Lomonosov Psychology Journal, 2026, 3, 220.

Background. In recent decades, there has been a trend toward reconsidering traditional concepts of personality disorders within the framework of modern diagnostic systems and psychodynamic models. Under these circumstances, there is a growing need to systematise existing theoretical and empirical data on the defence mechanisms underlying personality pathology.

Objective. The goal was to systematically summarise and analyse existing empirical and theoretical studies on the role of psychological defense mechanisms in the formation and development of dissociative and histrionic personality disorders, as well as to identify and classify the specific psychological defences that underlie these disorders.

Study Materials. 34 scientific publications (including articles, textbooks, and methodological manuals) addressing the issue of studying dissociative and histrionic personality disorders and personality defence mechanisms. The literature search was conducted in the electronic scientific databases elibrary.ru, PubMed, ResearchGate, and Google Scholar.

Methods. Scoping review, qualitative (narrative) analysis.

Results. It has been found that in dissociative identity disorder, the most significant mechanisms are dissociation, isolation, repression, and denial, aimed at reducing emotional stress and protecting the psyche from traumatic experiences. Their action is associated with a disruption in the integration of memories, emotions, and aspects of identity. In the studies on hysterical personality disorder, the most frequently described defence mechanisms are somatisation, repression, regression, projection, and sexualisation. These mechanisms contribute to the transformation of the internal conflict into demonstrative emotional and behavioural manifestations, as well as the maintenance of a need for external attention and approval.

Conclusions. The analysis suggests that defence mechanisms are a significant factor in the development and progression of personality disorders. The use of specific defence mechanisms is connected to the clinical manifestations of the disorder and reflect the characteristic ways of processing internal conflict and traumatic experiences. A comparison of data on dissociative and hysterical disorders shows that defence mechanisms serve a dual function: they help reduce emotional stress and maintain psychological stability, but can also interfere with adaptive functioning.

Background. The “Us — Them” concept is a fundamental element of social perception and intergroup interaction. Despite a long history of research on this phenomenon, psychological science maintains an active interest in this topic due to globalization, migration, the development of digital technologies, and the transformation of social structures in the contemporary world.

Objective. The goal is to conduct a bibliometric mapping of the publication landscape concerning the “Us — Them” dichotomy in psychological research from 2000 to 2025, analyzing its publication dynamics, conceptual structure, and key thematic areas.

Methods. Systematic retrieval and thematic synthesis without quality appraisal were applied. The study was carried out within the framework of a review and analytical approach, employing bibliometric mapping methods. The analysis of the Russian-language segment was conducted using the eLibrary.ru platform (N = 607 articles classified under “Psychology”). The English-language segment was analyzed using the Lens.org meta-platform with a multi-level semantic query incorporating disciplinary, procedural, and phenomenological layers (N = 4,424 articles post-filtering). Data visualization and cluster analysis were performed using VOSviewer software.

Results. A steady increase in publication activity was identified in both scientific segments, with a peak during 2020–2024. The findings indicate that English-language research tends toward interdisciplinarity at the intersection of psychology with neuroscience and medicine, whereas Russian-language research is more closely linked with linguistics, pedagogy, and cultural studies. Cluster analysis of keywords revealed four general research directions: 1) social identity and intergroup relations; 2) health psychology and clinical aspects; 3) cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms; and 4) digital identity and interaction in virtual environments. The analysis also noted weak trans-collaborative connectivity among research groups and a parallel development of Russian language and English language conceptual traditions.

Conclusions. The authors conclude that there is a strong positive trend in publication productivity, with dominant research areas in the studies of the “Us — Them” concept including social psychology, clinical psychology, sociology, and philosophy. A notable expansion is observed in the conceptual and categorical framework (and consequently the research problematics) towards interdisciplinary connections and the advancement of information technologies.

Background. The research is devoted to the study of solving difficult problem situations of thinking on the material of real-life problems. A real-life problem is a special object of thinking in the approach of S.L. Rubinstein, K.A. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya. The relevance of the topic is determined by the need to identify the conditions within the problem-solving process that contribute to a more effective resolution of difficult life problems.

Objective. The goal is to analyze the dynamics of intellectual emotions in solving real-life problems.

