Since 2001, the Department of General Psychology graduates the professionals, who are employed as psychologists and counsellors in secondary education institutions (schools, lyceums and gymnasiums), higher education institutions (universities, academies) and public authorities (directorates of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Ministry of Education). Some graduates start private practice or join psychological health centres.

Research in the area of psychology is open to students through the student research teams “Discover you” and “Psychological studies”, which have been operating since 2014. The department annually organises for its students, researchers and partners the International scientific and practical conference “Actual problems of mass consciousness study”. This conference focuses on psychological and social mechanisms for promoting world outlook, social and psychological aspects of cultural transmission, influence of the cultural environment on genotypes and phenotypes, personality and group in extreme conditions of life, anthropological and psychological challenges in science and society and many others.

For many years the Department of General Psychology has been running the innovative project, namely the psychological game-marathon “Leader”. This project is implemented as part of the programme “Bring Childhood Back” in the Volga Federal District. It aims at developing such skills as leadership, cooperation, creativity, non-verbal and verbal communication. The marathon promotes the social and psychological adaptation by integrating all participants and creating a model of society. In addition, it contributes to increased interest in personal development, expanded social connections and greater civic responsibility.

The head of the department Prof. Dr. Vsevolod Konstantinov founded the research school “Migration processes and adaptation problems”, which brings together psychologists guided in their research by the system-dynamic concept of the social and psychological adaptation of migrants in a multicultural society. This concept is based on the idea of fundamental multidirectionality and dynamism of adaptation due to the adaptation and opposition of the individual to new conditions of life, depending on their migration intentions and expectations of the host population. The school implements research of a fundamental and applied nature and presents its findings in the leading scientific publications and international forums. The focus areas include social and psychological adaptation of migrants to new living conditions, transformation of personal identity among migrants, system-dynamic regulation of social and psychological adaptation of migrants in the host society, as well as social and psychological determinants of the image of a migrant in mass consciousness. The school also examines the effects and phenomena of personality adaptation in new conditions of professional activity.

Most teaching staff are the members of the Penza regional branch of the Federation of Educational Psychologists. The department actively participates in all-Russian and international psychological conferences and maintains contacts with educational institutions in the Penza Region, the Moscow Region, the Saratov Region, the Kursk Region and other constituent entities of the Russian Federation. International cooperation with foreign partners is successfully developing.

DEGREE PROGRAMMES

Bachelor

     Psychology

Master

     Psychology: Social Psychology of Individual
     Psychology: Psychological Counselling and Coaching

Post-graduate

     Social Psychology

RESEARCH

Research topics

•    Social and psychological adaptation of migrants to new living conditions
•    Transformation of the ethnic identity of migrants in the context of adaptation
•    Social and psychological aspects of cultural transmission
•    Creative thinking in terms of learning
•    Deviant behaviour among teenagers
•    Phototherapy within the art therapy method
•    Social psychology of the image of a person
•    Transformation of the image of a migrant in the context of media exposure
•    Motivational attitude of choice to crisis situations among students
•    Features of personal fulfilment among young women
•    Co-dependent relationships in young families
•    Development of professional reflection among psychology students studying at the university
•    Personality of a psychology student as a subject of learning
•    Typological features of a university teacher
•    Ethnic identity of migrants
•    Emotional states of students
•    Typological conditionality of personal relations of staff by image changes
•    Psychological features of the image of staff
•    Image of a teacher in secondary and higher education

Collaboration

Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Agency for Psychological News
Sh. Ualikhanov Kokshetau State University (Kazakhstan)
A. Baitursynov Kostanay State University (Kazakhstan)
Regional Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Center, Ben Gurion University of the Negev (Israel)
Journal of Behavioral Sciences

CONTACTS

Prof. Dr. Vsevolod Konstantinov
Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Professor
Head of the Department of General Psychology

37 Lermontova Street, building 12, floor 3, office 343
Tel: +7 (8412) 20-39-70
E-mail: konstantinov_vse@mail.ru
Web-page of the Department of General Psychology (in Russian)