Poddiakov A.N. Creation of objects creating difficulties as a component of cultural-historical development

The article develops the author's concept of studying intentionally created difficulties of various types. These difficulties are organized by some people for others in accordance with different types of relations to the others. I consider objective (instrumental, tool) activity aimed at creating difficulties for others to: (a) teach and train them; (b) play with them (including cruel games); (c) cause sufferings; (d) to ensure safety and convenience; and (e) to test the others. These domains are parts of a space of creation of difficulties in their cultural and evolving diversity associated with different types of attitudes toward the others.

In an empirical part of the article, I discuss “uncomfortable” art objects, perceived by spectators as those ones that are very difficult and inconvenient to manipulate with due to unexpected arrangements of parts and other features. They cause cognitive dissonance and ambivalent feelings (this is a goal of this visual art movement). I present my students’ empirical psychological researches with various issues concerning the “uncomfortable” objects. The objects can be interesting and promising materials for scientific psychology – from general to social one.

In the future, it is of interest to conduct a cultural-historical study aimed to reveal a sequence in which various types of material objects creating different types of difficulties have been being invented in sociogenesis, and to reveal proportions of these types of objects in different historical epochs and the dynamics of these proportions to the present day.

Key words: creation of difficulties, objective (instrumental, tool) activity, cultural and historical development

For citation: Poddiakov, A.N. (2024). Creation of objects creating difficulties as a component of cultural-historical development. New Psychological Research, No. 3, 95–116. DOI: 10.51217/npsyresearch_2024_04_03_05