Social psychological climate in social psychology. Social and psychological climate in the organization

Chapter 10. CULTURE AND CLIMATE OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS

§ 2. Characteristics of the socio-psychological climate of various social organizations

For an integral characteristic of social organization, the following concepts are often used: “socio-psychological climate”, “moral-psychological climate”, “psychological climate”, “emotional climate”, “moral climate”, etc. In relation to the workforce, they sometimes talk about “production” or “organizational” climate. In most cases, these concepts are used in approximately the same sense, which, however, does not exclude significant variability in specific definitions. In the domestic literature there are several dozen definitions of socio-psychological climate and various research approaches. There are much fewer specific developments aimed at improving the climate of work collectives.

In the most general way socio-psychological climate can be defined as the state of members of an organization, determined by the peculiarities of its life activity. This state is a kind of fusion of emotional and intellectual - attitudes, relationships, moods, feelings, opinions of members of the organization. All these are elements of the socio-psychological climate. Let us also note that the mental state of members of the organization is characterized by varying degrees of awareness.

It is necessary to clearly distinguish between the elements of the socio-psychological climate and the factors influencing it. For example, the peculiarities of work organization are not elements of the socio-psychological climate, although their influence on the formation of a particular climate is undoubted.

The socio-psychological climate is always a reflected, subjective formation, in contrast to what is reflected - the objective life of a given organization and the conditions in which it occurs. Of course, what is reflected and what is reflected in the sphere of public life are dialectically interconnected.

The presence of a close connection between the socio-psychological climate of a team and the behavior of its members should not lead to their identification, although the peculiarities of this relationship cannot be ignored. Thus, the nature of the relationships in the team (reflected) acts as a factor influencing the climate. At the same time, the perception of these relationships by its members (reflected) represents an element of climate.

Based on this, we can say that the socio-psychological climate is a reflection of the state of relations and communication between individual members and structural units of a social organization in the form of a corresponding mood, psycho-emotional state, levels of views, which affects performance, discipline and other indicators.

There are “healthy” and “unhealthy” socio-psychological climates. The health of an organization and its climate is determined by the social utility of its functions. If dysfunction occurs, the organization objectively becomes dangerous to society. In other words, an organization that is economically prosperous can become “unhealthy” if its sources of profit are illegal.

A healthy socio-psychological climate is one that is based on the satisfaction of members of the organization and whose functions do not contradict the functions of the state and society.

The socio-psychological climate largely depends on the type of organization, communities and conditions in which they operate. The state of the socio-psychological climate is influenced by:

1. Type of organization those. whether it is a state or commercial structure; closed (security) or open institution; scientific or production team; a charitable organization or a criminal association.

2. Lifestyle(rural, urban, etc.), as well as the quality of life of the organization’s members.

3. Conditions: social (socio-political, socio-economic, socio-cultural) and environmental. They can be divided into micro- and macroconditions, as well as normal, complicated and extreme. Each type of conditions largely determines the socio-psychological climate of the organization. It’s one thing when both the social and environmental situation are normal. However, when unfavorable conditions arise, the socio-psychological climate of the organization changes. Thus, social tension negatively affects the climate of most organizations.

Closed (regime) organizations include military, scientific, commercial, and monastery-type organizations, medical (informational), educational, and industrial (military-industrial complex) organizations, institutions executing criminal punishment, crews of spaceships, and teams of specialists, serving Antarctic stations. These organizations perform different tasks and functions and have varying degrees of physical and information isolation. At first glance, it seems that there is nothing in common between them, but the isolating deformation of social relations forms unique, and often typical, features of the socio-psychological climate of closed institutions.

The socio-psychological climate of an organization is formed due to many different influences, which can be divided into macro- and microenvironmental factors.

Under macroenvironment refers to a large social space, a wide environment within which one or another work collective is located and carries out its life activities. First of all, this includes the cardinal features of the socio-economic structure of the country, and more specifically, the specificity of a given stage of its development, which is accordingly manifested in the activities of various social institutions, the level of unemployment, the likelihood of bankruptcy, etc. Social relations inherent in a particular stage permeate everything aspects of the organization's life. The macro environment also includes the level of development of material and spiritual production, the culture of society as a whole. Finally, the macroenvironment is also characterized by a certain social consciousness, reflecting a given social existence in all its contradictions. Thus, all of us - and any organization, and each person individually - are representatives of our era, a certain historical period in the development of society and depend on zigzags in politics, the economic crisis, the decline in the level of morality, legal disorder, etc.

Ministries and departments, concerns, joint-stock companies, the system of which includes this or that enterprise (institution), carry out certain management influences in relation to the latter, which is also an important factor in the influence of the macroenvironment on the socio-psychological climate of the organization.

As significant factors of the macroenvironment affecting the climate among members of the enterprise, it should be noted their diverse partnerships with other organizations, as well as with consumers of their products. The influence of this factor on the climate of the workforce is significantly enhanced in a market economy.

Microenvironment institutions are the “field” of people’s daily activities, those specific material and spiritual conditions in which they work. It is at this level that certain influences of the macroenvironment acquire for each individual their specificity and connection with the realities of life practice. The effectiveness of laws and other regulations is clearly demonstrated here. What is desired (at the macroenvironment level) does not always coincide with what has been achieved (at the microenvironment level). In the most general terms, two main reasons for this can be identified.

Firstly, often a normative act that is important in its design is too general, often declarative in nature, since the mechanism for its implementation has not been thought out, and a system of actions of executive bodies has not been developed. Secondly, these are “internal” reasons, namely: the social passivity of many members of a social organization, their habit of living according to orders from above.

