Articles

Background. Suicidal risk in adolescence and youth refers to one of the actual forms of autodestructive behaviour associated with socio-psychological factors.

Objective. The aim was to reveal the relationship between subjective dissatisfaction with the interpersonal communication and signs of psychological difficulties (aggressive behavior, substance use, anxious and obsessive thoughts, suicidal thoughts) in adolescents and young people with different levels of suicidal risk.

Methods. Participants filled in the interpersonal needs questionnaire (INQ-15) and a questionnaire diagnosing signs of psychological difficulties.

Sample. 92 adolescents and young adults aged 12–21 years without experience of suicidal thoughts, 132 adolescents and young adults with experience of suicidal thoughts but not actions, as well as 55 adolescents and young people who were treated in crisis hospitals for suicidal acts took part in the study.

Results. The Russian version of the Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire is a reliable and factor valid technique to assess the feelings of burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness in adolescents and young adults. Suicidal risk in adolescents and young adults is associated with interpersonal failure, loneliness, longing, which leads into feelings of burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness. In adolescents and youth with different suicidal risk, these feelings of burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness are associated with the recognition of psychological problems, and feelings of burden are associated with the recognition of aggressive behavior. The feeling of thwarted belongingness is associated with aggressive behavior only in adolescents and young people with suicidal thoughts and actions.

Conclusion. The association of feelings of burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness with the recognition of psychological problems in different suicidal risk groups, and the association of feelings of burden with the recognition of aggressive behavior indicates the importance of interpersonal communication factors in understanding subjective well-being in adolescents and young adults in general

Background. Visual search is considered today as an active process, usually implemented with the participation of eye movements. Modern search models assume the influence of both stimulus and cognitive variables on its characteristics and effectiveness. However, in research, as a rule, only one type of variables is controlled, which requires the creation of new experimental paradigms that allow studying the influence of both types of factors and their interaction.

Objective. Investigation of the influence of factors of verbalizability and symmetry of the target stimulus on the effectiveness and speed of its search and characteristics of search eye movements.

Methods. The created stimuli were identical in basic stimulus characteristics (color, shape, size, slope, number of elements) but differed in the symmetry of configuration and the level of verbalizability. An intragroup experimental plan was used. Eye movements were recorded in the process of visual search with the SMI HiSpeed 1250 eye tracker.

Sample. The total sample of the study consisted of 48 participants: 18 people (10 men, 8 women, average age — 20) — at the stage of assessing the verbalizability of stimuli; 30 people (6 men, 24 women, average age — 20) — at the main stage.

Results. None of the factors affected the effectiveness of visual search, it remained at a high level. In the absence of the target stimulus in the matrix, the search for symmetrical targets with verbalizability was completed faster, the search for asymmetric stimuli with low verbalizability was the slowest. Both factors influenced the features of searching eye movements: the search for “simple” (symmetrical and/or highly verbalizable) stimuli was characterized by shorter fixations and wide-amplitude saccades than the search for “complex” targets. ANOVA showed that there is no interaction between the factors of verbalizability and symmetry.

Conclusion. The results generally support the hypothesis about the influence of symmetry and verbalizability on the visual search, testifying in favor of their independent influence on the dynamics of search eye movements.

Background. Executive functions are one of the factors that contribute to the balanced development of children and their success in the future. In this regard, the study of factors that may influence the development of executive functions is an urgent task. The study examines the role of the kindergarten attendance duration in the development of working memory, cognitive flexibility and inhibition as components of executive functions in preschool children.

Methods. The NEPSY–II battery subtests were used to test the level of development of regulatory functions. Data on the period of children’s kindergarten attendance were collected according to preschool attendance journal.

Sample. The study involved 947 children aged 53 to 86 months (Mage = 70.3; SDage = 4.3), 515 boys and 495 girls from Moscow, Kazan, and Sochi.

Results. As a result of comparison of averages using Welch’s criterion, significant differences were found in the development of regulatory functions in children with different periods of kindergarten attendance. The level of visual and verbal working memory development was significantly higher in children who attended kindergarten for more than two years as compared to children with shorter time of attendance. Physical inhibitory control is significantly lower in children who attend kindergarten for less than a year compared to those who attend kindergarten for longer periods of time. Significant differences were shown in the level of visual working memory development depending on the region and on the duration of attendance.

