“Incompressibility” of psychological reality and diversity of psychological approaches

The collective monograph “Scientific Approaches in Modern Russian Psychology” (Moscow, 2023) is discussed. To substantiate the need to combine various psychological approaches, the reviewer uses the metaphor of the “incompressibility” of psychological reality (by analogy with the metaphor of the “incompressibility” of biological reality by L. Abbott). A debatable judgment is expressed that one of the grounds for the consolidation of psychologists can be their negative identification through the opposition of: (a) psychology of agency, and (b) neurobiological reductionism. The concept of culture is a positive basis for the consolidation (but also of discussions) for a significant part of psychologists and specialists in other fields. At the same time, it is important to discuss not only its developmental, but also depriving functions. The organic combination of psychological approaches can be hindered by the affective-value polarization of researchers as individuals with significantly different worldviews. It is concluded that the monograph accumulates the efforts of a number of leading Russian scientists and deserves careful reading and study, and parts of its content can be included in anthologies and courses on the methodological foundations of psychology.