2016. vol. 13. No. 4

This article analyses methodological and ethical problems in the field of the macropsychology of intelligence and reviews the studies reported in the present issue of the journal. Macropsychology of intelligence studies relationships of intelligence with economic, military, social, and other achievements of large social groups, (populations of countries or regions within individual countries). These relationships were shown in numerous studies, the most important of which is that of Lynn and Vanhanen. The main problem with these studies is as follows: research in this domain can lead to a biologizing picture of the world in which a population’s genetics is directly associated with economic achievement. This possibility caused an emotional reaction in the academic community to the study of Lynn and Vanhanen and triggered superficial research in the field. In this situation, there is a need for a gradual theoretical deepening while separating research from politics. On the other hand, empirical evidence points to the complex nature of the relationship of intelligence and economic achievements: it is non-linear; the residuals of regression dependence grow linearly with the increase of national intelligence. The directions of future studies are outlined in the article: the development of accurate models of “transformation” of intellectual abilities into economic and social achievements, further research into the reproduction of  geographical patterns of intelligence and the study of the correlation between the extent of different abilities and achievements in selected areas. The clarification of empirical data and theoretical generalizations are inherent to papers presented in this issue.

Both economists and psychologists proved the role of cognitive abilities and competencies in economic achievements. The assumption that more capable and educated individuals achieve better economic results underlies most of these researches. This assumption is evidently true as a general tendency, but it cannot explain modest economic achievements in certain countries with high levels of human capital development. We propose that problem solving is the mediator between human competencies and achievements. Creation of goods and services is based on problem solving in design, production and delivery. The quality of problem solving depends on human competencies and, in turn, determines economic achievements. More importantly, the choice of problems to be solved creates or does not create the possibility for application of highly qualified labor and, as a result, for full-fledged realization of human capital. We propose a mathematical model based on these assumptions. The simulation reproduces most important traits of Lynn and Vanhanen’s (2002) findings. The simulation shows a non-linear growth of economic achievements with national IQ growth as well as an increase of between countries variance. Thereby the proposed model can serve as a satisfactory explanation for empirical data on links between national IQs and economic achievements.

The article observes the possibilities of predicting socio-economic characteristics of a country by national IQ and Big Five personality factors. The efficiency of predicting educational attainments, per capita income and corruption in a country are estimated. National IQs provided by Lynn and Vanhanen and estimates of five personality factors obtained in the study of Schmitt and al. for 56 countries and in the study of Bartram for 29 countries are used as predictors. In the study of Schmitt and al. the brief measure of five personality factors (BFI) was used; Bartram’s estimates were based on the Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ32). The results show the following. 1. The estimates of five personality factors obtained by Schmitt and al. are not effective predictors of the analyzed socio-economic characteristics (the values of adjusted R squared are lower 0.1) and their aggregating with national IQ not by much increases accuracy of prediction. 2. The estimates of five personality factors obtained by Bartram are satisfactory predictors of per capita income and corruption (the values of adjusted R squared equal 0.526 and 0.666); their aggregating with national IQ somewhat increases efficiency of prediction of per capita income but not corruption. 3. National IQ is an effective predictor of educational attainments of a country (the value of adjusted R squared equals 0.840 for the sample of 49 countries and 0.845 for the sample of 29 countries) and satisfactory predictor of per capita income (the value of adjusted R squared equals 0.650 for the sample of 52 countries and 0.411 for the sample of 28 countries).

The article presents the results of approbation on the Russian sample of the general knowledge test developed in UK. The test estimates general knowledge of an individual in 18 domains: History of Science; Politics; Sport; History; Classical Music; Art; Literature; General Science; Geography; Cookery; Medicine; Games; Discovery and Exploration; Biology; Film; Fashion; Finance; Popular Music. The obtained data was compared with the UK data. The results show that the Russian participants have higher competence in most domains. Also, it was shown that differences in difficulty of questions in various domains are stable: there is a significant correlation between measures of difficulty of the test items for the 18 domains in the Russian and the British data. One possible explanation of this result relies on the hypothesis of differences in representations in the system of human knowledge. The obtained data have enabled us to exclude from the test too easy and too difficult (with kurtosis more than 30) items for the Russian participants. The version of the test after this exclusion is highly reliable (the Cronbach’s alpha is 0.956). The test items, included in this version, were used for the comparison of the factor structures of general knowledge revealed in the British and the present studies. These factor structures were rather similar. This confirms that general knowledge as a cognitive ability can be partitioned into more narrow abilities.

