The life of an adult is determined not only by all the features of his individual development, biographical lines, it is largely determined by his internal subject position, taking shape self-development .
1. human resources associated with social factors (stability in the family and good relationships with loved ones, support from colleagues, recognition of merit, belonging to an interest group, etc.);
2. human resources associated with his personal characteristics and self-perception (feelings of pride, success, optimism, control over life events; a sense of importance, independence, etc.);
3. human resources associated with material factors (income sufficient for a decent life; the ability to dress well, savings, living conditions, etc.).
4. human resources related to his physical condition and the satisfaction of his basic needs (the ability to get enough sleep, eat normally, health status, the ability to receive medical care);
The quantitative indicators of the questionnaire by N. E. Vodopyanova, M. V. Stein are manifested in the resource index, which is determined by the ratio of the amounts of “losses” and “gains”, expressed in points, and reflects the adaptive capabilities of the individual in relation to stress. There are low, medium and high levels of “resource”.
As a result of calculating the “resourcefulness” index (RI), obtained using the OPP technique for the entire sample of subjects, three groups of teachers were identified, differing in the resourcefulness index.
The first group included teachers with high IR (35 people), the second - teachers with average IR (20 people) and the third - teachers with low IR (22 people).
The results obtained on various resource factors (social, personal, material) in three groups of teachers have significant differences at the level of significance p 0.001, except for differences in the physiological factor for groups with medium and low resource index.
Of particular interest to us is the group of teachers with an average resource index. The average level of the resource index in this group became possible due to the activation of the capabilities of one’s own personality, thereby making up for the lack of external resources (material security) and resources of one’s own health.
Teachers with a low resource index most clearly demonstrate a lack of personal resources. Of all the personal factors included in the “personality traits” group, the most unstable, associated with a feeling of “loss,” is the factor control over your own life. Representatives of this group feel a loss of independence and a loss of ability to be guided by their own opinions in building their lives. It is the teachers of this group who most need support from their environment.
The group with a high resource index is the most prosperous. Representatives of this group do not note the presence of “losses” in their own resource system over the past year.
In order to obtain more detailed psychological characteristics of three groups of teachers and to study the characteristics of emotional experiences in the process of communication with students, parents of students, and colleagues, the technique of unfinished sentences was used.
Analysis of associations using the method of unfinished sentences with subsequent ranking of the volume of negative emotions shows that the most affectogenic zone for teachers is communication with students, and not with “other adults.” Moreover, this trend is observed in all three groups of teachers we have identified.
These data disagree with the data of G. A. Mkrtychyan and L. V. Tarabakina, obtained using the same technique of unfinished sentences in 1992.
In their study, the “teacher-student” sphere turned out to be the least affectogenic, and the number of sentences containing a negative attitude towards students was 2.2 times less than the number of statements containing criticism and a negative attitude towards “adult others”.
The relationship between teacher and student has undergone changes since the early 90s. As part of our work, we note that teachers in this sample are aware of the problem of communicating with students.
Teachers see the problem and show their desire to change the situation. All three groups are characterized by awareness of problems in the field of communication with students: “Compared to children of the 1990s. the current generation has a worse attitude towards school and teachers”, “Compared to previous years, students have become more developed, but aggressive”, “... students have become more difficult”, “In relationships with students, I sometimes lack knowledge of psychology”, “In relationships with students Sometimes it helps me to understand that the generation has changed.” We see that each teacher understands and solves this problem differently. We can also talk about motivation to solve this problem, about the desire to move “towards change.” We attribute such motivation to the manifestation of the personal factor of psychological stability, which supports teachers.
Indicators of internal discomfort among teachers from groups with different resource indexes in the sphere of communication with “other adults” are presented as follows:
1. In the group with high IR: teacher administration – 21%; teacher parents – 21%, teacher – colleagues – 15%;
2. In the group with average IR: teacher administration – 46%; teacher parents – 31%; teacher – colleagues – 23%;
3. In the group with low IR: teacher administration – 55%; colleague teacher – 41%; teacher – parents – 40%.
The sphere of interaction “teacher administration” causes the most negative experiences in all three groups of teachers. Relations with the administration are characterized by teachers as lack of freedom in planning time, in implementing creative projects and professional decisions. And if, in relations with students, teachers themselves understand the need for constructive changes and express a desire to meet them halfway, then in relation to the administration, an accusing undertone and the expectation of specific actions from the opposite side prevail.
Relationships with students' parents are also saturated with negative experiences and emotions. In most cases, teachers are dissatisfied with the role that “parents assign” to them and the fact that parents are “also dissatisfied.” It turns out that both sides are dissatisfied, and we can talk about support and joining forces in very rare specific cases. Only some teachers express gratitude to parents for financial assistance in improving their school or classroom. This area of interaction is also not favorable and does not support the psychological stability of the teacher, causing negative emotions and continuing the mutual accusatory tendency.
Relationships with colleagues take third place in terms of affectivity, but a negative attitude towards them is still present. It is noted that there is a need for friendly, “warm” relationships within the teaching staff, and for support from colleagues. However, this need for belonging and involvement is not sufficiently satisfied, and we can observe a denial of the importance of the opinion of colleagues among individual teachers or a clear rejection of the assessment of the team: “The opinion of colleagues of teachers I'm not at all interested" «… I don't care at all."
Teachers' devaluation of the importance of professional relationships with colleagues contributes to the growth of psychological defenses and a decrease in the psychological stability of the teacher's personality.
The last five statements of the unfinished sentence technique provided the teacher with the opportunity to independently choose the topic of conversation. Analyzing the content of associations, we can note the focus of all teachers on school problems.
However, differences were identified between groups with different resource indexes in teachers’ ability to distract themselves from professional problems.
In the group with a high resource index there is the largest percentage of teachers (40%) who were able to distract themselves from the topic of school. It was most difficult for representatives of groups with low and medium resource indexes to escape from school problems (13.5% and 15% of teachers, respectively). This focus on one’s work is primarily due to an unmet need for recognition and support from significant people: “I need at least someone to sometimes be interested in my professional problems”, “I still don’t receive any gratitude or support”, “I need to be appreciated”, “... respected by people close to me”, “... so that I can sometimes be understood”, “... so that I am appreciated”, “It is not true that students will say thank you for the knowledge they have received.”
Unsatisfied needs and unjustified claims of teachers for their professional activities can cause not only depressive states, feelings of somatic fatigue, emotional burnout, but also existential crises and loss of meaning in life. Therefore, we recognize the importance of conducting further research that addresses the deeply human, existential level of teacher psychology.
Thus, the psychological stability of a teacher’s personality is associated mainly with social support (family, friends) and the activation of personality traits (primarily optimism, self-esteem, self-control).
The data obtained make it possible to specify the areas of professional realization of a teacher, which can be supporting and resourceful in the practical work of a psychologist on the problems of emotional burnout, feelings of anxiety and disappointment that arise in the process of a teacher’s activity.
By discussing issues of developing and maintaining resilience among people in helping professions, we reach mode of service, which determines life direction and confidence in the correctness of one’s own business. Undoubtedly, a significant factor social support in the form of social approval of their activities, also a factor of material support that maintains the teacher’s status at the proper level, contributing to the high-quality replenishment of expended energy.
The personal development of students as future professionals and bearers of culture plays a great importance in modern education. For students and representatives of professions such as “Human Person”, personal characteristics have a high rank in the hierarchy of professional qualities. One way or another, psychologists work with people seeking understanding and support, and such professional activity is often associated with the work of developing the humanistic values of a specialist.
It is psychologists, together with representatives of other humanitarian-oriented professions, who must put in first place the interests of those people who have trusted them in the most essential issues - questions of the meaning of their lives, the question of their development and decent behavior in difficult life situations.
It was of interest to study the characteristics of self-awareness and personality orientation of student psychologists completing their studies at the university. This was purpose of this work.
In our study, we adhered to the model of the value structure of A. V. Karpushina, built on the basis of the concept of I. G. Senin, which is based on terminal values that are realized in various spheres of life and are characterized by the orientation of the individual: humanistic and pragmatic.
To determine the personality orientation of student psychologists, the “Axiological personality orientation” method by A.V. Kaptsov and L.V. Karpushina was used.
The main diagnostic construct in this technique is the semantic systems in the personality structure, specifically the value-semantic relationships of a person to the social reality around him.
The test includes two groups of main scales.
Group of axiological scales:
1. Humanistic orientation.
2. Pragmatic orientation.
These directions are manifested in the following areas: 1. profession; 2. training and education; 3. families; 4. social life; 5. hobbies.
As a result of the analysis, statistically significant differences were revealed in the prevalence among students humanistic orientation in the areas: professions ( p 0.001); education ( p 0.001); hobbies ( R pragmatic orientation in the field of public relations ( R
Humanistic orientation in professional field indicates the importance of the process of professional activity for student psychologists. For students it is “very important” to “improve in their profession” (94%), “to get involved in the process of work in their profession” (94%), “to invent, improve, come up with new things in their profession” (81%), “in professional activities to establish favorable relationships with colleagues” (94%).
