Moskvicheva N.L., Mamaeva-Niles V.D. The concept of personality “integrity” in modern foreign research: terminology and content of the concept

The concept of personality integrity as a cardinal characteristic of its multifaceted psychological functioning is actively discussed today in foreign and domestic psychological literature. The current state of this problematic field is characterized by a plurality of approaches, which is due to both the difference in theoretical paradigms for studying personality and, to a large extent, the ambiguous interpretation of the content of the concept itself and the simultaneous coexistence of terms denoting different aspects of personality integrity and intersecting with each other. An urgent task that allows us to advance in the development and conceptualization of the category of personality integrity is to clarify the content and boundaries of terms presented from the standpoint of different methodological approaches.

The purpose of the article is to review modern foreign approaches to understanding the integrity of personality and a comparative description of the English-language terminological field considered in them for the purpose of comparing, in the future, the results obtained with Russian-language scientific discourse.

The research method was a terminological analysis of the subject area of personality integrity, aimed at identifying the main terms, corresponding concepts and practices of use in psychological research. It is discussed which aspects of personality integrity are revealed in the content of the most frequently used concepts and terms, and how they can relate to each other in different conceptual directions.

The results of the review show that in terms of the volume of lexical meaning, the Russian-language understanding of "integrity" does not fully coincide with any English-language term. In English-language literature, the concept of integrity is most often denoted by the terms integration, integrity, unity, wholeness, coherence, each of which can in different contexts correspond to the semantic content of such concepts as integration, indivisibility, wholeness, honesty, coherence, consistency in Russian-language scientific discourse. The closest to the understanding of integrity in Russian literature can be considered the concept of integration (integrity), since it includes both an understanding of the integrity of the individual and presupposes the identification of its constituent characteristics and the methods of interaction between them, as well as with the surrounding world. The most developed and operationalized concept in the problematic field of personality integrity in the English-language scientific discourse is the concept of personality “coherence”. Other concepts close in meaning are, in fact, constituent parts or indicators of integrity, which allows us to speak about the need to describe the integrity of the personality and differentiate the mechanisms of formation of integrity at different levels of personal organization.

The conducted research allows us to draw conclusions about the actualization of interest in the phenomenon of personality integrity as its essential characteristic and as a principle of personality research. Among the modern directions of integrity conceptualization, it is possible to single out provisions on the need to consider integrity as the consistency of personality at different levels of its functioning, including those related to the social context, as well as with the subjective feeling of the personality of its integrity and uniqueness. The prospects for conceptualizing the integrity of the personality within the framework of the process approach as an integral characteristic of a person, including differentiated mechanisms of formation and functioning of the personality, supported by the internal coherence of elements at different levels of its organization, are outlined.

Key words: the concept of "integrity", unity, integration, consistency, internal coherence, terminological analysis

For citation: Moskvicheva, N.L., Mamaeva-Niles, V.D. (2024). The concept of personality “integrity” in modern foreign research: terminology and content of the concept. New Psychological Research, No. 4, 62–90. DOI: 10.51217/npsyresearch_2024_04_04_03

Acknowledgement

This study was funded by the Russian Science Foundation Grant No. 24-18-00308 “Processual model of personality integrity: theoretical foundation and empirical referents”.