For the first time he introduced the term accentuated personality. Character accentuation: what is it? Intermediate types of accentuation

The study of individual differences, in particular character accentuations, belongs to a separate discipline - the field. The works of many scientists - Western and domestic - are devoted to this field.

Rationale for character trait research

Why it is necessary to study the types of accentuation of differences between individuals has two objectives. Firstly, this is a research goal - to identify as many groups as possible and develop specific advice for representatives of each of them. The more classes are identified, the more effective psychological recommendations for their representatives will be.

Secondly, it is necessary to know the types so that the person himself understands the characteristics and reasons for his behavior and can, in accordance with this, correct it.

Often in this regard, everyday psychology is completely insufficient. For example, there is a common belief that fat people are kind. Conversely, a thin person is sometimes perceived as anxious and wary. Of course, such a breakdown into categories may be partly correct. Even Hippocrates did not avoid such an error in classification, although already in the medical field: once upon a time, an ancient doctor directly linked the tendency to apoplexy with obesity.

The Soviet psychologist A.E. Lichko, like the German psychiatrist K. Leongard, used the concept of “accentuation” in their studies. When applied to a specific property, this term means that it is highlighted more clearly than others, as if emphasized. In other words, accentuation is the expression of a certain character trait. For a person with this or that quality, certain social situations will be very painful, while others will be easily tolerated. This article will discuss the types of accentuation according to Lichko and Leonhard.

The psychology of differences is not a rigorous discipline. Types of accentuation are always descriptive in nature and are practically never found in their pure form. Each person can find himself in two or more types.

It should also be noted that assigning oneself to a certain category should not be aimless. When playing psychological tests, you need to ask yourself the question: “Why am I doing this?” If a person understands that he belongs to one group or another, he needs to develop for himself an appropriate compensation and self-help strategy. To do this, you need to study the advice given by psychologists for representatives of different classes and apply them to life.

Classification by A. E. Lichko

A Soviet psychologist studied the types of accentuation of adolescents. In total, he identified eleven groups. The features of the types of character accentuation in his theory have much in common with the classification of Karl Leonhard. Let's look at them in order.

Hyperthymic type

A high level of energy, the ability to quickly find contact with people, a desire for leadership - all this distinguishes the hyperthymic type of accentuation. Lichko considered hyperthymia to be a general characteristic characteristic of adolescence. High emotional tone makes representatives of this category leaders in any company. They are not aggressive. They can enter into conflict, but only if they encounter sharp opposition to their activity. Therefore, it is better not to stand in their way, but, on the contrary, to encourage them to act.

Superficiality of interests is a negative feature that the hyperthymic type of accentuation has. Its representatives may have many abilities, but their interests are unstable.

Cycloid type

The main characteristic of this category is mood variability. An elevated state is replaced by despondency and irritability. Moreover, this happens every two to three weeks.

Labile type

The emotional tone of these teenagers, Lichko noted, cannot be defined as consistently low or high. Their mood is unstable and can change very quickly. Within this category, two subtypes can also be distinguished: reactive-labile and emotionally labile. The former are prone to mood changes due to external factors. The condition of others is more determined by internal experiences.

Representatives of the labile type sometimes seem indifferent to others. But this is far from true - the real problem for some of them may be the ability to correctly express their feelings. Having deep attachments to loved ones, they do not know how to communicate them.

Astheno-neurotic type

Those who belong to this category are the main visitors to medical institutions. Their main difference is the concentration of attention on the state of their body. As soon as they feel unwell, they may suspect that they have a fatal illness - their suspiciousness reaches such proportions.

Sensitive type

The main characteristic of adolescents in this category, Lichko noted, is increased sensitivity, which is reflected in their behavior. People of the sensitive type are also distinguished by painful irritability. Their weak point is big companies. They always feel uncomfortable in them, try to carefully observe what is happening, and sometimes copy the behavior of others. Representatives of the sensitive type can attract the attention of the entire company, for example, by going on some kind of prank. But they succeed poorly in this, and they return to the previous state only with even more aggravated timidity.

The advantage of representatives of the sensitive type is diligence, responsibility, and the ability to make and maintain deep friendships.

Psychasthenic type

Differs in indecision. Any everyday situation can become a source of painful uncertainty for a psychasthenic. They are distinguished by high intelligence and confidence in their conclusions. But the latter is rarely confirmed by deeds. Psychasthenics are prone to impulsive actions just at those moments when it is worth weighing the pros and cons.

Schizoid type

Despite the fact that they are very vulnerable internally, schizoids have virtually no ability for empathy - they are not sensitive to the pain of others. The schizoid type of accentuation has a positive side - they make good inventors. Most of those people who moved forward the progress of mankind were schizoid. Their main feature, which immediately catches the eye, is their eccentricity. “Not of this world,” this can safely be said about schizoids.

Epileptoid type

The most pedantic and picky type. It would seem that what is good about these character traits? But representatives of other types are difficult to imagine in some professions. For example, the best teachers of mathematics or physics are epileptoids. Their accuracy and attention to detail are undeniable advantages in teaching the exact sciences.

Hysterical type

For this category, all life is one huge stage. Some people may initially find it unpleasant to be in company with a hysterical person. After all, their main quality is a constant desire to be in the center of attention. But for certain professions, belonging to this class (its analogue in Leonhard is a demonstrative type of accentuation) is an advantage. For example, hysterics make excellent salespeople, actors, and singers.

Unstable type

Lichko's representatives of this category turned out to be the most irresponsible teenagers. These were those who had no stable interests and practically did not think about their future. Unstable people cannot concentrate on work for long; they are characterized by a constant craving for idleness and entertainment.

Conformal type

A distinctive feature of conformists is the desire not to differ from their environment. Their credo is “to be like everyone else.” A negative feature of this category is the tendency to betray in a difficult situation. A conformist person will not suffer from remorse - he will always find justification for his actions.

Types of character accentuation according to Leonard

Karl Leonhard identified twelve. In many ways, his classification overlaps with Lichko’s theory, and some types in them are identical. Leonhard created three categories: the first was associated with accentuations of character, the second with accentuations of temperament. The criterion for identifying the third group is personal characteristics (focus on oneself or the outside world).

First, we need to clarify the difference between temperament and character. People unfamiliar with psychology often confuse these concepts. But even some psychologists tend to believe that temperament and character are one and the same thing.

Temperament is the speed of a person’s reaction to current events. This quality is rather a physiological property of the nervous system. Temperament includes emotionality, degree of response, balance. Character is a public education. Starting from birth, the people around leave their mark on the child. Such social interactions mold his personality.

So, I carried out the classification in accordance with character, temperament and personality traits, and the criteria for identifying categories were the styles of human social interaction.

Accentuations associated with temperament

• Hyperthymic type. The main characteristics are mobility, sociability. In childhood, hyperthyms have good memory and are easy to learn. In adolescence, conflicts are possible, since the group does not always allow hypertim to take a leading position. As adults, representatives of this category remain sociable and energetic. It’s easy to find a common language with them if you don’t confront them.
• Dysthymic type. Sullenness, phlegmaticity, and inhibition of reactions are the main features of dysthymics. They are silent and seem to be incorrigible pessimists. The positive side of the dysthymic type is responsibility, a developed sense of justice.
• Labile type. It, as in Lichko's classification, is distinguished by the ability to quickly change mood. Even a roughly spoken word can affect a representative of a labile type. A good mood can be spoiled even because it rains.
• Exalted type. Representatives of this type are non-conflict, love society, attentive to others. The exalted type of accentuation is distinguished by amorousness, a tendency to elevated feelings, and sociability. Such people are very quickly influenced by the events of the outside world - from the positive they are easily delighted, from the negative they give in to panic. Many designers, musicians and artists have an exalted type of accentuation.

• Anxious type. The main feature is a feeling of anxiety for no apparent reason. are quickly recognized by peers, and because of their indecision, they can become an object of ridicule. Having become adults, they remain no less suspicious than they were as children. It is difficult for such people to insist on their own. However, the disturbing type of accentuation has its advantages - its representatives have a rich inner world, and are also always able to adequately assess their capabilities. Among other types, they perceive reality most clearly.
• It is believed that representatives of this category “think” with feelings. Their main characteristics are kindness, responsibility, empathy, low conflict. People of the emotive type can feel relaxed only in the company of close people. They are soft-hearted, compassionate, and also appreciate the beauty of nature more than others. When communicating with them, their feelings are always recognized. The main value for them is good relationships in the family and at work. Representatives of the emotive type are very vulnerable to callousness and rude behavior.