What circumstances, conditions of everyday life form the socio-psychological climate of a particular organization? Let us consider these problems mainly using the example of a primary team - a team, a site, a department, a bureau, a laboratory, i.e. We will talk about teams that do not have structural divisions. Their number can vary: from 3-4 to 50 people or more. The primary labor collective is an important social unit of our society. We can say that this is the “cell” of every enterprise.

First of all, let us highlight the factors of the material and material environment: the nature of labor operations performed by people, the condition of equipment, the quality of workpieces or raw materials. The peculiarities of labor organization are also of great importance - shifts, rhythm, the degree of interchangeability of workers, the level of operational and economic independence of the primary team (for example, a team). Sanitary and hygienic working conditions, such as temperature, humidity, lighting, noise, vibration, etc., also play an important role.

It is known that the rational organization of the labor process, taking into account the capabilities of the human body, ensuring normal working and rest conditions for people have a positive impact on the mental state of each employee and the team as a whole. Conversely, certain equipment malfunctions, imperfect technology, organizational troubles, irregular work rhythm, insufficient ventilation, excessive noise, abnormal room temperature and other factors of the material environment negatively affect the team climate. Therefore, the first direction to improve the socio-psychological climate is to optimize the complex of these factors. This problem must be solved on the basis of the developments of specialists in occupational hygiene and physiology, ergonomics and engineering psychology.

Another, no less important group of microenvironmental factors consists of influences, which are connections enshrined in the official structure of the unit. The concept of “structure” here means a certain set of stable relationships between members of the team.

The official structure is determined by the functional division of labor in a given team, the official rights and responsibilities of its members. Within this structure, each employee, performing relevant functions, must interact with other members of the organization in the manner prescribed to him. The nature of the interaction is determined both by the features of the technological process and by administrative regulations, which is recorded in official regulations, instructions, orders, etc.

It is known that a person, when performing his work, in one way or another, often goes beyond the scope of purely official interaction. In addition to official connections, informal contacts are also established between members of the work collective, arising for various reasons. As a member of a team, a person needs to communicate with work colleagues and experiences the need for affection and friendship. It is on this basis that informal contacts arise and are strengthened: the desire to discuss any news with others (and not only professional ones), get advice from a more experienced employee, support a friend, etc. Some build their personal relationships guided by selfish motives. This happens, for example, when an “experienced” employee with low moral principles “teaches how to live” newcomers, trying to subordinate them to his influence.

Sustained interactions between two or more individuals lead to the formation of informal groups within the workforce. The activities of such groups can either contribute or hinder the achievement of the official goals of the team. It depends on group attitudes, values, norms. There are a number of prerequisites that facilitate informal contacts.

Employees of a department who perform the same operations feel psychological closeness because they have common goals, interests and problems. On this basis, a feeling of solidarity and subsequent interaction arises. Thus, the territorial division of a large department into subgroups, determined by the characteristics of labor, leads to the creation of closer informal relations in these subgroups. The latter are characterized by higher productivity and lower levels of turnover compared to larger units.

It should also be noted the role socio-demographic characteristics of workers. A high degree of homogeneity of the primary team based on such characteristics as gender, age, education, level of qualifications and the presence on this basis of common interests, needs, value orientations, etc. is an important condition for the emergence of close ties between people. A team that is heterogeneous in terms of the above characteristics usually easily breaks up into several informal groups, each of which is relatively homogeneous in its composition.

To form team cohesion, not only the commonality of various social characteristics of people is important, but also a high degree of the coincidence of their opinions, assessments, attitudes and positions in relation to phenomena and events that are most significant for the entire team. At the same time, the unity and solidarity of workers is observed both in work and in social activities, and in leisure hours. Here people willingly come to help each other.

Speaking about the important formative influence of informal contacts on the socio-psychological climate, it is necessary to take into account both the number of these contacts and their distribution. For example, two or more informal groups may exist within one department. Members of each of them (with strong and friendly intra-group ties) oppose members of “not their own” groups.

The nature of leadership manifested in one or another style of relationship between the immediate leader of the primary work collective and the rest of its members, also affects the socio-psychological climate. Research has shown that workers who perceived shop floor managers to be equally attentive to their work and personal affairs were more satisfied with their jobs than those who reported that managers were inattentive to them. Employees, with whom managers often consult, also expressed satisfaction with their work. This applies to all levels of shop management - from the foreman to the shop manager. The feeling of satisfaction among workers is also associated with the confidence that they also influence the decisions of managers. Thus, a democratic leadership style contributes to the formation of a favorable socio-psychological climate.

The next factor influencing the team climate is due to individual psychological characteristics of its members. Every person is unique. His psychological make-up is one or another combination of personality traits and properties, creating the originality of the character as a whole. Through the prism of personality characteristics, all influences on it from the external environment are refracted. A person’s relationship to these influences, expressed in his personal opinions and moods, in behavior, is nothing more than an individual “contribution” to the formation of the climate of the team.

Naturally, when we talk about the psyche of a collective, it should not be understood as the sum of the individual psychological characteristics of each of its members. This is a new quality education. So, for the formation of a particular socio-psychological climate of a team, it is not so much the individual properties of its members that matter, but the effect of their combination - the level of psychological compatibility.

In the shortest possible way, psychological compatibility can be defined as the ability of members of a group (team) to work together, based on their optimal combination. Compatibility is determined both by the similarity of some properties of group members and by the differences in others. This leads to the complementarity of people in joint activities, which makes it possible to judge the integrity of the group.

Two main types of psychological compatibility can be distinguished: psychophysiological and socio-psychological. In the first case, a certain similarity in the psychophysiological characteristics of people is implied and, on this basis, the consistency of their emotional and behavioral reactions, the synchronization of the pace of joint activity. In the second case, we mean the effect of an optimal combination of types of behavior of people in a group, as well as the commonality of their social attitudes, needs and interests, and value orientations.

