2023. vol. 20. No. 4

The study of pro-environmental behaviour and its determinants is poignantly important given the current trends of environmental and climate change. We aimed to investigate the role of motivation in explaining pro-environmental behavior in Russia. In addition, the explanatory role of motivation was considered in relation to two other important predictors of pro-environmental behavior: environmental concern and connectedness to nature. The study had a cross-sectional design and involved 462 respondents (56.7% women; M_age = 36.73, SD = 11.77; 56.5% higher education; 60% residents of large cities). Multiple regression analysis and dominance analysis were used. Among the self-determined forms of motivation, internal and integrated motivation positively explained pro-environmental behavior, with integrated motivation explaining all behaviour types. Identified motivation did not significantly explain behavior. Among the non-self-determined forms, introjected motivation positively predicted behavior, extrinsic motivation showed mixed results, and amotivation was a negative predictor. Gender, age, and city size predicted behavior positively, while education and income predicted it negatively. In addition, integrated motivation was the dominant predictor for waste management behaviour, social behaviour and resource conservation behaviour. Age, income, and education were marginally dominant, compared to integrated motivation, predictors of sustainable purchases and climate-relevant behaviour (aiming to reduce carbon footprint). While being important predictors, intrinsic motivation, amotivation, environmental (biospheric) concern, and connectedness to nature, were less dominant compared to integrated motivation for all behaviour types.

This article discusses the results of a pilot study of the traffic behavior of metropoli­tan residents associated with preferences for choosing more environmentally friendly modes of transport in a high-risk situation caused by the COVID-19 pan­demic. The study sample consisted of res­idents of Moscow and the Moscow region: 58 people (23 men and 35 women). Pre-pandemic and during-pandemic prefer­ences were collected (scores were collect­ed in the most acute lockdown situation), and data were collected 6 months after the pandemic (re-survey). Of the original sample, the number of respondents who completed the second survey was 29 peo­ple. The results of the pilot study showed that residents of the metropolis signifi­cantly limited their travel by public trans­port (as more convenient and more envi­ronmentally friendly) during the pandem­ic, preferring to use their own car. However, six months after the lifting of severe mobility restrictions and the reduction in the risk of COVID-19 infection (during the summer period), the choice in favor of public transport began to return to the pre-pandemic level. A positive trend was found in the preferences for using a bicycle as an active mode of transportation. The results obtained demonstrated the importance and necessity of: firstly, conducting comprehensive studies aimed at studying the preferences of more environmentally friendly modes of transport, and, secondly, developing measures aimed at gradually changing the ­­­patterns of pro-environmental behavior of the population of large cities. Such meas­ures should become part of the state poli­cy and individual local initiatives aimed at creating a pro-environmental con­sciousness that ensures a more optimal interaction between a person and the metropolis environment.

In order to advance the field of environ­mental psychology and gain a more pro­found understanding in the determinants for pro-environmental behavior in the Russian context, it is essential to increase existing research methodology. Therefore, the goal of this study was to adapt and validate the Environmental Concern Scale developed by Schultz in 2001. The methodology was developed based on the value nature of attitude and deals with evaluations of the importance of environ­mental consequences for oneself, others, and the animal world (egoistic, altruistic, and biospheric concern). Data from three studies which used slightly different ques­tion formulations (1333 respondents in total) were analyzed to investigate the three-factor structure of the scale. The tested 12 items of the scale full version showed satisfactory fit with the empirical data. Based on the analysis of covariance and factor loadings, one question was removed for each type of concern. After reduction, the scale showed good model fit, and its factors showed high internal consistency. Importantly, the analysis of the results for the extended formulations did not significantly differ from the abbreviated versions. Consequently, the final version of the concern scale is pre­sented with questions devoid of addition­al specifications. The convergent validity of the scale was confirmed by the con­structs of values and nature connected­ness. It was found that all forms of con­cern were higher in women compared to men. Furthermore, biospheric and altruis­tic concerns increased with respondents' age and were higher among residents of Russian regions compared to inhabitants of Moscow and Saint-Petersburg.

