УДК: 378.6:792

DOI: 10.35852/2588-0144-2025-4-242-255

EDN: BSPMKU

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Anastasia V. Petrakova

Cand. Sc. in Psychology, Lecturer at the Department of Theatre Arts at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Senior Researcher at the Federal Scientific Center for Psychological and Interdisciplinary Research.
Institute of Contemporary Art, Federal Scientific Center for Psychological and Interdisciplinary Research
Moscow, Russia
E-mail: anastasiya-petrakova@yandex.ru

Tatiana А. Lykova

Cand. Sc. in Psychology, Associate Professor of the Department of History, Philosophy and Literature, Russian Institute of Theatre Arts — GITIS, Leading Researcher, Federal Scientific Center for Psychological and Interdisciplinary Research.
Russian Institute of Theater Arts — GITIS, Federal Scientific Center for Psychological and Interdisciplinary Research
Moscow, Russia
E-mail: feo.tatiana@xmail.ru

Personal Qualities of a Modern Actor-Student: to the Problem of Imagination

Abstract

The article analyzes the dynamics of the imagination expression as a personal characteristic among the students of the nowadays Russian theatre universities in comparison with the data obtained in the last quarter of the twentieth century. Based on the general results collected using R. Kettell’s personality questionnaire which include 16 factors (the article provides the data for the M scale “Practicality — dreaminess”), four samples of students surveyed in 2010–2025 are considered. The study involved students of the Oleg Tabakov Moscow Theatre School, the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts — GITIS, the Institute of Contemporary Art. The total number of respondents is 467 people. On average, the data on the M scale are within the normative range (4.0–7.0), which indicates the absence of pronounced daydreaming and orientation towards the inner world, typical for the students of the past. The authors attribute the revealed decrease in the “imagination” indicator to the transformation of the socio-cultural context: increased competition in the acting profession, the dominance of digital media, and a reduction in the practice of deep reading and direct observation of reality. The dual nature of imagination is discussed — as a relatively stable personality trait and as a cognitive process amenable to training, which calls into question the adequacy of traditional diagnostic tools for assessing creative potential in modern theatre education. The need to develop new pedagogical approaches aimed at developing active, independent imagination as the basis of acting is emphasized. 

Keywords

Imagination, student actors, personality traits, Kettell questionnaire, theater education, creativity, attention, psychology of the actor, psychology of creativity.

For citation

Lykova T. А., Petrakova A. V. Personal Qualities of a Modern Actor-Student: to the Problem of Imagination. Theatre. Fine Arts. Cinema. Music. 2025, no. 4, pp. 242–255.

DOI: 10.35852/2588-0144-2025-4-242-255

EDN BSPMKU

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Received: 07.10.2025

Revised: 07.11.2025

Accepted: 12.11.2025