Development of psychology in Bulgaria after the political changes in 1989

This article outlines the significant organizational and scientific changes that occurred in Bulgarian psychology after the fall of the totalitarian regime in 1989. These included the establishment of new university and research centers in psychology, the abolition of ideological censorship in psychology publications, free choice of research methodology and methods, free communication, and exchange of ideas with foreign psychologists, and the development of psychoanalytic practice and psychological services. The liberalization of the social conditions for the development of science, in general, made psychology a much sought-after science and practice. In this time of social transition, its authority grew significantly due to the fact that its calling was to study and solve, above all, the problems of the people, especially as they were faced with new social conditions. In the last 30 years, psychological science in Bulgaria has been significantly humanized. These changes allowed scientists to propose new methodological approaches not only to the study of the psyche, but also to the study of both Bulgarian and foreign history of psychology. Although in the last 30 years not all measures taken in the institutional management of the psychological science were positive, Bulgarian psychology was given a new opportunity to join the international scientific community.     

Cross‐cultural evidence of value structures and priorities in childhood

We broaden the developmental focus of the theory of universals in basic human values (Schwartz, 1992, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology) by presenting supportive evidence on children's values from six countries: Germany, Italy, Poland, Bulgaria, the United States, and New Zealand. 3,088 7–11‐year‐old children completed the Picture‐Based Value Survey for Children (PBVS‐C, Döring et al., 2010, J. Pers. Assess., 92, 439). Grade 5 children also completed the Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ, Schwartz, 2003, A proposal for measuring value orientations across nations. Chapter 7 in the Questionnaire Development Package of the European Social Survey). Findings reveal that the broad value structures, sex differences in value priorities and pan‐cultural value hierarchies typical of adults have already taken form at this early age. We discuss the conceptual implications of these findings for the new field of children's basic values by embedding them in the recent developmental literature.