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5PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCES
STATE AND PROBLEMS OF THE NORMATIVE APPROACH IN PSYCHOLOGY
Akimova M.
Russian State University for the Humanities, Professor, Doctor of Psychology
Persiyantseva S.
Russian State University for the Humanities; Associate Professor Psychological Institute of Russian Academy of Education
Abstract
The main purpose of this article is to introduce the understanding of the normative approach in psychology: a theoretical analysis. Such an approach is considered within the framework of socio-psychological adaptation and socialization. The interrelation of concepts is presented: a normative approach, a socio-psychological standard and a normative concept. Arguments are given for the correlation of the normative concept with the concept of histor-icism, the cultural-historical approach, and interactionist approaches in psychology.
Keywords: socio-psychological standard, adaptation, socialization, normative approach, normative concept, cultural-historical approach, interactionist approaches.
In psychology, the normative approach is considered in different aspects. For example, within the framework of the study of the child's achievements in the process of constructing norms for the development of motor activity, speech, his relationship with the outside world. For example, as part of the study of the adoption of social standards by the adult population of the country, taking into account their educational development, age characteristics, and region of residence. The principles of the normative approach are used in psychological diagnostics, in education, and in professional activities.
The normative approach to personality and individuality is based on the concept of socio-psychologi-cal standards. According to this concept, an individual, in the process of ontogenetic development, assimilates the social historical experience of previous generations. In the process of acquiring this experience, the individual becomes aware of the social requirements and rules of modern society. Society and the individual are interested in the observance of social requirements and rules. On the one side, if an individual fulfills social requirements, then he is useful to society. On the other side, an individual who observes social norms is able to effectively adapt and productively realize himself in the new conditions of modern society [3, 4].
The concept of adaptation is one of the main ones in a number of scientific psychological studies. Adaptation mechanisms developed in the process of ontogenesis provide the possibility of human existence in changing environmental conditions.
Socio-psychological adaptation is more often considered in psychology as a general "adaptation to life" [1, 5].
Adaptation is a concept used in various natural, humanitarian and social sciences, which makes it possible to attribute it to the number of universal, fundamental concepts.
This concept came to psychology from biology, where adaptation is seen as a process of adapting the structure and functions of organisms (individuals, populations, species) and their organs to the conditions of a changing environment. Currently, many scientists
give the concept of "adaptation" a general scientific status.
F.B. Berezin defines mental adaptation as "the process of establishing the optimal correspondence between the individual and the environment in the course of carrying out activities characteristic of a person, which allows the individual to satisfy actual needs and realize the significant goals associated with them (while maintaining mental and physical health), providing at the same time, the correspondence of a person's mental activity, his behavior to the requirements of the environment" [6].
Socio-psychological adaptation is the process of including a person in interaction with the social environment in order to harmonize their relations. This process involves the orientation of the individual in society, awareness of the problems that arise in the course of interaction with him, finding ways to resolve them, choosing the most appropriate activity and forms of behavior in given conditions in order to achieve compliance with each other (with their interests, needs, capabilities) and social environment. The most successful adaptation of a personality takes place when its needs, values, attitudes and other personality traits do not diverge from the needs of small or large social groups in which the person is included, with environmental conditions, with the requirements that these groups place on their own members.
The normative approach in psychology is associated with the concepts of socio-psychological adaptation and socialization.
Socialization is the inclusion of the individual in the system of social relations, the mastery of socially developed methods of activity [11, 18]. Socialization is the process of assimilation by an individual of social experience, a certain system of knowledge, norms, values that allow him to function as a full member of society. The function of socialization is to ensure the normal functioning of the individual in society [13].
There are different points of view in psychology on the processes of socialization and adaptation. According to one point of view, the process of socialization is considered together with the process of social
adaptation. In the process of socialization, the individual is the object of society's influence. In the process of social adaptation, a person is the subject of activity and communication.
Another point of view - socialization is seen as a process that includes two phases: social adaptation (the process of adapting an individual to a wide range of social phenomena, institutions, norms and role functions) and internalization (the process of incorporating social norms and values into the inner world of a person). In the process of socialization, society and the individual "interpenetrate" each other. There are two aspects of socialization. One (external) is that the individual purposefully changes the unfavorable social situation; the other (internal) is that the personality changes itself.
Socialization is considered by some scientists as a necessary condition for adaptation. At the same time, the process of adaptation is closely associated with the development of personality and individuality in accordance with changing conditions. Therefore, a person can be socialized, but not adapted.