The teacher, being the central figure in the educational team, has a decisive influence on its socio-psychological climate. The individual characteristics of a teacher’s style of professional activity and his prevailing mental states are important factors shaping the climate of the team. At the same time, the teacher is also part of another team - the pedagogical team, which is part of a single teaching and educational team. Some characteristics of the cohesion of the teaching staff are highlighted, which have a positive effect on its socio-psychological climate. Consistency of functional role expectations, i.e. ideas about what exactly and in what sequence each member of the team should do when realizing a goal common to all; value-orientation unity - the convergence of assessments and positions on issues that are significant for the life of the team in the moral and business spheres, in the approach to the goals and objectives of activities. Thus, an important condition for a favorable socio-psychological climate in the teaching staff is the consistency of teachers’ positions regarding the importance of each subject of the curriculum for students. As is known, female teachers predominate in schools, as a result of which there is a relatively high level of emotionality in communication.

The socio-psychological climate of production teams, compared to other types of teams, is characterized by a greater dependence on working conditions and technologies. For example, abnormal temperature and lighting in the room, insufficient cubic capacity, gas pollution, and noise create an environment that causes mental tension in workers and provokes interpersonal conflicts.

The connection between the technology of the labor process and the socio-psychological climate can be shown on the basis of the “models of joint activity” identified by L. I. Umansky:

1. Joint-individual activities: each member of the team does his part of the overall task independently of the others (a team of machine operators, spinners, weavers).

2. Joint and consistent activities: the general task is performed sequentially by each member of the team (conveyor production team).

3. Jointly interacting activities: the task is performed with the direct and simultaneous interaction of each member of the team with all other members (the installation team).

Experimental studies conducted under the leadership of L. I. Umansky demonstrate a direct relationship between these models and the level of development of the group as a collective. Accordingly, many indicators of the socio-psychological climate are improving. Thus, “cohesion in direction” (unity of value orientations, goals and motives for activity) in

within the limits of a given group activity is achieved faster with the third model than with the second and even more so with the first.

Materials from applied research at enterprises also indicate that the very characteristics of a particular “model of joint activity” are reflected in the psychological traits of the team. Satisfaction with interpersonal relationships increases as we move from the first “cooperative activity model” to the third. In the latter case, the level of mutual acceptability of members of production teams is noticeably higher.

The specifics of agricultural collectives differ not only in working conditions - dependence on climatic and meteorological factors, a certain cyclical nature of work, significant territorial disunity of teams or units. Often, many members of a particular agricultural collective know each other long before joining this collective. The relationships between these persons are not limited to work activities. They also interact with each other in the spheres of everyday life and leisure. The whole life of fellow villagers passes in sight of each other. Moreover, often an agricultural team includes several people related by family ties. Thus, its climate is formed to a large extent due to previously established informal relations. It is not surprising that an agricultural collective, compared to an industrial one, is more capable of exercising the function of social control over the behavior of its members. All this affects the characteristics of the socio-psychological climate of agricultural collectives.

The uniqueness of the work activity of the research team is the acquisition of new knowledge. The socio-psychological climate of such a team largely depends on how favorable the conditions are for creativity and scientific self-expression of employees. The role of informal connections between them is extremely important, especially if the entire team is developing one common scientific problem. Employees' satisfaction with the solution of scientific problems leads to the fact that the role of sanitary and hygienic working conditions and material support fades into the background.

The effectiveness of the influence of the head of a research team on employees is determined not so much by his functional position as by his authority in the scientific community. Close-knit teams are characterized by a democratic atmosphere when resolving most issues, including purely administrative ones.

With the weakening of the elements of formal control, the regulatory role of informal control, based on self-discipline, increases. The climate of the research team is also determined by the traditions that have developed here, which often persist even with a change in leadership.

Thus, along with the general features inherent in the socio-psychological climate of organizations within a given macroenvironment, we can talk about the uniqueness of the climate of a particular team, caused by the peculiarities of its main activity.

Literature

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4. Krichevsky R.L. If you are a leader... - M., 1996.

5. Morgunov E.B. Personality and organization. - M., 1996.

6. Ruettinger R. Entrepreneurial culture. - M., 1992.

7. Skripichnikova I.V. Organizational consulting as a resource for the development of society, state, politics and business // Abstracts of a scientific-practical conference. - M., 1995.

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The demand and popularity of research on the socio-psychological climate in a team is due to the tendency to complicate relationships and increase demands on the professionalism of an employee.

Why is it so necessary? Everything is logical. A favorable team climate increases the effectiveness of teamwork. Unfavorable relationships can cause high staff turnover, an increase in the level of conflict, a decrease in labor efficiency and, in general, a deterioration in the reputation of the organization. Often the manager notices only the listed consequences, but has no idea about the reasons for their occurrence. There are cases when the manager does not see the true reason for the deterioration of the team’s work and directs efforts in the wrong direction, which, of course, does not lead to an improvement in the situation. Therefore, it is important for the head of an organization or HR to study the current state of the socio-psychological climate and, based on the results of the study, take the necessary measures to improve it. In this article we will talk about the main methods that allow you to study the socio-psychological climate in an organization, and also provide recommendations for their use.

First, we need to define what is meant by the term “socio-psychological climate.” The socio-psychological climate in a team is a complex, integrated indicator that reflects the internal state of the community as a whole, and not just the sum of the feelings of its members, as well as its ability to achieve joint goals. The main factors shaping the socio-psychological climate in the team are:

1. Emotional attitude of employees to their activities;
2. Relations between employees in the team;
3. Relations between subordinates and managers;
4. Service and everyday factors of labor organization;
5. Economic (material) factors of labor encouragement.

