2016. vol. 13. No. 3

The high relevance of research on home attachment as an interdisciplinary and multilayered phenomenon is substantiated, which reflects the reciprocity of relationships between human and his/her environment and has regulatory and valeological meaning for personality. The problematic of the home attachment phenomenon is meticulously analyzed, which appears to be a specific type of place attachment; the multiple-level system of the notion of “home” as an object of functional, emotional and symbolic attachment is discussed, the main structural components that form it are considered, such as identification with place, sense of place, dependence on place. The methodological backgrounds and the process of development of the Home Attachment Questionnaire are articulated, its conceptual, empirical and factor models are described. The procedure and the results of the pilot study (N = 287, Mage = 21.5, SDage = 9.2) on questionnaire validation (factor analysis, internal consistency) are provided, as well as descriptive statistics. The results of the main study are given, which objective was to analyze the construct validity of the questionnaire. Validation included the verification of correlations between home attachment and level of functionality of home environment. The analysis of age specifics is described (three age groups were determined: youth, young and middle aged adults), which reflects the fact that relationships between home attachment and functionality strengthen with age. The relationships between home attachment and functionality are also moderated by gender: home attachment in women is linked to safety and possibility for personal growth in home environment, while in men it is linked to convenience and comfort of the dwelling. In conclusion, possibilities, limitations and prospects of use of the questionnaire are discussed.

Although investigators traditionally pay attention to the relationship between cognitive processes and personality, the review of  the existing literature uncovers a lack of research on the links between personality traits and short-term memory, as compared to the ample studies of the role which the working memory’s central executive (Baddeley, 2003) plays regarding personality. In addition, these studies mostly examined particular traits or conventional personality taxonomies rather than their possible derivatives. In this regard, the present study addresses the role of reflexive characteristic adaptations as a structural element of personality system in terms of the five-factor theory (McCrae & Costa, 1996, 2013).  Spatial short-term memory, measured with Corsi test, correlated (N = 1,030) with neuroticism and low openness to experience. On the contrary, verbal short-term memory, measured with the Sternberg task, correlated negatively with conscientiousness and agreeableness. Therefore, as compared to central executive, an increase in its slave subsystems―spatial short-term memory and verbal short-term memory―correlated with decreased agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, and emotional stability.  Moreover, short-term memory demonstrated a range of links with reflexive characteristic adaptations including direct, indirect (mediated by traits), and compensatory (compared to traits) correlations. In particular, although neuroticism did not relate to verbal short-term memory, a negative attitude toward neuroticism did relate to this type of memory. In a similar fashion, although agreeableness did not relate to spatial short-term memory, a negative meta-attitude toward agreeableness (i.e., an attitude ascribed to one’s parents) did relate to this type of memory. A negative link between conscientiousness and verbal short-term memory was supplemented with a positive attitude toward conscientiousness. The present findings are analysed in the context of previous studies, future implications and perspectives are discussed.

The concept of thought has always been central to understanding the nature of human thinking in psychological studies. However, the main question of what is thought still remains unanswered. The origins of the issue lie in the definition of the original unit of analysis, i.e. in the definition of what lies at the heart of image, belief, imagination, speech, consciousness, and thinking. Based on available studies, results of which were reflected in recent publications, it was argued that thought should be such an original unit of analysis. This article explores the concept of thought based on cognitive constructs and the neurophysiological correlates of mental activity. The present study is addressed to discuss issues dealing with the nature of thought, its content and structure, and the relationships between indicators of substantial thought and the neurobiological correlates of the process of thinking. Structurally thought is based on needs, emotions and intensions, and as such, thought defines the substantive essence of an image and also represents consciousness. Coherence of thoughts and consciousness, their integrity reflect the connectivity of things from the external world in their entirety. Thus, the ability to generate thoughts and build relationships within the stream of consciousness characterizes the human mind. It is shown that thought as a cognitive substance emerges from desires and experiences, as well as from conscious perception. Taken together, the described psychological and neurophysiological assumptions open up new horizons for research into human mental activity, thinking abilities and consciousness.