Study Participants. The study involved 90 participants: 57 women and 33 men aged 18 to 57 years, (M = 32.29; Me = 32; SD = 9.93) specialists from different professional fields who had experience in successful solving real-life problems.

Methods. The participants were offered to participate in an interview, aimed at investigating the process of solving a real-life problem. It included questions about their content and the experienced intellectual emotions at each stage of the solution and also subjective-evaluation scales to measure the expression of intellectual emotions.

Results. In the process of problem-solving related to real-life contradictions, the need to find a fundamentally new solution is activated. This need is experienced by the subject in the form of intellectual emotions corresponding to the stage of problem-solving. The process of successful resolution of the life problems is connected with the characteristic patterns of intellectual emotions dynamics, reflecting experiencing of the cognitive need to find an absolutely new solution. The expressed experience of confidence at the final stage of solving a life problem accompanies the success of solution. The most successful solution in comparison with a less successful one is determined by more pronounced surprise at the stage of problem understanding and by confidence at the stage of making a final decision and its implementation.

Conclusions. Intellectual emotions represent to the subject the potential success of the solution, performing regulatory functions. Successful problem solving, based on understanding the contradictions of real life, is characterized by special patterns in the dynamics of experiencing intellectual emotions.

Background. The study of cognitive functions in patients at high risk for psychosis is an urgent task for solving the problems of preventive intervention and early diagnosis of severe psychotic states. Previous studies describe the occurrence of cognitive impairment in patients long before the manifestation of psychosis, which suggests the high value of diagnosing cognitive functions at the early stages of mental illness.

Objective. The goal is to identify the peculiarities of cognitive functioning of patients with depression at high risk for psychosis in comparison with patients with non-psychotic depression and depressive state after the first psychotic episode.

Study Participants. The study involved 115 female patients: 44 patients with depression without psychotic symptoms (NPD); 46 patients with depression at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR); and 25 patients depressed after a first episode psychosis (FEP).

Methods. Cognitive functions were assessed using the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS), the Similarities subtest and the Picture Completion subtest of the Wechsler test, and the Interpretation of Proverbs task. The level of formation of motivation for examination was assessed with the interaction rating scales of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test.

Results. Various cognitive impairments in the CHR group in their severity can be similar either to the NPD or FEP group or occupy an intermediate position in severity between the other two groups. The motivation for examination is harder to form in the CHR group than in other groups, though it retains its connection with cognitive functions, unlike post-psychotic states.

Conclusions. Cognitive impairments in depression with a clinical high risk of psychosis are heterogeneous and do not clearly correspond to the cognitive profiles of affective or psychotic disorders. Specific cognitive impairments in depression with clinical high risk for psychosis are independent of the expressedness of positive symptoms or deficit of motivation in cognitive activity.

Background. The consideration of event occurrence probability is a foundational element in the formation of expectations and predictions, thereby playing a pivotal role in the regulation of actions and behaviour.

Objective. The aim is to identify abnormalities in the processing of probabilistically organized stimuli and their psychophysiological markers in individuals with personality disorders.

Study Participants. The study engaged 42 participants, 21 men diagnosed with a personality disorder (Mage = 30.95, SD = 7.4) and 21 men serving as a control group (Mage = 32.26, SD = 7.06).

Methods. Participants completed the Central Cue Posner Paradigm with varying probabilities (50% and 80%) of coincidence between the target and the cue stimuli. Event-related potentials were recorded during the experiment.

Results. The differences between the groups were observed in the variations in their response patterns, which manifested as fronto-central activation in the 240–320 ms span after the target stimulus. In the control group, the amplitude in response to the invalid stimulus was higher only under the condition of an 80% probability of stimulus matching; under the condition of a 50% probability, no differences in amplitude between valid and invalid stimuli were observed. In the personality disorders group, the response to invalid stimuli exhibited a higher amplitude, irrespective of the probability of the stimuli.

Conclusions. Individuals diagnosed with personality disorders are characterized by impaired processing of probabilistically organized stimuli. This impairment manifests as a reduced use of information on the probability of an event occurring and may reflect a diminished influence of the context on information processing and increased reactivity to deviations from expectations.

