Revival of Domestic Social Psychology

Abstract

The history of origin and development of the first Russian psychological laboratory of social psychology opened at St. Petersburg (Leningrad) State University in September 1962 at the Philosophy Department (under the Psychology Department) headed by E.S. Kuzmin is considered. The first tasks of the laboratory were to develop methods for socio-psychological research and to master them in order to study relationships in labor collectives. The research topic began to expand in 1965 when the Research Institute for Complex Social Research (NIIKSI) was created at Leningrad State University and the laboratory was fully integrated into it. Its staff became involved in scientific and practical work on social planning, the basic idea of which was to regulate the life of work collectives on a scientific basis, based on the objectives of Soviet society. Relevant developments from the laboratory were exhibited at the All-Union Exhibition of Achievements of the USSR in 1969 and 1970. Many of the scientific findings were included in the staff’s PhD theses. In order to increase the efficiency of its management, NIIKSI’s leadership introduced a full-time position of Head of Laboratory. A new stage of its activity began.