The Influence of Individual and Personal Characteristics of Social Workers on the Style of Professional Activity

Benkova Oksana Anatolyevna PhD in Psychology Associate Professor, Department of Developmental Psychology and Counseling, Siberian Federal University 79 Svobodny Ave., Krasnoyarsk, 660028, Russia artyukhova2024@bk.ru Other publications by this author     Ben'kova Oksana Anatol'evna PhD in Psychology Associate Professor, Department of Developmental Psychology and Counseling, Siberian Federal University 79 Svobodny str., Krasnoyarsk, 660032, Russia shulakovaoa@mail.ru Barkanova Ol'ga Vladimirovna PhD in Psychology Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University. V.P. Astafieva 89 Ada Lebedeva str., Krasnoyarsk, 660049, Russia chistovrs@mail.ru Fedorova Elena Prokop'evna PhD in Psychology Associate Professor, Department of Maritime Law and International Law, Russian University of Transport 127994, Russia, Moscow, ul. Obraztsova, 9, of. 9 epfedorova@mail.ru

Artyukhov Aleksei Nikolaevich Methodist, Krasnoyarsk Regional Career Guidance Center 660059, Russia, Krasnoyarsk, Semaphornaya str., 433/2 polzovatel7738@gmail.com

Relevance. The processes taking place today in modern Russian society are distinguished by the rapidity and cardinality of changes that are reflected in all spheres of social development. Today, the state creates the necessary conditions for broad participation of society in the process of modernization of the social sector and ensures the functioning of this process ^{[22, 23]}. All changes in the social sphere occur during the reform of various aspects of life, and closely interact with a number of other reforms, also performing the function of sources to meet the needs and needs of the population.  ^{[3, 13]}.

Dynamic changes in the social environment, the active process of informatization of the social system, the strengthening of the psychological role in the process of educational activity, are also due to the change in the system of requirements for the qualification characteristics of a modern social worker ^[10]. Innovative changes in the process of training social service workers are objectively justified and affect, today, almost every professional in this field ^{[9, 11]}.

Of course, the success of social reform largely depends on the level of professionalism of a modern social worker, the degree of manifestation of his abilities, capabilities and the optimal choice of ways and means of implementing his professional activity, which will more closely correspond to his individual characteristics ^[21]. In addition, social workers are people of a helping profession. The professional and emotional burnout of social workers depends on how psychologically stable a social worker is, what style of activity he chooses, and how he performs professional activities, which requires close study and scientific research.

Subject of research: the influence of individual and personal characteristics of a social worker on the formation of the style of professional activity of social workers

The purpose of the study: the study of the influence of individual and personal characteristics and the style of professional activity of social workers.

Theoretical foundations of the study.

The conceptual foundations of the formation of the style of activity are reflected in the works of I.S. Kagan, L.P. Bueva, E.S.Markaryan; A.N. Leontiev, L. I. Antsiferova, S.L. Rubinstein, etc. Today, the specifics of the activities of social service workers are studied by Kulichenko R.M., Vlaskina I.V., Mayatskaya K.S. ^{[2, 3, 4, 9]}

Career orientations of social workers as a condition of their effective activity are investigated by Mavrina I.A., Kolbasin V.N., Antykova E.V. ^{[8, 1]}.

The influence of management styles and individual-personal characteristics on the effectiveness of professional activity of social service workers is studied by Knyazev A.V., Shekhova R.N., Tarieva V.A. ^{[5, 15, 14]}, etc.

Abroad, the role of individual personal characteristics in choosing the style of professional activity among social workers is studied by Li Z., Xiang L., Junhao L., Beicastro, P.A. Maslach, Daniel, J.^{[16, 17,18,19]} and others.

The listed factors together determine the interest in the study of the individual style of professional activity, which is formed on the basis of personal characteristics. In our work, we relied on the research of E.V. Romanina, who defines the concept of personality style as a functional set of mental properties, the variability and dynamism of which is fixed by satisfying certain needs through achieving the necessary result in the structure of a specific activity act ^[12].Research methods:

1. Ketell's 16-factor questionnaire,

2. Questionnaire of activity styles "SD 36" by A.D. Ishkovai N.G. Miloradova (adaptation of the questionnaire "LearningStylesQuestionnaire" by P. Honey and A. Mumford).

3.                 Research of individual style of professional activity (adapted for social workers) - A.I. Markova

The experimental base is the Department of Social Protection of the population of the Oktyabrsky district of Krasnoyarsk.

