Social psychology

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.

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. 

Background. The COVID-19 pandemic is not only a world health crisis, but also an ordeal for people’s mental health and psychological well-being. The period of the COVID-19 lockdown has changed everyday life and increased anxiety, fears, and stress from habitual activities such as meetings, shopping, and the use of public transport. As the worry and nervousness increase, they threaten the cognitive (Life-satisfaction) and emotional (Happiness) components of well-being. Emotional regulation strategies are a mechanism to cope with the threat.

Objective. This study assessed the impact of anxiety, perceived stress from COVID-19, and emotional regulation strategies on well-being during the first weeks of the lockdown in Russia.

Design. Questionnaire-based surveys were conducted online from March 31 to April 30, 2020. A total of 589 participants (18 to 73 years of age) were recruited. The Subjective Happiness Scale, Satisfaction with Life Scale, Zung's Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, and Perceived Source of Stress from COVID-19 scales were used.

Results. Among the various sources of stress, only that from restrictions on everyday life impacted well-being. High anxiety, but not perceived stress, decreased the feelings of Happiness and Life-satisfaction. Additionally, otional regulation strategies played different roles in their impact on well-being: Cognitive reappraisal lowered negative emotions, but emotional suppression increased dissatisfaction with life.

Conclusion. These findings suggest that people’s effective and relevant regulation of their emotions during public health emergencies and ability to avoid losses caused by crisis events, have become urgent needs, requiring the development of psychological interventions to support well-being.

Background. The development of environmental consciousness is a necessary part of the full development of society. The pandemic caused by COVID-19 has increased attention to the problems of man's relationship with nature, green behavior of both the consumer and the producer. Attitudes towards a green economy are especially important to study in countries rich in natural resources, as there are more opportunities to overcome the contradictions between economic growth and green innovation.

Objective. The purpose of this study was to identify the determinants of Russian attitudes toward a green economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The main hypothesis was that demographic factors determine attitudes toward a green economy in different ways, including the willingness to take actions in support of it, and acknowledgement of the connection of the need for green transformations with the pandemic.

Design. Subjects were given the questionnaire "Green Economy" which contains 19 statements with which they needed to express their degree of agreement on a 5-point Likert scale. Potential determinants of their attitudes toward a green economy were collected using an additional questionnaire, which included indicators of gender, age, family and professional status, religiosity, income level, education level, and place of residence (locality). The study involved 874 respondents from the Russian Federation (62.4% female; 37.6% male; the average age was 37.34 years).

Results. The results of a regression analysis showed that women, people with increased religiosity (but not too religious), younger people, and students and employees of public organizations (as opposed to employees of state and commercial organizations), as well as people from small towns or rural areas,were more positive about the idea of transition to a green economy.

Conclusion.The belief that the pandemic situation has reinforced the need for a transition to a green economy was influenced by gender, degree of religiosity, and place of residence. Women, to a greater extent than men, as well as people who were more religious and lived in small towns and rural areas, were more acutely aware of the impact of the pandemic on the actualization of environmental problems.

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).

Background. Many culturally-plural societies like Canada or Russia seek ways to manage their cultural diversity in order to promote harmony among coexisting groups. The social sciences have long viewed intergroup contact as a beneficial intervention to achieve such harmony.

Objective. This paper proposes an adaptationist framework within which to explain how and why intergroup contact contributes to the positive and negative outcomes for individuals who live together in a plural society. We employed this framework in a case study that may serve as an example of the conceptualization and analysis of these issues in international research. Its structural framework included both positive and negative contact and the role of this contact in the distribution of intercultural and psychological adaptation among a large representative sample of the Canadian population.

Design. We used a correlational design with a representative sample of Canadians from a survey carried out by Environics in 2019, which was stratified according to the most current population statistics. The total sample was 3,111 persons age 18 and over and included the largest racialised groups in the country.

Results. Our main finding was that intergroup contact (both positive and negative) related to both psychological and intercultural adaptation. These findings have implications for improving intercultural relations, especially through the role of positive contact.

Conclusion. The experience of negative contact (e.g., discrimination) in the near term is an important factor in undermining both forms of adaptation. Nonetheless, while intergroup contact can bring both positive and negative experiences during intercultural interactions, it leads to mutual adaptation over time.

Background. Although the interest in subjective well-being has flourished during recent decades, there is a general lack of research into this subject throughout the Arab world, and in the Jordanian academic environment in particular.

Objective. The present study aimed to identify any significant gender differences in the level of subjective well-being, and to examine the relationship between subjective well-being and social support among a sample of Hashemite University students.

Design. The study sample comprised 679 male and female undergraduate students from the Hashemite University chosen by purposive method. The College Student Subjective Well-being Questionnaire and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support were used to collect the data.

Results. The results showed no significant differences in the level of subjective well-being due to the gender variable, but indicated significant differences between genders in satisfaction with academics and school connectedness. The results also showed a positive relationship between subjective well-being and social support.

Conclusion. The current study contributes to enriching the theoretical literature related to gender differences in the level of subjective well-being of Jordanian university students and to examining the relationship between subjective well-being and social support.

Background. Gender inequality continues to reproduce itself in hidden and ambivalent forms and leads to invisible barriers in women's careers and lives. The authors were interested in how social perceptions of gender differences would relate to the maintenance of gender inequality in various spheres of life.

Objective. The purpose of the presented research was to study social perceptions of gender differences in relation to the subjective significance of the gender inequality issue.

Design. The study was conducted via an online survey throughout February-September of 2019. The sample included 106 people aged 18 to 68 (M = 30.2, σ = 10.5), 49% of respondents were women. The authors have developed and tested a questionnaire assessing the adherence to ideas regarding evident gender differences in various spheres of life. The reliability of all scales of the questionnaire has been tested. Respondents also completed a questionnaire identifying their perceptions of gender inequality and shared their life experience with respect to this phenomenon in the form of free description.

Results. The following two latent factors reflecting different aspects of gender perceptions have been identified: “Career Inequality” and “Differences in Social Spheres”. Indicators of the subjective significance of gender inequality (which include gender awareness, frequency of gender inequality witnessing, personal experience of gender discrimination and the emotional significance of this experience) were positively correlated with perceptions of career inequalities (these support ideas regarding gender differences when it comes to opportunities for professional realization) and negatively correlated with perceptions of differences within social spheres (these support ideas regarding the existence of essential gender differences within the family, politics and everyday life).

Conclusion. Articulation of personal experiences of gender inequality is associated with social perceptions of the absence of essential gender differences in various social domains (egalitarianism) and sensitivity to gender inequality with regards to career opportunities.

Background. Media consumption by the digital generation in Russia should not only be of interest to media researchers or managers. The fact that young people's interaction with various information sources and the media is noticeably different from the daily practice of older generations and has created new trends and habits, must be taken into account by the teaching community, parents, and political forces. This issue is of particular interest to politicians, because it points to the need for them to transform their information policy.

Objective. The purpose of this study was to find out how media formats that appeal to emotions of young people influence their media consumption.

Design. During the first stage, we surveyed respondents in three cities with populations of over one million; the surveys allowed us to identify key sources of information and the motivation for various kinds of digital content consumption by youth. During the second stage, 20 in-depth interviews provided a deeper understanding of where the teenagers got their political news and what influenced their consumption.

Results. The authors of this paper have concluded that the digital generation does not consume political news purposefully. They rarely turn to socio-political publications and do not watch shows on federal TV channels. In fact, members of this generation mostly deny having any interest in this topic or awareness of it. However, through various entertaining, primarily humorous, content, which is the most popular among young people, a clear political agenda, albeit subjective, is being formed in their information space.

Conclusion. Our work refutes the common misconception of researchers, representatives of the state system, and journalists that the digital generation is not interested in politics. Rather, their pursuit of emotional experiences, primarily positive ones, have become their main incentive for consuming political news.

Background. Post-industrial society faces multiple stresses and developmental risks, both environmental and biological. The issues of mental health have become more dramatic and subject to debate. The current discourse about the religiosity-mental health nexus makes the study of differences in attitudes towards mental health among children from religious and non-religious families experiencing religious and secular education significant and relevant for practice.

Objective. We studied the attitudes toward different spheres of life of children from Orthodox and non-religious families experiencing religious and secular education. We hypothesized differences in attitudes toward mental health by children from Orthodox families and non-religious families regardless of school choice. We expected the positive attitudes toward mental health to be greater for the children experiencing religious and secular education.

Design. Our study assessed 340 primary school boys on a number of measures. The boys’ average age was 10.4 years old. The participants were divided into three groups, taking into consideration the family’s religiosity and educational characteristics.

Results. The boys from Orthodox families had more positive attitudes toward family, life, people, their bodies, and their mental health than the boys from non-religious families. These differences were also significant between groups of boys from religious and non-religious families experiencing secular education. The boys from religious families experiencing religious education had more positive attitudes toward their physical and mental health than the boys from religious families experiencing secular education.

Conclusion. Positive attitudes toward both physical and mental health are more likely to be formed within religious families.

Background. Kindness and acts of kindness have the potential to cause tremendously positive effects on subjective well-being, reflected in improvements in mental and physical health, and interpersonal relationships. Fostering knowledge about kindness may help in self-development and psychotherapeutic interventions aimed to improve an individual’s emotional well-being. However, existing research data and understanding of this phenomenon in Russia, as well as descriptions of acts of kindness, are presently relatively limited.

Objective. To study the Russian understanding of kindness, its meaning in the Russian context; to categorize a variety of identified acts of kindness; and to define kindness based on the data derived from a Russian sample.

Design. There were 291 Russian participants, recruited using an online recruiting platform, who filled out an online questionnaire that identified definitions of kindness with corresponding examples. Also captured in the sample were the participant’s age, gender, and religiosity. The data underwent qualitative analysis through open, axial, and focused coding.

Results. As a result of qualitative analysis, four theme categories emerged to define kindness: a) personal states and qualities (one’s own states and self-perception, moral values and qualities, self-regulation and emotional stability); b) openness to others (attention to others, love and positive attitude); c) emotional and cognitive understanding of others and tolerance, actions and behavior (altruistic sacrifice, help, politeness and respect, forgiveness, generosity, pleasing actions). Concrete examples of kind acts and behavior were categorized. A definition of kindness was formulated based on the data.

Conclusion. The research results can be used in training, counselling, and therapeutic sessions to increase subjective well-being. Directions for further research have been defined.

Background. The problem of fake news becomes especially prominent during periods of social exacerbation, such as the coronavirus pandemic, wherein the events have a significant impact on many lives. Generational differences are considered as a factor affecting perceptions of the reliability of news.

