Problems of Political Psychology

Change of attitudes towards authorities as a consequence of social identities interactions

Vadym Vasiutynskyi — 2023-12-28

Relevance. In extraordinary conditions, the components of identity cause important, sometimes decisive effects, which are taking its toll in the processes of social self-determination. Social identity should be interpreted as a set of different identities that are actualized under certain conditions, interact with each other and generate specific effects, in particular, in relation to the authorities.

The purpose of the study was to identify possible changes in the attitudes of Ukrainians to the authorities as a result of the interaction of their identities.

Methodology. In February-March 2023, 397 people were surveyed online using a Google form. The basis of the questionnaire was determined at the previous stage of the research. The evaluation scale had the form of a 5-point semantic differential. The relationship between quantitative indicators was established on the basis of correlation, comparative and variance analyses.

The results. Respondents rated their civic identity the highest, followed by local, professional, European, East Slavic, and religious ones. The assessment of the indicators of attitude towards the government took the following form: the attitude towards the government had changed for the better - 3.64, a positive assessment of the state authorities actions - 3.6, a positive assessment of the local authorities actions - 3.23, more trust in official sources of information - 3.66, no feeling of threat to beliefs and values from the Ukrainian authorities - 3.83. Correlation analysis showed that the indicators of a favorable attitudes towards the authorities were most positively correlated with the civic identity of the respondents, to a lesser extent – with the local and professional ones, instead, they were negatively correlated with religious identity and did not correlate with European and East Slavic ones. The application of two-factor variance analysis did not reveal a clear dominance of certain combinations of identity variants in influencing the attitudes to the authorities. At the same time, a paradox was revealed: in the case of direct attribution of indicators of attitude towards the authorities to different variants of identity, civic, local and professional ones in terms of their influence clearly outweighed religious one. However, in the case of interaction between them, the high religious identity of Ukrainians acted as a factor in the deterioration of attitudes towards the authorities, when others identities were weak. Instead, a high or even medium level of other identities "neutralized" such an influence of the religious identity. Therefore, the interaction of different variants of social identity generally had a moderate effect on the citizens' attitudes to the authorities. At the same time, among the bearers of marginal levels of identities, this influence was more significant.

Conclusions. The results of the study gave reason to talk about the effect of extreme interaction of identities.

The practical significance of the study lies: in the development of a methodological approach to identifying the effects of the interaction of different variants of social identity; in the expression of the social and psychological role of religious identity as a factor of attitudes towards the authorities; in highlighting the problematic confessional and worldview situation of believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Prospects for research may consist in checking the obtained results on larger and more balanced samples; a clearer distinction of the impact of identity, general political and military factors is desirable; the psychological content of the different identities interactions effects needs clarification.

Methodological limitations of forecasting the economic behavior of Ukrainians

Oleksandr Malkhazov — 2023-12-28

Relevance. In the conditions of full-scale Russian aggression, citizens of Ukraine strive to adapt to new realities and look for models of socioeconomic behavior that would ensure survival and development.

The article aims to justify the methodological foundations of socio-psychological forecasting of the economic behavior of Ukrainians.

Results. It was discovered that the development of effective forecasts is complicated by a) the diversity of methodological approaches and classification models of economic behavior, b) the low validity of empirical research results based on various criteria models; and c) the multi-vector determination of economic behavior. A working definition of economic behavior is suggested as a set of choices regarding economic goals and ways of achieving them based on the worldviews and attitudes of individuals (groups, communities). Socio-psychological factors of economic behavior are defined the ones that are subject to empirical measurement: motivational (motives for making economic decisions, the level of awareness of one's interests and opportunities, the existing experience of implementing economic decisions and achieving goals); attitudinal (tolerance to corruption, attitude to money, law-abiding); competencies-related (the degree of economic awareness, the ability to: plan the economic future and steps to achieve it, make economic decisions in conditions of uncertainty, predict the consequences of one's decisions; readiness to change in order to improve one's economic well-being); reflective (identification of oneself as a participant in economic interaction, practice of analyzing the causes of one's failures and gains, assessing one's potential for making economic decisions). The stages of socio-psychological forecasting and the methods that should be used at each stage are defined.

Conclusion and prospects for further research. One can build the prognostic scenarios based on a criterion model of factors of economic behavior and the determination of necessary and sufficient indicators.