Research and results.

The study involved 46 people, women, aged 27 - 50 years, with different professional experience and different qualification categories (higher and first)

The analysis of the features of the study sample is presented in Table 1.

Table 1.

The results of the study of the features of professional activity

When analyzing age characteristics, it can be distinguished that the group is dominated by respondents aged 41-45 years - 30.43% (14), to a lesser extent, respondents aged 24-30 years are represented in the group - 10.87% (5).

All respondents have higher education - 100% of respondents (46).

Analyzing the characteristics of the group by work experience, we highlight that the group is dominated by respondents with 2-7 years of experience - 17.39% (8), also some respondents have 10-25 years of professional experience – 69.57% (32) of respondents.

When analyzing the characteristics of the group by qualification characteristics, it can be distinguished that 58.7% (27) of respondents have the highest qualification category, 41.3% (19) of respondents have 1 qualification category.

For further research, the sample was divided into groups: group 1 included social workers with the highest qualification category in the number of 27 people, group 2 included with the first qualification category in the number of 19 people.

We assumed that social workers of the first qualification category are more dreamy, imaginative, prone to abstractions, focused on their inner world, in comparison with social workers of the highest category who are more practical. Social workers of the highest qualification category prefer the use of an emotional -methodical style, with a characteristic focus on the process and its effectiveness, with adequate planning, high efficiency and a possible predominance of intuitiveness, in comparison with social workers of the first qualification category, who are characterized to a greater extent by an emotional-improvisational style.After processing the results of Kettel's 16-factor personality questionnaire, we identified the results for 8 factors of the greatest interest within the subject of the study:

1. Factor A: "closeness – sociability";

2. Factor C: "emotional instability - emotional stability";

3. Factor E: "subordination-dominance";

4. Factor F: "restraint – expressiveness";

5. Factor G: "low normativity of behavior – high normativity of behavior";

6. Factor L: "credulity – suspicion";

7. Factor M: "practicality – dreaminess";

8. Factor O: "calmness – anxiety".

The results of the analysis of the personal characteristics of social workers of the highest qualification category are presented in Table 2, Appendix 2, we will reflect them in the form of a histogram in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Distribution of personal characteristics of social workers of the highest qualification category (%)

When analyzing the personal characteristics of social workers of the highest qualification category, presented in Figure 1, it can be distinguished that indicators prevail in the group:

– anxiety (70.37%), with characteristic anxiety, preoccupation, a high level of vulnerability, self-doubt, sensitivity to the assessments of others;

– closeness (6.67%) with a characteristic manifestation of secrecy, isolation, distrust;

– dominance (66.67%), with a characteristic expression of independence, independence, stubbornness, in some cases aggressiveness and increased conflict, with unwillingness to recognize external power;

– expressiveness (66.67%), with a characteristic expression in some situations – cheerfulness, impulsivity, the importance of social contacts, expressiveness and expansiveness;

It should also be noted that to a lesser extent, calmness is expressed in the group (29.63%), with characteristic cheerfulness, self-confidence, composure.

The results of the analysis of the personal characteristics of social workers of the first qualification category are presented in the form of a histogram in Figure 2.

When analyzing the personal characteristics of social workers of the first qualification category, presented in Figure 2, it can be distinguished that indicators prevail in the group:

– low normality of behavior (84.21%), with a characteristic manifestation of a tendency to inconstancy, with a commitment to feelings and emotions, a desire to realize their needs with disregard for group norms and rules;

– subordination (78.95%), with a manifestation of expressiveness and a tendency to lose their temper when problematic situations arise;

– restraint (73.68%), with a tendency to concern, anxiety about the future, pessimism and restraint in the manifestation of emotions.

Figure 2. Distribution of personal characteristics of social workers of the first qualification category (%)

It should be emphasized that to a lesser extent, the indicators of high normativity of behavior (15.79%) are expressed in the group, with conscientiousness, responsibility, balance, a sense of duty and responsibility for their actions and actions.

To compare the personal characteristics of social workers of the highest and first qualification categories, we used the Mann-Whitney U-Test, presented in the package for statistical analysis of research results SPSS 23.0.

We will reflect the indicators of personal characteristics of social workers of the highest and first qualification categories, with pronounced differences, in Table 2.

Table 2.