Objective. The aim of this study was to reveal and compare the social representations of information reliability and news verification criteria among people belonging to the Generation of Reforms (born 1968-1981), the Millennial Generation (1982-2000) and Generation Z (2001 and later) in Russia.

Design.  The study involved 431 participants and was comprised of two stages: focus groups and a survey. The data analysis methods employed were thematic analysis, qualitative and quantitative content analysis, coefficient of positive answers (according to J. Abric), Kruskal-Wallis H test, Pearson's chi-square test, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, and Kendall's t-rank correlation coefficient.

Results. We have found significant differences between the Generation of Reforms (CPA: 80,5; p = 0,000) and Generation Z (CPA: 90,2; p = 0,000), and similarities between the Millennial Generation (CPA: 90,3; p = 0,000) and Generation Z, in the structure and content of social representations regarding “fakes”. Notably, Generation Z favors a fact-checking strategy to identify news reliability, while “Reformists” rely on offline contacts.

Conclusion. Generations in Russia differ with respect to their tolerance of “fakes” and their strategies for news verification. The results advance our understanding of “fakes” as purely social constructs. The attribution of media incompetence to older and younger cohorts by each other was discussed as the generational conflict.  

Background. The development of information technologies has led to the intensification of sociocultural interaction, allowed the creation of new systems for storing and processing information, and provided space for users to share their opinions, ideas, and standpoints. Thus, the Internet has become a major social-humanitarian scientific space. In this modern scientific space, one can single out a wide range of studies in psychology that show which topics are most popular and most widely discussed, or which moral grounds the participants of radical political movements share. Such studies show, for example, that U.S. working people experience psycho-physiological strain, and that infectious diseases spread more easily under modern conditions.

Objective. This study focused on the attitude that users of the Twitter social network hold towards money.

Design. It was carried out by analyzing the texts of messages posted by Russian and Japanese users (background research) which contained the word “money.” The research methods included program tools for word frequency analysis, semantic grouping of content, and analyzing the emotional nature of informal short messages. To interpret the results, the authors used expert analysis, theoretical justification, and content analysis.

Results. We found that Russians’ attitudes toward money can be divided into eight main categories: people, time, country, expenses, economy, philosophical speculations, power, and income. The main economic concerns were centered on the expenses and income coming from salaried jobs. Russians’ major expenses were mainly associated with everyday financial problems. A comparison of Russian and Japanese messages revealed a number of clear-cut psychological differences.

Conclusion. In conclusion, we point out that analyzing “digital traces” helps uncover a variety of psychological factors influencing human life and behavior. Within the framework of this kind of study, it seems very promising to single out the interconnection between the population’s overall psychological features and a given society’s existing social-economic circumstances.

Background. The development of high-quality human capital is an important objective that involves value orientations, cultural dimensions and psychological characteristics of activity. This article presents a cross-cultural comparison of value orientations and psychological parameters of activity among youth from Russia, Kazakhstan, and Latvia.

Objective. The study addressed three questions: (1) Are there values and attitudes related to the readiness for activity among youth in the three countries? (2) Are there any differences between values and parameters of the psychological system of activity in the Russian, Kazakhstani and Latvian samples? (3) What values and attitudes predict the youth’s readiness for activity in each country?

Design. University students from Russia, Kazakhstan and Latvia were invited to participate in the study. The study sample was selected according to age, sex and period of living in the country. Value orientations, cultural dimensions and attitudes were measured by the VSM, WVS, Basic Values Realisability questionnaires. The PRF, Q-LES-Q, SHS, Self-Organization of Activity, DTR, and SWLS questionnaires were applied to evaluate the psychological parameters of activity. To analyse the relationship between value orientations and psychological parameters of activity, we used analysis of variance, Pearson's correlation coefficient and stepwise linear regression.

Results. The cross-cultural variance was established for most values and cultural dimensions in the Russian, Kazakhstani, and Latvian samples, but Personal readiness for activity only differed on the tendency level between the Kazakhstani and Latvian samples. Different values and attitudes accounted for near 57% of the Personal readiness for activity index in Russia and Latvia, but just less than 29% in Kazakhstan.

Conclusion. The activity of university students from Russia depends on their need for achievement and level of happiness. In the Kazakhstani and Latvian samples, the most important factor was the quality of life enjoyment and satisfaction index

Background. Media reports on armed fights or terror attacks introduce reminders of death into people’s daily lives. When people feel non-specific threats (mortality salience) or specific threats (intergroup threats), they may demonstrate unfavorable attitudes toward national outgroups. The issue is mostly analyzed today in line with Terror Management Theory and Intergroup Threat Theory.

Objective. To examine such threats in the Russian context, and the impact of mortality salience (MS) on attitudes toward national outgroups that induced different levels of perceived intergroup threat.

Design. In two studies, participants watched films and completed questionnaires about social distance, social thermometer, and trust toward “more or less threatening” countries. In Study 1, 120 Russian students were assigned to six groups via experimental design: 3 (MS: terrorist attacks in Europe, terrorist attacks in Russia, or a control group watching a video about dental treatment) x 2 (country: Ukraine and Belarus). In Study 2, 122 participants were similarly divided into six groups, evaluating attitudes toward the USA and China.

Results. Study 1 showed that MS mostly increased unfavorable attitudes toward a country perceived as more threatening (Ukraine) than toward one perceived as less threatening (Belarus). Study 2 indicated the same effect on attitudes toward both more (the USA) and less (China) threatening outgroups.

Conclusion. The results identified contradictory tendencies in MS effect, in line with Terror Management Theory and Intergroup Threat Theory. The findings could be used in improving relationships from an international perspective.

Background.In both Russia and Greece, corruption is a serious problem. In Greece, the level of corruption is one of the highest in the EU, and in Russia it is one of the highest in the world.

Objective. Three questions were addressed: (1) Are basic human values related to the acceptability of corruption for individuals in both countries? (2) Are these relationships the same in Russia and Greece? (3) Are levels of acceptance of corruption the same in Russia and Greece?

Design. Following S.H. Schwartz’s model, four higher-order values were assessed: Conservation versus Openness to Change, and Self-Transcendence versus Self-Enhancement. The studies were conducted in Russia (N = 256) and Greece (N = 469). To analyze the associations of individual values with the acceptability of corruption, we constructed a multigroup regression model using structural equation modelling software.

Results. Identical relationships were found in the two countries.Conservation values and Self-Transcendencewere negatively related to the acceptability of corruption, whereas Self-Enhancementwas positively related to the acceptability of corruption.Russians scored higher on acceptance of corruption. Implications are discussed.

Conclusion. The acceptability of corruption seems to be interrelated with basic human values across different cultural conditions. Our study shows that the relationships between higher-order values on the one hand, measured in the framework of Schwartz’s values model, and the acceptability of corruption on the other, are identical in Russia and Greece, suggesting that the acceptability of corruption is related to personal values.

Background. Normative universalism involves making evaluations and decisions according to a universal rule, irrespective of one’s affiliation and relations with other people. Social categorization is the main cognitive mechanism underlying deviations from universalism. When there are several salient alternative social identities, there is a possibility of counterbalancing effects among different social biases, leading to unbiased decisions or judgments (i.e., practical universalism).

Objective. The present study investigates whether multiple categorization can induce alternative social biases, which counterbalance each other and produce universalistic solutions at both the individual and group levels.

Design. A socially heterogeneous sample of Russian participants (N=300) made a series of binary choices in a hypothetical situation posing two social alternatives, each of which was presented as a set of social categories unrelated to the task: country, gender, age, and sector of employment.

Results. When faced with a series of choices involving multiple social categorization, the participants tended to pursue different types of biased strategies. The most frequent were country ingroup preference (31.7%) and low status aversion (17.7%). Practical universalism was identified in 2% of cases. Group-level results showed strong ingroup preference and high-status preference, which are two independent sources of bias. At the same time, the diversity of individual strategies allowed the participants to identify conditions (specific combinations of social attributes) under which the biases counterbalanced each other and resulted in universalistic solutions.

Conclusion. Individuals respond strategically to multiple categorization. Universalistic strategies are seldom applied at the individual level, but the diversity of individual strategies provides opportunities for universalistic solutions at the group level.

Background. We use Social identity theory as a theoretical framework, specifically focusing on strategies of identity management. The study is based on the following theoretical assumptions. First, identity management strategies might serve as mediators between different identity threats and behavioral patterns in intergroup relations. Second, identity management strategies help to make the shift from the individual to the group level of analysis, allowing us to take the consequences of intergroup behavior for a group entitativity into consideration. Third, identity management strategies strongly depend on the social context of intergroup relations. 

Objective. In the current study, we look into the relationships between identity management strategies of the ethnic Russian majority and their attitudes towards multiculturalism to identify whether certain strategies are helpful or harmful for the acceptance of multiculturalism in Russia. 

Design. We use Russia vs. the West comparison to evoke the perception of identity threat. We measure strategies of identity management based on this comparison, as well as attitudes towards multiculturalism in a survey of 307 Russian participants. 

Results. The findings suggest that identity management strategies are indeed related to attitudes towards cultural diversity and equality in Russia, as well as to acculturation expectations of whether minorities should adopt the mainstream Russian culture or keep their own. We find that strategies of individualization, individual mobility and assimilation have mostly negative consequences for acculturation expectations, as they all show patterns that support assimilation of minorities instead of integration. We also find support for the “scapegoat” hypothesis, showing that choosing the strategy of changing the comparison group results in more negative attitudes toward cultural diversity and equality for all in Russia. The strategies of social creativity (change of the categorization dimension, temporal comparison, comparison with a standard, etc.) seem to be irrelevant for attitudes towards multiculturalism. 

Conclusion. Our findings suggest that none of the strategies of identity management promote acceptance of multiculturalism. However, strategies of social creativity are the only ones that do not have negative consequences for support of multiculturalism. Theoretical and practical implications for multiculturalism policy adoption in Russia are discussed. 

Background. This study was carried out using the framework of S. Schwartz’s theory of basic human values. 

Objective. This article examines the dynamics of the basic values of Russians (2008– 2016) and the relationship between value orientations and economic attitudes among Christians and Muslims in Russia. 

Design. The dynamics of values of Russians were analyzed based on the five waves rounds of ESS (2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2016), each of which included around 2,000 respondents. The 2010 sample included ethnic Russians as well as respondents from the North Caucasus (N = 278). 

Results. We found that the most preferred value among Russians is Security. However, the importance of this value decreased over 10 years (2006–2016). Such values as Achievement, Tradition, and Power were relatively stable among Russians during this period. In addition, between 2006 and 2016 we observed the increasing priority of the values of Hedonism and Stimulation. Using our own data set, we examined the relations between values and attitudes toward different types of economic behavior. 

