Malevolent Creativity of Adolescents in Different Socio-political Contexts

Abstract

Background. Malevolent creativity is realized in interpersonal interaction in the form of bullying and unethical behavior, harming the psychological health of the victim. The relevance of studying antisocial creativity is due to the optimization of interpersonal relationships and interactions among adolescents. Objectives. The aim is to study the links between antisocial creativity, hostility, consent, conscientiousness and values in adolescents in different socio-political conditions. Study Participants. The study is a cross-sectional one and was conducted in 2018 and 2024. The study sample in 2018 was made up of cadets (N=52, Mage = 15.8 SD=0.425; 6 of them were girls). In 2024, high school students from one of the schools in Moscow took part in the study (N=46, Mage = 16.0 SD=0.390; 28 of them were girls). Methods. Participants filled out forms with questionnaires in person: "NEO-FFI" (adapted by V. Orla, I. Senin), BPAQ-24 (adapted by S.N. Enikolopov, N.P Tzibulskiy), "Behavioral features of antisocial creativity" (adapted by N.V. Meshkova, etc.), Schwartz's portrait value questionnaire — revised PVQ-R. To process quantitative data, Spearman's correlation analysis, nonparametric comparisons using the Mann-Whitney criterion are used. Results. It was found that the levels of malevolent creativity are higher, and the values of the highest order and the traits of the "Big Five" are lower in adolescents of the 2024 sample. Another peculiarity of the last sample is the absence of a correlation between malevolent creativity and the “Agreeableness” trait and a significant positive correlation between hostility and the “Conscientiousness” trait. Conclusions. Modern teenagers are less inclined to think over their actions before committing them, are less demanding of observing moral norms, are more concerned about their own interests, are less ready for new ideas and transformative actions, they have reduced values of personal and social focus. Adolescents with such a psychological profile may be at risk for implementing antisocial creativity in deviant behavior. The practice-oriented recommendation is to pay special attention to the formation of values of the younger person.

Keywords

• socio-political context
• antisocial creativity
• adolescents
• values
• big five traits
• hostility