Lomonosov Psychology Journal, 2024, 1, 284.

Background. The relevance of gender issues is associated with discussions outside the scientific field, while in the science itself, the popularity of gender studies is increasing every year.

Objectives. The present article aims at the application of the conceptual mechanism of the cultural-historical approach to gender issues.

Methods. Abstraction, analysis and synthesis of literary data, comparison of theoretical models, and generalization were used.

Results. Sex as a biological entity is divided into an innate “natural” category and a gender as a culturological one. A number of examples demonstrate the non-identity of sex and gender as well as variants of their combination and interaction. It is proposed to disidentify gender and gender identity as a psychological category. The latter is understood as an analogue of the higher mental function which forms intravitally under specific social conditions, it is mediated by gender signs (appearance, manners, norms, preferences, values, taboos, etc.) and is possible to self-regulate. In the meantime, the limitations in mastering one’s own behaviour are emphasized, since the origin of the gender identity is connected to the biological parameters of sex, inconsistency of gender norms and their wide field of influence. Here the field of cultural pathology in the sphere of gender identity and intersex interaction reveals itself.

Conclusions. The cultural-historical approach is seen to be heuristic in the multifactorial understanding of gender issues which include biological, cultural, psychological, and ontogenetic aspects.

Background. Postcovid syndrome or Long COVID is a new term introduced into medical practice by WHO after the COVID -19 pandemic. Long COVID affects patients who have recovered from COVID -19.

Objectives. The purpose of this work is to understand cognitive deficits caused by COVID-19 from the point of view of neuropsychology and pathophysiology.

Data Sources. Literature search was conducted in the following electronic databases: Pubmed, Google.scholar and Scopus databases. 63 articles were selected. Keywords for the literature review included “neuropsychiatry/neuropsychology”, “pathophysiology”, “COVID-19”, “SARS-CoV-2”.

Methods. Review and analysis of COVID-19 studies in terms of its relation to the appearance of cognitive deficits in patients.

Results. The SARS-CoV-2 virus enters the human body and affects the structures of the brain. Some of the symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath, problems with concentration and memory, loss or change of taste and smell, pain in muscles and joints as well as sleep disorders are preserved in post-COVID period and may be explained by the peculiarity of the virus interaction with central nervous system. Neuropsychological analysis of observed disorders based on the theory of three functional blocks of the brain by A. R. Luria helps to identify the affected zones of the functional systems of higher mental functions (HMF). Neuropsychological assessment makes it possible to plan rehabilitation programme or cognitive training, and help doctor in choosing an adequate drug therapy to compensate for cognitive impairment.

Conclusions. SARS-CoV-2 causes damage to brain structures such as the brainstem, limbic system, prefrontal cortex and olfactory tract, which explains the observed symptoms. Neuropsychological diagnostics makes it possible to identify the impaired component of the HMF in patients with post-COVID syndrome, to plan an adequate rehabilitation programme, as well as to choose drug therapy.

Background. Studying the types of perception of difficult life situations is a demanded task, since knowledge about the subject’s perception of ongoing events allows us to predict the characteristics of his interaction with the situation. The article presents a classification of the perception of difficult life tasks — situations that involve achieving a significant difficult goal. The basis for identifying types is the subject’s focus on approaching a difficult situation or avoiding it.

Objectives. Objective is an analysis of the desire for difficulty associated with the experience of drive, as a type of perception of difficult life task.

Study Participants. The study involved 611 respondents (M age = 25; SD = 5.8; 427 women), students and specialists of various professions. The type describing the desire for difficulty was identified in 11% of cases.

Methods. To collect data, we used the Structured Description of the Situation Technique (allowing us to obtain qualitative data) in combination with the “Types of Orientations in Difficult Situations” questionnaire (TODS). Based on the profile of the respondent on the questionnaire and the characteristics significant for the type, each description of the difficult life task was assigned to one of five types. The data processing procedure included content analysis and mathematical processing (Mann — Whitney U test, frequency analysis).

Results. The features of striving for difficulty as a type of perception of difficult life tasks are highlighted based on the analysis of categories characterizing the content of the situation, emotions, energy, appraisals of life tasks, coping, goals, possibilities and restrictions, worst-case scenario and best-case scenario. It is shown that this type involves the experience of positive emotions, fullness of energy and possibilities, the desire to achieve the best results, and goals of self-development. This is associated with a positive appraisal and reappraisal, approach coping, a sense of control over the situation. At the same time, a characteristic feature of the desire for difficulty is an ambivalent attitude towards a difficult task.

Conclusions. The study demonstrated a number of signs that reliably distinguish the desire for difficulty from other types of perception of difficult life tasks, which gives grounds to consider it a separate type.

