Articles

Background. Theatrical activity as a collective form of interaction and as a variant of “communication with art” can help adolescents develop the need to communicate with their peers, form novel cognitive and personality traits of the aesthetic sphere, promote creativity and self-awareness, meeting the needs of modern society.

Objective. The goal is to reveal the relationship between the adolescent’s preferences in forms of communication with “engagement with beauty” (of nature, art, moral behaviour), creative potential and the peculiarities of the self-awareness development among students in theatrical institutions.

Study Participants. The study involved 50 teenagers aged 13 to 16 years (M_age = 14.6; SD = 1.6), students of grades 7–9 of the Moscow school with theatrical training. Two contrasting groups of school students, engaged and not engaged in theatrical activities, were organized.

Methods. The research applied the “Questionnaire to determine the profile of participation in extracurricular activities”, “Assessment of a teenager’s relationship with the class”, the Russian version of “the Engagement with Beauty Scale”. Methods of activity products analysis included the modified and adapted version of “the Creativity Assessment Packet” and “Free self-description” on the topic “Who am I, what am I”.

Results. The study revealed facts indicating that adolescents involved in theatrical activities prefer collectivistic and pragmatic forms of communication with peers, come up with creative ideas more often, and have more pronounced structural characteristics of self-awareness. “Engagement with beauty” is better expressed at the level of the final scale score as compared to the results of the adolescents who are not engaged in theatrical activities, preferring collectivistic and individualistic forms of communication. Significant negative relationships were obtained between the individualistic form of communication and the subscales of “emotional engagement” and the beauty of moral actions, as well as with such characteristics of self-awareness as “social relations” and “time perspective”.

Conclusions. The study revealed significant relationships between forms of communication and indicators of cognitive and personality spheres: participation in beauty, creativity development, and structural characteristics of self-awareness for “theatrical” adolescents. The prospects of the study are related to increasing the reliability of the results obtained and expanding the research methods.

Background. An analysis of foreign literature covering the models of aesthetic experience (AE) revealed a number of limitations: the absence of nonlinear dynamics, multi-level processes and integration of personality traits; to overcome these limitations, we developed a System-Dynamic Model of AE (SDM-AE).

Objective. The aim is to conduct an empirical verification of the predictions of the SDM-AE, based on the material of new media art and non-academic erotic paintings.

Study Participants. The study involved 750 respondents aged from 16 to 38 years (MAge = 23.86; SD = 6.53), about 84% of them are women — students of Stroganov's University, Moscow Institute of Psychoanalysis and school students from Moscow.

Methods. The study engaged the structural equation modeling, as well as psychodiagnostics tools to measure the following constructs: aesthetic emotions, aesthetic judgments, art interest, aesthetic experience, engagement with beauty, attitudes towards technology, implicit theories of creativity and attitudes towards sex. Linear regression and mediation analyses were used to process the data.

Results. The mediation analysis showed that aesthetic judgments are mediating variables between attitudes towards sex, attitudes towards technology and aesthetic emotions, the integration of flow dispositions into SDM-AE is shown. Universal personal variables that are actualized regardless of the content of the material are revealed. It is shown that the AE of new media art directly predicts a positive attitude towards technology, aesthetic responsiveness and contributes to the development of implicit theories of creativity.

Conclusions. Empirical verification of the SDM-EO allows us to conclude that the model is valid, and the results obtained contribute to the development of Russian psychology of art.

Background. The involvement of the motor component in the perception of musical intonation is emphasised by leading researchers in this field of music psychology and musicology. However, these theoretical positions require empirical research and confirmation.

Objective. The aim of the study was to hypothesise the role of motor similarity in the formation of musical perception. It is presupposed that the emotional and personal involvement of the listener is increased due to the motor experience of music.

Study Participants. Seventy-six people took part in the study (10 men and 66 women with an average age of 30). 35 participants were involved in the main group and the other 41 respondents constituted the control group.

Methods. A between-groups comparison design was used: the control group listened to a lecture or conference papers on psychological topics between the first and second music listening sessions, while the core group participated in a musical movement masterclass. Participants in the experimental group were asked to respond to the music with a movement. Free descriptions were used and qualitatively evaluated by experts according to categories.

