Socio-Psychological Predictors of Constructive Patriotism in Adolescents with Different Trajectories of Emerging Adulthood

Introduction. The formation of patriotic attitudes among adolescents is one of the priority tasks of modern Russian education – it presupposes reliance on scientifically substantiated data about the logic of patriotism development within the context of personality formation as a whole. However, there are insufficient studies dedicated to examining the relationship between the formation of patriotic attitudes and personality development during adolescence. The aim of this study is to identify the socio-psychological predictors of constructive patriotic attitudes in adolescents who demonstrate different trajectories of maturation. Materials and Methods. The sample consisted of 427 respondents aged between 13 and 18 (55.2% female). The study of patriotic attitudes was carried out using the Questionnaire of Constructive Patriotism (version for adolescents). The trajectories of maturation were determined using a modified version of the self-esteem research methodology by T.V. Dembo and S.Ya. Rubinstein. The number of hypothetical predictors of patriotic attitudes included social beliefs, convictions and values, as well as civic identity; for the assessment we used an abbreviated version of “Social Axioms” questionnaire, “Faith in a Just World” scale, “Moral Foundations” questionnaire, “Valence of Civic Identity” scale, a short version of the S. Schwartz Value Questionnaire. Results. Universal predictors of constructive patriotism in adolescents, regardless of their demonstrated trajectories of maturation, are indicators of civic identity, the value of universalism, belief in a just world, and the social axiom “social complexity.” Socio-psychological predictors of constructive patriotism that diffe­rentiate subgroups of adolescents with different trajectories of maturation are indicators of the bases of moral choice “Respect” and “Justice,” as well as the social axioms “Reward for effort” and “Social cynicism”. Discussion and Conclusion. The results indicate the need to integrate psychological and pedagogical tasks related to the formation of constructive patriotic attitudes among adolescents into the system of psychological and pedagogical support for their personal development. The practical significance of the artic­le lies in the possibility of their application in the development of programs for the patriotic education of adolescents. The prospects of the study are related to a more detailed analysis of the socio-psychological factors of the formation of constructive patriotism in the context of studying various parameters of transition to adulthood in adolescence.