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2015. vol. 12. No. 3
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Anniversary of Vadim A. Petrovskiy
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5–11
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Special Theme of the Issue.
Political psychology
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15–29
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The study views the interaction between social psychological capital of personality (SPCP) and political behavior of personality. Social psychological capital of personality is the systemically organized and balanced resource of social psychological attitudes of personality toward society in the whole and to its immediate environment, based on trust and furthering of subjective well-being and adaptability of personality in society. This notion is new in social psychology and allows describing the social psychological resource of personality, which binds it to society and allows it to become more successful in society and contribute to its well-being. To estimate social psychological capital of personality author’s method was used, and political behavior was viewed in the context of electoral behavior. The empirical research was conducted in summer 2012 soon after the elections in State Duma and of President of the Russian Federation. The sample was representative to the Central Federal District (N=1026) and the Northern Caucasian District (N=1035). Empirical data were processed with Structural Equation Modeling (program AMOS was used). In the processing of data the influence of two basic components of SPCP was estimated – of “integrating” and “consolidating” – on political activity and political preferences of respondents in the process of voting. The research showed that both components were positively connected with political activity of personality, but political preferences in respondents with the prevalence of “integrating” or “consolidating” components of SPCP were different. The “integrating” component is connected to preference by respondents of the current political line. People with prevalence of this component in the structure of SPCP voted for “United Russia” in the State Duma elections and for V.V. Putin in the presidential elections. Another peculiarity of people with prevalent “integrating” component of SPCP – they vote less for any oppositional trends in politics. The “consolidating” component of SPCP didn’t demonstrate statistically significant links with preferences of respondents during State Duma elections. In the case of presidential elections one positive link was found – with the preferences in voting for M. Prokhorov, who was viewed as a new and promising representative of the “right” opposition. |
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30–40
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Political leaders need the support of other citizens to exercise that influence and perform their functions. According to the leader categorization theory, people give more support to the leaders which fit a certain prototype – the idea of a perfect leader. In this study we analyze the link between just world belief, Russian national identity and the idea of a perfect leader. We assumed that the more people believe in a just world, the stronger their national identity is. The more they identify with Russia, the more support they expect from their political leader, and the more power they award to him. Members of psychological and political groups in Russian social media have participated in the study (N = 294). They filled out an online version of the survey, which included scales for measuring just world belief, Russian national identity and the idea of a perfect political leader. To test the hypotheses structural modeling was used. The results confirmed the hypotheses. At the same time, they show, that belief that the world is just towards other people plays a bigger role, than belief in the world being just towards one’s self. |
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41–51
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Psychological research shows that thoughts of death provoke fear in people. According to terror management theory, to master the fear they use psychological defense – they seek to prove the righteousness of their worldviews. Thanks to that the mortality salience influences the attitudes toward political leaders. In this study the influence of death thoughts on thenotions of ideal political leader is viewed. The participants of the study (N=153) were divided into one experimental and two control groups. The experimental group watched the video recording of aftermaths of terroristic attacks (mortality salience), the first control group watched the video about the process of dental care in the dentist cabinet (pain salience) and the second control group watched the advertisement of soviet cars (neutral subject). After that all respondents filled in the questionnaire for measuring the notions of ideal politician. It included eight 5-point bipolar scales, which determined the parameters of the «care» about followers and «control» for them. The results of the study showed that, in general, respondents perceived the ideal political leader as prone to the «care» and «control». Mortality salience influenced the evaluation of ideal politician on the parameter of «care»: the participants, who watched the video recording of aftermaths of terroristic attacks, evaluated ideal leader as less solicitous than people from control groups. At the same time, mortality salience did not influence the estimation of ideal politician on the parameter of «control». |
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52–68
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International conflicts take place throughout the course of human history and result in serious economic and political aftermaths. Seeking to protect their interests, countries-participants use various methods of interaction: from peace negotiations to military actions. In psychological studies great attention is paid to factors that influence the support for military intervention in other countries affairs as means of international conflicts resolution. But the data of the research have two main limitations. Firstly, they consider attitudes toward military intervention of one’s own country (in-group), but not to the analogical activity of other countries (out-groups). Secondly, as the main predictor of the attitudes toward military intervention authoritarianism is studied, but not national identification. In this research two ways of formation of attitudes toward military intervention in other countries affairs were studied. According to the theory of authoritative personality we hypothesized that belief in dangerous world would predict the level of authoritarianism, which, in its turn, would predict the attitude toward military intervention of own country (in-group) and other countries (out-groups). In the same time, according to the theory of social identity we hypothesized that benevolence of the world beliefs predict the strength of national identification, which, in its turn, also predicts attitudes toward the use of military power for the resolution of international conflict. 