Analysis of theoretical studies on social cohesion in foreign academic literature

Zinaida Sivers — 2023-12-28

Relevance. The concept of "social cohesion" remains an important issue in social development worldwide. The objective aim of ensuring and enhancing social cohesion has become a crucial goal in academic research, public discourse and political decision-making. The heightened concern for social cohesion in Ukraine stems from the perceived threats linked to the war, which have disrupted public life across different spheres; consequently, social cohesion has been adversely affected. It is pertinent to promote social cohesion not only during, but also in the aftermath of the war.

The aim is to analyse the nature and history of research on social cohesion, to identify the fundamental differentiations presented in its definitions when constructing pertinent matters, and to outline its psychological aspects.

Methodology. The article presents a theoretical review on social cohesion. Employing the method of psychological reconstruction, the study examines the content and structural architectonics of the construct, identifying its formal, logical and content features.

Results. The article analyses the content and structure of the concept of social cohesion as presented in academic studies. Despite variations in its definition, a consensus exists regarding social cohesion as a multidimensional construct that can be measured at micro, meso, and macro levels. Almost all researchers argue that social cohesion describes social entities rather than individuals, although individual behaviour and attitudes do influence it. Social cohesion is viewed as a characteristic of a group, and is determined by the extent and strength of mutual positive attitudes between individuals within that group. Certain aspects of social cohesion have been shown to be empirically linked to models of social interaction and cooperation. Additionally, there is a relationship between social cohesion concepts and psychological constructs of resilience and vulnerability. The psychological dimensions of social cohesion, including social involvement, trust, sense of belonging, and social interaction, are highlighted.

We see the prospects for further research in conducting qualitative studies that contextualise social cohesion, which will contribute to the development of psychological foundations of social cohesion and the development of a psychological model of social cohesion and programmes to improve the quality of social cohesion.

Trauma as a social diagnosis of Ukrainian society

Olena Sushyi — 2023-12-28

The relevance of the research is determined by the lack of fundamental scientific developments devoted to the understanding of collective trauma as a long-term cumulative process that arose as a result of large-scale transformations: historical, social, political, cultural etc., which constitutes a special vector for the analysis of societal dynamics and forecasting scenarios for the development of the social situation.

The purpose of the article is to provide a theoretical and methodological substantiation of theoretical positions that reveal the content and essence of trauma as a multidimensional phenomenon of mass consciousness and social life, as a “place” where the past, present and future intersect, as well as the societal dynamics of trauma, which is imprinted in the outlines of identity, social attitudes and values, institutional formations and practices and is assimilated by the community, which determines the meaning of its existence as a nation and a state.

Methodology and scientific approaches. The research is based on an interdisciplinary approach, which involves the use of a combination of theoretical concepts and methods from different fields of social sciences (political theory, sociology, social psychology) and the integration of results within a single methodology. To solve the problems, general scientific methods of theoretical research are used, as well as the methodological capabilities of the scientific interpretation of the conceptual justification of theoretical positions and research hypotheses.

Results. An initial generalization of modern theoretical ideas regarding the content, nature and essence of collective trauma, its influence on mass (collective) and individual consciousness has been carried out. A working interpretation of the concept of «collective trauma» has been made as a multidimensional phenomenon of mass consciousness and social life, as a «place» where the past (historical trauma), present (sociocultural trauma) and future (war trauma) intersect. A hypothetical methodological assumption has been made that understanding the broader context of collective trauma, as a long-term cumulative process that arose as a result of large-scale transformations: historical, social, political, cultural etc., constitutes a special vector for analyzing societal dynamics and forecasting scenarios for the development of the social situation. The author's methodology has been developed for assessing the effects of traumatic experiences that reach the societal - meta-level of functioning of society and affect its preservation, integrity, cohesion and reproducibility.

The practical significance of the results. Justification of the properties of trauma as a societal phenomenon is a necessary component of the development of theoretical and practical principles of psychological support for social forecasting, namely in terms of forecasting current and potential risks, challenges, barriers in the real context of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the solution of which will require complex, including social and psychological technologies for mastering their multidirectional «effects» in the post-war period.

The identity of a Ukrainian in the war conditions: features of the experience of threats

Veniamin Vinkov — 2023-12-28

The relevance of the study is caused by military aggression of the Russian Federation, which resulted in the loss of a large part of the Ukrainian territory, casualties among the civilian population and the military, the destruction of cities, emigration abroad and displacement of citizens within the country. Accordingly, in such conditions, the identity of Ukrainian citizens has undergone changes and needs to be studied.

