Preface

The final issue of the journal “Vestnik of St. Petersburg University. Psychology”  2023 contains articles on a variety of topics and reflects a wide range of research in modern  psychological science.

The article by D.A. Khoroshilov “Individualization and psychologization of modern society as factors of weakening social ties” which is opening fourth issue of our journal offers an original view on the development of psychological science and practice and its wide spread penetration into the everyday life of modern society. According to the author, these processes relate to the context and contradictions of the time of modernism and reflect the trend of psychologization of society. This is interpreted not just as a growing interest in psychological practices in society, the psychology of self-development and self-realization, but as a tendency for these kinds to dominate in a personal orientation, human’s fixation on his own inner world. It gives rise to a “psychologized” view of the world of reality, when the surrounding world and existing problems are explained with the help of psychological concepts and ideas. The “psychologization” of society, which Khoroshilov writes about, in his opinion, also enhances the individualization of society, which, while ensuring the freedom of self-expression of the individual, at the same time carries the danger of weakening social ties.