Objective. The study had its purpose to identify the differences in personality positioning of men and women. Research hypotheses: 1) men and women are significantly different in personality positioning in terms of belonging to agentic activity types, expressiveness of individual profile positions and their variability, 2) the personality positioning of men and women has a complementary character. 

Methods. The study was conducted on the basis of the author’s inventory “Agentic Activity Profile of Personality” created as a measuring tool within the agentic-dynamic approach to the personality studies. This approach is currently being elaborated by the authors to emphasize the role of personality positioning systems in agency development. The inventory allows to reveal the individual personality positioning profile (18 scales), which is formed in ontogenesis and mediates the nature and direction of agency (the subject’s activity). The inventory was developed to solve the following tasks: 1) on the basis of measurable criteria to identify individual profiles of agentic activity reflecting an individual system of personality positioning; 2) on the basis of the inventory data factorization to identify the most common sets of personality positions as pervasive organizing principles, or types. 

Results. The data on comparison between the generalized male (n = 414) and female (n = 808) agency profiles have been presented in terms of their correlation, belonging to agentic activity type, expressiveness of personality positions and their variability. 

Conclusion. The obtained results have confirmed the proposed hypotheses and have made it possible to draw a conclusion about different vectors of male and female agentic activity and a complementary nature of their personality positioning.

Background. In modern conditions of existence, it is difficult to talk about the stability of a person’s identity: it fluctuates, transforms, multiplies, and disappears. The instability of identity is manifested not only in the problems of self-determination, adaptation, self-realization, but also in the risks of losing the opportunity to be a subject of one’s own life, to consciously identify and responsibly present oneself to the outside world. The research shows that personal identity provides internal harmony and stability of the subject. However, currently we don’t have a corresponding diagnostic tool with satisfactory psychometric indicators, which makes it difficult to study, monitor, and determine available resources for maintaining the stability of the personality in a changing world.

Objective. The study was aimed at creation and psychometric verification of the methodology for diagnostics of personal identity, providing empirical verification of its structure, assessment of validity, internal consistency, and retest reliability.

Methods. The study implemented the methods of semi-structured interview, unfinished sentences, survey, expert assessments, calculation of statistical correlation coefficients and comparison of averages, factor analysis as well as standardization procedures and psychometric checks of validity and reliability of the test.

Sample. The total volume of the research measurements was carried out on a sample of 1,384 people (36.8% men, 63.2% women) aged 13 to 90.

Results. The results of psychometric verification of the test (N = 500) showed a satisfactory degree of internal consistency, retest reliability of the scales (factors) “reflected Self ”, “unique Self ” and variability of the values on the “personal Self ” scale.

Conclusion. The methodology can be used in the scientific and practical activities of psychologists specializing in the problems of personality psychology, in the diagnostics of self-identification processes of personality in various life situations and in different periods of life, while determining the stability of personality in conditions of social change.

Background. In the face of threats of increased individualism and the prevalence of loneliness problems, supporting the individual’s focus on the values of friendly relationships and focusing research on understanding the transformation processes of the individual (in particular, changes in the self-regulation characteristics) in the context of his co-existence with a significant Other is a relevant and little-studied topic.

Purpose. The study had its purpose to identify the specifics of changes in the processes of self-regulation of an individual under conditions of coexistence with a friend.

Methods. “Self-regulation Profile Questionnaire by V.I. Morosanova (SRPQM)” and its modification, methodology for studying personality self-esteem by S.A. Budassi and its modification.

Sample. The study involved students of Kuban State University from different areas of training (N = 100).

Results. The study revealed significant changes in the students’ general level of selfregulation and its characteristics depending on existing friendships: an increase in behavior conscious self-regulation (“general level” scale), optimization of conditions in achieving one’s goals (“modeling” scale) based on a critical attitude to the performing actions (“result evaluation” scale), an increase in plasticity of the regulatory processes (“flexibility” scale).

Conclusions. In a situation of co-existence, a “possible Other” can be both a destructive factor for a person’s self-regulation (impaired planning, value disorientation, etc.), as well as a supporting factor, providing more accurate self-identification, certainty in setting goals, increasing agency in organizing the spaces of one’s being. Friendship relationships, being a person’s coexistence with a “significant Other”, generally increase the resources of self-regulation: the modeling process is optimized, flexibility and adequacy in evaluating results increase. At the same time, a person’s independence decreases, which is natural, since another subject is involved in the regulatory process.

