Thematic Issue of the Journal "Extreme Psychology and Personal Safety": On Unsafe Behaviour and Psychological Safety

A new thematic issue of the journal "Extreme Psychology and Personal Safety" (No. 3-2026) has been published. The theme of the issue is "Unsafe Behaviour." The thematic editor is Tatyana Nikolaevna Berezina, Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Professor at the Department of Scientific Foundations of Extreme Psychology, Faculty of Extreme Psychology, MSUPE.

The key criterion for classifying behaviour as unsafe is the commission by the subject of actions that contradict safety requirements. In a broad sense, unsafe behaviour encompasses any actions that threaten the psychological safety of the individual; in a narrow sense — from the standpoint of behavioural psychology — actions that increase the likelihood of accidents, injuries, and other adverse consequences for life and health.

The thematic issue opens with a preface by the thematic editor, Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Professor T.N. Berezina, who outlines the main directions of research in the field of unsafe behaviour and psychological safety of the individual and presents the articles in the issue according to these directions.

The first of the presented works in the section "Psychology of Emergency Situations" is an article by T.N. Berezina and A.S. Tsvetkova, which examines the connection between personal characteristics and a predisposition to unsafe behaviour. The authors use the method of natural modelling of a situation of special risk (under conditions of a declared terrorist threat). The data obtained indicate that the choice of unsafe behavioural models by respondents is primarily influenced by situational emotional factors: the emotion of anger increases the predisposition to unsafe behaviour, while a feeling of calm, on the contrary, reduces such a predisposition.

Continuing the line of applied research, the next section turns to technologies for ensuring activity in extreme conditions. The section "Technologies for Ensuring Activity in Extreme Conditions" is represented by articles from both well-known and young authors. In the article by A.V. Kokurin and D.V. Abdrakhmanova, it is shown how the implementation of psychological-pedagogical measures aimed at developing critical thinking, self-regulation skills, and recognition of cyber threats contributes to enhancing the psychological resilience of cadets to destructive information-psychological influences. Researchers from Belgorod A.O. Sharapov and O.I. Shekh presented an integrative model of psychological support for military personnel in conditions of large-scale combat operations: "Three Contours – Four Principles – Five Protocols." Young researchers A.A. Ukolova and K.E. Buzanov presented a review of scientific literature dedicated to the application of virtual reality technologies for the psychological prevention of unsafe behaviour.

While these works focus primarily on prevention and support, the next section turns to the experience of psychological assistance to those who have already encountered extreme situations. The section "Psychological Assistance in Extreme Situations" is represented by an article by a team of authors from St. Petersburg State University — G.V. Moskalenko, A.A. Fomina, V.D. Dotdaeva, and A.I. Zhaldak — "Resilience and Psychological Resources of Family Members of Participants in the Special Military Operation." The data obtained can be used to provide support to families of participants in the Special Military Operation.

From assistance in extreme situations, it is logical to move to the broader social context in which unsafe behaviour unfolds. The section "Social and Political Psychology of Safety" presents articles by Russian and international authors. Colleague Laggoune Salah from the University of Abdelhamid Mehri Constantine 2 (Algeria), in his article "Toxic Leadership and Counterproductive Work Behavior: The Moderating Role of Psychological Safety and Team Cohesion", discusses toxic leadership and its influence on the emergence of unsafe behaviour in the workplace. Russian researchers V.I. Ekimova and N.D. Drizovskaya examine deviant behaviour in adolescents as a factor of unsafety.

The social context of unsafe behaviour naturally leads to the environment in which the basic attitudes of the individual are formed — the educational environment. The section "Psychological Safety of the Educational Environment" includes a study by A.V. Timokhin and G.V. Gnezdilov, "An Integrative Theoretical Model for Studying the Psychological Safety of University Teachers."

Concluding the review of thematic sections, let us turn to material that goes beyond the main theme of the issue: outside the theme of the issue, in the section "Extreme Psychology", an article by E.V. Khramov and E.Yu. Litvinova, "Body Practices in Psychological Rehabilitation for PTSD (Review of Foreign Research)", is presented.

The presented materials are united by a common problematic — unsafe behaviour and psychological safety of the individual in extreme, professional, and everyday conditions. The issue demonstrates an interdisciplinary approach to the problem of unsafe behaviour: it is studied at the intersection of behavioural psychology, psychology of extreme situations, pedagogical and social psychology. The unifying principle is the understanding that unsafe behaviour is not an isolated phenomenon but the result of the interaction of emotional, personal, environmental, and sociocultural factors, requiring comprehensive, multi-level measures of prevention and support.

The issue includes studies conducted under Russian Science Foundation Grant No. 25-28-02920 "Psychological Prevention of Accidents in Extreme Situations: Development of a Diagnostic VR Model for Assessing Predisposition to Unsafe Behaviour", as well as materials from related studies.

The full issue of the journal is available on the portal of psychological publications PsyJournals.ru.