1. Temperament and its properties
Temperament is a set of stable characteristics of a person that are innate and reflect how their mental processes proceed from a dynamic point of view. Temperament also reflects the characteristics of a person’s adaptation and determines the specificity of their reactions, behavior, and communication.
Three main processes constitute the basis of temperament according to I. P. Pavlov:
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Strength of the nervous system reflects the level of its performance and resistance to prolonged exposure to stimuli.
A person with a strong nervous system, when finding themselves in a stressful situation, will be able to withstand the influence of the stressor for quite a long time. They will have the strength not only to maintain their previous standard of living for a sufficiently long period but also to resolve the problematic situation. A person with a weak nervous system in a state of stress cannot endure for long, cannot maintain their usual way of life – they experience severe discomfort both at the physiological level (for example, they get sick more often, get tired more than usual) and at the psychological level (for example, a person with a weak nervous system becomes more irritable, critical, anxious, etc.). -
Balanced nervous processes are characterized by harmony between excitation and inhibition. In unbalanced nervous processes, one of the aspects – excitation or inhibition – predominates and manifests more strongly.
Unbalanced nervous processes influence how a person reacts to stressful situations, as well as their emotional state. For example, a person with a predominance of excitation processes in a stressful situation generally behaves quite actively (sometimes displaying disorganized activity), finding it difficult to stop their activity and manage emotional manifestations.
A person with a predominance of inhibition processes will show indecisiveness in reactions and behavior (up to stupor). Delayed emotional response (for example, delayed grieving after a loss) may be characteristic of them.
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Mobility of the nervous system reflects the speed of occurrence of excitation and inhibition processes. A person with a mobile nervous system, on the one hand, can react and adapt quite quickly in the event of a stressor impact (for example, managing to jump away from a car or make a quick decision if time is limited). On the other hand, a mobile nervous system can manifest in the fact that the quick onset of positive or negative emotions and emotional states is characteristic of the person (for example, such people are more prone to states of affect).
Immobile nervous system is expressed in the fact that a person takes a long time to make decisions; their psychophysiological reactions are slowed, which affects the course of their cognitive processes (for example, such a person may think and reflect for a long time). Also, such a person is not prone to bright emotional outbursts and manifestations. For example, affect is not characteristic of them.