Psychology in Russia: State of the Art, Moscow: Russian Psychological Society, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 2019, 2

Background. During the last decade, life calling has become an areas of dynamically developing research in psychology, management, and counseling. However, it has not been empirically investigated in Russia, despite Russia’s rich intellectual and spiritual tradition, and abundant research on related constructs, such as personal meaning.

Objective. The aim of the present study is an initial qualitative exploration of the concept of calling in Russian culture.

Design. We employed qualitative document analysis to examine openended responses from 104 college students regarding their definition of calling, and the actions they undertook to discern and implement that calling.

Results. We found that the students saw a calling as something more than a mere job; were intrinsically motivated to find and dedicate themselves to it; associated a calling with the use of their abilities; and at the same time expected it to make them more energized and successful without considerable effort. While some participants felt called to a specific domain, the majority indicated abstract other or self-oriented callings. Regarding the implementation of their calling, the participants fell into two groups: those who did something specific, such as study and practice, and those who did something vague, such as “everything” or “nothing”.

Conclusion. These results are largely in line with similar findings in other cultures. The results can be used in career guidance in educational institutions, as well as in private counseling. Specific recommendations for practice, as well as directions for future research, are explored.

Background. Researchers have started to demonstrate that verbal cues to deceit can be elicited through specific interview protocols. One that has yielded success is the Model Statement technique, which works as a social comparison and raises interviewees’ expectations about how much information they are required to report. This technique has been developed and tested in the United Kingdom, and is used in the field. A tool used in the field should be thoroughly examined in different settings, including in different cultures.

Objective. We examined the effect of the Model Statement tool on eliciting information and cues to deceit in Russian and South Korean participants.

Design. A total of 160 Russian and South Korean participants were recruited via an advert on the university intranets and advertisement leaflets. The advert explained that the experiment would require participants to tell the truth or lie about a trip away that they may (or may not) have taken within the last year. Truth tellers described a trip they made during the last twelve months, whereas liars made up a story about such a trip. Half of the participants listened to a Model Statement at the beginning of the interview. The dependent variables were “detail”, “complications”, “common knowledge details”, “self-handicapping strategies”, and “ratio of complications”.

Results. The Model Statement elicited more details from both Russian and South Korean participants and strengthened “complications” and “ratio of complications” as cues to deceit in both samples. The effects were the strongest amongst South Korean participants.

Conclusion. The Model Statement technique seems to work across different cultures, but more research is required to determine why it worked better amongst South Korean than Russian participants.

Background. In psychology, analyzing the problem of personality is closely connected with the search for a methodology to describe personality in all its diversity. The dispositional approach, which is based on identifying stable personality traits, has resulted today in the dominance of a structural-functional approach. It has the advantage that it allows comparative analysis and the juxtaposition of specific personality characteristics inherent in the underlying construct, but it also has the limitation that it is inadequate for the study of personality as a dynamic structure, one capable of changing as the world around it changes.

Objective. To analyze and systematize the empirical studies of recent years in the field of personality psychology in order to identify and describe the principal trends in the study of the phenomenology of personality, reflecting distinctive features of human existence in the modern world.

Design. The method of research included a meta-analysis of reports (N = 1,149) from three European conferences on personality: the 17th European Conference on Personality (2014), Lausanne, Switzerland; the 18th European Conference on Personality (2016), Romania; the 19th European Conference on Personality (2018), Zadar, Croatia. We also describe the changeability of personality characteristics in the context of the individual’s life, on the basis of meta-analytical databases compiled by Roberts et al. (2006) and Wrzus et al. (2016).

Results. The results demonstrate the continuing domination of structural methodology in empirical studies of personality, despite the criticism to which it has been subjected. However, the number of studies of various aspects of dynamic personality processes is growing. Research reflecting the phenomenology of everyday life is expanding, as studies of daily human behavior, life events, and life situations are increasing proportionally. Researchers’ attention is being drawn to diverse contexts of life: the environment, culture, relationships. Data collection technologies are changing: Digital devices enable information about personality to be obtained online, tracking all the diversity of personality in different situations, its changeability and dynamism. Metadata indicate the changeability of personality traits that have long been considered stable: extraversion, emotional stability, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and agreeableness. The dynamics of personality traits are essentially determined by the context of a person’s life and vary depending on changes in that life. The continuity of these changes is processual and does not fit into the structural approach.