Accentuations in accordance with character traits

• Stuck type. A person belonging to this category can carry certain feelings within himself for years. If these are negative emotions that were not correctly expressed, then they torment the stuck person for a long period of time. The pursuit of a goal is the most important characteristic of this accentuation. The stuck type will get his way no matter what. Often for this he strives to find good travel companions. Those who get stuck become good leaders in any activity. However, if their fate is not so rosy, they may become leaders of gangster groups. In addition, like the demonstrative, stuck type of accentuation needs recognition from society. However, this must be truly deserved respect, glory that has a basis.

• Pedantic type. Like the epileptoids in Lichko’s classification, the main features of representatives of this group are scrupulousness and attention to detail. Pedantic people are highly valued in an office environment for their responsibility and efficiency. This emphasis also manifests itself in caring for one’s own health and the absence of bad habits. The other side of the coin for such people is the constant fear of making a mistake, perfectionism.

• Excitable type. Impulsiveness, irritability, the desire to satisfy surging impulses immediately - this is what characterizes the excitable type of accentuation. People belonging to this group are usually endowed with a high level of conflict, which often prevents them from building meaningful relationships. The advantage is that they live entirely in the present.
• Demonstrative type. It is easy to identify, starting from the age of two. Such kids, having once been the center of attention, then try to win it at all costs. If this tendency is supported by parents, then they almost always have an inflated self-esteem that is not really supported by anything. Students of this type can be set as an example to others. Therefore, it is not always easy to recognize that their abilities in a certain area are hardly above average. On the other hand, the demonstrative type of accentuation is distinguished by artistry and good taste in clothing.

Types of accentuations according to personality characteristics

• Introverted type. Characterized by focusing on one’s experiences and avoiding social contacts. Reality for them is secondary to the inner world. Introverts are responsible, unobtrusive, and love privacy.
• Extroverted type. Its representatives are self-confident people who love being among people and receive energy from communication. They do not tend to get hung up on aspects of their inner life and always act in accordance with what reality presents to them.

Currently, Lichko's theory is more widely used among psychologists, since the scientist conducted his research on healthy people (teenagers). Leonhard's classification is more often used by psychiatrists. Despite the names presented in both classifications, these groups have nothing to do with mental disorders. The schizoid type of accentuation, for example, in no way means the presence of schizophrenia - all terms are conditional. Different types of accentuation mean the severity of the characteristic is within normal limits.

Karl Leonhard- an outstanding German psychiatrist, known for his approach to the diagnosis and differentiation of the most common mental illness - schizophrenia. He was a continuator of the views of K. Kleist, who believed that, as with neurological diseases, mental disorders should be explained by pathological processes that have their localization in the brain, and the very nature of schizophrenia lies in hereditary degeneration. But nevertheless, in the history of psychiatry and psychology, Leonhard remains as the author of the concept of accentuated personalities. The development of this particular issue is of the greatest interest and necessity for my work.

The concept of accentuated personalities presented in this work is based on the monograph “Normal and Pathological Personalities”, written and published in 1964 (VEB. Publishing house “Volk und Gesundheit”). Much has been borrowed from this monograph. Many amendments and additions were made to the second edition, and in March 1975 in Berlin, the book of the ball was completed and sent to print. However, it is published in the USA by Donald Press, New York, in 1976.

The first part of the monograph provides a psychological and clinical analysis of various accentuated personalities, i.e. people with a peculiar sharpening of personality properties and a special reaction.

The second part is like an illustration to the first, i.e. it conducts a characterological analysis of the heroes of classical works of world literature by over thirty writers: Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Gogol, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Balzac, Goethe, Stendhal and others. In the preface to his work, the author explains his desire not to be “an unfounded scientist, but to specifically confirm theoretical reasoning with clear examples taken from life or from the books of great psychological writers.”

This work is devoted to individuals not pathological, but normal, albeit accentuated. If their depiction is sometimes so vivid and expressive that one gets the impression that the people being described are pathological, then this is only due to the intention of one or another author to emphasize the analyzed personal traits as sharply as possible. That is why Leonhard refers to Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, explaining that Dostoevsky shows with exceptional force the differences in the behavior of different people. Accented personalities, who in business professional descriptions represent nothing more than scientific interest, thanks to Dostoevsky become close to us, we perceive them more directly, visibly. Some critics saw Dostoevsky's characters as pathological. However, as the author claims, this opinion is based on a misunderstanding: precisely because Dostoevsky depicted the psychology and actions of people so figuratively, so excitingly, they were attributed a pathological character. In fact, the behavior of all the heroes is the behavior of completely normal people.

Everything is described in living literary language, and the terms are explained in great detail, which makes the publication of a special glossary inappropriate.

In this work, Leonhard does not define the term “accentuation” that he introduced; moreover, he considers accentuation to be a characteristic of temperament, but it is worth dwelling on this.

Accentuation- This is an excessive sharpening of individual personality traits. If in a normal person all life difficulties are associated with the difficulties of the external situation, and not with oneself, then with hidden features associated with inclinations or abilities, they are corrected by proper upbringing. And in communication there are no signs of accentuation, but the person himself experiences certain difficulties. When compensatory mechanisms begin to fail, signs of accentuation may come out. With implicit accentuation, personality traits appear only in special cases when the person encounters an obstacle. If the life of an accentuated personality turns out unfavorably, then a complete deformation of the personality may occur, difficult to distinguish from psychopathy.

Accented personality traits.

Demonstrative personalities.

The essence of the demonstrative or hysterical type lies in the abnormal ability to repress. The meaning of the process of repression is convincingly illustrated in a passage from Nietzsche (“Beyond Good and Evil”). “I did it - memory tells me, I couldn’t do it - tells me pride, which remains inexorable in this dispute. And then the moment comes when the memory finally recedes.”

In fact, each of us has the ability to do this with unpleasant facts. However, this repressed knowledge usually remains at the threshold of consciousness, so it cannot be completely ignored. In hysterics, this ability goes very far: they can completely “forget” about what they don’t want to know, they are able to lie without even realizing that they are lying.

Pedantic individuals.

In individuals of the pedantic type, in contrast to the demonstrative type, repression mechanisms are extremely poorly represented in mental activity. If the actions of hysterics are characterized by a lack of reasonable weighing, then pedants “delay” in making a decision even when the stage of preliminary deliberation is finally completed. Before they begin to act, they want to make sure once again that a better solution cannot be found, that better options do not exist. The pedant is not able to repress doubts, and this slows down his actions. Thus, the rashness of hysterics is contrasted with the indecisiveness of pedants. Of course, the decisions with which the pedantic subject hesitates must be to some extent important to him. What is not of serious importance for a person, consciousness represses without any difficulty; for this, even a pedant does not need to make a special decision.

Stuck individuals.

The basis of the stuck, paranoid type of personality accentuation is the pathological persistence of affect.

Feelings that can cause strong reactions usually subside after the reactions are “given free rein”: the anger of an angry person goes away if it is possible to punish the one who angered or offended him; The fear of a fearful person goes away if the source of fear is eliminated. In cases where an adequate reaction for some reason did not take place, the affect ceases much more slowly, but still, if the individual mentally turns to other topics, then normally the affect passes after some time. Even if an angry person was unable to respond to an unpleasant situation either in word or deed, it is nevertheless possible that the next day he will not feel strong irritation against the offender; A fearful person who has failed to escape from a fearful situation still feels freed from fear after a while. For a stuck person, the picture is different: the effect of affect ceases much more slowly, and as soon as you return your thoughts to what happened, the emotions accompanying stress immediately come to life. The affect of such a person lasts for a very long time, although no new experiences activate it.

Excitable personalities.

A person with insufficient controllability of character is very interesting. This is manifested in the fact that the decisive factors for a person’s lifestyle and behavior are often not prudence, not the logical weighing of one’s actions, but drives, instincts, and uncontrollable impulses. What is suggested by reason is not taken into account.

The reactions of excitable individuals are impulsive. If they don’t like something, they don’t look for an opportunity to reconcile; tolerance is alien to them. On the contrary, both in facial expressions and in words, they give vent to irritability, openly declare their demands, or even withdraw angrily. As a result, such individuals, on the most trivial occasion, get into conflict with their superiors and employees, are rude, aggressively throw away their work, submit their resignations, without realizing the possible consequences. The reasons for dissatisfaction can be very different: they don’t like how we are treated in this enterprise, the salary is low, or the work process is not satisfactory. Only in rare cases is it about the severity of the work itself, because excitable individuals, as a rule, have a tendency to engage in physical labor and can boast of higher indicators here than other people. Most often, they are irritated not so much by hard work as by organizational issues. As a result of systematic friction, frequent job changes are observed.