Conclusion. The study demonstrated significant differences in the level of visual working memory, verbal working memory, and physical inhibitory control in children depending on the duration of kindergarten attendance. The highest scores were found in preschoolers attending kindergarten for more than two years. Thus, the results of the study emphasize the importance of kindergarten educational environment for successful cognitive development of preschoolers.

Background. The COVID-19 pandemic is a unique situation in the global community which emerged for the first time. Research shows that the pandemic may have a long-term effect on children’s development. Inhibition control is one of the main components of executive functioning and a predictor to a child’s further academic success. However, there are few works devoted to the study of the impact of the pandemic on inhibition control in preschoolers.

The objective of the study was to identify dynamics of the development of inhibition control in children aged 5–8 years (from senior preschool to primary school age) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Indicators of the development of inhibition control in first-graders before and during the pandemic were compared.

Methods. Inhibition control was assessed three times (at 5, 6, and then at 7 years of age) with the NEPSY-II Inhibition subtest.

Sample. This longitudinal study involved children aged 5 to 8 years at the time of follow-up from 2019 to 2021 (N=101). Additionally, the sample included first-grade children who were trained in kindergarten and first grade before the pandemic (March 2019, N=84).

Results. The results of the analysis indicate that inhibition control successfully developed in children from the senior kindergarten group to the first grade of school during the pandemic. At the same time, the level of development of inhibition control in girls after the pandemic is higher than in girls before the pandemic, while no significant differences were found for boys.

Conclusion. The level of inhibitory control in preschoolers, whose education in the preparatory group of the kindergarten took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the restrictions introduced and changes in the usual way of life, corresponds to the norms. It has been shown that the results of the development of inhibitory control in children who were caught up in the pandemic and those who were not caught up in the pandemic differ depending on gender.

Background. The study of professional identity in modern specialists is associated with the need to ensure their psychological well-being in an increasingly complicated professional environment because of the inclusion of information and computer means of work. The present research continues the construction of a conceptual model for the professional identity in the context of digitalization.

Objective. The present stage of our investigation is aimed at constructing a model of professional identity of the modern specialist that allows to outline trends and directions of its changes in the system of self-evaluation as a professional and to link those evaluations with experiencing psychological well-being.

Methods. The respondents are offered the questionnaire for demographic data, the “Trust in technology” questionnaire (Akimova, 2020), the semantic differential for assessing oneself as a professional (Serkin, 2016), C. Ryff ’s scale of psychological well-being in adaptation by T.D. Shevelenkova and T.P. Fesenko (2005), L.B. Schneider’s method for studying professional identity (2001), and free associations to the word “technique” to identify the respondents’ ideas about it.

Sample. 150 respondents (50 men, 100 women) with an average age of 40 years (from 21 to 63) and an average work experience of 18 years (from 2 to 45 years) who work in different professional digital fields.

Results. The present paper describes the structure of ideas about technology, the core of which includes such associations as “a computer”, “technology”, “progress”, convenience”, “telephone”, “innovation”, and “modernity”. The zone of changes includes “work”, “the future”, and “the new” which confirms the digitalization of life and activity of a modern specialist. Those data have been completed by a strong trust in technology and a high degree of its mastering. It identifies three clusters based on the level of psychological well-being which are not associated with the respondents’ statuses of professional identity but relate to the self-evaluation as a professional. A two–dimensional space constituted by two factors: the level of qualification and capacity for work has been constructed. In relation to them, the statuses of professional identity are distributed to determine vectors of possible changes.

Conclusion. The ideas of specialists about technology represent the main trends in the digitalization of professional tools: expanding the range of devices used and their positive assessment. Professional identity of 47 per cent of the respondents is precocious, characterized by the recognition of their own authority but, at the same time, the lack of their independence. Only each third person in this group shows a high level of well–being. The vector model of professional identity constructed in the factor space of self–evaluation as a professional enables to outline the main directions of change in the identity according to two parameters: professional one (content oriented) and individual-personal one (performance).

Practical application of the results. The obtained results broaden the existing ideas about the professional identity of working people with different levels of psychological well-being and allow to outline the directions of their psychological support.

