2014. vol. 11. No. 2

Now it is difficult to imagine that 15-20 years ago using the term “subject” in psychology seemed unproductive to many practicing psychologists. In their view, this concept was more suitable for describing the philosophical fundamentals of human existence, at best it could be applied in methodology of psychological research. But in many theoretical works of that period the discussion of psychological aspects of subjectivity and human nature for the most part dealt with clarifying the views of S.L.Rubinstein, the specifics of interpretations of the subject in the works of B.F.Lomov and prospects for using in interdisciplinary theory of knowledge the ideas V.A.Lectorskiy on the multilevel cognitive activity of interacting individual and collective subjects.

The unhurried course of the purely academic consideration of the subject nature of man was radically disrupted by a series of studies carried out under the leadership of V.A.Petrovskiy aimed at identifying such forms of activity, in which the determining beginning of man was presented explicitly. From the very beginning the research in this field has combined respect for a rich philosophical tradition of describing human subjectivity, the deep theoretical understanding of the facts of its manifestations obtained in the experimental study, and the focus on the practical application of new scientific knowledge in the psychological and pedagogical practice. A keen interest in sometimes paradoxical manifestations of supra-situational activity, and the obvious heuristicity of the new theory soon led to literally an explosion of works that combined detailed study and pragmatic use of the phenomenon of human subjectivity. The paradigm of subjectivity in psychology in the subsequent period of development incorporated both the organic components of V.Petrovskiy’s idea of the multisubject nature of the individual, methods of the virtual, reflected and transformed subjectivity developed by his school, and the subject-genetic approach to the organization of various kinds of psychological and pedagogical practices. The scientific value and practical significance of the multisubject interpretation of the personality as the source and the cause of own activity led to the consolidation of both academic and applied components of psychology into a single science of personality — personology. The thematic collection presented in this issue includes the latest research showing how the idea of subjectivity can be used as a productive base for combining science and practice. Their non-triviality in scientific terms and a high practical significance make a clear evidence of the vitality of the subject paradigm in the study of the human personality and in the work to improve human life. The article by M.A.Schukina The Subject Approach to Self-development of Personality: Possibilities of a Theoretical Understanding and Empirical Study shows the validity of modes of general subjectivity and subjectivity of development in terms of both theoretical and empirical research. The author focuses on ways of a theoretical description and empirical studies of the concepts of personality on the ways of own development and of factors influencing the person’s choice of life strategy. The article by T.Gavrilova and S.Popova Success and the Contents of the Subject’s Coping with Auto Mortal Anxiety presents results of the study and success of various ways to overcome human fear of personal death. The authors show gender-specific efforts of young men and women to cope with this type of anxiety and provide a comparative analysis of the degree of success of the various strategies being demonstrated in the coping behavior. The article by I.Vachkov Polysubject Cooperation in Education Environment describes the methodological foundations of the author's approach to the polysubject interaction as one of the kinds of pedagogical interaction. The article mentions the criterion signs of polysubjectivity, and a typology of communities formed during different types of interaction. In the article by A.S.Ognev and E.V.Likhachev Practice of Implementing Positively Oriented Subject Genesis in Higher Educationthe essence of the subject-genetic approach to psychological and pedagogical practices is revealed. The authors show some specific ways of its implementation in the higher education system using an example of the educational module Life Navigation®.

The paper addresses self-development as a special form of personality development and personality as the subject of development. Formation of psychology of self-development as an independent and dynamic research area is discussed. We show heuristic potential of subjectivity approach to self-development of the personality. Self-development of the personality is defined as a qualitative, irreversible, and directional personality change accomplished by the personality itself as the subject of the development. It is noted that although bearing overall resemblance, self-development is different from development in that it includes conscious and active participation of the personality guiding its own activity and way of life.
Empirical study of subjective experience of development (self-development) (N=327) has demonstrated that the separation between general and developmental subjectivity is necessary and that the link between them is accomplished by emotional indicators of subjective experience. It has been shown that emotional reinforcement of subjectivity experience in the process of development is a significant factor of its reproduction and transformation into life strategy.
We testify interlinks between developmental subjectivity and general subjectivity that defines the level of self-management in social environment and life subjectivity manifesting itself in the choice of a life creativity strategy. Self-development is presented as a case of a life creativity strategy accomplished in the management of life events. Self-development as management of qualitative changes of the personality itself becomes possible thanks to management of events as life journey elements. We have identified four categories of change subjectivity-objectivity scales that describe the role of subjectivity strategy in the perceptions of a developing personality. Statistically significant differences are found between respondents using different types of scales. 

