Subjective-Existential Approach to Personality Within the System of Coordinates of Modern Scientific Approaches

Abstract

The objective of this article is to present a comparative analysis of the subjective-­existential approach to the individual to other approaches in Russian psychology. The comparison analysis was implemented in 2023 in the collective monograph entitled “Scientific Approaches in Modern Russian Psychology”. It must be acknowledged that not all approaches have been included in this monograph. In order to address the abovementioned shortcomings, the subjective-­existential approach was subjected to analysis and comparison with the relevant approaches. The justification for the allocation of coordinates for the comparison of different approaches required an analysis of the representations of different authors. This included the possibility of integrating all approaches (V. A. Mazilov, V. A. Yanchuk) and the possibility of comparing scientific approaches (E. A. Sergienko, A. V. Yurevich). The following coordinates of comparison were identified: the leading concept, the concretizing concepts, the methodological principles, and the leading methods. The subjective-­existential approach posits that the primary concept is personality, with the specifying concepts being subject, being, and the methodological principles being personal, subjective, activity, and communicative. The main methods, which we classified according to B. G. Ananyev, are interpretative and empirical (experiment and psychodiagnostics). A comparison of the approaches revealed intersections of leading, concretizing concepts and methodological principles of subjective-­existential approach with the activity, subject-­activity, subject-­analytical and systemic-­subjective approaches, as well as the dynamic approach of L. I. Antsyferova, existential and eco-psychological approaches. The subjective-­existential approach represents an expansion of the concept of personality and an understanding of the subject. It is one of the principal directions of the subjective approach. The introduction of the concept of the subject expands the search for the unity of bio-psycho-­socio-cultural coordinates, which complements the understanding of mental development. Rather than focusing on universal characteristics, this approach emphasizes individual variants of mental organization and functioning. It appears that the subjective-­existential approach to personality meets the criteria of modern methodological science and facilitates further interpenetration of different paradigms, thereby expanding the possibilities of psychological science.