Many people cannot distinguish some basic sociological concepts that are close in meaning, but still different in meaning. Of course, in order to understand and be able to explain the processes taking place in society, it is necessary to know what an individual is and what is a personality, how it is formed, and what impact the surrounding world has on it. In the basic concepts from the section of sociology, we will understand this article.
When a person is born, he is considered an individual, that is, a representative of the species. He still does not have those qualities that would allow him to be called a person. Very often, schoolchildren, and adults alike, confuse the concepts of “personality”, “individual”, “individuality”, although there is a significant difference between them. Each person must know the difference between these terms from each other in order to have an idea of what is given to him by nature, what he can become, and what he needs to prove throughout his life.
The transition from an individual to a person with a bright personality is carried out only in the process of socialization, under the influence of which any member of society is. Each born person is an individual who is not yet a person and does not have a pronounced individuality. Only in the process of development can he become a person. But this right must be constantly upheld, otherwise individuality can turn into mediocrity.
But why cannot a person be a person at birth? Because the individual is just a biological individual of the species Homo sapiens. A personality is a combination of socially significant traits that characterize a person as a member of society. But at birth, the individual does not yet have such features, therefore, it is not yet possible to consider him a personality. Now we will understand what is individuality. Each person has it, because it is a combination of the unique qualities of an individual. In him, it is not so pronounced as that of a person, so individuality, of course, must be defended.
One of the most striking examples of how an individual born in a poor family can become an incredibly developed person who not only knew perfectly well what an individual is, but fully defended it, is Mikhail Lomonosov, a brilliant Russian scientist. For this man there were no barriers in the study of sciences, because he strove for self-improvement and reached incredible heights.
Similar examples are known in the literature. From the first pages of the genius epic novel by L. N. Tolstoy, “War and Peace, ” readers get to know Natasha Rostova. At the beginning of the work we have before us an ordinary child, an individual, to whom the concept of “individuality” is still not applicable. But by the end of the work, this is an already mature personality, since Natasha changed throughout the novel.
So, a person in the development process goes through precisely three stages: birth by an individual, becoming a person and proving one's own uniqueness. To control these stages, each one must distinguish these concepts from each other, know what an individual is, what is a personality, and what is an individual.