844 Russian residents took part in the survey. They filled the on-line version of the questionnaire, which included scales of measuring the dangerous and benevolent world beliefs, right authoritarianism, national identification and attitudes toward introduction of Russian, United Nations and NATO troops in the territory of Ukraine. To test the hypotheses we used Structural Equations Modeling. It showed that the more Russians believed in the dangerous world, the higher was the level of authoritarianism. The more they believed in benevolent world, the higher was the level of national identification. The higher were the levels of authoritarianism and national identification, the more they supported the introduction of Russian troops in Ukraine and the less they supported the introduction of UN and NATO troops. |
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69–85
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Mass protest events may often lead to various societal transformations, including structural changes and emergence of new identities, subjectivities and social relations. The concept of “eventful protests” suggests that the sheer act of mobilization may create and empower a new collective identity. At the same time, in many cases such mass events lead to the intensifying of pre-existing political stereotypes and social cleavages and thus fail to be truly transformative. We assumed that the Ukranian mass protest event of November 2013-February 2014 dubbed “Euromaidan” consecutively first weakened and then enforced the ethno-cultural and political split between Western and Eastern Ukranian citizens. To test the hypothesis narrative analysis was implemented. 144 semi-structured interviews were analyzed to establish the narrative perception of Euromaidan participants. The results indicate that while “Euromaidan” initially succeeded at creating a new civic identity that united the protesters, this identity failed to spread beyond the event. Narrative analysis shows that the same rhetoric and framing that represented the initial push for civic unity and inclusivity, when intensified, transformed into a tool of promoting exclusivity, dehumanization and harmful stereotypes. They also suggest that the same structural elements that contribute to the occurrence of mass political protest (authoritarian rule, stereotype-filled discourse, lack of representation) also limits the transformative capabilities of such events. |
Articles
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86–130
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The author understands the subjectin general as the cause of oneself and determines the subjectness of an individualas their ability to be both the source and the result of their own activities. In the present work, the author answers the following question: What is the subject of reproduction in an individual? In comparison with an earlier interpretation of subjectness, the scope of revealed causa suiis specified: possibilities of an individual are discerned which are implemented and acquired by them in the process of activity. The Subject is not the one who has achieved but the one who does everything to achieve. Being the Subject means to produce possibilities of achieving. The criterion of subjectness is the correspondence between the opportunities invested in the process, and the opportunities accumulated in the process of achieving. This way subjectness is determined as the art of dealing with own current possibilities, thus ensuring their extensive reproduction. In the meantime it is postulated that the total amount of potential possibilities of an individual is unlimited (the metaphor of an infinite-dimensional cube is taken). Possibilites are appropriated (M. Heidegger) in the process of an individual’s interaction with environment. They not only contribute to achieving of any other purposes, but they themselves form the goals guiding the activity. There are various possibilities, internal and external, obvious and hidden, newly acquired and actualized, opportunities of support and opportunities of desire. The following is accepted: the higher the level of obvious (manifested) possibilities (I can), the stronger the urge to implement them (I want) (thus not only I want causes I can, but I can challenges I want). The dynamic unity of I can and I want forms the essence of what the author determines as Possibleness of an individual; we mean the possibilities that an individual does not only have but experiences them as existing in him. Possibleness is an experienced feasibility of possibilities. There are conditions of the Possibleness optimum that are based on the mathematical model of Possibleness combining ideas of the variety of possibilities. In this context, subjectness is defined as the Possibleness that meets the optimum criteria (“Get your investments repaid”, “Be efficient”, “Save up”, “Do not skimp on efforts”). An obvious consequence of accepting the Possibleness model is the transition to multi-subject models of personality: they allow to realize the Possibleness optimum conditions in those cases when the one-to-one with the world interaction impedes revealing of subjectness (limited resources of the environment, lack or surplus of desires). There are several models of subject assemblies: self-employed farmer, author — expert, leader — partners, and master — worker. There are some numerical examples given illustrating the effect of achieving the Possibleness optimum in various forms of subject assemblies. In accordance with the law of development of higher mental functions (according to L. Vygotsky) a hypothetical attempt is made to describe the structure of an individual’s personality as a result of interiorization of various subject assemblies. From this point of view we have considered some manifestations of an individual’s self-regulation (taking such forms as volitional, semantic, target-oriented, and operational) when solving a problem to one’s taste. The empirical research shows that in the process of solving such problems each of the inner subjects included in the personality (Autocratic I, With One Other, I Myself, and Capable I) reaches a compliance of the individual’s ambitions and the acquired possibilities. Three variants of the subject organization of personality are described: mono-personality, binary personality,and ternary personality. Both hypothetical and real-life examples of functioning of the individual’s Possibleness model are drawn for different variants of the subject organization of personality. The models presented are the model of an ideal negotiator (Trust, but verify! — How much?), the model of hope and disappointment in love, the model of the triumvirate of subjects, the reinterpreting model of risk-taking by J. Atkinson. The culture presented to an individual in the form of symbolic interactions between different Is (as society in one’s head), is interpreted as a condition for achieving the Possibleness optimum which implies a different level of subject complexity for every personality construction (binary, ternary, tetrary etc.). |
