The present study examined the differences in academic self-handicapping among undergraduate students based on personality traits and age. Participants (N = 440) completed two questionnaires-Big Five Inventory and Self-handicapping Scale. Analysis of data reveals that significant negative correlation exists between academic self-handicapping of undergraduates and their next personality traits-agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to new experience (with r = −.322, −.317 and −.161 respectively), while with neuroticism this correlation is positive (r = .439). The academic self-handicapping did not show any significant correlation with extraversion and students' age. Considering the negative impact of academic self-handicapping in educational process and significant relationship between academic self-handicapping and personality traits, teachers and counsellors need to pay more attention to students' personality as one of the important factors affecting motivation and achievement.

The present study provides an analysis of the concept of procrastination and its features, together with a discussion of the fundamental approaches to its investigation. It examines procrastination as a threat to the psychological security of the educational environment. The author presents the results of an empirical investigation of the characteristics of interpersonal relations in the educational environment, academic motivation, and general motivation of students with various degrees of procrastination. The subjects of the investigation were 95 students, of the average age of 18.2 years, in an institution of higher education dedicated to the humanities. The subjects were evaluated using the procrastination scale for student populations developed by C. Lay, the academic motivation scale of R.J. Vallerand, the self-evaluation survey of motivation of academic, intellectual, and professional activity developed by N.A. Bakshaeva and A.A. Verbitsky, and the “Survey of Interpersonal Relations in an Educational Environment” developed by G.S. Kozhukhar and V.V. Kovrov. The primary hypothesis of the study, that the interconnections of interpersonal relations in an educational environment with academic and general motivation would differ in the groups of students with different levels of procrastination, was confirmed. The differences in the evaluations of the quality of interpersonal relations, and indicators of academic and intellectual motivation of students with different levels of procrastination were of special particular significance. It was shown that, the higher the level of students’ procrastination, the greater the interaction between the negative aspects of interpersonal relations in the educational environment and the external academic motivation.

The COVID-19 pandemic, combined with high transmission and mortality rates of the infection, created an unprecedented state of emergency worldwide. The risk of infection and death, the experience of social isolation, alongside with loss of control over the situation and frightening information caused the "pandemic of fear" that had spread across regions and countries. The aim of this review is to summarize and to analyze the results of numerous studies of the COVID-19 pandemic psychological consequences for the population of different countries and the world as a whole, as well as for individual categories of population, and COVID-19 related risk factors. Relatively high levels of fear, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, psychological distress and stress have been observed and continue to be observed among the population of China, Spain, Italy, Iran, the United States, Turkey, Nepal, Denmark, and other countries. The most severe symptoms of psychological trauma are demonstrated by medical workers, women, young people, those who had lost their jobs during the crisis, people with chronic diseases, etc. It is especially important to continue international and interdisciplinary researches aimed at identifying and mitigating the dangerous effects of COVID-19 on people's mental health and psychological well-being.

The relevance of studying psychological separation as a condition determining the development of goal setting in students is substantiated. The features of the relationship of psychological separation from parents with goal setting for boys (N=23) and girls (N=42) from complete families are revealed. The study used the questionnaire Psychological Separation Inventory (PSI), an adaptation by V.P. Dzukaeva, T.Yu. Sadovnikov, “Value Orientations” technique by M. Rokich, “Life-Oriented Orientations” test D.A. Leontiev (adapted version of the test “Purpose in life” by J. Krambo and L. Makholik), questionnaire “Style of self-regulation of behavior” V.I. Morosanovoy. The results of a study confirming the presence of specific differences in the components of psychological separation from parents and goal-setting in boys and girls are presented. Boys are distinguished by the leading nature of separation from parents. Psychological separation from parents, in turn, is closely connected with the value-semantic and operational characteristics of goalsetting in boys and girls.

In a situation of increasing socio-political contradictions, terrorist threats, man-made, natural disasters and a pandemic, the relevance of the study of the psychological safety of the individual, factors and mechanisms that ensure the safe existence of a person increases. The article analyzes the components of the psychological safety of a person as an integral quality: moral-communicative, motivational-volitional, value-semantic and inner comfort. The results of studies of the psychological safety of a person in the context of meaning formation, overcoming behavior, and experiencing probabilistic threats to subjective well-being are presented.

The article is devoted to the study of the features of the volitional component of the personality’s psychological security and its impact on the professional success of extreme physicians. The results of the study of resuscitators and ambulance physicians (70 people, average age 47.9 years) show that a high level of volitional self-regulation is combined with such strong-willed qualities as perseverance, self-control, self-government, as well as self-control in various spheres of life. Professional success of physicians at the stage of “middle maturity” is characterized not only by a high level of development of personal, psychological and professional qualities, formed skills, effectiveness of medical manipulations, but also by high degree of self-efficacy in the fields of activity and interpersonal. The higher the level of volitional self-regulation of physicians, the higher the effectiveness of their activities according to expert assessments and self-efficacy in the field of activity. All physicians, regardless of the level of volitional self-regulation, have a high level of self-control in the emotional sphere and self-efficacy in the field of interpersonal relations, as well as well-formed professional skills and abilities.

In the current situation, the relevance of studying the problems of the psychological security of the individual, the conditions and technologies that ensure its safe formation and development is increasing. The article presents an overview of foreign studies of the peculiarities of the influence of virtual reality technologies on the psychological safety of students, specialists, pensioners in situations of specially organized training. The results of studies of the psychological safety of a person in the context of the development of cognitive abilities, psychological well-being, mental and psychological health are analyzed. It is shown that interventions in virtual reality and game models based on virtual reality technologies used in education allow students to overcome the risks and threats to psychological security. The necessity of developing virtual reality technologies is substantiated, taking into account the goals of training and the conditions for their use by students of different ages, in different professional fields and cultures to ensure the psychological safety of the individual.

Introduction. As ever there is a high demand for higher education, the problem of goal setting to increase student academic performance becomes relevant. Russian and foreign authors are addressing this problem and looking for ways to improve the situation, because every year many students fail and leave their colleges/universities. The purpose of this study is to identify and analyze the characteristics of goal setting among students with advanced and average academic performances. Materials and Methods. 98 full-time sophomore students from the Moscow State University of Psychology and Education were surveyed. To determine the characteristics of student’s goal setting, the following diagnostic complex was employed: Methodology for studying the motives of educational activity, Academic Motivation Scale (AMS), Testing “Meaningful Orientationsˮ, Methodology for measuring the parameters of life goals, Questionnaire for identifying the severity of self-control in the emotional sphere, activity and behavior, Questionnaire “Action controlˮ, methodology “Style of self-regulation of educational activity”. The following methods of mathematical statistics were used: Frequency and factor analysis of the IBM program SPSS Statistics 21. Results. The substantiation of goal-setting as an initiative orientation at the motivational-semantic, emotional-volitional and operational levels made it possible to specify the features of goal-setting in students with high and average academic performance. Students with high academic performance are dominated by internal educational, cognitive, professional motives, meaningful life orientations, and the ability to develop and implement goals. Students with average academic performance are characterized by external known motives, they experience problems of planning, thinking through, detailing actions to achieve the intended goals. Discussion and Conclusion. The conclusions drawn by the author contribute to the development of ideas about goal-setting as an integral process at different levels of orientation and its role in improving the academic performance of students. The materials of the article will help researchers and practitioners in solving the problems of developing and implementing programs for providing psychological assistance and support to students who have difficulty setting and achieving goals in the learning process at universities with various educational backgrounds and academic levels.