No abstract

The paper deals with the structural analysis of self-representations of cosmonauts who have finished their flight careers. Self-representation is a central formation of ego-consciousness while profession and family are two important spheres of the human realization and formation, line of development. The authors consider how veteran cosmonauts represent their families and professional selves, and place of career and family in their lives in context of the theories of activities (A.N. Leontiev) and self-determination (E. Deci, P. Ryan). We analyzed self-representations of 15 veterans enrolled in the corps of cosmonauts in 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. According to our data, different decades mark individual epochs, each with own social-historical context. Cosmonauts in these groups differ in perception of career success, family history, attitude to the life and personal mission at large. Work and family are unequal in their «weight» within the self-representation or self-consciousness structure.