Personal prerequisites for the psychological safety of Russian students in close intercultural interaction

The article is based on the data of an empirical study carried out in 2022 with the participation of 148 students of the MGIMO University – Russian’s citizens, one half of whom identified themselves as Russian, and the other attributed themselves to other ethnic groups. The personal prerequisites for psychological safety, which are characteristic of Russian students who define themselves as “Russian”, include: a normative variant of the development of five basic characteristics that make up the structure of a “normal” personality; tolerance as a personality trait; average and a lower authoritarianism index relative to the other group; components of self-actualisation – support, behavioural flexibility, cognitive needs; medium-developed subjectivity; adequate level of psychological defenses. The students – Russian citizens who attributed themselves to other ethnic groups, have: a normative version of the development of the five basic characteristics of a “normal” personality; an average overall level of tolerance and authoritarianism as well as self-actualisation; an adequately high level of belief in the fairness of the world, their good fortune and ability to control events; activity as a leading component of subjectivity; a willingness to establish a social distance with other ethnic groups that facilitates dialogue. Based on the results of the survey, personal preconditions that can cause inter-ethnic conflicts have been identified.

1. Kotik M.A. Psychology and security. T.: Valgus, 1987. – 440 p.

2. Sukhov A.N. Social psychology of security: tektbook. M.: Academia; 2004. 249 p.

3. Dontsov A.I., Perelygina E.B., Zotova O.Yu., Mostikov S.V. Trust as a factor of psychological security in interethnic interaction. Social psychology and society. 2018;9(2):21–34.

4. Mostikov S.V., Syutkina E.N., Belousova N.A. Psychological security of personality in interethnic interaction. In: Proceedings of the X International symposium “Well-being and security in conditions of social transformations”, Yekaterinburg, July 9–10, 2019. Yekaterinburg: Humanitarian University; 2019. P. 121–125.

5. Tsvetkova N.A., Egamberdieva E.V. Substantiation of the model of empirical research of socio-psychological features of psychological security of the individual in intercultural interaction. Uchenye zapiski Rossiiskogo gosudarstvennogo sotsial’nogo universiteta = Scientific notes of the RSSU. 2021;20(1):74–85.

6. Gryaznov A.N., Samkaeva A.R., Khairullina A.R. Socio-psychological security of the individual in the educational space. In: Pruss N.M., Gryaznova A.N. (eds.) Proceedings of the annual scientific-practical conference “Science and Education: problems and prospects”, Kazan, 1 December 2017. Kazan: University of Management “TISBI”; 2017. P. 79–83.

7. Zotova O.Y. Theoretical review of modern concepts of psychological security. Yaroslavskii pedagogicheskii vestnik. 2016;(6):247–253.

8. Medovikova E.A., Kargina A.E. Psychological security of the individual within the framework of a subjective approach. In: Proceedings of III All-Russian Scientific-Practical Conference “Education in Russia and current issues of modern science”, Penza, May 25–26, 2020. Penza: Penza State Agrarian University; 2020. P. 245–251.

9. Kislyakov P.A. Directions of teacher training in the field of ensuring the safety of the educational environment of the school. In: Baeva I.A., Vikhristyuk O.V., Gayazova L.A. (eds) Collection of scientific articles “Safety of the educational environment: psychological assessment and support”, Moscow, October 30–31, 2013. Moscow: MGPPU; 2013. P. 20–25.

10. Gritsenko E.A., Gureeva A.M. The role of the teacher and student in creating a safe psychological environment at the university. In: Sorokoumova G.V. (rel. for issue). Materials of the All-Russian scientific and practical conference “Psychological safety of the educational environment of the university”, Nizhny Novgorod, December 14, 2018. Nizhny Novgorod: Nizhny Novgorod State Linguistic University named after N.A. Dobrolyubov; 2018. P. 30–36.

11. Goncharova N.V. Attitude to foreign students at the university: some aspects of interethnic interaction. South-Siberian Scientific Bulletin. 2015;(4):165–170.

12. Kislyakov P.A. Safety of the educational environment. Social security. M.: Yurait; 2019. 156 p.

13. Makhmutova M.M., Khasanova O.V. Intercultural interaction of students in the multicultural educational space of the university (on the basis of the Institute of Philology and Intercultural Communication named after Leo Tolstoy KFU). Filologiya i kul’tura. 2016;(1):291–295.

14. Puzanova Zh.V., Narbut N.P., Larina T.I., Antonova L.A. Contexts of intercultural interaction in higher education. Political studies. 2018;(4):143–155.

15. Gayazova L.A. Ensuring comprehensive safety of the educational environment and its psychological support. Izvestia: Herzen University Journal of Humanities and Sciences. 2011;142:27–33.

16. Kusarbayev R.I., Kalugina E.V., Mukhametshina O.V. Preparing students for intercultural interaction in the process of foreign language education at a university. Baltic Humanitarian Journal. 2019;(2):60–63.

17. Sopova A.A. Psychological defenses as a condition for the formation of psychological security of a university student’s personality. Proceedings of the II International Scientific-Practical Conference “Psychologically Safe Educational Environment: Design Problems and Development Prospects”, Tula, October 29, 2020. Cheboksary: Publ. House “Wednesday”; 2020. P. 34–41.

18. Baeva I.A., Baev N.N. Psychological resources of students’ security as an indicator of psychological security of the individual. Psikhologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie. 2013;(1):21–30.

19. Galyautdinova S.I., Akhmadeeva E.V. Personality traits and its psychological safety. Doklady Bashkirskogo universiteta. 2019;4(3):342–348.

20. Korneeva T.V., Poddubny S.E. Ethnopsychological and personal determinants of youth authoritativeness. Institut psikhologii Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Sotsial’naya i ekonomicheskaya psikhologiya = Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Social and Economic psychology. 2020;5(3):141–174. https://doi.org/10.38098/ipran.sep.2020.19.3.006