CULTURAL CONGRUENCE AND DIVERGENT THINKING IN –-YEAR-OLD TEENAGERS

Abstract

Relevance of the study. The study of cultural congruence in creative teenagers presents a signifi cant challenge due to the confl icting demands of cultural norms and the conditions necessary to foster creativity. These conditions are crucial for the social and personality development of teenagers. Despite the importance of this issue, there is a lack of research examining the complex relationship between contrasting psychological traits in adolescents, such as cultural congruence and creativity. Research objective is the analysis of correlation between cultural congruence and divergent thinking in younger and older teenagers, and assessment of the extent to which divergent thinking affects cultural congruence in a normative setting. Methods and sampling. The study involved  teenagers aged - (M=.) and was conducted during a year between March  and March  at multi-profi le lyceums in Kazan, Russia. The study used reliable, adapted, and valid methods, the methodology of L.F. Bayanova and O.G. Minyaev “Determining the Level of Cultural Congruence for Adolescents,” H. Zivert’s questionnaire “Determining Creative Abilities”, F. Williams’ “Test of Personality Creative Characteristics,” N.A. Baturin and E.L. Soldatova’s “Diagnosis of Divergent Thinking,” A.V. Zverkov and E.V. Eidman’s questionnaire “Study of Willful Self-Regulation”, and V.I. Morosanova’s questionnaire “Style of Behavior Self-Regulation”. Key fi ndings. The study found that younger adolescents show more cultural primitivity and highly developed divergent thinking compared to older teenagers. A variance analysis established the infl uence of divergent thinking on the cultural congruence of teenagers. Conclusion. These results are of practical signifi cance and can be used as the basis for developmental programs when working with teenagers.