Conclusion. We found that the patterns of the relations between values and attitudes toward different types of economic behavior had similarities as well as differences among Christians (in the Central Federal District and the North Caucasus Federal District) and Muslims (in the North Caucasus Federal District) in Russia. 

Background. In today’s hectic civilization, it is very important for a person to maintain personal boundaries which help him or her keep his/her identity. Personal sovereignty (PS) is a trait that demonstrates the extent to which a person’s empirical Self is respected by his/her social environment. Whereas the genesis and correlations system of personal sovereignty in proximal relationships have been investigated widely, little is known about whether they are culturally sensitive or not. 

Objective. In this study, we aimed to investigate the patterns and genesis of personal sovereignty in relation to age and gender, by comparing individuals from Armenian, Chinese, and Russian cultures. Our sample consisted of 780 respondents, of whom 223 were from Armenia, 277 from China, and 280 from Russia; 367 were adolescents (Mage = 13) and 413 were youth (Mage = 21); there were 361 males and 419 females. 

Method. The “Personal Sovereignty Questionnaire–2010” was used. 

Results. The results suggest that culture, age, and gender all impact on the sense of personal sovereignty. Although there were no differences between cultures on the main PS score, we did find different PS patterns within all three cultures and when comparing males versus females. The PS scores in youth were higher than in adolescents, except in Armenia where the results were inverted. All age trends in PS were found in females, but not in males. Gender differences in PS within each culture were found in youth but not in adolescents. 

Conclusion. We discussed and explained the outcomes with reference to the specificity of the way each culture endorses traditional or secular-rational values, which values determine the prevalent attitudes towards gender roles and demands on adolescents and youth. 

Background. Choice, under conditions of uncertainty, is mediated by integral dynamic regulatory systems that represent hierarchies of cognitive and personality processes. As such, individual decision-making patterns can be studied in the context of intellectual and personality potential. This article presents the results of a cross-cultural comparison of personality characteristics, such as coping with uncertainty, emotional intelligence, and academic achievement, between Azerbaijani and Russian university students.

Objective. We aimed at establishing metric invariance and at highlighting relationships between emotional intelligence and the scales of the Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire (MDMQ).

Design. Azerbaijani and Russian student samples were selected for this study due to the almost identical educational programs offered by Moscow State University to students in Moscow and its branch in Baku. Coping with uncertainty was measured by the MDMQ, emotional intelligence by the EmIn questionnaire, and academic achievement by GPA scores. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to verify factor structure invariance and congruence.

Results. The congruence of factor structures for both questionnaires was verified. For the MDMQ four-factor structure for both samples was confirmed. For the EmIn questionnaire, invariance for two scales was established — “Understanding other people’s emotions” and “Managing own emotions”. Relationships among personality traits, gender, age, and academic achievements are explained for the Lomonosov Moscow State University students in Moscow (Russia) and its branch in Baku (Azerbaijan). No crosscultural differences were found for emotional intelligence and productive coping (Vigilance). A cultural difference was established in unproductive coping preference for Buck Passing. A similarity between the cultures was captured in the relationship of higher emotional intelligence (EQ) scores to higher Vigilance scores and to lower levels of unproductive coping patterns. Vigilance was a predictor of academic achievement, but only in the Russian sample.

Conclusion. The similarity of the educational systems, as both samples studied similar programs, demonstrates very few cross-cultural differences.

Background: Notwithstanding all the different forms of art, the source of the creative process, its initial impulse, is an artistic image, and its creation is closely connected with the imagination. L. Vygotsky held the view that artistic creativity has great importance in overall development. In this regard, it is relevant to study the role of personal psychological characteristics that stimulate creativity, determine creative potential, and indicate personal predisposition to artistic activity. 

Objective: to study individual psychological characteristics of art specialists with a highly productive creative imagination. 

Design: There were 240 respondents: art specialists (artists, actors) and specialists who do not work in artistic fields. The empirical research included: assessment of the level of productivity of the creative imagination and psychological testing. All the participants, within the bounds of their profession, were divided into high productivity and low productivity groups. The productivity level of the creative imagination was assessed by expert judgment of art works made by the participants using a monotype technique. For psychological testing, the following methods were used: Freiburg Personality Inventory (FPI); Volitional Self-Control Inventory by A. Zverkov and E. Eidman; the “Choose the Side” test by E. Torrance; the “Unfinished Figures” subtest by E. Torrance; and the technique of pair comparisons by V. Skvortsov. Statistical data processing was conducted on the basis of percentage distribution and comparative analysis using the Student parametric t-test. We used STATISTICA 13.0 software. 

Results: We found the following psychological characteristics of art specialists with highly productive creative imagination: high emotionality, inclination to affective reactions, high anxiety and excitability, and need for self-realization. Artists with highly productive creative imagination were characterized by immersion in their own emotions, psychic estrangement, high sensitivity, flexibility, ingenuity, right-hemisphere and combined types of thinking, and a high level of nonverbal creativity. Actors with highly productive creative imagination were characterized by stability, relaxation, selfsatisfaction, and average nonverbal creativity; the mixed type of thinking predominated in this group.

Conclusion: The differences in the intensity of the psychological characteristics of representatives of these different professional groups may be determined by the level of productivity of their creative imagination. We discovered general and specific (depending on professional activity) psychological characteristics of art specialists with a high level of productivity of the creative imagination.

Background. The emergence of the new media — the Internet and social networks — has had a considerable impact not only on media technologies, genres of journalism, and environment the journalist works in, but also on every user of global communication. Ongoing changes are extending their influence to all the media, making it important for researchers to reconsider the role of journalism in modern society and the perspectives of its development in the information age.

Objective. In order to get an adequate picture of the ongoing changes, we need to understand how the new media impact their users. We studied the dependence of people’s self-identification (values) on their Internet activity and use of social networks. Our hypothesis was that use of the new media leads to the formation of a new personality type, among whose most distinct characteristics is a much stronger desire for selfdetermination. 

Design. The characteristic features of respondents’ self-identification were studied by their choosing a reference group. Their desire for self-determination was revealed by giving them ethical dilemmas. A questionnaire was devised to study their communicative preferences and attitudes. Various methods of mathematical analysis were applied. 

Results. Factor analysis revealed two psychological types of people, different from others in how much they use the new media. Statistical analyses of the group comparison data showed that the desire for self-determination is considerably higher for active users, and is especially high for those who adhere to spiritual values (by the Maslow pyramid). A two-way ANOVA confirmed the overall effect of these two factors — spiritual values and the new media — on the desire for self-determination. 

Conclusion. The data obtained show that the new media support people’s desire for self-determination. Using the new media and thereby acquiring the identify of a journalist becomes an important factor of personality development and is in line with the general evolution of the psyche.

Background: The dimension of individualism-collectivism is regarded as one of the most important cultural factors that influence a person’s self-consciousness, and help shape his/her sense of self as independent or interdependent. Moreover, studies support the conclusion that the salience of both tendencies may vary not only within a single national culture (depending on the place of residence, language environment, etc.), but also on the level of the individual self (depending on the current situation). In our research we have assumed that the language environment (receiving education in one’s native or a foreign language) acts as a socio-cultural factor affecting the self-concept of students of the same nationality–more specifically, the intensity of their individualistic and collectivistic characteristics.

Objective: Finding socio-cultural differences in self-image between two groups of Azerbaijanian students (learning in Russian and Azerbaijanian, respectively).

Design: The sample included one hundred students from Baku colleges and universities equally divided into two groups. Participants in the first group were studying in Azerbaijani while those in the second group were learning in Russian. We collected data in the form of open-ended self-descriptions. We examined these texts using contentanalysis procedures. Then we calculated correlations between certain defined characteristics for each group.

Results: The self-descriptions produced by students learning in Azerbaijanian contained the following features: norm compliance as a significant factor in emotional wellbeing; self-criticism related to negative feelings and expectation of outside criticism; the prevalence of self-justification and bravado as basic forms of psychological defense, combined with the lack of self-enhancement; and focus on society and interpersonal relations affecting the respondents’ inner feelings. The second group’s (those learning in Russian) self-descriptions featured positive self-esteem as an important component of emotional well-being. Self-criticism was not associated with negative feelings and others’ judgments. In the texts of Russian-speaking students there was a tendency to use self-embellishment as a way of self-enhancement. This group was less inclined to focus on society.

Conclusions: The characteristics of these two groups’ self-depictions gravitated toward two different self-constructs: independent (for those learning in Russian) and interdependent (for the participants learning in Azerbaijanian), the division being in line with the individualistic and collectivistic culture, respectively.

Background. Runaway behavior among children in residential care is a serious social problem in all countries of the world. Existing scientific data on risk factors and motives of runaway from out-of-home care may not be absolutely relevant to the Russian cultural context.

Objective. To describe risk factors and the motives that cause children to runaway from residential care.

Design. A qualitative study that included 2 focus groups with staff and graduates of residential care supplemented by the analysis of 23 cases of child runaways from residential care in St. Petersburg.

Results. The study revealed the following runaway risk factors and motives: 1) running to parents or relatives, 2) romantic and/or sexual relations, 3) interaction with peers, 4) psychiatric problems, 5) addictive behavior, 6) avoidance of conflicts, 7) physical or emotional violence, 8) unmotivated runaways for entertainment, 9) problems adapting to the care institution, 10) dissatisfaction with the conditions at the care institution. Moreover, in this study, two different types of runaways have been identified, including relatively “true” runaways and those who are not psychologically experienced as such, but are only disobeying the formal rules of the care institution.

Conclusions. Runaways of children from residential care are extremely heterogeneous in nature. In further empirical studies, it should be taken into account that runaways may be true and formal. There can be multiple reasons for running away: the care institution itself, a child’s personality, or his or her social network outside of the care institution.

Background. This study addresses a current problem relating to trust and the identification of gender differences in trust/mistrust manifestation. Gender identity is associated with cultural stereotypes and social roles, which facilitate the formation of trust in people. It acts as a significant integral meaning-based component of an individual’s “I”- conception, which contributes to the formation of trust in himself and the world around him. 

Objective. To study features of trust/mistrust towards others in young people with different gender identities. 

Design. The cross-gender-typical sample consisted of 179 representatives, 83 males and 96 females, ages 17 to 23 (M = 19.34 and SD = 1.79). The techniques for collecting data included the MMPI, the Sex-Role Inventory by S. Bem, and the Trust/Mistrust towards Others questionnaire by A. Kupreychenko. The results were processed via the Mann-Whitney U Test, the Kruskal-Wallis H criterion, and cluster analysis. 

