p The founders of scientific communism foresaw that the first phase of the new socio-economic formation would see the appearance of the socialist personality, conditioned, like the entire history of mankind, by labour and the obtaining system of social (material and intellectual) production.

p The new, socialist, man appeared, as they had predicted, as a result of the victorious Great October Socialist Revolution of 1917 in Russia, the dedicated labour and struggle of the Soviet people, and the establishment of the socialist world system.

p The behaviour and personal traits of the people of the new, socialist, type are essentially conditioned by the qualitatively new system of social relations and the new social environment. The content of the social changes that occurred in the USSR shows that Soviet society step by step eliminated the exploitation of man by man; all material and intellectual wealth serves the worker, labour having become not only a means of livelihood but also a means of serving society; relationships among people are marked by the development of social homogeneity, harmony, collectivism and fraternal co-operation.

p Not only the content, but also the way in which the social environment influences the consciousness and behaviour of man has changed.

p Humanism, scope and intensiveness are the essential new features that socialism has introduced into the influence that society exercises on the personality.

p Four groups of traits characteristic of the new, socialist, type of personality may be singled out.

p The first group is related to the personality’s attitude to socialist society as a whole.

p The socialist type of personality is an ideologically motivated personality sharing the goals and principles of the communist ideology and placing above all else the interests of society. Hence the socialist personality’s highly developed sense of responsibility for the country and its riches, the worker’s sense of dignity, optimism, single-mindedness, confidence in the future, sense of political involvement and labour enthusiasm, etc. Naturally, these traits are witnessed in different people to different degrees.

p The second group of traits is related-to the individual’s attitude to labour. Under socialism, labour acquires additional content; it becomes a means for serving the common good, the people, socialism, as well as a means for sustaining life. The everyday work of a workman, peasant, or office employee becomes public affair rather than a personal business; and in this the person in question displays his or her abilities and socio-political activeness.

p Consequently, an interest in the substance and the results of one’s labour effort are registered on 197 a mass scale. People are not only out to earn money, but are also concerned with the general aspects of production, the satisfactory operation of the shop, enterprise, or office. Capitalism, on the other hand, counterposes the sphere of production to home and personal life, and thereby divides the traits of the person into two distinct groups- “professional” or “technical” and personal traits. Socialism has bridged this gap between the personal and the professional; here professional skills and traits become dignified and of personal significance. "He feels at home when he is not working,”   [197•1  said Marx about the worker in capitalist society. Of the worker of a socialist enterprise we may justly say that he feels at home when he is working, as well. The worker at a socialist enterprise leads a full life when he is at work. Work for the benefit of socialist society is considered service for the good of the people and the essence of living. This is another essential trait of the socialist personality.

p When the worker’s attitude towards his work changed, his attitude towards culture and education changed too. Knowledge, science, men of science, highly educated persons arc held in the highest esteem. The workers feel a need for edu- 198 cation and learning. An intensive intellectual liftis inherent in Soviet reality, as is the striving to achieve knowledge and attain cultural goals. In tact, a wide range of intellectual needs is inherent in the new, socialist personality.

p The third group of traits relates to the socialist personality’s attitude towards other individuals. This personality orientation is best illustrated by the ties between the goals and the standards of people’s behaviour. In capitalist society, the officially proclaimed goals and the standards by which members of society are guided are in constant and insuperable conflict, which is fanned by the social nature of capitalist appropriation, the antagonism between class or group interests and the necessity felt by the various classes or social groups to protect their interests. Hence the constant conflict between classes or nationalities, and, accordingly, between proclaimed goals and obtaining standards of conduct.

p Socialist society as a whole has common goals and principles. That unity rests on the foundation of common interests, for the principles of socialist society-democracy, collectivism, and internationalism are standard practice for all citizens and public bodies. The community of the vital interests of classes and social groups, friendship and mutual assistance among Soviet peoples that have replaced the exploitation and antagonism that prevailed in tsarist Russia find expression in polit- 199 ical and ideological unity, fraternal co-operation, mutual assistance, collectivism and internationalism. Inherent in socialist society is respect for each individual as such, irrespective of his or her origin or nationality. Public-spiritedness, work, knowledge, and integrity are the criteria of the socialist personality.

Lenin wrote that the goal of communist society is to ensure "ful. well-being and free, all-roun. development for al. the members of society".  [199•1    The harmoniously developed individual is the ideal of communism. As Lenin pointed out in his work “Left-wing” Communism -an Infantile Disorder, "Communism is advancing and must advance towards that goal, and will reach it...to educate and school people, give them all-round development and an all-round training, so that they are able to do everything."   [199•2