Of course, the presented list is not exhaustive: it can be clarified and expanded if necessary within the framework of a particular study.

If the purpose of the study is to analyze and assess the socio-psychological climate in the team, then to achieve it it is necessary to solve the following tasks:

1. Determine the emotional attitude of employees to their activities in general;
2. Identify the nature of relationships between employees in the team;
3. Identify the nature of the relationship between subordinates and managers;
4. Determine the degree of employee satisfaction with work and everyday factors of work organization;
5. Determine the degree of satisfaction with economic (material) labor promotion factors.

After formulating the goals and objectives of the study, it is necessary to select the method by which data will be collected. We recommend a questionnaire survey as the most effective method of collecting data in medium and large teams, which, if the conditions are met, provides a high guarantee of the sincerity of the answers. These conditions should be considered in more detail.

• In order for the respondent to be motivated to give sincere answers, it is necessary to guarantee the anonymity of the data presentation and explain that the survey results will be presented in a generalized form. This information should be conveyed to respondents not only in a preliminary message about the upcoming survey, but also immediately before the survey. For example, you can place the following text in the title of the questionnaire:

• In addition, informing respondents about the purpose of the survey will help ensure the sincerity of responses. Before conducting the survey, it is recommended to inform that the opinions of all respondents will be taken into account, and based on the survey results, measures will be taken to improve the climate in the team. If respondents know that their opinion can really change the situation for the better, they will be more sincere.

In our experience, HR professionals are increasingly conducting such research through online surveys. They are convenient not only because an automated system allows you to collect data and provide results much faster, but also because it will provide the necessary conditions for a successful survey. Handing out paper questionnaires that are supposed to be filled out at the workplace may lead to a decrease in sincerity in the respondents’ answers: being close to the object of assessment, his colleague, the respondent will most likely feel discomfort and overestimate the assessment. While away from the workplace and in a less stressful environment, the respondent will be able to answer sincerely. In addition, some employees may express concern about de-anonymizing their handwriting profiles (and this happens:). In online surveys, reasons for such experiences are, of course, excluded, which can also affect the increase in sincerity in respondents’ answers.

Now let's look at the most popular methods used to study the socio-psychological climate in a team.

Sociometric test (according to J. Moreno)

This technique is used to identify and evaluate emotional connections in a team based on sympathy or antipathy for team members. Sociometric tests make it possible to identify informal leaders in a group, detect existing group cohesion within a team and identify the degree of cohesion. Practicing psychologists and sociologists recommend conducting a sociometric test in teams where employees have experience working together for at least six months, since only in this case, according to experts, will the sociometric test have an indicative result.

Respondents are asked to answer several questions regarding their relationships with other team members. In the response field, you must enter the names of colleagues selected by the respondent according to the specified criterion. It is recommended to use no more than 8-10 criteria by which each team member will be assessed. The criteria should be selected based on the significance of each of them for a particular team, so they can and should be modified in accordance with the conditions in which the test is carried out.

Questions in a questionnaire based on a sociometric test may look like this:

The analysis of respondents' answers is carried out as follows. To calculate the group cohesion index, a tool such as a sociomatrix is ​​used. It is a table consisting of the names of the members of the teams chosen by the respondents and the names of the respondents themselves.

Based on the results obtained from the matrix data, the group cohesion indicator is calculated using the following formula:

If Employee 1 selected Employee 2 by the first criterion, then the number 1 is entered into the corresponding cell in the table, if Employee 3 was selected by the second criterion, the number 2 is entered into the corresponding cell, and so on. If employees chose each other based on the same criterion, this figure must be highlighted. Next, the total number of elections for each employee and the number of mutual elections are calculated.

where C is an indicator of group cohesion among team members;

K – the number of mutual choices made by team members;

M – the maximum number of possible elections in the group (M=n(n-1)/2, where n is the number of members in the group being surveyed).

It is believed that the value of a “good” indicator of group cohesion lies in the range from 0.6 to 0.7.

Next, based on the sociomatrix data, a sociogram is compiled, which is 4 circles, each of which corresponds to the “rating” of the selected employees. The first circle includes “stars” - those employees who received the maximum number of votes. The second circle, which is conventionally designated as “preferred,” includes those team members who received more choices than the average number of choices received by one employee being evaluated. The third circle, “neglected”, includes those employees who received fewer votes than the average number of votes received per employee being evaluated. The fourth circle, the “isolated” area, is for employees who have not received any selections. Double-sided arrows in a sociogram show mutual choice, and one-sided arrows show one-sided choice.

The sociogram looks like this:

A sociogram allows you to visualize the existing groupings in a team and identify informal leaders in the team.

In practice, the sociometric method is used to study the socio-psychological climate in small groups of up to 15-20 people. In this case, it is recommended to indicate in the questionnaire how many names of colleagues the respondent can indicate in one or another answer to the question. As a rule, respondents are asked to limit themselves to 2-4 surnames. Such a limitation will simplify the task both for respondents, who will not have to evaluate and rank all members of their team, and for the researcher, since the constructed sociogram will more clearly and clearly reflect the situation in the team.

Psychologists recommend using the sociometric method to obtain information about intragroup relations. This will optimize the work process and establish relationships between groups among the team. Sociometric circles displayed on the sociogram will make it possible to clearly identify informal leaders in the group who have organizational skills and give them appropriate tasks. This will be useful both for improving group work and for the employee-leader who will be able to demonstrate and develop his abilities.

