Rigidity in Personality Organization: The Historical Background and Research Issue

The –issues of research on rigidity in personality organization – are discussed indepth in this article as the main theoretical and applied aspects of one of the relevant areas of general psychology. In this regard, the reasons for the formulation of the stated problem in its proper psychological aspect are presented and interpreted: the absence of a single categorical and conceptual apparatus; spectral and local organization of scientific rigidity research; “bipolar” character reflecting the convergence process of rigidity and flexibility; the vagueness of the content, boundaries and place of rigidity in the system of psychological concepts, its structural and functional organization, position among other structural components of personality and the relationship with them. As a result of the difficulties associated with the formation of a unified view on the genesis of the concept, justification of the choice of basic definitions, diversification of approaches in the study of rigidity, the allocation of structural components, the concept of rigidity is used and interpreted in various contexts differently. It is shown that the current research on rigidity in the structure of personality aims to solve the important, but narrow issues despite of their high theoretical and practical significance. At the same time, relevant general issues fall out of scientists’ sight and need to be discussed. The rigidity research should be carried out as in the field of general psychology and rigidity should be studied within the section of cognitive processes taking into account its key aspects including dynamics and structural organization. Strate gically, in order to develop theoretical ideas about the psychological concept of rigidity, study its procedural side, analyze key aspects of structural organization and dynamics, it is necessary to make a reasonable choice of both a theoretical and methodological foundation and a theoretical model supplemented by the results of empirical research. Along with this, it is worth drawing attention of the scientific community to the issue of determination the causes of manifestation of personality rigidity. Summarizing the presented materials, the author concludes that rigidity in personality organization should be studied as a general psychology problem.