Psychological security of a person in ontological and epistemological dimensions. An afterword to the work awarded to the State Prize of Ukraine in the field of science and technology

Abstract

It is analyzed the state of the problem of the psychological security of the person which in recent decades is actively developed in the post-Soviet territories. Based on the analysis, it is stated that the development of this problem, the analytical framework of which is set by the publications of the Russian Federation’s psychologists, is carried out in controversial theoretical-methodological coordinates.

Interpretations of psychological security clearly show tendencies of absolutization of its individual-psychological aspects and desocialization, which distorts the meaning of this concept (in fact, its substitution takes place: individual-psychological resources and security factors are considered as security itself).

According to the author, a constructive alternative to these trends is the concept of psychological security, which is put in the basis of the work «The life world, and psychological security of a person in conditions of social changes», for which a group of scientists of the Institute for Social and Political Psychology of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine was awarded in 2019 by a State Prize of Ukraine in the field of science and technology.

According to this concept, human psychological security is an integrative characteristic of the system of «subject – environment» interaction, in the process of which a certain situation develops to be subjectively marked as «safe – dangerous». It is substantiated the situational, as well as a dynamic, continuous nature of psychological security.

It is emphasized that, as well as the situation, psychological security simultaneously does depend and doesn’t depend on the person, therefore the decision of a problem of psychological security provides both actualization of personal resources of mentality’s protection, as well as the increase of safety level in factors mostly independent from the person.

The relative nature of any psychological security is emphasized, at the same time the thesis is put forward about the possibility and need to achieve in each case such a level that is necessary and sufficient to preserve personal authenticity and life-constructing potential.

Particular attention is paid to the disclosure of the social essence and dialectic of human activity as a subject of security.

It is advocated the opinion that the issue of psychological security of a person belongs, first of all, to the social psychology sphere of competence. Other psychological disciplines may develop their individual aspects.