Background. Language development is one of the most important tasks of education. Therefore, the study of those factors that affect it remains in demand. Though the relationship between language development and executive functions has been broadly studied recently, there is no data on their relationship in a longitudinal perspective in children aged 6 to 8 years. A comprehensive analysis of the relationship between language development and executive functions is of great importance for transition from kindergarten to primary school.

Objective. The study focuses on how narrative ability develops in children from preschool to the middle of elementary school and how it is associated with the level of executive functions.

Sample. The material was obtained during a three-year longitudinal study. The study sample data was collected in two sections: a) in kindergarten (n = 288, M = 6.59 years, SD = 4.11 months) and b) in the second grade of primary school (n = 210, M = 8.75 years, SD = 3.84 months).

Methods. The children’s executive functions were assessed with the NEPSY-II diagnostic toolkit, as well as with the DCCS method. The children’s narratives were assessed with the method of creating stories based on a series of pictures.

Results. 1) A statistically significant increase in micro- and macrostructure of narratives was found. 2) In kindergarten, girls demonstrate higher indicators in both macro- and microstructure of narrative than boys. However, by the 2nd grade, these significant differences are no longer observed. 3) Analysis of the relationship between narrative indicators and components of executive functions revealed that the strongest positive relationship is observed between auditory working memory and macro-microstructure in the preparatory group, however, by the 2nd grade, this relationship ceases to be significant. 4) It was shown that children who demonstrated higher rates in all executive functions at preschool age have higher results in narratives at school.

Conclusions. The important role of the development of executive functions during the preschool period of childhood in the development of narrative ability at school age is shown.

Background. Psychological well-being of a modern person is largely connected with his adaptation to the risks of the digital world. A review of modern studies into psychological consequences of everyday digitalization suggests that the latter affects all areas of the personality: motivational, cognitive, and affective ones, as well as the features of self-awareness.

Objective. The task of the pilot study was to determine the possible relationships between the level of psychological well-being and the content of personal dispositions related to it (hardiness and dispositional optimism) with the features of adaptation to digital everyday life.

Sample. The study was conducted on a youth sample of 131 people. The average age of respondents was 22.8 years (median age = 21), 118 females, 13 male respondents).

Methods. The paper uses standardized scales of psychological well-being, resilience, dispositional optimism and a questionnaire specially designed for the purposes of the study aimed at identifying the level of psychological adaptation to digitalization, which included the scales of digital anxiety, behavioral, communicative and normative adaptation.

Results. The check of reliability of the scales in the questionnaire of psychological adaptation to digitalization gave acceptable results. Indicators of digital anxiety are negatively associated with indicators of psychological well-being, resilience and dispositional optimism. Behavioral and normative adaptation to the risks of digital world are not associated with psychological well-being and dispositional optimism, though they do positively correlate with resilience. Indicators of communicative adaptation were not associated with any of the methods used.

Conclusion. Modern youth have a developed repertoire of skills to ensure their own digital security and to organize a conscious information search, though at the same time they follow certain norms of virtual interaction that are consonant with social norms. However, this does not increase confidence in the ability to protect oneself and influence one’s own digital everyday life, which explains the generally weak correlation of indicators of digital adaptation with psychological well-being, general resilience and dispositional optimism.

Background. Neuropsychology and neuroscience solve a number of general issues concerning the relationship between brain and psyche, the principles of the structural and functional brain organization, the cerebral basis of mental processes, patterns of damage and recovery of complex behavioral systems. Neuroscientific basis for higher brain function recovery allows us to explain the regularities of neuroplasticity. The neuropsychological basis makes it possible to build an adequate programme of neuropsychological rehabilitation, taking into account not only psychological but also biological patterns. Thus, it is necessary to strengthen the integration of neuroscientific and neuropsychological points of views in this domain.

Objective. The study aims to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of modular theory and the theory of system and dynamic localization of functions in solving the question of structural and functional brain organization and their reflection in approaches to neuropsychological rehabilitation.

Methods. Comparative analysis and the method of generalization were applied.