Methodology for assessing the psychological atmosphere in a team (according to A.F. Fidler)

This technique is based on the semantic differential method. Respondents are asked to familiarize themselves with 8 pairs of words with opposite meanings and assign their answer closer to the one that, in their opinion, more accurately reflects the atmosphere in the team. As a rule, a survey using Fiedler’s method looks like this:

Each extreme value is assigned a number of points: the extreme negative - 10, the extreme positive - 1. Then all the indicators are added up, and based on the value of the sum, an assessment of the atmosphere in the team is given. The minimum total score is 10, which is an indicator of a positive atmosphere in the team, the maximum is 100, which is an indicator of a negative atmosphere. Based on all partial assessments, an average is calculated, which will characterize the atmosphere in the team.

Fiedler's technique can only give descriptive characteristics of the climate in a team, its general features. For a complete and in-depth assessment of the socio-psychological climate in a team, it is recommended to combine the method of assessing the psychological atmosphere with a sociometric test. This will allow the researcher to provide more accurate and specific recommendations and advice for a specific team.

Determination of Seashore's group cohesion index.

Group cohesion is one of the most important parameters demonstrating the degree of integration of the team. It shows how cohesive or disunited a group is. Seashore’s “classic” method includes 5 questions, and the respondent is asked to choose one answer that is most appropriate, in his opinion. Each answer option is assigned a point from 1 to 5 (these points are not indicated in the questionnaire itself, the respondent does not see them), then the total number of points is calculated and, based on the resulting figure, a conclusion is drawn about the degree of team cohesion.

An example of a question from a questionnaire based on the Seashore method:

The total value obtained as a result of addition is usually interpreted as follows:

from 15.1 points – high group cohesion,

from 11.6 to 15 points – group cohesion is above average,

from 7 to 11.5 points – average group cohesion,

from 4 to 6.9 points – group cohesion is below average,

up to 4 points – low group cohesion.

If the value of the group cohesion index is 4 or below, this may serve as a signal to management about the need to introduce measures to bring team members closer together.

Experts say that Seashore’s method is appropriate for studying a socio-psychological team if its number does not exceed 40 people. If the organization is large and includes several departments, then it is recommended to use the Seashore method to determine the group cohesion index for a department or division and analyze the socio-psychological climate in this particular group.

This method has already established itself as an effective means for studying the socio-psychological climate in a team, however, for a more complete and in-depth analysis, it is recommended to use this method in conjunction with other techniques. The combination of various methods will allow a more profound and comprehensive assessment and analysis of the state of the socio-psychological climate in the team.

Periodic research into the socio-psychological climate in a team can identify problematic areas of the team’s life and take measures to improve the socio-psychological climate and, as a consequence, the labor efficiency of the organization’s employees.

• Personnel policy, Corporate culture

In scientific sources there are several dozen definitions of socio-psychological climate and various research approaches. The term “psychological climate” was first used by N.S. Mansurov, who developed the main approaches to the study of the moral and psychological climate in production teams.

G.M. Andreeva defines psychological climate as “the totality of psychological states, moods, relationships of people in a group and team.”

A. L. Sventsitsky believes that “the socio-psychological climate of a group is a state of the group psyche, determined by the characteristics of the life activity of this group. This is a kind of alloy of emotional and intellectual - attitudes, moods, feelings, opinions of group members as separate elements of the socio-psychological climate."

V.D. Parygin gives the following definition of socio-psychological climate: “the climate of a collective is the prevailing and relatively stable psychological mood of the collective, which finds diverse forms of manifestation in all its life activities.”

Thus, we can draw a general conclusion that “the socio-psychological climate is a relatively stable and typical emotional mood that gradually develops in the process of activity and communication of team members (small groups). It reflects a number of objective factors: the nature of vertical and horizontal relationships, as well as attitudes towards work, working conditions, etc.” .

A summary table of the main approaches to defining the concept of “socio-psychological climate” is presented in Appendix 1.

In Russian psychology, there are four main approaches to understanding the nature of the psychological climate.

Proponents of the first approach (L.P. Bueva, E.S. Kuzmin, N.N. Obozov, K.K. Platonov, A.K. Uledov) consider climate as a socio-psychological phenomenon, as a state of collective consciousness. Climate is understood as a reflection in the minds of people of a complex of phenomena related to their relationships, working conditions, and methods of stimulating it. Under the psychological climate, says E.S. Kuzmin, it is necessary to understand the socio-psychological state of the primary work collective, which reflects the nature, content and direction of the real psychology of the team members.

Proponents of the second approach (A.A. Rusalinova, A.N. Lutoshkin) emphasize that the essential characteristic of the psychological climate is the general emotional and psychological mood of the team. Climate is understood as the mood of a group of people.

The most popular is the third approach (V.M. Shepel, V.A. Pokrovsky, B.D. Parygin), which allows one to analyze the psychological climate through the characteristics of relationships between people who are in direct contact with each other, since this creates a system of relationships that determine social and psychological well-being of group members.

Another approach (V.V. Kosolapov, A.N. Shcherban, L.N. Kogan) defines climate in terms of social and psychological compatibility of group members, their moral and psychological unity, cohesion, the presence of common opinions, customs and traditions.

In the concept of socio-psychological climate, three “climatic zones” are distinguished:

The first climate zone is the social climate, which is determined by the extent to which the goals and objectives of society are understood in a given team, and the extent to which compliance with all constitutional rights and obligations of workers as citizens is guaranteed;

The second climate zone is the moral climate, which is determined by what moral values ​​are accepted in a given group;

The third climate zone is the psychological climate, those informal relationships that develop between workers who are in direct contact with each other. Psychological climate is a microclimate, the zone of action of which is much more local than the social and moral climates.

However, despite the differences in approaches and definitions of the socio-psychological climate, many authors agree that a relatively stable psychological mood is, to a certain extent, an integral characteristic of a team, manifests itself in interpersonal relationships, in attitudes towards the work situation, affects the results of production activities, well-being, personality activity (positive, neutral or negative).

