Aleksander I. Dontsov, Elena B. Perelygina (2013) Tense situations and the significance of stability for psychological security. Psychology in Russia: State of the Art, 6 (2), 20-31
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.
Keywords:
tense situations, subject of psychological security, dynamic stability, social perceptions, social and psychological consequences of the terrorist threat
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.