As the anger of a person with increased excitability increases, he usually moves from words to “deeds,” i.e. to assault. It happens that physical assault among excitable people precedes words, since such people are generally not very inclined to exchange opinions. After all, an exchange of opinions is equivalent to an exchange of thoughts, and the level of thinking of such people is quite low. And yet you cannot say that the actions and actions of these impulsive people are reckless; rather, on the contrary, their frustration is latently growing, gradually intensifying and looking for a way out, a release.

Hyperthymic individuals.

Hyperthymic natures always look at life optimistically, overcome sadness without much difficulty, and in general it is not difficult for them to live in the world. An elevated mood is combined with a thirst for activity, increased talkativeness and a tendency to constantly deviate from the topic of conversation, which sometimes leads to racing thoughts. Hyperthymic accentuation of personality is not always fraught with negative consequences; it can have a beneficial effect on a person’s entire way of life. Thanks to an increased thirst for activity, they achieve production and creative success. The thirst for activity stimulates their initiative and constantly pushes them to search for something new. Deviation from the main idea gives rise to many unexpected associations and ideas, which also contributes to active creative thinking. In society, hyperthymic individuals are brilliant conversationalists, constantly in the center of attention, and entertain everyone.

However, if this temperament is expressed too clearly, the positive prognosis is removed. Cloudless gaiety and excessive liveliness are fraught with danger, for such people, jokingly, pass by events that should be taken seriously. They constantly experience violations of ethical standards, since at certain moments they seem to lose both the sense of duty and the ability to repent. An excessive thirst for activity turns into fruitless scattering; a person takes on a lot and does not complete anything. Excessive cheerfulness can turn into irritability.

Dysthymic personalities.

Dysthymic temperament is the opposite of hyperthymic. Personalities of this type are serious by nature and usually focus on the gloomy, sad aspects of life to a much greater extent than on the joyful ones. Events that have shaken them deeply can drive this severe pessimism into a state of reactive depression. In society, dysthymic people hardly participate in conversation, only occasionally inserting remarks after long pauses.

A serious mood brings to the fore subtle, sublime feelings that are incompatible with human egoism. A serious attitude leads to the formation of a serious ethical position. A negative manifestation is passivity in actions and slow thinking in cases where they go beyond the norm.

Affectively - labile personality type.

Affectively labile, or cyclothymic, individuals are people who are characterized by alternating hyperthymic and dysthymic states. Now one or the other of the poles comes to the fore, sometimes without any visible external motives, and sometimes in connection with certain specific events. It is curious that joyful events not only evoke joyful emotions in such people, but are also accompanied by a general picture of hyperthymia: a thirst for activity, increased pride, and a rush of ideas. Sad events cause depression, as well as slowness of reactions and thinking.

The reason for the change of poles is not always external stimuli; sometimes a subtle change in the general mood is enough. If a cheerful society gathers, then affectively-labile individuals can find themselves in the center of attention, be the “ringleaders”, and amuse all those gathered. In a serious, strict environment, they can be the most withdrawn and silent.

Affectively - exalted temperament.

The affectively exalted temperament could be called the temperament of anxiety and happiness. This name emphasizes its close connection with anxiety-happy psychosis, which is accompanied by sudden mood swings.

Affectively - exalted people react to life more violently than others; they equally easily become delighted with joyful events and despair with sad ones. From “passionate jubilation to mortal melancholy” they have one step. Exaltation is motivated by subtle, altruistic motives. Attachment to loved ones, friends, joy for them, for their success can be extremely strong. There are enthusiastic impulses that are not related to purely personal relationships. Love for music, art, nature, passion for sports, religious experiences, searches for a worldview - all this can capture an exalted person to the depths of his soul.

The other pole of his reactions is extreme impressionability about sad facts. Pity and compassion for unfortunate people and sick animals can drive such a person to despair. Over an easily correctable failure, a slight disappointment that would be forgotten by others the next day, an exalted person may experience sincere and deep grief. He will feel some ordinary trouble from a friend more painfully than the victim himself. Even with minor fear, physiological manifestations (trembling, cold sweat) are immediately noticeable in an exalted person.

The fact that exaltation is associated with subtle and very human emotions explains why artistic people - artists, poets - especially often have this temperament.

Anxious (fearful) personality.

Such people are characterized by timidity, lack of self-confidence, and there is a component of humility and humiliation. Overcompensation is possible in the form of self-confident or even impudent behavior, but its unnaturalness immediately catches the eye. Fearful timidity can sometimes turn into gullibility, in which there is a request: “Be friendly with me.” At times, fearfulness joins timidity.

Emotive personalities.

Emotivity is characterized by sensitivity and deep reactions in the field of subtle emotions. It is not rude feelings that excite these people, but those that we associate with the soul, with humanity and responsiveness. Usually such people are called soft-hearted. They are more compassionate than others, more susceptible to being moved, and experience special joy from communicating with nature and works of art. Sometimes they are characterized as sincere people.

In a conversation with emotive individuals, you can immediately see how deeply they are affected by the feelings they talk about, since all this is clearly expressed by their facial expressions. Tearfulness is especially characteristic of them: they cry when talking about a movie with a sad ending, about a sad story. They also easily experience tears of joy and emotion. Emotional children are often not allowed to read fairy tales, because when the plot turns sad, they immediately begin to cry. Even men often cannot resist tears, which they admit with considerable embarrassment.

The special sensitivity of nature leads to the fact that mental shocks have a painfully deep effect on such people and cause depression. A person of an emotive nature cannot be “infected” with fun in a cheerful society; he cannot become either funny or happy for no reason.

Of particular interest is the “Combination of accentuated character traits and temperament.” The author does not set himself the goal of showing all possible combinations of character traits and temperament, but indicates that their combination will greatly expand the boundaries of understanding personality.

One might assume that a demonstrative personality prone to pretense would be especially pronounced in combination with hyperthymia. But this assumption is only valid for childhood, when in fact, often with such a combination, the thirst for activity entails a whole series of dishonest actions. In adults, on the contrary, hyperthymia often weakens immoral manifestations. Cunning, insincerity, pretense do not fit with their life attitude.

The combination of demonstrative character traits with hyperthymic liveliness of temperament contributes to the activation of acting abilities in a person.

Of particular interest is the combination of demonstrative and affective-labile traits, since both are associated with a penchant for poetic and artistic activity. Demonstrative character traits stimulate fantasy, an affectively labile temperament generates an emotional orientation and has a softening effect on hysterical egoism.

The pedantic character softens when combined with a hyperthymic temperament, since the latter is somewhat superficial.

Simple summation is not observed when pedantic and dysthymic traits are combined. However, with this combination, the specificity of both is enhanced, i.e. the deviation from the norm is more significant.

Pedantry and anxious temperament belong to different mental planes. However, if both types of accentuation are observed in one person, a summing effect is possible. This is due to the fact that one of the most important signs is fear, especially in childhood.

Among the combinations of stuck character traits with temperament properties, the stuck-hyperthymic combination is especially important. Such people never find peace; they are always in an elevated mood.

The combination of stuckness and anxiety has a special quality. Anxiety is associated with a diminishment of human dignity. Such persons are weak and helpless. Stuck personalities cannot bear it, they try in every possible way to force out, it is very easy to set their pride. This is how overcompensation occurs.

Turning to excitable accentuated personalities, it is important that when combined with other temperaments, nothing else arises, but curious varieties are possible.

In order to understand what is meant by character accentuations, it is necessary to analyze the concept of “character”. In psychology, this term is understood as a set (or set) of the most stable human traits that leave an imprint on a person’s entire life activity and determine his relationship to people, to himself and to business. Character finds its manifestation both in a person’s activities and in his interpersonal contacts and, of course, it gives his behavior a peculiar, characteristic shade only for him.

The term character itself was proposed Theophrastus, who was the first to give a broad description of the 31st type of human character ( read about), among which he identified boring, boastful, insincere, talkative, etc. Subsequently, many different classifications of character were proposed, but all of them were built on the basis of typical traits inherent in a certain group of people. But there are times when typical character traits manifest themselves in a more vivid and original way, which makes them unique and original. Sometimes these traits can “sharpen”, and most often they appear spontaneously, under the influence of certain factors and in appropriate conditions. Such sharpening (or rather the intensity of traits) in psychology is called character accentuation.

