Abstract: the purpose of the study presented in the article is to research social representations of the life path, expressed by metaphors, among students and respondents with higher education. The hypothesis was put forward about the existence of differences in the content characteristics of metaphors provided by the respondents. The study was carried out on a sample (N = 267; 12% men and 88% women), students (n = 101) and respondents with higher education (n = 166), aged 17 to 55, using the methodological tools: essay «The metaphor of the life path» (A.A. Bochaver), the method «Test of life-meaning orientations» (D.A. Leontyev). The author’s criteria for the analysis of social representations of the life path, expressed by metaphors, in groups of students and respondents with higher education were identified and applied. For the first time, the results of a comparative study of social representations, expressed metaphorically, of students and respondents with higher education are presented. It is shown that the social representations of students, expressed by metaphors, are more fragmentary, more process-oriented than result-oriented, and also more filled with emotional characteristics than in the group of respondents with higher education. The relationship of data obtained by the author’s criteria and the method «Test of life-meaning orientations» (D.A. Leontyev) is demonstrated. The results of the practical research can be applied in practice in the context of psychological work with representatives of the student group.
Keywords: social representations, analytic criteria, metaphor, life path, students