Background. The pronounced world trend of population aging determines the relevance of studying the essential psychological characteristics of a person in the later periods of his life cycle, the relevance of searching for psychological resources to preserve and maintain a person’s agency across the whole life span.

Objectives. The study had its purpose to determine the empirical parameters of the agency characteristics and analyze their specific manifestations in the later stages of a person’s life cycle.

Study Participants. 190 pensioners participated in the study. The main sample included 96 military pensioners. The control sample included 94 civil pensioners.

Methods. The study implemented the following psychodiagnostics methods: “Brief scale for measuring self-actualization” (Jones & Crandall, 1986); Dembo — Rubinstein self-esteem assessment tool including “Self in the past”, “Self in the present”, “Self in the future” (Sidorov, 2013). Statistical analysis of empirical data was carried out using parametric statistics methods (M ( ), Student's t-test, Pearson's r-linear correlation coefficient) and cluster analysis procedures (hierarchical clustering).

Results. The level of self-actualization and the level of self-esteem in the past, present and future are substantiated as empirical — parameters of the subjectivity of an individual at retirement age. The majority of respondents — military pensioners — have an average level of self-actualization, with the highest self-esteem level referred to the past, and the lowest self-esteem level related to the future. The analysis has statistically confirmed a lower level of self-esteem at all periods of life among military pensioners compared to civilians. Hierarchical clustering allowed to identify three types of agency in the military pensioners, differing in the characteristic combination of the agency parameters and socio-demographic specifics: “lost agency” presented among non-working male military pensioners; “agency oriented to the past” — characteristic of female military pensioners and military pensioners of older age categories (60+); “preserved agency” typical for the working male military pensioners.

Conclusions. The authors theoretically substantiated and empirically confirmed the heuristic nature of the agency related approach to the interpretation of the psychological characteristics of pensioners, specified in the context of studying the late period of the personality age cycle. The study results emphasized the importance of considering the retirement period as determined by the characteristics of the previous life stages. This is due to what place a person occupied in the social structure and what social regulations he observed across the life span. In particular, this concerns the differentiation of military and civilian pensioners who live their lives in different niches of social life with their specific structures and regulations. Three types of agency identified in the military pensioners determine different routes to manifest their agency and various mechanisms for its implementation. At the same time, the absence of significant differences between military and civilian pensioners in terms of self-actualization indicates similarities in the manifestations of activity, initiative, and self-regulation, which ensure that a person retains the “authorship of his life” even at retirement age.

Abstract

Background. Reproductive activity is a complex, dynamic process of existential self-determination within the integral system of parenthood, which ensures the development and realization of an individual's subjectivity. In information society, the reproductive activity of a person is realized against the backdrop of many contradictions, which is why the study of psychological factors and mechanisms related to the reproductive sphere becomes particularly important.

Objective. A study of the factors and mechanisms that influence the specific nature of a person's reproductive activity and determine a favorable or unfavorable predisposition to childbearing.

Sample. The study involved 479 respondents aged 17 to 46 (M_age = 33.22; SD = 10.01; 39.2% — male), living in the city of Krasnodar, the Krasnodar Territory, and other regions of Russia.

Methods. Family Emotional Communication Questionnaire (A.B. Kholmogorova et al.); Attachment to Parents and Peers Questionnaire by G. Armsden and M. Greenberg; test "Personal Helplessness" by V.V. Shipovskaya; test "Protest Activity of the Individual" by A.Sh. Guseynov; the Internet Addiction Test by K. Young. The data were processed using the programs IBM SPSS 23, AMOS 23 and MS Excel by means of descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis, and SEM.

Results. The study has demonstrated the contribution of psychological factors and mechanisms that determine predisposition to childbearing, namely: secure attachment to parents, a positive image of parents and trust in them, independence. Whereas alienation from parents, helplessness (inaction, alienation, rumination), protest (negativism, escapism, anomie, opposition), and internet addiction turned to be significant predictors of low motivation to have children. For most respondents, housing conditions is a significant factor for planning the number of children.

Conclusions. A favorable family climate, emotional closeness, the experience of secure attachment to parents, positive parental representations, and independence encourage having children and contribute to building a model of family life. The type of attachment acts as a mechanism that shapes the attitude towards parenthood, determining the dynamics and specifics of a person's reproductive activity. Alienation, helplessness, a tendency toward destructive protest activity, and internet addiction form the grounds for reproductive passivity.