UDC 316.6
VIRTUAL AND REAL COLLECTIVE SUBJECT

N.S. Kozlova, Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Social Psychology
Ivanovo State University, Russia
Abstract. The article is caused by the need of categorical device development of the problem of researches of
personality subjectivity phenomenon, which can be shown both in the context of real collective subjects and in the virtual environment created with the help of modern communication means. It emphasizes the need of differentiation of the
concepts “real collective subject”, “virtual collective subject”, individual “virtual collective subject”.
Keywords: virtual collective subject, individual “virtual collective subject”, Internet environment, personality,
real collective subject, subjectivity of the personality.
One of the most interesting topics of modern social psychology is connected with the problem of considering
the person as the subject of his activity. He is not an adaptant to the environment surrounding him, he is the converter of
his environment or the creature possessing ability as K.A. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya noted, to the organization, reorganization of the activity. “… the subject carries out the strategic directions of interaction with the world by means of their
set he lays this or that lifeline of the personality” [4, p. 47]. We will emphasize that this opportunity is inherent only in
the person, as to the self-creating being as subjectivity in other life is set by genetic species determinants.
Different forms manifestation of realization of personality subjectivity becomes one of the most significant
problems.
If the individual subject in social psychology is rather differentiated, the concept of the collective subject as
environment of personal self-fulfillment remains rather many-valued.
We consider that the meaning of the last is most precisely reflected in the definition of social group given by
John Turner [7, 12] and interpreted subsequently by I. R. Sushkov as set of individuals, “... which is characterized by
their experience of the uniform social and psychological relation caused by interaction of these individuals” [6, p. 227].
It is necessary to add that only this relation organizes and reorganizes their joint activity and forms the collective subject.
1. Personality and real collective subject
The collective subject, which became the new level of the nature organization, and resulted in need of emergence of consciousness phenomenon for mentality of the concrete individual, includes this already human individual,
already the personality in structure of the social collective relations. The mentality of the individual starts mastering the
relations in the collective subject and between them. It starts reflecting the processes happening out of the individual
level of existence.
But the way of this involvement remains not absolutely clear from the point of view of modern social and psychological knowledge. The understanding becomes possible due to return to individual subjectivity of the personality
shown in borders of the real collective subject.
The subject of subjectivity of the personality was raised in works of A.V. Brushlinskiy and it is continued by
A. L. Zhuravlev, E. A. Sergienko and some other scientists [1, 4, 5].
But owing to the traditional development of social and psychological knowledge constructed on the evolutionary principles of development of the nature the concept of the individual subject of activity in consciousness of the specific identity is perceived much easier and more really than the concept of the collective subject which is above it and is
a higher level of the organization of life in general.
Nevertheless, even the authoritative biologist Jean-Marie Schäffer (in his book “The End of Human Exclusiveness”) recognizes that the world of living beings consists of two considerably disconnected classes – on the one hand,
these are fauna forms, on the other hand, the person [8]. And human transformed the collective subject from and in the
natural.
The real collective subject possesses, according to A.L. Zhuravlev's position, the following properties: 1) integrity when activity of any personality affects not simply reactions, but activity of all others; 2) ability of group to show
joint activity when interaction of people gains nature of mutual assistance; 3) experience of feeling “We”, as result of
self-reflection [2].
We can add another important sign, in our opinion – existence of social control mechanisms of the behavior
and activity of individual members of the collective subject, which coordinates interactions of individual participants of
such subject. Such control is realized through feelings of individual responsibility, fault and shame in the situation of
deviation of individual actions from the represented motives and the purposes of the collective subject. It becomes essentially important for our further reasoning as only they allow set of people to turn into collective subject.
“… the social essence of the person, in S.L. Rubinstein's understanding, is concluded in its constant frontage to
other person, other people, through interaction with them the person exists and has self-fulfillment” [Ibid. p. 72]. This
A.L. Zhuravlev's representation of the position of one of the domestic classics of social psychology opens an essence of
the collective subject and brings us to the necessity of the statement about existence in each person of individual need
© Kozlova N.S. / Козлова Н.С., 2015
for the collective subject.
The collective subject did not remain an external condition for the individual to which it is only necessary to
adapt. Owing to consciousness phenomenon, it becomes part of the individual subject. It instills in the individual criteria of perception of the outside world, that is valuable structure of perception, forms essentially new requirements directed on preservation and development of the collective subject. As a result, due to identification processes there is
need for protection of collective subjects as themselves and even to the detriment of own organic life in people.
