A causal footprint in individual-intellectual integrations. Part 2. Causal chains and longitudinal mediator models

In the previous report, the authors described three possible lines of integration: theoretical and empirical jointly, cross-theoretical and cross-empirical. In this report, their empirical verification examines on the example of V.S. Merlin’s theory of integral individuality, D.V. Ushakov’s structural-dynamic theory of intelligence, and J. Guilford’s theory of divergent (creative) thinking. Individual-intellectual integrations derive from above theories. These integrations appear due to the viewpoint of a causal chain. Its operational marker is longitudinal mediator models. The purpose of the study is to examine functionally the resource and potential of the theories of V.S. Merlin, D.V. Ushakov and J. Guilford for integration at empirical level; individual-intellectual integrations develop following causal chains in three time periods. Longitudinal mediation models were to test with an emphasis on the transformation of the effects of previous causes into new causes. The study involved 211 students of Perm higher educational institutions, studying humanities, of which 161 girls and 50 boys aged 17 to 22 years at the time of the first measurement (M = 18.56, SD = 0.83). We tested traits of integral individuality (nervous system, temperament, and personality traits), crystallized and fluid intelligence, and creative thinking in three periods, namely, the present, the future, and the post-future. Structural modeling was the main statistical methods of data analysis. Crystallized intelligence, fluid intelligence, and creative flexibility revealed their mediator part between traits of integral individuality in earlier and later measurements. Each model was fit indices. However, creative fluency and originality did not function as mediators. Rather, they acted as the environment on which longitudinal mediator models operate. The results of the study can form the background for the development of a program of comprehensive individual-intellectual integrations as the basis of the educational capital of the individual.