The results of comparing the personal characteristics of social workers with the highest and first qualification category according to the Mann-Whitney U-Criterion

Note: a. Grouping variable: qualification

Analyzing the results of comparing the personal characteristics of social workers of the highest and first qualification categories (Table 2.), it can be distinguished that in the group of social workers with the highest qualification category, the indicators of dominance (U=107,000, at p0.05), high normativity of behavior (U=131,500, at p0.05) are more pronounced), that is, in comparison with social workers of the first qualification category, they are more independent and self-confident, conscientious, and responsible for their actions, are able to insist on their own, and strive to comply with established norms and rules.

It should also be noted that social workers of the first qualification category are more dreamy (U=155,000, at p0.05), imaginative, prone to abstractions, focused on their inner world, easy rejection of practical reasoning on the problem, in comparison with social workers of the highest category who differ in practicality

The results of the analysis of the peculiarities of the individual style of professional activity of social workers of the highest qualification category are presented in the form of a histogram in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Features of the individual style of professional activity of social workers of the highest qualification category (%)

When analyzing the peculiarities of the individual style of professional activity of social workers of the highest qualification category (Fig.3), it can be distinguished that, depending on the current situation, social workers prefer the use of an emotional-improvisational style (48.15%), with a focus mainly on the learning process, with a logical, interesting presentation of the material, with a possible lack of feedback with the population; and an emotional and methodical style (48.15%), with a characteristic focus on the professional process and its effectiveness, with adequate planning, high efficiency and a possible predominance of intuitiveness.

To a lesser extent, social workers of this group use a reasoning-improvisational style (59.26%), with a focus on the process and its effectiveness, with adequate planning; and a reasoning-methodical style (51.85%), with a focus mainly on the effectiveness of the process and its adequate planning, with a manifestation of conservatism in the means and methods of implementing professional activities.

The results of the analysis of the peculiarities of the individual style of professional activity of social workers of the first qualification category are presented in the form of a histogram in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Features of the individual style of professional activity of social workers of the first qualification category

When analyzing the peculiarities of the individual style of professional activity of social workers of the first qualification category (Fig.4), it can be distinguished that, depending on the situation, preference is given to the use of a reasoning - methodical style (47.37%), with a focus mainly on the effectiveness of the process and its adequate planning, with the manifestation of conservatism in the means and methods of implementing professional activity and emotional and improvisational style (42.11%), with a focus mainly on the educational process, with a logical, interesting presentation of the material, with a possible lack of feedback from the population.

To a lesser extent, social workers use components of an emotional and methodical style (73.68%), with a characteristic focus on the work process and its effectiveness, with adequate planning, high efficiency and a possible predominance of intuitiveness.

To compare the features of the individual style of activity of social workers of the highest and first qualification categories, we used the Mann-Whitney U-Criterion, presented in the package for statistical analysis of the results of SPSS 23.0 studies.

We will reflect the indicators of the characteristics of the individual style of professional activity of social workers of the highest and first qualification categories, with pronounced differences, in Table 3.

Table 3

The results of comparing the features of the individual style of professional activity of social workers with the highest and first qualification category according to the Mann-Whitney U-Criterion

Note: a. Grouping variable: qualification

When analyzing the results of comparing the characteristics of the individual style of professional activity of social workers with the highest and first qualification categories (Table. 3), we highlight that social workers of the highest qualification category prefer the use of an emotional and methodical style (U=121,500, at p0.05), with a characteristic focus on the process and its effectiveness, with adequate planning, high efficiency and a possible predominance of intuitiveness, in comparison with social workers of the first qualification category, and social workers of the first qualification category - of the reasoning - methodical style (47.37%), with a focus mainly on the effectiveness of the process and its adequate planning. This confirms the hypothesis that social workers with a lower level of professionalism are more characterized by an emotional-improvisational style, whereas more professional workers are characterized by an emotional-methodical style.The results of studying the features of self-actualization of social workers of the highest qualification category are presented in the form of a histogram in Figure 5.

Figure 5. The results of the features of self-actualization of social workers of the highest qualification category (T-points).

According to the results of the study of the features of self-actualization of social workers of the highest qualification category (Fig.5) it can be distinguished that they have fairly high rates of self-actualization, having: high internal support, guided mainly by internal principles and motivation (74), with a desire for certain ideals and values (69), the ability to respond quickly to a changing situation (57), reasonable application of certain standard principles, high sensitivity to their own experiences and needs (62), the ability to express their feelings spontaneously (55), the manifestation of individuality (54), a high assessment of their potential (62), a meaningful approach to assessing (62) and understanding what is happening (65), understanding the importance of self-control (57) and ease in establishing interpersonal contacts (57), the desire for knowledge (58) and the manifestation of creativity (57).