The concept of character accentuation: definition, essence and degree of expression

Accentuation of character- excessive intensity (or strengthening) of a person's individual character traits, which emphasizes the originality of a person's reactions to influencing factors or a specific situation. So, for example, anxiety as a character trait in its usual degree of manifestation is reflected in the behavior of most people who find themselves in extraordinary situations. But if anxiety acquires the characteristics of accentuation of a person’s character, then the person’s behavior and actions will be distinguished by the predominance of inadequate anxiety and nervousness. Such manifestations of traits are, as it were, on the border of normality and pathology, but, under the influence of negative factors, certain accentuations can turn into psychopathy or other deviations in a person’s mental activity.

So, the accentuation of human character traits ( in the lane from lat. accentus means stress, strengthening) inherently do not go beyond the boundaries of the norm, but in some situations they quite often prevent a person from building normal relationships with people around him. This is due to the fact that each type of accentuation has its own “Achilles heel” (the most vulnerable spot) and most often the impact of negative factors (or a traumatic situation) falls on it, which can further lead to mental disorders and inappropriate behavior person. But it is necessary to clarify that accentuations themselves are not mental abnormalities or disorders, although in the current International Classification of Diseases (10th revision), accentuations are all included and are included in class 21/item Z73 as a problem that is associated with certain difficulties in maintaining normal for a person's lifestyle.

Despite the fact that the accentuation of certain character traits, in their strength and characteristics of manifestation, quite often go beyond the boundaries of normal human behavior, they cannot in themselves be classified as pathological manifestations. But it must be remembered that under the influence of difficult life circumstances, traumatic factors and other stimuli that destroy the human psyche, the manifestation of accentuations intensifies and the frequency of their repetitions increases. And this can lead to various neurotic and hysterical reactions.

Self the concept of "character accentuation" was introduced by a German psychiatrist Karl Leonhard(or rather, he used the terms “accentuated personality” and “accentuated personality trait”). He also made the first attempt at their classification (it was presented to the scientific community in the second half of the last century). The term was later clarified A.E. Lichko, who by accentuations understood extreme variants of the norm of character, when some of his traits are excessively strengthened. According to the scientist, there is a selective vulnerability that relates to certain psychogenic influences (even in the case of good and high resistance). A.E. Lichko emphasized that, regardless of the fact that any accentuation, although it is an extreme option, is still the norm, and therefore it cannot be presented as a psychiatric diagnosis.

Degree of severity of accentuations

Andrei Lichko identified two degrees of manifestation of accentuated traits, namely: explicit (the presence of clearly defined traits of a certain accentuated type) and hidden (under standard conditions, traits of a particular type appear very weakly or are not visible at all). The table below provides a more detailed description of these degrees.

Degrees of severity of accentuations

Degree of expression	Standard options	Peculiarities
explicit	extreme	Accented features are well expressed and appear throughout a person’s individual life. Accented traits are most often well compensated (even if there is no mental trauma), but in adolescence maladaptation can be observed.
hidden	ordinary	Accentuations manifest themselves most often as a result of mental trauma or under the influence of a traumatic situation. In general, accentuated traits do not lead to disruption of adaptation (short-term maladjustment is occasionally possible).

Dynamics of personality character accentuation

In psychology, unfortunately, today problems related to the development and dynamics of accentuations have not yet been sufficiently studied. The most significant contribution to the development of this issue was made by A.E. Lichko, who emphasized the following phenomena in the dynamics of types of accentuations (stage by stage):

• the formation of accentuations and sharpening of their features in a person (this happens during puberty), and later they can be smoothed out and compensated (explicit accentuations are replaced by hidden ones);
• with hidden accentuations, the features of a particular accentuated type are revealed under the influence of psychotraumatic factors (the blow is applied to the most vulnerable place, that is, where there is the least resistance);
• against the background of a certain accentuation, certain disorders and deviations arise (deviant behavior, neurosis, acute affective reaction, etc.);
• types of accentuations undergo a certain transformation under the influence of the environment or due to mechanisms that were constitutionally laid down;
• the formation of acquired psychopathy occurs (accentuations were the basis for this, creating a vulnerability that is selective to the adverse effects of external factors).

Typology of character accentuations

As soon as scientists turned their attention to the peculiarities of human character and the presence of some similarities, various typologies and classifications immediately began to appear. In the last century, the scientific research of psychologists was focused on the peculiarities of the manifestation of accentuations - this is how the first typology of character accentuations in psychology appeared, which was proposed back in 1968 by Karl Leonhard. His typology became widely known, but the classification of types of accentuations developed by Andrei Lichko, who, when creating it, relied on the work of K. Leonhard and P. Gannushkin (he developed a classification of psychopathy), became even more popular. Each of these classifications is designed to describe certain types of character accentuation, some of which (both in Leonhard’s typology and Lichko’s typology) have common features of their manifestations.

Character accentuations according to Leonard

K. Leongard divided his classification of character accentuations into three groups, which he identified depending on the origin of the accentuations, or more precisely, where they are localized (related to temperament, character or personal level). In total, K. Leonhard identified 12 types and they were distributed as follows:

• temperament (natural formation) included hyperthymic, dysthymic, affectively-labile, affectively-exalted, anxious and emotive types;
• The scientist classified demonstrative, pedantic, stuck and excitable types as character (socially determined education);
• At the personal level there were two types – extra- and introverted.

Character accentuations according to Leonard

Type	Characteristic
hyperthymic	optimistic, active, luck-oriented; there is a desire for activity, a need for experiences
dysthymic	slow (inhibited), silent, failure-oriented; characterized by excessive emphasis on ethical manifestations, frequent fears and various experiences, a heightened sense of justice
affectively labile	oriented towards standards, compensation (mutual) of traits is observed
affectively exalted	emotional, (the desire to elevate feelings and cult various emotions), excitable, inspired, contact
alarming	timid, timid (fearful), submissive, confused, non-contact, insecure, executive, friendly, self-critical
emotive	soft-hearted, sensitive, impressionable, fearful, executive, sympathetic (tendency to compassion)
demonstrative	self-confident, boastful, agile, ambitious, vain, easy, deceitful; focused on one’s “I” (is a standard)
pedantic	indecision, non-conflict and conscientiousness: hypochondria is observed; there is often a fear that one’s own “I” does not correspond to ideals
stuck	suspicious, touchy, responsible, vain, stubborn, conflictual; subject to jealousy; there are transitions from recovery to despair
excitable	quick-tempered, pedantic, hard on the rise, focuses primarily on instincts
extroverted	contact, sociable, open, non-conflict, frivolous, spontaneity
introverted	non-contact, closed, silent, reserved, principled, stubborn

K. Leonhard developed his typology of character accentuations based on an assessment of people’s interpersonal communication. Its classification is aimed primarily at adults. Based on the concept of Leonhard, a characterological questionnaire was developed, the author of which is H. Shmishek. This questionnaire allows you to determine the dominant type of accentuation in a person.

The types of accentuation of Shmishek's character are as follows: hyperthymic, anxious-fearful, dysthymic, pedantic, excitable, emotive, stuck, demonstrative, cyclomitic and affectively exalted. In the Shmishek questionnaire, the characteristics of these types are presented according to Leonhard’s classification.

Accentuations of character according to Lichko

Basis of classification A. Lichko were accentuations of character in adolescents, because he directed all his research on studying the characteristics of character manifestation in adolescence and the reasons for the appearance of psychopathy in this period. As Lichko argued, in adolescence, pathological character traits manifest themselves most clearly and find their expression in all areas of a teenager’s life (in family, school, interpersonal contacts, etc.). Adolescent character accentuations manifest themselves in a similar way, for example, a teenager with a hyperthymic type of accentuation splashes his energy everywhere, with a hysterical type he attracts as much attention as possible, and with a schizoid type, on the contrary, he tries to protect himself from others.

According to Lichko, they are relatively stable during puberty, but when talking about this, it is necessary to remember the following features:

• most types become more acute during adolescence, and this period is the most critical for the emergence of psychopathy;
• all types of psychopathy are formed at a certain age (the schizoid type is determined from an early age, the traits of a psychosthenic appear in elementary school, the hyperthymic type is most clearly noticeable in a teenager, the cycloid type is mainly in youth (although in girls it can manifest itself at the beginning of puberty), and the sensitive mainly formed by the age of 19);
• the presence of a pattern of transformation of types in adolescence (for example, hyperthymic features can change to cycloid), under the influence of biological and social factors.