Results. Criteria of trust/mistrust among the youth with different gender identities were identified, and basic types of trust — categoric, irrational–emotional, ambivalent– contradictory, and non-differentiated — were singled out. Irrespective of biological sex, bearers of different gender identities do not exhibit the same criteria to determine trust/ mistrust. 

Conclusion. This study makes it possible to enrich our understanding of the role of social gender in the formation of interpersonal trust and differences in the foundations of trust toward others, in people with different gender identities. The empirical typology of trust in youth with different gender identities allows for using the typology in organizing psychological diagnostics, and for support and improvement of their interpersonal relations.

Background. This paper analyzes students’ changing perceptions of conflict after training them in mediation skills. The theoretical basis of this paper is an ontological approach of studying conflict, in which the image of the conflict situation determines the specific behavior. This allowed for the development a training program aimed at changing conceptual structures. The processes of constructing conceptual structures are understood not only as explanatory models that are used for the construction of the outer world in social cognition but also as a manifestation of the internal picture of the world and an inducement to control this world as well as certain actions in the conflict. Our training program was designed by considering ontological mechanisms of conflict behavior regulation. Consequently, the most important result of the program efficiency assessment is the change in participants’ image of the conflict situation. 

Objective. This study aims to change the images of the conflict situation in school students learning the basics of mediation. 

Design. This study involved 360 students (grades 7-9; average age of 14 years and 8 months). During the preparatory stage, we tried to identify the characteristics of a conflict situation in 360 school children using the association experiment, which used the word “conflict” as a stimulus. To study the structure of the conflict situation image, we used Kelly’s repertory. The method of the training program regarding the basics of mediation was based on communication techniques used to resolve complex issues, including the involvement of students, a free personal statement, problem discussion and a joint search for solutions. 

Results. We recorded significant changes in all of the structural components of the conflict situation image before and after training, as well as in their interrelated underlying categorization. One of the results of the program was an increase in the variability of behaviors in conflict. Before the program began, teenagers considered themselves and other conflict participants to be oriented to only meet their own interests. Upon completion of training, they developed an efficient model of behavior in conflict that included various forms of behavior, such as agreement, concession and withdrawal. The teenagers saw good reason to take a qualitatively new, organizational position in the conflict. In this regard, they described themselves as being more active in conflict and as initiating conflict resolution more often than before the training program. Educational videos and the experience of being involved in the conflict as a third party made the teenagers believe in the possibility of constructive conflict resolution based on having respect for the other participant. 

Conclusion. Analysis of structural changes in the conflict situation image during the learning process demonstrated the effectiveness of training students in mediation skills. This study contributes to the better understanding of conflictological competence in general and that of school students in particular. This study describes the mechanism of conflictological competence development.

Background. Social anxiety is one of the most common and disturbing conditions of childhood and adolescence. It is defined as an excessive fear of embarrassment or humiliation in social performance situations. Recent studies have identified a number of psychological factors that could explain the maintenance of the condition. 

Objective. The objective of this study was to investigate psychological factors of social anxiety in adolescents with a multifactor psychosocial model. 

Design: The study population comprised 183 Russian-speaking adolescents from Moscow secondary schools, ranging in age from 12 to 16 years. Self-report measures were used to access social anxiety, symptoms of depression, gender role identification, perfectionism, hostility, family emotional communications, and social support. 

Results. The results indicate that social anxiety was positively correlated with symptoms of depression and suicidal thoughts. No quantitative differences in social anxiety between girls and boys were found, while masculinity and undifferentiated gender identification had a strong association with social anxiety. A positive correlation was found between “concern over mistakes” (fear of making a mistake and being negatively compared with peers) and “overdoing” (spending too much time doing homework and too little or none communicating with peers), using the Child Perfectionism Questionnaire (CPQ) subscales and Social Anxiety and Distress Scale (SADS) total score. Positive correlations were found between social anxiety and suppression of emotions and outward well-being subscales, as well in as the Family Emotional Communication (FEC) total score. It is not common to discuss emotions and feelings; it is difficult to share negative experiences; and it is important for the families of socially anxious adolescents to put up a good front. Analysis revealed significant negative correlations between the SADS total score (as well its subscales) and the Social Support scale total score and emotional support subscale; the Practical Support scale negatively correlated with the SADS total score. 

Conclusion. These findings confirm our hypothesis that social anxiety has a complex nature and can be dealt with by a multifactor psychosocial model.

Background. This article sets forth the problem of attitudes towards women in connection with the ethno-religious characteristics of their appearance (for example, the hijab [Islamic headscarf]). 

Design. There were 200 subjects: at the first stage 50 women and 50 men aged 22 to 30 (mean age 25); at the second stage 100 females, residents of Rostov-on-Don, Russia. 

Method. The study used the Cook-Medley Hostility Scale (translated and adapted by Yu.A. Mendzheritskaya), as well as the author’s questionnaire, which consisted of stimulus material (two sets of photos of five girls; in the first set, a portrait shot from the front with natural make-up, in the second set, the same girls, but wearing a black hijab). Respondents were asked to rank the girls in the photographs on a scale from friendly to hostile. At the second stage, we added questions about the respondents’ religious beliefs and their assumptions about the religious beliefs of the girls with and without the hijab. 

Results. The results show that the respondent’s level of aggression can lead to a negative, hostile attitude towards a Muslim girl (based only on her external appearance), and more men evaluate the girls wearing the hijab as hostile. We also noted that the color of eyes and hair (even if only the eyelashes and eyebrows could be seen) can form an idea about religious beliefs. 

Conclusion. Based on the received data, we can talk about the role of appearance. In the future, we plan to study specific features of the perception of appearance and discrimination against girls with a different appearance, in particular ethno-cultural clothing, because appearance is one of the most important triggers of discriminatory behavior.

This article aims to analyze the psychometric properties of the Russian version of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9) by using a sample of 1783 employees of a large Russian organization. We conducted a series of Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) tests of the factorial structure and the configural, metric, scalar, factor variance, factor covariance, and factor means invariances of the model across gender and age groups. The validity of the Russian version of the UWES-9 was investigated by study- ing its relationship with burnout, job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and turnover inten- tion. The CFA showed that both the 1-factor and the 3-factor models of the UWES-9 fit well with the data, but the 3-factor model demonstrates a significantly better fit. however, the differences are minor; therefore, in practical terms, the models are iden- tical. Thus the Russian version of the UWES-9 can be used both as a three-scale mea- surement and as a single scale of work engagement. Results from the multi-group CFA provided evidence of factorial invariance of the 3-factor model across gender and age groups. Internal consistencies of the vigor, dedication, and absorption subscales are acceptable. The results also suggested the convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity of the UWES-9, as shown by its relationship with burnout, job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and turnover intention. The article also discusses the differences in levels of work engagement within different gender and age groups. Overall, the results show that the Russian version of the UWES-9 demonstrates acceptable psychometric properties comparable with the original version and those in other languages. The Russian version of the UWES-9 can therefore be recommended for use in research and practice. 

Analyses of the connection between cultural values and economic development have changed many times in different countries and in different periods. In Russia, which is constantly undergoing economic and social transformations, this issue is especially rel- evant. One can say that culture, to some extent, bears responsibility for economic devel- opment, and so it is to be expected that different generations of the Russian people would perceive questions related to the connection of cultural values and economic attitudes in different ways. This article presents the results of research dedicated to revealing the correlation between cultural values and economic attitudes among different generations of Russians (N = 110 people). The participants were youth (18–25 years old) and adults (37–63 years). I found that, for the adult generation, the “power-distance” index (a mea- sure of the level of dependence on power structures) was positively correlated with eco- nomic self-determination and the desire to have money. For the younger generation, nei- ther the power-distance index nor the “masculinity” index was associated with economic autonomy, while the “uncertainty-avoidance” index encouraged economic autonomy but did not create additional opportunities for increasing personal income. In the study eco- nomic paternalism was expressed more by the younger generation; they were also more ready to invest energy in business, but they were not as interested as the adult generation in the state of the economy. 

In this article the features of social-relationship systems are analyzed based on the data from a sociopsychological empirical study conducted in two stages (2002 and 2014) on a large sample with the help of g. Kelly’s Repertory grid Technique. A. V. Petrovsky’s three-factor interpersonal-relationships model as interpreted for closed groups by M. Yu. Kondratev and the concept of the closed society as described by Karl Popper provide the foundation for the theoretical hypothesis we tested. The empirical data obtained in 2002 came from 391 participants of different ages who were living in provincial towns in the Nizhny Novgorod region. The elderly respondents (232 people) had lived almost all their lives under the Soviet regime; the middle-aged respondents (159 people) got their education and started their careers in the USSR. Soviet society is considered to be closed because of its authoritarian and collectivist nature, static social structure, and dogmatic ideology. It is argued that both closed societies and closed groups are characterized by a rigid hierarchical social structure, isolation from other systems, and depersonalization of social relations. We have proved that members of a closed group and citizens of a closed society have similar social-relationship matrices.

In this article the features of social-relationship systems are analyzed based on the data from a sociopsychological empirical study conducted in two stages (2002 and 2014) on a large sample with the help of g. Kelly’s Repertory grid Technique. A. V. Petrovsky’s three-factor interpersonal-relationships model as interpreted for closed groups by M. Yu. Kondratev and the concept of the closed society as described by Karl Popper provide the foundation for the theoretical hypothesis we tested. The empirical data obtained in 2002 came from 391 participants of different ages who were living in provincial towns in the Nizhny Novgorod region. The elderly respondents (232 people) had lived almost all their lives under the Soviet regime; the middle-aged respondents (159 people) got their education and started their careers in the USSR. Soviet society is considered to be closed because of its authoritarian and collectivist nature, static social structure, and dogmatic ideology. It is argued that both closed societies and closed groups are characterized by a rigid hierarchical social structure, isolation from other systems, and depersonalization of social relations. We have proved that members of a closed group and citizens of a closed society have similar social-relationship matrices. 

Human activity (professional and production-related) occurs within the context of explicit or implicit competition and proves to be more or less productive and creative. Operationalization and measurement of the competitiveness of personality without due regard for personal and situational interactions reduces the content of the notion. Competitiveness requires a high degree of personal energy, flexibility, intelligence, and creativity in regulating activity. However, enlarging the domain of psychological studies has necessitated the study of personality in the context of the natural social situations in which it functions. This structural and functional analysis allows expansion of the description of the phenomenology of the competitiveness of personality as well as classification of the strategies of competitive behavior. In this study competitive-behavior strategies (1,064 critical incidents in professional activities) were analyzed using the Critical Incident Technique and thematic content analysis. To classify the data set, I used two-step cluster analysis as an exploratory method and analyzed the cross-tables of several categorical variables using the log-linear method of model selection. I applied the Solution Tree method for categorical variables to build a dependent-variable hierarchical model with the relevant predictor values. Through analysis of the results of the cluster analysis, the hierarchical model, and the functional and situational analysis of the context, it is possible to single out and validate three types of competitiveness strategies: the dependent, irrational, destructive, short-term strategy (quasi-competitiveness); the dependent, rational, constructive, short-term strategy; and the free, rational, constructive, long-term strategy. Study of the nature of competition and a subject’s competitive-behavior strategies is required to analyze, predict, and correct destructive strategies for enhancing performance.

