Volunteering holds great social significance. As more people get involved, social volunteering becomes increasingly diverse. The study explores the semantic stratum in the image of the world and the lifestyle of volunteers with different extrinsic and intrinsic motives. The specific representation of images was studied using the method of semantic differentials with a bipolar set of scales (V. P. Serkin). A specialized questionnaire was used to determine the motives for participation in social volunteering. The results were processed using the method of calculating semantic universals (90% interval) and a statistical nonparametric criterion for determining differences between groups (the Mann–Whitney U-test, the Pearson correlation coefficient, factor analysis). The sample consisted of 197 volunteers with an average age of 35, including 42 men (21.3%) and 155 women (78.7%), members of charitable organizations and independent volunteers for an average of 4.6 years. The data were collected via Google Forms. Most participants demonstrated intrinsic motivation (56.35%; n = 111), represented by spiritual and moral values and a focus on self-realization. Extrinsic motivation was identified in 43.65% (n = 86): social orientation, national and global well-being, and non-material gratitude. Semantic universals and factor structures were identified and described for the entire group of respondents. A volunteer was described as experienced, efficient, caring, humane, active, problem-solving, responsible, and fulfilling. Their lifestyle was represented by the following factors: respectful – moral, intense – interesting, open-minded – cheerful. The activity of a volunteer was composed of such factors as approved – voluntary, diverse – significant, legal – sociable, social – active. The semantic strata differed between volunteers with intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Extrinsically motivated volunteers focused on the desire for inner harmony and freedom as central to the image of a volunteer, and professional self-realization and an active life for volunteering as a way of life. They evaluated their own activity as intensive. The participants with intrinsic motivation mentioned altruistic values in describing the image of a volunteer, accepting other people and striving for professional self-realization. They characterized lifestyle by values of communication and cheerfulness. The activity was represented by diversity and high involvement. The respondents with intrinsic motivation were more likely to associate their image with such a characteristic as skillful. Those with extrinsic motives tended to associate it with the concept of responsibility.

As academic and professional environments become increasingly digitalized, the type of digital device becomes a significant factor in performance and problem solving. Despite the rapid development of empirical research in digital creativity, the differentiated effects of various device types on creative activity remain psychologically and pedagogically understudied. Creative performance is a multidimensional construct encompassing quantitative measures of efficiency, qualitative characteristics of creative output, and indicators of cognitive stability. The review addresses the impact of digital device type on performance indicators and strategies of creative problem solving. It covers domestic and international research published in 2000–2025 on the application of mobile phones, tablet computers, desktop computers, and laptops, as well as virtual and augmented reality devices. Different types of digital devices create specific cognitive conditions and differentially configure strategies for solving creative tasks. The effects of digital devices are context-dependent and require new integrative psychological and pedagogical models of interaction within the user – device – creative task system.

Working memory is a mechanism that maintains relevant information in an active, easily accessible state for mental analysis and behavioral control. While the cerebellum was long considered solely a motor center, its role in cognitive processes has only recently gained significant attention. There has been a lack of comprehensive research into the complex relationships between the theoretical construct of working memory, the functioning of visual attention, the anatomy of the saccadic system, and the specific role of the cerebellum in these processes. This analytical review examines neuroimaging, neuroanatomical, morphofunctional, and behavioral studies on the role of the saccadic system and the cerebellum in the neurophysiological support of visual attention and visuo-spatial working memory. The focus is on the anatomical pathways implementing complex sensorimotor processes through eye movements. Visual attention, working memory, and the cerebellum correlate as follows: attentional shifts precede saccades; the frontal eye fields and parietal cortex support spatial representations; brainstem generators provide phasic and tonic signals to the oculomotor muscles.