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131–152
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The topic of this paper is an analysis of the developmental changes in cognitive functions in children with poor state regulation (function of the first – energetic unit of the brain, according to A.R. Luria). The article is based on clinical and experimental psychological research. The neuropsychological battery of tests for 5-9 years old children is used (Akhutina, Polonskaya et al., 2008) as well as 2 computer-based tests: the modified variant of the test “Dots” (Davidson et al., 2006; Diamond et al., 2007) and a computer-based version of tests for performance efficiency measurement – Schulte-Gorbov tables (Gorbov, 1971). 173 primary school children from the 1st and the 3rd grades participated in the study. The results displayedthe presence of two variants of state regulation deficits: children with slow processing speed and mental fatigue, and children with hyperactivity and impulsivity. On the whole, the children with a deficit in the first functional unit are characterized by difficulties when performing energy demanding tasks, the faster onset of exhaustion, a low (in the group with slower processing speed) or fluctuating (in the group with hyperactivity) speed of performance, a dependence on motivation and emotional state, a deficit in executive functions and the capacity to process kinesthetic information. The majority of children in both groups had learning disabilities. The analysis of the specific characteristics of variants shows that children with slow processing speed in the 1st and the 3rd grades perform the tasks the slower and the worse, the more energy-demanding the task is. In this group the increase in symptoms of deficits in executive functions may be linked to the intensification of anxiety. In hyperactive children with a discrete executive functions deficit, the capacity to perform tasks produces an inverted U curve on the graph, according to the tasks’ level of complexity. They perform the simplest tasks less capably than normal children because of poor motivation, and decrease the results in the most complex tasks because of high energy demands of such tasks. |
Work in Progress
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153–164
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The article considers the age pattern of the usage of color in the drawing, which is determined by the demands of clinical psychological practice, as far as the knowledge of age characteristics of color preferences allows differentiating norm and pathology with greater accuracy. The analysis of the scientific literature showed that children prefer long-wavelength part of the spectrum (mostly yellow and red), but with the age there is a tendency to reject these colors and prefer more dark and calm chord. In the psychological practice specialists use projective drawings rather often. This article considers a widely used by psychologists technique Non-Existent Animal. On the first stage 3 experts selected analyzed pictorial indices, then the calculation of the level of experts’ consensus was made with the Kendall’s coefficient of concordance. On the second stage the evaluation of the age patterns of the selected pictorial parameters took place, in particular, the usage of color. Thus, the material of the study is the color properties of the artistic activity of the subjects. The sample consisted of the 6 age-groups from 10 to 25 years of age. The statistical significance of differences was evaluated by the χ2. In the result of the mathematical-statistical processing of the data the assumption is made that the preference of color in children has less variations than in adults, that’s why the detection of general regularities in the senior age group is hindered. On the parameters of brightness/ paleness of the drawing, as well as the usage of the black color it is found that the smooth regularity after the age 19 is “floundered”. The achromatism and the color paleness in the drawing of a non-existent animal predominate with the age, which is determined by the characteristics of maturation of the central nervous system and/ or growth of the sinistrocelebral index. |
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165–174
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The article views differences of dangerous world beliefs in religious, indifferent to religion people and atheists, as well as statistical interconnection between dangerous world beliefs, autonomous and controlled religiosity in the context of self-determination theory. According to some preceding research, objective threat to survival and well-being is connected to higher popularity of religious beliefs and practices, while the growth of secularism and atheism of the recent times may be explained by objective improvement of the quality of life and, consequently, by subjective feeling of existential safety. It is supposed that religious way of dealing with uncertainty and anxiety about the outside world is to a greater or lesser degree effective. Thus, the hypothesis is that in identical circumstances religious subjects in comparison to representatives of other groups might estimate outside world as less dangerous and atheists – as the most dangerous. One of the basic conditions of self-determination theory is that autonomous motivation of activity, including religious one, has positive psychological consequences, and controlled motivation has negative consequences. This condition allows making a hypothesis according to which in religious group autonomous religiosity will correlate to dangerous world belief positively and controlled religiosity will correlate with it negatively. In the first case the counterhypothesis was confirmed: atheists estimate world as the most safe place and religious subjects as the most dangerous place, indifferent to religion subjects demonstrate medium results. In the second case we were unable to find significant correlation between type of religiosity and dangerous world belief. |
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