At the same time, the components of the psychological climate are the following:

Social - relates to the specifics of interaction between employees in an organization, determined by the characteristics of social connections between them, including informal relationships. The socio-psychological climate is determined primarily by interpersonal relationships in the team, creating persistent group moods.

Moral - relates to the established rules and regulations of the organization, as well as the level of employee satisfaction with work. Moral and psychological climate is determined by the overall satisfaction of employees with working conditions and the activity itself.

There are also levels of psychological climate:

Deep - past experience of the established interaction of team members, reflected in their stable relationships and job satisfaction;

Superficial (dynamic) - psychological atmosphere in the team, the current mood of employees.

In functional terms, the socio-psychological climate acts as an integral resultant of the psychological factors noted below. These basic psychological factors regulating the socio-psychological climate of a group include:

Trust-distrust of group members towards each other;

Sympathy-antipathy in the relationships of group members;

Freedom - non-freedom of expression of one's own opinion when discussing issues related to the functioning of the group as a whole;

Pressure on ordinary group members or recognition of their right to make independent decisions by management;

Awareness - lack of awareness of group members about the state of affairs in the group;

Low-high degree of emotional involvement and mutual assistance in situations that cause a state of frustration in any of the group members;

Acceptance or non-acceptance of responsibility for the state of affairs in the group by each of its members, etc.

Most experimental studies of socio-psychological climate are associated with the analysis of its connection with the effectiveness-ineffectiveness of joint group activities and the satisfaction-dissatisfaction of group members with belonging to it, the work collective or the organization as a whole. It has been established that there is a direct connection between the state of the socio-psychological climate of a developed team and the effectiveness of the joint activities of its members. Thus, the socio-psychological climate is closely related to such characteristics of group structures as cohesion, interpersonal attractiveness, psychological compatibility and workability. At the same time, for the formation of a particular socio-psychological climate of a team, it is not so much the psychological qualities of its members that matter, but the effect of their combination.

It is also noted that the psychological climate affects the psychological well-being of the individual, which depends on:

The prevailing psychological atmosphere in the team;

The employee’s satisfaction with his position in the team (recognition, authority, etc.);

Employee satisfaction with working conditions and results.

The psychological well-being of an individual depends on the psychological atmosphere in the team. One of the important indicators of the psychological climate in a group is hidden and open interpersonal conflicts, which periodically arise in any group, however, if they occur too often, this negatively affects both the conflicting people themselves and the entire team.

Consequently, the most important problem in studying the psychological climate in a group is to identify the factors that shape it and which should be kept in mind when correcting the psychological climate. Among the many factors (macro and microenvironment) influencing the psychological climate of a group, the main ones can be identified (Table 1).

At the same time, among the factors of the microenvironment are impacts that are group phenomena and processes occurring in the team. They include the nature of the formal organizational relationships between team members, enshrined in the formal structure of a given unit. Possible differences between the types of such structure can be shown on the basis of the “collaboration model”:

1. Joint-individual activity: each member of the team does his part of the common task independently of others;

2. Joint-sequential activity: a common task is performed sequentially by each member of the team (conveyor production);

3. Collaborative-interacting activity: the task is performed with direct and simultaneous interaction of each member of the team with all its other members.

Table 1 - Factors influencing the psychological climate of the group

Groups of factors
Socio-political and economic factors	* socio-political situation in the country; * economic situation and standard of living of the population; * level of consumer, medical and legal services; * ethnic factors - the presence of interethnic conflicts
Legal and functional factors	* level and quality of legal support for activities - sufficiency and consistency of legal acts regulating professional activities; * compliance of legal acts with the requirements of professional activity; * level of material and technical support for professional activities; * sanitary and hygienic conditions of activity in the organization
Organizational and activity factors	* optimal work and rest regime; * employee satisfaction with the immediate results of work; * employee satisfaction with the level of material and moral remuneration; * transparent personnel policy - the presence of a system for appointing to positions and promoting employees
Managerial factors	* compliance of the leadership style with the nature of the tasks being solved, the competence of employees and the level of development of the team; * availability of job descriptions, corporate regulations and standards that correctly structure activities; * effective system of planning and control of activities; * employee satisfaction with the system of distribution of responsibilities, system of reward and punishment
Social factors	* degree of social and psychological compatibility of employees; * level of development of the team; * the nature of formal and informal connections and relationships of employees in the team; * consistency of formal and informal leadership

An important factor in the psychological climate in a group is the individual psychological characteristics of the team members and their combination. Through the prism of these personal characteristics, all influences of both a production and non-production nature are refracted. A person’s attitude to these influences, expressed in his personal opinions and moods, in behavior, constitutes an individual “contribution” to the formation of the collective’s SEC. At the same time, for the formation of this or that SPC, it is not only and not so much the psychological characteristics of its members that matter, but the effect of their combination.

Along with the system of official interaction, the socio-psychological climate of a group is greatly influenced by its unofficial organizational structure - informal groups, - stable interactions between two or more members of the team. Their activities can either contribute or hinder the achievement of the official goals of the team. This depends on group attitudes, values ​​and norms. Among the prerequisites that facilitate informal contacts, we note:

Territorial position of team members; Thus, territorial division leads to the creation of closer informal relations in the resulting subgroups, and at the same time to their higher productivity, lower staff turnover compared to larger units;

Composition of the workforce; Thus, a high degree of homogeneity in age, gender, level of education, level of qualifications and the presence on this basis of common interests and value orientations is an important condition for the cohesion of groups. In heterogeneous teams, there is a tendency to break up into several groups that are more homogeneous in composition;

The degree of coincidence of opinions, assessments, attitudes, positions in relation to phenomena and events that are most significant for the life of the team.

