2021. vol. 18. No. 2

The 2019 Coronavirus disease outbreak leads to negative psychological outcomes not only for healthcare workers and patients, but also for the general public. S. Hobfoll’s Conservation of Resources theory is one of the most applicable models for conceptualizing and evaluating natural and social catastrophes and their impact. A web-based screening has been conducted at the end of May, 2020. A representation of resource loss, threat of loss, gain, and value data was collected three months after first patient and restrictions. After meeting an inclusion criterion, data of 1100 respondents have been selected for the analysis. Basing on literature review, four comparison groups were formed: COVID-19 patients (N=65); single male respondents aged from 18 to 34 with low financial income (N=42); female respondents aged from 18 to 34 with low financial income who share living space with more than two persons (N=32); a “resourceful” group of male participants aged from 35 to 54 with high income and ongoing relationships (N=54). Descriptive statistics and Cohen’s d criteria are applied. Measures: social-demographic questionnaire and modified COR-E questionnaire. Resource change due to the pandemic circumstances in general population appears to be modest. Threat of resource loss is higher than real resource loss. The COVID-19 situation mostly impacted following resources: Financial Stability, Feeling of Safety, Sense of Control in Life, Sense of Independence, Intimates’ Health, and Work Stability. Comparison groups show significant differences in resource change constellations consistent with similar data from other countries.

While negative psychological effects of COVID-19 pandemic are actively studied, little is known about the eventual positive reactions to the pandemic including the capacity to see positive opportunities in this situation and about personality resources that may help to cope and to maintain well-being despite lifestyle restrictions. The aim of our study was to reveal positive personality resources that contribute to buffering the negative effects and its consequences on individual lives. 474 adults 18-81 years old from Siberia (Russia) participated in May 2020 in a survey about the impact of the pandemic and self-isolation and also filled out psychometric measures of well-being and psychological resources (PANAS, PWI, Value of Life Scale, MHC, MSTAT-I, LOT, GSE, Hardiness Survey, SOC, Personal Life Position inventory). One in three respondents reported worsening emotional condition through the previous two weeks and poor adherence to governmental self-isolation recommendations, and 43.6% reported increased financial difficulties. Taking into account not only the negative but also positive subjective effect of the pandemic enabled the improved accuracy in prediction of both well-being and adherence to the governmental measures. The less a person mentioned the positive side of the pandemic, the more strongly their adherence to the governmental measures depended on perceived negative effects (worries and threats). Tolerance for ambiguity, the challenge component of hardiness, harmony with life predicted perceived positive effects after adjusting for negative effects. Psychological resources could play a buffering role as regards the vulnerability to negative psychological effects of the pandemic and help to find positive opportunities.

During the COVID-19 pandemic decisions on physical distancing including decisions on wearing face masks in public may depend on a number of individual characteristics, representations of threats and the degree of personal responsibility for complying with the imposed requirements.. This study on a Russian sample (N = 308) took placeduring April-May 2020. We used verbal tasks on social distancing to test the hypotheses that individual differences in empathy, implicit theories of emotions, the Dark Triad traits, rationality, and risk readiness predict decisions on whether or not to wear a mask. We developed five verbal tasks – situations where decisions on whether to wear a mask or not were made by choosing from several given reasons. Among the reasons for wearing a mask, Care for Self was chosen by 46% of participants who received this as a reason, the Law-abidingness reason was chosen by 44%, and 31% selected Care for Others. Regarding the reasons for not wearing a mask, 16% of participants chose Autonomy for Oneself, 11% – Risk Underestimation and 5% – Autonomy for Others. Logistic regressions identified that empathy, rationality, and narcissism were significant predictors of a decision to wear a face mask, while risk readiness and psychopathy were predictors of a decision not to wear a mask. Implicit theories of emotions and problem-solving self-efficacy were significant predictors only for choices between the reasons for wearing a mask. Personality variables of empathy, rationality, risk readiness, and the Dark Triad traits influence decisions on adhering to physical distancing.

During the COVID-19 pandemic doctors use their intellectual and personal potential in order to be effective in their work, as they were placed in a situation with special requirements for professional activity, creating an emotionally charged environment. Empathy, emotional intelligence (EI), and emotional stability play an important role. Our objective was to study the relationship between empathy, EI, intuition, attitudes toward uncertainty and personality traits in doctors performing their professional activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study involved 122 doctors of different specialties (psychiatrists, pediatricians, surgeons, oncologists, etc.). Six questionnaires were used. The Jefferson Scale of Empathy and confirmatory factor analysis were used to verify the factor structure, where the original three-factor model showed the best fit. To identify the relationships between the variables, the Spearman test was used. In our sample of medical doctors, emotional stability characterizes individuals with high self-control and sociality (TEIQue scales). Our data allows us to highlight that empathy fails to be integrated with traits of emotional intelligence in the personality profiles of medical doctors. But distancing from the sphere of one’s experiences in interpersonal relationships during the COVID pandemic may be a necessary component in the personal regulation of the performance of one’s professional responsibilities.