It brings to the idea that in mentality of a person as social being there is essentially new requirement inexplicable from the point of view of evolutionary process – requirement to become the organizer of the collective subject to
promote its preservation and development by own forces (the idea belongs to I.R. Sushkov).
This requirement, determining consciousness of the personality, forces it to be identified with communities,
which are provided to it by a real social context of individual activity.
2. Virtual collective subject of the personality
In consciousness of the personality projections of all real collective subjects, to which it belongs or wishes to
belong are integrated. Thus in mentality of the person not the real, but virtual collective subject by reference to which
he also builds his behavior is presented.
Virtuality, in this case, is understood not as phantom of the imagination, which does not have a real basis under
itself, as it is sometimes treated in literature. It is impossible to imagine phantom even of the rampant imagination and
hallucinations not relying on reality at least poorly. Virtual we understand as possible which can or has to be shown
under certain conditions (from Latin virtualis) [3]. In our opinion, it is the most exact definition of the concept of “virtuality”.
Such tendency is explained by the congenital egocentrism of identity. By means of it, the person is able to assume responsibility for his own life and life of his relatives and to be intent on his self-fulfillment among these people,
keeping them and promoting increase of their well-being as continuation of himself and his own activity filled with individual sense.
At consciousness of the personality there is only a virtual collective subject created in the course of the personality life and socialization and during vital process the virtual collective subject included the different real communities
which passed identification process.
But this virtual subject has got important property of social control: conscience and sense of guilt, which do not
allow the person within bounds to break traditional character of the chosen way.
But each personality has individual ideas of community, which can realize as much as possible ideas of own
well-being and ways of self-actualization. They cannot correspond to the real social context of the individual subject
activity. Therefore, he will look for the corresponding social environment, which will give resources and opportunities
to do it.
The recent trends of development of the technogenic sphere lifting many restrictions in people communication
allow going further in understanding social determinants of filling individual human life with sense of personal activity
according to personal ideas of reality. In this connection the maximum opportunities are given to the personality by
Internet space.
3. Individual “virtual collective subject”
In this space the user of the Internet environment can form or elect communities according to his individual requirements. Eventually, he can become the founder of the individual collective subject, but it will already be individual
“virtual collective subject”.
In our opinion such opportunity reveals only thanks to the fact that the role of social control of the personality
behavior is significantly lost in the Internet environment. Sanctions for deviation from the standard norms are minimized. The personality can be expelled from the structure of community but only with the help of the efforts of most of
the members of this community or special procedures provided by moderators of community. However, such solution
only leads to the identity recategorization and to search of other communities, which are coordinated with the views of
the individual user.
H. Tajfel and J. Turner's numerous experiments showed that experience of uniform subsumption to a certain
category with others is that initial factor with which identification with this set of others begins [8, 9, 11].
Such possibility of free search of sets, which correspond with the individual needs turns the Internet into heal
all of formation of the person as individual “virtual collective subject”, giving massive opportunities for the selffulfillment, which is not connected with mechanisms of responsibility, conscience and sense of guilt, which are inevitable at own realization in the real collective subject.
According to the definition of the real collective subject we can define individual “virtual collective subject” as
set of people with which the personality, as it considers, shares the uniform social and psychological relation in the corresponding aspect of personality activity. Minimization of the role of social control becomes one of the main properties
of such subject. Thus all other properties, which are inherent in the real collective subject, remain.
It is logical to assume that individual “virtual collective subject” can be used by the personality as certain compensation of feeling of disappointment by the real collective subject.
Individual “virtual collective subject” is the object of our empirical research, as it becomes peculiar “litmus
test” showing true needs and desires of the modern person.
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Материал поступил в редакцию 08.06.15.
ВИРТУАЛЬНЫЙ И РЕАЛЬНЫЙ КОЛЛЕКТИВНЫЙ СУБЪЕКТ
Н.С. Козлова, кандидат психологических наук, доцент кафедры социальной психологии
Ивановский государственный университет, Россия
Аннотация. Статья обусловлена необходимостью развития категориального аппарата проблемы исследований феномена субъектности личности, который может проявляться как в контексте реальных коллективных субъектов, так и в виртуальной среде, создаваемой с помощью современных коммуникационных
средств. Она подчеркивает необходимость дифференциации понятий «реальный коллективный субъект»,
«виртуальный коллективный субъект», «индивидуальный «виртуальный коллективный субъект».
Ключевые слова: виртуальный коллективный субъект, индивидуальный «виртуальный коллективный
субъект», интернет-среда, личность, реальный коллективный субъект, субъектность личности.