The higher the degree of unity of the formal and informal structures of the team, the more positive the influences that shape the psychological climate.

Thus, the psychological climate is the state of interpersonal and group connections in a team, reflecting the business spirit, work motivation and the degree of social optimism of the organization’s personnel.

The nature of the psychological climate depends on the level of group development. It has been established that there is a positive connection between the state of the psychological climate of a developed team and the effectiveness of the joint activities of its members. Optimal management of activities and psychological climate in any team requires special knowledge and skills from management.

As special measures, scientifically based selection, training and periodic certification of management personnel are used; staffing primary teams taking into account the factor of psychological compatibility; the use of socio-psychological methods that contribute to the development of mutual understanding and effective interaction skills among team members.

We will consider any event, phenomenon or process that causes long-term emotional states, positive or negative, usually denoted by the concept of mood, as factors of the socio-psychological climate (that is, what acts as a cause). So, the socio-psychological climate (SPC) of a group or organization is a rather persistent long-term emotional state (mood) that arises in the conditions of direct communication between people through the mechanisms of irritation, imitation, suggestion, and is common to many members of the group.

In order for the concept of socio-psychological climate to become more and more specific for us, it is necessary to clarify what emotional experiences and emotions are.

The Brief Psychological Dictionary reports that the word “emotion” comes from the Latin “emoveo” - “shock, excite”, and further continues: “Emotions are a mental reflection in the form of direct experience of the life meaning of phenomena and situations...” This is the answer to the question: will these objects and processes of the external world help me satisfy my needs or not?

S.L. Rubinstein noted in this regard that in “emotional processes a connection is established, a relationship between the course of events taking place in accordance with or contrary to the needs of the individual, the course of his activities aimed at satisfying these needs, on the one hand, and the course of internal organic processes that capture the basic functions on which the life of the organism as a whole depends, on the other.”

The importance of emotions in human evolution is enormous: unlike intellect, emotions immediately, instantly “grasp” the situation from the point of view of the body’s needs and immediately bring the body into a state of readiness to react accordingly. Emotions always cause physiological changes in the state of the body.

Thus, emotions perform two important functions, regulating behavior from the inside: firstly, let us note the function of assessing a situation, event, object from the point of view of whether they are able to satisfy my needs (both biological and social, although, of course, they in fact, always “biosocial”); and secondly, the very signal that emotions give me activates the entire body at the same time, changes the physiological processes in it. This function can be called motivating. If the situation does not allow me to satisfy this or that need, I begin to strive to change the situation: if it is dangerous, then I strive to defend myself; if I'm hungry, I look for food, etc. And the more I experience dissatisfaction with my needs, the more I want to change the situation in which I find myself. Moreover, until that moment, emotional experiences contribute to making the activity successful: when, for example, a student experiences slight excitement, it helps him in the exam - memory, intuition, and intellect work better. But if a person cannot cope with the situation, cannot adapt to it, but strongly strives for this (excessive motivation), then emotional reactions can even disorganize his activities. Thus, strong anxiety during an exam, when a student wants to pass the exam well, but is afraid that this will not work, can really worsen his result.

This, of course, is a simplified presentation of theoretical ideas about human emotions, but it reflects the very essence. Emotional experiences have a very strong impact on health, the success of a person’s work activity, and the processes of creativity.

Thus, when they measured labor productivity in people of different professions, they found that for workers engaged primarily in physical labor, depending on their mood (good or bad), labor productivity fluctuates within 18%, and for mental workers - 70%.

What stands behind the scientific concept of “activation of the body” is known to each of us from the experience of our own sensations: some emotions, in particular anger, fear (but not always), joy, cause an energy surge, a surge of strength due to the fact that The body's biochemical processes change accordingly, and they also maintain these emotions for a long time. This explains the fact that a person’s physical capabilities can increase dramatically with strong emotions.

In general, the socio-psychological climate is the prevailing and relatively stable mood of the team, which finds diverse forms of manifestation in its life activities.

The most important signs of a favorable socio-psychological climate are: trust and high demands of group members towards each other; friendly and business-like criticism; free expression of one’s own opinion when discussing issues affecting the entire team; lack of pressure from managers on subordinates and recognition of their right to make decisions that are significant for the group; sufficient awareness of team members about its tasks and the state of affairs in their implementation; satisfaction with belonging to a team; a high degree of emotional involvement and mutual assistance in situations that cause a state of frustration in any of the team members; taking responsibility for the state of affairs in the group by each of its members, etc.

Thus, the socio-psychological climate is the psychological mood in a group or team. The nature of the socio-psychological climate generally depends on the degree of development of the team.

The socio-psychological climate is the result of the joint activities of people and their interpersonal interaction. It manifests itself in such group effects as the mood and opinion of the team, individual well-being and assessments of the living conditions and work of the individual in the team. These effects are expressed in relationships associated with the labor process and the solution of common tasks of the team.

Members of a team as individuals determine its social microstructure, the uniqueness of which is determined by social and demographic characteristics (age, gender, profession, education, nationality, social origin). Psychological characteristics of the individual contribute to or hinder the formation of a sense of community, that is, they influence the formation of the socio-psychological climate in the work team.

Optimal management of activities and socio-psychological climate in any (including work) team requires special knowledge and skills from management.

Analysis of various points of view on the content of the concept of socio-psychological climate allows us to conclude that it is a multifunctional socio-psychological formation that mediates any activity of a collective (group).