Many psychologists, including Lichko himself, argue that for the puberty period the term “character accentuations” is most ideally suited, because it is teenage character accentuations that manifest themselves most clearly. By the time the puberty period comes to an end, accentuations are mostly smoothed out or compensated, and some move from obvious to hidden. But it should be remembered that adolescents who have obvious accentuations constitute a special risk group, since under the influence of negative factors or traumatic situations these traits can develop into psychopathy and affect their behavior (deviation, delinquency, suicidal behavior, etc.). ).

Character accentuations according to Lichko were identified on the basis of the classification of accentuated personalities by K. Leonhard and psychopathy by P. Gannushkin. Lichko’s classification describes the following 11 types of character accentuations in adolescents: hyperthymic, cycloid, labile, asthenoneurotic, sensitive (or sensitive), psychasthenic (or anxious-hypochondriac), schizoid (or introverted), epileptoid (or inert-impulsive), hysterical ( or demonstrative), unstable and conformal types. In addition, the scientist also called a mixed type, which combined some features of various types of accentuations.

Accentuations of character according to Lichko

Type	Characteristic
hyperthymic	most often there is a good mood, sometimes short temper and irritability appear; good health, increased activity, energy, high performance
cycloid	frequent mood changes (polar) – from depressive and irritable to calm and elated (alternating phases)
labile	increased mood variability (and the reason may be the most insignificant), outwardly fragile and infantile, increased affectivity, need for friendship and
asthenoneurotic	high fatigue, irritability, moodiness, suspiciousness, low concentration, weakness and an increased level of pretension are observed
sensitive	high sensitivity and responsibility, instability of self-esteem, fearfulness, timidity, impressionability
psychasthenic	increased suspiciousness (anxious), indecision, prudence, pedantry,
schizoid	introversion, isolation, dryness (do not show empathy), low emotionality,
epileptoid	a combination of inert traits and impulsive manifestations (painstakingness, accuracy, determination, suspicion, conflict and hostility)
hysterical	emotionality, instability of self-esteem, need for increased attention
unstable	characterized by weak will, inability to resist negative influences
conformal	high comfort (adapts to the standards of behavior established in a particular group), therefore this type is characterized by stereotypes, banality, conservatism

Although A.E. Lichko studied mainly teenage accentuations of character; his typology is widely used to identify accentuations in adults.

Accentuation of character - overly pronounced character traits in a certain person, which are not considered pathological, but are an extreme variant of the norm. They arise due to improper upbringing of the individual in childhood and heredity. There are a large number of accentuations, which are characterized by their own characteristics. In most cases, they occur during adolescence.

Character accentuation: what is it?

Accentuation (accentuated personality) is a definition used in psychology. This term is understood as disharmony in the development of character, which manifests itself in the excessive expression of its individual traits, causing increased vulnerability of the individual to certain types of influences and complicating its adaptation in some specific situations. Character accentuation arises and develops in children and adolescents.

The term “accentuation” was first introduced by the German psychiatrist K. Leonhard. He refers to character accentuation as overly expressed individual personality traits that have the ability to transform into a pathological state under the influence of unfavorable factors. Leonhard owns the first attempt to classify them. He argued that a large number of people have sharpened character traits.

Then this issue was considered by A.E. Lichko. By accentuation of character he understood extreme variants of his norm, when certain traits are excessively strengthened. At the same time, selective vulnerability is noted, which relates to certain psychogenic influences. Any accentuation cannot be presented as a mental illness.

A.E.Lichko

Causes

An accentuated character arises and develops under the influence of many reasons. The most basic is heredity. The reasons for its occurrence also include insufficient communication in adolescence with both peers and parents.

The appearance of sharpened character traits is influenced by the child’s social environment (family and friends), incorrect parenting style (overprotection and hypoprotection). This leads to a lack of communication. Lack of satisfaction of personal needs, inferiority complex, chronic diseases of the nervous system and physical ailments can also lead to accentuation. According to statistics, these manifestations are observed in people who work in the “person-to-person” field:

• teachers;
• medical and social workers;
• military;
• actors.

Types and types, main clinical manifestations

There are classifications of character accentuations, which were identified by A. E. Lichko and K. Leongard. The first proposed a typology of accentuations, consisting of 11 types, each of which is characterized by specific manifestations that can be observed in adolescence. In addition to types, Lichko identified types of accentuation, which differ depending on the degree of severity:

• obvious accentuation is an extreme version of the norm (character traits are expressed throughout life);
• hidden - the usual option (sharpened character traits appear in a person only in difficult life circumstances).

Types of accentuations according to A. E. Lichko:

View	Manifestations
Hyperthymic	There is increased activity and mood. Such individuals cannot endure loneliness and monotony in life. They love communication, there is a tendency to frequent changes in hobbies and hobbies. They rarely finish what they start.
Cycloid	There are cyclical mood changes from hyperthymic to dysphoric (angry)
Emotionally labile	Unreasonable and frequent mood swings. People are highly sensitive. They openly express their positive emotions towards the people around them. Responsiveness, altruism and sociability are noted
Sensitive	Such individuals are characterized by a feeling of inferiority. There is an increased sensitivity. Interests lie in the intellectual and aesthetic sphere
Astheno-neurotic	There is increased moodiness and tearfulness. Such people quickly become tired and exhausted, and irritability often arises against this background.
Schizoid	Such people are characterized by isolation and like to spend time alone. It is typical for adolescents that they do not communicate with their peers. They like to be around adults
Psychasthenic	Individuals with this character are prone to careful introspection and reflection. They take a long time to make a decision regarding any situation and are afraid of responsibility. Self-critical
Epileptoid	The behavior is characterized by attacks of anger towards other people. There is increased excitability and tension
Hysterical	They love to be the center of attention. Prone to demonstrative suicide and afraid of ridicule from others
Conformal	Dependent on other people. Submit to authority. They strive not to be different from others
Unstable	Craving for various interests and hobbies. Such people are lazy. They have no plans for their future

Leonhard identified a classification of character accentuations, consisting of 12 types. Some of them coincide with the typology of A.E. Lichko. He studied the typology of characters in adults. The species are divided into three groups:

1. 1. temperament (hyperthymic, dysthymic, exalted, anxious and emotive);
2. 2. character (demonstrative, stuck and excitable);
3. 3. personal level (extroverted and introverted).

Types of accentuations according to K. Leonhard:

View	Characteristic signs
Hyperthymic	Readiness to make contact at any time. There is a clear expression of facial expressions and gestures when communicating. Energetic and proactive. In some cases, there is conflict, irritability and frivolity
Dysthymic	Lack of sociability. Pessimistic and melancholic mood and outlook on the future
Cycloid	Frequent and sudden mood changes. Behavior and manner of communication with people around you depends on your mood.
Excitable	Slow verbal and nonverbal reactions to the situation. If a person is emotionally excited, then irritability and aggression are noted
Stuck	There is boredom. They tend to be preachy and touchy. In some cases, such people are capable of taking revenge
Pedantic	They are passive in conflicts. Conscientiousness and accuracy in carrying out tasks are noted. There is a tendency towards tediousness
Anxious	Anxious states arise with or without cause. Such individuals lack self-confidence
Emotive	They feel comfortable only around close people. The ability to empathize and sincerely rejoice at someone else's happiness is noted. There is increased sensitivity
Demonstrative	Such individuals strive to take a leadership position. They are artistic. There is non-standard thinking, selfishness, hypocrisy and a tendency to boast
Exalted	They love to communicate and are altruists. There is a tendency to commit impulsive actions
Extroverted	Personalities of this type willingly make contact with people, have a large number of friends. They are non-conflicting and easily succumb to the influence of others. Sometimes rash actions and a tendency to spread gossip are noted.
Introverted	There is isolation, a tendency to fantasize and loneliness

Peculiarities

According to A.E. Lichko, most types become more acute in adolescence. Certain types of accentuations arise at a specific age. Sensitive appears and develops by the age of 19. Schizoid - in early childhood, and hyperthymic - in adolescence.

Character accentuations are found not only in pure form, but also in mixed forms (intermediate types). Manifestations of accentuation are fickle, they tend to disappear in some periods of life. Character accentuation is found in 80% of adolescents. Some of them, under the influence of adverse factors, can turn into a mental illness at a later age.