Typical male and female roles and relationships can be observed at different social levels: intergroup, intragroup, interpersonal, intrapersonal. In adolescence, increased development of gender characteristics (gender identity, gender stereotypes, gender roles) appears at all levels. Since the leading activity at this age is interpersonal communication, research into gender characteristics and their influence on relations in the student group is one of the most important tasks of modern psychology. 

One hundred and forty teenagers in grades 6-8 from secondary schools in Moscow, aged of 12–14, were involved in the research. Special social-psychological techniques were applied for assessment of status relations (sociometry, referentometry, methodology for defining the informal intragroup power structure) and gender characteristics (Bem Sex Role Inventory in classical and modified versions), as well as correlation and cluster analyses. 

We found that representations about the group leader contained clear masculine features. We underline the discrepancy between the qualities attributed to the image of the leader and the qualities of the actual group leaders. Thus, the image of the leader includes predominantly masculine characteristics, while actual high-status group members describe themselves with both feminine and gender-neutral features. Finally gender-typed behavior and masculine traits are more typical of low-status teenagers.

Currently, in the Russian Federation more and more attention is being paid to the quality of human capital. The innovative future of the country as a whole and its regions in particular depends on having young people with an active lifestyle, a high level of education, and a desire to be included in the development process of their country, region, city, or town. In most regions of the Russian Federation, programs and projects are supported that promote the self-actualization of young people and create conditions to ensure a full and rich life for the younger generation. But, despite these measures, as well as major government funding, the process of active internal migration and the outflow of talented young people from provincial areas into the central regions, as well as from rural to urban settlements, lead to the significant negative skewing of socioeconomic development in the regions of the Russian Federation. Thus, these are the issues: which characteristics of life in a megalopolis are valuable and attractive to young people and are there differences in the images of a big city held by native young people and newcomers.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the characteristics of the value-sense and need-motivational spheres of native and newcomer youth in a megalopolis as well as to reveal the specifics of their images of a contemporary megalopolis. A comprehensive study conducted in Ekaterinburg among young people in the senior classes of secondary schools, colleges, and universities, as well as among young working men and women (N = 1108; ages 17-25), disclosed the base values in the subjective evaluation of the environment of a megalopolis by native and newcomer youth. In accordance with the objectives of the study, the sample was divided into two contrasting groups: native residents of Ekaterinburg (living there since birth) 437; newcomer residents of Ekaterinburg (living there fewer than 3 years) who were actively adapting to life in the megalopolis at the time the of the study 671 people. The study was conducted with the use of age-specific characteristics of a battery of diagnostic instruments. This article describes the specifics of the value orientations and evaluations of the image of the city among native and newcomer young people. Value determinants of the assessment of the environment of the big city by the native respondents for the most part had a social focus, and at the same time this category of young people generally did not seek to dominate and manage the environment of the megalopolis. The newcomer young people had an intense orientation to values. This orientation ensured their adaptation to and formation of a positive image of the city as a potential location for their personal self-realization.

This article presents the results of a study of sociometric status and its relation to personal characteristics and educational activities conducted on 96 first-year and 52 second-year students at the Moscow Theatre College. The sociometric study included three sets of questions combining the everyday life and communication of a student: educational activities, leadership and interpersonal communication. To determine the diagnostics of personality characteristics, Cattell’s multiple-factor personality questionnaire 16 PF was used.

The comparative analysis of the group unity sociometric index has shown that there is more mutuality in the choices dealing with interpersonal communication than in the choices dealing with professional activities. The grades that teachers give in actor training appear as a steady focus that determines the degree of leadership/reject not only in the professional but also in the social and interpersonal spheres. The high level of motivation (energy and determination) captured by Cattell’s factor test Q4 is one of the most significant qualities that determines the number of choices in various spheres of student activity (mastering the profession, leadership qualities and interpersonal communication).

The main research problems and tasks of a new scientific field in Russia—the psychology of professional health — are formulated. A definition of professional health as the abilities of a person successfully to cope with the demands and requirements in a professional environment is offered. A psychological vision for professional health with four basic provisions is proposed. The aim of the research was to study the extent of the influence on the professional health of managers of such psychological factors as systems of values, stress in professional activity, individual and psychological features, strategies for overcoming stressful situations. Data are provided from research conducted in 2002-2012 on managers in Russian companies. Taking part in the research were 651 managers of various organizations in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Yekaterinburg, Veliky Novgorod, and Kharkov. For collecting empirical material on methods of supervision, I used polls, tests, interviews, content analysis, self-reports of participants in training programs, and a method for forming the experiment. In addition I employed psychodiagnostic techniques intended for studying the cognitive, behavioral, and emotional components of health, a technique for revealing the personal potentials (regulatory, communicative, intellectual) of the managers, and also my own techniques. The study positively correlated health with such values as having interesting work, having a happy family life, being financially secure, having an active life, and giving and receiving love. Connections between the behavioral manifestations of type A behavior and the managers’ values were revealed. The greatest negative impact on the managers was made by such factors of professional activity as an excessive workload, emotional pressure at work, difficulty in carrying out activity, and insufficient time. Health is important in the structure of the professional activity of managers; it acts as a strategic resource by providing at the least cost efficiency and reliability during all stages of a professional career.

The data reported in the article describe the attitudes of teenagers to problems concerning sexual violence and aggression. Given the lack of any national systems that could monitor negative factors in the teenage environment, including sexual aggression, special value lies in the data obtained through questionnaires, as these data allow us to evaluate the prevalence of such factors, and they also describe the typical lifestyles of modern Russian teenagers.
The main objective of the study was to describe the age dynamics and gender specifics of teenagers’ attitudes toward the problem of sexual aggression: its prevalence, probable reasons for it, ways of dealing with such situations.
This article is based on data from a research project conducted in 2012 in the Krasnoyarsk region. The research particularly addressed various aspects of schoolchildrens sexual behavior and their attitudes toward sexual violence. The main research method was a paper questionnaire. It was administered to 1,540 children in the 7th, 9th, and 11th grades.
The results showed that every tenth teenager indicated the presence of sexual-violence victims in their circle. According teenagers’ opinions about the reasons for sexual violence the main reasons are “bad luck,” “provocative appearance” “carelessness”. The majority of teenagers will seek help in case of rape.
The answers of teenagers who have sexual experience regarding possible solutions for sexually traumatic situations show their readiness to take responsibility for their behavior and its consequences, as well as for their mental and physical health. In this respect sexual experience can be viewed as an indicator of teenagers’ personal and psychological readiness to lead a grownup life independently of their parents.
To sum up, analyzing schoolchildren’s replies, even to those questions that were not asked directly but in oblique form, allows us to conclude that the teenage environment involves an aggressive (unlawful) component, which usually appears to be a “hidden layer” of interpersonal relations in the microsocial circle of a schoolchild. As a result, the threat of becoming a victim of bullying (ostracism) can block a teenager’s search for help.

Since the 1990s Russian enterprises have been experiencing difficulties in transitioning to the market-innovative model of development. In the context of the current variability of management paradigms, we had an opportunity to study the internal and external regulators of organizational changes that are typical for a transitioning economy. Organizational culture (ОС) was studied as an external factor, while the personal traits of middle managers were viewed as internal factors because these managers are the agents for values and for behavior models, from corporate directives to “front-desk’ personnel. The goal of this theoretical and empirical study was to determine the personality traits of middle managers who were deemed effective by top management in companies transitioning to the market-innovative model of development in the context of different types of OCs.
During the preliminary stage, we conducted a comparative analysis of the requirements for the personal traits of middle managers who are working in stable conditions as well as in conditions of transfer to the market-innovative model of development, and we selected the relevant methods of empirical research. During the first stage of the empirical part of our research we defined a group of four enterprises with OCs of different types, identified their effective mid-level managers based on expert evaluations by the top leadership, and formed test groups. During the second stage we studied the personal characteristics of these managers.
We determined that the personality traits of managers deemed effective by their leaders form integral complexes, which in turn correlate in a certain way with the type of ОС of an enterprise. We identified four models of an effective manager: Mentor, Dictator, Innovator, and Businessman; these managers have varying degrees of work productivity, value priorities in the development of ОС, personal self-concepts, organizational leadership skills, and types of decision-making. It has been demonstrated that in the evaluation of the effectiveness of a manager of an enterprise, the correspondence of his/her personal traits to the characteristics of the ОС prevailing in the company is a more important factor than his/her agreement with the long-term goals of the company and, therefore, with the more promising type of ОС. This phenomenon opens a way to utilize such functions of ОС as internal integration but prevents external adaptation, which in turn becomes a serious psychological obstacle in the development of an enterprise.
The ОС of an enterprise has a powerful potential to attract employees with certain sets of psychological traits. Important tasks for the psychological support of the organizational development of an enterprise could be the development of a criteria database for the evaluation of managers and the development of a management talent pool based on the market-innovative vector of development of an enterprise with relevant changes in the ОС.

Years of social, economic, and political changes have resulted in intensive and extensive migration activity. The appearance of compelled and voluntary migrants has brought about the development of a new direction in social psychology: the psychology of migration. Many disciplines are connected with the study of migration, the problems of migrants, and adaptation processes. In the social-psychological literature, various models of adaptation to new conditions of a social-cultural environment are considered (I. Jasinskaja-Lahti, K. Liebkind, J. Berry; S.-K. Lee, J. Sobal, E. Frongillo). Various social-psychological features of migrants are studied: for example, ethnic identity, characteristics of psychological adaptation, emotional well-being, and mental health. In the Russian scientific literature the following problems are considered: emigrants’ interactions with representatives of foreign cultures (N. S. Khrustaleva), degree of cultural similarity (T.G. Stefanenko), personal features of emigrants (S. H. Schwartz, E. Prince-Gibson), features of ethnic identity (G.U. Soldatova, S. D. Gurieva), and many others. In Russia, research regarding the influence of the social-cultural environment on processes of adaptation were begun only in 2004.

The main objective of our study was to identify psychological mechanisms of migration flows (incoming and outgoing) as indicators of sociopolitical and psychological stability in the Pskov Region. Participants in the study were citizens permanently residing in the Pskov Region who by age and social characteristics represented the population structure of a part of that region. In total, 52 persons aged 17 to 69, with an average age of 42.3, participated.