The article presents the results of the psychometric analysis of the new questionnaire “Types of response to a changing situation”. It is shown that the majority of modern questionnaires diagnose stable characteristics of response to changes and tolerance to uncertainty. At the same time, the new questionnaire is a situational type technique that allows one to study the dynamic properties. In the study conducted on a sample of 565 adult respondents, a factor structure was developed; age and gender characteristics of response to a changing situation were determined, as well as questionnaire convergent validity. Confirmatory factor analysis, descriptive statistics, Cronbach's alpha coefficient, correlation analysis, Shapiro-Wilk test, t-test were used in the work. The resulting questionnaire includes 48 items, which suggests an assessment on the Likert scale. The questionnaire has good psychometric properties. The questionnaire reliably measures seven strategies for responding to a changing situation, which fall into two types: acceptance (1) and rejection (2) of change. The first type includes 1) Mastering of changes, 2) Overcoming constraints, 3) Desire for changes, 4) Preferring uncertainty. The second type includes 1) Avoiding changes; 2) Preventing changes; 3) Maintaining stability. When comparing the indicators of strategies for age groups (17-24 years old and 25-67 years old), no significant differences were found. This may be due to the predominance of young adults in the sample of approbation. Analysis of gender differences showed that women more often report strong negative emotions, internal resistance in a situation of life changes. Men are more likely to indicate a preference for uncertain situations. The novelty of the questionnaire is associated with the ability to operationalize strategies for responding to changes as changing the way of interacting with a life situation.

Solution-focused brief therapy, just as other constructivist psychotherapeutic approaches, involves no directive work with client emotions. There are no psychotherapeutic techniques for dealing with emotions, either. For this reason, one sometimes discusses the possibility of including interventions aimed directly at the client's emotions in solution-focused brief therapy in addition to interventions aimed at thought and behavior. We believe that such a discussion should not be simply limited to selecting new therapeutic tools and techniques for brief therapy, but should analyze the methodological foundations of this approach. In this article, we analyze the theoretical background of classical therapeutic approaches that call, from an analytical and structuralist standpoint, for special psychotherapeutic work with the client's emotions as important elements of the mind in their own right. We considered here the approaches of psychoanalysis, Gestalt therapy, humanistic psychotherapy and Emotion-focused therapy, which may be called a neoclassical therapeutic approach. We make a survey of theoretical concepts that emerged in the 20th and 21st centuries in philosophy, psychology, sociology, and cultural studies and that make us reconsider the traditional approach to emotions in academic psychology and classical psychotherapy. We describe the emergence of the new post-classical approach to working with emotions by considering the examples of cognitive psychotherapy, system psychotherapy, and the therapeutic work of M. Erickson.

We formulate the basic principles of the construction of psychotherapeutic interaction based on the theoretical assumptions of postclassical rationality and describe their key methodological differences from the classical approach. These assumptions show that special work with emotions is irrelevant to the constructivist approach.

The effect of the perceptual set was studied using the different stimuli of various lengths and the motor estimation task. The subjects estimated the lengths of pairs of segments located one above the other, presented on the touch screen. The task was to draw the line (as it was on the screen) with the index finger of their right hand. Movements were carried out from right to left, from top to bottom. In the set series, we used the pairs of segments of differing lengths, while in the test series the segments were equal. We did not find classical perceptual set effect in the task of the motor estimation of the line length. This result is consistent with the hypothesis of two subsystems of visual perception, according to which direct actions with objects do not require the use of memory, and therefore the contrast or assimilation effects is not to be found. The results were compared with the effects of the perceptual set using the illusory stimulus (Ponzo and Muller-Lyer illusions). The perceptual set effect was not formed with the Muller-Lyer illusion, and with the Ponzo illusion, there was the assimilative effect. It is concluded, that the effect in the motor assessment of the Ponzo illusion probably could be due to the involvement of the cognitive mechanisms in the formation of the Ponzo illusion. And it could be due to the effect of the repetition error in the recognition of equal segments as differing.

The study presents the relationship between the positive and negative possible selves in the academic domain and academic motivation. Despite the fact that previous studies have noted the motivating potential of possible selves, the relationship between the attributes of possible selves and academic motivation has not been subjected to conscious scrutiny. The sample was formed with 361 participants, Russian (Moscow, HSE University) and American (Miami, Florida International University) college students. The Possible Selves Questionnaire and the Academic Motivation Scale were applied. It was found that Russian and American students that have a significant positive possible self in the academic domain have a higher motivation to accomplish things compared to those who do not have this image of the future. It was demonstrated that among Russian students attributes of positive possible selves (time spent thinking, actual achievement strategies, obstacles) are connected with self-development motivation. American students are characterized by interrelationships between attributes of positive possible selves (time spent thinking, perceived efficacy, outcome expectancy, importance, obstacles) and motivation to accomplish things, as well as partly other types of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The Russian students did not demonstrate any significant interrelationships between attributes of negative possible selves and academic motivation, while the Americans revealed the interrelationships between the outcome expectancy to avoid a negative possible self and motivation to accomplish things, as well as introjected motivation. The research results are discussed from the self-regulation perspective and in the context of socio-cultural differences.