Call-centre is a physical location that receives calls from the company’s clients. The main expectations from a call-centre operator are associated with effectiveness of his/her work – it includes stress tolerance and resistance to burnout, ability to maintain emotional stability and influence client’s emotions. These abilities are associated with emotional intelligence competences. The research shows that higher level of emotional intelligence lowers intensity of negative emotions and lessens the risk of professional burnout. But the question of interrelation of emotional intelligence and development of professional burnout in call-center workers remains understudied. The objective of the present research is to study the interrelation of emotional intelligence and professional burnout syndrome in call-center workers. The sample consists of 185 participants, the workers of the contact center of a telecommunication company. The following questionnaires were used: Professional Burnout and EmIn. The study showed that the emotional intelligence competences and professional burnout are interrelated. Interpersonal emotional intelligence is connected to all components of professional burnout. Intrapersonal intelligence, understanding of emotions and regulation of emotions are connected to emotional exhaustion and reduction of professional achievements. It is shown that higher level of professional burnout is linked to lower level of all components of emotional intelligence. The study helps to widen the understanding of interrelation of emotional intelligence and professional burnout in call-center workers. The hypothesis was confirmed: there is an interrelation between emotional intelligence and professional burnout of operators. Further studies may be focused on clarification of the character of this interrelation, analysis of situational and personal factors that influence the components of emotional intelligence of employees, as well as on probability of development of professional burnout syndrome in the target group.

Previous works show that mood congruence effect or trait congruence effect can be achieved (Chepenik  et al., 2007; Rusting, 1998). The present study explores the effect of emotional state and dispositional joy on effectiveness of emotion recognition from facial expression. The experimental study was conducted in two groups of subjects. The general sample consisted of 39 participants. Participants’ emotional state was measured with the self-report questionnaire PANAS. The participants’ current mood was manipulated with the emotion induction procedure, which involved screening video with “joyful” or “neutral” emotional coloring. To measure the speed of emotional information processing a computer technique was used, in which a participant performed the task on emotion recognition from facial expression. The hypothesis was tested whether there is an effect of congruency in positive information processing. It was supposed that positive emotional state and dispositional joy heighten the speed of positive information processing and don’t influence processing of the stimuli with negative emotional coloring. Testing of the emotion induction procedure proved it to be partially successful. Congruency effect for dispositional joy was achieved: we found an interrelation of higher manifestation of this trait with higher speed in joy recognition from facial expressions. The influence of positive emotional state was manifested in lower speed in recognition of joy. In sum, the results show that the congruency effect is expressed differently for trait and emotional state. Overall, the results of the conducted study provide information on the mechanisms of emotion recognition.

Comparative analysis of psychological research on the role of the third party in conflicts in Russian and foreign traditions is presented in this article. The author's classification of the third party’s intervention strategies in a conflict based on two criteria is discussed. The first criterion is a degree of the third party’s activity in a conflict. The second criterion is the aspect which third party emphasizes in the process of solving a conflict - the relations between disputants and their emotions, or the result of a conflict. Hence, a classification of the third party’s intervention strategies in solving interpersonal conflicts can be presented. For example, when a third party’s activity is high and the third party emphasizes the relations between disputants and their emotions in the process of solving a conflict, the third party’s intervention strategies are facilitative, evaluative, transformative, as well as mediation strategies. When the third party’s activity is high and the third party emphasizes the outcome of a conflict, the third party’s intervention strategies are pressing, directive, arbitration, problem-solving, and deal-making. Then, when the third party’s activity is low and the third party emphasizes the relations between disputants and their emotions in the process of solving conflicts, the third party’s intervention strategies are differentiated, narrative, storytelling, and understanding-based. Finally, when third party’s activity is low and the third party emphasizes the result of a conflict, the third party’s intervention strategies are analytic, neutral, strategic, pragmatic, as well as orchestration strategies. Different strategies of third-party intervention in a conflict and their efficiency are analyzed.

There are two path-breakers, two thinkers, one in science and the other in art – Vladimir Lefevr and Antonio Gaudi – that have a deep personal kinship: out-of-the-box decisions, diverse competences, incisive intuitions, aesthetics of thought, bold imagination – they have all these “in common”. An architect of a ground-breaking reflexive theory, V.A. Lefevr built a bridge between two realiae – on this and on the other side of a human self. The theoreticians-predecessors dealt with transitions “inner – outer”. But it is Lefevr, who built a model, which not only describes, but also predicts the pattern of transitions between consciousness and behavior. The author of this article offers some interpretations that will allow comprehending the elements of mathematical analysis that Lefevr uses, deriving their psychological meaning (as “physical meaning” of mathematical symbols is revealed in natural sciences). From this standpoint the article interprets intrapersonal transactions between Berne’s Parent, Adult and Child in the moments of decision-making; facts of disagreement of the J. Atkinson’s model of “decision-making” with the empirical data (and offers the model that corrects non-conformances); phenomena of active inadaptability (“altruistic risk”, statement of the “above-situational” tasks in cognition, Oedipus paradox); “subjective assemblage points” in the inner space of personality, which help realize its goals in the anticipated results; phenomena of inner communications “me – the other me”, generated by means of recursion, etc.