Nikulo E. А. Socio-psychological Characteristics of Entrepreneurs’ Responsible Attitude to Representatives of Various Social Groups

The article was written with support from Russian Foundation for the Humanities (grant No. 13-36-01275, project title "Socio-psychological Factors of Responsible Attitude in Business Interaction").

(The Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences)

Abstract ♦ Studying the problem of entrepreneurs’ attitude to various groups of other participants of business cooperation (in particular, to their partners, employees and competitors) has both theoretical and practical importance. This article focuses on the issues of responsibility as a psychological attitude to other people in business interaction.

Responsible attitude as a distinct type of psychological relations is the central category of this article. We define it as a set of emotive views and assessments with varying levels of preparedness to stand accountable for the qualitative characteristics of the relations in business interaction. Accepting responsibility is reflected in the degree of focus on cooperation, on understanding the other party, on tolerant attitude, and on downplaying domination in business interaction.

In 2009–2012, a study of responsible attitude of entrepreneurs to the participants of business interaction covered 203 entrepreneurs. The survey revealed that responsible attitude as a type of psychological relations is interconnected with a retrospective assessment of the substantive components of business cooperation, with its topical assessment and forecast of future change.

Performing the function of social orientation, entrepreneurs’ responsible attitude to other participants of business interaction is differentiated and provides a combination of stability and variability depending on the role played by others. Partners and customers have a special place in the structure of social relations. Responsible attitude towards them is stable and consistent, regardless of the negative assessment of past experiences or the present state of interaction.

Keywords: Russian entrepreneurs, social psychology, economic psychology, psychology of entrepreneurship, social interaction, psychological attitudes, responsible attitude, responsibility.

Nikulo Ekaterina Aleksandrovna, Candidate of Psychology, Consulting Psychologist, Center for Emotional and Image Therapy LLC, Moscow. Postal address: 51 Marshal Tukhachevsky St., Moscow, Russian Federation, 123103. Tel.: +7 (499) 755-76-71. Email: e.gruzdeva@gmail.com

Citation: Nikulo, E. А. (2014) Sotsial'no-psikhologicheskie kharakteristiki otvetstvennogo otnosheniia predprinimatelei k predstaviteliam raznykh sotsial'nykh grupp [Socio-psychological Characteristics of Entrepreneurs’ Responsible Attitude to Representatives of Various Social Groups]. Znanie. Ponimanie. Umenie, no. 3, pp. 245–257. (In Russ.).

Submission date: 30.05.2014.

RUSSIAN VERSION

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