Shchukina, Yakovleva

Identificator

EDN: REEXAQ ; УДК: 159.9

Authors

Shchukina Maria Alekseevna, Doctor of Psychology, acting dean of the Faculty of Psychology, professor of the Department of Psychology, V. A. Almazov National Medical Research Center of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. Russia, Saint Petersburg. ORCID: 0000-0002-0834-3548. E-mail: corr5@mail.ru ; Yakovleva Marina Aleksandrovna, master of Psychology, V. A. Almazov National Medical Research Center of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. Russia, Saint Petersburg. ORCID: 0009-0007-5009-5254. E-mail: postcard.psy@mail.ru

Journal

HERALD OF VYATKA STATE UNIVERSITY №2 (156), 2025

Section

PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCES

Pages

86-102

Abstract

Internet memes as an iconic element of digital culture require study not only as a communication tool, but also as a means of self-regulation in the process of living through age/personality crises. The purpose of our study was to identify the features of the subjective assessment of crisis-related Internet memes in people with varying degrees of severity of symptoms of psychological crisis during middle adulthood. The study involved 53 people (29 women) aged 30–45 years, which corresponds to the period of middle adulthood, during which symptoms of regulatory crises characteristic of this age period may manifest themselves. To assess the psychological crisis burden, the Questionnaire "Experiencing a psychological crisis by a personality" by S. V. Dukhnovsky was used.; to study humor as a coping strategy, Martin's Humor Styles Questionnaire and a short version of the Coping Strategies Assessment Methodology SORE-30. To study the perception of crisis-related Internet memes, 15 memes were consistently presented, which were evaluated by respondents using 20 adjectives for the characteristic description of the presented meme using the semantic differential method. A group with a pronounced crisis burden (n=24) was identified in the sample, which differs from the comparison group by a more frequent use of humor as a coping strategy and a preference for destructive humor; in evaluating memes, the group more often used characteristics, that indicate the clarity, sharpness, and closeness of the meme content in connection with their experiences: deep, vital, interesting, understandable, wise, and funny. In the group with a reduced crisis load, semes describing the main features of the crisis period were more likely to cause confusion and were assessed as absurd, stupid, and far-fetched. The results of the study confirm the specificity of the perception and use of humor as a coping strategy in people with different psychological crisis loads during middle adulthood. The data obtained opens up prospects for the use of meme content in psychodiagnostic and counseling practice.

Keywords

crisis of middle adulthood humor as a coping strategy crisis experience Internet meme subjective assessment

Recieved

27.08.2025

Published

14.04.2026

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