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Social Psychology and Society
2026. Vol. 17, no. 1, 77–92
doi:10.17759/sps.2026170105
ISSN: 2221-1527 / 2311-7052 (online)

Psychological well-being of a member of the reading community as a reference group

 
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Abstract

Context and relevance. The problem of an individual's psychological well-being is of particular importance in the context of human participation in various communities and groups. The relevance of this study is driven by the high dynamism of the modern world, where people increasingly face the need to maintain and strengthen their psychological well-being by seeking out interest-based groups. We hypothesized that a reference group, exemplified by a reading community, can serve as a factor contributing to the improvement of a participant's psychological state.
Objective. To study the role of the reference group in the psychological well-being of a reading community participant.
Hypothesis. Psychological well-being is associated with satisfaction with one's role performed within the reading community.
Methods and Materials. The empirical study involved 92 individuals (M = 35, SD = 8), including 78 females and 14 males, who are participants in 52 Russian-language reading communities from 14 countries. The study employed the following instruments: 1. Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being Scale; V.F. Ryakhovsky’s questionnaire for determining the level of sociability; 2. A modified rapid methodology for studying the psychological climate in a team by O.S. Mikhailyuk and A.Yu. Shalyto; 3. A custom questionnaire. Data processing was performed using SPSS Statistics 22.
Results. It was found that a participant's psychological well-being is higher when desired and actual (performed) roles within the reading community coincide (“Observer”, “Listener”, “Active Participant”, “Expert”, “I change my role depending on the book”). The core motivation for choosing a reading community as a reference group is the need for communication. It was revealed that the level of psychological well-being and the assessment of the psychological climate do not differ among respondents with different formats of community participation (offline/online). Questionnaire results show that participants highly value the importance of reading communities in their lives.
Conclusion. Communication realized through reference groups, as exemplified by a reading community, allows for the maintenance and enhancement of an individual's psychological well-being, regardless of the meeting format (online/offline). A key factor in this process is the congruence between desired and actually performed roles within the group.

General Information

Keywords: psychological well-being, psychological climate, performed roles, communication, reading communities, reference group

Journal rubric: Empirical Research

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/sps.2026170105

Funding. The study was supported by St. Petersburg State University, project number 124032600013-2, “Modeling stable constructs of civic identity of Russian youth as a mechanism for transferring spiritual and moral values”.

Received 06.10.2025

Revised 19.12.2025

Accepted

Published

For citation: Kuznetsova, I.V., Medina Bracamonte, N.A., Yakupova, R.R., Kuznetsova, E.A., Afanasieva, J.A. (2026). Psychological well-being of a member of the reading community as a reference group. Social Psychology and Society, 17(1), 77–92. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17759/sps.2026170105

© Kuznetsova I.V., Medina Bracamonte N.A., Yakupova R.R., Kuznetsova E.A., Afanasieva J.A., 2026

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

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Information About the Authors

Irina V. Kuznetsova, Candidate of Science (Psychology), Associate Professor, Department of Social Psychology, Saint Petersburg State University, St.Petersburg, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2922-8044, e-mail: irin_kuznecova@mail.ru

Natalya A. Medina Bracamonte, Candidate of Science (Education), Associate Professor of the Department of Pedagogy and Psychology, Department of Psychology, Saint Petersburg State University, St.Petersburg, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0563-4542, e-mail: mbna@yandex.ru

Ruzilya R. Yakupova, full-time student, Department of Psychology, Saint Petersburg State University, St.Petersburg, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7412-3241, e-mail: 9373200274@mail.ru

Elena A. Kuznetsova, Candidate of Science (Psychology), Associate Professor of the Department of Personality Psychology, Saint Petersburg State University, St.Petersburg, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9359-9013, e-mail: kuznetsova@spbu.ru

Julia A. Afanasieva, Candidate of Science (Psychology), Associate Professor of the Department of Psychology, North Ossetian state University by K.L. Khetagurova, Vladikavkaz, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1725-4552, e-mail: afanaseva.y@mail.ru

Contribution of the authors

Irina V. Kuznetsova — research ideas, methodology, mathematical data processing, manuscript preparation and editing.
Natalia A. Medina Bracamonte — manuscript preparation and editing.
Ruzilya R. Yakubova — study execution.
Elena A. Kuznetsova — manuscript editing, visualization.
Julia A. Afanasyeva — conceptualization, visualization, and manuscript editing.
All authors participated in the discussion of the results and approved the final text of the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethics statement

Written informed consent for participation in this study was obtained from the participants.

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