This study delves into the examination of three models developed by Lev Vygotsky, namely the instrumental act model, the zigzag model of meaningful action, and the model of psychological age dynamics. The objective is to uncover the common features among these models and to attempt their pro­ductive synthesis. The first model introduces the concept of indirect movement and highlights the dual nature of the mediating link, X, which acts as both a thing and a meaning. The second model, influenced by K. Levin, emphasizes the emergence of a distinct plane of meaning within which the act­ing subject navigates and constructs their path. The third model focuses on the subject's development through the progressive evolution of their field of meanings. These models are compared with a series of graphical models of development proposed in different con­texts by Merab Mamardashvili and sub­sequently reconstructed and general­ized by Andrey Paramonov. While these models exhibit similar trajectories to Vygotsky's works, notable differences arise. Mamardashvili's model incorpo­rates a visual representation of the stage involving the “turning inside out” of the life field through a selected symbol-tool, resembling the concept of cathar­sis in “Psychology of Art,” albeit not explicitly expressed in Vygotsky's mod­els. Overall, Vygotsky's and Mamardashvili's models are seen as comple­mentary to each other. The aim is to integrate these models based on shared elements, resulting in a comprehensive model illustrating the movement of the Self and serving as an example of sym­bolic mediation as opposed to sign-mediation.

We compared a new Russian dictionary of personality descriptors with the thesaurus of personality traits by Alexander Shmelev and his colleagues developed in the 1980s and 1990s. In the new dictionary, the descriptors were selected from the Open Corpus, a global Russian word collection which had included over 140,000 adjectives, nouns, verbs, and adverbs. We utilized a “German methodology” of the word selection which comprises a three-stage process; in so doing, we consecutively yielded a full (2,384 words) and abridged (1,253 words) dictionaries of the personality descriptors, with cognate synonyms and antonyms being removed from the latter. While developing the full dictionary, we engaged groups of experts who varied in their age, sex, and expertise, in amounts from 6 to 45 experts per group. In the full dictionary, full equivalents to contents of the Shmelev’s thesaurus were found for 624 words, whereas 1,353 words present in the Shmelev’s thesaurus were excluded (the reasons for it are discussed in the paper). From the Shmelev’s thesaurus, 109 words were absent in our initial 140,000 list, whereas 629 words in our dictionaries were absent in the Shmelev’s thesaurus. Overall, the Shmelev’s thesaurus was 26.2% equal to our full dictionary and 49.8% to the abridged dictionary. These differences do not imply different findings to be potentially revealed between the dictionaries, as the content of core personality characteristics can remain the same over the dictionaries. Consequently, estimations of the global Russian personality trait structure using either dictionary could closely fit. Conversely, the methodology of including or excluding descriptors in the particular dictionary could explain why the structures of personality were different.

