Psychology in Russia: State of the Art, Moscow: Russian Psychological Society, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 2023, 1

Systematic review

• Bilingualism and Development of Literacy in Children: A Systematic Review

  Oshchepkova, E.S.; Kartushina, N.A.; Razmakhnina, K.O.

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  • Background. The importance of biliteracy in bilingual children’s development has been widely investigated and discussed for the last several decades, suggesting beneficial effects of writing and reading in two languages for bilingual children as well as for adult second language learners.

    Objective. To analyze research on the link between bilingualism and literacy development in two or more languages and the factors that may influence a successful or problematic biliteracy acquisition. RQ (1): What is the relationship between bilingualism and literacy of bilingual children? RQ (2): What strategies are used to develop biliteracy?

    Design. The review analyzes 50 studies of literacy development in bilingual children. The selected articles have been separated based on their methodology: 25 articles gave a critical analysis of more than 1,100 studies on the topic, strengthening the theoretical basis of existing research, and 25 other articles were empirical research articles demonstrating practical evidence for the former.

    Results. Our analysis revealed that literacy in bilinguals, or biliteracy, can be seen as a necessary condition for fluent development of bilingualism, though it is not a necessary condition (which is explained by the difference between structures of specific languages and writing systems, instruction in literacy, and cognitive baggage invoked by the task used to measure the skill) (Bialystok, 2002). Research suggests that bilingualism impacts children's ultimate acquisition of literacy via the beneficial effects of bilingualism overall: advanced biliteracy boosts the development of phonological and phonemic awareness and metacognitive abilities. Thus, biliteracy can be considered as an advantage in terms of maintaining bilingual acquisition in general and developing writing skills in particular.

    Conclusion. There is a lack of studies on the development of writing skills in different educational contexts, across countries and cultures, which must be addressed and complemented by new empirical research. Research will enable policymakers to improve educational programs in accordance with the needs of bilingual children, who are the majority in the current global population.

    Keywords: Bilingualism/ multilingualism/ biliteracy/ writing skills/ multilingual education/ systematic review

    DOI: 10.11621/pir.2023.0101

Psychometrics

• Psychometric Analysis of Two Brief Versions of the CERQ in the Argentinean population: CERQ-18 and CERQ-27

  Dominguez-Lara, S.; Moretti, L.; Flores-Kanter, P.E.; Muñoz-Navarro, R.; Medrano, L.A.

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  • Background. Emotion Regulation (ER) involves any explicit or implicit process that may alter the emotion felt, its duration and expression, and is a transdiagnostic factor of vulnerability involved in the etiology and maintenance of different emotional disorders. The Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) assesses nine cognitive strategies involved in ER and is a valuable tool. Its popularity and wide use led to the development of two abbreviated versions: a version with 18 items (two items per factor) and a 27-item version (three items per factor).

    Objective. To analyze the psychometric properties of both versions in the Argentinean population.

    Design. The research design was instrumental. The factor structure of the CERQ-18 and CERQ-27 as well as the reliability of the scores and the construct of each dimension were evaluated. In addition, we gathered validity evidence for its relationship with other variables by associating the CERQ scores with Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) scores.

    Results. The CERQ-18 presented more consistent evidence regarding its internal structure (adequate fit indices and factor loadings of moderate magnitude) and reliability. Given that the association of the two versions with the DERS is similar, we recommend that the 18-item version be used.

    Conclusion. The CERQ-18 has quite similar psychometric properties to the CERQ-27 in the general population of Argentina and the findings contribute to an understanding of its internal structure.

    Keywords: Emotion/ validity/ reliability/ cognitive regulation/ short scale

    DOI: 10.11621/pir.2023.0102

Social psychology

• The Role of Income in System Justification

  Agadullina, E.R.

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  • Background. System justification theory asserts that people’s motivation to defend, justify, and maintain the status quo depends on their socio-economic status. At the same time practically nothing is known about the mediators for the relationship between a person’s income and his adherence to system justification.

    Objective. The aim of this study was to clarify the role of income in motivating an individual to justify the system, taking into account as potential mediators of this relationship his sense of control over life and level of life satisfaction.

    Design. In an online study (N = 410), a double sequential mediation model was tested, with an individual’s income as an independent variable, his/her system justification as a dependent variable, and his/her perceived control over life and level of life satisfaction as mediators. The impact of education was controlled by inserting it into the model as a covariate.