Students consider it necessary to devote a lot of time, effort and ability to their work. We assume that this is due to a developed interest in the inner world of another person, when this other person is one of the main values of life.
It is important to note that some statements related to pragmatic orientation were fully accepted by a large number of students. For example, subjects' ratings of “very important” and “important” were attributed to the following judgments: “to have a profession recognized in society” (79%); “achieve the intended result at work” – (98%); “have a well-paid job” – (96%).
It is necessary to note the strengthening of pragmatic values in the modern world, but, as sociological and psychological studies show, this is least manifested among people of humanistically oriented professions. The optimal balance between individual pragmatic interests and social humanistic interests is apparently capable of balancing the internal inconsistency of modern man.
In the field education the predominance of a humanistic orientation was revealed. But it should be noted that, despite this, 56% of students have a low level of humanistic orientation, which is manifested in limiting their knowledge to the limits of vital necessity, as well as in limiting contacts in the field of education. Even more often, students show a low level of pragmatic orientation in the field of education (89%), which reflects passivity and conformist behavior in the field of learning. The field of education is not considered by students as a financially profitable direction.
Due to the 20% of students focused on increasing the level of their education and broadening their horizons, developing their own abilities, wanting to transform the world around them, and introduce something new into the field of knowledge being studied, the humanistic orientation was significantly dominant over the pragmatic orientation.
For students with a pronounced humanistic orientation in hobbies(30%) are characterized by a high importance of hobbies. They also believe that without like-minded people in their hobbies, a person’s life is in many ways incomplete, and that passion for what they love provides opportunities for creativity for spiritual satisfaction. However, attention is drawn to the fact that about 30% of students have a low score in the humanistic orientation in the field of hobbies, which is associated with disinterest in the field of hobbies itself, in the absence of a hobby. This phenomenon can be correlated with data on the resilience of students obtained in O. Vidin’s thesis, when 70% of the students participating in the study responded that they felt “life is passing by.”
52% of students with a low pragmatic orientation in the field of hobbies focus on pastimes that do not require any effort and give a relaxing effect (lying on the couch, watching TV, listening to music).
Significant differences were identified in the prevalence of pragmatic orientation among psychology students in public life (p 0.001). This is manifested in an orientation towards achieving real results in public life, often for the sake of increasing self-esteem. At the same time, young people are more likely to focus on “fashionable” political views, that is, the points of view of the leading party. I would like to note the low level of manifestation of humanistic orientation in the sphere of public life among 76% of students, which is associated with avoidance of joint activities, desire fit to social circumstances.
In the sphere of family life, no significant differences were identified in the humanistic and pragmatic orientation of psychology students. They are characterized by both a focus on warm relationships in the family, the value of love and friendship, and recognition of the family’s success by others.
It can be assumed that the predominance of a humanistic orientation among student psychologists in many areas of life is associated with the development of the personality of a student studying in the field of a profession such as “human being.” However, when analyzing the characteristics of the manifestation of a humanistic orientation, it was noted that this predominance is often associated with the lack active position, conformist behavior, avoidance of joint activities, limiting one’s needs for new information. This position is reminiscent of the position described by A. Adler when analyzing the relationship between people's social interest and the need for superiority - socially active figures are not aimed at their own perfection.
It is important to note that the development of a young person’s personality occurs under the influence of a variety of factors; the socio-cultural aspect is of particular importance. Modern society is undergoing changes under the influence of political and economic conditions. Increasing importance is being attached to achieving goals, material well-being, prestige in the profession, and high social status.
In the work of S. L. Bratchenko, “The Existential Approach of J. Budgetal,” it is noted that “modern psychology contributes to the formation in psychologists of such a “professional consciousness” and such a “picture of the world”, which almost inevitably make the psychologist tougher and more manipulative in his relationships with people . “This kind of psychology explicitly or implicitly affirms such values as strength and power, simplicity, normality (normativity), predictability and controllability.”
However, the profession as a reality is creatively shaped by the psychologist himself. This means that even the socio-economic situation is not absolutely dominant; much, although not everything, depends on the person himself. It is he who determines for himself both the place of his profession and his personal contribution to social transformation.
Apparently, there is an urgent problem of combining humanistic and pragmatic values in human life. But, nevertheless, it is precisely the specific humanistic orientation of the personality of young specialists in their professional activities that is associated with the ability to solve various social problems - from economic to moral.
Thus, the characteristics of resilience during adulthood are closely interconnected with satisfaction in the sphere of interaction with other people, with an attitude toward the ability to cope with professional responsibilities and control the course of one’s professional activities and life in general. Significant factors in maintaining personal attitudes to overcome difficult situations is the ability to use social and material resources. Some value reorientation from the social desirability of one’s social role to internal satisfaction with one’s own life is associated with a decrease in age-related crisis phenomena.
Old age, the age of retirement, has its own unique characteristics, especially in the modern period, when people can push back the state of old age by intensifying their lifestyle and taking care of their health.
However, this age is characterized by such changes that are not characteristic of other ages, notes V. E. Chudnovsky. At this age, the processes of involution become more pronounced and begin to dominate in human life and activity. This period is associated with significant changes in a person’s mental life, in particular changes in his self-esteem, mainly in the direction of its decrease.
“The image of old age “falling into childhood” is not just a metaphor, but a reflection of a whole series of very real psychophysiological processes (weakening of conscious self-control, change in time perspective, etc.).”
In the modern period, there is a complex psychological adaptation of older people to the changes taking place, the intransigence of views and positions influences the intensification of experiences, and, despite vitality, a person feels thrown away from life. In this regard, K. A. Abulkhanova Slavskaya noted that “sometimes a person, having taken an active position, can waste himself on “remaking the world”, getting involved in solving a socially dead-end situation. He does not have enough vital intelligence to separate the futility of his personal efforts associated with a dead-end social situation from his own personal capabilities, he experiences defeat and accepts it as fate... The life line is determined by life maturity or immaturity. The latter in old age manifests itself in infantilism - an overestimation of one’s importance, one’s capabilities, and inadequate “sweepingness.” On the contrary, life maturity is manifested in indifference to “temptations,” in overcoming obstacles, in defending one’s life line. A person realizes the need to resolve life’s contradictions or give up life’s positions.”
Late period in a person’s life is associated with a large number of age-related difficulties. This is, first of all, retirement, when a change in social role occurs, a change in the structure of psychological time, and a person’s financial situation often worsens. An elderly person is not psychologically ready and not trained experience this kind of stress.
Most psychological researchers note that during the “retirement crisis,” a person consciously or unconsciously makes a choice of his aging strategy. The first strategy is associated with the progressive development of a person’s personality, which is manifested in the preservation of old and the formation of new social connections, which gives a feeling of fullness of life and one’s own benefit.
At the same time, the structure of the meaning of life is preserved. The second strategy is associated with the behavior of “survival” as an individual; a passive attitude towards life and alienation from others develops, while the situation of life’s age-related difficulties can be subjectively perceived as a loss of meaning in general.
In older people, a decrease in the level of resilience is associated with the experience of not being involved in active social life, being excluded from life, and loss of control.
B. G. Ananyev noted that “... the end of work inevitably becomes the finale of human life, a dramatic denouement in the form of an open or hidden conflict between man and the world. Moreover, the cause of personality disintegration is not only the cessation of systematic labor itself, but also the gradual destruction in the innermost world of man main value - the experience of work as a benefit, as a person’s subjective creative relationship to the world around him. That is why maintaining work tone and continuing in various types of socially useful activities even after reaching retirement age is the most important condition moral and mental health of elderly and old people".
A. Tolstykh considers the artificiality of such a separation of an elderly person from social life, since retirement is not a law of nature, “but is a social institution that has formed in civilization to ensure old age, and old age was interpreted in past centuries as illness, infirmity, loss of ability to work.”
In the process of studying factors of the effectiveness of coping behavior of older people, psychogerontologists revealed that psychological resource, helping older people cope with life's difficulties is the presence psychological future, which allows the individual to reach new motives his life, plays an important stimulating role.
At the same time, those areas of a person’s life in which he maintains his
According to research by B. G. Ananyev, “preservation and reproduction ability to work old people is, as one might think, the main condition for the preservation and reproduction of the very consciousness of people in the later stages of ontogenesis. It emphasizes the importance of emotionally rich activities of older people. In the case of active longevity, the relative preservation of perceptual processes is explained, in addition to those resisting aging operational mechanisms, high level of motivation, interests in the surrounding reality, needs for knowledge, communication with people and the creation of values. It is these internal impulses that provide the psychophysiological tension necessary for certain perceptual operations.
For an elderly person, the most significant are those areas of a person’s life in which he maintains his autonomy, ability to control events taking place and drawing conclusions.
It was of interest to study the state psychological well-being elderly people and the components of their manifestation vitality. The study involved 50 people, 26 women and 24 men aged 64 to 75 years.