Conclusion. Modern personality psychology has contradictory trends. On the one hand, especially in empirical research, the traditional structural-functional paradigm for describing the personality remains influential, while attempts are made to improve it in response to criticism. On the other hand, an increasing number of studies are devoted to the study of real people in the real world, confronting the challenges of a changing world. A growing amount of empirical data describing the dynamic personality, changing in time and space, necessitates theoretical understanding and the search for a methodology relevant to the study of the changing personality.

Background. In the context of the current globalization of culture and civilization, international science has become global. Formation of a global science, able to comprehend the emerging global world, is impossible without the full integration of “local” scientific traditions and systems of social and humanitarian knowledge, which are new to the Western-centered mainstream. This situation challenges “local” psychological schools, and at the same time opens up new perspectives for their development. A prerequisite for integration is overcoming language barriers. For Russian psychology, the language factor is of special significance, because the conceptual apparatus here has formed based on the Russian language, and translating Russian texts into foreign languages requires not only language skills but also hermeneutics in relation to the conceptual apparatus.

Objective. Of special difficulty is the translation of the concept of “субъект” (Subjekt), which is central to the Russian psychological tradition. Like the concept of “Personality,” it relates to the sphere of integral aspects and manifestations of human existence. The question of how these two concepts relate, remains acutely debatable, despite the fact that the Russian scientific community has already spent considerable efforts on the methodological elaboration of each of them. This makes it difficult for scientists to communicate and impedes translating scientific texts. This article concentrates on the problem of translating the concept oi“Subjekt’.’

Conclusion. Difficulties encountered by foreign colleagues are analyzed; the different interpretations of the concept in contemporary Russian psychology are highlighted. A solution to the problem of translation of the concept is proposed.

Background. Personality psychology in academia reached its peak in Western psychology in the 1960s and 1970s. Its history usually starts with Freud and ends up with the Big Five. Yet its roots go much deeper, and can be traced back to the early use of the term “psychology” primarily among Protestant scholastics in the late sixteenth century. This was related to the Christian Reformation, which highlighted the sacrament of penance and emphasized self-examination of the true believer. The background for this study is to bring in a historical perspective on personality. Max Weber, for example, demonstrated that this led to a morality of faithfulness to one’s deeds. This duty, he says, explains the prosperity of the Protestants in Europe and the US in the seventeenth century. Michel Foucault showed in the first volume of The History of Sexuality how the sacrament of penance led to a certain interest in human nature and sexuality. Human nature was at the core of the very early use of psychology.

Objective. The objective of this paper is to focus on how these aspects were treated in early psychology by following a design that examines the person, human nature, individual differences, and intellectual abilities.

Results. One of the results is that there is a direct connection between the use of the term “personality” in psychology, and the use of the term “psychology” from the very beginning based on the following findings: (a) “Psychology” appears in the wake of the interest in the individual, and (b) “Personality” appears as a specified term with the aim of achieving a scientific understanding of individuality.

Conclusion. Thus, one conclusion is that we have definitely not solved the dilemma that Gordon Allport pointed to: that traditional scientific ideals deal with general laws, whereas personality psychology deals with individuality. Another important conclusion is that this dilemma and conflict are not possible to solve within psychology.

Background. The study of personality, particularly the investigation of individual personality, remains a thorny issue in psychological science. Many personality studies utilize aggregated data to make comparative statements about groups of persons. Though important for group comparisons, this body of research neglects a careful examination of individual personality.

Objective. To enhance psychologists’ understanding of individual personality process and variation.