Characteristics of a favorable socio-psychological climate:

The organization is dominated by a cheerful, cheerful tone of relationships between employees, optimism in the mood; relations are built on the principles of cooperation, mutual assistance, goodwill; group members enjoy participating in joint activities and spending free time together; approval and support prevail in relationships, criticism is expressed with good wishes (developmental criticism).

The organization has standards of fair and respectful treatment of all its members; they always support the weak, speak out in their defense, and help newcomers.

The organization highly values ​​personality traits such as integrity, honesty, hard work and selflessness.

The organization's employees are active, full of energy, they respond quickly when there is a need to do something useful for everyone, and they achieve high performance in their work and professional activities.

The successes or failures of individual employees evoke empathy and genuine participation from all members of the organization; they feel a sense of pride in their company; its achievements and failures are experienced as their own.

In the relations between groups within the organization (structural units: sections, departments, teams, etc.) there is mutual arrangement, understanding, and cooperation.

In difficult moments for an organization, emotional unity occurs (“one for all, and all for one”), there is a great desire to work together; The group is open and seeks to cooperate with other groups.

The main psychological factors regulating the group's SEC include:

• - trust-distrust of group members towards each other;
• - sympathy-antipathy in the relationships of group members;
• - freedom or non-freedom of expression of one’s own opinion when discussing issues related to the functioning of the group as a whole;
• - pressure on ordinary members of the group or recognition of their right to independent decisions by management;
• -- awareness - lack of information among group members about the state of affairs in the group;
• -- low-high degree of emotional involvement and mutual assistance in situations that cause a state of frustration in any of the group members;
• - acceptance - non-acceptance of responsibility for the state of affairs in the group by each of its members, etc.

In functional terms, the SPC acts as an integral resultant of the noted psychological factors. It has been established that there is a connection between the state of the SEC of a developed team and the effectiveness of the joint activities of its members. SPC is closely related to other characteristics of group structures - cohesion, interpersonal attractiveness, psychological compatibility and workability. For the formation of one or another SPC of a collective, what matters is not so much the psychological qualities of its members as the effect of their combination.

Most experimental studies of SPC are associated with the analysis of its connection with the effectiveness-ineffectiveness of joint group activities and the satisfaction-dissatisfaction of group members with belonging to it, the work collective or the organization as a whole. Many studies have established positive connections between the state of the SEC of a developed team and the effectiveness of the joint activities of its members.

Productivity and team cohesion (closely related to SPC) tend to be positively related when group members are highly motivated and tend to be negatively related when motivation is low.

The most important problem in studying the SEC is identifying the factors that shape it. The most important factors determining the level of psychological climate of the production team is the personality of the manager and the placement of administrative personnel. The SPC is also influenced by the personal qualities of the leader, the style and methods of the leader, as well as the individual characteristics of the team members.

The state of the SPC is influenced by:

• 1) type of organization, i.e. whether it is a state or commercial structure, a closed or open institution, an educational, scientific or production team;
• 2) lifestyle, quality of life of team members;
• 3) social conditions (socio-political, socio-economic, socio-cultural) and environmental.

The system of group relations develops under the influence of objective and subjective factors of the micro- and macroenvironment, which make up the general production environment in which the team operates.

Another group of microenvironmental factors consists of influences, which are group phenomena and processes occurring in a team. They are sometimes called socio-psychological. They include the nature of the formal organizational relationships between team members, enshrined in the formal structure of a given unit. Possible differences between the types of such structure can be shown on the basis of the “collaboration model”:

• 1. Joint-individual activity: each member of the team does his part of the common task independently of others;
• 2. Joint-sequential activity: a common task is performed sequentially by each member of the team (conveyor production);
• 3. Collaborative-interacting activity: the task is performed with direct and simultaneous interaction of each member of the team with all its other members.

Along with the system of official interaction, the SEC of the work collective is greatly influenced by its informal organizational structure. The higher the degree of unity of the formal and informal structures of the team, the more positive the influences that form the SEC.

The individual psychological characteristics of team members and their combination constitute the next factor of the team’s SPC. Through the prism of these personal characteristics of a person, all influences of both a production and non-production nature are refracted. A person’s attitude to these influences, expressed in his personal opinions and moods, in behavior, represent an individual “contribution” to the formation of the collective’s SEC. For the formation of one or another SPC of a collective, it is not only and not so much the psychological characteristics of its members that matter, but the effect of their combination. The level of psychological compatibility of team members is a factor that largely determines its climate.

Sustained interactions between two or more team members lead to the formation of informal groups. Their activities can either contribute or hinder the achievement of the official goals of the team. It depends on group attitudes, values ​​and norms.

Among the prerequisites that facilitate informal contacts, we note:

• -- territorial position of team members; Thus, territorial division leads to the creation of closer informal relations in the resulting subgroups, and at the same time to their higher productivity, lower staff turnover compared to larger units;
• -- composition of the workforce; Thus, a high degree of homogeneity in age, gender, level of education, level of qualifications and the presence on this basis of common interests and value orientations is an important condition for the cohesion of groups. In heterogeneous teams, there is a tendency to break up into several groups that are more homogeneous in composition;
• - the degree of coincidence of opinions, assessments, attitudes, positions in relation to phenomena and events that are most significant for the life of the team.

Speaking about the important formative influence of unofficial contacts on the team’s SEC, it is necessary to take into account both the number of these contacts and their distribution. The dependence of the collective's SPC on microenvironmental factors is always determined by the macroenvironment. Not only various phenomena of the psychology of the work collective, but also the objective results of its life activity act as indicators of the collective’s SPC. First of all, it is necessary to take into account the productivity of the team, as well as indirect indicators of its activity that characterize its SPC: data on staff turnover, the state of labor discipline, and conflict. Through interviews, questionnaires and other methods of analysis, it is possible to obtain data on the mental states and properties of the groups being studied.