Background. The relevance of the study is associated with the activation of malevolent creativity at the macro level in the form of information wars and isolation of Russia, which create threatening socio-political conditions, against the background of the special military operation in Ukraine.

Objectives. Objective of the study was to find out whether there are differences at the micro-level in different socio-political conditions in malevolent creativity as well as to identify its connections with personal characteristics: hostility, the trait of “Agreeableness”, and moral identity. The following hypotheses were formulated: 1. The level of antisocial creativity varies in different contexts and will be higher in threatening socio-political conditions and 2. the relationship between such personal characteristics as hostility, Agreeableness, moral identity, and malevolent creativity will be different in different socio-political conditions.

Study Participants. The study is a cross-sectional one. The first stage was carried out in 2019 with the participation of 81 young students from one of Moscow universities (mean age 19.2, SD = 1.2). 152 young students of the same Moscow university took part at the second stage in 2023 (mean age 19.1, SD = 1.29).

Methods. Participants filled out forms with the questionnaires “NEO-FFI” (a shortened version of the questionnaire “NEO PI-R”), BRAQ-24, moral identity questionnaire, “Behavioral features of antisocial creativity”.

Results. It is shown that there are differences in variables at the microsystem level in different sociopolitical conditions: MC and hostility are significantly lower, and moral identity and cooperation are significantly higher in the sample of 2023. The predictors of MC in the sample of 2023 were the traits of Agreeableness and hostility. In the sample of 2019, the trait of Agreeableness alone predicted MC. Differences in the strength of the relationship between the variables were revealed: in the sample of 2023, the relationship of hostility with antisocial creativity and the trait of Cooperation was significantly stronger than in the sample of 2019.

Conclusions. In threatening socio-political conditions, young people with high hostility and low level on the “Agreeableness” trait fall into the risk group, due to the high probability of the realization of creativity in behavior that harms other people, while realization of MC in behavior may be restrained through actualizing moral identity. In a calm and peaceful period, moral identity and hostility are less relevant for the implementation of MC in harmful behavior, since the development of “Agreeableness” is important in this case.

Background. The necessity of studying perceptions of creativity in psychology cadets is conditioned by the fact that the “soft” skill of creativity is associated with the ability to go beyond the given conditions and to act effectively in uncertain situations, and also by the fact that the successful adaptation of a young specialist to work depends on whether his perceptions of his activity coincide with its real content.

Objectives. The research is meant to identify the peculiarities of representations of creativity in psychology cadets at the adept stage.

Study Participants. A total of 201 people (122 men and 79 women) participated in the study, including representatives of different professions: working professionals and trainees, students and cadets. The average age of the sample was 31 years.

Methods. Psychosemantic methods were used in the study: group associative experiment and card sorting method. They allow to construct a subjective semantic space reflecting the peculiarities of perceptions of creativity.

Results. As a result of the associative experiment, a list of 86 frequent words describing professional activity was obtained. Sorting of the obtained 86 words by cadet psychologists, psychology students, and psychologists of the scientific platoon revealed significant differences in the content and structure of representations of creativity. Comparison of the semantics of creativity in psychologists at the adept stage shows that university students have a more complex structure of representations in comparison with cadets, connected with the allocation of a separate cluster “hobby, interest, development” and at the same time similar in content to the representations of working psychologists on the proximity of “labor, work” with creativity. At the same time, the similarity of clusters in the description of creativity by students and cadets indicates that the ideas about it are laid down at the early stages of professional training.

Conclusions. Reconstruction of subjective semantics of creativity by the method of semantic spaces in psychology cadets is a promising qualitative description method for specific characteristics of professional activity.

Background. Person’s civil and ethnic identity, which are components of social identity, develop during socialization under the influence of a number of factors. J. Berry identifies cultural, political, economic and historical factors as the basis for identity formation. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the study of the role of the cultural factor, namely the structure of values, in the formation of a positive civic and ethnic identity of Russians.

Objectives. The purpose of this work is to study the structure of the ethnic and civic identity of Russians as well as the influence of individual values on their formation.

Study Participants. The study was conducted with the participation of 1014 respondents, ethnic Russians, aged from 19 to 83 years (Mage = 41 years; SD = 13.04; 527 women and 487 men).

Methods. J. Finney’s MEIM-R methods were used to measure ethnic identity. S. Schwartz’s PVQ-R value structure questionnaire was also applied. Civic identity was measured using the methodology from the International Social Survey Program, adapted into Russian by L.K. Grigoryan.

