SELFISHNESS: CONGENITAL OR ACQUIRED?

The paper discusses the points of view of foreign and domestic scientists on the nature of selfishness. The analysis of the literature showed that selfishness is still one of the least studied personality traits. There is no accordance in the scientific views of the nature and the content of selfishness. There are different trends in the definition and understanding of selfishness: its identification with personality traits or instinct; its inclusion in a unit synonymous range with needs, orientation, values. Currently in psychological science, there are two opposite concepts; one of them maintains a biological nature of selfishness, the other - underlines the primacy of social factors in the selfishness formation. These studies can be considered as a first step towards a holistic concept of the selfishness. The deepest understanding of the nature and mechanisms of development and formation of selfishness should be based on the system approach, which include an analysis of selfishness as a functional system of motivational, cognitive, productive, dynamic, emotional, regulatory, reflective characteristics. Its implementation may offer great opportunities to identify psychological and psychophysiological mechanisms of selfishness formation and growth

selfishness, personality trait, biological approach, sociological approach, system approach