Results and conclusion. This theoretical article suggests two strategies to augment the exploration of individual personality. First, our understanding of individual personality will be enhanced if personality psychologists broaden their research activities to include strategies that lead to a better understanding of individuals rather than groups. These efforts include both qualitative approaches and person-specific quantitative analyses that target individual process and variation. Second, personality psychologists should actively seek greater cultural sensitivity via interdisciplinary collaborations. In particular, the conceptual resources of comparative philosophy and the study of cultural ontological traditions will enhance the ability of personality psychologists to scientifically track the process and variation of individual personality. To this end, the article examines the structural ontology of the West and contrasts it with the process (event based) ontology of the East, showing how these ontological traditions continue to shape the discourse of personality psychology. The article also considers the oneness hypothesis, the world view that all persons (and personalities), creatures, and things are relationally bound together, a viewpoint distinct from the Western value of autonomy and self-sufficiency. As a conceptual resource, the oneness hypothesis derives from a process ontology and has important implications for understanding individual personalities and their place in the social world.

Background. Internet psychology has changed its research focus from describing the Internet as a separate space, with continuous interaction between offline and online communication, to exploring socialization in the world of mixed online/offline reality. This paper deals with the psychological and user activity factors of communication on the Internet in comparison with offline communication.

Objective. To differentiate the role of user activity, difficulties with regulating and expressing aggression, empathy and tolerance in compliance with online communication rules.

Design. The study included 1,029 adolescents aged 14-17, 525 adolescents aged 12-13, 736 young adults aged 17-30, and 1,105 parents of adolescents aged 12-17. Participants assessed how likely they are to follow communication rules online and offline, and reported their user activity level; they filled out the Chen Internet Addiction Scale, Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire, Davis Multidimensional Empathy Questionnaire, and Tolerance Index.

Results. It was shown that adolescents in general are a “risk group” for noncompliance with communication rules (“Internet etiquette”), but this is due to their general propensity not to follow any rules. Both in adults and in adolescents, failure to follow online communication rules is related to difficulties with aggression regulation, tolerance, empathy, and a low level of propensity for Internet addiction.

Conclusion. A difference between online and offline communication is related not to difficulties with regulation of aggression (anger and hostility), but to a lack of empathy and tolerance, and signs of Internet addiction.

Background. Perfectionism is a multidimensional personality trait related to an individuals desire to achieve optimal performance. From this perspective, perfectionism plays an important role in students’ motivation and their interpretation of the contexts for achievement. However, perfectionism which is encouraged by the views of others may result in increased performance levels of undergraduate university students.

Objective. This study sought to identify the level of multidimensional perfectionism and motivational orientation among a group of undergraduate students in Jordan, while also investigating the relationship between multidimensional perfectionism and motivational orientation.

Design. To collect the data, questionnaires measuring multidimensional perfectionism and motivational orientation, were administered to a sample of406 male and female undergraduate students at Hashemite University and Al-Hussein Bin Talal University during the academic year 2016/2017.

Results. It was shown that the level of multidimensional perfectionism and motivational orientation was moderate, with no significant differences between the dimensions of multidimensional perfectionism and motivational orientation attributable to gender. Moreover, the results showed a positive and statistically significant relationship between the multidimensional perfectionism and motivational orientation subscales.

Conclusion. Our study provides valuable insight into perfectionist trends and their relationship to motivational orientation in Arab countries. It contributes to the literature by demonstrating that perfectionism contributes to performance and achievement through its relationship to motivational orientation.

Background. The social activity of young people is the driving force behind socio-economic and socio-political processes in society. It is due to their social activity that positive changes are taking place in different spheres of life.

Objective. We set out to analyze the preferences and predictors of the directions of young peoples social activity. Design. Our study involved 251 people from the Saratov region, Russia, of median age (M) 20.11, SD = 1.2 (41% male). To measure their basic assumptions, we used the Janoff-Bulmann World Assumptions Scale (WAS); their identity characteristics were measured with the Kuhn and McPartland Twenty Statements Test (TST) “Who am I?” To evaluate their social behavior preferences, we used 11 unique proprietary scales which we developed on the basis of a pilot study with relevant theoretical validity.