Results. The effect of the inter-factorial interaction (group factor and number of listening sessions) on the categories of emotional and personal involvement and perception of intonational development in music is shown. Pairwise comparisons of each participant's descriptions revealed that the main group had significantly more changes related to the change in perceptual position (from external to internal), the manner in which the music was described, and the transformation of the visual image were significantly more frequent in the main group.

Conclusions. The perception of music in improvisation with motor imitation is characterised by a greater emotional and personal involvement: the listener's attitude to music changes, as does their connection with and personal significance of the music they experience. The role of motor likeness in enabling the perception of intonational development in music is demonstrated. When participants who listened to music without movement listened to it again, the changes in their descriptions were mainly related to the transformation of visual images.

Background. The relevance of the subject is expressed in the analysis of the phenomenon of counter-emotion from the perspective of plot (actor's action) and storyline (its psychology) "short circuit". The biblical scene "Kiss of Judas", known for the moral transformation of one of the apostles, was selected to represent this phenomenon.

Objective. To detect Judas' counter-emotion in his be(haviour)trayal as depicted in European painting and sculpture.

Study Materials. For this study, European artifacts dating back to the period from late 13th to 16th centuries were selected, a time when the discussed subject was developing and reaching its classical stage. Additionally, works of the second half of the 19th century and throughout the 20th century were analyzed, where the fact of Judas' betrayal acquired a renewed tragic dimension.

Methods. In analyzing the Judas' personality, the method of Lev S. Vygotsky was applied, which the author initially defined as an aesthetic and psychological approach. However, it was later concluded that the most concise and comprehensive term would be the method of plot and storyline "short circuit". By problematizing the antagonist's connection to his actions, the author formulated a hypothesis regarding the differentiation of possible aspects of his emotional experience.

Results. Based on the analysis of visual archetypes established within the New Testament biblical topos "Kiss of Judas", the principles specific to its psychological component were identified: 1) accusatory and caricatural— "the cowardly turncoat"; 2) accusatory and tragic — the traitor-provoker; 3) accusatory and grotesque — the traitor characterized by greed or sadism.

Conclusions. The analysis of Judas' image in painting provides grounds to discuss a stable paradigm of understanding evil, which, in interaction with good, becomes a moral criterion in the individualization of author concepts as modeling one's own vision of the world. In the Judas' kissing, evil serves as a unique psychological index anticipating the growing tragedy of society.

Background. The article studies the relationship between Y.L. Moreno's psychodrama and post-dramatic theater in the context of modern sociocultural demands. A synthesis of therapeutic and artistic practices gains special importance with the growth of individualization, digitalization and emotional alienation. Both psychodrama and post-dramatic theater offer alternative ways of understanding human experience — through action, spontaneity and deep emotional engagement, making them powerful tools in an era of crisis in traditional forms of communication.Based on the analysis of modern theatrical forms, the points of intersection with psychodrama are identified, which expands its toolkit due to the integration of visual, spatial and technological elements. Psychodrama, created by Y.L. Moreno, and post-dramatic theater, described by H.-T. Lehman, represent complementary directions, combining dramatic action, emotional reflection and experiments with reality.

Objective. The purpose of the study is to identify the theoretical and practical intersections of psychodrama and post-dramatic theater, as well as to assess their potential for creating new therapeutic and artistic forms.

Methods. Theoretical analysis of works on psychodrama and post-dramatic theater.

Results. Theoretical analysis of psychodrama and post-dramatic theatre has identified significant points of intersection that create space for the creation of new interdisciplinary practices. These methods reinforce each other, opening up pathways for personal transformation and artistic expression, and create the conditions for deep emotional work in both therapeutic and theatrical contexts.

Conclusions. Post-drama theater enriches psychodrama with visual, spatial and technological tools, enhancing its therapeutic potential.

