The cause of social behavior is recognized as innate instincts. Relationship of emotions and instincts in the theory Y

The third concept, which is among the first independent socio-psychological constructions, is the theory of instincts of social behavior by the English psychologist W. McDougall (1871-1938), who moved to the USA in 1920 and later worked there. McDougall's "Introduction to Social Psychology" was published in 1908, and this year is considered the year of final approval. social psychology in independent existence (in the same year, the book of the sociologist E. Ross "Social Psychology" was published in the USA, and, thus, it is quite symbolic that both the psychologist and the sociologist in the same year published the first systematic course in 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 realization of a more general principle adopted by MacDougall, namely, the striving for a goal, which is characteristic of both animals and man. It is this principle that is especially significant in McDougall's concept; in contrast to behaviorism (interpreting behavior as a simple reaction to an external stimulus), he called the psychology he created "target" or "hormic" (from the Greek word "gorme" - aspiration, desire, impulse). Gorme and acts as a driving force of an intuitive nature, explaining social behavior. In McDougall's terminology, gorme "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 discharging nervous energy.

Instincts include affective (receptive), central (emotional) and afferent (motor) parts. Thus, everything that happens in the field of consciousness is directly dependent on the unconscious beginning. The internal expression of the instincts are mainly emotions. The relationship between instincts and emotions is systematic and definite. McDougall listed seven pairs of interconnected instincts and emotions: the instinct to fight and the corresponding anger, fear; instinct of flight and sense of self-preservation; the instinct to reproduce the family and jealousy, female timidity; acquisition instinct and sense of ownership; building instinct and sense of creation; herd instinct and sense of belonging. All social institutions are also derived from the instincts: the family, trade, various social processes, primarily war. It was partly because of this mention in McDougall's theory that people were inclined to see the implementation of the Darwinian approach, although, as you know, being mechanically transferred 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 in terms of some kind of spontaneous striving for a goal legitimized the importance of irrational, unconscious drives as a driving force not only for the individual, but also for 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.

CONCLUSION

Thus, we can summarize what theoretical baggage social psychology was left with after these first concepts were built. First of all, obviously positive value their lies in the fact that really important questions were singled out and clearly posed to be resolved: 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 are 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 was dissolved in psychology, which led to the psychologization of social relations. This meant that neither the "psychological" nor the "sociological" approaches by themselves provide correct solutions unless they are linked. 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 the old philosophical constructions they were only “reasonings” about socio-psychological problems. However, an important deed was done, and social psychology was "declared" as an independent discipline with the right to exist. Now she needed to bring an experimental base under her, since by that time psychology had already accumulated sufficient experience in using the experimental method.

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 infection (G. Lebon).

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

Solution:
The concept of the 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 social behavior instincts 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 realization of a more general principle accepted by W. McDougall, namely, the striving for a goal, which is characteristic of both animals and humans. Also, in the concept of instincts of social behavior, it is stated that social institutions are built on the action of instincts: family, trade, various social processes, primarily war.

Methods of social ps.

The methods of active socio-psychological education include the ___________ method.

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

Personal problem. In SP

Combining the situational and personal aspects of social behavior was proposed as part of the __________ approach to the problem of personality.

Solution:
Combining 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 the basic category, interactionists most fully define the very content of the concept " social entity personalities." 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.

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

Other communication in the 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 a 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 a partner, is called reflection. In the course of mutual reflection of the participants in communication, reflection is a kind of feedback that contributes to the formation and strategy of the behavior of the subjects of communication, and the correction of their understanding of the features inner world each other.

The third theoretical premise of the modern science of human communication can be considered the theory of the instincts of social behavior, which arose from the idea of ​​evolutionism by Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and G. Spencer (1820–1903).

At the center of this trend is the theory of W. McDougall (1871–1938), an English psychologist who has been working in the United States since 1920. The main theses of his theory are as follows.

1. The psychology of personality plays a decisive role in the formation of social psychology.

2. main reason social behavior of individuals are innate instincts. Instincts are understood as an innate psycho-physiological predisposition to the perception of external objects of a certain class, causing emotions and a willingness to respond in one way or another. In other words, the action of instinct involves the emergence of an emotional reaction, motive or act. At the same time, each instinct corresponds to a very specific emotion. The researcher paid special attention to the herd instinct, which gives rise to a sense of belonging and thus underlies many social instincts.

This concept has undergone some evolution: by 1932 McDougall abandoned the term "instinct", replacing it with the concept of "predisposition". The number of the latter was increased from 11 to 18, but the essence of the doctrine has not changed. Unconscious needs for food, sleep, sex, parental care, self-affirmation, comfort, etc. were still considered the main driving force of human behavior, the foundation of social life. Gradually, however, the American intellectual climate was changing: scientists became disillusioned with the rather primitive idea of ​​the immutability of human nature, and the scales tipped in favor of the other extreme - the leading role of the environment.

Behaviorism

The new doctrine, called behaviorism, dates back to 1913 and is based on the experimental study of animals. E. Thorndike (1874–1949) and J. Watson (1878–1958), who were strongly influenced by the works of the famous Russian physiologist I.P. Pavlova.

Behaviorism - the science of behavior - offers a rejection of the direct study of consciousness, and instead - the study of human behavior according to the "stimulus - reaction" scheme, i.e. external factors. If their influence coincides with inborn reflexes of a physiological nature, the “law of effect” comes into force: this behavioral reaction is fixed. Consequently, by manipulating external stimuli, any necessary forms of social behavior can be brought to automatism. At the same time, not only the innate inclinations of the individual are ignored, but also the unique life experience, attitudes and beliefs. In other words, the focus of researchers is the relationship between stimulus and response, but not their content. However, behaviorism has had a significant impact on sociology, anthropology and, most importantly, management.

In neobehaviorism (B. Skinner, N. Miller, D. Dollard, D. Homans, and others), the traditional “stimulus-response” scheme is complicated by the introduction of intermediate variables. From the point of view of the problem of business communication, the most interesting is the theory of social exchange by D. Homans, according to which the frequency and quality of rewards (for example, gratitude) are directly proportional to the desire to help a source of positive incentive.

Freudianism

A special place in the history of social psychology is occupied by Z. Freud (1856–1939), an Austrian physician and psychologist. Freud lived in Vienna almost all his life, combining teaching with medical practice. A scientific internship in Paris in 1885 with the famous psychiatrist J. Charcot and a trip to America in 1909 to give lectures had a significant impact on the development of his teaching.

Western Europe at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. It was characterized by social stability, lack of conflict, an excessively optimistic attitude towards civilization, boundless faith in the human mind and the possibilities of science, and the bourgeois hypocrisy of the Victorian era in the field of morality and moral relations. Under these conditions, the young and ambitious Freud, brought up on the ideas of natural science and hostile to "metaphysics", began the study of mental illness. At that time, physiological deviations were considered the cause of mental deviations. From Charcot, Freud got acquainted with the hypnotic practice of treating hysteria and began to study the deep layers of the human psyche.
He concluded that nervous diseases are caused by unconscious mental traumas, and connected these traumas with the sexual instinct, sexual experiences. Scientific Vienna did not accept Freud's discoveries, but a trip to the USA with lectures on psychoanalysis made a revolution in science.

Let us consider those provisions that are directly related to the laws of human communication and behavior in society and, to one degree or another, have withstood the test of time.

model of the mental structure of personality, according to Freud, consists of three levels: “It”, “I”, “Super-I” (in Latin “Id”, “Ego”, “Super-Ego”).