Contemporary academic literature has controversial opinions about selflessness of motives of volunteers. Some authors state that volunteers are primarily motivated either by altruistic causes or egoistic factors; others declare the impossibility of the existence of pure altruists or egoists in the activity. Part of scholars report on the extreme importance of age regarding volunteers’ motives. Conducted studies mostly consider volunteers with people. Papers investigating motives of volunteers with homeless animals are limited. A still unsolved question is whether it is reasonable to apply received results from those who volunteer with people to volunteers with non-human recipients. In the paper, we investigate the particularities and structures of motives among volunteers with diverse ages and recipients (N=220), utilizing VFI (Volunteer Function Inventory). The research sample consisted of volunteers serving people and/or homeless animals. It has been found that volunteers are mostly motivated by values, understanding, and enhancement functions. The social, career and protective functions were not common among the volunteers. Younger volunteers tend to be more multi-motivated and actuated by egoistic factors. Starting at age 25, the older the volunteer was, the more likely their motives were selfless and distinct. Studies such as ours can be valuable in recruitment and retention of volunteers according to their needs and motives. The obtained data can be used by organizations working with differently aged volunteers and diverse recipients of assistance (e.g., people, animals).

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive method allowing both investigating and modulating human brain in normal and pathological conditions. One of the most serious problems limiting TMS use in research and clinical practice is the high variability of its effects. In recent years, it became widely accepted that the effects of TMS protocols is not just a property of a TMS protocol itself, but a consequence of the interactions of the intervention with the individual neuronal phenotype and ongoing functional state, which is primarily based on the ongoing neuronal activity. Thus, it is necessary to develop TMS approaches that take into account the ongoing neuronal activity, the so-called state/activity-dependent TMS. Here we present software that allows considering both the position of the magnetic stimulator and the ongoing biological activity for the purpose of TMS triggering. The software allows automatic TMS triggering when several conditions are met: the beginning of the movement/activation of a target muscle, lack of the preactivation of a non-target muscle and a correct positioning of a magnetic coil. The novelty of the developed neuronavigation software is due to a combination of spatial information about the position of a magnetic coil ("where?") and temporal information about the ongoing biological activity ("when?"). The time lag for the stimulation triggering was tested in an experiment with TMS triggered by a movement onset; and it was about 20 ms. Further software development is planned towards the introduction of EEG-dependent TMS approaches. The latency for TMS triggering was tested in an experiment with TMS triggered by a movement onset. In the future implementation of EEG-based TMS approaches is planned. We believe that the development of such a technical solution for neuronavigated activity-dependent TMS is important to bring TMS methodology to a new level of the spatio-temporal specificity.

The article is devoted to the short-term and long-term consequences that the experience of participating in school bullying can have on various aspects of well-being of the growing schoolchildren in the future. The data of interdisciplinary longitudinal studies (first of all, The British National Child Development Study, The Great Smoky Mountain Study, Finnish 1981 Birth Cohort Study, etc.), meta-analyses, as well as "cross-sectional studies", which analyze the consequences of school bullying situations, are presented. It is shown that bullying at school contributes to an increase in the risks of self-harming and suicidal behavior, psychosomatic problems, substance use, criminalization, etc., and much concerns not only those who found themselves in the role of bullying victims, but also those who played the role of an aggressive victim or aggressor in bullying situations. Involvement in the bullying situation negatively affects the future physical and mental health, the educational trajectory and involvement in learning, friendly and marital relations, successful employment, and the financial well-being of grown-up students. The range of negative consequences of bullying is extremely wide and should be taken into account in the design of anti-bullying programs. At the same time, there is a lack of research on the consequences of bullying for children who were present in bullying situations as witnesses: some data indicate that such experiences can also have negative consequences for socialization, but these ideas need further study. Finally, the main directions and benefits from the introduction of the system of prevention and termination of bullying in educational institutions are considered.

The aim of the article is to conduct a bibliometric analysis of psychological publications indexed in Scopus that discuss postmodernism (both in positive and negative way), or use its ideas to analyze different phenomena. The freely distributed program VOSviewer was used to analyze and visualize the results obtained. In total, 1892 publications related to postmodernism were identified for the subject area “Psychology”. It has been shown that psychoanalysis can be considered as the “locus of penetration” of postmodernism into psychological science. Since 1997, the number of psychological publications related to postmodernism has been stabilized in the range from 60 to 80 items per year. Six thematic clusters are highlighted by constructing the terms map based on keyword analysis. It is shown that the main psychological areas in which postmodern ideas are used are psychoanalysis and social constructionism. Three countries (USA, UK and Canada) shared almost two thirds (61,8 %) of psychological publications related to postmodernism. The most cited and effective author in this field is K. Gergen. It is concluded that although the explosive growth of psychological publications related to postmodernism has ended, this phenomenon continues to evoke a steady, though somewhat extinguished, interest of researchers in various areas of psychology. The question of whether postmodern psychology can be viewed as a manifestation of post-nonclassical rationality remains open, but scientometric analysis shows that post-nonclassics per se is almost absent presented in psychological publications related to postmodernism.