The problem of social activity of the personality and groups becomes central in modern social, economic and political psychology. The innovative processes in the society, maintaining a dynamic balance in it, entirely depend on the release of the social activity of the individuals and groups, on its freedom and diversity, constructiveness and responsibility. The article presents a theoretical analysis of the problem of operationalization of the phenomena of social activity of the individual and groups, the synthesis of the disparate data on its foundations, motivators, mechanisms and social effects. The definition of social activity as a special case of initiative impact of social actors on the social environment, as the actions aimed at changing and transforming social objects as a result of which there is a change in the personality and the entire social situation, the problem of its operationalization is discussed. It is shown that social activity is the effect of socialization and development of the individual. The differences of social activity in different age periods and its importance for the individual and its sociopsychological status are singled out. The multi-component structure of the social activity, including the cognitive, emotionally-evaluative, motivational, and behavioral components are highlighted. The incentive mechanisms of social activity (motivation, satisfaction/dissatisfaction as an indicator of diachronic mismatch of personality and the social environment) are analyzed. The empirical research aimed at finding out the predictors and basis of the dominant types of social activity of the individual is outlined.

The growth of social competition and modern trends of economic and social integration in the world encourage the study of the discriminatory attitudes of individuals and groups as a significant barrier in the implementation of these processes. Despite the search for various grounds and factors for the development of discriminatory attitudes, studies of specific attitudes and values towards specific and generalized discriminated groups remain relevant. The aim of this research is to study the role of individual values and ideological attitudes in predicting the prejudice against Others. The study involved 217 people (men - 36 %), mean age M = 28.9; SD = 11.2.Aquestionnaire aimed at assessing the severity of the discriminatory attitude towards the representatives of a number of groups was used. The expression of values is determined by the Sh. Schwartz method. To assess the ideological attitudes of the right-wing authoritarianism, social domination, and belief in a dangerous and competitive world, we used a short version of J. Duckitt’s methodology by D.S. Grigoriev. As a result of the confirmatory factor analysis, four generalized discriminated groups were identified: socially unprotected, dissident, outsider groups and social status groups. The data characterizing the ratio of ideological attitudes and the severity of discrimination of individual groups, as well as generalized groups was obtained. Based on structural modeling the common and specific values for each generalized discriminated group were identified.

Civic identity is an important feature of a socialised person. It regulates numerous personal behavioural manifestations, e.g. commitment to the country, patriotism, willingness to participate in important processes related to democratic procedures, desire to realise values that are of paramount importance for adaptation and integration with other representatives of civil society. The aim of this research is to determine the role of civic identity in the preferences of civil and political forms of social activity among young people in provincial Russia. The study involved 305 people (35.4% men) aged 17 to 35 (M = 21.1; SD = 3.1). The study used a questionnaire aimed at determining the socio-demographic characteristics of the sample group, containing scales for assessing the degree of personal involvement in certain forms of social activity (R.M. Shamionov et al.), Civic Identity Scale (A.N. Tatarko), Self-Assessment of the Propensity for Extreme Risky Behavior Technique (the Russian version of M. Zuckermans Sensation Seeking Scale). The study revealed that the indicators of commitment to protest, radical-protest and subcultural activity are more homogeneous and less pronounced in comparison with the indicators of civic, political and socio-economic activity. As a result of the factor analysis, it was found that civic-political (civic, socio-economic and political) and subcultural-protest (subcultural, protest and radical-protest) forms of activity constitute two stable factors. As a result of structural modelling, it was shown that civic identity has a positive impact on social activity in the civil-political field and a negative impact on subcultural-protest activity. Seeking new experiences plays a positive role in subcultural-protest activity of young people, while the feeling of uncertainty undermines the manifestations of civic-political activity. The study also revealed an important role of socialisation conditions: the participation of parents in the public life of the country contributes to civic-political activity and the formation of civic identity of their children. Civic identity reduces the manifestation of the feeling of uncertainty and the search for new experiences among young people.