Under " It ” refers to the deepest layer of the human psyche, inaccessible to consciousness, initially an irrational source of sexual energy, called libido. “It” obeys the principle of pleasure, constantly strives to realize itself and sometimes breaks into consciousness in the figurative form of dreams, in the form of slips of the tongue and slips of the tongue. Being a source of constant mental stress, “It” is socially dangerous, since the uncontrolled realization by each individual of his instincts can lead to the death of human communication. In practice, this does not happen, because a “dam” in the form of our “I” stands in the way of the forbidden sexual energy.

I AM ”obeys the principle of reality, is formed on the basis of individual experience and is designed to promote the self-preservation of the individual, its adaptation to the environment on the basis of restraint and suppression of instincts.

“I”, in turn, controlled “ Super-I ”, which is understood as social prohibitions and values, moral and religious norms learned by the individual. The “Super-I” is formed as a result of the identification of the child with the father, acts as a source of feelings of guilt, reproaches of conscience, dissatisfaction with oneself. From here follows the paradoxical conclusion that there are no mentally normal people, everyone is neurotic, since everyone has an internal conflict, a stressful situation.

In this regard, Freud's proposed mechanisms for relieving stress, in particular repression and sublimation, are of practical interest. Their essence can be illustrated as follows. Imagine a hermetically sealed steam boiler in which the pressure is steadily increasing. An explosion is inevitable. How to prevent it? Either strengthen the walls of the boiler as much as possible, or open the safety valve and release steam. The first is displacement, when unwanted feelings and desires are forced into the unconscious, but even after the displacement they continue to motivate the emotional state and behavior, remain a source of experience. The second is sublimation: sexual energy is catalyzed, that is, it is transformed into external activity that does not contradict socially significant values, for example, artistic creativity.

Thus, on the basis of what has been said above, it can be stated that social psychology illuminates the laws governing the emergence, development, and manifestation of socio-psychological phenomena. Socio-psychological phenomena arise and manifest themselves at different levels (macro-, meso-, micro-), in different spheres (state, economy, society, individual) and conditions (normal, complicated and extreme).

To understanding and explaining the science of socio-psychological phenomena in society in the scientific community, 3 approaches have been identified on the subject of social psychology:

The 1st defines that Social psychology is the science of "mass phenomena of the psyche" by which we understand various phenomena from the psychology of classes and communities to the study of mores, traditions, customs of groups, collectives, etc.;

the second studies social psychology, meaning by this the study of social consciousness, through the study of the social psychology of the individual;

3rd attempt to synthesize the two previous approaches by studying mass mental processes and position of the individual in the group.

The unit of analysis in social psychology is taken as "interaction" as a result of which socio-psychological phenomena are formed. In essence, they are interaction effects. It is they who act as a universal concept of social psychology, a unit of its analysis.

Questions for self-control

1. From what branches of knowledge has social psychology developed as a science?

2. What can be distinguished as an object and subject of research in social psychology?

3. What do you know about national psychology and its significance for the practice of using it in business communication?

4. What is the essence of crowd psychology? What are the features of crowd manipulation?

5. Tell us about the unconscious mechanisms of personality according to the teachings of Z. Freud.

6. How are behaviorism and modern concepts of personnel management related?

control test

1. Behaviorism is a doctrine

A) about human behavior based on the study of his life experience

B) about the behavior caused by an external stimulus

C) about the behavior of a person guided by a conscious attitude to what is happening.

2. The conclusion that various forms of the social psyche are a qualitatively new formation, and not an average statistical sum of individual psyches, was first formulated:

A) in the psychology of peoples

B) in mass psychology

C) in the psychology of the crowd

3. The significance of the psychology of peoples lies in the fact that:

A) within the framework of this concept, the existence of a collective psyche and consciousness, not reducible to individual consciousness, is substantiated

B) this theory shows the existence of phenomena that are generated not by individual, but by collective consciousness

C) in assimilation of oneself to another person

4. The direct creators of mass psychology were:

A) W. McDougal

B) M. Lazarus, G, Steinthal

C) G. Lebon, G. Steinthal

G) S.Siegele, G.Lebon

5. Functionalism as a direction in social psychology arose under the influence of:

A) K. Marx's theory of surplus value

B) the concepts of the psychology of peoples and the psychology of the masses

V) the evolutionary theory of Ch. Darwin and the theory of social Darwinism G. Spencer

D) behaviorism

6. The frequency and quality of rewards (for example, gratitude) are directly proportional to the desire to help. The source of a positive incentive refers to:

A) theories of social exchange

B) neobehaviorism

C) theories of mass psychology

7. The central idea of ​​behaviorism in social psychology is:

A) the idea of ​​the inevitability of influence

B) the idea of ​​punishment

V) reinforcement idea

D) idea of ​​measurement

8. Which of the following statements does not apply to the prescriptions described by E. Berne

A) be perfect

B) "hurry"

C) be strong

D) be yourself

9. The concepts of mass psychology contain important socio-psychological patterns:

A) interactions of people in a crowd

B) the influence of mass media on public and mass consciousness

C) relations between the masses and the elite

10. The concept of social influence in social psychology introduced:

A) J. Watson

B) allport

B) Mac Dougall

A) Muzafer Sheriff

B) Kurt Lewin

B) Lyon Festinger

11. For an individual in a crowd are typical:

A) impersonality

B) a sharp predominance of feelings, loss of intelligence
C) loss of personal responsibility

G) all of the above

12. "Psychology of peoples" as a theoretical school has developed:

A) in Germany

B) in France

B) in England

Lecture 2. PSYCHOLOGY AND GROUP BEHAVIOR

Topic 2.1. History of group research in social psychology

"Mere social contact generates the stimulation of an instinct that enhances the efficiency of each individual worker." (K. Marx)

The life of most people takes place in one group or another (growing up, socialization, training, acquiring skills, abilities, professions) is associated for each of us with joining more and more new groups. Belonging to a group is an indispensable condition for human existence, the preservation of mental health.

The theorists of the psychology of the masses G. Tarde and G. Lebon convincingly proved that the behavior and psyche of a single individual and his own, but who is in the mass, among other people, differ greatly. A meeting of two people already forms a mass. The origins of the socio-psychological and proper sociological understanding of groups is the psychology of the masses.

Social psychology turned to the problem of group, mass behavior only a few decades after mass psychology, in the 1930s. Initially, there was a tradition in social psychology that prescribed the study of social behavior at the level of the actions of individuals, not groups. Psychologists focused on personal perception, individual attitudes, actions, interpersonal interactions, etc.

Some psychologists argued that groups as carriers of a special psychology do not exist at all, that groups are some kind of fiction created by the imagination. So, in particular, Floyd Allport argued that a group is just a set of values, thoughts, habits shared by people, i.e. everything that is simultaneously present in the minds of several people. This point of view has been called in the history of social psychology personalistic or pure psychological approach . N. Tritlett, W. McDougall, M. Sheriff, S. Ash, L. Festinger, J. Homans continued this tradition, but their approach was less radical.

In parallel with personalism in social psychology, a sociological tradition coming from E. Durkheim, V. Pareto, M. Weber, G. Tarde. Proponents of this approach argued that all social behavior cannot be adequately explained and understood if it is studied only at the level of individual behavior. Therefore, groups and group processes must be studied in their own right, since the psychology of groups cannot be understood on the basis of individual psychology.

Active study of groups began in the 1930s. It was then that Kurt Lewin conducted the first laboratory studies of group processes (“group dynamics”) in the USA. In social psychology, thanks to Levin, such concepts as “group cohesion”, “type of leadership” appeared, he also formulated the first definition of a group (Shicherev P.N., 1999, p. 89).