In the development of character accentuations, two groups of changes are distinguished: transient and persistent. The first group is subdivided into acute emotional reactions, psycho-like disorders and psychogenic mental disorders. Acute affective reactions are characterized by the fact that such people harm themselves in various ways, and there are suicide attempts (intrapunitive reactions). This behavior occurs with sensitive and epileptoid accentuation.

Extrapunitive reactions are characterized by taking out aggression on random persons or objects. Characteristic of hyperthymic, labile and epileptoid accentuation. The immune reaction is characterized by the fact that a person avoids conflicts. Occurs with unstable and schizoid accentuation.

Some people have demonstrative reactions. Psychological disorders manifest themselves in minor misdemeanors and offenses, vagrancy. Sexual deviant behavior, the desire to become intoxicated or experience unusual sensations through the use of alcohol and drugs are also found in individuals of this type.

Against the background of accentuations, neuroses and depression develop. Persistent changes are characterized by a transition from an obvious type of character accentuation to a hidden one. Psychopathic reactions may occur with prolonged exposure to stress and critical age. Persistent changes include the transformation of types of accentuations from one to another due to improper upbringing of the child, which is possible towards compatible types.

PERSON AS AN INDIVIDUAL AND AS AN ACCENTUATED PERSONALITY

People are distinguished from each other not only by innate personality traits, but also by developmental differences associated with the course of their lives. A person’s behavior depends on what family he grew up in, what school he attended, what profession he is, and what circles he moves in. Two people with initially similar natures may subsequently have very little in common with each other, and, on the other hand, the similarity of life circumstances can develop similar traits and reactions in people who are fundamentally different.

The so-called life types, for example, the type of employee, officer, merchant, scientist, teacher, waiter, are formed due to the fact that a certain position or position leaves an imprint on the way of life. Of course, this is often facilitated by the fact that the tendency inherent in a person by nature interacts with the chosen profession; moreover, a person often chooses a certain profession precisely because it corresponds to his individual inclinations. The imprint in question in an adult cannot seriously affect the diagnosis of personality, because external forms of behavior are determined to a much greater extent by acquired habits than by the manifestation of internal orientation. So, for example, a teacher has a certain self-confidence and self-confidence that is natural, since he is accustomed to playing an important role in the children's team. A completely different impression is made by a person whose self-confidence is not determined by his profession. By the way, along with self-confidence, a teacher can have unconditional modesty. Or let’s take an officer who is distinguished by exceptional discipline and accuracy. Such a trait in the military is more justified than the out-of-the-ordinary pedantry inherent in human nature itself.

Typically, behavior associated with professional habit is not confused with behavior that reflects the internal identity of a person. It’s a different matter if traits of great originality appeared already in early childhood. Here it can be difficult to establish how deeply this uniqueness is reflected in the structure of the adult’s personality.

I must make a reservation that the question of the origin of accentuated personality traits is not the subject of special attention in this work: these traits occupy us only in the form in which we directly observe them in the individuals being examined. For example, it can be considered established that every person has a natural desire to earn praise and approval, that every person is not without a feeling of pity. It is quite possible that the impressions of childhood left a certain imprint on the characteristics of the manifestation of these traits in an adult. However, one thing is indisputable: both the inclinations and the direction of a person’s interests come from the outside. In which direction a person’s ambitious thoughts are directed depends solely on external incentives. Two equally ambitious people can be bitter enemies due to the fact that they set directly opposite goals for themselves. The sense of duty can be directed in different ways. Which direction a person chooses largely depends on the society in which he lives. In the same way, the innate orientation of interests and inclinations in no way impedes educational influence. Moreover, it is precisely the innate orientation that is the basis of education; without it, education is generally impossible. If a person did not have a tendency to develop a sense of duty, then through education it would be impossible to induce him to do one thing and not do another.

People differ from each other no matter how the difference arises. Just as one person is always different from another in appearance, so the psyche of each person is different from the psyche of other people.

And yet, speaking about individual traits, we do not imagine them as some kind of boundless range of possibilities, in addition with many transitions: there can be no talk of an infinite number of unique individual traits. The following thesis can be put forward: the main features that determine a person’s individuality and character are very numerous, but still their number cannot be considered unlimited.

The traits that define a person’s individuality can be attributed to various mental spheres.

Let us first name the sphere that would most correctly be designated as the sphere of orientation of interests and inclinations. Some interests and inclinations are selfish in nature, others, on the contrary, are altruistic. So, one person may subordinate everything to the thirst for profit or have exorbitant vanity, while another is sympathetic, kind, and has a highly developed sense of civic responsibility. This area also includes a sense of justice, fearfulness or hatred of a person. If one of these properties of the psyche is very clearly expressed or, on the contrary, poorly developed, then there is reason to talk about them as individual traits of a person, i.e. the vivid expression of the described individual traits cannot yet be considered the main reason for the accentuation of individuals who are invariably something stand out from average people.

It is easy to establish that deviations in one direction or another among unaccented individuals are always within the limits of universal human norms. These traits, inherent in a person by nature, precisely because of their universal significance, form such a strong framework that there is usually no particular individual "discordance". Variations in human response are not ruled out, of course: there are people who are more or less selfish or altruistic, more or less vain, more or less conscious of their duty. In this way, that is, against the background of variations in the sphere of orientation of interests and inclinations, various personalities arise, but they cannot yet be attributed to accentuated personalities.

The second sphere can be designated as the sphere of feelings and will. The nature of the internal processing of phenomena also determines significant individual differences. The result is modifications to personality and character. We are talking about the very process of the flow of emotions, about the speed with which they take possession of a person and then weaken, about the depth of feeling. This also includes the types of volitional reactions, to which we include not only weakness or willpower, but also internal volitional excitability in terms of choleric or phlegmatic temperament. The properties of this emotional-volitional sphere also, to one degree or another, determine various variations in behavior, endowing people with specific individual traits. However, they do not by themselves determine the personality, which would clearly stand out against the average background.

The third area is related to intelligence, which is usually not included in the concept of personality. There is, however, an area of ​​associative feelings (op. cit., pp. 117–140)1, which contain such personality traits as interest and the desire for orderliness. This sphere can be called associative-intellectual. Such a human trait as love of order cannot immediately be categorically defined as an anancaste’s need for orderliness. Quite often this trait is just one of the individual manifestations of the associative-intellectual sphere, which should not at all be associated with personality accentuation traits.

To understand the essence of a person, it is necessary to take a close look at the various features of the above-mentioned mental spheres characteristic of him. In this book I will try to illustrate the characteristics of accentuated personalities with specific examples from life. The same should be done with regard to the listed variations of human individuality. But even if you want to, it’s not easy to do. The specific properties mentioned here are not so striking that they can be convincingly confirmed by appropriate material. Neither observations nor conversations with people help to unambiguously describe and define the variations mentioned above. But they can be very clearly imagined if you look at a person from the inside. This is exactly the opportunity writers give us. They not only depict the purely external actions of the heroes, convey their words and even statements about themselves, but often tell us what their heroes think, feel and what they desire, showing the internal motives of their actions. In characters in works of art it is easier to identify very subtle individual variations. If a person shows fearfulness or self-confidence, compassion or a sense of justice, or even without showing these qualities he attributes them to himself, then it is difficult to say with certainty whether he has stepped over the boundaries of normal reactions. But when we encounter a character in a writer who exhibits the named traits, drawn with talent, with all his thoughts and feelings, this in most cases makes it possible to unmistakably recognize the manifestation of one of the spheres of individuality. So, the characters of fiction give us the most interesting examples of individual variations in the human psyche.

It is not always easy to draw a clear line between the traits that form an accentuated personality and the traits that determine variations in a person's personality. Fluctuations here are observed in two directions. First of all, the features of a stuck, or pedantic, or hypomanic personality can be expressed in a person so insignificantly that accentuation as such does not take place, one can only state a deviation from a certain “cliché” pattern. This is especially pronounced when determining certain properties of temperament, representing all the intermediate stages of its types up to almost neutral. Accentuation always generally implies an increase in the degree of a certain feature. This personality trait thus becomes accentuated.

Many features cannot be strictly differentiated, that is, it is difficult to establish whether they relate to a number of accentuations or only to individual personality variations. For example, if we talk about ambition, then we should first of all determine whether it belongs to the sphere of interests and inclinations or is a feature of accentuated stuckness. The latter definition is possible if this trait is pronounced: hard-nosed, blind careerism can hardly be attributed to the sphere of orientation of interests. In addition, stuckness is never manifested only by ambition, it is joined by an increased sensitivity to resentment and a pronounced vindictiveness.

