Methodological analysis of the concept of “generation” in social psychology: classical, non-classical, and post-non-classical theories of generations

Background. The study systematized methodological foundations of socio-psychological research of generations. Crucial issues are the pluralistic definition of the concept of “generation” in psychological science, the lack of methodological argumentation for the small samples in the qualitative research applied in the area, and the need to correlate different methodological positions in the process of cognition. Objective. To identify operationalization of the concept of “generation” in the classical, non-classical, and post-non-classical type of scientific rationality in order to define the methodological perspective (subject, methods) of the socio-psychological research. Methods. Deductive, analytical-synthetic. Results. To be applicable for the socio-psychological research, a “generation” can be defined as an object of non-classical science — a large group of peers socializing in the same historical context and acquiring similar psychological characteristics, and also as an object of post-non-classical science — an eventful biography-narrative or symbolic system (symbols, discourse) formed in the contemporaries’ communicative field in a given period of time. The post-non-classical understanding of generation provides the arguments for obtaining valid results by qualitative methods (with in-depth data and non-mass, sufficient samples of relevant cases), which are aimed at restoring the meanings and senses reflected in the generation language and universal for its representatives. The definition of generation as a cohort, age stratum of society, or genetic generation in classical theories carries the risk of replacing the object with a non-socio-psychological one, shifting it to other areas of science (developmental psychology, psychogenetics, demography). Conclusions. The study identified the features of classical, non-classical, and post-non-classical theories of generations — operationalization of “generation”, patterns of generational change (linear, cyclical, chaotic), possible subject and methods of research. Intergroup research plans yield valid results with non-classical and post-non-classical interpretations of generation.