The objective of this paper is to report a study of the intelligence of Yakuts and ethnic Russians in Yakutia. The samples were drawn from Yakutsk, the capital of the Yakutia region containing almost one third of the population of the province, and from Viluysk, a town with the population of approximately 10,600, which is situated 592 km north-west of Yakutsk. The sample from Yakutsk consisted of 52 ethnic Russian and 128 ethnic Yakut school students with a mean age of 12.0 years attending a typical secondary school. The sample from Viluysk consisted of 7 ethnic Russian and 236 ethnic Yakut school students with a mean age of 12.7 years attending two typical secondary schools. The samples were tested in November 2015 with Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices Plus administered by the first author with a time limit of one hour. The British IQs of the participants were obtained from the norms of the 2008 British standardization. The main results were as follows. First, the British IQ of the Russians averaged from the two samples weighted by sample size was 101.7. However, because both samples were urban the true IQ of Russians in Yakutia is probably about by 3 to 5 IQ points lower. Second, the IQ of the Yakuts was 1.8 IQ points lower than that of the Russians but the difference is not statistically significant (t=.76). The results therefore indicate that the Yakuts and the Russians in Yakutia have approximately the same IQ.

The validity of regional educational attainments as a measure of intelligence in different regions was estimated using a set of 29 regions from the Russian Federation. Educational attainments were the average scores obtained in the Unified State Exam 2014 by persons who were accepted in state universities and institutions for tertiary education in regions of the Russian Federation in the year 2014. Regional intelligence was assessed using samples aged 17–50 years. The size of the samples was from 28 to 365 participants (mean 154.8). In total 4,645 participants from 101 settlements of Russia were involved. The participants were tested with the Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices, a 20 minute time limitation was applied. Besides, data based on nine additional variables was used. These variables were the rate of crime per 100,000, the rate of fertility (birthrate), the rate of infant mortality, urbanization, net migration, per capita income in roubles (all for the year 2012), the latitude and longitude of the geographical mid-point of the regions, and the percentage of ethnic Russians. While the correlation of educational attainments with the measurements of intelligence in the regions was low (0.10), the functional closeness of these two measures, as estimated by correlating them with additional variables, was high enough (the correlation of the two vectors of correlations was 0.74, p < 0.05). This confirms the validity of regional educational attainments as a measure of regional intelligence. The low direct correlation of educational attainments with the measurements of intelligence can be explained by the inaccuracy of both measurements.

The present article addresses the notion of identity management strategies. The significance of this concept for development of Social Identity Theory and understanding of intergroup relations is discussed. Contradictions that were found while testing the interrelations between ingroup identification, ingroup favoritism, attitudes toward outgroups, and self-esteem serve as a starting point for the author’s reasoning. In order to find causes of such contradictions and possible ways of their solving the author performed theoretical analysis of methodological and empirical research based on Social Identity Theory, as well as functional analysis in related areas. Based on this analysis two suggestions were made. Firstly, Social Identity Theory implicitly contains two meanings of social identity that could lead to discrepancies in empirical results. On the one hand, identity is regarded as just an intermediate element between categorization and comparison, on the other hand, identity is a substantive phenomenon supported by the range of management strategies. Secondly, identity management strategies could specify functions that identity carries out for both an individual and a group. Nevertheless, Social Identity Theory focuses only on those functions that identity carries out for the individual himself. Shifting the focus toward functions that identity executes for a group leads to new suggestions about the initial contradictions. First of all, this leads to doubts in personal self-esteem enhancement as the only “ultimate goal” of strong group commitment. Moreover, this leaves the question open, “at whose expense” the positivity of identity is maintained in the process of intergroup comparisons. Hence, one can expect that while some identity management strategies bring positive outcomes for outgroup attitudes, other strategies bring negative outcomes, which makes identity management strategies a crucial explanatory construct for the study of intergroup relations.

The article examines the Big-Frog-In-A-Small-Pond Effect, when students, who study in strong schools or classes, have got lower academic self-esteem, than students with the same level of personal achievements, but studying in weaker classes or schools. This effect was considered for self-esteem in math in the longitudinal study of Russian schoolchildren Working and Educational Trajectories, conducted on a Russian sample as a part of international study TIMSS. Also the question of this effect manifesting itself in other educational results was examined: further academic achievements, educational plans and trajectories. The indices of further academic achievements were school marks in algebra and Uniform State Exam results in mathematics. Educational plans were measured by three questions: about aspirations to go to college, estimated probability of choice of STEM profession and estimated points in Uniform State Exam in mathematics. For educational trajectories two indicators were used: continuation of study in general school after the 9th grade and study in a class with enhanced education in math or physics. The results of multilevel regression analysis show that the negative effect of average marks in a class (controlling for the results of TIMSS in math) is important for self-esteem in math, further school marks on algebra and aspirations to go to college. Besides, it is shown that self-esteem in math is an important predictor of further academic achievements, aspirations and trajectories. Moreover, self-esteem in math is a more important factor for the choice of enhanced math education and estimated probability of choice of STEM profession, than the level of previous mathematic achievements.