The method used for diagnosing the psychological well-being of an individual by T. D. Shevelepkova, P. P. Fesenko, a modification of the method by K. Riff, including the following scales: “positive relationships with others”, “autonomy”, “environmental management”, “personal growth”, “ goals in life”, “self-acceptance”.
The concept of “psychological well-being” focuses on a person’s subjective emotional assessment of himself and his own life, as well as on aspects of self-actualization and personal growth. The methodology is aimed at studying current psychological well-being (high and low psychological well-being). A low level of actual psychological well-being is due to the predominance of negative affect (a general feeling of one’s own unhappiness, dissatisfaction with one’s life), a high level is due to the predominance of positive affect (a feeling of satisfaction with one’s life, happiness).
“The Vitality Test” by S. Maddi, adapted by D. A. Leontiev and E. I. Rasskazova, was used to identify the characteristics of the components of the vitality of older people.
Components of vitality according to this method:
- index involvement– the conviction that participation in ongoing events gives a person a chance to find something important and interesting for himself;
- index control– belief in the existence of cause-and-effect relationships between human actions and results;
- index risk taking– the belief that the development of a person’s personality is associated with both positive and negative experiences.
During the study, it was revealed that up to 50% of subjects have low level of vitality(67% of men and 43% of women), and only 14% of women have a high level of resilience.
First of all, overall low scores on resilience are associated with low scores on the criterion "involvement" which indicates a feeling of dissatisfaction among older people with their social roles and a lack of pleasure from everyday activities.
It turns out that an elderly person is often forced to accept the new social role of a pensioner. It can be more difficult for men than for women to find a new significant social role for themselves, since the formation of the personality of modern older Russians was associated primarily with the priority of professional and public roles, to the detriment of roles associated with private life and family relationships.
Brought up on the positions of collectivism, older people cannot move to the positions of individualism or self-sufficiency.
Quite low scores on the “risk taking” criterion indicate the presence of a strong need for the permanence of life, stability and security. These needs can make it difficult for an older person to adapt to changing life situations. Low scores on the general indicator of vitality are associated with low scores on the parameters “Goals in life” and “personal growth” according to the Social Well-being methodology, which emphasizes the importance of a person’s value and semantic formations in his ability and ability to endure the difficulties of current life. A low level on the scales “Autonomy” (67% of men and 64% of women), and “Competence” or “Management of the environment”, a low level (44% of men and 57% of women) positively correlates with data on the Control scale of S. Maddi’s vitality test. It is important to emphasize the opposite answers of subjects who have low and high levels on the “Autonomy” and “Competence” scales in terms of the degree of involvement in life changes not only in their family and the life of their immediate environment, but also in current social life.
It is noteworthy that, despite the low scores on vitality, in our sample the levels of psychological well-being on the “positive relationships with others” and “self-acceptance” scales, associated with a person’s subjective perception of his life activity, turned out to be quite high. That is, despite experiencing increasing dependence on surrounding people and circumstances, some frustration in setting life goals, the participants in our study noted their ability to empathize, the ability to be open to communication, as well as availability of skills, helping to establish and maintain contacts with other people. These human characteristics help combat loneliness.
In the life of an elderly person, in his ability to withstand difficulties, it is important to consider the role of cultural and social factors, which are determined by the traditions of society (the position and role of the elderly person in the family and the state as a whole), the material security of the elderly person, as well as his personal position, which is manifested in activity , productivity and a creative attitude towards one’s own life, and most importantly, a sense of one’s own need for significant other people, who are perceived as self-worth.
Thus, in each age period, a person has some internal resources to optimally cope with life's difficulties, however, these resources can often remain unclaimed if attention is not deliberately focused on their identification and development.
The internal resource of children and adolescents, which helps them successfully cope with life’s difficulties, is associated with flexibility of thinking, behavior, and emotional response. This is manifested in the rapid development of new standards, mastery of skills, switching attention from one situation to another, emotional flexibility, and protective work of the imagination. However, the importance of the child’s internal resources cannot be overestimated. The importance of external factors of coping with difficult life situations for children is much greater than internal ones. Also, it is the social and emotional support of significant people that is an important factor in overcoming difficult situations in youth and decisive in old age, despite the possibility of developing at this age such internal resources as wisdom and turning to spiritual and religious experience.
For the period of adulthood at all its stages, the most important resource in coping behavior is the ability to understand one’s own psychological reality, accept this reality, understand one’s own capabilities and limitations in various areas of one’s life.
The crisis of old age is associated with the formation of meaning, the loss of vitality at this age is associated with emotional isolation in the past, refusal to master the new. And even some obsession with your health has a negative impact on your overall vitality.
In philosophy, the phenomenon of resilience is considered as a continuous process of personal self-improvement, allowing one to cope with critical moments in life. Among the Stoics, resilience was considered through issues of the meaning of a person’s individual choice, awareness of one’s duty and life’s task. For existentialists, through creative understanding of one’s place in the world around us. Irrationalists pointed to a person’s desire for self-affirmation in the world and to succeed in life. Russian philosophers at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries defined a resilient personality as integral, capable of creation and self-development, awareness of spiritual values.
Among foreign and domestic psychologists who study the phenomenon of resilience, one can distinguish such scientists as: S. Maddi, S. Kobeisa, D. Khoshaba, M. Scheyer, I. Solkova, P. Tomanek, D.A. Leontyev, E.I. Rasskazova, T.V. Nalivaiko, G.V. Vanakova, M.V. Loginova, N.M. Volobueva, S.A. Bogomaz, E.Yu. Mandrikova, R.I. Ssetyshyn et al. For psychological science, the problem of resilience is new and insufficiently studied. To date, there is still no unity in defining what the phenomenon of resilience is. The scientific literature raises various aspects of this phenomenon (attitudes and components, basic values as the basis of this phenomenon, the connection of resilience with the ability to accept the difficulties of life), attention is paid to the peculiarities of the expression of resilience at different ages, and methods for the formation and development of resilience are developed.
We can say that the phenomenon of resilience arose at the intersection of the scientific school of existential psychology and the psychology of stress, ways of coping with it. Foreign psychologist S. Maddi became the creator of the theory of such a personal quality as “hardiness”. This term, translated from English, means “strength, endurance”, D.A. Leontiev defined this phenomenon as “vitality”.
The phenomenon of resilience is a personal formation that develops throughout a person’s life. Vitality manifests itself in certain situations, regardless of the knowledge and understanding of this given by the individual himself.
Thus, supporters of the humanistic movement viewed the individual through his creativity, integrity, constant creation of himself and self-realization, and understanding of the meaning of existence. We can say that representatives of the humanistic movement laid down criteria for assessing the vitality of an individual. If we look at the phenomenon of resilience from the point of view of personal development, then we can talk about self-actualization as a means of achieving resilience. Thus, here the phenomenon of resilience is considered as a way of confirming the maximum rich development of personality for a fulfilling life. Such a person can accept himself and others and be independent. A resilient person can build strong interpersonal relationships and feel included and connected with others.
According to A. Adler, the vitality of an individual is determined by its social development, that is, the understanding that in order to solve various life difficulties and problems one must have courage, be able to cooperate and spend one’s own energy for the benefit of others.
We should also turn our attention to the theory of “selfhood” by K. Jung. Here, a resilient personality is a person who, with the help of his own “self,” acquires new skills, realizes goals and himself, he is able to rise above the masses, while remaining not subject to social norms.
The development of the personality itself is considered by domestic psychologists as a condition for the development of resilience. Vitality is also associated with the level of aspirations, creativity, persistence, and initiative.
M.V. Loginova notes that creativity is the basis for the development of resilience. And the meaning of this phenomenon lies in a person’s ability to become the creator of his own individual history through mastery of the external circumstances of life. The content of vitality is considered through extraversion, activity, plasticity, sincerity and the internal characteristics of the localization of control. L.I. Antsiferova notes that in order to develop resilience, it is necessary to be “involved” in the system of social relations, since the problem of developing resilience arises due to the individual’s inability to self-realization. Therefore, a resilient personality must be able to integrate into various social groups, have a high level of reflection, and be able to adequately assess the social situation. According to E.I. Golovakhi, a resilient person is one who, based on moral values, forms his own moral, consistent life priorities, the order of their setting and the implementation of goals through means of achievement.
YES. Leontiev understands resilience as a trait characterized by the degree to which a person overcomes given circumstances, and, ultimately, by the degree of overcoming oneself. According to D.A. Leontiev, an indicator of stable self-esteem in a resilient person is the presence of a certain signal that everything is in order in life or, conversely, which means the need for changes in life and in relationships with the world. As elements of resilience, the scientist considers freedom from the present and the past, that is, the ability to draw motivating forces for one’s behavior in the planned future, the ability to use these forces to achieve the desired result and responsibility, that is, a person’s understanding of the ability to change the surrounding reality and his own life.
S.L. Rubinstein is ahead of the views of S. Muddy. He talks about two ways of human existence, and, consequently, about two options for relating to life. The first is an understanding of life that does not go beyond immediate connections and relationships (that is, based on biological and social needs according to S. Muddy). And the second option is associated with the emergence of reflection (that is, psychological needs according to S. Maddi).