Background. The theoretical significance of the work is determined by the lack of research on small project groups. The practical significance is determined by the need to identify factors of effective interaction in conditions of intense creative activity in the context of the modern film production system. Studying the specifics of intra-group relations in a film crew can contribute to more effective interaction between team members, reduce conflicts and increase overall productivity on the set.

Objective. The goal is to study the peculiarities of intragroup relations in film crews, as well as to identify personal qualities characteristic of leaders in these groups.

Study Participants. 60 members of creative film crews from five different projects took part in the study.

Methods. To study intragroup relations, we used the technique "Sociometry", which included 12 questions concerning professional cooperation, interpersonal relations, and organizational abilities. The Kettell 16 PF questionnaire was used to diagnose personality traits.

Results. The specifics of the choice of leaders and outsiders in film groups, as well as the main personal characteristics of group members who are referred to these categories, are revealed. It is shown that in the sphere of professional relations and organizational abilities the leaders were the actual group leaders, while the outsiders were the representatives of different status and professional workshops. The personal profile of leaders is characterized by marked emotional sensitivity. The main difference between leaders and outsiders is related to the level of empathy development. The situations in which one and the same participant became both a leader and an outsider in different projects are considered with the instability of sociometric status in the conditions of temporary teams being outlined.

Conclusions. The findings emphasize the importance of personality factors in maintaining a productive climate in the film crew and can be used when forming teams and selecting key personnel in similar project teams.

Background. The article covers the problem of psychological content of theatrical pedagogy. The authors note that as theatrical pedagogy is widely used as a method, it is important to clarify the goals it can be aimed at.

Objective. The purpose of the article is a scientific discussion of the psychological effects that can be achieved with the help of theatrical pedagogy. The authors highlight at least six blocks of analysis.

Results. The article analyzes the results of using theatrical pedagogy in practical activities when working with children, as well as some studies devoted to the evaluation of this method of work. The authors consider the discussed results from the point of view of the cultural-historical approach proposed by L.S. Vygotsky.

Conclusions. As a result of the analysis, the authors come to the conclusion that theatrical pedagogy has enormous potential for the general mental and personal development of a person. Theatre pedagogy allows developing the cognitive sphere of the student, emotional processes, influencing the behavioral sphere, influencing the development of communication. In addition, theatre pedagogy allows developing skills of joint activity and reflection. Moreover, all these pedagogical results do not contradict each other, but can be achieved in parallel and simultaneously. At the same time, theatre pedagogy as a way of work has a very wide variability and flexibility. Depending on the goals set, this pedagogy can be implemented in different ways. However, with an incorrect goal setting and use of the method, theatrical pedagogy can be not only useless, but even harmful.

Background. Despite the interest of the scientific community in the phenomenon of self-presentation, the relationship between ideas about the profession and strategies of self-presentation of the individual remains insufficiently studied.

Objective. The study is aimed at identifying the relationship between ideas about the profession and self-presentation of street theater figures, with an emphasis on the specifics of the image of the profession of a street theater actor.

Study Participants. The study was conducted based on the analysis of 156 Internet self-presentations of contemporary Russian street theatre figures, posted on websites and official theatre pages in social networks; in public channels, theatre company chats and online communities of street theatre figures.

Methods. The main empirical methods of the study are content analysis, observation. When assessing the relationship between ideas about the profession and self-presentation, the method of classification of strategic self-presentation tactics by E. Jones and T. Pittman was used. The relationship between non-strategic self-presentation and ideas about the profession was assessed based on the dramaturgical approach to social interaction by E. Goffman and the concepts of "auto-involvement", "spoiled identity", "role-free behavior" developed by him. The method of metasemantic analysis by A.G. Kozintsev was used as a diagnostics of comic narratives of self-presentations. The basis for constructing a diagram of the relationship between ideas about the profession and self-presentation was the model of schismogenesis by G. Bateson.

Results. In numerical terms, strategic self-presentations significantly exceed non-strategic ones. Auto-parodic self-presentations are the least common form of communication among street theatre actors and the most popular form of creative business card for street theatre actors. Restrained reactions of members of the professional community to auto-parodic self-presentation signal a violation of the presenter's "communicative postulates", giving grounds to classify it as a type of auto-involvement that goes beyond strategic self-presentation.