Innovative potential is a personal quality that develops during professional education. Its studies may help to design innovation development programs for higher education. This study on the innovative potential of university students featured the effect of gender and attitudes to innovations on the value, cognitive, cognitiveregulatory, metacognitive, and personal characteristics. A total of 331 university students in Tomsk were recruited for this empirical study (28% male, 72% female; Mage 21.2 years). They were subjected to the following techniques: The Self-Assessment of Personality’s Innovative Qualities Scale (Lebedeva & Tatarko); The Self-Organization of Activity Questionnaire (Mandrikova); The Revised Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ-R, Schwartz); The Big Five Questionnaire (Caprara et al., adaptation by Osin et al.); The Questionnaire of Metacognitive Resources of Human Behavior Regulation in Adverse Circumstances (Filenko & Bogomaz). Path analysis and the Mann–Whitney U test revealed the following structural features of innovative potential components and gender-based intergroup differences. For the male respondents, the main positive effect on the innovativeness index belonged to selfcontrol (standardized regression weight = 0.429) and self-direction (0.175). In the female students, the general effects on the innovativeness index depended on self-control (0.263) and stimulation (0.443). The male respondents demonstrated significantly higher indicators for the innovativeness index, creativity, taking risk for achievement, orientation to the future, openness to knowledge, and self-control. Female students received more points for such indicators as planning and tradition. K-means cluster analysis identified four distinct groups among the participants, significantly differing in their levels of innovativeness and associated psychological determinants: Proactive Innovators (20.2%), Adaptive Innovators (38.7%), Conservatives (21.5%), and Non-Adaptive Conservatives (19.6%). The regression analysis and the non-parametric criteria of difference (the Mann–Whitney U test; Kruskal–Wallis H test) made it possible to obtain specific quantitative and qualitative characteristics for each type. The study results can be used to develop personalized psychological and pedagogical programs for innovative activity in various groups of university students.

Rising multiculturalism and social mobility contribute to the escalation of xenophobic sentiments and discriminatory behavior. This article examines the impact of socio-demographic, psychological, and ideological factors on various behavioral patterns of xenophobia, including the way they are justified. The research was based on an anonymous online survey utilizing adapted diagnostic tools for authoritarianism, social dominance, economic fears, life satisfaction, identity, and ethnic contact. The study involved 400 Russian citizens aged 25 to 45 (M = 34.7; SD = 5.7; 42% male, 58% female). Economic fears, authoritarianism, and low life satisfaction emerged as the key predictors of discriminatory behavior. The role of identity was differentiated as follows: ethnic (Russian) identity strengthened xenophobic attitudes while civic (Russian) identity reduced them. Positive ethnic contact appeared to be the most powerful protective factor, confirming Gordon Allport’s contact hypothesis. Regression models explained between 77.9 and 96.6% of the variance in behavioral patterns. Addressing xenophobia requires a comprehensive approach, including measures to reduce economic anxiety, foster civic identity, and stimulate positive intercommunity interaction.

The article introduces a psychological model of the emerging Russian scientific, engineering, and IT elite. This substantive and structural model consists of functional layers and includes factors influencing social and professional success. The empirical research covered 635 first-year students from eight institutes of the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, Moscow, of different years of study (2022–2025). The psychodiagnostic tools involved Schwartz Value Survey (SVS), Potemkina’s Test of Socio-Psychological Attitudes, Lyusin’s Emotional Intelligence Inventory, and a Russian adaptation of The Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ) by Lazarus & Folkman. The empirical study made it possible to expand the theoretical model and substantiate it. Different criteria corresponded to different model types: social success – dominant-controlling or socially labile (constructive) and pragmatic (destructive); professional success – cognitive (constructive) and maladaptive (destructive). The data may help to prevent emotional instability and burnout, motivate in-training specialists to work, direct value orientations to socially important problems, and improve the psychological literacy of students and professors of technical universities. The psychological typology makes it possible to project the career paths of future leaders in the most important branches of national science and technology.

Economy and morality are two basic areas of human life whose correlation remains underestimated. Russia is undergoing profound socio-economic transformations, shifting from the free market to the state capitalism. The article describes the effect of personal egoism on attitudes toward state economy, market economy, state capitalism, state regulation and state planning of the economy, economic inequality, progressive taxation, private entrepreneurship, competition, and money. The sample included 287 respondents aged 18–52 (M = 25.1; SD = 7.9; 44% male). The following research instruments were employed: Dispositional Egoism Scale (K. Muzdybaev); Questionnaire of Attitude toward State Involvement in the Economy (I. V. Nekhorosheva); Procedure for Studying Economic and Psychological Personality Traits (A. L. Zhuravlev, N. A. Zhuravleva); Subjective Economic WellBeing Questionnaire (V. A. Khaschenko); Attitude toward Competition Questionnaire (K3) (N. A. Akhadova). Respondents with a higher level of egoism demonstrated higher economic aspirations (p < 0.01), attached much more importance to money (p < 0.001), and were more favorable towards competition (p < 0.001), market economy (p < 0.001), and private capital (p < 0.01). They usually agreed with the principle that "when in business, profit is more important than morality" (p < 0.001). Respondents with a lower level of egoism preferred a planned distribution economy (p < 0.01) and state capitalism (p < 0.001). They were more concerned about the economic stratification of society (p < 0.001), less favorable to competition and competitive struggle (p < 0.001), and more negative to the so-called "Law of the Jungle" (p < 0.001). However, both groups positively assessed the impact of small businesses on the national economy and demonstrated a favorable attitude toward entrepreneurship, as well as supported progressive taxation and enhanced state economic planning.