L.A.'s term of resilience. Aleksandrova (2005) defines it as psychological vitality, as well as an indicator of a person’s mental health. In the understanding of R.M. Rakhimova, youth resilience is a set of value systems that allow youth to create their own life project and make it positive.
S.A. Bogomaz established a connection between human resilience and the ability to overcome stressful situations, with a high level of development of physical and mental health, with a sense of optimism and satisfaction with one’s own life.
Thus, we can conclude that interest in the phenomenon of resilience arose in the psychological literature in the context of the study of such phenomena as stress resistance, subjectivity, and personal life worlds. In psychological science, questions have arisen regarding a person’s ability to develop his personality in difficult and unfavorable circumstances of life. We believe that today the theory of S. Maddi and D. Khoshaba is the most developed and holistic, while having a powerful empirical base, therefore we identify the concept of resilience with “hardiness” and consider resilience as a special pattern of the structure of attitudes and skills, thanks to which you can turn the changes that happen to a person into his capabilities, as a system of beliefs about himself, the world, and relationships with the world.
Bibliography:
PSYCHOLOGY
RELATIONSHIP OF PERSONAL RESOURCES AND SUBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT OF QUALITY OF LIFE (using the example of meaningfulness of life and resilience)
Yu. Yu. Neyaskina
PERSONAL RESOURSES AND SUBJECTIVE LIFE QUALITY APPRECIATION INTERRELATION RESEARCH (on the example of life conciseness and hardiness)
Yu. Yu. Neyaskina
The article presents an analysis of the empirically identified specifics of the relationship between the subjective assessment of the quality of life and the parameters of meaningfulness of life and resilience. It has been shown that these resources are differently associated with assessments of life satisfaction among representatives of different age and professional groups. The study complements the picture of ideas about the factors that determine the subjective quality of life of an individual.
The paper provides the analisys of the emperically found interrelation between life quality subjective appreriation and hardiness. It is revealed that such resources are differently connected according to person's age or profession. So the research complements the subjective life quality determinant conception.
Key words: quality of life, life satisfaction, meaningfulness of life, resilience, time perspective of the individual.
Keywords: life quality, satisfaction from life, life conciseness, hardiness, personality’s time perspective.
In the modern world, a person’s ability to carry out his plans regardless of external conditions, including unfavorable ones, is an undeniable value both in many areas of professional activity and in everyday life. In line with positive psychology, personal resources - positive personality traits that contribute to a person’s successful adaptation to the world around him and practical mastery of it - are undoubtedly predictors of indicators of personal well-being, prerequisites for achieving positive emotional states (happiness, life satisfaction, etc.) and, as a consequence, improving quality of life.
The purpose of the study was to describe the specifics of subjective assessment of the quality of life among respondents of different age and professional backgrounds with varying degrees of expression of “resource” personality parameters - meaningfulness of life and resilience. Numerous theoretical and empirical studies indicate that both meaningfulness in life and resilience can be considered as core components of personal potential. The results of studies by D. A. Leontyev and co-authors show that resilience and meaningfulness of life are significantly positively correlated with each other, although they do not coincide.
This study tested the hypothesis that the combination of high indicators of vitality and meaningfulness of life does not necessarily entail an increase in a person’s subjective assessment of his life (just as a combination of low ones does not always clearly entail a decrease in this assessment): the nature of the relationship is not clear-cut , varies depending on age and professional specifics.
The formation of the total sample was carried out on the basis of two basic grounds:
1) age of respondents;
2) professional affiliation.
In the context of the second parameter, we were interested in “special” professional samples, suggesting that resilience, being a professionally significant quality, is one of the basic “resource” personality parameters. Thus, the sample with a total volume of 280 people combined the following groups (Author’s note: Empirical data were collected during joint research with E. A. Nekrasova, V. V. Teslenko, G. S. Fesenko, N. A. Pak in during 2013):
1) 60 people of different social status, gender, professional background, aged from 25 to 35 years;
2) 60 people of different social status, gender, professional background, aged 35 to 45 years;
3) 80 people - police officers aged from 20 to 50 years;
4) 80 people - young people aged 18 to 21 years, serving under conscription in the ranks of the armed forces of the Russian Army.
The following methods for collecting empirical data were used: Test of life-meaning orientations (LSO) by J. Crumbo, adapted by D. A. Leontiev; Questionnaire on time perspective by F. Zimbardo (2TP1) adapted by A. Syrtsova, E. V. Sokolova, O. V. Mitina; Vitality test by S. Maddi, adapted by D. A. Leontyev, E. I. Rasskazova; Methodology for assessing quality of life and satisfaction (Q - Les - Q) adapted by E. I. Rasskazova; Study of quality of life (Quality of Life Inventory, Frisch M.) translated and adapted by E. I. Rasskazova (Russian-language adaptation of the methodology is currently ongoing).
Yu. Yu. Neyaskina, 2014
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Research results
I. In a study aimed at studying the characteristics of the quality of life in young people aged 25-35 with different levels of meaningfulness in life and resilience, clustering the data of 60 respondents according to the totality of all parameters (meaningfulness of life, resilience, time perspective) did not give clearly defined clusters . The best solution was obtained based on the indicators of the methods of time perspective of the individual and life-meaning orientations. As a result, respondents were distributed into two clearly defined clusters. The first cluster included 39 people - experimental group 1, the second - 20 - experimental group 2. At the stage of searching for the reasons on which the respondents were divided, we calculated the average values for all scales of the LSS methods and scales of the F. Zimbardo personality time perspective questionnaire. According to the LSS method, all scales (goals, process, result, locus of control - life, locus of control - self) showed significant differences (p< 0,01).
Despite the fact that clustering according to the aggregate matrix of indicators “LHS + Vitality” did not give a clear division into groups, comparison of the resulting groups according to the resilience method showed significant differences on all scales. In the first group, indicators on the scales of involvement, control, risk taking, as well as the general indicator of resilience were higher than those of respondents in the second group. Thus, the first experimental group (EG 1) consisted of respondents with higher indicators of meaningfulness in life and vitality parameters, the second (EG 2) - with low indicators on these positions.
According to the results of F. Zimbardo's method, significant differences were obtained between groups on three out of five scales (negative past, hedonistic present, fatalistic present). Experimental group 2 (with low indicators of meaningfulness and resilience) is characterized by a more negative attitude towards the past, an orientation towards a carefree and carefree attitude towards time and life, an inability to give up pleasure today for tomorrow's reward, a helpless and hopeless attitude towards the future and life in general.
Next, the relationship between the significance and accessibility of values was identified (M. Frisch’s method), as well as the specifics of assessing the quality of life according to a number of parameters (E. I. Rasskazova’s method) among respondents of the resulting groups.
In the group with high indicators of vitality and meaningfulness of life (EG 1), there are practically no parameters for which respondents demonstrate low (lower than significance) satisfaction (Table 1).
The parameters “Self-esteem” and “Friends” are implemented in the lives of respondents “in abundance”, more than are in demand. The only parameter - “Home” - has higher indicators for importance than for satisfaction. For respondents in the first experimental group, home is of great importance, but people are not satisfied with the place where they live.
In the second experimental group there are a large number of indicators for which satisfaction is lower than importance (health, money, work, love, home, city). Respondents are not satisfied with the implementation of these values in their lives (Table 2).
Table 1
Comparison of the importance of values (areas) and satisfaction with them among respondents with high rates of meaningfulness and vitality
EG 1 Significance Satisfaction t criterion
Self-esteem 1.51 1.94 3.28**
Friends 1.45 2.27 4.43**
House 1.86 1.21 2.54*
Note: * for p< 0,05; ** для р < 0,01.
table 2
Comparison of the importance of values (areas) and satisfaction with them among respondents with low indicators of meaningfulness and vitality
EG 2 Significance Satisfaction t criterion
Health 1.7 0.35 3.00**
Money 1.65 -0.25 4.54**
Work 1.2 0.05 2.44*
Love 1.75 0.65 2.42*
House 1.6 0.1 3.21**
City 1.15 -0.35 2.72**
Note: * for p< 0,05; ** для р < 0,01.
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Table 3
Results of comparison of the subjective significance of values among respondents with high (EG 1) and low (EG 2) indicators of meaningfulness and vitality
Scales EG 1 (high) EG 2 (low) t-test
Significance
Self-esteem 1.51 1.1 2.12*
Money 1.18 1.65 3.19**
Training 1.40 0.8 3.28**
Children 1.67 1.2 2.23*
House 1.86 1.6 2.10*
District 1.24 0.7 2.70**
Note: * for p< 0,05; ** для р < 0,01.
For respondents of the first experimental group (high indicators of meaningfulness, vitality), it is more important how they evaluate themselves, the opportunity to acquire new skills or information that interests them is important, relationships with children are of great importance, the place of residence and the area around them are important. For respondents
in the second experimental group, the money they earn and the things they own are more important.
