The biosocial problem in the context of global psychological science: concerningthe universal human psychology

Occupation: scientific supervisor of the Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Affiliation: Institute of Psychology RAS
Address: Russian Federation

Journal name

Psikhologicheskii zhurnal

Edition

Volume 40 issue 6

Pages

87-98

Abstract

From the onset of psychological science two approaches to the biosocial problem confront: a) Blurring the boundaries between biology and culture, so that culture is considered only to determine specific ways in which biological basis reveals itself; b) Considering culture as a factor canceling biological determination of behavior. The first trend took shape in the Western psychological tradition in the era of social revolutions and confrontation between capitalist and socialist systems, and aimed to justify low social mobility against the background of the declaration of an “equal opportunity society”. The second trend was Marxist psychology, primarily, Russian psychology, which proclaimed the idea of creating a “new” human personality. In the era of globalization, the first trend continues with the search for a “universal” psychology, basing on the belief that the basics of human psyche is the same for all homo sapiens, i.e., biologically determined. This trend maintains a dominant position in the mainstream psychology and its value is not in doubt. However, absolutization of this approach is fraught with the risk of losing the path to the comprehension of human nature. The belief that human is something more than an animal permeates the history of human culture. The loss of this belief is fraught with the danger of degeneration of science into an ugly and dangerous ideology. The second trend in treating the biosocial problem has weakened in the post-Soviet period, because in Russian psychology theoretical developments in this area ceased. In the contemporary international this trend is represented by schools, which are grounding on Russian developments of the Soviet period. Regrettably, contemporary Russian psychology is insufficiently incorporated into the international discourse on the biosocial problem. The issue of the “universal” psychology, discussed by Russian colleagues, is not sufficiently related with the logic of cultural-historical theory and Subjekt approach.

Keywords

Biosocial problem, globalization, cultural differences, universal psychology, cultural-historical theory, cross-cultural psychology, cultural psychology, critical psychology, indigenous theories

Acknowledgment

The study was financially supported by Russian Foundation of Basic Research, grant No. 17-06-50086-OGN “Academic integration in the context of the development of global psychology: challenges and prospects”

Received

04.11.2019

Publication date

21.11.2019

Number of characters

34639

Cite

GOST	Mironenko I., Zhuravlev A. The biosocial problem in the context of global psychological science: concerningthe “universal” human psychology // Psikhologicheskii zhurnal – 2019. – V. 40. – issue 6 C. 87-98 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://psy.jes.su/S020595920007321-9-1 (circulation date: 06.10.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S020595920007321-9
MLA	Mironenko, Irina, Zhuravlev, A. L "The biosocial problem in the context of global psychological science: concerningthe “universal” human psychology." Psikhologicheskii zhurnal 40.6 (2019):87-98. DOI: 10.31857/S020595920007321-9
APA	Mironenko I., Zhuravlev A. (2019). The biosocial problem in the context of global psychological science: concerningthe “universal” human psychology. Psikhologicheskii zhurnal 40(6), pp.87-98 DOI: 10.31857/S020595920007321-9

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