The Relationship of Students’ Mental Development with Moral Regulators of Social Interaction

Objective. The most important source of stabilization and further development of society is the social activity of citizens. Young people have the greatest potential for this activity. In this regard, it is interesting to study the factors and conditions of social activity of students. Background. For Russia, which experienced a socio-political cataclysm at the end of the last century and is in the stage of “recovery”, the social activity of young people is a source of stabilization and further development. In this regard, it is interesting to study the factors and conditions of social activity of students. Study design. The interrelationships of the level of students’ mental development were investigated, firstly, with the level of acceptance of such moral standards as trust and honesty, and, secondly, with such parameters of social interaction as its significance for the subject and the choice of the method of reaction in a particular situation. Participants. 268 students of three universities wich differ by the level of urbanization of the locality (megapolis, regional centre, district city). The average age of subjects is 19-20 years. Measurements. Test of mental development of adults, questionnaire of trusting relationships, questionnaire of legitimization of dishonesty, method of diagnostics of social interaction (M.K. Akimova, etc.). Results. It is revealed that the level of formation of such mental operations as the ability to generalize, classify, think by analogy and inductively, operate with numbers, is statistically significantly interrelated with the level of trust in oneself and in public institutions, the degree of anxiety in social interaction, as well as with the degree of prevention of such manifestations of dishonesty as theft. The erudition of the subject is interrelated with trust in the state and public institutions. The assessment of the subjective significance of the situation of social interaction and the level of activity in it are also interrelated with certain characteristics of the mental development. Conclusions. There is a cognitive component in the form of the formation of certain mental operations, erudition and the level of general mental development of the subject in the forming of trust and honesty, as well as in assessing the subjective significance of the situation of social interaction and determining the level of activity in it.