Conclusions. The presence of self-parody, roleless or open behavior in the self-presentations of contemporary Russian street theater actors indicates a significant impact of comic roles of street theater actors in the formation of the image of the profession. The results of this study may be useful for street theater actors, theater company managers, and specialists studying the problems of self-presentation and professional identity.

Background. Despite growing interest in the psychological aspects of art perception, empirical studies on this subject remain scarce in both Russian and international psychology. This is particularly true regarding theatrical perception.

Objective. This study examines the emotional-semantic score of audience perception through an analysis of P.N. Fomenko’s theatrical play “An Absolutely Happy Village”.

Study Participants. The study involved 50 audience members (74% female, aged 16–60: 46% 19–25 y.o.; 30% 26–45 y.o.; 18% 46–60 y.o.). Over half of the respondents (54%) held higher education degrees, while 30% had incomplete higher education. Participants demonstrated high theater engagement: 72% had attended performances more than twice in the preceding six months.

Methods. The research is grounded in L.S. Vygotsky’s conceptual approach to aesthetic response analysis and the distinctive nature of cathartic art experiences. The study employed: (1) comparative analysis of literary text and its theatrical interpretation; (2) an original anonymous questionnaire assessing theater engagement and play-specific perceptions; (3) a custom semantic differential-based tool measuring emotional responses to performance episodes.

Results. Findings reveal how stage interpretation facilitates audience engagement with existential themes. The audience’s emotional score emerges from a dialectic conflict between two affective dimensions: wellbeing vs. distress (reflecting the classical tragic “transition from happiness to misfortune”) and social acceptance vs. rejection of narrative events. Shifts in these “emotional-semantic melodies” stem from the director’s use of dual narrative sequencing in episode construction, enabling viewers to experience the complex emotional score of tragic catastrophe and catharsis.

Conclusions. The study findings contribute to understanding the psychological mechanisms of theatrical impact by revealing patterns in the formation of emotional-semantic perception of stage performances.

Background. The article discusses the current socio-psychological problems of our time: some parallels in the images of love; the confrontation between the city, with its all-consuming civilization, and nature, reviving man; the theme of the creation (transformation) of a new world, initiated by a beloved beautiful woman; the values that save a modern man in a falling world) in the novels of Meir Shalev "Fontanella" and Anna Gavalda "Consolation Game of Petanque".

Objective. The goal is to identify the features of the life world concepts and of the mutual understanding in art. The author wonders why many readers do not understand Shalev and Gavalda. In order to understand this, an analysis of communication in art, presented in the "artistic communication scheme", is proposed.

Methods. To solve the problems posed, a comparative analysis, reconstruction of the positions and life world of the novels' characters, comprehension of situations and problems, as well as their solutions, are carried out.

Results. A scheme of artistic communication is outlined, containing four projections (plans): semiotic, artistic reality, socio-psychological and spiritual (speech), which are considered sequentially. Depending on the type of the work being studied, as well as the specifics of the research task, certain projections come to the fore, and the others are manifested in the structure of the content of these works. The interest of writers in the unusual love under consideration is discussed, as well as the reasons for the negative assessment of the analysed works.

Conclusions. The author suggests that in modern culture there is a search for a new concept of love that would, on the one hand, meet the realities and challenges of modernity, and on the other, overcome the shortcomings of romantic love and the ordinariness of family life. One of the scenarios (naturally for a certain audience) is a boy's love for an adult woman, which lasts throughout his life. The difficulties in understanding many works of art and their characters are connected with the experiments of writers who are in search of a new artistic form.

Background. The development of the aesthetic paradigm in modern psychology implies the convergence of the languages of science and art in the cognition of social phenomena in a changing society.

Objective. The aim is to reveal the performativity of art and artistic creativity in the logic of psychological aesthetics of L.S. Vygotsky. Artistic creativity not as much mimetically reflects but rather creates and models psychological states and social processes.