The objective of this study was to examine the contribution of distal and proximal family factors to mental health of Russian children before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were primary caregivers of 1,985 children aged 6 to 12 years. The 2011-2019 sample consisted of 1403 children (53% girls; mean age 8.6; SD = 1.2); 2020-2021 sample consisted of 582 children (50% girls; mean age 8.8; SD = 1.4). The study used internationally recognized measures with established validity and reliability. Children’s mental health was measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ); family factors were measured by the socio-demographic questionnaire, short Family Cohesion Scale, and the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire — Brief Form (APQ-BF). The results showed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, parents of primary schoolchildren rated family cohesion lower than before the pandemic; they were also less likely to apply positive parenting practices, and more likely to use inconsistent discipline. High level of parental involvement maintained an existing level of children’s prosocial behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas with the average and low levels of parental involvement the expression of children’s prosocial behavior during the pandemic decreased. An increase in children’s internalizing and externalizing problems during the pandemic was observed only in families low in cohesion. Low level of parental education weakened the negative impact of child mental health problems on their everyday life, whereas high level of parental education was a risk factor of greater impact. These results can be used to develop evidence-based programs for prevention and intervention of mental health problems in primary school children and their families.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, people faced risks to their lives and health, concern for their loved ones, and restrictions that worsened their quality of life, so it is acceptable to assume that their values’ structure could change at the individual and group levels. The purpose of the study was a comparative analysis of the values’ structure of young people and middle-aged people at different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. To measure the value profile, the Sh. Schwartz questionnaire (PVQ-R) was used. Respondents filled it out in two stages. In the first stage, the questionnaire was filled out using the “retrospective assessment” method, that is, respondents were asked to recall their condition “before the pandemic” (measurement 1) and “at the first wave” (in April 2020, measurement 2). At the second stage, they were asked to assess their current state after the “second wave”, when vaccination was spreading (January – March 2021, measurement 3). The study involved 108 respondents (86 women, and 22 men) aged 18 to 59 years. Generalized group value profiles of three measurements were compared. All values from the groups “Openness to change”, “Self-Affirmation” and “Universalism” had a “down-up” dynamic: they decreased during the “first wave” and increased with the weakening of the threat. For conservative values, the dynamics were the opposite of “up-down”, that is, during severe stress, the desire for social stability, compliance with rules, obligations, traditions increased, which performed a protective function. The values of an individual character decreased when a person felt a threat to his habitual existence. The stability of the value system was also revealed: when the danger decreased, the value preferences returned to their original state. For age and gender differences, it was found that the structure of values in women and young respondents is more “mobile”, compared with men and middle-aged respondents, respectively.

Migration is a psychosocial challenge, and migrants' transitory experiences in host countries are shaped by a combination of linked environmental factors. The absence of social aspects of resilience, as well as disciplinary limitations and biases, hinder the methodological rigor and flexibility needed to investigate social resilience as a phenomenon that occurs at the intersection of social, cultural, and political environments. Based on the social constructionist perspective, this paper identifies the need for a methodological mosaic and proposes a methodological guideline to investigate social resilience among migrants embedded in a multi-layered environment and person-environment interaction. The proposed methods include participant observation, biographical interviews, resilience diaries, focus groups, participants’ workshops, and expert conferencing. The inclusion of participant-friendly methods provides a space to listen to the voices of participants across the margins, and to engage experts and social workers in a participant-centered data examination. The concept of using a methodological mosaic in social resilience and migration studies provides a solid foundation for conducting multidisciplinary social science research. It gives the freedom to engage experts from various disciplinary backgrounds and benefits from diverse perspectives to connect the methodological pieces. The methodological mosaic described in this paper can be used to advance interconnected and participant-friendly data collection strategies and to gain a holistic understanding of migrants’ lived experiences. The paper, though a methodological proposal, contributes to broadening the methodological scope and integration in migration studies.

The article presents the results of an empirical research, continuing the series of our works in the field of psychology of film, aimed at acquiring new information about the psychological patterns of how movies are chosen. We studied the relation between psychological characteristics of the individuals, the specifics of their psychological response, and the movie choices they made in the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 1,109 individuals took part in the online survey during the quarantine period (May-June 2020). Data from 811 participants (283 male and 528 female) were selected for analysis. Almost half of the participants (46.1%) started watching movies more often in quarantine. Measures: The Original Movie Preferences Measure, TIPI-RU Big Five Short Test, Coping Strategies Indicator by J. Amirkhan, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory by Ch. Spielberger. It was found that the choice of films during the quarantine restrictions was determined by gender and stable psychological characteristics (personality traits: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness to experience) as well as by less stable ones (coping strategies: avoidance, problem solving, seeking social support; anxiety: S-anxiety, anxiety as concern about pandemic). Gender and personality traits were strong predictors of most genre preferences. However, the choice of emotionally tense, realistic, and entertaining films was also related to coping strategies and levels of anxiety. During the quarantine, people turned to such genres due to their psychological characteristics and on the basis of current needs.