Integrative approach as a psychological basis for the study of socio-natural interaction

Abstract

The paper discusses the application of the integrative approach in the study of the psychological mechanisms of social-ecological interaction. We suggest that defining the principle of interaction between man and nature is important, as this provides the opportunity for scientific substantiation for the processes of subjectifying natural objects. The result of the process is the invocation of more subtle mechanisms of perception revealing the response of the natural world that was poorly accentuated at the time of interaction or unrecognised due to the unpreparedness of the subject of perception. The integrative approach is considered as a concept that includes both intrapsychic integration, which involves a deep connection of mental functions and formations, and interpsychic integration, which allows us to reveal the relationship between man and the living environment, including its natural component. We assume that in order to discover himself as a natural being, an individual has to assess and correctly identify the boundaries of interaction between the individual and the natural being. In this process, the role of using nature as a tool for reflection on various characteristics of the subject’s activity and for building intrapsychic and interpsychic connections and relationships is emphasized. The natural environment in the representation of man is a set of different natural objects and their connections and relationships that have developed as a result of long-term evolution. The uncertainty, complexity, diversity and dynamics of these relationships are the obstacles in the way of building a systematic representation of the world. Thus an individual needs to create specific tools to facilitate psychophysical interaction with nature, in which every step forward, carried out with the help of engineering devices, requires a deep understanding of the consequences both for the individual, and the surrounding natural objects. Objectification of the environment and selection of useful properties of natural objects in the process of learning are generally limited by the accompanying adverse effects, and therefore may be accompanied by moral prohibitions. In this aspect, the integrative approach can be effective for the analysis of approaches to the unification of the natural sphere, the psychosphere and the technosphere. The paper attempts to demonstrate the productivity of the functional analysis of the interaction process between man and nature on the grounds of implicitness (the focus on intrapsychic education) and explicitness (the focus on the identification of mental properties of an individual and the creative transformation of the living environment), revealing psychological mechanisms linking and supporting the unity of man and nature.