Sociability and psychoticism as predictors of interaction types in students’ youth

The relevance of this research lies in its contribution to understanding how different interaction types, constructed by the balance of sociability and psychoticism, influence students’ adaptation to the educational environment. As higher education institutions increasingly emphasise student well-being and academic success, identifying favourable and unfavourable interaction patterns is crucial for fostering a supportive learning atmosphere. The purpose of this study was to construct a typology of students according to the ratio of sociability and psychoticism, which ensures the interaction of the student with the educational environment, and the identification of favourable and unfavourable forms of such interaction for the student's personality on its basis. The empirical data collection employed V. M. Melnikov & L.T. Yampolsky’s “Psychodiagnostic test” and F.E. Williams’ Creativity Assessment Packet. Dispersion analysis and the Mann-Whitney U-test were used to identify differences in psychological traits among the four types of student interaction. Based on the ratio of sociability and psychoticism, four types of student interaction were identified: competing: a high level of curiosity, creative curiosity, creativity, depression, neuroticism, imagination, general activity, sociability, low level of shyness, introversion; manipulative: a high level of curiosity, creative curiosity, creativity, mental imbalance, tendency to dominance, depression, asociality, neuroticism, shyness, imagination, introversion; hermits (hikikomori): a low level of curiosity, creative curiosity, creativity, disinhibition, asociality, imagination, general activity, a high level of shyness and introversion; cooperative: a low level of mental imbalance, a tendency to dominance, depression, neuroticism, shyness, introversion, general activity, and a high level of sociability. The practical significance of this research lies in its potential applications for improving educational environments and student support strategies, emphasising the need for promoting cooperation rather than competition, thereby enhancing students’ psychological well-being and overall academic engagement.