Methods. The methods of historical and comparative analysis of psychological and aesthetic concepts are used; the poetics of the "Silver Age" is interpreted from the standpoint of qualitative methodology in psychology, as the implementation of modernism in Russian culture, anticipating the radical revolutionary changes of 1917.

Results. Based on the conducted psychological study of the art of the "Silver Age" (literature, philosophy, painting, music, dance), the thesis is proved that art performs not mimetic functions of representing the past, present and even future, but above all performative functions. Art acts as a kind of crystallization of the collective experience of society and culture that gave rise to them; at the same time, the image of the world constructed in artistic creativity can have a reverse effect on social reality and transform it, as happened in the art of Russian modernism of the early twentieth century, which became an active participant in the fall of the tsarist regime.

Conclusions. The conducted theoretical and methodological analysis of the performative function of the psychology of art has important consequences for the further development of the concept of social cognition as the construction of the image of the social world in the transitive society. From the point of view of A.N. Leontiev, the image of the world is "scooped out" from reality, however, as G.M. Andreeva suggested, it can resist and even diverge from it under the influence of social changes. In such an epistemologically complex situation, social cognition through art, semiotically close to magic and magical thinking, which allow the subject to symbolically comprehend the transformations of his everyday life and restore mental control over it, acquires special significance.

Background. The shortage of research on children's perception of cartoons at preschool age defines the special relevance of the work.

Objective. The work is aimed at identifying the peculiarities of preschoolers' perception and understanding of the main cartoon characters: the content of their thoughts, emotional states, motives for actions. The research focuses on the analysis of the phenomena of dynamics of meaning formation in the attitude of children to the main characters in the context of events of the film narrative.

Study Participants. The study involved 60 children aged 5 to 7 years (from 60 months to 86 months; Mage = 72.3; SD=7.63): 30 boys (from 60 months to 86 months; Mage = 73.3; SD = 7.94) and 30 girls (from 62 months to 86 months; Mage = 71.3; SD = 7.31), attending kindergartens.

Methods. Half-structured interview with open-ended questions was applied. The cartoon "The Old Toy" directed by V. Samsonov (1971, running time: 9:42) was used as the research material. The script was written by V. Livanov.

Results. 1. By modeling the content of the character's thoughts in different scenes of the cartoon, children rely on his reflections on his physical disabilities; on the subsequent line of the character's behaviour within the framework of the film's plot; on the nature of the conflict with another character; on the content of the character's reflection on his experiences, on the moral and ethical aspects of behaviour. 2. Preschoolers' assessment of the character's emotional state in a conflict situation includes a wide range of the character's feelings: empathy, rejection, jealousy. 3. Preschoolers' explanation of motives of the character's actions is based either on objective reasons (it started raining, it got dark) or on subjective motivations: character's goals, his emotional states, attitude towards another character, reaction to actions and states of another character. 4. A number of phenomena related to the dynamics of meaning-formation processes in children's perception of cartoons have been identified: "lasting affect" (transferring the content of experiences from one episode of the film to another); "anticipatory experience" (emotional prediction of film events), "emotional release" (cathartic experience of opposite emotional tendencies).

Conclusions. A complex multilevel semantic structure of understanding cartoon characters including their thoughts, experiences, and motives for actions has been revealed. A number of phenomena of semantic formation in the process of children's cartoons perception are characterized, which make it possible to clarify the structural features of film storytelling and the functions of artistic techniques oriented at the emergence of a cathartic experience in a child.

Background. The article touches upon the acute psychological and pedagogical issue of the child's transition from preschool play to school education.

Objective. The goal is to show the possibility of such a transition in the process of teaching the author's course of developmental teaching in literature, aimed at educating a cultured reader capable of conducting a dialogue with the author, mediated by a literary text. In order to do this, the child has to master practically the interconnected positions of the author and the reader, as well as the auxiliary positions the "critic" and the "theorist".

Study Participants. 27 students of the Moscow school № 91 took part in the classes, held over two years (in the first and second grades) according to the programme "Literature as a subject of the aesthetic cycle" by G.N. Kudina and Z.N. Novlyanskaya.