Results. Our study found that youth preferences for various forms of social activity can be divided into two main clusters: organizational-social and individual-personal. Our results revealed that individual-personal activity had a more complex structure, with well-expressed intensity, than the organizational-social form of social activity Young people’s assumptions most strongly condition variations in their preferences for educational-developmental, socio-political, recreational-cognitive, and self-developmentrelated spheres of activity. The most influential predictors of social activity in young people are their assumptions regarding their own significance, their ability to manage events, and their luckiness. We established that an individual’s basic beliefs do not influence variations in their preferences for mass cultural, religious, creative, and informal activities in a group. Young people’s sense of identity influences variations in their preferred types of social activity. The most influential predictors of social activity preferences were negative personal, personal, and family-related identities. Preferences for social activity are less influenced by gender, religious, and ethnic identity, as well as by identity based on activity and appearance.

Conclusion. We present some conclusions regarding the strong determination of the first cluster (political, religious and voluntary types of activity) by identity, and the second cluster (ranging from educational to recreational cognitive activity) by assumptions about the world.

Background. Homesickness is a common experience among students who live in dormitories. Its symptoms may vary and influence students’ academic performance, social involvement, and ability to adapt to a new environment.

Objective. To investigate homesickness, locus of control, and social support among first-year boarding-school students.

Design. This study was conducted to first-year students of boardingschool and involved two hundred and twenty-six students, ages 11-13. A quantitative research design was implemented.

Results. There was a significant influence of locus of control and social support on homesickness among first-year students of boarding school. Social support contributed more to reducing homesickness.

Conclusion. This study can help expand the understanding of homesickness among first-year students, which may lead to improved social support from peers and develop students’ locus of control.

Background. According to the theory of MindTime, as a consequence of the subjective perception of time and the ability to engage in mental time travel, three patterns of perceptual and cognitive mental activity exist: Past, Present, and Future thinking. How individuals utilize these three thinking perspectives, in combination, influences how they perceive and process information and interact with the world and with others. An English version of the MindTime Profile Inventory (MTPI), which measures Past, Present, and Future thinking, has been developed.

Objective. To develop a Russian version of the MTPI.students.

Design. Utilizing a non-experimental design, a Russian translation of the MTPI was administered online. Two hundred and twenty-nine Russian undergraduate students provided usable data, which was then factor analyzed to produce a viable set of items.

Results. Principal component analysis yielded a set of 38 items (14 Past; 10 Present; 14 Future) that appeared to work with a Russian population. Russian students’ scores were highest on Past thinking (M = 72.75), followed by Present thinking (M = 67.69), and lowest on Future thinking (M = 60.86).

Conclusion. This study was the first step in developing a three-dimensional measure of thinking perspective for use with Russian samples. Because only 38 of the 45 translated items appeared to work well with a Russian sample, future research is needed with both larger sample sizes and working adults. Predictive validity and cross-cultural studies are also recommended.

Objective. The aim of this study is to consider the new challenges facing psychological science today, the chief of which are the modern transitive society and network virtual space.

Design. The study consisted of two series of tests. In the first part, 150 students (ages 19-21; 80 female, 70 male) were tested on their structure of social identity and attitudes toward people of both their own and different cultures, with the questionnaires “Structure of social identity)’ “Level of personal anxiety)’ and “Attitude to native and alien cultures.” In the second part, 100 people were divided into two groups, one of persons 18 to 25 years old, and another of persons 30 to 45 years old. They were asked about their attitudes toward the new technological space with the questionnaire “Attitude to new technological space,” which was developed by the author in 2017.

Results. The study showed that transitional space puts people in a difficult life situation, which increases their anxiety and reduces their socialization potential, especially in a multicultural space. The data showed that under these conditions, the family turns out to be the most important group for most people, regardless of their ages or where they live.

Conclusion. A transitive society is determined by its variability, and the uncertainty and multiplicity of social and personal spaces and contexts. This situation raises the status of the family in the structure of sociocultural identity. The experience of working with new technologies is the main determinant of people having a positive attitude toward them.