The paper aim of the research was to empirically investigate how, depending on the manifestations of the identity of the citizens of Ukraine, the perception of threats and changes in behavior in conditions of danger occurs.

Methodology. Online survey, semantic differential; frequency analysis, correlation analysis according to Spearman's test, interpretation and generalization of empirical research results.

Results. The most widespread manifestations of identity among Ukrainians have been revealed. The first two variants of identities reflect a state position, one of which is related to belonging to European, civil and professional communities, and the other to local, civil and professional communities. Respondents with such variants of identity see the greatest threat from the Russians, while there is no such threat from the Ukrainian authorities and society. Two other options may pose a threat to the integrity of the Ukrainian state. One of the identities is connected with the choice of the local and East Slavic communities, and the second with the East Slavic and religious communities. Respondents with the fourth variant of identity do not see a threat from the Russians, and Ukrainian authorities and society pose a threat to them.

Prospects for further research. Taking into account the peculiarities of citizens' self-determination will make it possible to more effectively conduct an information policy of countering hostile propaganda, manipulation of public opinion, and implement various programs to strengthen the institution of citizenship and democracy in the Ukrainian state.

Predictors of successful electronic support of psychological well-being of a person in crisis

Maryna Dvornyk — 2023-12-28

The purpose of the research is to determine the socio-psychological predictors of the successful electronic support of the psychological well-being of Ukrainian citizens in a crisis.

The main research methods are systematic theoretical analysis of sources, author surveys, statistical data processing, and generalization.

Results. Four main socio-psychological predictors associated with the success of electronic support of the psychological well-being of a person during the crisis period were identified: 1) sociodemographic features, 2) identification with the electronic support community, 3) online behavior regarding the support search, 4) ability to get electronic support. The first predictor considers age, satisfaction with financial security, education, gender, and living conditions status. Thus, the most successful remote format of psychological well-being support organization (communities in social networks, messengers, online therapy) is for the audience of 19-24 years old, satisfied with their finances, having secondary/ secondary special education, female, living separately from their families. The second predictor explains the relational component: the user should enjoy visiting the corresponding electronic community to get support successfully. The third predictor involves frequent and active use of online tools: searches on the web, presence in social networks and messengers, use of relevant sites, applications, and chatbots, reading information and online reacting to it, such as questions, comments, messages, posts and answers to questions. The fourth predictor is the positive experience of users solving their problems and receiving the ideas they need, precisely in electronic format.

Conclusion. The outlined predictors can be considered when developing remote psychosocial intervention programs for various categories of citizens in a crisis.

The perspective of the research is to check the effectiveness of applying the presented predictors when developing the relevant programs.

Dynamics of sociо- and political and psychological characteristics of domestic youth during the Russian-Ukrainian war

Oleksandr Drozdov — 2023-12-28

The relevance of the study is determined by the insufficient level of analysis of changes in several social and political-psychological characteristics of domestic youth that occurred during the large-scale Russian aggression in Ukraine.

The purpose of the article is to study the dynamics of indicators of subjective well-being, patriotism, and collective narcissism, as well as attitudes toward representatives of various ethnolinguistic communities among Ukrainian youth after the beginning of the large-scale Russian-Ukrainian war.

Method and methodology. One thousand three hundred seventy-two students from different regions of Ukraine (Center, North, South, West, East) were surveyed online. The study was conducted in three stages: in 2021, 2022 (before the beginning of the Russian invasion) and 2023. Respondents were offered: E. Dinner's subjective well-being scale (SWLS), collective narcissism scale (CNS), patriotism scale from I. Petrovska's "Civic Identity" questionnaire, E. Bogardus' social distance scale, and author's questionnaire.

Main results and conclusions. The large-scale war events significantly impacted the social, political, and psychological characteristics of the Ukrainian youth. In particular, indicators of subjective well-being decreased, patriotic attitudes increased, and the collective narcissism associated with them. The war stimulated the processes of out-group discrimination and in-group favoritism, which affected not only representatives of enemy countries but also fellow citizens belonging to ethnolinguistic minorities. The region of residence, gender, and language of communication mediate the expression of most of the above-described trends. One can consider all detected changes as statistically reliable.

Prospects for further research are related to the additional monitoring of the dynamics of social and psychological characteristics of young people and the peculiarities of their political consciousness (both during and after military operations). Studying the attitude to war, guidelines for social dominance, and several other political and psychological indicators can also be interesting.