Table 4
Results of comparison of subjective satisfaction with values among respondents with high (EG 1) and low (EG 2) indicators of meaningfulness and vitality
Scales EG 1 (high) EG 2 (low) t criterion
Satisfaction
Health 1.45 0.35 2.29*
Self-esteem 1.94 1.05 2.54*
Goals and values 1.89 1.05 2.68**
Money 0.86 -0.25 2.39*
Training 1.64 0.6 2.76**
Love 2.05 0.65 2.85**
Friends 2.27 1.2 3.29**
Relatives 2.02 0.9 2.40*
House 1.21 0.1 2.16*
Note: * for p< 0,05; ** для р < 0,01
Results of comparison of groups in assessing quality of life (aspect: satisfaction over the past week)
Table 5
Scales EG 1 EG 2 t criterion
Emotional experiences 21.76 18.15 3.91**
Sphere of communication 20.43 17.3 2.70**
Relationships with other people 4.28 3.5 3.01**
Material condition 3.20 2.45 2.67**
Well-being 3.94 2.9 3.62**
Life satisfaction 4.07 3.25 3.47**
Note: * for p< 0,05; ** для р < 0,01.
The group with high rates of meaningfulness and resilience is superior to the second experimental group in a significant number of parameters. Respondents of the first experimental group are more satisfied with such aspects as: health, self-esteem, goals and values, money, education, love, friends, relatives, home.
At the next stage, we compared life satisfaction over the past week among representatives of different groups (methodology by E. I. Rasskazova). You-
significant differences were revealed on all scales: emotional experiences, sphere of communication, relationships with other people, financial status, well-being, life satisfaction (Table 5).
Respondents with higher scores on the criteria of meaningfulness of life and resilience had a higher level of subjective quality of life. This result seems to be expected to a certain extent: it is obvious that the presence of personal resources (we believe that
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laziness in life, as well as resilience and a balanced time perspective are internal resources for the individual) contributes to a more positive assessment of one’s own life. At the same time, we were interested in age specifics, the relationship between the importance of various spheres and values of life, and the subjective assessment of satisfaction with these aspects among young people in comparison with a more mature sample. In this regard, at the next stage, a study similar to that described, but conducted on a sample of respondents aged 35-45, was undertaken.
II. At the next stage, when dividing 60 respondents aged 35 - 45 years into groups based on a set of indicators of meaningfulness of life, resilience and time perspective, a pattern similar to that described in the previous study was obtained: clustering of the summary matrix, including indicators of all three methods, did not allow us to obtain a “good” solution. After excluding the vitality parameters from the clustering matrix and conducting a cluster analysis based on the data from the life support system and the method of time perspective of the individual, the respondents were divided into two clearly defined clusters.
The first experimental group (EG 1a) included 30 people (16 women and 14 men). The second experimental group (EG 2a) included 26 people (14 women and 12 men). The formed groups can be considered equivalent in terms of age, gender and education and not quite equivalent in terms of marital status.
The first experimental group (EG 1a) included respondents with higher indicators of meaningfulness in life and vitality parameters (differences were revealed on all scales of both methods), the second (EG 2a) included respondents with lower indicators of
indicated positions (4 people from the initial sample were not included in any cluster and their results were not taken into account in further research). Let us note that the resulting experimental groups are not characterized by polar (high and low) indicators for the parameters of meaningfulness and vitality. This fact may partly explain the resulting picture of differences and similarities in assessing the quality of life.
It can be stated that the empirical picture we obtained in a sample of young people (25-35 years old) is also reproduced in a more mature sample: the groups differ on all scales of methods of meaningfulness in life and resilience, despite the fact that the clustering of the totality of these indicators (“LSS” + viability) does not provide a “good” cluster solution. This fact seems to us worthy of attention, but for now we will limit ourselves to just mentioning it without attempting to interpret it.
Indicators according to the method of time perspective of personality indicate differences in only two scales out of five (in EG 1a the indicator on the “future” scale is higher, p< 0,05; ниже - по шкале «негативное прошлое», р < 0,01). Видится существенным, что различия во временной ориентации лиц с разными уровнями осмысленности жизни и жизнестойкости в группах молодых и зрелых людей были выявлены по различным шкалам.
Next, groups with more and less high levels of meaningfulness in life and resilience were compared in terms of the level of subjective assessment of quality of life and life satisfaction. The following significant differences were revealed in the importance of values and subjective life satisfaction in various areas in the first and second experimental groups (Table 6).
Table 6
Subjective assessment of the importance of values and satisfaction with their implementation by respondents with different levels of meaningfulness in life and resilience (35 - 45 years old)
Parameters of EG 1a EG 2 a t-criterion
Health (important) 1.7 1.4 2.44*
Money (satisfied) 0.63 0.46 3.3**
Creativity (satisfied) 1.6 0.8 3.15**
Love (satisfied) 1.87 0.96 2.4*
Children (satisfied) 1.93 0.65 3.07**
Note: * for p< 0,05; ** для р < 0,01.
It is obvious that the number of significantly different parameters is significantly less than that obtained from a similar comparison of data from respondents of a different age category: one difference in the context of significance (versus five in the group of young people 25 - 35 years old), four differences in the context of satisfaction (versus nine - respectively).
It is significant that the assessment by respondents of both groups of quality of life over the past week did not differ significantly in any of the parameters (physical health, emotional experiences, activity in free time, sphere of communication, relationships with other people, functionality during the day,
financial condition, general well-being). The last empirical fact is consistent with the absence of differences in present scales (F. Zimbardo’s method). The lack of differences in the subjective assessment of the present among people aged 35-45 years with different levels of meaningfulness in life and resilience may be a consequence of a kind of “operationalization” of the present period of life through the activities carried out (work, study, household, etc.): even in a situation of insufficient internal resource a person turns out to be necessarily involved in the everyday range of diverse activities and, thereby, in some sense neutralizes, levels out the absence
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resource, “filling” one’s present (probably, the opposite situation is also possible, when a person with a high level of resources, being absorbed in the momentary “concerns of the present,” neglects the resource and does not turn to it “here and now”).
Thus, we can say that in adulthood, higher indicators of meaningfulness in life and resilience do not so clearly determine differences in the subjective assessment of one’s own life according to a set of parameters, as in youth. Perhaps, during the period of maturity, the range of “resource” parameters expands, and satisfaction with various aspects of life begins to be achieved at the expense of some other components of personal potential.
III. The next block of research procedures was carried out on samples of young and mature respondents, who, in addition, differed from the groups described above in terms of professional affiliation. Further research was carried out on “special” groups in terms of professional involvement - representatives of law enforcement agencies (including conscripts).
At the first stage, the research base consisted of police officers - 80 people: 40 officers and 40 junior officers. It should be noted that the age range in the sample was very widely represented - from 20 to 50 years. The average age of respondents is 33 years.
Data on the scales of the methods of life-meaning orientations, resilience, and time perspective were subjected to cluster analysis. Based on intragroup similarity, the combined sample was divided into two clusters. The first experimental group included 37 police officers, and the second - 40 officers. Three respondents were not included in any of the clusters.
At the stage of searching for grounds for grouping, we encountered a pattern different from the studies described above: of the three methods, it was the vitality test that turned out to be the main basis for dividing respondents into groups. The differences on all scales of the resilience technique turned out to be statistically significant (involvement, risk taking, general indicator of resilience - at p< 0,01; контроль - при р < 0,05), в то время как методика СЖО дала лишь одно значимое различие (шкала «локус контроля - я»), методика Зимбардо значимых различий не показала. Выявленный эмпирический факт представляется нам свидетельством того, что жизнестойкость выступает особо важным параметром, предстает базовым личностным ресурсом именно для данной категории респондентов в силу специфики их профессиональной деятельности и следующей из этого специфики образа мира и образа жизни.
A more detailed analysis of the qualitative composition of the resulting groups revealed the following fact: the first group included exclusively members of the junior command staff, the second (with higher indicators on all scales of vitality) was predominantly made up of representatives of the officer corps (37 out of 40 people). It should be noted that before the clustering procedure, we carried out
scale-by-scale comparison of groups formed specifically on the basis of professional status (title), however, significant differences were not obtained on any of the scales. Thus, a slight “movement” in the qualitative composition of the groups (the exclusion of 3 people from considering the results and the “transfer” of another 3 people from one group to another) made it possible to form groups that differed in terms of vitality parameters. It should be noted that the groups turned out to be practically equivalent in gender (no more than 25% women in each sample), radically different in professional status. In addition, it is of interest that the age range of respondents in the second group (with higher levels of resilience) turned out to be significantly lower (29 ± 7.4 versus 36 ± 7.6; t = 3.97**). Thus, the first experimental group consisted of junior commanding officers, predominantly men aged 30 to 42 years, with lower scores on the parameters of resilience (resilience, involvement, control, risk taking) and lower scores on the “locus of control - self” scale. "(those who consider themselves less able to act as the master of their own lives). The second experimental group consisted primarily of officers aged 22 to 36 years, who had high scores on vitality parameters and felt able to control their lives.