    Results. The results demonstrated that people with low incomes justify the system more than people with high incomes do. At the same time, there was a positive indirect effect of income on system justification, indicating that, compared to people with low incomes, those with high incomes had a more pronounced sense of control over their lives, which contributed to an increase in their level of life satisfaction, and was positively associated with justification of the status quo.

    Conclusion. The results are discussed in terms of differences in the palliative function of system justification for individuals of different socio-economic status.

    Keywords: System justification/ income/ life satisfaction/ control over life

    DOI: 10.11621/pir.2023.0104

• Social Axioms and Individual Values as Predictors of COVID-19 Fear among University Students from Countries with Different Government Strategies for Managing the Pandemic

  Murashcenkova, N.V.

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  • Background. Effective prevention of psychological trauma by fear of COVID-19 requires the study of the relationships between the psychological and contextual factors that can influence the level of this fear. The social axioms, individual values, and government strategies for managing the pandemic have not yet been studied as a system of psychological and contextual factors contributing to COVID-19 fear.

    Objective. The aim of this study was to assess the level of COVID-19 fear and the characteristics of the relationships between the social axioms, individual values, and fear of COVID-19 among university students from countries with different government strategies for managing the pandemic.

    Design. University students from countries with different government strategies for managing the pandemic (208 Belarusians, 200 Kazakhstanis, and 250 Russians ages 18 to 25) participated in an anonymous online survey. The respondents filled in questionnaires that assessed their manifestations of COVID-19 fear (COVID-19 Fear Scale: FCV-19S) as the dependent variable; the “Social Axiom Questionnaire” (QSA-31) and the “Portrait Value Questionnaire” (ESS-21) measured the social axioms and individual values as the independent variables.

    Results. Fear of COVID-19 reached a higher level among the students from the countries with the weakest (Belarus) and the strongest (Kazakhstan) restrictive measures during the pandemic. Dysfunctional fear of COVID-19 was manifest among those Belarusian students who attached the greatest importance to self-enhancement values and the fate control axiom, and the least importance to the social complexity axiom, as well as among those Russian students for whom the religiosity social axiom was significant and the social complexity axiom was not. For Kazakhstani students, social axioms and values were not predictors of dysfunctional fear of COVID-19.

    Conclusion. The greatest contribution of social axioms and individual values to the experience of COVID-19 fear among the students was observed under conditions where the actions of the authorities were incompatible with the existing pandemic risks (in Belarus), as well as under conditions where a variable assessment of threat level was possible (in Russia).

    Keywords: Social axioms / individual values/ fear of COVID-19/ government strategies of managing the pandemic/ students

    DOI: 10.11621/pir.2023.0103

• The Relationship Between Perceived Discrimination, Acculturation Attitudes, and Adaptation among Anglophone African Immigrants in Russia: The Moderating Role of Neuroticism

  Ivande, S.K.; Ryabichenko, T.A.

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  • Background. Perceived discrimination is an acculturative stressor that negatively predicts psychological and socio-cultural adaptation, partially mediated by the individual’s acculturation attitudes. However, despite being under similar conditions of high perceived discrimination, some African immigrants in Russia appear to adapt more successfully than others. Why the individual differences? Neuroticism is a trait that intensifies the experience of negative emotions and sensitivity to stress. Perhaps it amplifies the reaction to acculturative stressors (e.g., perceived discrimination) in terms of acculturation attitudes, with significant implications on adaptation.

    Objective. This study sought to determine whether the personality trait of neuroticism influences how African immigrants in Russia react to perceived discrimination in terms of their acculturation attitudes and how this may relate to adaptation.

    Design. A moderated mediation analysis was carried out, investigating neuroticism as a moderator in the relationship between perceived discrimination, acculturation attitudes, and adaptation of African immigrants in Russia (N=157).

    Results. Perceived discrimination was found to be strongly associated with poor psychological and sociocultural adaptation, which was partially mediated by the integration attitude; neuroticism strengthened this indirect negative association.

    Conclusion. When highly neurotic African immigrants perceived elevated levels of discrimination, they were more averse to adopting a positive attitude toward integration, and as a result, were more maladapted. This result suggests that the differences in the levels of adaptation among African immigrants in Russia under similar conditions of high perceived discrimination may be partially due to their levels of neuroticism.  

    Keywords: Perceived discrimination/ neuroticism/ acculturation attitudes/ psychological adaptation/ sociocultural adaptation/ African immigrants/ Russia

    DOI: 10.11621/pir.2023.0105