Psychological components of the image of politicians on the example of the United Russia and New People parties
Introduction. The aggravation of the international political crisis on the world stage is characterised by a rapid increase in tension, which is exacerbating the situation on the world stage. A complex political picture emerges from historical instability, sanctions pressure, currency fluctuations and the breakdown of trade ties. In the context of the global crisis, the influence of government and political figures, as well as their image on social perception, is becoming a significant factor. The dissonance between the formed image and the real manifestations of political figures can cause internal instability and damage foreign and domestic policy. The authors of the article propose to solve the problem of image congruence by studying the structure of the image, matching its components with the social demand of society and the individual personal qualities of modern political figures. The purpose of the work is to study the psychological components of the image of modern politicians. Materials and methods: The study employed various methodological tools to analyse the personality traits of individuals from the United Russia and New People parties. These tools included the 16-factor Kettell personality questionnaire (16-PF); a questionnaire by G. Shmishek to diagnose personality accentuations; a questionnaire on value orientations by S. Schwartz (with a Russian translation by V.N. Karandashev); a diagnostic method for emotional intelligence by N. Hall (with a Russian translation by E.P. Ilyin); a questionnaire on the “leading” style of thinking, “InQ”, by R. Bramson and A. Harrison, adapted by A.A. Alekseev; and a questionnaire on self-actualisation (self-realisation), adapted by N.F. Kalina. To identify patriotism, an additional methodology was used: the “Cultural Patriotism and Nationalism” questionnaire by L.K. Grigoryan and Z.H. Lepshokova. Mathematical statistical methods were used to process the results of the study: descriptive statistics and factor analysis. The study sample consisted of 80 people: 40 representatives of the United Russia party and 40 representatives of the New People party. The analysis of the individual psychological personality traits of the representatives of the United Russia and New People parties was carried out. A factor analysis was carried out to identify five main personality traits of political figures. As a result of the research, the author's image model has been developed, which displays the components of the image and their relationship with the strategy for its formation, and presents the vector of image orientation. The presented model reflects the relationship between the psychological components of the image and the criteria of social inquiry in modern conditions, which will allow the authors to continue their research in order to develop recommendations for optimizing the image of politicians of the United Russia and New People parties.
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