The technique used was focus groups. A content analysis was made of the answers received in the focus-group sessions. During these sessions, participants could freely share their views on questions asked by the facilitators who had a college-level psychological education. In each group, two facilitators worked cooperatively. One facilitator was in charge of group dynamics; the other was in charge of asking all the questions covered as well as of keeping track of all the substantial aspects of the conversation. This arrangement encouraged the participants to discuss issues of the region in an open manner.

The findings allowed us to classify all the migrants and potential migrants in the Pskov Region according to their reasons and motives for migration. For example, in the Plyussa settlement, which is “depressed” and remote from the region’s center, migrants seek to escape their extreme poverty and unemployment; they can be called “survival migrants.” In the “favored” central area, the city of Pskov, migrants seek to significantly increase their income level and improve their quality of life. We can describe them as “migrants seeking new opportunities.” In a border area, the town of Gdov, people living in close proximity to other countries (Estonia, Latvia) compare their financial situation and opportunities with those of their foreign neighbors. Migrants living in Gdov tend to move because they want to avoid an environmental crisis or progressive degradation of the environment, structural unemployment, and poor economic opportunities. We can call them “migrants in search of hope and prosperity.”

In the Pskov Region, the labor (economic) situation is a typical reason for migration. Migration for economic reasons is a resettlement of people for the purpose of employment and proper remuneration. Labor migration can have such causes as a desire to change one’s job, as well as sociocultural, housing, environmental, nature, climate, and other conditions. Without a developed economy and social sphere, regions are able to prevent only elderly or incapacitated people from migrating. To retain the younger generation, it is necessary to inform people of all the possible difficulties that potential migrants may face and to make systematic and large-scale efforts to develop the region, to improve the image of the region (including encouraging the residents to be proud of and to cherish the region’s heritage and its people’s achievements), and to create a comfortable environment.

The negative sociocultural transformations that are taking place in modern society and the resulting psychological transformation of personality and mode of life strongly require searching for ways of providing social safety to the next generation, with teachers being the implementers of this process. Teachers’ professionalism is determined by their willingness to solve personal and socially relevant problems, including the willingness to provide social security for other people, to thwart social risks, and to build constructive interpersonal relationships.

The aim of our research was to reveal and to analyze the psychological factors affecting the readiness of teachers to ensure social security in educational environments.

The environmental factors of social risk have been theoretically characterized. It has been shown that the essential factor in ensuring students’ social security is providing a safe social environment in educational institutions; such an environment provides the learners and the teachers with sociopsychological security and psychosocial well-being. The empirical part of our study was devoted to identifying negative social phenomena in the schools in the Ivanovo region (with the help of a questionnaire administered to 700 students) and to identifying the personally and professionally important qualities of the teachers and the subjective psychological factors of their readiness to ensure social security in the educational environment (through interviewing 300 teachers); the administration of the questionnaires and the interviewing were followed by an assessment of their significance (with the help of a questionnaire administered to 140 teachers). Using factor analysis we identified the relevant indicators and grouped them into six factors of the readiness of teachers to ensure a safe educational environment.

Relevant personal and professional qualities of teachers were revealed; these are the subjective factors of the readiness of a teacher to ensure social security in the educational environment: social anticipation, resistance to sociopsychological stress, social tolerance, professional orientation, responsibility, communication skills.

Data were collected in the analytical and experimental studies to determine ways to improve the organization of educational processes in order to ensure the social security of students and society in general. The identified psychological factors, their relative weight, and content must be considered when designing a system for training teachers and developing in them the required personal and professional qualities.

The interest of psychologists in the study of safety in the educational environment and its psychological characteristics is increasing. The aim of this study was to select, substantiate, and disclose the psychological factors in the educational environment that influence the psychological well-being of pupils. There were three stages in our research: clarifying the level of psychological safety in the schools in the study; revealing the consistency of the teachers’ and the students’ evaluations of the level of psychological safety in those schools; determining the nature of the influence of the psychological safety of the educational environment on the psychological well-being of the students. The study involved 172 teachers and 876 students in Moscow and St. Petersburg schools.

Psychological safety is a condition of educational environments that are free from psychological violence in the interactions of the people in them; psychological safety contributes to the satisfaction of the needs for personal trust and communication, creates for the participants a sense of belonging (the referential importance of the environment), and contributes to their mental health.

The empirical study revealed that (1) the level of the psychological safety of the educational environment in the evaluations of the teachers was higher and had more expressed differentiation than did the level in the students’ evaluations; (2) the psychological well-being of the students was closely correlated with the level of psychological safety for the teachers; (3) such components of the well-being of the students as emotional comfort, self-confidence, a higher level of cognitive activity were developed in those schools with high levels of psychological safety for the teachers.

The results can be useful in educational psychology and environmental psychology as well as when creating technologies to support the safety of school environments and of the people in them, including situations related to minimizing safety violations and reducing risks and threats.

Television has a strong impact on gender-identity development. Theoretical analysis shows that the direct perception of different gender characteristics in advertising images has a specific impact on gender self-consciousness, primarily at the unconscious level. The purpose of our study was to uncover features of this impact.

In this study, the effects of advertising images on the gender self-consciousness of teenagers were investigated. Two hypotheses were examined: (1) Perception of gender images in TV commercials has individual variability and is connected with gender features of self-consciousness (gender type of personality, gender differentiation of consciousness, the specifics of gender identification). (2) Direct perception of gender images in TV commercials has a differential influence on the transformation of verbal (cognitive) and nonverbal (emotive) levels of selfconsciousness.

The commercials, which were for chocolate, contained different gender types of male and female images (masculine female images, androgynous images, and feminine male images); they used as stimulus materials in an experimental situation involving 61 teenagers. The contents and dynamics of gender self-consciousness in adolescents were investigated using the psychosemantic method of “multiple identifications.”

We discovered that the girls’ preferences for gender images were more varied than those of the boys. Despite different variants in the gender characteristics in the advertising images, their impact on the gender self-consciousness of the adolescents consisted mostly of gender differentiation and identification with the images of their own gender. In general, in regard to the direct impact in the experimental situation, at the cognitive level, the girls revealed changes in the enhancement of gender identification with images of their gender, and the boys were characterized by the enhancement of gender differentiation. At the level of emotive evaluation, in contrast to the cognitive level, we observed stronger dynamics of the changes in selfconsciousness (enhancement of gender differentiation and enhancement of identification with images of ideals and parental images).

The results clearly showed the quite high plasticity of self-consciousness structures and their susceptibility to externally designated images. We concluded that, in their direct perception, features of gender images in TV commercials have specific effects on the consciousness of adolescents: they reinforce already-formed gender categories and self-identification. We consider this research a pilot study, and we are planning to check the results on a more representative sample with different age groups.

The study of personal qualities’ development and the peculiarities of value-motivational aspects in groups with various manifestation levels of these qualities are of particular interest for contemporary researchers as well as for practicing psychologists who develop psychotechnologies aimed at personal value-motivational sphere management.This article suggests new approaches for analyzing and studying value-motivational aspects of personal activity, predetermining innovation activity. It also provides an analysis of a comparative empirical study that evolves value-motivational characteristics in students with various innovativeness levels.

The author submits a detailed theoretical analysis of innovation behavior based on manifestations of personal value-motivational activity. Resulting from the given theoretical analysis, a suggestion is made that the manifestation and development of personal potential is determined by values and motives. Personal innovation potential is regarded as an effective combination of various activity forms, and innovativeness is a personal quality that is manifested by a form of effective activity. Currently, psychologists are highly interested in evolving value-motivational structure of personal innovativeness.

The given article discusses the results of an empirical study aimed at revealing value- motivational peculiarities of students in groups with various levels of innovativeness manifestations. Indicative peculiarities of value-motivational characteristics are revealed in groups with low, middle and high levels of innovative qualities. Furthermore, gender differences in innovativeness manifestation and value-motivational characteristics of this quality in young men and women are thoroughly described.

New data concerning the personal and gender specifics of the value-motivational sphere and innovativeness manifestation in young adults are presented using a thoroughly described research strategy as well as results substantiation.

This study was developed because vandal behavior is an increasing threat in the world. Countries, commercial companies, and individuals experience great damage to property as a result of individual vandal acts. In addition, vandalism threatens not only “tangible assets” but also the cultural and historical heritage of modern humanity. Despite the threatening spread of vandalism, the study of its psychological foundations, including its origins, in the context of individual life courses is in many ways terra incognita. The objective of the present study was to investigate the genesis of vandal behavior and the sociopsychological and individual personality factors in the formation of readiness to destroy public property and the property of others. A comprehensive study of children, adolescents, and young adults (N=1522), as well as of their social environment, revealed mechanisms of the readiness to commit vandal acts that were present since childhood. The study was conducted by examining four age groups: preschoolers (4–6 years), primary school pupils (7–9 years), adolescents (12–15 years), and young adults (17–22 years); the instruments used were specific-age batteries, observation, expert techniques, and questionnaires. We found that the characteristics of parent-child relationship are is the basis for forming the boundaries of the permissible activity of the child; disturbance in the parent-child relationship can lead to the development of forms of vandalism in children. We describe the specificity and intensity of the vandal activity of adolescents and young adults in the context of their environment, and we look at the individual characteristics that promote deviant behavior. Thus, vandal activity is not only a specific characteristic of adolescents and young adults, and it is not always very destructive. Basic vandal activity originates in the early stages of ontogenesis as a result of a deformation in social interaction that becomes fixed and converted into the destructive actions of people trying through this form of activity to understand themselves in social space.

Considering today’s abundance of psychology books, from reprints of timeless classic works through scholarly editions to popular literature, it is hard to expect a new book to become a big event in psychology. However, a book entitled The Phenomenon of Envy is hard to overlook: as observed by the author, very few people are unaffected by envy. Besides, the name of the author, Aleksander I. Dontsov, former head of the Faculty of Psychology at Moscow State University and of the Russian Psychological Society, is well known among Russian scholars.