Results. It was found that the civic identity of Russians as the individual’s awareness of belonging to the citizens of the country is more pronounced than ethnic identity. Nationalism is expressed more than the ideology of patriotism. The affective component of ethnic identity is more pronounced than the cognitive one. Among the surveyed respondents, the values of independence, security, reputation and benevolence prevail. The values of security, benevolence and universalism increase the level of civic identity in Russians. The key positive regressor in relation to both civic and ethnic identity is the value “Tradition”.

Conclusions. Socially oriented values (preservation and self-overcoming) have a positive impact on the formation of positive civic and ethnic identity of Russians. The values of personal orientation (openness to change and self-affirmation) have a negative impact on their formation.

Background. Russian neuropsychology lacks a standardised set of methods for quantifying the development of higher mental functions (HMF) from pre-school to high school age. Its application could improve the objectivity of neuropsychological diagnosis.

Objectives. The study seeks 1) to create a psychometric battery of methods for multifactorial investigation of neuropsychological development (MIND) in children and adolescents aged 4–17; 2) to describe the trajectories of age-related development of HMF.

Sample. 860 participants aged 4–17 (M = 10; SD = 3.7), including 558 boys and 302 girls took part in the study.

Methods. Neuropsychological assessment was performed using 40 techniques and measuring 171 variables. These variables were standardised and age-adjusted. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was used to find latent variables. The resulting model was applied to age-unadjusted variables to identify developmental trajectories.

Results. A model was built with 106 indicators and 21 factors. Four variables were used to construct an additional verbal-logical thinking scale. The general level of development can be reliably measured using 50 variables. These scales are described as age dependent.

Conclusions. The MIND psychometric battery for neuropsychological assessment of children and adolescents aged 4–17 has been created. The quantitative evaluation is based on a mathematical description of the age-related development of HMF components.

Background. Today, there is a trend towards the introduction of online communication in the field of scientific research. The development of this trend in social psychology was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and by the requirements of social distancing. These conditions make it difficult to apply qualitative methods in in-person format. The use of online focus groups became relevant for researchers even before the outbreak of the pandemic. However, now the practical importance of studying online focus groups is only increasing.

Objectives. The aim of the study is to identify the features of group discussion in in-person and online focus groups.

Study Participants. 29 people (27.9% men, 72.41% women) from 18 to 25 years old (M = 21.1; SD = 1.95) participated in in-person focus groups, and 24 people (37.5% men, 62.5% women) from 18 to 26 years old (M = 22.8; SD = 2.15).

Methods. The study involves qualitative content analysis of 10 transcripts of focus groups conducted in face-to-face and online formats between 2019 and 2021.

Results. As a result of qualitative content analysis, categories that reflect the features of interaction between participants at each stage of the group discussion in online and in-person focus groups were identified. The features of group discussion in in-person and online focus groups are revealed.

Conclusions. (1) In in-person focus groups, self-orientation is observed only at the beginning of the discussion, while in online focus groups, it prevails throughout the discussion; (2) in in-person focus groups, participants’ focus on others is expressed in frequent interaction and in asking participants questions; in online groups it manifests itself in giving participants the opportunity to express their opinions and in paying attention to other opinions; (3) in online focus groups, unlike in-person focus groups, participants do not have a psychological community of group members; (4) the effect of group discussion in in-person focus groups is an attempt to reach a single “average” opinion on the issue under discussion, whereas in online focus groups, the aim is in deepening discussion of the topic.

Background. Problems of finding meaning of what is being read can accompany students’ already formed skills of fluent reading, reducing their academic success. The issues of reader’s literacy are in the focus of modern psychological and pedagogical research, and the consideration of the mechanisms of its formation at the initial stages of learning to read is therefore relevant.

Objectives. The study performs the analysis of the quality of children’s orientation in the initial period of learning to read and of the conditions for its actualization.

Study Participants. 26 subjects (6–7 years old) took part in the diagnostic examination, including 10 first-graders and 16 senior preschoolers who studied reading in the kindergarten preparatory group or as a part of preschool training. Experimental teaching for children aged 6–7 years was conducted in two preschool groups of 4 people and in one group of 6 first-graders.

Methods. The assessment of children’s capability to read meaningfully (the first part of the study) was carried out individually according to the modified technique of D.B. Elkonin “fusion of words” (Elkonin, 1998). To test and refine the designed training materials (the second part of the study), 30 half-hour classes were conducted within experimental teaching in each group.

Results. A qualitative analysis of the filled in diagnostic forms and videotaped children’s actions and reasoning allowed us to identify and describe reading strategies demonstrated by children, which we defined as formal (found in 73% of the subjects) and meaningful (27%) — in accordance with the nature of attempts to comprehend what they read, which participants resorted to in the process of deciphering the “fusion of words”. The results of our experimental teaching showed the effectiveness of the approach we developed to create some conditions for meaningful mediation of initial reading.