Aim of the current research was to explore success and essence of coping with the fear of personal death. The study was conducted on a sample of University and college students aged 15 to 20 years (N= 177; 83 males and 94 females) using the Death Attitude Profile – Revisited (DAP-R) by P.T.P. Wong and co-authors and Coping with Death Reactions (CDR) questionnaire by T.A. Gavrilova and S.A. Popova. “Fear of Death” scale of DAP-R was used as a measure of the fear of personal death. Other DAP-R scales (“Death avoidance”, “Neutral acceptance”, “Approach acceptance” and “Escape acceptance”) and the level of each of the coping with death reactions as measured by CDR  were used as indicators of coping mechanisms. It has been shown that strategies of coping with the fear of personal death were gender specific and that females were more successful and adaptive in this regards. According to DAP-R, fear of personal death in males had moderate positive correlations with “Death avoidance” and “Approach acceptance” and was not correlated with “Neutral acceptance”. In females, fear of personal death was negatively correlated with “Neutral acceptance of death” and positively correlated with “Death avoidance” and “Approach acceptance of death” and not correlated with “Escape acceptance of death”. According to CDR, fear of personal death in males had moderate negative with the avoidance reaction; in females, fear of personal death had moderate negative correlations with the neutral acceptance reaction. Negative (suicidal) and positive (life-asserting) effects of the fear of personal death are discussed.

The paper outlines methodological grounds of the proposed polysubject approach to instructional interaction. The relationships between polysubject interaction and other types of instructional interaction have been shown. Polysubject interaction is defined as a form of direct interaction between subjects allowing for mutual causality, which is a special degree of closeness and the most favourable condition for development and formation of a special entity called polysubject. Polysubject is considered to be an integral dynamic entity reflecting the unity of subjects being part of subject-subject relationships. The essence of the polysubject is expressed in their creative ability, ability to reflect on the system of relationships between subjects, in the formation of a shared semantic space as well as the ability to transform environment and themselves and act as a whole subject developing subject – subject relationships with other entities.
In developing education, polysubjectivity arises in teacher-students interaction as a result of the development of subjectivity of all members of the entity. Other typical interaction styles include subject – aloof, subject – object and subject – subject. The last one includes activity – evaluative and polysubject interaction sub-types. A typology of entities forming in the process of different kinds of interaction (such as an aggregate of pre-subjects, a monatomic collective subject, a corporate collective subject and a polysubject) is discussed. Criteria for defining polysubjectivity as a special form of subjectivity are ability to consider oneself and entity as a whole, awareness of the relationships between subjects and activity directed at the development of oneself and the other.

The paper describes the essence and stages of subjectivity genesis as a process of an individual reflexing themselves as a subject and gaining opportunities for self-determination. Application of the ideas of subjectivity genesis in education is discussed. It has been shown that purposeful subjectivity genesis and development of an ability to overcome life’s difficulties are enhanced by a combination of subjectivity genesis approach (A.S. Ognev, V.A. Petrovsky), mechanisms of virtual, reflected and returned subjectivity proposed by V.A. Petrovsky, and main principles of contemporary positive psychology outlined by M. Seligman in his PERMA conception and ideas of the key traits of a successful personality. The paper describes content and characteristics of an educational course “Life navigation”^® as an example of purposeful and positive subjectivity genesis (author – A.S. Ognev).
Traditional methods as well as visual-verbal semantic differential embodied in the high frequency eye tracking SMI Hi-Speed 1250 system provide evidence for the purposeful and positive development of subjectivity when taking “Life navigation” course.   It has been shown that use of virtual, reflected and returned subjectivity methods proposed by V.A. Petrovsky helps to at most individualise student’s educational path, control the psychological impact on the student’s personality, strengthen their valid confidence and create healthy optimism. The results of educational activity thus become a measure of the level of universal competencies as well as an important personological background of life success, well-being and personality thrift.

Social beliefs are notions about the nature of other people, their behavior, and the way one should respond to their actions. Social beliefs include beliefs in dangerous world (a view of society as chaotic, unpredictable, and aggressive) and jungle world (a view of other people as lying and manipulative agents trying to “win against” one). This paper presents the results of a study that aimed to check the structural validity of Russian versions of two scales by J. Duckitt, measuring beliefs in dangerous and jungle world. The participants were University students from Moscow and Kazan region, as well as employees of commercial organizations (N=1938, Mean age=20.2, SD = 4.64). The respondents completed a 12-item Russian version of dangerous world belief scale and a 20-item Russian version of jungle world belief scale. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to investigate the structure of the questionnaires. For the dangerous world belief scale, a second-order order factor model (with two first-order factors) for showed the best fit. For the jungle world beliefs scale, a second-order factor model (also with two first-order factors) was developed for a subset of 12 items. The authors discuss the compatibility of social beliefs scales with Russian cultural context.