A museum is valued according to its collections, communication and knowledge exchange with visitors (Primo, 1999). Museums should be in dialogue with the public, contributing to their development (Skramstad, 2004) and collective memory (Wertsch, 2004). Social interactions and working in participants’ zone of proximal development (Vygotsky, 1934/1962) play an important role in non-formal learning opportunities that take place at museums. The National Museum of Natural History and Science (Lisbon University) offers weekly holiday programmes for children and teenagers, aiming at developing scientific literacy in intercultural and inclusive spaces and times, facilitating knowledge appropriation and social participation. We studied these programmes, assuming an interpretive approach (Denzin, 2002) and developing an intrinsic case study (Stake, 1995). The main participants were these children and teenagers, their parents, and museum educational agents. Data collecting instruments included observation, interviews, questionnaires, children and teenagers’ protocols and tasks inspired in projective techniques. Data treatment and analysis was based on a narrative content analysis (Clandinin & Connelly, 1998) from which inductive categories emerged (Hamido & César, 2009). Some examples illuminate participants’ expectancies, their engagement in activities, and the contributions of social interactions and non-formal education to the development of scientific literacy.

The development of contemporary society, the mass media, and new technologies improves living standards on the one hand and, on the other, enhances the risk of large-scale catastrophes, accidents, and natural disasters (Yanitsky, 2004). From year to year the number of people who survive natural disasters and human-caused accidents and catastrophes is growing, as is the number of professionals involved in disaster-relief operations, such as rescuers, medical professionals, and psychologists. The 1990s saw the intensive development of new work for psychologists: rendering psychological aid to people affected by emergencies. During that time, because of a shift in the political system and the democratization of society, these issues gained a public dimension.

The structure of their future presidents’ images among Russian and American students was studied. The general tendencies and specific features of the perception of a future president among Russian and American students were revealed. For respondents of both groups, the significant factors influencing their choice of whom to vote for were the program of the candidate, his strategic thinking, the reliability of his team, a high degree of professionalism and competence, leadership skills, the ability to speak and convince, and personal qualities. In regard to specific features, Russian students paid more attention to the business qualities of a future president than did American students; Russian students were optimistic and considered elections capable of effecting changes in the country. American students showed less interest in political events, along with the professional qualities of the leader; they paid attention to his appearance and believed that elections can affect the private life of people.

Oncologic disease should be considered one of modern society’s dominant pathologies because of its chronicity. Estimates of a patient’s adaptation to chronicity shapes the information given to the patient, which is a powerful strategy for changing the patient’s social representation from a mere clinical case to a psychosocial being. In this article, the patient’s persona, when captured in the social processes and relations involved in therapeutic acts, is conceptualized as the main actor on the stages and sets of hospitals. The informative act, in which information is given to a patient in a hospital, allows identification of the psychosocial profile inherent in the patient’s role; this profile describes some relevant categories, among which the “informed patient” and the “uninformed patient” stand out.

The aim of the study is to consider technology-related changes in psychological needs and boundaries that affect one’s personal adaptation to the info-communication society, as well as how they relate to problematic or excessive technology use. Based on the psychological model of the consequences of technology use, we’ve picked two forms of technology use (one related to mobile phones and the other related to the Internet) from a revised version of our Technology-Related Psychological Consequences Questionnaire. The new version includes nine questions: two assessing the excessive use of technology (the inability to resist using technology and subjective dependence), four assessing changes in psychological boundaries (boundaries extension and violation, easiness-related and opportunity-related preference for technology) and the other three measuring technology-related needs (functionality, convenience and image making). In the normative sample (N=132), appropriate reliability, factor validity and convergent validity were demonstrated in comparisons to the picture measure of the technology-related boundaries change. Based on hierarchical regression and moderator analysis, it was shown that changes in psychological boundaries affect the excessive use of technology (explaining an additional 17-27% of the variance) after adjusting for frequency of use and age group. The extension of boundaries and ease-of-use-related preference for mobile phones versus the Internet predicted satisfaction with life after adjusting for frequency of use, age group, inability to resist and subjective dependency respectively; however, the figures were not statistically significant. Thus, our data supports the hypothesis that there are different kinds of technology-related changes in psychological boundaries that manifest themselves in the subjective feeling of dependence on technology and the feeling that it is impossible to do without technology, which might in some cases be important for personal satisfaction with life.

It was reported with praise by the worldwide media that victims of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami disaster endured the aftermath in a civil manner. We analyzed official crime statistics and investigated data that were collected from residents in disaster-stricken areas. Official statistics showed that crime decreased during the disaster period. Collected data suggest that criminal and deviant behavior were extremely rare, and that the victims helped each other, apparently altruistically. Further research on actual behavior in post-disaster environments is necessary in order to sufficiently prepare for future disasters.

Human communities are based on a certain set of everyday attitudes, on the coordination of the actions of “the self ” in a group, and on the regulation of social practices. The results of this study show that a number of factors act as determinants of trust/ distrust ambivalence: the multidimensionality and the dynamics of interactions among people; the high level of subjectivity in evaluating risks resulting from openness and from confidence in partners involved in an interaction; and a subject’s contradictory attitude toward the personal traits of an interacting partner (power, activity, honesty, trustworthiness). Japanese scholars have proved the necessity of taking into account quality of life (QOL) as one of the determinants of the development of interpersonal confidence. The study demonstrates that people try to bring trust into their daily routines as a way of organizing conscientious, emotionally open interactions that take into account the interests of all parties. Mistrust blocks access to the emotional, intellectual, and activity-related resources supporting life and undermines faith in the possibility of virtue and morality. Yet a supplementary study (using instant diagnostics) indicates that in practice respondents did not demonstrate a high level of confidence (in two cities it was 0%; in one city, it was 4.6%). In spite of emotionally positive views regarding trust, as well as constructive estimates of its moral/behavioral potential, a considerable number of respondents were not open and oriented to the interests of others. A tendency toward caution, inwardness, and constrained sincerity leads to nonconformity in one’s actions in a group and to changes in the vector of social practices from socio-partner regulation to disorganized interaction.

The official statistics reveal a steady growth of drug use in Russia and epidemiological estimations indicate that the real prevalence of intravenous drug users may be 4-5 times higher than the official figure. This fact highlights the importance of effective preventive programmes for young people. Each preventive programme in the field of public health should be based on the results of socio-psychological studies on a given problem (Gurvich, 1999). In this paper, we discuss the results of a two-stage study based on the ideas presented by social representations theory (Moscovici, 1961). Our purpose was to analyze the lay thinking about drugs among different groups of young Russians. A total of 257 respondents (162 males and 95 females) aged 16 to 35 participated in the study (the median age was 24 years). At the first stage, the ‘map’ of shared common views about drugs was revealed. At the second stage, different social positions (as a function of different experience with drugs) on this ‘map’ were analyzed. The reported results give support to our predictions.

This article addresses an ethically weighted problem which is related to modern psychology: when a person lives in a closed environment. A new approach to solving this problem is being examined. It is based on the finding of substantial new functional aspects of the cognitive processes of making and losing meaning. The study of this sub-discipline started with O.K. Tikhomirov’s theory of thinking. The phenomenon of “adaptability to changes in lifestyle” is being analyzed. The substantial characteristics of the notion of a “closed environment” as well as the psychological manifestations which appear when one is forced to live in a closed environment or choses to live in one of his or her own volition are being revealed. According to the author, the new approach will allow us to come closer to understanding and being able to explain the psychological mechanisms of the mental upheaval which prisoners in solitary confinement experience.

This article considers different aspects of the new neuropsychological theory of the social brain and its relationship to Luria’s and Vygotsky’s understanding of a human as a social and biological unity. The main functions of social cognition are described. Five aspects of these functions and five groups of evidence are analyzed: the negative consequences of brain damage on social behavior and social cognition; the social features of early-childhood development; the double interaction between brain maturation and the formation of mental functions; the negative consequences of social neglect on brain development; and the social and cultural specificity of neuropsychological assessment methods. The proposed new understanding of the social brain is as the social and cultural regulator of brain functioning.

A multi-dimensional model of trust in a small group has been developed and approved. This model includes two dimensions: trust levels (interpersonal trust, micro-group trust, group trust, trust between subgroups, trust between subgroups and group) and types of trust (activity-coping, information-influential and confidentially-protective trust). Each level of trust is manifested in three types, so there are fifteen varieties of trust. Two corresponding questionnaires were developed for the study. 347 persons from 32 work groups participated in the research. It was determined that in a small group there is an asymmetry of trust levels within the group. In particular, micro-group trust is demonstrated the most in comparison with other trust levels. There is also an asymmetry in the manifestation of interpersonal trust in a group structure. This is demonstrated by the fact that in informal subgroups, in comparison with a group as a whole, interpersonal confidential and performance trust is the most manifested. In a small group and in informal subgroups there are relationships between trust levels which have certain regularities.

This article describes psychological challenges that executive leaders of companies face nowadays. The study of the social context is based on changes that took place with the development of information technologies. The analysis touches upon such phenomena as virtualization, involvement in the external sociocommunicative environment, and the emergence of multiple identity. It is suggested that in order to adapt to changing conditions one should follow the path of self-development—in particular, to develop attention, imagination, and willpower. In connection with the traits generally attributed to executive leaders, the article emphasizes self-adjustment; common sense as an integral part of intuition, emotions, and imagination; and the readiness to make choices in fifty-fifty situations.

Present reality gives rise to contradictory trends: the combination of new threats, tense situations, and destructive tendencies shapes awareness of the importance of identifying, assessing, and managing emerging situations and of developing new scientific paradigms. The polyfunctional interpretation of psychological security correlates with the perception of stability as a specific arrangement of interactional processes and the relatedness of stereotypes, standards, sociocultural attitudes, and social perceptions. A tense situation clearly indicates the separation of the potential of the person and the group from the notion of subject-action in security promotion and maintenance. The depersonification of social institutions is accompanied by each person’s growing attention to himself/herself and the increasing significance of this kind of attention in overcoming uncertainty and tension.

The process of making decisions in a tense situation often includes the phenomenon of the illusion of control over the situation, which can pose a threat to psychological security. The social significance of the promotion of psychological security calls for consolidation of efforts aimed at the stability of the society and the prevention of stress-producing situations.

The psychological component of terrorism in four major attitudes is considered in the article: psychology of terrorism, psychology of counteraction to terrorism, psychological training of experts and the psychological help to victims of terrorism. Socio-psychological factors of development of terrorism, including concept of "contributing events" as well as hypothesis "frustration-aggression" are investigated. Specific features and the external factors promoting involving into terrorism are analyzed. The system of measures of counteraction of transformation of groups of risk is presented to the potential terrorist organizations, including in aspect of the control over ideology, education, education and work of mass media. Features of work with victims of acts of terrorism and extreme situations, minimization of its negative consequences are made out. Psychological reactions of the experts, engaged by liquidation of consequences of actions of terrorism, resulting works with victims of extreme situations are revealed. Features of vocational training of the personnel working with victims of terrorism and extreme situations are specified. Ways of overcoming of the negative psychological consequences arising at experts as a result of long contact to victims of extreme situations are presented.