Methods. The analysis of the psychological content of different types of children's play as a source of prerequisites for artistic development was applied along with the qualitative analysis of lesson protocols during classes ensuring the transition from play to learning.

Results. The article provides a brief psychological description of the mentioned positions. The difference between a game aimed at mastering conceptual content — and a game that develops into the creation of an artistic image is shown. The stages of development of children's play from subject-procedural to "directing" and the prerequisites for artistic development that a child acquires in each of them are considered. The stages of the child's gradual transition from the position of a participant in the game to the position of the author and reader (viewer) are described. The protocols of classes in the first and second grades are analyzed. Particular attention is paid to the moments of generation of the artistic concept, the task of the child's transition to the character's point of view, the appearance of a viewer absent in a regular game, and a discussion of the results of the game.

Conclusions. It is shown that under appropriate conditions, the game becomes a space for a smooth transformation of gaming activity into educational activity and introduces the child into the position of the author and reader of works of art. This outlines the path of such a transition from play to learning, in which the cognitive and emotional experience of a preschooler acquired in the game is not devalued, but is included in further development.

Background. The inner work of the personality, which makes a decisive contribution to personality development and can lead to equally significant results in overcoming personality crises, as well as psychotherapy, remains practically unrevealed. In particular, the role of works of art in the facilitation of the inner work remains unstudied.

Objective. The goal is to identify the conditions under which a literary text becomes or does not become a facilitator of the inner work of the personality, as well as to describe the process of facilitation in a dramatic improvisation group.

Study Participants. Sixth-year psychology students who participated in a dramatic improvisation group (N = 11) or independently read an excerpt from J. Cabret's novel "I Confess" (N = 6) were involved in the study.

Methods. The method of dramatic improvisation based on works of art, the analysis of reflexive responses of participants in a dramatic improvisation group, the analysis of a literary text, as well as the theoretical analysis of scientific literature were applied.

Results. The literary text we chose turned out to be emotionally "difficult" for psychology students and did not become a facilitator of the personality inner work for the study participants who simply read it. However, this same text turned out to be a facilitator of the personality inner work for all the study participants who worked with it in the format of a dramatic improvisation group. At the same time, the path of inner work when encountering the text in the format of such a group includes five stages: at the first stage, resistance is overcome before the immersion into the "difficult" text, at the second stage, the readers live through their experiences with the characters of the work, at the third stage, universal meanings, experiences and questions are revealed in the work, at the fourth stage, improvisation occurs, allowing one to feel one's own position in the value-semantic world of the work, at the fifth stage, a person begins to "read" the personal experience with the help of the work.

Conclusions. The notion of the inner work of the personality in the concept of A.N. Leontiev is comparable with a number of concepts used in modern psychotherapy and philosophical practice. A literary text can act as a facilitator of the personality inner work if the readers manage to see universal meanings and problems behind the story of specific characters and "read" their own experience through this prism. In the case of emotionally "difficult" texts, the practice of dramatic improvisation based on literary works can help pave the way from the text to the inner world of the reader.

Background. The archetypal approach in literary studies contributes to understanding the symbolic structure of literary texts. The study of archetypes in European and American literature of the early 20th century allows us to study the connection between the individual and collective unconscious.

Objective. The goal of this research is to consider the features of the construction of the conflict in the plot of Booth Tarkington's novel "Gentle Julia" in light of the concept of archetypes by C.G. Jung.

Methods. The study analyzes the activities of the characters in the fictional text from the standpoint of analytical psychology and the concept of archetypes by C.G. Jung.

Results. Archetypal analysis of literary characters allows us to identify the origin and reasons for the formation of universal behavioral patterns in accordance with the family environment, personal experience, the uniqueness of the cultural context, the education system, and biological factors. The materials of the article can be used in preparing lecture courses on the "History of World Literature" and "Psychology of Artistic Creativity".

Conclusions. The application of the theory of archetypes developed by C.G. Jung and his followers to the study of texts created in the era of modernism opens up new perspectives for understanding the deep meanings and cultural context of the era. Archetypes are not static; they are subject to transformation under the influence of a particular culture and idiostyle.