Results. Modular theory and the theory of system and dynamic localization of functions have a number of common key points. 1. The principle of the system (distributed) organization of higher cortical functions. 2. Horizontal-vertical structure of higher brain functions. 3. Сortical function is the constellation of factors/modules. 4 Functional unit (factor/module) is a structural element of different brain systems. 5. Damage of a functional unit leads to a selective damage of a certain group of cognitive processes. Theories differ in understanding the content of a functional unit of a brain, which leads to differing understandings of the typology in the ways to recovery. The study considers the role of subcortical structures in providing behavioral automatisms. The paper shows the importance of the intact conduction pathways in making rehabilitation prognosis.

Conclusion. The study reveals limitations of the concept of factor in explaining the variability and dissociative picture of a neuropsychological symptom. The content of factor as well as its structural elements are to be revised and described. Certain statements of the theory of system and dynamic localization of functions have to be modified in order to reflect the regularities of neuroplasticity in the methodology of neuropsychological rehabilitation.

Background. Against the background of increased attention to the category of generation in social psychology, the methodological possibility of studying generations and intergenerational differences is analyzed. The existing limitations of this kind of research are suggested and classified; methods for leveling these limitations are proposed.

Objective is to propose and test an empirically correct scheme for the study of generations in social psychology.

Sample. The material on which this scheme was tested was obtained in the course of an Internet survey (951 people).

Methods. The survey included a modified author’s Lifeline methodology to explore perceptions of cultural life scenarios. The method of analysis of the results involved the study of the possibility to apply APC (age-period-cohort) analysis to socio-psychological studies of intergenerational differences.

Results. A scheme for the study of intergenerational differences has been proposed and substantiated, including, in particular, the use of theoretical meta-analyses, the methodology of APC analysis and the study of complex attitudes of the cultural life script (CLS).

Conclusions. The conclusion is made on the need to abandon studies of traditional generations and the need to move to smaller units of analysis — quasi-generations in line with socio-psychological methodology.

Background. Due to global changes and growing socio-cultural uncertainty, it is important to determine which personal traits allow a person to maintain a high level of subjective well-being in modern conditions of living.

Objective. The article aims to determine the contribution of personal traits (perfectionism, coping strategies and tolerance for ambiguity) to the components of subjective well-being (life satisfaction and subjective happiness).

Sample. The study involved 142 respondents (123 females, 19 males), students of Moscow universities (mean age = 19,32, SD = 0,644).

Methods. Respondents were offered to complete 6 questionnaires: «Three-factor perfectionism questionnaire», «Proactive coping abbreviated questionnaire», «Diagnostic technique of stress coping» of D. Amirkhan, «Scales of tolerance and intolerance to ambiguity in modification of S. Badner’s questionnaire», «Subjective happiness scale» of S. Lyubomirsky, «The satisfaction with life scale » by E. Diener. Statistical processing of the data was performed using statistics system, IBM SPSS Statistics 23 macros PROCESS, using regression and moderator analyses.

Results. Regression analysis revealed the positive contribution of proactive coping and the negative contribution of the perfectionism component “negative selectivity and fixation on one’s own imperfection” both to individual components of subjective well-being and to its integral indicator. The proactive coping strategy “seeking social support” contributes to the cognitive component of subjective well-being and its integral indicator, while not affecting the emotional component. Moderator model shows an increase in subjective well-being when using a proactive coping strategy, regardless of the level of the perfectionism component “negative selectivity and fixation on one’s own imperfection”.

Conclusion. Such personal traits as proactive coping strategies (proactive coping, seeking social support) and the perfectionism component of “negative selectivity...” contribute to the level of subjective well-being. Proactive coping also levels the connection between perfectionism and subjective well-being.

Background. The problem of criteria for evaluating solution success is one of the most important for psychology of creative thinking. Evaluation of the solution by the subject during the process of thinking in the form of «confidence / doubt» can be criteria and basis for subject’s experiencing potential success or failure, which leads to continuation or stop in solving.

The objective. The study was to research the dynamics of intellectual confidence / doubt at different stages of problem-solving process.

Sample. The study involved 66 university students, specialists and non- specialists in relation to the content of the tasks.

Methods. The subjects solved 8 problematic tasks of scientific and artistic content with hints and estimate interest and confidence at different stages of solving with subjective scales. The following methods were used for intellectual characteristics “Raven’s Progressive Matrices”, “Complex Analogies”.