The results of the field research of intergroup attitudes in Southern Russia (N=723) demonstrated that the relationships of the valence and uncertainty of ethnic identity, perceived discrimination and the level of religious identity with intergroup attitudes depend on a group status (majority-minority) and the type of settlement (dense - sparse). The perceived discrimination predicts the intolerance of intergroup attitudes among the majority group members whereas, the valence and uncertainty of ethnic identity - among the minorities members. The salience of ethnic identity and high level of religious identity predict intolerant attitudes among migrants with the dense way of settlement, the valence of identity and perceived discrimination predict intolerant attitudes among the migrants with the sparse type of settlement. The willingness to distinguish between people by religion provides the maintenance of their group boundaries and identity in multicultural regions of Russia. The growth of uncertainty of ethnic identity, decrease of perceived discrimination and the level of religious identity as well as general ethnic tolerance provide better adaptation of migrants in multicultural regions of Russia.

The article describes the main stages and directions of the development of social psychology in USSR and Russia. The comparison of theoretical approaches of Russian and Western social psychology is carried out. Special emphasis is made on the problem of social cognition and coping, which are important in the conditions of changing reality. New professional tasks of social psychology are discussed. The necessity of finding a new paradigm in social psychological investigations in conditions of cardinal transformations and ambiguity is stated as well as vectors and tendencies of its elaboration.

The authors give the quantitative estimation of the macropsychological state of modern Russian society based on its political, social and economic characteristics. For these purposes the composite index of the macropsychological state of society is developed. It combines two secondary indexes such as a societal psychological stability index and a societal socio-psychological well-being index.

The association of self-regulation and personality factors with rational decision making was investigated using an experimental model of political voting. The results revealed different sets of personality characteristics for rational and emotional voters. A self-regulation/personality typology of decision making was then constructed, and traits representing self-regulation, cognition, and personality were examined as predispositions toward rational decision making. As a result, specific connections among these variables were uncovered, through which the primary role of the conscious self-regulation system in the management of rational decision making in a political voting context was established.

Rough calculations demonstrate that while demographic densities and the technical capacity for mutual destruction have increased throughout the millennia, the violent death rate – the average number of deliberate killings per capita per time unit – has been decreasing. The resulting downward trend appears highly nonlinear and mediated by man-made crises and catastrophes, but still, in the long term, consecutive. Meanwhile, there is no direct evidence of falling aggressiveness of the humans in the course of history – natural aggressive impulses were rather growing up with population concentration. Obviously, some perfecting cultural and psychological mechanisms of aggression-retention have compensated for technological and demographic growth. This issue is explored using the pattern of techno-humanitarian balance.

A questionnaire measuring web plagiarism (or academic cheating), worked out by Underwood and Szabo (2003) has been adapted and applied to the population of undergraduate science students in Russia. The students at four technical universities are questioned (N=292). The study shows the students perform webplagiarizing, i.e. take materials from the Internet and hand these materials in as their own assignments. Russian students are reportedly competent in the use of the Internet; they report to have rather few moral barriers towards plagiarizing; they believe most of their mates do the same; they are not sure their tutors are able and willing to recognize cheating; finally, they are competent enough in English and are hypothetically able to plagiarize in two languages.

The paper examines the methodological principles of the psychological study of ecological consciousness as one of the urgent interdisciplinary problems of XX–XXI century, caused by the aggravation of global ecological problems and the need for the realization of the “sustainable development”ideas. Ecological consciousness is considered as multilayered, dynamic, reflexive element of human consciousness, incorporating multivariate, holistic aspects of interaction of the human being as the H.S. and the Humanity representative with the environment and the Planet. The possibility of the more active introduction of Russian psychology in the process is argued for in connection with the existing conceptual approaches, which compose the methodological basis for ecological consciousness research. Among these approaches are considered: the principles of holistic study of the human being by B. Ananyev, the methodology of system psychological description by V. Gansen and G. Sukhodolsky, the idea of reflexivity of consciousness by S. Rubinstein, the humanitarian- ecological imperative of the development of consciousness by V. Zinchenko, the theory of relations by V. Myasishev, consideration of ecological consciousness as relation to nature by S. Deryabo and V. Yasvin, theories of consciousness by V. Petrenko, V. Allakhverdov and other Russian psychologists. The value component of ecological consciousness is distinguished as the most significant. The possibility of applying the Values’ theory of the by S. Schwartz for studying the ecological values is discussed along with the prognostic potential of the universalism value.

Management as a form of cognition implies gaining new experience and knowledge, particularly about oneself. Traditionally, the psychology of social cognition distinguishes between an object and a subject of cognition (i.e. the one who cognizes). The subject of cognition can represent both an individual and a social group. As consciousness and mentality of an individual changes in modern society, essential topics of social cognitive psychology assume new importance: society components are becoming inter-cognitive. There is a change in the structure of management relations within the management system that includes aims and functions, as well as the subject and object of management.

This article deals with researches on the cognitive component of interpersonal cog­nition and studies a possibility of improving it during teachers' education. Mistakes people make while estimating one another are analyzed on the basis of empirical researches. The author suggests a model describing main interpersonal cognition principles that is capable of minimizing such mistakes. The author describes the researches conducted under her supervision, in which the strategies based on the interpersonal cognition principles were studied. It has been shown that teachers using a model set of the interpersonal cognition principles are much better at es­timating children's personality characteristics, than those who are unable to use them. The author also presents the method called The Development of the Strate­gies of Interpersonal Cognition, and considers forms and conditions of its usage in education of future teachers.

The paper studies the degree of aggression among teenagers in different social, economic, and cultural conditions. The research was conducted for the Altai and Moscow regions. It also suggests the analysis of dynamics of juvenile delinquency which is often expressed by social inability to adapt in society. Sex distinctions in dynamics of aggressive behavior of teenagers were specially considered.

Like other terms of social analysis, such as "modernity,""postmodern ity,""democ-racy"and "globalization,"the term "psychological society',signals a contribution to debate about the direction cultural, social, economic and political life is taking. The most tangible manifestation of psychological society is the sheer rise in numbers of people calling themselves psychologists and having psychology as an occupa­tion. The second characteristic of psychological society concerns the emphasis on "the self"as an individual psychological subjectivity, conferring identity, and locus of agency. In a psychological society, people, including, of course, psychologists themselves, acquire a psychological subjectivity, a way of representing themselves to themselves and to others, as having a psychological identity. There is a sense in which, in psychological society, each person becomes her or his own psychologist. Finally, psychological society is a society in which the circle representing human nature in psychological terms and the formation of people as psychological subjects becomes a major feature of social structure. Since such a society developed in the twentieth century in many western countries, it is natural to ask whether at least elements of such a society are now coming into existence in Russia.

The article deals with the research into social notions of such integral psychic phe­nomena as consciousness and the unconscious.The concept of social notions, pro­posed by S. Moscovici in 1961, was used. This research was carried out in several stages. Firstly, scientific definitions of consciousness and the unconscious were analyzed. Secondly, dictionaries of the Russian language were studied. Then an empirical study of social notions of consciousness and the unconscious was con­ducted. As many as 240 students of Perm State University took part in the study as subjects. The core-periphery structure of scientific and social representations of consciousness and the unconscious that is typical of modern Russian culture and common to such of its carriers as active researchers in psychology and stu­dents was reconstructed. Finally, notions of consciousness were compared to the notions of the unconscious. Studying the notions of psychic phenomena makes it possible to reconstruct the idea of the psychic that is typical of non-professionals. The process of constructing social notions can be explained by the"dynamic mod­el" proposed in the study by S. Moscovici and M. Hewstone (1984).

Psychological effects of climate change constitute one of the subjects of study of ecological psychology. Ecological psychology is formed and developed at the junction of ecology, different directions of psychology, psychotherapy, pedagogy, philosophy and other disciplines. The article is devoted to review those areas of psychological research, which consider the human psyche in the logic of interaction with the environment. As a result, we hope to answer the fundamental question of whether ecological psychology may be regarded as an independent area of psychological research, which has its object and methods that distinguish it from other areas of psychological theory and practice.

Cognitive behavior in interpersonal relations is always connected with time characteristics such as sequence, rhythm, and succession of actions. In our research we attempted to determine the role of time parameters in the development of the following social communications: (a) interpersonal relations, (b) communicative acts, and (c) the process of structuring social behavior. We intended to show the role of time in acquiring and mastering social contacts. In our research we outlined a number of methods for developing time competence and various conscious and unconscious ways to organize time and to create an atmosphere of understanding, acceptance, and trust in interpersonal nonverbal communication. The time characteristics of social behavior and its nonverbal manifestation can exert a positive influence on communicative activity and can determine time competence in communication. Ignoring time parameters in the self-realization and self-actualization of personality introduces a certain destructive element into the process of interpersonal relations; hence the necessity of teaching competence in communication arises. Teaching is carried out in the process of training and includes several stages: the introductory stage and the stages of intensification, integration, avoidance, and others. Thus, time management and the process of teaching time management allow one to discover time resources for the self-organization of one’s personality over a lifetime.

Negotiations are an inalienable component of human society in the modern world, so studying those personal characteristics of negotiators that influence their choice of negotiating strategy, tactics, and style is relevant and significant. Knowledge of the patterns of a partner’s choice of one strategy of behavior or another influences on successful negotiation process and assists in achieving goals. We did research on the connections among level of anxiety, motivation to succeed and to avoid failure, and self-esteem to the level of Machiavellianism. This article discusses the personal characteristics that influence the choice of manipulative tactics of behavior in negotiations.

Over the past several years, the possibilities for Russia’s economic growth have been discussed widely. This problem is unquestionably topical. However, do material factors alone determine the well-being of a society and its people? Since the mid-1980s, the overwhelming majority of indicators of the psychological state of Russian society have been demonstrating a negative tendency, and this trend not only reflects on the citizens’ sense of self but also creates obstacles on the way to the country’s innovative development.

The mass media have become one of the crucial institutions of modern society; it is hard to overestimate their role in the formation of people’s beliefs, values, and physiological characteristics. The media industries are now an integral part of the leisure and entertainment industries. With free time becoming a key economic resource of society, the individual lives and psychological well-being of people are significantly influenced by the processes of mass communication and by media companies; this level of influence results in the emergence of a new human being—homo mediatis.

Today, the media are often blamed for having a harmful influence on the moral, psychological, psychosexual, and social development of people. Indignant mothers, polemicists from politics and social fields, spiritual leaders, psychologists, and even researchers of the media attribute to the mass media truly horrific effects, such as the demoralization, perversion, and spiritual impoverishment of their audiences. The most blamed medium is television. Nowadays, television is considered to be the root of evil. The author tries to understand how justified such reproaches to the media are.