We encounter a similar situation when we observe vivid manifestations of a sense of duty. It can be attributed to the sphere of orientation of interests and inclinations, but one can also see in it a trait characteristic of anancasts. Differentiation should take into account the following points: in cases where a sense of duty is simply a characterological feature, a person is distinguished by smooth, calm behavior, his devotion to duty is devoid of tension and is a trait that seems to be taken for granted; For an anancast, the sense of duty is associated with anxiety, constant questions about whether he is acting selflessly enough.

It is very interesting and significant from a psychological point of view that stuck individuals display manifestations of egoistic feelings (ambition, painful resentment), and pedantic ones display altruistic manifestations, in particular a sense of duty. It should be emphasized that the traits of being stuck are interconnected mainly with egoistic feelings, and the traits of doubt and constant hesitation (anankastic) are associated with feelings of an altruistic order. The more a person hesitates in his decisions, the more altruistic feelings take over the consciousness and influence decision-making.

The contrast is even more striking when comparing an anankastic personality not with a stuck one, but with a hysterical one, since hysterics are even more prone to selfishness. They often make rash decisions, rarely weigh their actions, remaining in the selfish circle of interests that are closer to them (see: op. cit.).

Anankastic and hysterical traits also intersect with other personality traits. I have already dealt with the question before (see: op. cit., pp. 212–214) whether prolonged deliberation when making a decision is not a mild form of anankastic predisposition, or whether it is simply one of the properties of the sphere of feeling and will. In parallel with this, I also tried to establish whether the readiness for rash actions is an expression of a slightly hysterical bias or whether it should be regarded as an independent manifestation of a property from the sphere of feeling and will. There are other ambiguities of this kind.

A highly developed area of ​​emotions in a person activates altruistic feelings - a feeling of compassion, joy for someone else’s success, a sense of duty. To a much lesser extent in such cases, the desire for power, greed and selfishness, indignation, and anger due to infringement of pride are developed. An emotive nature is especially characterized by such a property as empathy, but it can also develop on other grounds.

There is no single genetic basis for such personality traits as anxiety (fearfulness). To a normal degree, fearfulness is characteristic of many people, but it can become dominant, leaving its mark on all human behavior. In these cases, the physical basis of this condition is often discovered in the form of increased excitability of the autonomic nervous system, which, acting on the vascular system, can lead to a physical feeling of tightness, fear and melancholy. Probably, only in the latter case is there a tendency to step over the boundaries of average manifestations of fearfulness and cause accentuation of the personality.

Due to the large number of intersections, some experts believe that, when considering the individual traits of people, one should abandon all classifications and only describe what is observed in a general way. I take a different point of view, and therefore can expect the reproach of trying to squeeze into a diagram something that cannot be clearly defined. And yet I am convinced that there are basic features of human individuality, they exist objectively and that, because of this, science should strive to isolate and describe them. Naturally, this is associated with great difficulties, because the question is not about adapting diffuse material to a more or less acceptable scheme, but about revealing objectively existing traits that underlie the concept of “personality”, despite the presence of their numerous intersections .

Accented features are not nearly as numerous as varying individual ones. Accentuation is, in essence, the same individual traits, but with a tendency to transition to a pathological state. Anankastic, paranoid and hysterical traits can be inherent to some extent, in fact, in any person, but their manifestations are so insignificant that they elude observation. When more pronounced, they leave an imprint on the personality as such and, finally, can acquire a pathological character, destroying the structure of the personality.

The personalities we designate as accented are not pathological. With a different interpretation, we would be forced to come to the conclusion that only the average person should be considered normal, and any deviation from such a mean (average norm) would have to be recognized as pathology. This would force us to take beyond the norm those individuals who, by their originality, clearly stand out from the background of the average level. However, this category would also include that category of people about whom they speak of “personality” in a positive sense, emphasizing that they have a pronounced original mental make-up. If a person does not exhibit manifestations of those properties that in “large doses” give a paranoid, anankastic, hysterical, hypomanic or subdepressive picture, then such an average person can be unconditionally considered normal. But what is the forecast for the future in this case, what is the assessment of the state? It can be said without hesitation that such a person will not face the uneven path of life as a sick, quirky, loser, but it is also unlikely that he will distinguish himself in a positive way. Accented personalities potentially contain both the possibility of socially positive achievements and a socially negative charge. Some accentuated personalities appear before us in a negative light, since life circumstances were not favorable to them, but it is quite possible that under the influence of other circumstances they would have become extraordinary people.

A stuck person under unfavorable circumstances may become an intractable arguer who does not tolerate objections, but if circumstances favor such a person, it is possible that he will turn out to be a tireless and purposeful worker.

A pedantic personality, under unfavorable circumstances, may develop obsessive-compulsive neurosis; under favorable circumstances, he will become an exemplary worker with a great sense of responsibility for the work assigned.

A demonstrative personality can act out rental neurosis in front of you; under other circumstances, it can stand out with outstanding creative achievements. In general, with a negative picture, doctors tend to see psychopathy; with a positive picture, they tend to see personality accentuation. This approach is sufficiently justified, since a mild degree of deviation is more often associated with positive manifestations; and high – with negative ones.

The designation “pathological personalities” should be used only in relation to people who deviate from the standard, and when external circumstances that interfere with the normal course of life are excluded. However, various edge cases need to be taken into account.

There is no hard boundary between normal, average people and accentuated individuals. Here, too, I would not like to approach these concepts too narrowly, i.e., it would be wrong, on the basis of any minor feature of a person, to immediately see in him a deviation from the norm. But even with a fairly broad approach to what qualities can be called standard, normal, and not conspicuous, there are still many people who have to be classified as accentuated personalities. According to surveys conducted at the Berlin Clinic by Sitte among adults and by Gutjahr among children, the population of our country, at least the population of Berlin, is 50% accentuated individuals and 50% standard type of people. For the population of any other state, the data may turn out to be completely different. German nationality, for example, is credited with not only such a flattering trait as determination, but also a rather unpleasant one - careerism. Perhaps this can explain the fact that Sitte found many stuck and pedantic individuals among the people she examined.

Below I detail my understanding of the accented personality. However, since at the same time I always turn to pathological individuals, it would be worthwhile to set out in detail the essence of my differences of opinion with some famous scientists dealing with identical problems. Let me first point out that Bergman, while dealing with combined pathological traits, noted how much our views coincide with the scheme proposed by K. Schneider. In a small book, “Childhood Neuroses and the Personality of the Child,” I set out my views on these issues more fully, so here I will limit myself to a few brief comments.

Pedantic, or anankastic, personalities, which K. Schneider does not single out at all, represent, in my opinion, a particularly important group both due to their prevalence and due to the very wide scale of deviations from the average level.

The same can be said about demonstrative, or hysterical, individuals, whom a number of scientists have recently also refused to classify as a special group. Meanwhile, anankastic and hysterical traits can have a strong impact on a person’s personality.

I interpret the concept of “paranoid” somewhat differently than has been accepted until now, since I consider its most significant aspect to be the tendency to get stuck in affect.

I do not include unstable, unstable personalities in my taxonomy, since in their description I do not find a unity of personality structure: when you read about such people, you see before you either hysterical, or hypomanic, or epileptoid personalities. Even if instability were understood as mere weakness of will, I would still not be able to attribute this trait to accentuation, but would attribute it only to variations in individuality: after all, weakness of will can never reach such a degree at which one could talk about leaving an imprint on personality as a whole. It should be noted that under the current diagnostic conditions, instability is the most common form of psychopathy. This is due to the fact that the concept of instability also includes many more pathological personality traits, while at the same time weak-will itself is often not included in this concept.

In the chapters on personality accentuation, I do not consider insensibility, which is sometimes designated by the term “heboid”2.

In these cases, we are talking, judging by the last term, about latent mental illness. As for the usual coldness of feelings, we encounter it only with variations in character, and not with its accentuation.

Hyperthymic, dysthymic and cyclothymic personalities are distinguished by me according to Kretschmer, but it must be stipulated that I regard them as individuals who have a labile temperament, and therefore constantly fluctuate between the hyperthymic and dysthymic states. On the contrary, I consider syntonic people to be people who, as a rule, have an average, balanced mood. From the general mass of cyclothymic individuals, I single out those who are affectively labile, prone to constant excessive mood swings, as if between two poles.