In the 1950s and 60s. there was an intensive convergence of the above-mentioned currents of social psychology - personalistic and sociological schools. Contradictions were gradually overcome. This unifying trend did not arise by chance. The problem of studying the regularities of group processes has acquired actual practical significance. 75% of all small group research was funded by industrial firms and military organizations. The interest of government agencies, businessmen and financiers in the study of groups was dictated by the need to improve the methods of managing groups-organizations, and through them individuals.

Number of publications concerning group problems in world literature from 1897 to 1959. amounted to 2112 items, but from 1959 to 1969. it increased by 2000, and from 1967 to 1972. 3400 more, 90% of all publications concerning group research came from the United States. (Semechkin N.I., 2004, p. 292).

Group definition

With the development of social psychology, the denial of groups as carriers of a special psychology was overcome. But other problems remain. One of them is related to the definition of what a group is.

The diversity of the groups of which we are members best confirms that groups are not fictions, not phantoms of consciousness, but active psychological subjects of social reality. The heterogeneity of groups makes it difficult to single out something in common in them in order to define a group. Obviously, not every collection of people, even those gathered in one place, can be considered a group.

What makes a group a group? What is the most common feature of a group? E. Bern argues that this is a kind of awareness of belonging and non-belonging, i.e. "We" and "You". Australian social psychologist John Turner said essentially the same thing, arguing that group members should perceive themselves as "Us" as opposed to "They" (Myers D., 1997).

But this is too general a criterion. It does not allow us to understand what, in fact, makes a certain set of individuals realize themselves as “We”.

The most indisputable criterion for defining a group, proposed by Kurt Lewin, who suggested that the essence of the group is the interdependence of its members. Therefore, the group is a "dynamic whole" and a change in one part of it entails a change in any other part. The cohesion of the group is determined by the degree of interdependence and interaction of all parts and members of the group.

Majority modern definitions group is derived from the formulation proposed by K. Levin. Group is an association formed of two or more people who interact with each other with a certain measure of activity.

The presence of a structure;

The presence of an organization;

Active interaction of group members;

Awareness of oneself by members of the group as a single whole, as "We" in contrast to all other people who are perceived as "They".

Thus, a group arises whenever at least two people begin to interact with each other, fulfilling their role and observing certain norms and rules.

A group appears when the interaction of people leads to the formation of a group structure. Moreover, it is not necessary for people to be in close, direct interaction. They may be at a great distance from each other, rarely, or perhaps never see each other, and yet form a group.

Joseph McGras believes that groups can differ in the degree of expression of group features in them: the number of social interactions, the degree of influence of group members on each other, the number of group norms and rules, the presence of mutual obligations, etc. (McGrath, 1984)

All this will determine the measure of the cohesion of the group and the longevity of its existence.

Group size

The group involves the interdependence and interaction of its members, as a result of which they have common experiences, develop and establish emotional ties, and also form certain group roles. Groups differ from each other in many ways. They may vary in size, composition, i.e. on " appearance» - age, gender, ethnicity, social affiliation of its members. In addition, the groups differ from each other structurally.

Throughout the history of the study of groups, researchers have tried to establish the optimal group size needed to solve certain problems. The problems solved by different groups differ significantly: for the family - one, for the sports - others. Therefore, it is pointless to raise the question of the optimal size of the group: before talking about the size of the group, it is necessary to clarify what kind of group we are talking about.

The issue of group size is a pragmatic one. For example, how many people should an academic student group consist of so that each student and the group as a whole can use the resources of the university as efficiently as possible.

American social psychologists have traditionally dealt with the problem of the optimal size of two kinds of groups. Firstly, groups designed to solve intellectual problems (P. Slater - 5 people, A. Osborne - from 5 to 10); and, secondly, the jury (a compact jury of 6 people can reach unanimity faster).

Thus, the size of the group is not just a descriptive characteristic, it is an important factor influencing the course of intra-group processes: it is difficult for a large group to make a unanimous decision.

What should be the size of a team that works in extreme conditions (submarine, space, border outpost, etc.)? In a word, all those places where people are in forced group isolation for a long time.

Often, the isolation of relatively small groups due to various reasons (economic, psychological illiteracy, indifference, etc.) leads to conflicts, mental disorders and illnesses, suicides and murders among members of groups who find themselves in isolation. The well-known polar explorer R. Amundsen called this phenomenon "expeditionary rabies", and another, no less famous traveler T. Heyerdahl - "acute expeditionary".

The size of the family group affects another aspect of this problem. It is known that the traditional family consisted of several generations, which ensured its stability. The modern nuclear family (parents and children up to the age of majority) is small and therefore unstable.

Of course, in this case, not only the size of the family group itself is important, since this is a matter of family values ​​- i.e. attitudes towards the family as a social value. Nevertheless, the large number of the family group can be considered as a factor in the family's self-preservation. (Matsumoto, 2002).

Thus, it is wrong to raise the question of the optimal group size in general, regardless of what kind of group it is. First, there is no single criterion for the success and effectiveness of all groups in all respects and in all conditions. Large groups can help reduce the activity of their members, worsen the psychological climate, but in a large group it is easier to find like-minded people. However, if in a small group a person always runs the risk of being alone, then in a large group it is easier for him to find like-minded people. Secondly, the size of the group should be related to the complexity of the problem being solved. Some tasks can be done alone, while others require the participation of many people. Thirdly, the size of the group should depend on how structured the task is, i.e. how it can be decomposed into subtasks.

In addition, when determining the size of the group, it is necessary to take into account its type, the circumstances in which it will operate, as well as the possible duration of its existence. (Semechkin N.I., 2004, p. 297).

Group structure. Role, role expectations and status

The structure of the group is a system of group roles, norms and relationships between members of the group. All these elements of the group structure can arise spontaneously, in the process of the formation of the group, but can also be established by the organizers of the group. The structure of the group ensures the unity of the members of the group, supports its functioning, vital activity. In addition, since each group has its own structural characteristics, the structure is an expression of the specifics of a particular group, its direction, essence, stability and constancy.

Concerning roles, then it is associated with the performance of certain functions by a person occupying a certain social position.

Role expectations- these are ideas about what a person who plays a specific social role should do. Role separation is a characteristic of group structure.

Small groups are divided into formal and informal. The main difference between them is that the former are created and organized purposefully, while the latter usually arise spontaneously. Depending on whether the group is formal or informal, role division occurs either spontaneously or purposefully.

In formal groups, roles are assigned and prescribed - for example, a formal leader is appointed. But in any formal group, there is a parallel spontaneous role distribution. So, along with the formal leader, an informal leader appears in the group, with even greater influence.

When the group is still being formed, the roles of its members are not clearly defined, but then a rather ambiguous process of isolating certain roles takes place. For example, in any student group, a “comedian”, “the smartest”, “the dumbest”, “the most fair”, “the most cunning”, “sexy”, etc. are defined. group member. When the group has already taken shape and has been functioning for some time, then for a newcomer who has just joined the group, a certain place, as a rule, not very prestigious, can be assigned in advance.

In any social society, a certain system of subordination of authorities is always built, so people are inherent in the "struggle for status". Because not all roles are equally respected and therefore have equal status. The degree of status depends on the age, level of education, gender, cultural affiliation of the members of the group, the nature of its activities, direction, etc. (Maurice, 2002).

Sociologists J. Berger, S. Rosenholtz and J. Zeldich developed the theory of status characteristics. This theory explains how status differences arise. According to this theory, the basis for the inequality of status is the differences that exist among individuals - members of the group. Status can be any characteristic of a person that distinguishes him from others. In various studies, it was found that such characteristics as abilities, military ranks and ranks, assertiveness, demonstrated concern for group goals, etc. can turn out to be status. In general, researchers have found that in Western cultures, men, white people, the elderly, as opposed to women, blacks and youth.