Regional features of structuring the political identity of students

Iryna Zhadan — 2023-12-28

The article presents the results of a psychosemantic study of the peculiarities of the political identification of youth in different regions of the country.

The aim of the study is empirical substantiation of regional differences in structuring student youth's political identity. Methodology. The research toolkit was developed taking into account three dimensions of political identification: dispositional (political autonomy/dependence; inclusiveness/exclusivity; nominality/reality), competence (cognitive, reflective, attitudinal practices), and values-senses (responsibility, solidarity with the community, trust, ideological preferences etc). 795 higher education students from five regions participated in an online survey through Google forms. Regional arrays of empirical data were processed using methods of mathematical statistics, including centroid factor and cluster analysis. According to the results of the study, it was established that the political identity of the youth of the central and southern regions is structured in the matrix of the national identity, the youth of the east and the north – in the regional matrix, and the youth of the west constructs their political identity at the intersection of regional and national identities. Political identification in the matrix of national identity is built on identification with the regional community. In contrast, identification within the framework of the regional one is built on identification with regional political elites.

Results. The main groups of regional factors of political identification are identified: perception of one's region as special, separate, different from others; identification with the regional community and/or with regional political forces; identification motives; political values; emotional dependence on one's region. It was established that ideological preferences are not expressed in the structure of the political identity of young people in any of the regions. Conclusions and prospects. The results of the study can be used in the development of educational identity policy.

Semantic coordinates of youth economic orientations

Svitlana Poznyak — 2023-12-28

Background and purpose. Research on youth economic orientations is determined by the need to broaden our views of the structure of the phenomenon of economic identity and economic behavior of the new generation in the conditions of current economic and general social changes caused primarily by the intensive globalization and digitalization processes. The purpose of the article is to describe the approach and outline the framework of the research into economic identity as well as present and discuss the results of its implementation in the study on school and university students’ economic orientations.

Findings. The main points of the suggested framework of the investigation of economic identity are a key role of identity in the economic decision-making, priority of subject’s self-determination to external stimuli in the construction of her or his economic identity as well as value-semantic determination of subject’s economic orientations. The empirical research conducted with the help of the in-depth interview and psychosemantic methods allowed to verify the framework of the research on youth economic identity, whose key indicators are understanding of the value regulators in the economic sphere, attitudes to economic objects and phenomena, and readiness to follow the norms and rules of economic interaction. According to the empirical data factor analysis the semantic structure of the economic orientations of school and university students is determined by the values of the social significance of economic activities, economic involvement and independence. The values related to the attitudes to economic objects and phenomena turned out to be on the periphery of the semantic structure of the youth economic orientations.

Practical application of the results relates to the importance of considering the peculiarities of student youth economic orientations (particularly the regional ones, which will be the focus of the next stage of the study) in the development and implementation of the education policy aimed at raising the level of youth adaptation to the changing economic and general social living condition.

Analysis of child psychological well-being indicators in regulatory and legal documents

Dmytro Larin — 2023-12-28

Relevance. Educational reform The new Ukrainian school has placed the issue of student welfare at the core of all educational policy. This requires the transfer of the original provisions of the educational reform to the current normative legal acts, as those that direct the implementation of the child's psychological well-being at school.

The purpose of the article is to determine the degree of representation of the characteristics of the child's psychological well-being in normative and regulatory documents of the education system.

The task: to define the concept of psychological well-being in psychological literature and to analyze their representation in normative and legal documents.

The methodological basis of the study was the general provisions of the theory of cognition, and the content analysis of the texts of regulatory documents served as the method.

Results The article carries out a theoretical analysis of the concept of "psychological well-being" as an indicator of life satisfaction in a normative and psychological context. Psychological well-being takes into account the system of rules that regulate relationships in the "student-teacher" system, the violation of which leads to psychological discomfort and forms deficient motivation (motivation to avoid failure). We can predict that the desire to protect the child and protect him from all kinds of troubles can be embodied not in a proficitarian form, but in a deficient form, as one that prejudices, does not allow and forbids certain risky actions. It has been established that regulatory documents are not guided by the concept of "welfare" and prefer other terms, currently, the term comprehensive development of the child. The novelty of the article is that it raises the issue of regulating the activities of participants in the educational process in order to ensure comfortable interaction with a focus on the profiteering approach. The author of the article considered the definition of psychological well-being in the legal field, taking into account the physical development of the personality of the schoolboy. Therefore, there is a need to move from a deficit to a surplus approach to decisions and build a safe environment, as a condition for a sense of psychological comfort and the adequacy of the perception of educational.