The idea of active (external) and passive (internal) socialization can be transferred to the process of social adaptation of the individual. Its external side is the activity of the individual in developing various adaptation strategies aimed at actively transforming and changing in the right direction the conditions of the social environment that are significant for adaptation. The inner side of social adaptation is the conscious (maybe unconscious) psychological activity of the individual, aimed at eliminating experienced stresses and establishing a state of psychological comfort in the process of life and interpersonal communication.
Objective and subjective are considered as indicators (criteria) of social adaptation. A group of objective criteria: the success of one's own activity, the stability of the functional state of the organism, the achievement of the desired behavior in the environment (efficiency, competence, success). A group of subjective criteria: satisfaction with the main activity, the team and relationships in it (psychological climate), general psychological well-being, comfort. A person adapted in society is able to creatively express himself and self-actualize without prolonged conflicts and frustrations. Adaptability and the process of adaptation itself depend on the adaptive capabilities, the adaptive potential of a person. These include a set of individual psychological characteristics, among which one can single out the levels of intellectual, moral and personal normativity.
How is the relevance of the formed normative qualities considered in the normative approach?
Most of the normative qualities that become the internal content of the personality are assimilated due to the fact that they are transmitted by those representatives of social groups who are well adapted. Through the standards, the connection of the individual with the group, and through it with the whole society, is ensured.
The assignment of norms relating to different groups may indicate the degree of identification of the individual with these groups. The degree of identification with one's cultural group indicates the level of assimilation of general cultural norms. Based on comparisons of the levels of assimilation of the standards of
different groups, one can speak about the level of soci-ocultural preferences, the individual's involvement in one or another subcultural group.
An individual is present simultaneously in different social groups: this is a family, a group of relatives (relatives), friends, colleagues at work and study, he can be a member of various public organizations, international communities. These different subcultural groups may impose different and even contradictory requirements on their members, and then an individual can choose one set of standards as opposed to another. A hierarchy of norms is possible, including those relating to different subcultural groups.
Castro and Escribano note that the normative approach, according to which human, socio-cognitive competences rely on a myriad of social norms and routines that mediate our social interactions [10].
The normative approach in psychology, as noted earlier, is based on the concept of socio-psychological standards. The main category of the concept of socio-psychological standards is the normative concept.
The normative concept is related to the concept of historicism. The development of the problem of the so-cio-historical conditionality of the human psyche is the main one in the concept of historicism [8, 14, 15, 21].
Historically determined changes in people's lives change their thinking. In the new conditions of life, a person has new problems that stimulate his thinking, his attitude to life, to himself, to others changes. Worldview and personal concepts are being reviewed and reevaluated. We have to build new algorithms of mental actions, build new ideas about a person and his life, shape himself, his personality (character, system of values and motives) in accordance with the new requirements of society. This will help solve problems that arise.
The normative concept is based on the concept of historicism and on the cultural-historical approach in psychology, which is characterized by the fact that cultural factors, models and scenarios are considered as psychological, and mental characteristics and traits, and also the personality as a whole as culturally conditioned [9, 14, 19, 22]. Culture is presented both as a source and as a result of the impact on a person, his psyche.
The diversity of personality types, thinking and behavior, the adoption of standards, the formation and development of the human psyche from the standpoint of the historical and cultural development of human civilization, individual socio-cultural communities is also considered in foreign psychology [7, 17, 20].
The normative concept and the introduction of the category of socio-psychological standards into psychology also relate to interactionist approaches to personality, according to which a person and the environment form a system that functions in unity [12, 16]. This interaction includes the expectations, rules, traditions, requirements of the culture and the society in which the person functions.
Rules, traditions, requirements are addressed to different aspects of the human psyche. In this case, we can talk about the standards of mental, moral, political, ethical, aesthetic and other areas of development. The most significant of them, arising from the historical
path traversed by society and therefore determining the success of adaptation and advancement in the specific conditions of the existence of a given society.
There is an idea that the standards related to mental development are changing faster than, for example, the standards of moral development. As soon as new social relations begin to take shape, global changes take place in the sciences, new standards begin to make themselves felt, partly spontaneously, partly as socially conscious demands [2].
The normative approach in psychology turns out to be productive for the implementation of a number of priority areas for the development of fundamental and applied scientific research.
The normative approach can be used in monitoring the state and development of the system of education and upbringing in the Russian Federation. The normative approach can be used to diagnose the quality of education and personal development. The readiness of the individual for professional activity, professional growth, her ability to be active for the public good and modernization of the country.
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