The paper discusses hermeneutics and hermeneutic analysis in Russian social sciences, humanities and particularly psychology. Some regularities in understanding of texts uncovered by integrating methods of qualitative (hermeneutic analysis) and quantitative analysis (mathematical processing of categorical data) are described. When analysing results of the empirical study, understanding was defined as “layering of meanings” (M. Heidegger) and as a structure of communication that determines intersubjective significance of cognition (J. Habermas). Fiction poetry, fiction prose and non-fiction historic texts about the battle of Borodino were segmented and categorised by a group of readers based on their individual understanding. Then a group of experts classified categories identified. Finally, the texts were re-coded; for each text category an interpretation matrix was reconstructed. Cohen’s kappa coefficient was used to measure inter-rater agreement. Association rules were used to search for interpretation sequences. Hermeneutic analysis of text interpretation using mathematical methods has demonstrated relative uniqueness of the understanding of texts. The degree of agreement in understanding of “cultural texts” depended on communication experience rather than education level. Analysis of interpretations using mathematical methods has shown that poetic texts were being interpreted in a more coherent manner and that the sequence of interpretations was more logical for scientific texts. A phenomenon of absorption of historical events by personal history of the protagonist was described and identified when readers were to understand and interpret a historic fiction piece. The authors believe that complex hermeneutic analysis employing qualitative and quantitative methods alike could be very useful in the research of personal identity, values and experiences.

The aim of the paper is to analyze the methodological significance of philosophical and religious views of S. Kierkegaard for psychology. The author analyzes Kierkegaard’s view of Cartesian philosophy as a foundation for empirical psychology of consciousness and ensuing psychophysiological approach to the study of human mind. The role of Kierkegaard in reviewing the subject matter of psychology as a science and in development of qualitative methodology is revealed. Kierkegaard’s concept of individual is scrutinized. He understands individuality as a “qualitative distinctness” gained in the process of a moral choice between oneself and the world (“death for the world”) experienced as “jump into nowhere”. For Kierkegaard, human being is, first of all, a living entity, whereas cognition is of secondary importance. Thus, the central theme of psychology is individual Self in its development, rather than consciousness, and the central problem is that of freedom. The way towards the development of individuality goes through the domain of the conventional and involves finding agreement with the latter. The solution of this task results in the individual either remaining an “accidental exception” which has no influence over the development of conventions, or becoming a “grounded exception” by vindicating oneself in the face of conventions and engage in work on universal tasks. The Kierkegaardian view on the role of society in individual development is compared to that of Enlightenment philosophers and Russian psychologists, particularly, L.S. Vygotsky. The paper traces the influence of Kierkegaard on the ideas of Western and Russian 20^th-century psychology.

Traditionally, the psychological status of the therapist is defined as a personality. However, the therapeutic relationship is very specific (unconventional) and therefore cannot be regarded merely as a form of interpersonal relationship. This contradiction poses the problem of the therapist’s psychological status. The authors reveal the following polar dimensions of subjectivity: individuality (personality) and individity (essence). Personality/individuality are objects of traditional humanity. Individity is a specific, integrated embodiment of the human essence. It serves as an instance, responsible for the process of individuation, and is the result of individuation. The main features of individity are: numinous, transpersonal experiences; sensitivity and openness to experience; authenticity and congruence; and ability to love. The most important condition of the psychotherapeutic process is the psychological status of the psychotherapist. This status is the result of actualization. It is not the therapist’s individuality, but his/her individity that is in communication with a client. The therapist’s individity is characterized not only by unconditional positive regard, empathic understanding of the client and congruent self-expression, but also by an altered (unconditional) state of the therapist’s consciousness where his/her intuitive, positive and essential characteristics are present in the therapeutic situation.

