Conceptual Abilities and Basic Beliefs in Intellectual Personality Resource: Multidimensional Interrelations in University Students

eflection, critical thinking, and intellectual adaptability are the key success factors in the modern youth. From the perspectives of cognitive flexibility and agency, intellectual personality resources are an integrative construct that combines intellectual and personality components. This article links cognitive (conceptual) and personality-related (core beliefs) structures to classify these relationships in the personality of the modern university student based on the consistency / inconsistency of these attributes. The sample comprised 402 students from Southern Federal University, Taganrog, Russia. The methods included diagnostics of conceptual abilities (categorical generalization, conceptual synthesis, and free word sorting) and core beliefs (adapted R. Janoff-Bulman’s World Assumption Scale). The data obtained were analyzed using cluster, variance, correlation, and factor analyses. The research revealed five student groups, which ranged from low (29.3%) to outstanding (6.3%) levels of conceptual structure and core belief formation. Low levels were associated with contradictory relationships and cognitive rigidity while moderate levels correlated with harmonious integration. High and outstanding levels correlated with isotypy, reflecting either productive differentiation or unproductive dyssynchrony. The high formation levels enhanced adaptability whereas disharmony reduced the existing potential. Future research directions include developing new metacognitive strategies and problem-oriented learning for university students.