Etiquette both regulates social behavior and integrates the individual into the cultural environment. The research tested the effect of individual attitude towards etiquette on the value-semantic development and selfactualization. The sample involved 162 university students aged 16 to 24 years, who were asked to answer a set of questionnaires regarding etiquette and its subjective significance, Purpose in Life Test, and Personal Orientation Inventory (Self-Actualization). The Pearson’s correlation analysis and multivariate regression analysis revealed a correlation between positive attitude toward etiquette and high indicators of life purpose, locus of control, and self-actualization. According to the regression analysis, the internal acceptance of etiquette rules acted as a significant predictor of self-actualization, contributing to personal autonomy and independence. Conversely, formal adherence to etiquette was associated with a high level of conformity. Deliberate compliance with etiquette may function as a catalyst for personal growth and self-actualization. Etiquette behavior can be an effective means of personal growth, provided that external norms are internalized into intrinsic values. The findings obtained can serve as a basis for developing personal development programs and technologies.

Cultural context, determined by individualism or collectivism, modulates the phenotypic manifestations, social acceptability, and expression of Dark Triad traits. This systematic review provides a comparative and crosscultural analysis of 25 years of peer-reviewed international and regional psychological studies. Dark Triad manifestations differ in destructive effects and degrees of severity. For instance, a culture of individualism correlates with greater tolerance and even encouragement of adaptive (subclinical) manifestations of narcissism and Machiavellianism, which are perceived as social dominance and competence. In collectivistic cultures, the same traits are more often assessed negatively as violating group harmony. Psychopathy, especially its affective component, demonstrates the most universally negative correlates in all cultural contexts. Thus, the social acceptability and destructive potential of Dark Triad traits are largely mediated by cultural norms, which must be taken into account in diagnostic and consultative practice. The development of culture-sensitive diagnostic tools and interventions seems to be a promising area of further research.

Perfectionism is still subject to discussions regarding its ambivalent nature. Pathological perfectionism is experienced as an inability to fully enjoy life or achieve success, ultimately affecting the well-being and causing psychological issues. Pathological perfectionism is often associated with negative early childhood experience, including the mother–child attachment, but this correlation remains understudied. This article describes the early childhood experience of family relationships in people with pathological perfectionism, expanding scientific knowledge on the topic and facilitating the psychological counselling of patients with pathological perfectionism. The total sample comprised 175 participants aged 18–42 years (129 females, 46 males). The following research instruments were employed: Differential Test of Perfectionism (A. A. Zolotareva); Family Emotional Communications (A. B. Kholmogorova et al.); Questionnaire of Mother–Child Attachment (T. V. Kapustina et al.); Early Family Experience (adapted by R. V. Kadyrov). The results demonstrated strong correlations between the early childhood experiences and pathological, normal, and non-pathological perfectionism. Pathological perfectionists had experienced avoidant and disorganized mother–child attachment, and their early childhood experiences tended to be more unfavorable, compared to other groups.

While psychological defenses, coping strategies, and anticipatory consistency are typically studied in isolation, this fragmentation creates a theoretical gap in understanding their systemic interaction as a unified mechanism of adaptation. This study addresses this limitation by proposing an original integrative functionalhierarchical model. The model defines a three-tier hierarchy: psychological defenses (basal level), coping strategies (intermediate level), and anticipatory competence (highest level). These components are linked through a dynamic system of principles, including compensation, hierarchical regulation, and dynamic equilibrium. By emphasizing the mechanism of compensation, the model resolves the long-standing contradiction between the neurobiological structural overlap and the functional hierarchy. Based on a methodology that spans comparative theoretical analysis, neuroscience, and cross-cultural developmental data, the review examines how adaptation disorders (rigidity, dissociation, and deficits) reveal specific neural correlates and socio-cultural variations. This new framework provides comprehensive diagnostics by identifying patterns of imbalance. Furthermore, it enables differentiated psychological interventions across multiple levels, marking a significant advancement in the study of neuroplasticity and systemic adaptation.