Due to the area of ​​thinking and psychomotor, it would be necessary to increase the number of special groups of temperament accentuation, since some individuals exhibit special excitation or inhibition precisely in the process of thinking, which is associated with their psychomotor, in particular the liveliness or lethargy of facial expressions. Thorstorff described these phenomena in detail.

Introverted and extroverted individuals should be dealt with in more detail here, since there is no such information in the works I cited. I also attach a meaning to these concepts that is somewhat different from the generally accepted one, although they already only partially retained the content that Jung once put into them.

In my opinion, these concepts are closely related to the period of adolescence, i.e., with the period of formation of the child’s psyche as an adult (see: op. cit., pp. 2280–237). I will briefly outline my views on this issue.

The child is extroverted: he is drawn to processes that affect his feelings and reacts to them with appropriate behavior, without thinking much. An adult, compared to a child, is introverted: he is much less interested in the environment, the external world, his reactions are much less immediate, he tends to first reflect on an action. With extroversion, the world of perceptions predominates in thoughts and behavior, with introversion, the world of ideas. For an extroverted adult, the joy of making a decision is much more intense, because he is more focused on the external world around him and therefore reasons and weighs various possibilities to a much lesser extent; for an introverted person, there is a predominant tendency to pre-think and evaluate decisions. An extroverted person is characterized by the manifestation of purely external activity, independent of thought processes, that is, significantly greater impulsiveness of behavior: this trait is also akin to child psychology. The indecision of an introverted person is associated with increased work of thought, but despite this, he is less able to feel joy in connection with making a decision.

In childhood, extroversion in both sexes has the same form of expression. In adolescence, the turn to introversion in boys is much more dramatic than in girls. Therefore, a woman is always more connected with the objective events of life, more dependent on them and in most cases has a more practical mind. However, making a rash decision inspired by the moment and acting without weighing the consequences is always a real danger for her. A man better understands the interconnection of phenomena and the true, not always obvious reasons for them, he is more inclined to generalizations, his thought works in the appropriate direction more effectively. The danger for a man is that he indulges in theoretical reasoning and misses those opportunities that require immediate action. As a result of this difference, accentuated extroversion and introversion in men and women cannot be assessed equally. What is the norm for a woman is extroversion for a man, and vice versa, what should be considered the norm for men should be considered introversion for women.

An extroverted decision may be less realistic and less objective than an introverted one, since the latter, made after thorough and comprehensive weighing, is always more sensible and sober. I agree with Jung when he says: “Extroverted natures are guided by given specific facts, an introverted person develops his own opinion, which he, as it were, “pushes” between himself and the objective reality.”

I will dwell on what Jung writes further: “When talking about introversion, we must also keep in mind another type of thinking, which, in fact, can even more likely fit under this heading, namely the type that is not oriented towards direct objective experience, nor on general ideas obtained through objective calculations.”

So, Jung here comes to the conclusion that not only a specific orientation to an object excludes introversion, but also such ideas that “start from the object.” At the beginning, Jung said that an extroverted person accepts objective reality as it is, while an introverted person internally processes it; Subsequently, he puts forward the position according to which an introverted person generally perceives everything objective under a subjective sign: “I apply the term “subjective factor” in relation to those psychological actions and reactions that, experiencing the influence of an object, give rise to a new fact of a mental order.”

It goes on to explain even more clearly what exactly thinking is on the introverted plane: “It cannot be denied in such cases that the idea has its origin in an obscure and gloomy symbol. Such an idea has a certain mythological character: in one case this idea is interpreted as a manifestation of originality, in another, worse, as eccentricity. The fact is that an archaic symbol for a specialist (scientist) unfamiliar with mythological motifs always seems veiled.” Specifically, this means that a considerable number of ideas can only be associated with extroversion. Us. 468 we read: “In the process of practical thinking of a businessman, technician, or natural scientist, thought cannot help but be directed towards the object. The picture is not so clear when it comes to the thinking of a philosopher who deals with the field of ideas. In this case, it is necessary first of all to establish whether these ideas are not just abstractions that arise in the process of cognition of a certain object. If this is so, then the corresponding ideas are nothing more than general concepts of a higher order, including a certain sum of objective facts. If the ideas are not abstractions from directly received experience, then it should also be established whether they were adopted from somewhere by tradition or borrowed from the surrounding intellectual environment. If yes, then these ideas also belong to the category of objective data, and thus this thinking will also have to be recognized as extroverted.”

I consider the mental work of a natural scientist to be extroverted only in those cases when his activity is in the nature of collecting, collecting. The more he mentally processes what he observes, the more his mental activity approaches the plane of introversion. To a philosopher who develops certain ideas, I attribute only an introverted character of mental activity, even in those cases when the course of his thought is based on objective sources or facts.

If I, despite differences of opinion with Jung, use his terminology, this is for two reasons. Firstly, in medical psychology these terms have taken root more in the meaning that I ascribe to them. Secondly, with a practical approach to the issue there is not such a large discrepancy as in the field of theory. The more specific the examples Jung gives, the more I am inclined to agree with him. For example, Jung writes: “One person, as soon as he hears that it is cold outside, immediately rushes to put on his coat, another considers this unnecessary for the reason that “you need to toughen up”; one admires the new tenor for the reason that everyone is “obsessed with him,” the other does not admire him at all, but not for the reasons that he does not like him, but because he is deeply convinced: if everyone admires something, then it is This does not mean at all that this phenomenon deserves admiration; one submits to existing circumstances, because, as his experience shows, anything else is impossible anyway, while the other is confident that even though such a result has already happened a thousand times, the thousand and first cases can turn out differently.” I view these opposing types of behavior from the same angle as Jung.

Sometimes experts do not clearly differentiate between extroverted and introverted behavior and temperamental traits. For example, hypomanic individuals are constantly distracted, they are entirely oriented toward the events happening around them, and are ready to become involved in them at any moment. They can also be designated as an extroverted type, but their behavior is devoid of the specificity of extroversion.

Eysenck, for whom extroversion and introversion play a primary role in personality diagnosis, in my opinion, did not avoid the above-mentioned danger and also included hypomanic temperament among the symptoms. About an extroverted person, Eysenck writes: “He loves to joke, is very resourceful, constantly looking for entertainment and variety; he is an optimist, laughs a lot and willingly. An extremely active person, prone to aggression, he is often overcome by impatience. Does not monitor restraint in the manifestation of feelings; you can’t always rely on him.” In this description, there are clearly notes of a hypomanic temperament, which is fundamentally different from the temperament of an extroverted personality. A person who is always serious, not prone to optimism, and who does not like to laugh can also show signs of extroversion, but only his extroversion is not so striking. On the other hand, a hypomanic personality may have introverted traits. We will further illustrate this with relevant examples.

There is another factor of insufficient differentiation of types, which manifests itself in the sphere of contacts between people. Thus, a person who lives primarily in the world of perceptions easily establishes contact with other people; It is more difficult for someone who is more self-absorbed to establish relationships with others. However, such a dependence is not always observed. An introverted person does not show great readiness to engage in communication, and yet he can quickly make friends with someone, while another person, always oriented to the environment, living “wide open”, may experience difficulties in establishing contacts. What is the reason for this? Obviously, in establishing direct understanding between two people, which is largely associated with the area of ​​expressiveness, expression of behavior. Undoubtedly, some people have a special gift to influence others with an expressive, inviting manner of communication, to sensitively understand the subtlest shades of feelings and moods of others. But there are also people who are deprived of such a gift, such sensitivity. In the first case, contact is established quickly even in the presence of introversion, in the second - even for extroverted people, establishing contact with others is difficult. The ability to establish contacts and weakened contact-making function are often considered to be identical to extroversion and introversion, respectively. Especially often, the terms autism or schizoid character are deciphered as introversion plus weak contacts. Thorstorff managed to draw a clear line between one and the other.

After the preliminary remarks I have made, I can turn to the diagnosis of accentuated personalities. Even where my diagnostic method is no different from the methods of other authors, its description will still not be superfluous: it will show how one can specifically distinguish one accentuated personality from another.

Kurt Schneider said that his scheme of psychopathy is difficult to apply in practice, since a number of individual traits transform into each other too imperceptibly. Because of this, in most cases he prefers such a general designation as “psychopathy.” I have repeatedly objected to this approach. In this work, I would like to specifically show that those accentuated personalities, which I propose to distinguish from each other, in most cases can be recognized quite clearly, regardless of whether we are talking about one accentuated trait or several. Personality diagnostics must be carried out using proper methods.

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