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Cultural-Historical Psychology
2026. Vol. 22, no. 1, 52–61
doi:10.17759/chp.2026220106
ISSN: 1816-5435 / 2224-8935 (online)

The phenomenon of «perezhivanie» and its role in preschoolers' play activities

 
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Abstract

Context and relevance. The study and rethinking of the scientific heritage of L.S. Vygotsky and his followers help clarify key concepts of cultural-historical theory, one of which is perezhivanie. The early phenomenon of “perezhivanie” has been interpreted as a special psychological phenomenon; as a means of developing executive functions, self-awareness, and more; in the context of child-parent interactions; from the perspectives of educational and developmental potential, etc. This article is devoted to the analysis of perezhivanie in the context of children’s play activities today. Objective. 1) to analyze what has developed in the cultural-historical tradition as an understanding of perezhivanie; 2) to determine the role and place of perezhivanie in traditional, digital, and convergent play; 3) to summarize existing empirical studies on the topic of perezhivanie in preschool age. Methods. Theoretical analysis, synthesis, and generalization of the works of L.S. Vygotsky and his followers. Results. There are different approaches to understanding the phenomenon of “perezhivanie” within the cultural-historical theory, but in all of them the structure of perezhivanie includes two components — environmental and personal, i.e., a child’s perezhivanie has dynamic properties. The perezhivanie forms primarily within the child’s play activity. The perezhivanie experienced by the child during play is derived from the emotions and impressions experienced during the game and relies on the level of development of the child’s cognitive and regulatory-volitional spheres. Digital play also elicits perezhivanie in the child. A particular difficulty in studying experiential phenomena in digital play lies in the diversity of the mechanics of digital games. The common aspects of perezhivanie underlie the transition between the real and virtual worlds during convergent play. An analysis of experimental studies of children’s perezhivanie shows a variety of approaches and the absence of a single methodological framework. Conclusions. There is an objective need for further theoretical and empirical research on children's perezhivanie in play — both traditional and digital.

General Information

Keywords: perezhivanie, play, play activity, digital play, converged play, preschoolers

Journal rubric: Empirical Research

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/chp.2026220106

Received 12.01.2026

Revised 12.02.2026

Accepted

Published

For citation: Salomatova, O.V. (2026). The phenomenon of «perezhivanie» and its role in preschoolers' play activities. Cultural-Historical Psychology, 22(1), 52–61. https://doi.org/10.17759/chp.2026220106

© Salomatova O.V., 2026

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

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Information About the Authors

Olga V. Salomatova, junior research fellow of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research of Contemporary Childhood, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1723-9697, e-mail: salomatovaov@mgppu.ru

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