Control questions

1. How does a group differ from a random, or aggregate, accumulation of people?

2. What elements make up the group structure?

3. What is the essence of the group, according to K. Levin?

4. What are the main features of the group.

5. Is it right to raise the question of the optimal group size?

6. Why is group size vital when a group is working under extreme conditions?

7. Why can the size of the group be considered as a factor in the self-preservation of the family?

control test

1. Small group is

A) a small group of people connected by direct interaction.

B) spontaneously arisen, characterized by the absence of a common goal, the accumulation of people who are in direct contact.

C) a small association of people who are not connected by direct interaction.

2. Group pressure is

A) analysis of the influence of the organization on the socio-psychological structure and development of the team.

B) the process of influence of attitudes, norms, values ​​and behavior of group members on the opinions and behavior of the individual.

V) change in opinions, attitudes and behavior of individuals under the influence of others.

3. Social stereotype is

A) a relatively stable and simplified image of a social object - a group, person, event, phenomenon.

B) the tendency to overestimate the extent to which human behavior depends on internal, dispositional factors, and underestimate the role of situational factors.

C) an attitude that prevents adequate perception of a message or action.

4. Social perception is

A) people's perception and understanding and evaluation of social objects, primarily themselves, other people, social groups.

5. Sociometry - a method

A) collecting information about objective or subjective facts from the words of the respondent;

B) collecting information through direct, purposeful and systematic perception and registration of socio-psychological phenomena;

V) diagnosing the socio-psychological structure of relationships in small groups

6. A situation in which the fact of the presence of another enhances the productivity of activity. called

A) social facilitation

B) social inhibition

B) risk shift

D) causal attribution

7. Situation in which the evidence of the right decision is sacrificed for the unanimity of the group

A) social facilitation

B) group polarization

B) risk shift

G) group thinking

8. social status- it

A) the position of the subject in the system of interpersonal relations that determine his duties, rights and privileges.

B) changing the opinions, attitudes and behavior of individuals under the influence of others.

C) the process of forming a person's attractiveness for the perceiver, the result of which is the formation of interpersonal relationships.

9. The projection mechanism is

A) an unconscious desire to have clear, consistent, ordered ideas about perceived faces.

B) endowing a cognizable object with exclusively positive qualities.

V) the transfer of the mental characteristics of the subject of perception onto cognizable people.

10. Social distancing is

A) a combination of official and interpersonal relations, which determines the proximity of those communicating, corresponding to the sociocultural norms of the communities to which they belong.

B) the optimal combination of psychological characteristics of partners that contribute to the optimization of their communication and activities.

C) a special area dealing with the norms of the spatial and temporal organization of communication.

11. Conformism is

A) the process of influence of attitudes, norms, values ​​and behavior of group members on the opinions and behavior of the individual.

B) some contradiction between two or more attitudes.

V) change of initially conflicting opinions, attitudes and behavior of individuals under the influence of others.

12. Interactive side of communication -

A) people's perception and understanding and evaluation of social objects, primarily themselves, other people, social groups.

B) is associated with identifying the specifics of information exchange between people as active subjects.

C) is associated with the direct organization of the joint activities of people, their interaction.

13. The frequency and quality of rewards (for example, gratitude) are directly proportional to the desire to help. A source of positive incentive refers to:

A) theories of social exchange

B) neobehaviorism

1. Andreeva, G.M. Modern social psychology in the West / G.M. Andreeva, N.N. Bogomolova, L.A. Petrovskaya. – M.: Publishing House of Moscow State University, 1978.

2. Wittels, F. Freud. His personality, teaching and school / F. Wittels. - L .: Ego, 1991.

3. Granovskaya, R.M. Elements of practical psychology / R.M. Granovskaya. - L .: Publishing House of Leningrad State University, 1984.

4. Kulmin, E.S. Social psychology / E.S. Kulmin; Ed. V.E. Semenov. - L .: Publishing House of Leningrad State University, 1979.

5. Mescon, M. Fundamentals of Management / M. Mescon, M. Albert, F. Heduori. – M.: Delo, 1992.

6. Plato. State / Plato // Works: In 3 vols. - M .: Thought, 1971. - Vol. 3. Part 1.

7. Fedotov, G. Saints of Ancient Russia / G. Fedotov. - M .: Moskovsky worker, 1990.

8. Franklin, B. Autobiography / B. Franklin. - M .: Moskovsky worker, 1988.

9. Freud, Z. “I” and “It” / Z. Freud // Proceedings different years. - Tbilisi, 1991.

10. Yaroshevsky, M.G. History of psychology / M.G. Yaroshevsky. – M.: Thought, 1984.

Personalities

Aristotle

(384-322 BC)

Aristotle - ancient Greek scientist, philosopher,
was the first thinker to create a comprehensive system of philosophy covering all areas human development Keywords: sociology, philosophy, politics, logic, physics. His most famous works are "Metaphysics", "Physics", "Politics", "Poetics".

Plato (Aristocles) (approximately 428 - 348 BC) -

ancient Greek philosopher.

Plato was born into a family with aristocratic roots. After meeting Socrates, he accepted his teachings. Then, in the biography of Plato, several trips took place: to Megarts, Cyrene, Egypt, Italy, Athens. It was in Athens that Plato founded his own academy.

The philosophy of Plato received the greatest expression in the doctrine of knowledge, as well as in the political and legal direction. Plato's theory of knowledge is based on two ways of gaining knowledge - through sensations (faith, assimilation) and the mind.

In his work The State, the philosopher describes a political utopia. Also in his biography, Plato considered different kinds governments represented by timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, tyranny. The next work "Laws" was also devoted to the utopian state. It was possible to fully study the heritage of the philosopher only in the 15th century, when his works were translated from Greek.

Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939) -

neurologist, psychiatrist, psychologist.

Born May 6, 1856 in Freiberg, Czech Republic. Then, due to the persecution of Jews in Freud's biography, he moved with his family to the city of Tysmenitsa, Ivano-Frankivsk region of Ukraine.

Freud's psychoanalysis is based on the study of previously experienced traumatic experiences. Parsing the dream as a message, he found out the causes of the disease, thus allowing the patient to recover.

Freud devoted several works to the study of psychology. His method of free association represented the uncontrolled flow of the patient's thoughts.

In 1938, another move took place in the biography of Sigmund Freud: to London. Max Schur, at the request of Freud, who was in considerable pain as a result of cancer, gave him an overdose of morphine. From her, Freud died on September 23, 1939.

Karl Heinrich Marx (1818 - 1883) -

economist, philosopher, political journalist.

Born May 5, 1818 in Trier, Prussia.

Education in the biography of Marx was received at the Trier Gymnasium. After graduating in 1835, Karl entered the University of Bonn, then the University of Berlin. In 1841, Karl Marx graduated from the university and defended his doctoral dissertation. At that time, he was fond of putting forward atheistic, revolutionary ideas from the philosophy of Hegel.

In 1842-1843 he worked in a newspaper after the closure of the newspaper, he became interested in political economy. After marrying Jenny Westaflen, he moved to Paris. Then in the biography of Karl Marx there is an acquaintance with Engels. After that, Marx lived in Brussels, Cologne, London. In 1864 he founded the "International Workers' Association".

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

Unlike 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 peculiar stage of ontogenetic development, determined by the laws of organism formation, 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 stood out 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 regular physiological and psychological changes that are not related to the difference in individual characteristics.