Results. 6 types of dynamics of intellectual confidence were identified, which correlated in various ways with the success of the solution. Successful solution of problematic scientific situations for specialists is associated with confidence at every stage, for non-specialists it is associated with doubts at the stages of understanding the problem and the formulation of solution. For problematic situations of artistic content solved by non-specialist, the following types of dynamics are associated with successful solution: «doubt — doubt — confidence», «confidence at all stages»; the latter was also observed with an unsuccessful solution. For this reason 2 types of confidence were identified: (1) reasonable, based on hints, leading to a successful solution, and (2) non- reasonable, without relying on a hint, not leading to a successful solution.

Conclusion. The procedural criteria to evaluate solution are the intellectual emotions of confidence or doubt that regulate the process of thinking. Depending on the stage of solution and the content of the task, intellectual confidence changes in different ways for specialists and non-specialists, performing the function of a preliminary assessment and regulation of solving process.

Background. Having turned from a simple technology into information and communication environment, virtualization affects all spheres of human life. To date, the expansion of its influence proceeds in two main interpenetrating directions: increasing the impact of virtuality on the real world and the virtualization of reality itself. Under the influence of network communication, the consciousness of the individual changes. A new networked way of thinking and existence is being formed. With sufficiently versatile studies of cybercommunication, there is no collective image of the category of virtual communication that would describe its structure for better and more effective interaction of users on the Internet.

Objective. The aim of the study is to determine the structure of ideas about virtual communication and to identify the relationship of individual ideas with the personal characteristics of social network users.

Methods. The material was obtained during a survey (23.09.2020–15.12.2021), which asked the subjects to bring as many free associations to the phrase «Virtual communication is ...» as possible. R.B. Kettell’s 16-factor personality questionnaire (Form A) was used to diagnose personality traits.

Sample. The sample consisted of 183 people aged 18–75 years (average age 38.7 years).

Results. The main attributes of the concept of «virtual communication» among users of social networks were identified. They included such attributes as «affective» with a division into «positive emotions» and «negative emotions», «motivational», «cognitive», «objectness», «subjectness», «alternative to reality», «self-realization», «space and time», and «perception». The interrelation of individual representations of the components of virtual communication with the personal characteristics of respondents is noted.

Conclusion. According to the results of the study, eleven categories have been identified, with the help of which the concept of “virtual communication” is described by network users. The features of the received categories in different age groups are analyzed. A five-factor model of cybercommunication was obtained, which included emotional-affective, perceptual, subjectivity, motivational, and cognitive-temporal factors. The connection of the selected categories of cybercommunication with the personal characteristics of users of social networks is revealed and described.

Background. Currently, the number of entrepreneurs who run traditional business or create a startup is growing. A startup is a special type of entrepreneurial activity that increases the risks of doing business. In this regard, the question of the personality traits of the entrepreneur who has a traditional business and the founder of the startup arises.

Objective. The aim is to identify distinctive professional values of entrepreneurs who prefer traditional business (hereinafter referred to as TB entrepreneurs) and startup entrepreneurs.

Methods. The hypotheses were tested by a survey including two test methods: the Rokich values method, a modified method from the Bushkova-Shiklina study. The paper compared the set of professional values of traditional business entrepreneurs (TB) and startup founders. Differences in values were checked through Pearson’s chi-square calculation (χ2 — Pearson consent criterion).

Sample. The sample consisted of 90 people. Of these, 46 participants (25 men and 21 women) are entrepreneurs, and 44 (27 men and 17 women) participants are startup founders living in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The age of respondents is from 20 to 40 years.

Results. Statistically significant differences in the values of TB entrepreneurs and startup founders could not be found. The set of common values of TB entrepreneurs and startup founders is the same: interest in work, financially secure life, development. However, each group of entrepreneurs has its own specific values. TB entrepreneurs emphasise professionalism while startup founders emphasise success.

Conclusions. TB entrepreneurs and startup founders have similar values. The personalities of TB entrepreneurs and startup founders have many similarities, similar values and directions in life, despite the fact that the activities of these two groups are not identical and have their own characteristics. A startup should be considered as a subtype of entrepreneurship. TB entrepreneurs demonstrate professionalism as a specific professional value. Startup founders have another specific professional value which is freedom.

Practical application of the results. The results of the study are useful for group and individual work with entrepreneurs, and also serve as a starting point for a more detailed study of the socio-psychological aspects of entrepreneur’s personality.