The article sets theoretical ground for the content and structure of the “altruistic investment” networking strategy as one of the strategies of individual social behavior. Altruistic investment is based, firstly, on the value of a benevolent attitude toward all people; secondly, the desire of the individual to improve the “social situation” for all its participants and thirdly, it involves conscious action for the sake of the common good, namely, investing resources in maintaining positive group norms and protecting justice. The study used the modified social dilemmas, “Public good dilemma” and “Dictator game under third-party punishment”. Using structural modeling in a sample of 362 people, it was found that the empirical data correspond to the a priori model of altruistic investment in the group’s social capital. The structure of the networking strategy of the individual contains the value, motivational and be havioral components. The role of altruistic investment in the formation of the social capital of the group is shown.

The collective monograph prepared by the staff of the Department of social psychology of St. Petersburg state University presents theoretical and practical provisions of the current state of social psychology of communication as a branch of scientific knowledge. Various aspects of social psychology of communication on the materials of research conducted in recent years by domestic and foreign researchers are considered here. A significant place is occupied by the works of psychologists of St. Petersburg state University. Since communication in various forms accompanies all human activity, the content of this monograph covers a wide range of communication processes in the areas of family and professional organizations, in various social groups — small and large. Special attention is paid to the problems of inter-ethnic relations and intercultural communication. This book may be of interest to specialists-psychologists and representatives of related scientific disciplines — sociologists, cultural scientists and ethnographers. Students-psychologists of senior courses and graduate students, referring to this work, will undoubtedly be able to deepen their understanding of the phenomenon of communication in human life.

<p style="text-align: justify;">The article presents the report of the International Scientific-Practical Conference "Ananiev Readings&ndash;2022. 60 Years of Social Psychology at St. Petersburg State University: From Origins to New Achievements and Innovations", held on October 18-21, 2022 at St. Petersburg State University. The main events and activities of the conference are highlighted. The article presents the main stages of origin, formation and development of the first Russian psychological science department of social psychology at the Saint-Petersburg (Leningrad) University, starting from development of theory and methodology issues to solution of social and psychological problems of an individual, group, collective and society. The importance of scientific exchange of experience of researchers of different scientific schools and directions is emphasized for the joint solution of urgent socio-psychological problems of modern society.</p>

The article describes the process of verifying the constructive validity of the “Altruistic Investment Scale”. Altruistic investment is one of the networking strategies that allow scientists to consider the social behavior of an individual in terms of its involvement in the mechanisms of social capital formation and conversion. The results of the empirical research confirm the theoretical model and show that the developed scale corresponds to the components of the strategy, measured in an alternative ways. Testing of this hypothesis was carried out using structural modeling (n = 362). The reliability of the scale was 0.74 (Cronbach’s alpha, n = 670), the grades obtained by the scale do not depend on gender, are not related to social desirability, and correlate in the expected way with other scales of altruism and selfishness. The principal novelty of the construct of altruistic investment was demonstrated. In contrast to the construct of altruism, which is motivational by its essence, altruistic investment is a more complex concept and includes values and behavioral components as well. Moreover, the Altruistic Investment Scale doesn’t measure the ‘first-order’ altruism.

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