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

Age structure includes (components of the development structure):

1.social situation of development- the system of relations in which the child enters society, it determines which areas of social life he enters. It determines those forms and the path, following which the child acquires more and more 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 is oriented in the system of social relations, in 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, the main mental processes are rebuilt and the personality changes (Leontiev). The content and forms of leading activity depend on the specific historical conditions in which the development of the child takes place. Leontiev also described the mechanism for changing the leading type of activity, which manifests itself in the fact that in the course of development the child’s former place in the world of human relations around him begins to be realized by him as inappropriate to his capabilities, and he seeks to change it. In accordance with this, its activities are being restructured.

3.central age neoplasms- at each age level there is a central neoplasm, as if leading to the entire development process and characterizing the restructuring of the entire personality of the child on a new basis. Those. this is a new type of personality structure and its activities, those mental. and social changes that first appear at a given age and that determine the consciousness of the child, his inner and outer life, the entire course of his development. All other particular neoplasms and developmental processes associated with neoplasms of previous ages are located and grouped around this neoplasm. Vygotsky called those developmental processes that are more or less closely connected with the main neoformation the central lines of development. Vygotsky's law of uneven child development is closely related to the concept of the main neoplasms 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 which structure it enters and what place it occupies in it.

4.age crises- turning points on the curve of development, separating one age from another. Foreign psychologists, contemporaries of Vygotsky, considered age-related crises either as growing pains or as a result of a violation of parent-child relationships. They believed that there could be a crisis-free, lytic development. Vygotsky considered the 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 opportunities and needs of the child, on the other. As a result, the former social situation of development explodes, 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 neonatal crisis, the one-year-old crisis, the three-year-old crisis, the seven-year-old crisis, and the thirteen-year-old crisis. Of course, the chronological boundaries of crises are rather arbitrary, which is explained by a significant difference in individual, sociocultural and other parameters. The form, duration and severity of the course of crises can vary markedly depending on the individual typological characteristics of the child, social conditions, the characteristics of upbringing in the family, and the pedagogical system as a whole. Thus, for Vygotsky, age 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 the 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 the senior school age, very few authors have described the entire life cycle (first of all, E. Erickson).

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

Age - this is a concrete, relatively limited in time, stage of the mental development of the individual and his development as a personality. Age is not related to the type of NS, temperament and character. Specific socio-historical conditions, as well as upbringing, activity and communication, play an important 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 "leaps". In lytic periods, the accumulation of qualities occurs, and in critical periods, its realization. The problem of periodization of mental development is the problem of laws and patterns of changing one age period to another.

A crisis newborns

Physical a crisis. Change of habitat, etc. Adaptation. Swimming and enough. reflex.

Vedas. activity - communication on an emotional level

younger age

A crisis one year

The social situation of development is changing - from the horizon. to a vertical position. Item-manipulation mismatch. activities with existing innovations

Innovation - "I myself"

Early childhood

A crisis 3 years

The crisis of self-consciousness (the first wave of self-consciousness). Developmental thinking, objective activity.

The leading type of activity is a game, self-service, enters into social and domestic relations, understands moral and ethical standards.

preschool childhood

By the age of 6-7 - verbal-logical. thinking. Gender identification.

Psych. new image 5 years:

internal action plan; arbitrariness of mental cognition processes; awareness of one's actions from the outside (reflection); control turning into self-control; appraisal that turns into self-assessment.

A crisis 7 years

Educational activity, its requirements do not coincide with the capabilities of those neoplasms, the cat. has already. There must be an element of the game.

Leading activity - educational.

Junior school age

A crisis teenager period

2 wave of self-consciousness. The crisis is that outwardly they already want to be adults, but internally they are not yet ready for this.

Vedas. activities - communication with peers and adults.

Innovation - the ability to establish relations, the form of social status, to be socially significant, self-awareness of adulthood and necessity.

Regarding calm. period

A crisis early youth

Vedas. activity - educational and professional.

Innovations: 1. profession. self-determination; 2. the ability to build and implement real plans

early youth

A crisis young age

Crisis: entered - did not enter, adaptation to new conditions.

Innovation: becomes a professional, builds a family. Formation of the position of adult development.

Generally accepted in our country is the concept of Elkonin, 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 activity is first assimilated, otherwise objective actions would have no meaning, and then the operational-technical side is mastered. Then there is their alternation. Moreover, the motivational-need side develops in the “child-adult” system, and the development of the operational-technical side occurs in the “child-subject” system.

Elkonin's concept overcame an important shortcoming of foreign psychology: the opposition of the world of objects and the world of people.

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

The activity of the child in the systems "child - social object" and "child - social adult" is a single process in which the personality of the child is formed.

Early childhood

adolescence

Infancy

Early age

preschool age

Junior school age

Adolescence

early youth

neonatal crisis

Crisis 1 year

Crisis 3 years

Crisis 7 years

Crisis 11-12 years old

Crisis 15 years

According to Elkonin, the crises of 3 and 11 years old are the crises of relations, after them there is an orientation in human relations. And the crises of the 1st year and the 7th years are the crises of the worldview, which open the orientation in the world of things.

David Iosifovich Feldshtein developed the ideas of Vygotsky and Elkonin and created on their basis the concept of the regularity of the 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 appropriation of socio-historical experience, but also as the formation of socially significant personality traits.

According to this concept, purposeful consideration as an object of study of the features of the social development of children, the conditions for the formation of their social maturity and analysis of its formation at different stages of modern childhood allowed the author to single out two main types of the child’s real positions 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 process of individualization. The child seeks to express himself, to highlight his I, to oppose himself to others, to express his own position in relation to other people, having received recognition from them of his independence, taking an active place in a variety of social relations, where his I acts on an equal footing with others, which ensures his development a new level of self-consciousness in society, socially responsible self-determination.

The subject-practical side of the activity, in the process of which the child's socialization takes place, is connected with the assertion 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 implementing the accumulated social experience in such an activity that most adequately corresponds to the general level of mental and personal development. Thus, the position of “I in society” is especially actively deployed in the periods of early childhood (from 1 year to 3 years old), primary school age (from 6 to 9 years old) and senior school age (from 15 to 17 years old), when the subject-practical side of the activity. The position of “I and society”, the roots of which are rooted in the orientation of the infant to social contacts, is most actively formed in preschool (from 3 to 6 years old) and adolescence (from 10 to 15 years old), when the norms of human relationships are most intensively assimilated.

The identification and disclosure of the features of different positions of the child in relation to society made it possible to single out two types of naturally manifested boundaries of the social development of the individual, designated by the author as intermediate and nodal.

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

In the social position that is taking shape at the intermediate stage of development (“I am in society”), the need of the developing personality to join itself to society is realized. At the key, turning stage, 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 a person's mental development to the stages of transformation and movement through different erogenous zones of libidinal energy. Erogenous zones are areas of the body that are sensitive to a stimulus; when stimulated, they cause satisfaction of libidinal feelings. Each stage has its own libidinal zone, the excitement of which creates libidinal pleasure. The movement of these zones creates a sequence of stages of mental development.

1. oral stage (0 - 1 year) is characterized by the fact that the main source of pleasure, and therefore potential frustration, focuses on the zone of activity associated with feeding. At this stage, two phases are distinguished: early and late, occupying the first and second years of life. It is characterized by two successive libidinal actions, sucking and biting. presenter erogenous zone- mouth. At the second stage, the “I” begins to stand out from the “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 cleanliness. The "Super-I" begins to form.

3. phallic stage (3 - 5 years) characterizes the highest stage of child sexuality. The genital organs become the leading erogenous zone. Children's sexuality becomes objective, children begin to feel affection for 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, the energy of libido is transferred to the development of universal human experience, the establishment of friendly relations with peers and adults.