The studies on personal relationships differ by the large diversity of the topics touched, methodological and theoretical approaches, empirical results and significant differences in practical value of discovered ideas and developed methods. The important gap is found among these studies though. This gap lies in construction of strict and holistic psychological models of relationships as well as in structure modeling of ways of their research and interpretation. Also the problem of oppositions in the structure of relationships and their processes and effects of realization poses very rarely in studies of relationships. It makes difficult to understand the collision of relationships, resources of their development and conditions of regress. The multidimensional and contradictory ties of relationships with culture, which define their axiological character, are among the unexplored issues. Subjective treatment of oppositions influences the dynamics of cognition, ethical, esthetic, creative, reflective activity of personality in culture and in communication with other people. The analytical models, oriented to explication of these oppositions of relationships, are scarce among the tools of analysis of relationships in personal diagnostics, counseling and psychotherapy. The grounding of new points of view on the role of oppositions in life formation of axiological relationships, on elaboration of multivariate theoretical and hermeneutical models of analysis of relationships’ oppositions, on approbation and validation of models in the practice of individual cases, focused on detection of potentials of relationships’ development are needed in the perspective of evolution of psychological knowledge about personal relationships. The authors offer their own way to solve these tasks.

The paper presents a new Russian-language instrument measuring existential fulfillment within the theory of 4 existential fundamental motivations developed by A. Längle. Based on phenomenological descriptions of the constructs and expert discussions, we developed an original Russian-language set of 94 items, which was validated in 2 online samples (N=818 and N=215). Using hierarchical cluster analysis and confirmatory factor analysis with cross-validation in an independent sample, we arrived at a set of 36 items grouped into 4 scales and 12 subscales (corresponding to theoretical prerequisites of fundamental motivations). The scales demonstrate acceptable reliability (α in the .79-.88 range, .93 for the general score). We sought evidence of convergent and discriminant validity of the scales by using correlational and multiple regression analyses of their associations with indicators of emotional, social, and psychological well-being, subjective happiness, satisfaction with life, basic psychological need satisfaction, self-esteem, internal locus of control, as well as alienation and psychopathology. The findings support the convergent validity of existential fulfillment indicators against well-being measures based on different theoretical approaches, as well as discriminant validity of specific existential fundamental motivation scales. The new instrument opens up new possibilities for empirical research in the field of existential psychology and, in a broader context, the psychology of self-actualization, well-being, and life satisfaction. The questionnaire can also be used in assessment, counseling, and psychotherapy.

The objective of the study was to explore the mechanisms and the role of incubation period in problem solving. The experiment was conducted in two days; the stimulus material was anagrams with two correct solutions. In the first day the subjects were shown the anagrams and one possible solution. In the second day (a week later) the participants were solving anagrams. Among anagrams there were those presented in the first day, and the neutral, the new ones. For those anagrams that were presented before, one of the possible solutions was preactivated (that the participant knew), and the other solution was the alternative one (that the participant was not shown). Solving of anagrams was divided in two stages: at first the participants tried to solve all anagrams, and then they returned to those unsolved at the first stage. Half of participants had a break between the two stages (incubation period), which was filled with solving of the Raven’s APM. The other half of participants worked with anagrams without a break. At the first stage (before the incubation) the quantity of the preactivated solutions was significantly higher, than the quantity of the alternative and the neutral answers. With that, timings of findings of preactivated and alternative solutions didn’t differ and were significantly smaller, than for findings of neutral answers. At the second stage the difference in quantity of the solved problems between the groups with and without incubation (incubation effect) was significant only for alternative solutions, findings of which at the first stage were hindered by preactivated solutions. The acquired results, on the one hand, attest to the theory of selective forgetting, and on the other hand, they show that successful incubation is possible only with the presence of activated response, which realization is hindered by the present fixations.

The article presents a review of foreign studies on possible selves. Possible selves are understood as individual’s notions on what one would like to become or is afraid to become in the future. Properties of possible selves are described. Possible selves are viewed as part of self-concept that manifests in cognitive representations of individually significant goals, aspirations, hopes and fears, which provide continuity between the present and the future of personality. The relevance of the current social cultural and historical context for the development of possible selves is discussed, as well as their vulnerability and variability in comparison to other elements of self-concept. Main types of possible selves are identified: expectations, hopes and fears, as well as best possible selves and lost possible selves. A detailed analysis of the parameters of possible selves, among which are emotional valence, balance, presence or absence of a strategy to reach possible self, articulation, perceived effectiveness, subjective significance, frequency of reference. The regulative function of possible selves is discussed, which consists in stimulation and organization of future behavior, making sense and meanings of current behavior, evaluation of life experience and current changes in person’s life, in management of emotional processes. The construct of motivational potential of possible selves is developed, in which the notions of motivation and self-concept are overlapped. The results of the studies are analyzed, which search for and determine parameters of possible selves that possess the most profound motivational potential. The study methods of possible selves are described, the most essential of which are questionnaires, interviews and experiments. In conclusion the unsolved issues of research in possible selves and perspectives for further study are outlined.