The experimental study of top-down influences upon visual search for a target letter in large letter arrays has been performed. The core question of this study was whether words embedded into random letter strings - and not perceptually segregated for an observer - can influence efficiency of the search for letters embedded either in words, or in random letter sequences between words. The experiment was based on an original modification of the classic selective attention test developed a century ago by H. Muensterberg. Participants performed visual search for a predefined letter of the Russian alphabet in letter matrices which included Russian words. In the first experimental condition, target letters always belonged to words, but the participants were not warned about the words, or about the arrangement of target letters in the matrix. In the second experimental condition, target letters never belonged to words. In the third (control) condition, there were no words embedded into letter matrices. The study revealed a dissociation between visual search efficiency and subjective representation of the search task. Although presentation conditions did not influence search rate, the participants significantly differed in their subjective experience of this influence. If target letters belonged to words, the words subjectively facilitated performance; whereas, if target letters did not belong to words, the words subjectively hampered the search. Moreover, if target letters were embedded in words, the participants noticed the words twice as often as in the opposite condition. We interpret this result as a dissociation between top-down processes in the visual system, and top-down influences upon visual search arising from chunking in visual information processing.

The aim of the study was to investigate the notions that employees of different Russian organizations have about work-life balance. The author has developed an original questionnaire using incomplete sentence approach. The data from the sample of 80 employees were processed using content analysis. Only 24% of the respondents demonstrated having a specific notion of work-life balance, which they defined as ability to establish boundaries between work and personal life, to distribute resources, and as resulting satisfaction with both spheres. A large share (48%) of respondents did not indicate having a specific notion of work-life balance, but associated it with positive psychological states, inner harmony. Only 9% of the respondents indicated that poor work-life balance would not influence their lives in a negative way. The respondents also differ in their opinions on what is needed in order to combine work and personal life successfully: 23% indicated setting goals, priorities, and distributing resources; 18% indicated setting clear boundaries between work time and personal time; 13% suggested having a job that is interesting and corresponds to individual expectations. Based on those opinions and the data of contemporary studies, the term “work-life balance” can be defined as ability to manage one’s resources in effective ways, providing necessary time for activities in each of the principal life domains, and having an interesting job with good working conditions. The subjective experience of work-life balance can be seen as a feeling of inner harmony and calm.

Contemporary researchers note the emergence of new motives for emigration activity. Before recently, Russian citizens used to emigrate mostly for political and ethnic reasons; however, in the beginning of the XXI century those emigration motives had been joined by economic and social grounds. This paper examines emigration intentions of youths (N=240) and their correlations with psychosocial assets. Psychosocial assets represent a dynamic system of personal relations, a resource that facilitates achievement of various personal goals. Psychosocial assets include trust (general, social, and institutional), civic identity, and ethnic tolerance. The current study is based on the Theory of Planned Behavior proposed by Icek Ajzen and Martin Fishbein. A model of planned emigration behaviour is considered along with its link to psychosocial assets on the sample of youths aged 18 to 24 years. The analysis included several structural models and confirmatory factor analysis. It has been shown that emigration intentions were affected by individual attitude toward emigration whereas perceptions of the attitude toward emigration among significant others or perception of own abilities to emigrate did not have significant impact. It has been shown that civic identity and institutional trust were negatively correlated with emigration intentions: the intention to emigrate decreased with the increase of the psychosocial assets level. Thus, increasing civic identity and trust toward social and government institutions and might lead to a decrease in youth emigration levels. The current research might form a basis for development of youth development and support programmes in Russia.

In the last few decades we have seen important changes in the neuropsychological rehabilitation of brain injury patients. First, the notion of neurorehabilitation has been extended to incorporate psychotherapy as a necessary component. Historically, neurorehabilitation was understood as a synonym for cognitive rehabilitation, which excluded psychotherapy. This person-centered change was based on a comparative analysis of effectiveness of different approaches to neurorehabilitation and increasing awareness of the importance of working with emotional sphere and personality of the patients and their families, as well as of clinic and rehabilitation centre staff. The paper presents a review of two such approaches. One of the first programmes of brain injury patient rehabilitation incorporating psychotherapy was developed by Yehuda Ben-Yishay. This programme spanning two years addressed patients and their family members who were involved in solving everyday life tasks. This ecological orientation combined with therapeutic support resulted in high efficiency of the programme. Another well-known approach was developed by George Prigatano, who formulated thirteen principles of neuropsychological rehabilitation. Many of these principles cover psychotherapeutic work targeting patients, family members, as well as members of the rehabilitation team who confront a number of psychological and behavioral problems associated with brain injury. These programs belong to a holistic approach in neuropsychological rehabilitation which was shown to be highly effective. By approaching patients in combination with their environment, addressing motivation and emotional issues, the effectiveness of rehabilitation sessions can be increased by increased cooperation of patients who gain better awareness of the aims and possibilities of rehabilitation.