It is obvious that with such a distribution of respondents into groups, we are dealing with a priori different categories of persons. Young people who choose a path to obtain a military education and men who enter the profession on a contract basis, based on a set of parameters, represent different types of military personnel. At the same time, most often a young man who consciously enters the military profession has ideas about the system of social and material benefits that a serviceman receives “included” with his chosen specialty, potentially contributing to improving the quality of life. Thus, we can say that one of the motives (and in the case of contract service, most often the leading motive) for entering the military profession is a person’s conscious orientation towards improving the quality of life (its objective parameters). This fact to some extent neutralizes the so-called “input differences” associated with the qualitative composition of the resulting groups.
A comparative analysis of groups according to the positions of subjective assessment of quality of life gave the following results.
When assessing the importance of various life spheres (values), respondents from both experimental groups showed virtually no differences. The exception was the “money” parameter, the significance of which turned out to be significantly higher for respondents with lower vitality scores (and with a lower professional rank). The parameters that gave differences in the aspect of satisfaction with what was achieved also turned out to be quite small (Table 7).
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Table 7
Results of comparison of subjective quality of life between groups of military personnel with high and low vitality indicators
EG 1 (II) (low vitality) EG 2 (II) (high vitality) Student’s t-cr
Money (importance) 1.56 1.3 2.20**
Game (satisfaction) 1.4 1.85 2.01**
Helping others (satisfaction) 0.86 1.45 2.76**
Leisure time activity (last week) 10.86 11.9 2.44**
Note: * for p< 0,05; ** для р < 0,01
Respondents with higher levels of resilience demonstrate greater satisfaction with such aspects as “playing,” “helping others,” and “leisure time activity” (an aggregate parameter assessing one’s condition over the past week). Considering that “helping others” in the context of the methodology used (M. Frisch’s method translated by E. I. Rasskazova) involves helping people in general (not close relatives, that is, not targeted help), and “game” is what the respondent does in their free time to relax, have fun or improve themselves, it can be assumed that the respondents of the second experimental group, on the one hand, have the resources to be active in relation to both others and themselves personally, and, on the other hand, in a certain way replenish their internal resources through this activity. Respondents with low levels of hardiness may view the material aspect of life as a kind of external resource that allows them to achieve a higher assessment of the quality of life.
To provide greater validity to the conclusions about the existence of a relationship between the parameters of resilience and quality of life (as well as meaningfulness and quality of life), a correlation analysis was carried out between the data of the corresponding techniques.
The number of identified correlations between vitality parameters and various indicators of quality of life in both groups turned out to be significantly different. In the first experimental group, 8 and in the second - 38 significant correlations were identified. This empirical fact seems to be evidence that in the presence of an internal resource (in this case, with a high level of resilience), a person’s subjective assessment of the quality of life is based on this resource.
An analysis of the consistency between indicators of quality of life and parameters of meaningfulness of life indicates a different picture of the relationship: in the experimental group with lower indicators of vitality, 25 were identified, in the group with high indicators - only 13 significant correlations. It can be assumed that meaningfulness of life and resilience determine the specifics of the quality of life of police officers, while the parameters of resilience are more interconnected with various aspects of the subjective quality of life at a high level of expression, while at
When resilience is weakly expressed as a personal resource, the determining factor is the meaningfulness of life.
It can be assumed that if a professionally significant personal resource (in this case, resilience) is developed, then this is already enough for a person to enjoy the process of professional activity. If the resource is scarce, then external (social) assessment of achievements that ensure social success becomes important. Hypothetically, with a low level of personal resource, external assessment in material form becomes more significant (not necessarily purely monetary, it can be any marker of recognition and social success - insignia, awards, etc.).
IV. At the next stage of the study, the experimental base was young people, aged from 18 to 21 years, serving under conscription in the ranks of the armed forces of the Russian Army - a total of 80 people. All respondents were called up for service from the Kamchatka region, were conscripts of the same period of conscription (Spring 2012 conscription) and were under the same conditions of service.
The distribution of respondents into groups was carried out on the basis of a clustering matrix, including indicators of all scales of the resilience methodology. Two main clusters were obtained. The first included 28 respondents with a high level of resilience (EG 1). The second cluster (EG 2) included 38 respondents who showed a lower level of resilience (on all scales, including the integral indicator, differences at p< 0,01). 14 респондентов не вошли ни в одну группу.
Criterion analysis showed that the groups differ in most indicators of the LSS technique. The only exception was the “Process” scale.
Thus, further comparison in terms of subjective assessment of the significance of values and quality of life was carried out in groups that were equivalent in age, gender and professional status and differed in the level of meaningfulness of life and the severity of resilience. The first experimental group included young people with higher, and the second - with lower, indicators on the indicated parameters.
The time perspective technique showed differences between groups on the “negative past”, “positive” scales.
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positive past”, “fatalistic present”
Note that the absence of differences precisely on those scales that characterize the “present” of conscripted military personnel (“process”, “hedonic present”) seems quite natural in the context of the presence of respondents of both groups in special conditions that strictly regulate and structure precisely the “present” the life span of the respondents (in this case, the “fatalistic present” scale is probably determined to a greater extent by personal characteristics rather than by the external conditions of the respondents’ life activities).
A comparison of the assessments of respondents of both groups regarding the importance of individual life spheres and values according to the quality of life methodology did not show significant differences. At the same time, the assessment of subjective satisfaction with various aspects of life varies significantly along a number of parameters.
Young people with high levels of resilience and meaningfulness in life are more satisfied with their health, have more structured goals in life (as confirmed by the results of the LSS methodology) and values that give meaning to life. In addition, respondents in the first group have higher life satisfaction in the areas of work and creativity, which indicates harmonious personal development and the ability to enjoy everyday activities, as well as higher satisfaction with material well-being. Also, representatives of the first experimental group are more satisfied with such personal relationships as love, and emphasize the ability to build interpersonal connections. The results are presented in Table 8.
When assessing life satisfaction over the past week, young people with higher levels of meaningfulness in life and resilience also showed a tendency to have more positive subjective assessments of various aspects of life (Table 9).
Analysis of the correlations between the parameters of the quality of life, on the one hand, and the scales of life support methods, resilience and time perspective, on the other, allows us to draw the following conclusions: high satisfaction with the quality of life among respondents of the first group is closely related to obtaining satisfaction from their own activities, with active involvement in current events. And the higher the satisfaction with activity and involvement, the more a person is satisfied with his creativity and place of residence, the more important personal relationships (love) and awareness of his own role in society become for him, which allows the individual to find a lot of meaningful and interesting things for himself. In addition, the high subjective quality of life among respondents in this group is supported by satisfaction with the part of life they have lived and orientation towards the future (with a hedonistic emphasis in the present). The higher the indicators of personal resources, the more satisfaction increases with such components of the subjective quality of life as health, creativity, relationships with others, and satisfaction with the city of residence. At the same time, the importance of the presence in the lives of respondents of such components of the quality of life as love, learning, goals in life and having a job increases, and the area of residence becomes less important, which indicates flexibility in relations with the outside world, i.e. the ability to adapt.
Table 8
Differences in groups of conscripts with different levels of resilience
according to quality of life parameters
Scales Importance Satisfaction
EG1 EG 2 t em. EG 1 EG 2 t em.
Health 1.75 1.63 0.9 2.18 1.4 3.3**
Self-esteem 1.29 1.55 1.7 1.75 1.69 0.4
Goals and values 1.57 1.26 1.7 2.14 1.37 3 7**
Money 1.14 1.03 0.9 1.32 0.47 2.8**
Work 1.5 1.63 1 1.5 0.21 3.4**
Game 1.4 1.21 0.5 2 1.84 0.7
Training 1.32 1.42 0.8 1.82 1.42 1.5
Creativity 1.18 1.03 1 1.79 1.29 2.1*
Helping others 1.29 1.37 0.6 1.82 1.68 0.7
Love 1.86 1.68 1.6 1.93 0.97 3**
Friends 1.75 1.71 0.4 2.14 2.21 0.4
Children 1.68 1.55 0.9 1.04 0.82 0.6
Relatives 1.36 1.57 1.8 2.11 2.08 0.1
House 1.43 1.63 1.6 2 1.63 1.4
District 1.21 1.05 1 1.57 1.5 0.2
City 1.14 1.24 0.7 1.5 1.18 1.5
Note: * for p< 0,05; ** для р < 0,01
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Table 9
Differences in the subjective assessment of the importance of values and satisfaction with their implementation among conscripts with different levels of resilience
Scales EG1 (group with a high level of vitality) EG 2 (group with a low level of vitality) t em.
Sphere of physical health 17.68 15.97 2 9**
Sphere of emotions 22.36 21.05 2.1*
Sphere of activity in free time 13.18 11.79 3 2**
Social sphere 21.18 19.97 1.9
Relationships with people 4.46 4.16 1.8
Activities during the day 4.04 3.95 0.5
Material condition 4.04 3.5 2 7**
Well-being in general 4.36 3.89 2.4*
Note: * for p< 0,05; ** для р < 0,01.
