Malysheva, Natalya G.

Relevance. Our work is devoted to the analysis of such factors of the psychological well-being of homosexual men as belief in a competitive world and internalized homophobia. The study of these factors is important, since they form the image of the world and the image of oneself, which create the foundation for the perception of one's achievements in the social world and self-acceptance. Since modern society maintains negative attitudes towards homosexuality, especially male homosexuality, we assume that along with the assimilation of these prejudices, an image of the world can be formed in which it is necessary to remain vigilant and expect a “dirty trick” from others, which will negatively affect the psychological well-being of gays. 

The aim of the study was to examine the influence of belief in a competitive world and internalized homophobia on psychological well-being among homosexual men.

Research methods and sampling: methods of K. Ryff “Psychological well-being”, J. Duckitt “Jungle world beliefs” and W. Mayfield “Internalized homonegativity”. The study involved 68 men who identified themselves as homosexuals.

The results of the study showed that internalized homophobia makes a greater contribution to psychological well-being, while the role of faith in a competitive world is significantly less important. At the same time, acceptance of one's homosexuality contributes to psychological well-being, understood by K. Ryff as a positive functioning of the individual, and faith in a competitive world negatively affects psychological well-being. The results obtained allow us to conclude that the social outlook and self-attitude of the individual play a significant role in psychological well-being.

Relevance. The studies of psychological well-being are of particular relevance considering a rapidly changing world, requiring a rapid adaptation to changes as well as the constant search for ways to account your needs within unstable environment. Psychologists around the world pay a lot of attention to the psychological well-being of different social groups in recent decades. They analyze how social hierarchy provides different possibilities and influence on well-being of people.  There for LGBTQA community, who have experience of discrimination in the heteronormative society, is one of most important group for studying today.  

Objective. To review the studies on the relationship of psychological well-being, according to the eudemonistic approach, and various socio-psychological characteristics of the LGBTQIA community.

Methods. We overview and analyze the research of psychological well-being and its determinants among non-heteronormative people.

Results. The observed research show non-heteronormative people have a low level of psychological well-being. The following determinants of these results was identified: hidden discrimination, social and interpersonal barriers, stressful situations, internalized homophobia, support for gender norms, avoidance of interpersonal relations, fear of entering into intimate relations. Positive factors of psychological well-being are: social support, sexual satisfaction, openness, acceptance of one’s sexual identity, predominance of positive emotions, optimism. A combination of hedonistic and eudemonic approaches is possible direction for further development of such studies. 

Conclusion. Researches of non-heteronormative people’s well-being can reduce discrimination of them in the modern Russia that will contribute to increasing psychological culture in the society.

The results of the study concerning the image of Russia are presented in this article. Representations of students from three countries which have been perceived as centers of influence in the modern world — Russia, USA and China — were analyzed. The data of all samples indicates the ethnocentrism tendency in the choice of influential countries. The image of Russia in all three countries contains geopolitical connotations. The culture does not play a key role in the representations, but it is an important element of the emotional part of the image of Russia. The largest cross-cultural differences are found in the analysis of representations of Russia as an international conflicts participant.