Background. Economic instability and uncertainty increase the subjective perception of financial risks, creating feelings of anxiety and threat among the population. Under these conditions, there is a growing need for reliable and valid instruments for measuring financial stress adapted to the Russian cultural context.

Objective. The study aimed to adapt and psychometrically validate the Russian version of the Financial Threat Scale (FTS), designed to assess the subjective perception of economic instability and financial anxiety.

Study Participants. The study involved 555 respondents (Mage = 37.55), including 328 women (59.1%) and 227 men (40.9%).

Methods. The study employed the Russian version of the Financial Threat Scale (FTS), questionnaires measuring personality traits based on the Big Five model, the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) for dispositional optimism, the WHO-5 Well-Being Index, the Doomscrolling Scale, as well as questions on socio-demographic characteristics, including subjective income level, gender and age.

Results. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the one-factor structure of the scale and its high internal consistency (α = 0.914; ω = 0.915). It was found that the perception of financial threat decreases with age, income and optimism growth, and is connected to gender (higher among women). Financial threat experiencing was negatively associated with extraversion and emotional stability and positively connected to conscientiousness, reflecting the importance of emotional resilience and self-control in perceiving financial risks. The positive relationship of financial threat perception to the values on the Kantianism scale (as a part of “The Light triad” of personality) may indicate a moral and normative interpretation of financial threats. The negative association of financial threat experiencing with the WHO-5 index demonstrates the association of financial stress with a decrease in subjective well-being. The association with doomscrolling confirms the role of media consumption as a factor amplifying the perception of economic instability.

Conclusions. The Russian version of the Financial Threat Scale (FTS) demonstrated high reliability, construct, and conceptual validity, making it a suitable tool for research and applied purposes to assess the perception of financial risks, stress, and their psychological consequences in the Russian sociocultural context.

Background. Depressive disorders are common in the post-stroke period. Depression can increase cognitive impairment and may have its own cognitive symptoms. These factors worsen the patient’s condition, hinder involvement in the therapeutic process, and reduce the effectiveness of rehabilitation.

Objective. The aim of the study is to consider the specifics of cognitive functioning after a stroke in people with and without depression.

Study Participants. The study involved 50 respondents aged 41 to 84 who had experienced a diagnosed stroke. The localisation of the lesion was predominantly left-side. Ischemic stroke was more common.

Methods. The following techniques were used in the study: Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination Revised (ACE-R), Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB), McNair and Kahn Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). For statistical processing and data analysis, Student’s t-test, the Mann — Whitney U test were used.

Results. During the study, people with depression showed pronounced cognitive disorders in the “Memory” and “Attention and Orientation” domains. No differences in general objective cognitive functioning were found in people with and without depression. However, people with identified depression had more pronounced subjective cognitive deficit. The degree of anxiety manifestation also appears to be at a higher level in people with depression.

Conclusions. Post-stroke functioning of cognitive processes has some differences in people with depression: impairment of delayed recall, as well as impairment of orientation in place and time. The results of the study allow us to determine possible trends in the development of disorders. Neuropsychological diagnostics after a stroke is necessary regardless of the presence or absence of complaints from the patient, for timely therapy, improving recovery prognosis and reducing the risk of recurrent stroke.

Background. The career intentions of students are of great importance in the context of the acute practical problem of medical graduates’ employment in health care organisation, but their psychological factors are still understudied.

Objective. The goal was to analyse the relationship between the perceived parenting style and the career choice motivation with the career intentions of medical college students.

Study Participants. 318 students of a medical college (1–4 years of study, at the age of 15–25 years old, 83% girls) took part in the study.

Methods. A questionnaire for assessing students’ career intentions, the Career Choice Motivation Questionnaire by O.A. Sychev and T.O. Gordeeva, Russian version of the Perceived Parental Autonomy Support Scale by T.O. Gordeeva and colleagues.

Results. It was found that the autonomous career choice motivation is closely related to the intention to pursue a career in medicine, while the intention to change profession is positively correlated with amotivation and external motivation. At the same time, perceived parental support for autonomy shows a significant effect on intentions to work in medicine mediated through autonomous motivation.

Conclusions. The important role of career choice motivation and parental autonomy support for career intentions of medical students indicates the need to take these factors into account during vocational guidance of adolescents and their parents’ consulting.