Context and relevance. The study aims to clarify the structural validity of the Multidimensional Existential Meaning Scale (MEMS) developed by V. Costin and V. Vignoles, which represents a variation and further development of the original Multidimensional Existential Meaning Scale proposed by L. George and C. Park. The questionnaire comprises separate subscales assessing coherence, purpose, mattering, and meaning in life judgments. Instruments of this kind have been widely used in international research and adapted into many languages. To our knowledge, this is the first study of the three-dimensional structure of meaning in life conducted on a Russian-speaking sample. Objective. To investigate the structural validity of the Multidimensional Existential Meaning Scale developed by V. Costin and V. Vignoles. Hypothesis. The factor structure of the original questionnaire is reproduced in a Russian-speaking sample. Methods and materials. The study was conducted on two samples: (1) participants in an international study of psychological coping with the COVID-19 threat aged 25—67 years (N = 116; M = 45.1; SD = 9.79; 92.24% female), and (2) first-year students of a Moscow university aged 17—24 years (N = 280; M = 18.8; SD = 1.22; 90.71% female). The questionnaire structure was examined using exploratory structural equation modeling and cluster analysis. Results. The results allowed refinement of the questionnaire’s factor structure in a Russian-speaking sample. The purpose and mattering subscales were fully reproduced across both samples, whereas the coherence subfactor was reproduced only in the student sample, which was the more homogeneous of the two. In addition, bifactor models were used to examine the multidimensionality of the scale. Conclusions. The findings generally support the structural validity of the Russian version of the questionnaire. At the same time, the evidence regarding the multidimensionality of the scale remains inconclusive. Further refinement and development of the coherence subscale are also warranted.
Context and relevance. In the context of accelerated urbanization and a growing disconnect from the natural environment, there is increasing interest in biophilic attitudes — a system of stable views, beliefs, and evaluations that reflect a person's relationship with living nature and shape their psychological well-being and environmentally responsible behavior. Existing tools for their measurement, such as the Biophilic Attitudes Inventory (BAI), have primarily been validated on Western samples, and their applicability in the Russian-speaking context remained unexplored. Objective: to adapt and validate the Russian-language version of the Biophilic Attitudes Inventory on a sample of Russian city dwellers. Hypotheses. We hypothesized that adapting the inventory would require revising its structure, as the original model would not fit the data obtained from Russian respondents. It was also expected that the adapted tool would possess the property of measurement invariance between groups differing by gender and experience of interaction with nature, and that the level of biophilic attitudes would be higher among women, as well as among people who have pets or plants at home. Methods and materials. The study involved 383 respondents (77.9% female) aged 18—55. We employed exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, reliability assessment, multi-group factor analysis, and comparative analysis. Results. The original models of the Biophilic Attitudes Inventory were not confirmed. A new five-factor model was developed, consisting of 20 items and including the scales: Naturalism, Dominion, Ecologism, Interest, and Safety. The model showed good fit (CFI = 0.960, TLI = 0.953, RMSEA = 0.036), satisfactory reliability (ω = 0.68—0.87), and configural, metric, and scalar invariance across gender and pet/plant ownership. Construct validity (correlations with environmental identity) and criterion validity (links with behavior) were confirmed. Expected group differences were found: pet/plant owners showed higher Ecologism; men scored higher on Dominion, while women scored higher on Ecologism and Interest. Conclusions. The adapted BAI is a valid and reliable tool for assessing biophilic attitudes in the Russian-speaking environment. Its application opens up opportunities for research into the link with psychological well-being and for developing ecopsychological interventions for urban populations.