Academic success indicates the high quality of university education and the readiness of students for professional tasks in society. However, criteria and factors of academic success remain understudied. The authors used the method of transspective analysis to trace the evolution of scientific ideas regarding these criteria. Classical scientific rationality focused on such objective indicators of academic achievement as knowledge acquisition and performance while ignoring personality, perception, motivation, temperament, and preferences, i.e., academic success was measured solely by academic achievements. The non-classical stage of scientific rationality considered multilevel self-regulating systems dependent on both external and internal causes, concentrating on the idea of personal agency. Subjectivity, personal traits, and activity became important characteristics of professional and personal development. The criteria for academic success expanded to include activity, self-regulation, reflection, comprehension, goal-setting, critical thinking, and independence. The post-non-classical scientific paradigm brings forward human-scale systems, where the multidimensional world of a student in academic environment is reflected in goals, values, and experiences. This world is flexible and mobile because students develop while acquiring new knowledge and processing the old one to form a unique worldview. Contemporary acmeological invariants and academic success criteria include tolerance to uncertainty, personal innovative potential, self-sufficiency, and academic involvement. The student’s image of the world is a system in the process of formation, including spatial-temporal and value-semantic characteristics while temporal, cognitive, metacognitive, and operational dimensions reflect the formation of the student’s own cognitive academic environment.

Gelotophobia is the pathological fear of being laughed at. Gelotophobic self-perception refers to how individuals with this phobia view themselves in relation to others and the social world. A study of its manifestations in the academic environment helps in understanding the phenomenon of this fear, its causes, and its consequences for future specialists. Gelotophobic self-perception is particularly significant for university students. Female students tend to experience social interaction more acutely and respond accordingly, demonstrating a so-called gelotophobic social reaction. This, along with other social anxieties and obsessive thoughts, has an adverse effect on academic achievement and interpersonal peer-to-peer or student-to-professor communication. In the long run, it may lead to the underdevelopment of personal and professional qualities. This article introduces a set of recommendations for both faculty members and students. The latter focus on harmonizing emotional and behavioral reactions in socially significant situations and fostering a comfortable academic environment to achieve success. The former help faculty develop an understanding of the nature of gelotophobia to provide a timely response, ultimately improving students’ overall performance.

The Unified State Exam is a powerful stressor that negatively impacts the psychosomatic health of high school students. However, assessment approaches usually rely solely on self-report data, which are often distorted by psychological defense mechanisms. This study bridges this methodological gap by employing an integrated analysis of both conscious (M. Yu. Chibisova’s Questionnaire of Psychological Readiness for State Exams) and unconscious (A. M. Etkind’s Color Relationship Test) components of psychological readiness. The typological profiles of readiness for the Unified State Exam were identified through cluster analysis, followed by resource provision evaluation. The sample included 232 high school students from Moscow. The research verified a threefactor questionnaire structure, explaining 67.3% of total variance: Anxiety Management Skills (45.3%), Perceived Importance of Success (13.1%), and Exam Procedure Knowledge (8.9%). The cluster analysis revealed four distinct profiles: balanced readiness (30.2%); highly motivated readiness with emotional regulation deficits (21.6%); readiness with overestimated resource capacity (34.1%); readiness with underestimated resource capacity (14.1%). Critically, significant discrepancies between self-reports and projective data emerged in 35.7% cases. Projective diagnostics revealed a pervasive emotional rejection of the Unified State Exam (69.8%), confirming high stress impact. Students with distorted self-assessment demonstrated instrumental resource deficits. Family support was crucial for the group with adaptive readiness profile. Traditional diagnostics should be supplemented with projective methods to develop targeted psychological support programs. Validation of this typology across regional populations represents a promising research direction.

Personal readiness is a diagnostic framework that relies on the following structural components: motivational-value, cognitive, operational-activity, and reflective-evaluative. This article provides a theoretical analysis of the development of students’ personal readiness for professional activity in Russia’s new frontier regions. Providing these new regions with qualified speech therapists is a strategic priority, directly impacting the social well-being of citizens. Since the frontier regions are in close proximity to the special military operation zone, therapists often find their roles expanding to include both speech correction and psychological aid. The experiment highlighted the personal readiness of pre-service speech therapists for professional activities in Russia’s frontier regions, making it possible to design a roadmap to help students acquire the resilience and professional skills needed for work in high-stress, volatile settings.