Pavel S. Sorokin

The present paper aims to contribute to the discussion, initiated by A.L. Zhuravlev and I.A. Mironenko in their recent paper “The Biosocial Problem in the Context of Global Psychological Science: Concerning the “Universal” Human Psychology”.  We acknowledge the importance of the mentioned article in terms of novel view on contemporary elaborations around the issues of biological and social in a human being in the context of on-going globalization. We also outline several directions for continuing research and discussions on the conceptual grounds of Russian academic tradition and with fuller account of a broad framework of transformations, essential for contemporary world. This paper theoretically grounds and empirically illustrates vectors for transformations of human nature in regards of both “biological” and “social” sides of biosocial problem. Our central thesis is that in both spheres there are significant changes that go beyond traditionally analyzed trends in international psychological mainstream and in Russian research. In the area of biology, of interest are processes, which expand functional capacities of individual, connected with technological advancements, including gadgets (for instance, smartphones). In the “social” side of human nature, we refer to the notion of “de-structuration” to claim the decrease in deterministic power of social environments upon individual. By fully recognizing high potential of Russian tradition in formulating and addressing the biosocial problem, we demonstrate the principally novel challenge that it has to respond. This challenge refers to the new situation, when not a “nature” or “society” but individual becomes the core driver of human development.