Consideration of correlations in the second group (respondents with low resource indicators) shows that subjective assessments of the components of quality of life in these young people are interconnected with the conviction that risk contributes to development, and it does not matter what the result will be, they act even in the absence of guarantees success. And the more respondents accept this risk, the less satisfied they are with their self-esteem, work, and relationships with friends. Also, the subjective quality of life in this group correlates with a helpless and hopeless attitude towards life and the future, and the more pronounced this attitude is, the less satisfied the respondents are with their education, financial condition, relationships with relatives and place of residence (home and area). In addition, satisfaction with the lived part of life is not supported by either satisfaction with the material aspect of life, or satisfaction in the areas of creativity and love.
I. Generalization of the data obtained as a result of comparing the subjective assessment of the quality of life at different levels of meaningfulness of life and resilience in different age groups allows us to come to the following conclusions:
In different age categories (youth and middle adulthood), groups of respondents with high and lower scores on the methods of life-meaning orientations and resilience give an unequal qualitative picture of the differences in the parameters of subjective assessment of the quality of life;
It can be assumed that during youth, meaningfulness of life and resilience are to a greater extent determining the subjective quality of life as personal resources than in adulthood;
It remains unclear why the pattern of data clustering based on the SLS method and the vitality test does not give a “good” division of the sample into 2 classes, while the division based on the data from the SLS and Zimbardo methods makes it possible to form groups that turn out to be different in all parameters of vitality. This empirical fact requires further research.
II. Generalization of the results on samples included in special conditions of professional activity (police officers, conscripts) allows us to establish the following patterns:
In contrast to “non-specific” samples in the context of professional affiliation, samples of military personnel and representatives of law enforcement agencies (for example, police officers) are characterized by a special nature of the relationship between the subjective quality of life and resilience and meaningfulness of life;
With a sufficient degree of expression of resilience, this parameter is one of the conditions among military personnel that influences the subjective assessment of the quality of life. A low level of resilience in itself does not have a direct impact on subjective life satisfaction, but only encourages the individual to use other personal resources to improve the subjective quality of life (a search for ways to compensate occurs; it can be assumed that either the individual finds these ways and remains in the profession, or is forced to change the field of activity);
As in the case of samples of different ages that are non-specific in terms of professional involvement, internal resources turn out to be most significant for military personnel precisely at a young age. Moreover, strict regulation of life “in the present” becomes a factor that significantly limits the field of external resources, due to which the role of internal resources for young people increases even more;
Involvement in special conditions of life at a young age turns out to be a factor for an individual that significantly reduces the quality of life if resilience and meaningfulness of life as personal resources are not sufficiently formed. If a young man during military service is able to rely on these resources, the situation of military service is not only not perceived by the individual as critical, but also contributes to a detailed understanding of the life path, works to harmonize the time perspective, updates the complex of internal resources of the individual and increases efficiency life activity of young people during their service.
142 | Bulletin of Kemerovo State University, 2014 No. 3 (59) T. 1
PSYCHOLOGY
Thus, a generalization of the data from the conducted studies allows us to say that in adulthood, higher indicators of meaningfulness in life and resilience do not so clearly determine differences in the subjective assessment of one’s own life according to a set of parameters, as in youth. During the period of maturity, activities aimed at transforming the world are important to maintain quality of life. Moreover, if internal resources (meaningfulness of life,
vitality) are sufficiently developed, then satisfaction from the actual process of activity itself works to increase indicators of the subjective quality of life. If internal personal resources are not enough, then the individual needs social support, social approval, confirmation of the “correctness” of her lifestyle and approval of the results of her life activity (including material incentives).
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Neyaskina Yulia Yurievna - Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Theoretical and Applied Psychology of Kamchatka State University. Vitus Bering, [email protected].
Yulia Yu. Neyaskina - Candidate of Psychology, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor at the Department of Theoretical and Applied Psychology, Vitus Bering Kamchatka State University, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy.
One of the theoretical concepts closely related to helplessness, or more precisely, with mental formations that are polar in relation to it, is the concept of resilience by Salvador Maddi, which has attracted the attention of Russian researchers in recent years (Leontyev, 2002, 2003, Alexandrova, 2004, 2005, Dergacheva , 2005, Rasskazova, 2005,
Knizhnikova, 2005, Leontiev, Rasskazova, 2006, Nalivaiko, 2006, Drobinina, 2007, Tsiring, 2008, 2009).
In Russian psychology, resilience began to be studied quite recently. Psychological phenomena related in nature that have been studied in domestic psychology are personal adaptation potential (A. G. Maklakov), subjectivity (K. A. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya, B. G. Ananyev, A. V. Brushlinsky, E. A Klimov, O. A. Konopkin, V. I. Morosanova, etc.), personal self-realization (L. A. Korostyleva, M. V. Ermolaeva, E. V. Galazhinsky, D. A. Leontiev, I. V. Solodnikova and others), life creativity (D. A. Leontiev), personal potential (D. A. Leontiev). Currently, research on resilience is carried out mainly under the leadership of D. A. Leontiev (E. I. Rasskazova, L. A. Aleksandrova, E. Yu. Mandrikova, E. N. Osin) as part of the study of personal potential.
The term hardiness, introduced by S. Muddy, is translated from English as “strength, endurance.” D. A. Leontiev proposed denoting this characteristic in Russian as “vitality.”
S. Maddi defines resilience as an integral personality trait responsible for a person’s success in overcoming life’s difficulties. The concept of resilience has been studied in close connection with issues of coping with stress. D. A. Leontyev and E. I. Rasskazova point out that resilience is understood as a person’s system of beliefs about himself, the world, and relationships with the world. A high level of resilience contributes to assessing events as less traumatic and successfully coping with stress. As D. A. Leontiev notes, this personal variable characterizes the measure of an individual’s ability to withstand a stressful situation, maintaining internal balance and without reducing the success of activities. Resilience is a key personal variable that mediates the influence of stress factors (including chronic ones) on somatic and mental health, as well as on the success of activities. A person’s attitude to changes, to his own internal resources, and his assessment of the ability to manage ongoing changes make it possible to determine an individual’s ability to cope with both everyday difficulties and those of an extreme nature. And if personal helplessness presupposes susceptibility to depression, apathy, low resistance to stress, and confidence in the futility of one’s own actions, then resilience, on the contrary, reduces the likelihood of depression, increases resistance to stress, and gives confidence in the ability to control events. Obviously, high vitality characterizes an independent person, while low vitality is characteristic of a helpless person. The results of empirical research related to testing this assumption are discussed in Chapter 11.
Resilience includes three relatively autonomous components: involvement, control, and risk taking.
The component “involvement” (commitment) represents “the conviction that involvement in what is happening gives the maximum chance of finding something worthwhile and interesting for the individual” (quoted by D. A. Leontiev). With a developed component of involvement, a person receives pleasure from his own activities. In the absence of such conviction, a feeling of rejection arises, a feeling of being “outside” of life. The involvement component obviously resonates with the concept of “flow” in the concept of M. Csikszentmihalyi, which is “the holistic feeling experienced by people when they are completely devoted to their activities” (quoted by X. Heckhausen). This is a joyful feeling of activity when a person completely “dissolves” in the subject with which he is dealing, when his attention is entirely focused on the activity, and makes him forget about his own self. The state of “flow” arises when performing quite difficult tasks and the need for a high level of skill, clarity of purpose. “Flow,” according to M. Seligman, is a state of psychological growth, characterized by the accumulation of psychological resources. According to the results of a study by M. Csikszentmihalyi, adolescents who often experience a state of “flow”, as a rule, have hobbies, play sports, devote a lot of time to study, they have higher self-esteem and degree of passion, more often enroll in higher education institutions, establish deeper social contacts and achieve greater success in life. People who frequently experience flow are less likely to experience depression. It can be assumed that the state of “flow” is one of the phenomenological manifestations of involvement.
Involvement is about confidence in yourself and the generosity of the world. As L.A. Aleksandrova notes, involvement is an important feature of ideas about oneself, the world around us and the nature of interactions between them, which motivates a person to self-realization, leadership, a healthy lifestyle and behavior. Involvement allows you to feel significant and valued and to be involved in solving life’s problems, even in the presence of stressors and changes.
The “control” component of resilience is defined as the belief that “struggle allows you to influence the outcome of what is happening, even if this influence is not absolute and success is not guaranteed.” In other words, this component reflects a person’s conviction that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between his actions, actions, efforts and results, events, relationships, etc. The more pronounced this component is, the more confident a person is in the effectiveness of his own active position. The less this component of resilience is expressed, the less a person believes that there is meaning in his actions; he “anticipates” the futility of his own attempts to influence the course of events. This belief in the lack of control over what is happening gives rise to a state of learned helplessness.
It is obvious that such a belief, demonstrated by a person as stable, is interconnected with a symptom complex of personal characteristics, which is studied in detail in this study and is defined as personal helplessness. This assumption received empirical confirmation, described in Chapter 11.