Conclusions. In our opinion, the term "psychological well-being", which captures the child's well-being, should be introduced into the background of legislative acts as more appropriate to the concept of the New Ukrainian School.

Theoretical analysis of instruments in the research of sense of belonging

Mariia Kanibolotska — 2023-12-28

Introduction. Interest in the study of the sense of belonging has been growing recently because in the conditions of the full military invasion of Russia on the territory of Ukraine, many citizens either moved within the borders of the Motherland itself, or left abroad. Citizens, who left their country, gave up a settled life, began to feel disconnected from their community, on the one hand, and on the other – faced the need for painful and inevitable integration into a new society. In order to regain a sense of belonging, they try to get involved in common affairs, show a willingness to do something for the benefit of the community, and seek to restore familiar ties with the group they left. Because psychology currently lacks a scientifically based toolkit for studying the sense of belonging, we decided to review the existing foreign instruments, the subject of which is the sense of belonging itself.

The purpose of the article is a theoretical analysis of psychological instruments for researching the subject's sense of belonging.

Methods and methodology: theoretical and comparative analysis of psychological instruments for researching the subject's sense of belonging.

Results. Based on the of the conducted research, there were translated into Ukrainian and further analyzed five psychological methods, namely: the “SOBI” sense of belonging instrument; social connectedness scale; general belongingness scale; community connections index, index of family involvement in school; short questionnaire “Challenged sense of belonging scale”. It is established that the four instruments presented above are aimed at researching the sense of belonging of a person who lives in normal conditions, while the questionnaire “CSBS” reveals the features of belonging of a subject who is in difficult life circumstances, such as, forced emigration.

Prospects for further research – in the adaptation of the psychological toolkit for further use on the Ukrainian sample, as well as conducting a comparative analysis of the sense of belonging of internally displaced people and those who found temporary shelter in other countries due to the war in Ukraine.

Validation of the questionnaire «Diagnostics of interpersonal unforgiveness in close relationships» on the Ukrainian sample of respondents

Svitlana Kravchuk — 2023-12-28

The relevance. The lack of methods for diagnosing forgiveness in interpersonal relationships, the importance of finding effective ways of emotional regulation in interpersonal relationships, the ambiguity of the concept of «forgiveness» in psychology, the lack of empirical research in this direction, the possibility of using validated methods in psychological counseling work and for research purposes determine the relevance of the research problem.

The purpose of the article is to identify and analyze the research potential of the questionnaire «Diagnosis of interpersonal unforgiveness in close relationships» by M. E. McCullough, K. C. Rachal, S. J. Sandage, E. L. Worthington, S. W. Brown, T. L. Hight (McCullough et al., 1998).

Methodology and scientific approaches. Validity and reliability of the Ukrainian version of the method was checked on a sample of 792 people (406 women and 386 men) aged 18 to 60. In order to check the convergent and divergent validities of the questionnaire «Diagnosis of interpersonal unforgiveness in close relationships» (McCullough et al., 1998), the following psychodiagnostic methods were used: 1) the questionnaire «Scale of deep readiness to forgive» (authors: L. Thompson, C. Snyder, L. Hoffman (Thompson et al., 2005)) adapted by E. L. Nosenko and A. V. Sokur (Nosenko, Sokur, 2018); 2) questionnaire «Forgiveness scale as a character trait» (authors: J. W. Berry, E. L. Worthington, L. E. O’Connor, L. Parrott, N. G. Wade (Berry et al., 2005; Kravchuk, 2020)); 3) the technique «Personal aggressiveness and conflict» (authors E. Ilyin, P. Kovalev).

The results. The questionnaire «Diagnosis of interpersonal unforgiveness in close relationships» (McCullough et al., 1998) appears as an informative psychodiagnostic tool. This questionnaire can be used in psychological counseling work and for research purposes. The questionnaire has good internal consistency and retest reliability. Conclusions. Empirical results indicate adequate construct, convergent, and divergent validity of the questionnaire «Diagnostics of interpersonal unforgiveness in close relationships» M. E. McCullough, K. C. Rachal, S. J. Sandage, E. L. Worthington, S. W. Brown, T. L. Hight.