Context and relevance. Cognitive set in solving tasks of recognition of auditory and visual stimulus material became the subject of our research. The consideration of cognitive attitudes in a broad context is becoming increasingly relevant in the framework of systemic studies of the psyche. Objective: to explore the options of such attitudes as preferred cognitive strategies when solving problems of perception and cognition of musical passages and a person's gaze. To evaluate the stability of strategies for receiving and processing information about oneself and the world when solving problems of different modalities. To capture the subordination of the distribution of the entire spectrum of cognitive attitudes to a higher-level system. Hypothesis 1. Two factors (rationality and irrationality) determine the range of cognitive attitudes used in both music perception and memory tasks and human gaze perception and memory tasks. Hypothesis 2. The cognitive attitude is global in nature, affecting both the visual and auditory analyzers. The strategies used in the perception task for subsequent recognition of the auditory and visual stimulus are generally the same. Methods and materials. Subjects: 76 people are students of the Moscow State University of Psychology and Education. The age of the subjects is from 18 to 25 years old. The gender distribution is as follows: 78% women and 22% men. To diagnose the cognitive attitude (preferred strategies for receiving and processing information), the author's methods were used (“Musical pictogram” (Nagibina, Barabanshchikov, 1994), “Visual pictogram” (Nagibina, Barabanshchikov, 2025). The methods of mathematical statistics made it possible to identify the types of installations (cluster analysis) and the subordination of installations to a common system (factor analysis). Results. Two factors (rationality and irrationality) determine the range of cognitive attitudes used in both music perception and memory tasks and human gaze perception and memory tasks. The results showed that the profile characteristics of the set of preferred and rejected strategies for each subject in the perception and evaluation of musical material and human gaze will be similar with some adjustments. Conclusions. An analysis of the individual results of the study on the perception and recognition of music and a person's gaze showed that the preferred set of perception strategies, taking into account adjustments for general trends, is maintained for both auditory and visual stimuli. Given this fact, we can speak about a system of typologically determined cognitive attitudes, which, in turn, is determined by the general factor structure of human and global cognition.
Context and relevance. With the development of distance education, the role of various forms of students' psychological self-regulation is increasing, significantly contributing to their academic performance and well-being. Furthermore, distance learning technologies offer a unique opportunity to study students' self-regulation strategies by analyzing the “digital traces” of their work in an online learning environment. Objective: to study students' self-regulation strategies in learning using distance learning technologies, as well as their personality predictors, based on their “digital traces” in an online learning environment. Hypothesis. Two hypotheses were tested. 1. Based on students' “digital traces”, general self-regulation strategies in learning can be identified. 2. Personality variables, such as motivational, characterological, and volitional, can act as predictors of self-regulation strategies in learning. Methods and materials. The study involved 506 university students studying using distance learning technologies (average age 35.4 years, 465 women and 41 men). The digital traces were recorded over 100 days of theoretical instruction in the spring semester and then analyzed using latent profile analysis. The following measures were used to assess personality predictors: the Brief Academic Motivation Scale, the General Self-Efficacy Scale, the Big Five Personality Inventory (B5-10), the PIL test, the Action Control Scale, the Questionnaire for Identifying the Expression of Self-Control in Emotions, Activities, and Behavior, and the Self-Assessment of Volitional Traits. Linear discriminant analysis was used to identify significant predictors. Results. Four latent classes of students and their corresponding self-regulation strategies in learning were identified: balanced active, passive, overactive chaotic, and ultra-low fading. The main predictors of strategy choice were: course of study, conscientiousness, motivation, and social impulsivity. Conclusions. The obtained results indicate that “digital traces” can be an important source of information about students' self-regulation strategies.
In a paired experiment, subjects solved a discriminatory AB-X task. One subject was briefly shown two similar images of transient emotional expressions, A and B, while the other was shown a target image X, matching either A or B. The participants' facial expressions were videotaped throughout the study. For further analysis of facial expressions, we used facial landmarks marking, individual principal component analysis, and a further search for facial expression patterns common to the study participants using k-means cluster analysis. The initial data for the cluster analysis were the loading vectors of individual principal components (up to the 16th component), describing individual complex facial expression patterns. Based on the results of the cluster analysis, 10 clusters were described, fully including the first 5 principal components and partially including components 6 through 12. The identified clusters correspond to the following changes: high-intensity horizontal, vertical, and diagonal shifts of facial position; medium-intensity smile with squinting of the eyes and lowering of the eyebrows; medium-intensity head tilts to the left and right; medium-intensity mouth opening/closing; low-intensity compression of the mouth with simultaneous squinting of the eyes; low-intensity changes in the eyebrow and mouth area; low-intensity left-right rotations around the vertical axis. Further study of changes in the intensity of the generalized principal components during the solution of the target task is planned. It is assumed that this will make it possible to assess the functional role of facial expressions in the conducted model experiment.