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

E. Erikson considered the stages of personality development from the point of view of the tasks that society puts before a person, and which a person must solve. He considers each stage separately from each other. Each stage of the ascension regardless of the previous one, it does not determine the driving force of the 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 Erickson's periodization. Each stage of development is inherent in the expectation of society. The individual may or may not justify them, he is either included in society or rejected. There are 2 concepts in the concept: group identity (focused on inclusion in the community) and ego identity (integrity of the individual, a sense of stability and one's own Self). Occurs throughout life and goes through a series 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) - the formation of basic trust in the world / distrust

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

3. preschool age games (3-6) - initiative / guilt and moral responsibility for one's desires

4. school age or pre-adolescence (6-12) - achievement (formation of industriousness 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) / identity diffusion (uncertainty in understanding one's Self)

6. youth or early maturity (20-25) - intimacy (search for a life partner and the establishment of close friendships) / isolation

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

8. old age or late maturity (after 65) - integration (the formation of the final integral idea of ​​yourself and your life path) / disappointment in life

Question No. 42. The history of the formation of socio-psychological ideas.

The period in question dates back to the middle of the 19th century. By this time, one could observe significant progress in the development of a number of sciences, including those directly related to various processes of social life. big development received linguistics. Its necessity was dictated by the processes that were taking place at that time in Europe: it was a time of rapid development of capitalism, the multiplication of economic ties between countries, which brought about an 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, became 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 of anthropology, ethnography and archeology, who needed the services of social psychology to interpret the accumulated facts. The English anthropologist E. Taylor is completing his work on primitive culture, the American ethnographer and archaeologist L. Morgan is exploring the life of the Indians, the French sociologist and ethnographer Levy-Bruhl is studying the peculiarities of thinking of primitive man. In all these studies, it was necessary to take into account the psychological characteristics of certain ethnic groups, the relationship of cultural products with traditions and rituals, etc. Successes, and at the same time difficulties characterize the state of criminology: the development of capitalist social relations gave rise to new forms of illegal behavior, and the explanation of the reasons that determine 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 of sociology. Sociology itself emerged as an independent science only in the middle of the 19th century. (Its founder is the French positivist philosopher Auguste Comte). Almost from the very beginning of its existence, sociology began to build attempts to explain a number of social facts by means of 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, which was especially pronounced in the organic school (H. 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, in contrast to biological reductionism, the specifics of social life are really taken into account here. The fact of the presence of the psychological side in every social phenomenon was identified with the fact of determination by the psychological side of the social phenomenon. At first it was a reduction to individual psyche, an example of which is the concept of the French sociologist G. Tarde. From his point of view, the elementary social fact is not contained 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 drawn as the relationship of two individuals, one of which imitates the other.

When explanatory models of this kind clearly demonstrated their failure, sociologists proposed more complex shapes psychological reductionism. The laws of the social are now reduced to laws collective psyche. A special direction in the system of sociological knowledge is finally taking shape - the psychological direction in sociology. Its ancestor in the USA is L. Ward, but, perhaps, the ideas of this direction were formulated most 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 "folk spirit", but the so-called "consciousness of the race." Hence the social fact is nothing but social reason. Its study should be carried out by the "psychology of society", or, what is the same, sociology. Here the idea of ​​"reduction" is brought to its logical conclusion.

Thus, in the development of the two sciences of psychology and sociology, a kind of counter movement was designated, which was supposed to end with the formulation of problems that became the subject of a new science. These mutual aspirations were realized in the middle of the 19th century and gave life to the first forms of proper socio-psychological knowledge. By the middle of the 19th century. There are three most significant theories: the psychology of peoples, the psychology of the masses, the theory of social instincts. behavior.

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 “collectivist” 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 formation of nations, which was carried out at that time in Europe, acquired a specific form in Germany in connection with 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: the philosophical doctrine of Hegel about the "folk spirit" and the idealistic psychology of Herbart, which, according to M.G. Yaroshevsky, was "a hybrid of Leibniz's monadology and English associationism." The psychology of peoples tried to combine these two approaches.

The philosopher M. Lazarus (1824-1903) and the linguist G. Steinthal (1823-1893) were the direct creators of the theory of the psychology of peoples. In 1859, the journal "Psychology of Peoples and Linguistics" was founded, where their article "Introductory Discourses on the Psychology of Peoples" was published. It formulated 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 know psychologically the essence of the spirit of the people, to discover the laws according to which the spiritual activity of the people proceeds."

In the future, the ideas of the psychology of peoples were developed in the views of W. Wundt (1832-1920). For the first time, Wundt formulated his ideas on this subject in 1863 in his Lectures on the Soul of Man and Animals. The main development of the idea was in 1900 in the first volume of the ten-volume "Psychology of Peoples". Already in the Lectures, on the basis of a course delivered in Heidelberg, Wundt expressed the idea that psychology should consist of two parts: physiological psychology and the psychology of peoples. Accordingly, fundamental works were written by Wundt for each part, and it was precisely the second part that was set forth in The Psychology of Peoples. From Wundt's point of view, physiological psychology is an experimental discipline, but the experiment is not suitable for the study of higher mental processes - speech and thinking. Therefore, it is from this “point” that the psychology of peoples begins. It should use other methods, namely the analysis of the products of culture: language (the language presents the concepts by which thinking is carried out and consciousness is determined); myths (in them you can find the original content of concepts and emotional attitude to some 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 set by it.

Psychology of the masses (G.Tard, G. Lebon, S. Siegele).

Mass psychology 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 "individualistic" positions. 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. The official, intellectualistically 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 assimilated by the direct creators of mass psychology. These were the Italian lawyer S. Siegele (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 moments. Lebon, being a sociologist, paid primary attention to the problem of opposing the masses and the elites of society. In 1895, his main work "The Psychology of Peoples and Masses" appeared, in which the essence of the concept was stated.

From Le Bon's point of view, any gathering 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 mass are: depersonalization (which leads to the dominance of impulsive, instinctive reactions), a sharp predominance of the role of feelings over intellect (which leads to susceptibility to various influences), a general loss of intellect (which leads to the rejection 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, therefore it needs a "leader", whose role can be played by the "elite". These conclusions were made on the basis of consideration of isolated cases of manifestation of the mass, namely, its manifestation in a situation of panic. No other empirical evidence was given, as a result of which panic turned out to be the only form of mass action, although later observations on this single form were extrapolated to any other mass actions.

In the psychology of the masses, a certain social coloring is clearly manifested. The end of the 19th century, marked by numerous mass uprisings, forced the official ideology to look for ways to justify various actions against these mass uprisings. The assertion that the end of the XIX - the beginning of the XX century. - 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 turned out to be in line with these ideas, which allowed Lebon to oppose the revolutionary movement, interpreting it as an irrational movement of the masses.

As for the purely theoretical significance of the psychology of the masses, it turned out to be ambiguous: on the one hand, the question of the relationship between the individual and society was raised here, but, on the other hand, its solution was not substantiated in any way. Formally, in this case, the well-known primacy of the individual over society was recognized, but society itself was arbitrarily reduced to the crowd, and even on this “material” it looked very one-sided, since the “crowd”, or “mass”, itself was described only in a single situation of its behavior, panic situations. Although the psychology of the masses was not of serious importance 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.