Conclusions. One of the important conditions for the formation of the meaningfulness in reading during the transition “from letters to words” is to provide the orientative function of referring to reality, standing both for the word itself and for the sentence in which it should be read correctly. The method of “end-forward” reading of deformed words and simplest texts, which we developed, can be considered as a resource for improving the literacy in initial reading.

Background. Remote work has been gaining popularity for a long time. With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work has become a necessity for many people. However, the personality traits of people for whom remote work is suitable are poorly understood.

Objectives. The study focuses on the personality traits of successful freelancers working remotely.

Study Participants. 184 Freelancers (115 females, 69 males, aged from 14 to 60) were recruited from Advego.com. Freelancers were divided into two groups of beginners and experts, based on the number of tasks completed. Groups were compared with each other. The group of experts was also compared with a group of 98 females (aged from 16 to 72) who were not freelancers.

Methods. An empirical study was carried out using a five-factor personality questionnaire by H. Tsuji in the version of A.B. Khromov.

Results. Significant differences were found between expert freelancers and women of different professions for the following personality traits: extraversion (p = 0.0001), agreeableness (p = 0.0001), openness to experience (p = 0.0001). The hypothesis that freelancers have a higher level of conscientiousness than non-freelance women was not confirmed.

Conclusions. The personality traits of freelancers who are successfully adapted to remote work are revealed including lower levels of extraversion, agreeableness, and openness to experience. The results obtained can be used to select staff for remote work.

Background. Currently, the number of entrepreneurs who want to run a traditional business or a startup is growing rapidly. In scientific circles, there is also increasing interest in the phenomenon of entrepreneurship and, in particular, in the personality of the entrepreneur. The question arises as to which areas of research in the social psychology of entrepreneurship are relevant at the moment.

Objective. The study is aimed at creating a map of scientific landscape in the field of entrepreneurship, as well as at highlighting relevant areas of entrepreneurship research in social psychology.

Methods. Scientific mapping was carried out using the VOSviewer programme version 1.6.15. A scientometric analysis of keywords from 3,235 scientific articles published in the field of social psychology over the past 5 years was carried out (according to The Lens platform). The interpretation of the map in order to highlight the current directions was made using the metaphor of the city.

Results. Current research topics include personal and environmental aspects. Among the relevant areas of entrepreneur’s research are socio-psychological personality traits (optimism, enthusiasm, perseverance, traits of the dark triad, etc.), entrepreneurial intentions, motivation. When studying entrepreneurship, the question of the choice to become an entrepreneur as well as the process of entrepreneurial self-determination are important. At the same time, at this stage of research, the thematic bundle “identity-self-determination-intentions” is of interest only from the point of view of intentions.

Conclusions. Entrepreneurship as a phenomenon in modern social psychology is of scientific interest in terms of point constructs: entrepreneurial intentions, socio-psychological personality traits, values. It is the study of entrepreneurial identity that seems promising, since it will allow to predict the professional path of young people and their predisposition to entrepreneurship.

Background. To date, a significant number of researchers have noted the shortage of highly qualified scientific personnel employed in research organizations. It is due to a number of reasons, among which emigration of scientists to those countries where highly qualified work is paid higher can be marked. In this regard, issues related to the international mobility of postgraduate students, including educational mobility, are very important.

Objective. The study focuses on the socio-psychological characteristics of postgraduate students’ attitudes to educational migration.

Study Participants. The study involved students of postgraduate schools at research organizations involved in the training of graduate students in the field of educational sciences, as well as pedagogical universities in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other regions of the Russian Federation. A total of 803 respondents were interviewed.

Methods. The article is based on the materials of a monitoring questionnaire.

Results. The study revealed a connection between socio-demographic factors (gender, age) and attitudes related to educational migration: men more often indicate a desire to improve their professional qualifications abroad; with age, the number of graduate students wishing to study abroad decreases. In addition, the influence of socio-stratification factors (the income level of graduate students and the educational status of the family) on attitudes towards educational migration was revealed: high-income graduate students, as well as those graduate students whose parents have academic degrees, are more focused on professional development abroad. The study also showed that migration attitudes related to temporary educational migration are significantly more widespread among graduate students than among researchers.

Conclusion. The attitudes of graduate students related to educational migration are determined by the influence of a number of socio-demographic and sociostratification factors. At the same time, studying abroad is considered as a career elevator, primarily by those postgraduate students who do not plan to link their further professional activities with scientific work and teaching at budgetary institutions. Also, the larger migration mobility has been revealed in postgraduate students as a socio-professional group in comparison with researchers.