What is acmeology and should you trust it

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The ideas of this discipline are thousands of years old, but this is not yet a reason to consider it a truly scientific theory.

What is acmeology and how did it come about

Acmeology is a discipline that studies the characteristics of the development of a person and personality, and also looks for ways to reach the highest point in this process. Acmeologists conduct their research in the field of psychological and educational sciences, but also refer to the achievements of biology, gerontology, genetics, neurosciences and other industries.

The name comes from the ancient Greek ακμή ("acme") - "top". In ancient Greece, this word was called the culmination of creative and mental development, which, according to ancient ideas, came at 40 years old. Today in psychology this term is used for Acme. A large psychological dictionary. M. 2003 the highest point in the intellectual, psychological and professional development of a person.

Thus, acmeology studies the peak of human activity in adulthood (30-50 years) and the ways to reach this peak.

For the first time the term "acmeology" was used in 1928 by the Soviet psychologist Nikolai Rybnikov. So, by analogy with pedology - an interdisciplinary direction in pedagogy that studies child development, he proposed to call the science of the development of mature people. In the middle of the 20th century, another Soviet psychologist, Boris Ananiev, determined the place of acmeology in the system of human sciences.

In 1992, Professor Anatoly Derkach and Academician Aleksey Bodalev created the Department of Acmeology and Psychology of Professional Activity at the RAGS under the President of the Russian Federation (today it is RANEPA), which is still working today.

In 1995, the Acmeological Academy was founded in St. Petersburg, later transformed into the St. Petersburg Institute of Psychology and Acmeology.

Today, acmeology is trying to Derkach A. A., Selezneva E. V. Acmeology in questions and answers. M. 2007 to go beyond psychology and establish links with cultural studies, philosophical anthropology and other areas of knowledge. Researchers highlight Acmeology. Textbook ed. A. A. Derkach. M. 2004 military, informational, medical, managerial, pedagogical, political, sports, ethnic and other branches of acmeology.

What does acmeology study

In addition to acme, the concepts of maturity, competence, professionalism, selfhood and subjectivity, self-knowledge, self-regulation and self-creation fall into the field of vision of acmeologists. Researchers are seeking Acmeology. Textbook ed. A. A. Derkach. M. 2004 to understand how a person improves himself, how he can fully use his life resources and achieve a flourishing professional and creative activity.

In accordance with this, acmeologists give all sorts of recommendations on how to get the most out of your acme and how to evaluate your results and professionalism.

Acmeologists believe that the basis for the achievements of adults is laid by A. Derkach, E. Selezneva. Acmeology in questions and answers. M. 2007 in childhood, when a child accumulates experience, forms an attitude towards work, creativity, leadership, and so on.

Acmeology specialists call a mature person a person with a developed sense of responsibility, who is able to care for others and seeks to be constructive in solving problems. The main indicator of maturity is the presence of achievements that are recognized by others.

Acmeology is called to help in the development of these qualities. Textbook ed. A. A. Derkach. M. 2004 Applied Acmeology. According to this discipline, in order to become successful, for example, a civil servant, he needs to develop the ability to empathize, patience, attentiveness and responsibility. It is also important to maintain physical and mental health, as well as some kind of active energy.

Is acmeology scientific

This branch of knowledge is included in the list of scientific specialties of the Higher Attestation Commission with the code "19.00.13 Developmental psychology, acmeology". According to the data of the topic of dissertations and abstracts in the specialty HAC RF 19.00.13. Developmental psychology, acmeology. disserCat site disserCat, in this direction the applicants have defended more than 1,700 theses.

However, there are factors that negatively affect the status of this discipline.

Acmeologists are mostly published in their own journal "Akmeologiya", which has been published since 2001, and there is practically no wide scientific discussion involving scientists not associated with it.

The specialists of this discipline themselves admit the imperfection of its methodology. Here are just a few criticisms:

• Acmeology does not have its own subject of research, it remains within the framework of psychology.
• Acmeology is in its infancy, but claims to be universal in its knowledge.
• Articles are often written not by acmeologists, but by students, civil servants, or even the military. As a result, these works often deal with issues not directly related to acmeology.
• The laws and definitions of acmeology are not specific: contradictions about who is considered to have achieved acme arise even among acmeologists.
• At the same time, their very ideas have already been thousands of years old - the ancient philosophers were aware of the need for self-development. Acmeology, on the other hand, does not report anything new.
• Despite the discipline's many years of existence, its evidence base is still weak or absent.

Because of this, the results of many acmeological studies are mediocre and insignificant. For example, the idea that success largely depends on a person's desire can be heard even in the lowest quality psychological trainings.

Motivation (goal, aspiration, need, ideal) as a factor in the development of personality is specific in that it fixes the desired future state of reality, which is not yet available, which does not exist. Motivation contains a contradiction between an undesirable present and a desired future, and only because of this it becomes a stimulus, a driving force of activity, activity aimed at resolving, removing this contradiction …

Thus, the future becomes the source of the present, the desired result of the activity turns out to be a stimulus for its implementation, the consequence becomes the driving force that precedes the actually developed activity in time as a “material” cause of the objective result obtained.

Acmeology. Textbook ed. A. A. Derkach. M. 2004

Acmeology is not studied outside the post-Soviet space. Philosopher Artemy Magun, analyzing the state of Russian universities, put it in a number of disciplines, the formation of which, in his opinion, is associated with the crisis of science in the territory of the former USSR. Magun connects their appearance with the separation of the Soviet sciences, primarily social ones, from the world research experience and the lack of mutual criticism.

The status of research organizations for acmeologists is also controversial.

In 2016, Rosobrnadzor stripped Y. Chayun. The Institute of Psychology and Acmeology lost its accreditation. Kommersant St. Petersburg Institute of Psychology and Acmeology of state accreditation for non-compliance with state standards, including the implementation of the program not in full. The university at that moment was undergoing a complete absorption procedure by the East European Institute of Psychoanalysis, and this educational institution soon also remained Feofanov S. Return the license to the East European Institute of Psychoanalysis. The Village without accreditation.

The growing crisis of acmeology is noticeable: dissertation councils on it are closed, universities are liquidating the departments of acmeology, the enrollment of new students is being reduced, and there are demands to exclude the discipline from the list of the Higher Attestation Commission.

Here we can also recall that acmeologists are looking for interdisciplinary connections with another branch of knowledge - synergetics, the application of which in the humanities in the Russian Academy of Sciences is called pseudoscientific.

Complementing the dubious reputation of acmeology is the proliferation of numerous trainers and organizations offering their services in "unlocking potential" and "evolution of consciousness." There are also information businessmen who are ready to teach “the demanded remote profession“Akmeolog””.

So it turns out that acmeology is a dubious "science" about everything and nothing. The arguments for this "art of achievement" are vague, and the advice is speculative and well-known. After all, you don't need to be an acmeologist to understand that the foundation of the human personality is laid in childhood, and the ability to take responsibility and take care of loved ones are signs of maturity.