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

The third concept, which is among the first independent socio-psychological constructions, is the theory instincts of social behavior English psychologist W. McDougall(1871 - 1938), who moved to the USA in 1920 and later worked there. McDougall's work "Introduction to Social Psychology" was published in 1908, and this year is considered the year of the final approval of social psychology in independent existence (in the same year, the sociologist's book was published in the United States E. Ross"Social Psychology", and thus it is symbolic enough that both the psychologist and the sociologist published the first systematic course in the same discipline in the same year). 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 realization of a more general principle adopted by MacDougall, namely, the striving for a goal, which is characteristic of both animals and man. It is this principle that is especially significant in McDougall's concept; in contrast to behaviorism (interpreting behavior as a simple reaction to an external stimulus), he called the psychology he created "target" or "hormic" (from the Greek word "gorme" - aspiration, desire, impulse). Gorme and acts as a driving force of an intuitive nature, explaining social behavior. In McDougall's terminology, gorme "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 discharging nervous energy.

Instincts include affective (receptive), central (emotional) and afferent (motor) parts. Thus, everything that happens in the field of consciousness is directly dependent on the unconscious beginning. The internal expression of the instincts are mainly emotions. The relationship between instincts and emotions is systematic and definite. McDougall listed seven pairs of interconnected instincts and emotions: the instinct to fight and the corresponding anger, fear; instinct of flight and sense of self-preservation; the instinct to reproduce the family and jealousy, female timidity; acquisition instinct and sense of ownership; building instinct and sense of creation; herd instinct and sense of belonging. All social institutions are also derived from the instincts: the family, trade, various social processes, primarily war. It was partly because of this mention in McDougall's theory that people were inclined to see the implementation of the Darwinian approach, although, as you know, being mechanically transferred 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 in terms of some kind of spontaneous striving for a goal legitimized the importance of irrational, unconscious drives as a driving force not only for the individual, but also for 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.

Outcome: Thus, we can summarize what 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 were singled out and clearly posed to be resolved: 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 are 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 was dissolved in psychology, which led to the psychologization of social relations. This meant that neither the "psychological" nor the "sociological" approaches by themselves provide correct solutions if they are not connected with each other. 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 the old philosophical constructions they were only “reasonings” about socio-psychological problems. However, an important deed was done, and social psychology was "declared" as an independent discipline that has the right to exist. Now she needed to bring an experimental base under her, since by that time psychology 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.

Quantitatively large formations of people are divided into two types: accidentally, spontaneously arising, rather short-lived communities, which include the crowd, the public, the audience, and in the exact meaning of the word, social groups, i.e. groups that have developed in the course of the historical development of society, occupying a certain place in the system of social relations of each specific type of society and therefore long-term, stable in their existence. This second type should include primarily social classes, various ethnic groups (as their main variety - nations), professional groups, gender and age groups (from this point of view, youth, women, elderly people, etc., can be considered as a group). .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 absent in small groups. This - manners, customs and traditions. Their existence is due to the presence of a specific social practice with which this group is associated, 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, give such an important characteristic as Lifestyle groups. His research involves the study of special forms of communication, a special type of contacts that develop between people. As part of a certain way of life, they acquire special significance interests, values, needs. Not the last 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 an age group as youth.

However, the common features characteristic of large groups cannot be absolutized. Each variety of these groups has its own peculiarity: you cannot line up a class, a nation, any profession and youth in one row. The significance of each type of large group in the historical process is different, as are many of their features. Therefore, all "cross-cutting" characteristics of large groups should 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 has these same elements. In domestic social psychology, a number of attempts have been made to define more precisely the elements of this structure. Almost all researchers (G.G. Diligensky, A.I. Goryacheva, Yu.V. Bromley and others) distinguish two components in its content: 1) the mental warehouse as a more stable formation (which can include social or national character, mores, 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 be the subject of a 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 kind 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 people, often with very different interests, but nevertheless gathered together on a specific occasion 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, is not necessarily clearly aware of its goals, but nevertheless can be very active. Such education cannot be considered a “subject of joint activity”, but its importance cannot be underestimated either. V modern societies political and social decisions often depend on the actions of such groups. Among the spontaneous groups in the socio-psychological literature, most often there are crowd, mass, public. As noted above, the history of social psychology "began" to a certain extent precisely with the analysis of such groups (Lebon, Tarde, etc.).

Crowd It is formed on the street about 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: a crowd of onlookers can disperse as soon as the element of entertainment is eliminated. In another case, especially when it is connected with the expression of dissatisfaction with some social phenomenon (they did not bring food to the store, they 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 which or institutions. At the same time, its emotional intensity can increase, giving rise to the aggressive behavior of the participants, elements of the organization can appear in the crowd if there is a person who will be able to 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 for the behavior of the crowd, often leading to its aggressive forms.

Brown defined crowds as "acting together, shoulder to shoulder, anonymous, random, temporary, unorganized communities." There are types of crowds depending on their degree of activity: an active crowd (the crowd itself) and a passive crowd (the public and audience). An active crowd is also classified according to the dominant behavior of the participants: aggressive (rebellious crowds, which are characterized by a manifestation of aggression towards people or objects); fleeing (a form of behavior - panic); acquiring (involvement in competition for a certain scarce object); expressive (onlookers).

Characteristics of the crowd: 1. Spiritual unity or "mental homogeneity"; 2. emotionality - meh-m emots. Infection works to the maximum; 3. irrationality. Lebon (French writer) was the first to study the mechanics of the emergence and behavior of the crowd. He created a theory of crowd behavior - the theory of "contempt of the masses." Highlighted the trace. main features: 1. there is a disappearance of consciousness. Personalities and the rise of the "collective soul"; 2. origin spiritual unity of the crowd; 3. unconscious. har-r behavior, amenable 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 indistinct boundaries. The mass may not necessarily act as a momentary formation, like a crowd; it can turn out to be organized to a much greater extent when certain segments of the population gather quite consciously for the sake of some kind of action: a manifestation, a demonstration, a rally. In this case, the role of the organizers is higher: they are usually put forward not immediately at the moment the actions begin, 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 ultimate goals and the tactics of behavior are more clear and thought out. At the same time, like the crowd, the mass is quite heterogeneous, different interests can also coexist in it and collide, so its existence can be unstable.

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

Groening suggested a trace. class-tion of the audience (or the public): 1. non-public (people at least included in the situation); 2. latent (people who notice their connection or interaction with other people, as well as with orgs in an existing situation); 3. conscious (people who understand that they depend on the influence of other people in the existing sit-tion, but do not express it); 4. active (people, the cat is included in the communicative and organizational lines to correct the sit-tion).

Psychological characteristics of the masses.

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

Main types of masses distinguished by a number of key features. Accordingly, the masses are divided into: 1) large and small; 2) stable (permanently functioning) and unstable (impulse); 3) grouped and ungrouped, ordered or unordered 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), which is different from the elements that make up the mass. Secondly, it is its stochastic, probabilistic nature; there is openness, blurring of boundaries, uncertainty in the composition of the mass in quantitative and qualitative terms. Thirdly, it is the situationality, the temporality of its existence. Finally, fourthly, the pronounced heterogeneity of the composition of the mass.

Mass consciousness is a kind of extrastructural "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 be completely different. This is a special kind of, as it were, “above-group” consciousness.

1. The main difference between the masses and the classically distinguished social groups, strata, classes and strata of society lies in the presence of a special, self-generated, unorganized and poorly structured mass consciousness. This is an ordinary kind of social consciousness, uniting representatives of different classical groups with 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 in the mass becomes more important than all the parameters of familiarization with classical social groups. Masses are subdivided depending on their main features. The main features that distinguish the 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 the mass.

3. 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 people from different classical groups, or it can narrow down, reducing the size of the mass. Such dynamism of 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 the construction of complex, multidimensional, spherical models of mass consciousness. It is only at the intersection of different coordinates that it is possible to single out different real-life types of mass consciousness.

4. The main psychological properties of mass consciousness include emotionality, contagiousness, mosaicism, mobility and variability. Public opinion and mass moods are distinguished as the leading macroforms of mass consciousness.

