THE PROBLEM OF PROFESSIONAL PSYCHOLOGY OF A SPECIALIST’S PERSONALITY WITHIN FOREIGN CONCEPTS

Abstract

The author has analyzes the main foreign concepts of professional psychology of a specialist’s personality and stressed that the history of the development of the issue of professional psychology is the history of the formation of general scientific tendency of studying the problem of professional development and self-deployment of personality, where within its frames some “professional” theoretical and applied schools of professional psychology have been formed by today. The idea about labor and its significance for society were reflected in early Christian texts and philosophical theories. The greatest growth of ideas about labor education and professional training of children and youth in the West falls on the Renaissance in the XIV–XVI centuries (Thomas Moore, Tommaso Campanella, Ioannes Amos Comenius, John Locke). An indication of the beginning of the XX century was the growing relevance of the problem of professional development.

The author has analyzed the main foreign theories of professional development, which most scholars combine in five main directions: 1) differential and diagnostic; 2) psychoanalytical; 3) the theory of decisions, 4) the theory of development; 5) typological direction.

It has been determined that the most vulnerable moment within typological theories is the very principle, on the basis of which the construction of types is carried out. Besides, the real individual often does not meet any of the personality types associated with certain professional spheres. It has been emphasized that most authors consider professional psychology as an integration of two processes: the development of personality in ontogenesis that is, on the whole life path, and the professionalization of personality from the period of the beginning of professional self-determination to the completion of active labor activity.