Experimental Research. Moscow State University

The article is devoted to the study of differences in meaning-life orientations and images of the past and future among adolescents raised in orphanages and in families. The study involved 55 adolescents who passed the test of semantic and life orientations and the method of unfinished sentences. The results show that children in orphanages demonstrate higher but moderate indicators of meaning and life orientations, which may be due to the predictability of the near future and a low level of aspirations. At the same time, their past is evaluated more negatively than that of their family peers, and the future is perceived with cautious optimism. Teenagers from families are more likely to associate the future with higher education, interesting work and personal relationships. The data obtained emphasize the importance of taking into account developmental conditions when developing adolescent support programs.

The article explores the experience of loneliness in adolescence, viewing it as a basic emotional response to a lack of meaningful relationships. Given the importance of peer bonds during this period, the study examines the link between loneliness and the nature of both friendships and romantic relationships. The study involved 57 adolescents. Those with friends reported lower levels of loneliness than those without. Loneliness was associated with low warmth in friendships. Conflict in friendships correlated with the inability to experience loneliness constructively. No connection was found between loneliness and characteristics of romantic relationships.

Most studies of romantic relationships beyond adolescence focus on couples preparing for marriage or already married, whereas early stages of such relationships have been little explored. We assumed that conflict-response patterns may create significant difficulties for maintaining and developing romantic relationships, and that insecure attachment types may pose a risk to the formation of harmonious relationships. Conflict-response strategies may also moderate the link between attachment and the nature of romantic relationships. A literature review revealed a lack of tools for assessing conflict interaction in romantic relationships, which served as the basis for developing an original diagnostic method. As a result of the study, a connection was found between attachment parameters and certain coping strategies in conflict situations identified during the research.

The article explores the self-image, sibling image, and romantic partner image among young men and women from two-child and large families. Despite a substantial body of research on the role of sibling position, gender, and age difference, the factor of family sibship size remains understudied. The study involved 116 participants aged 18–27. A Five-Factor Personality Questionnaire and a semantic differential method were used to examine both conscious and unconscious representations of the self, sibling, and romantic partner. Romantic partners are perceived as warmer, more reliable, extroverted, and easygoing compared to both the self and the sibling. Siblings are described as softer, more flexible, and empathetic. The respondents tend to see themselves as moderately extroverted and emotionally stable. In two-child families, the self-image is characterized by greater attachment, softness, and anxiety compared to those from large families.

This article raises the problem of consistency of the newlyweds' ideas about their future family life. The newlyweds' ideas about their future family life prepare them to realize themselves as spouses and parents. The misalignment of the partners' ideas before marriage is a factor complicating the adaptation to family life together. The study presents data on the consistency of ideas about family life among 54 couples who are at the stage of marriage. It has been established that 39% of partners differ significantly in their views on family life. The most acute disagreements are related to the desire of the future wife to take an equal, and often dominant position in all vectors of marital relations. The question has been raised about the need to organize psychological assistance aimed at preventing family breakdown.

The article presents the results of a study of the attitude of mothers of preschoolers to the parental role, their satisfaction with the experience of motherhood. The emotional state of the mother is an extremely important condition for the well-being of the child, in connection with which the authors ask about its predictors. The hypothesis is tested that the acceptance of the maternal role and satisfaction with its implementation is associated with the motivational bases of activity. 70 women were examined to identify the motivation for parenthood and the motivational orientation of their personality. The generally favorable sample contained a number of women with low satisfaction with motherhood. The author's methodology was used to identify the prevailing motives of motherhood. The degree of acceptance of the parental position and the degree of satisfaction with motherhood were significantly associated with a high expression of adequate motives. In addition, the general motivational orientation of the personality was recorded. Having recorded two types of motivational orientation, the authors established a significant connection between the strength of the expression of motherhood motives and the prevalence of such inducers as the desire for communication, self-realization, protection of one's interests and readiness to make efforts to achieve one's goals. Mothers who accepted the parental position to a lesser extent were distinguished not only by a higher frequency of inadequate motives of motherhood, but also by a clearly expressed personality focus on self-realization and protection of one's own interests. Probably, this motivational orientation of the personality prevents women from receiving satisfaction primarily from satisfying the needs of the child.