The control component in the structure of resilience is consistent with similar constructs widely studied in foreign psychology. In particular, with perceived control in the theory of Ellen Skinner, who writes: “Broadly speaking, beliefs about control are naive causal models that individuals come up with about how the world works: about the most certain causes of desirable and unpleasant events, about their own role in successes and failures, the responsibility of other people, institutions and social systems<...>People strive for a sense of control because they have an innate need to be effective in their interactions with their environment. The feeling of control brings joy, while the loss of control can be destructive” (quoted by T. O. Gordeeva). The feeling of control (or lack thereof) is associated with self-esteem, personal adaptation to difficult life situations, depression, anxiety, alienation, apathy, phobias, and health status. With high perceived control, that is, a person’s conviction that he can influence the results that are important to him, the person concentrates on completing a task that is not just within his capabilities, but also on the verge of them, he initiates behavior, makes efforts, sets sets difficult goals for himself, is not afraid of new, complex and unfamiliar situations (which generally corresponds to the behavior of an independent person). With a low level of perceived control, a person avoids difficulties, prefers to set easily achievable goals, remains passive, not believing in the effectiveness of his own actions (which generally characterizes a person with personal helplessness). E. Skinner identifies categories that characterize the source of perceived control: effort, ability, influential others and luck. In addition, it distinguishes between an individual’s ideas about control, ideas about the means to achieve a result, and ideas about the possession of means (opportunities). S. Maddi does not differentiate these types of control components.
The control component is also similar to Julian Rotter's locus of control category. As is known, locus of control is one of the characteristics that is a predictor of helplessness. The famous experiments of Donald Hiroto, as noted earlier, proved that learned helplessness is more likely to develop in subjects with an external locus of control, while subjects with an internal locus of control remain resistant to it. It is logical to assume that subjects with personal helplessness have not only a more pronounced external locus of control, but also a less developed control component in the structure of vitality.
The third component highlighted in the structure of resilience is “risk taking” (challenge), that is, “a person’s conviction that everything that happens to him contributes to his development through knowledge gained from experience, no matter positive or negative.” negative." This component allows the individual to remain open to the world around him, to accept current events as a challenge and test, giving the person the opportunity to gain new experience and learn certain lessons for himself.
According to the ideas of S. Maddi, a person constantly makes choices, both in critical situations and in everyday experience. This choice is divided into two types: the choice of immutability (choice of the past) and the choice of uncertainty (choice of the future). In the first case, a person sees no reason to understand his experience as new and makes a “choice in favor of the past,” a choice of immutability, without changing his usual method (or methods) of action. In this option, the choice brings with it a feeling of guilt associated with unrealized opportunities. In the second case, a person believes that the experience he has gained causes the need for a new way of action, he makes a “choice in favor of the future.” In this version, the choice brings with it a feeling of anxiety associated with the uncertainty into which the person enters. There is always uncertainty in the future. It is impossible to predict even with clear plans. The risk associated with any action cannot be eliminated. According to S. Maddi, when choosing the future, a person chooses the unknown. This is the ineradicable root of human anxiety. S. Kierkegaard, M. Heidegger, as well as Paul Tillich in their work “The Courage to Be” drew attention to existential irreducible anxiety as a necessary and inevitable condition of human existence. According to P. Tillich, existential anxiety associated with the awareness of the possibility and inevitability of death is ontological in nature, and it can only be courageously accepted. Resilience allows you to successfully cope with anxiety, which is one of the consequences of your own choice, if in a situation of an existential dilemma it was made “in favor of the future.”
As E. Yu. Mandrikova notes, among researchers of different directions one can trace relatively similar dichotomies of choice that appear in different strategies: in S. Kierkegaard (choice of the past vs. choice of the future), in Yu. Kozeletsky (protective vs. transgressive orientation), in J. Kelly (conservative vs. bold strategies), A. Maslow (regressive vs. progressive paths), which suggest that there are two types of choices - the one that leaves in place, and the one that moves forward. Two choices - between the past and the future - are not equivalent from the point of view of personal development. The choice of the past, that is, the status quo, associated with the avoidance of awareness, cannot lead to success, while the choice of the future, uncertainty and anxiety creates a certain potential and prospect for personal development. Choosing the unknown expands the possibilities for finding meaning, while choosing the unchangeable limits them. Life philosophy (or a system of views, beliefs regarding the world order, what is happening, one’s place in it, relationships with it), according to S. Maddi, is one of the very important characteristics of a mature personality. S. Muddy develops this idea following Gordon Allport. A positive philosophy of life allows a person to successfully cope with the fear of death, turning it into valuable material for personal development. A negative philosophy of life (closely associated with helplessness and passivity) develops in people who are either unable to perceive the meaning of life events as a confrontation with death, or give in in the face of obstacles that they perceive as insurmountable, in the face of the insufficiency of their own abilities. Personality characteristics directly related to such a negative philosophy of life, corresponding to the author’s understanding of this study of the phenomenon of personal helplessness, are described by S. Maddi as cowardice. Thus, the category “courage - cowardice” is associated with the attitude towards existential anxiety and corresponds in its content to the category “personal helplessness - independence” used in this work. By “courage to be,” P. Tillich understands the ability to recognize anxiety, accept it and exist with it, without repressing it and preventing it from turning into pathological, destructive anxiety. The courage to be is based on a positive philosophy of life. The operationalization of the existential concept of “courage to be” is the concept of resilience introduced by S. Maddi.
Resilience also includes core values such as cooperation, trust and creativity.
L. A. Aleksandrova emphasizes that resilience is not identical to the concept of coping strategies (strategies for coping with life’s difficulties), since coping strategies are techniques, algorithms of action, habitual and traditional for the individual, while
resilience is a personality trait. In addition, coping strategies can take on both productive and unproductive forms, while resilience allows one to cope effectively with distress and always promotes personal growth.
S. V. Knizhnikova, in her dissertation research, considers the resilience of the individual not as a system of beliefs, but as an integral characteristic of the individual that allows one to resist the negative influences of the environment, effectively overcome life’s difficulties, transforming them into development situations. She emphasizes that resilience not only determines the nature of the personal reaction to external stressful and frustrating circumstances, but also allows these circumstances to be turned into opportunities for self-improvement. Basic components of resilience as an integral characteristic of personality
are optimal semantic regulation, adequate self-esteem,
developed strong-willed qualities, high level of social competence, developed communication abilities and skills.
L. A. Aleksandrova notes that if we consider the concept of resilience within the framework of domestic psychology, based on the psychological theory of activity and the psychology of abilities, then we can consider it as a person’s ability to act to overcome life’s difficulties and as a result of the development and application of this ability. Then coping behavior can be considered as an activity aimed at overcoming life's difficulties and based on resilience as the individual's ability to overcome unfavorable circumstances of his development. L. A. Aleksandrova emphasizes that resilience, considered in the framework of traditional terms of adaptation, can be understood as the ability that underlies personality adaptation, understood as a process and as a quality, trait, or personality trait, if adaptation is understood as the result of adaptive activity. Exploring resilience as
integral ability of the individual, L. A. Aleksandrova proposes to identify a block of general abilities, which includes basic personal attitudes, responsibility, self-awareness, intelligence and meaning as a vector organizing human activity, and a block of special abilities, which includes skills to overcome various types of situations and problems , interaction with people, self-regulation, etc., that is, those that are responsible for the success of solving specific specific life problems.
Vitality is positively correlated with subjective well-being, its components - with satisfaction with the present and satisfaction with the past. It appears to buffer against the adverse physical effects of stress, characterizing the personality of people in better health.
Resilience changes the nature of relationships between people. They become more open, able to experience love, and establish healthy relationships with others. Interest in the world around us in general and the people around us in particular increases. Taking care of one's own health and transformative coping, as well as receiving social support in the form of help and encouragement from others, increases resilience. But it is resilience that gives people the motivation they need to engage in existentially effective coping strategies, take care of their health, and engage in supportive social interactions.
As D. A. Leontiev and E. I. Rasskazova point out, the components of resilience develop in childhood and partly in adolescence, although they can be developed later. Their development mainly depends on the relationship between the parents and the child. For example, for the development of the involvement component, acceptance and support, love and approval from parents are fundamentally important. For the development of the control component, it is important to support the child’s initiative, his desire to cope with tasks of increasing complexity to the limit of his capabilities. For the development of risk taking, the richness of impressions, variability and heterogeneity of the environment are important.
Thus, they talk about resilience in its medical, biological aspects, about resilience as a system of beliefs, as an integral characteristic of the individual, as the ability to adapt the personality. The basis for the empirical study of resilience in helpless and independent subjects, the results of which are described in paragraph 11.1, was the understanding of resilience as a system of beliefs, including components of involvement, control, and risk taking. An analysis of ideas about resilience shows that the concept of resilience allows us to expand our understanding of the nature and mechanisms of formation of both learned and personal helplessness, is consistent with the basic provisions of the theory of helplessness and forms a single theoretical field with them.
