is known that such properties, arising on the basis of certain anatomical and physiological characteristics of the individual, are formed under the influence of education and the social environment (,).

Hormonal theories of temperament one-sidedly exaggerate the role of the endocrine glands and are unable to explain the adaptation of temperament to the requirements of activity (, p. 409).

In fact, the dependence of the course of mental processes and human behavior on the functioning of the nervous system, which performs a dominant and controlling role in the body, has long been known. The theory of the connection of some general properties of nervous processes with types of temperament was proposed by I.P. Pavlov and was developed and experimentally confirmed in the works of his followers.

The most successful attempt to connect temperament with the characteristics of the human body was made by the Russian scientist-physiologist I.P. Pavlov, who discovered the properties of higher nervous activity. In Pavlov's laboratories, where conditioned reflexes were studied on dogs, it was found that in different animals conditioned reflexes are formed in different ways: in some they are formed quickly and persist for a long time, in others, on the contrary, slowly and fade quickly; some animals can carry heavy loads when strong stimuli, while others fall into a state of inhibition under the same conditions. (, p.208-209)

Based on the results of research, Pavlov showed that each of the four temperaments is based on one or another ratio of basic properties, which was called the type of higher nervous activity. Unlike his predecessors, he took for research not the external structure of the body, as the German psychiatrist Kretschmer did, and not the structure of blood vessels (P.F. Lesgaft), but the body as a whole and isolated the brain in it (, p. 307).

Teachings of I.P. Pavlov. They identified three main properties of the nervous system:

one). the strength of the process of excitation and inhibition, depending on the performance of nerve cells;

2). balance of the nervous system, i.e. the degree of compliance of the excitation force with the braking force (or their balance);

3). mobility of nervous processes, i.e. the rate of change of excitation by inhibition and vice versa.

The strength of excitation reflects the performance of the nerve cell. It manifests itself in functional endurance, i.e. in the ability to withstand prolonged or short-term, but strong excitation, without passing into the opposite state of inhibition.

The strength of inhibition is understood as the functional performance of the nerve cell in the implementation of inhibition and is manifested in the ability to form various inhibitory conditioned reactions, such as extinction and differentiation.

Speaking about the balance of nervous processes, I.P. Pavlov had in mind the balance of the processes of excitation and inhibition. The ratio of the strength of both processes decides whether a given individual is balanced or unbalanced when the strength of one process exceeds that of the other.

The mobility of nervous processes is manifested in the speed of transition of one nervous process into another. The mobility of nervous processes is manifested in the ability to change behavior in accordance with changing living conditions. The measure of this property of the nervous system is the speed of transition from one action to another, from a passive state to an active state, and vice versa. The opposite of mobility is the inertness of nervous processes. The nervous system is the more inert the more time or effort is required to move from one process to another (, p.384).

I.P. Pavlov found out that the temperament of each animal does not depend on one of the properties, but on their combination. Such a combination of the properties of the nervous system, which determines both the individual characteristics of conditioned reflex activity and temperament, he called the type of the nervous system, or the type of nervous activity. (, p. 408).

I.P. Pavlov distinguished 4 main types of the nervous system (,,):

one). strong, balanced, mobile (“alive” according to I.P. Pavlov - sanguine temperament);

2). strong, balanced, inert (“calm” according to I.P. Pavlov - phlegmatic temperament);

3). a strong, unbalanced type with a predominance of the excitation process (“unrestrained” type, according to I.P. Pavlov - choleric temperament);

4). weak type (“weak”, according to I.P. Pavlov - melancholic temperament).

The main combinations of properties and types of the nervous system identified by I.P. Pavlov, on which temperament depends, are common in humans and animals. Therefore, they received the name of general types. Thus, the physiological basis of temperament is the general type of the nervous system (, p. 408). Pavlov connected the general types of the nervous system with the traditional types of temperament (choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic and melancholic), although he understood that other properties of the nervous system must also exist. , and other combinations of them, and, consequently, other types of temperament.

So, I.P. Pavlov understood the type of the nervous system as innate, relatively weakly subject to changes under the influence of the environment and upbringing (, P. 386).

The type of nervous system is a concept used by a physiologist, while a psychologist uses the term temperament. In essence, these are aspects of the same phenomenon. It is in this sense that one can say, following I.P. Pavlov, that the temperament of a person is nothing but a mental manifestation of the type of the higher nervous system.

In the 1950s, there were laboratory research behavior of adults. In the works of B.M. Teplov and V.D. Nebylitsyn, ideas about the properties of the nervous system were expanded, two new properties of neural processes were discovered: lability and dynamism. The dynamism of nervous processes is a property that determines the dynamism of excitation or the dynamism of inhibition (the ease and speed of the formation of positive and inhibitory conditioned reflexes), the lability of nervous processes is a property that determines the rate of occurrence and termination of nervous processes (excitatory or inhibitory process),.

In contrast to I.P. Pavlov, other combinations of properties of the nervous system were found. For example, in addition to the unbalanced type with a predominance of excitation, there is an unbalanced type with a predominance of inhibition, etc.

The mental properties of temperament and the physiological properties of the nervous system are closely interrelated. The biological meaning of this relationship lies in the fact that with its help the most subtle, clear and timely adaptation to the environment is achieved. Where the adaptive function of any property of the nervous system cannot be carried out with the help of one property of temperament inherent in it, it is carried out with the help of another property of temperament inherent in it, which compensates for the first. For example, poor performance weak type can sometimes be compensated by a long absence of emotional satiety.

The origin of the types of the nervous system and temperament and its change. I.P. Pavlov called the general type of the nervous system a genotype, that is, a hereditary type. This is confirmed in experiments on animal selection and in the study of identical and fraternal twins in humans brought up in different families. Despite this, certain properties of temperament change within certain limits in connection with the conditions of life and upbringing (especially in early childhood), as a result of illnesses, under the influence of living conditions and (in adolescence and even adulthood) depending on experienced psychological conflicts. For example, under parental overprotection, a child can grow up to be a cowardly, indecisive, insecure person, touchy to the extreme and vulnerable to an extreme degree.

The maturation of temperament should be distinguished from such changes in the properties of temperament. The type of temperament is not formed immediately, with all its characteristic properties. The general patterns of maturation of the nervous system leave their mark on the maturation of the type of temperament. For example, a feature of the nervous system in preschool and preschool age is its weakness and imbalance, which leaves an imprint on the properties of temperament. Some properties of temperament, depending on the type of nervous system, are not yet sufficiently manifested at this age, appear somewhat later, in fact already at school age.

Distribution of group roles and promotion of leaders. Conclusion In the course of the work carried out, literary sources were analyzed on the problems of studying the influence of temperament on interpersonal relations in a student group. Many researchers note the importance of studying the relationship, the mutual influence of interpersonal relations on individual personality traits. temperament problem...