Public opinion, propaganda.

Public opinion should be regarded as a collective product, but as such it is not some unanimous opinion with which every individual constituting the public agrees, and not necessarily the opinion of the majority. Public opinion is always moving towards some solution, even if it is not sometimes unanimous.

Versatility of speech. The formation of public opinion occurs through the opening and acceptance of the discussion. Arguments and counterarguments become the means by which it is formalized. 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.

Interested groups. The public usually consists of interest groups and some more detached and disinterested corps of individuals similar to the audience. The problem that builds the public is usually raised by competing interest groups. These interest groups have some immediate private concern about how to solve this 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 arbitrator. It is their location that usually determines which of the competing plans is likely and most widely considered in the resulting action.

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

Propaganda can be understood as a deliberately provoked and directed campaign to force people to accept given point vision, mood or value. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that, while striving to achieve this goal, it does not provide an impartial discussion of opposing views. The end dominates, and the means are subordinate to this end.

Thus, we see that the primary characteristic of propaganda is an attempt to achieve the acceptance of some point of view not on the basis of its merits, but by appealing to some other motives. It is this feature that makes propaganda suspect. In the realm of public debate and public discussion, propaganda functions to form 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 some kind of 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 usually achieves its goal. 1. The first is simple manipulation of the facts and the provision of false information. The judgments and opinions of people are obviously shaped by the data that is available to them. By manipulating the facts, hiding some and distorting others, the propagandist can maximally contribute to the formation of some particular attitude. 2. The propagandist should strive to make people identify his views with their in-group attitudes, and opposing views with their out-of-group attitudes. It is the presence of this intra-group / extra-group entourage that explains the exceptional effectiveness of propaganda during the war. 3. Using emotional attitudes and prejudices that people already have. 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 have, these views will win recognition.

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 mass phenomenon of interpersonal exchange of distorted emotionally colored information. Usually rumors arise in the absence of complete and reliable information on a topical issue for people. This is a specific type of interpersonal communication, during which the plot, to a certain extent, reflecting real or fictional 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, entertaining-gaming, projection-compensatory, the function of social control over the elite, and a 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 kind of 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 needs (economic, political, cultural, etc.) and the reasons for their dissatisfaction can be different. Unsatisfied needs cause discontent, frustration, switching the 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 is manifested 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 features. First of all, it is always based on a certain public opinion, which, as it were, prepares the social movement, although subsequently it is itself 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, in the course of 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 the goals, in particular, whether violence is permissible as one of the means. Finally, fifthly, any social movement is realized to one degree or another in various manifestations of mass behavior, including demonstrations, demonstrations, rallies, congresses, etc.

Extremely important, from the point of view of social psychology, are the following three questions: the mechanisms of joining the movement, the ratio of 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 joining a social movement. Relative deprivation theory argues that a person feels the need to achieve some 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 this. 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 can actually take place. Another theory - resource mobilization - focuses on the more "psychological" reasons for joining the movement. It is argued here that a person is guided by the need to identify with the group to a greater extent, to feel himself a part of it, thereby to feel his strength, to mobilize 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 positions of the majority and minority in any mass, including social movement. This problem is one of the central ones in the concept of S. Muscovy.

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

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

Development of the theory of instincts

The last of Freud's great discoveries is his theory of the life and death instincts. In 1920, while working on Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Freud embarked on a fundamental revision of his entire theory of instincts. He attributed the characteristics of the instinct to "compulsory repetitions" and for the first time formulated a new dichotomy "Eros - the instinct of death", the nature of which was discussed in detail in the work "I and It" (1923) and in subsequent writings. This new dichotomy "life instinct (Eros) - death instinct" took the place of the original dichotomy "Ego - sexual instincts". Although Freud now attempted to identify Eros with libido, the new polarity represented a completely different concept of drives.

While working on Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Freud was still completely unconvinced that his new hypothesis was valid. “One may ask,” he wrote, “how sure I myself am of the validity of the hypotheses presented in these pages. My answer might be the following: I myself am not sure and do not seek to force others to believe in them. More precisely, I do not know how convinced I am of them. Considering that Freud was trying to develop a new theoretical doctrine that threatened the validity of many earlier concepts and required great intellectual effort, his sincerity, which is so brilliantly displayed in all his works, is especially impressive. For the next eighteen years he devoted himself to the development of the new theory, and grew more and more convinced of its validity, which he lacked at first. It was not the addition of completely new elements that led to this result, but rather an intellectual "elaboration"; this must have added to his frustration that only a few of his followers understood and shared his views. The new theory found its full exposition in the work "Ego and Id".

The following assumption is of extreme importance: “Each of the two classes of instincts should be associated with a special physiological process (anabolism or catabolism): both varieties of instincts should be active in every particle of living matter, although not in equal proportions, so that some one substance would be the main representative of Eros. This hypothesis does not shed any light on how the two classes of instincts are combined, mixed, fused with each other, but that this occurs regularly and on a very large scale is an assumption necessary for our concept. As a result of the unification of unicellular life forms into multicellular ones, death instinct in a single cell can be successfully neutralized destructive impulses can be directed to the outside world with the help of a special organ. This special organ would be represented as a muscular apparatus, and thus the death instinct would be expressed - although perhaps only partially - in the instinct of destruction, turned on the outside world and other organisms.

With these formulations, Freud expressed his new direction of thought more explicitly than in Beyond the Pleasure Principle. Instead of the mechanistic physiological approach contained in the old theory, which was based on the model of chemically induced stress and the need to reduce this stress to normal level(pleasure principle), the new theory has a biological character; it is assumed that each cell of the body is endowed with two basic properties of living matter: Eros and the desire for death. However, the principle of stress relaxation is preserved in a more radical form: the reduction of excitation to zero (the principle of nirvana).

A year later, in economic problem masochism” (1924) Freud went one step further: clarifying the relationship between the two instincts, he wrote: “The task of the libido is to make the instinct of destruction harmless, and this task it performs by largely reversing it - with the help of a special organic system, the muscular apparatus - outward to the objects of the external world. Then this instinct is called the instinct of dominion or the lust for power. Part of the instinct directly serves the sexual function, where it plays an important role: this is sadism. The other part does not participate in this outward turning: it remains inside the organism and, by means of the accompanying sexual excitement described above, becomes libidinal bound. It is in this part that we recognize the original, erotogenic masochism.

In New Introductory Lectures (1933) Freud took the same position. He spoke of "the erotic impulses that seek to unite more and more living matter into ever greater Unities, and the death instinct that opposes such an attempt and transfers the living back into an inorganic state" .

In the same lectures, Freud wrote about the original instinct of destruction: “We can perceive it only under two conditions: if it combines with erotic drives into masochism, or if – with a much smaller erotic addition – it is directed against the outside world as aggressiveness. It should be noted the importance of the possibility that aggressiveness may not be able to find satisfaction in the outside world, faced with real obstacles. If this happens, it will probably retreat and increase the self-destructiveness that dominates within. We will look at how this actually happens and how important this process is. Delayed aggressiveness inflicts severe injury. Indeed, it seems that we need to destroy some object or person in order not to destroy ourselves, in order to protect ourselves from the impulse of self-destruction. A sad discovery for a moralist! .

In his last two articles, written a year or two before his death, Freud made no significant changes to the concepts that he had developed in previous years. In Finite and Infinite Analysis, he further emphasized the power of the death instinct. As James Strachey wrote in an editorial note, “The most powerful deterrent of all completely out of our control is the death instinct» . In An Outline of the History of Psychoanalysis, written in 1938 and published in 1940, Freud confirmed the system of previous assumptions without any important changes.

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