The urgency of the problem justifies the significance of the study of psychological patterns and self-improvement mechanisms as a form of students’ self-development. The research aims to find out the role of self-efficacy and psychological well-being in students’ choice of self-improvement strategies: acquisition, transformation, disposal or restriction. The diagnostic tools include the author’s Self-improvement Quadrangle technique, the questionnaire by M. Scheer, J. Maddux adopted by Boyarintseva. defining general and social self-efficacy, Riff’s Psychological Well-Being Scale adopted Shevelenkova and Fesenko. Mathematical processing of the results was carried out using the criterion φ* of the Fisher angular transformation and the Pearson dichotomous correlation coefficient. The research involved 277 students from universities of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Kazakhstan, the average age of 19.5 (SD = 1.5). The results reveal that students with a predominance of high self-efficacy prefer three strategies: acquisition, disposal and transformation. Students with low self-efficacy in subject activity more often use the acquisition strategy and do not use the transformation strategy. Such structural components of psychological well-being as autonomy, environmental management, life’s goal and personal growth play an essential role in choosing a particular self-improvement strategy. The results show the individual trajectory of students’ self-development and help to carry out more purposefully the process of supporting the personality’s self-development. The obtained data can be used by teacher educators in a training process for students majoring in teacher education and psychology, by tutors and university’s psychological services.
Keyword(s) : psychological well-being
Regional Specifics of Psychological Well-Being among Graduate Students of the Faculty of Psychology
The relevance of studying the specifics of the psychological well-being among psychology students is due to the need to prevent their professional burnout and improve the image of the psychology profession. The purpose of the study was to identify differences in the general level and specific indicators of psychological well-being and happiness of final-year students of the psychology department of the capital and regional universities. Ryff’s theory of psychological well-being, the provisions of cognitive, positive and personality-oriented approaches were used; in addition to Ryff’s multidimensional model of psychological well-being, the M.W. Fordyce scale of happiness and the S. Lyubomirsky & N. Lepper scale of subjective happiness were used. The sample consisted of 200 full-time graduate students from the Faculty of Psychology at two regional universities and a Moscow university. It was shown that the groups differ significantly in eight parameters of psychological well-being and happiness: life goals; self-acceptance; competence; general level of psychological well-being; degree of happiness; time “on the rise”; time of feeling unhappy; level of subjective happiness. The paper concludes that psychology students from a capital university are significantly happier than their peers from regional universities. Methods of autopsychocorrection of negative cognitions are proposed to improve psychological well-being of students. The practical significance lies in the possibilities of using the obtained results to improve course programs as part of the curriculum of the main professional educational program (Psychology), training courses and educational work with students.
Psychological Well-Being of Teachers
Psychological well-being is widely recognized an essential component of human life. Numerous
studies have looked at the significance of teachers’ well-being for effective professional activity and
self-efficacy. However, little is known about how a teacher’s personal and professional characteristics
influence their psychological well-being.
The purpose of this study was to explore possible determinants of teachers’ psychological wellbeing,
such as professional activity motivation, personal orientation, thinking style, terminological
competence, and reflection. A total of 224 secondary school teachers from the Arkhangelsk area
took part in the study. Ryff’s Scales of Psychological Well-being (SPWB) were used to assess the level
of well-being.
The teachers are found to have a moderate level of psychological well-being. It has shown that
professional activity motivation has the most important role. Inner motives such as cognitive
motives, activity motives, and self-realization goals promote psychological well-being, while external
incentives such as communication and confession decrease it. The differences in professional and
personal characteristics between teachers with various levels of psychological well-being were
identified. Teachers with low levels of psychological well-being reported a greater importance for
social approval. However, for those with the highest psychological well-being scores, it is more
important to pursue professional development.