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 article compares key concepts of the traditional (cognitive) and discursive approaches to identity. The capabilities of the concept of social category and the process of social categorization, relation between social role and position, the concepts of social norms, context, and social practices are discussed. Two variants of discursive approach are discussed: D-discourse and d-discourse analysis. We discuss the relation between the most developed trends in discursive research of identity: critical discourse analysis, the positioning theory and discursive psychology, the performative analysis, membership categorization analysis and conversational analysis.Undertaken analysis reveals that from the perspective of discursive approach identity is formed and manifests itself in the communication, its main feature is flexibility; therefore it has varying and depending on the situation character. Identity is embedded into the broad cultural context and being reproduced on the basis of the existing social practices. The special role of language and text in the formation of identity is emphasized.

Real-life identities may differ from “virtual” identities presented in social networks. Many social networkers construct diverse (more than one) virtual identities, which differ by numerous parameters. Two or more identities constructed by a social networker we call alternative identities. Empirical study is based on a case developed by the Harvard Good Play Project; semi-structured interviews were held with 42 participants (social networkers) in three age groups (15—17, 18—21, 22—25; equal number of females and males in each group). Computer content analysis, narrative analysis of the interview materials and variance analysis were done. Results refer to reasons for and attitudes towards construction of alternative identities; age and gender differences are analyzed. 

The article covers the problems of personal identity formation, identity transformations, special focus of the work is the methodological basis of personal identity formation research of adolescents, their “moving into adulthood” in the situation of social-economic instability and crisis. Personal identity formation is described as phenomenon in its transformations. As criteria for defining identity in adolescents we use stability of self-conceptions in time and readiness to make independent decisions in life. Thus different combinations of various levels of stability and readiness to make decisions will determine identity typology.