The results of studying the features of self-actualization of social workers of the first qualification category are presented in Figure 6.

Figure 6. Results of the features of self-actualization of social workers of the first qualification category (T-points).

According to the results of the study of the features of self-actualization of social workers of the first qualification category (Fig.6) it can be distinguished that they have fairly high rates of self-actualization, having: high internal support, guided mainly by internal principles and motivation (77), with a desire for certain ideals of ideals and values (57), the ability to respond quickly to a changing situation (51), reasonable application of certain standard principles, high sensitivity to their own experiences and needs (59), the ability to express their feelings spontaneously (59), the manifestation of individuality (59), a high assessment of their potential (54), a meaningful approach to assessing (57) and understanding what is happening (63), understanding the importance of self-control (56) and ease in establishing interpersonal contacts (67), the desire for knowledge (62) and the manifestation of creativity (54).

To compare the features of self-actualization of social workers of the highest and first qualification categories, we used the Mann-Whitney U-Criterion, presented in the package for statistical analysis of research results SPSS 23.0.

We will reflect the indicators of the features of self-actualization of social workers of the highest and first qualification categories, with pronounced differences, in Table 4.

Table 4

The results of comparing the features of self-actualization of social workers of the highest and first qualification categories according to the Mann-Whitney U-Criterion

Note: a. Grouping variable: qualification

When analyzing the results of comparing the features of self-actualization of social workers with the highest and first qualification categories (Table. 4), we highlight that the respondents of the first qualification category are more contact, are attuned to interpersonal interaction, react faster to the situation and are capable of self-acceptance in comparison with the respondents of the highest qualification category.

In order to identify the relationship between personal characteristics and characteristics of the style of professional activity of social workers with different levels of professional development, qualitative processing of the results of the study was carried out using the r - Pearson correlation coefficient.

When analyzing correlational relationships between personal characteristics and characteristics of the style of professional activity of social workers of the highest qualification category, the following can be distinguished:

– with an increase in the use of elements of emotional and improvisational style in their professional activities, there is a decrease in the cognitive needs of the individual (-0.436).

– with an increase in the use of elements of the emotional and methodological style in their professional activities, there is an increase in their preference for certain value orientations (0.382), contributing to an increase in the ability to quickly adjust to the situation (0.397), contributing to an increase in self-esteem (0.382) and an increase in self-esteem (0.382).

– with increasing competence, the level of self-actualization increases (0.543), preferences for certain value orientations (0.547); the ability to quickly adapt to the situation (0.548), which is typical for employees of the highest category;– with an increase in self-acceptance, the understanding of the personal characteristics of others increases (0.407);

– with an increase in synergy, there is a decrease in contact, due to the desire for a holistic awareness of the surrounding society (-0.580).

When analyzing correlational relationships between personal characteristics and characteristics of the style of professional activity of social workers of the first qualification category, the following can be distinguished:

– with an increase in sociability, flexibility decreases (-0.391), expressiveness increases (0.404), decreasing with an increase in emotional stability (-0.335);

– with an increase in the normativity of behavior, the severity of the use of elements of emotional-motivational (-0.309), and reasoning- improvisational style of activity decreases (-0.336);

– with an increase in emotional stability, the understanding of the personal characteristics of others decreases (-0.428), along with an increase in contact (0.430);

– with an increase in dominance, the focus on your inner world and experiences increases (0,414);

– with an increase in suspicion, the acceptance of aggressiveness increases (0.391),

– with an increase in anxiety, the desire for cognition increases (0.362), also increasing with an increase in self-perception (0.375);

– when using a predominantly reasoning and improvisational style of activity, self-actualization competence (-0.335) and contact ability (-0.341) decrease;

– when applying the reasoning and methodical style of activity, the sensitivity of the personality increases 0.326);

– with an increase in the severity of self-support, the desire for certain value orientations increases (0.311);

– with increased spontaneity, self-acceptance decreases (-0.311).

Conclusions. Thus, when studying the relationship between personal characteristics and the characteristics of the style of professional development of social workers, we determined that there is a relationship between personal attitudes and the features of the implementation of professional activities. It is also revealed that the qualification level has a significant impact on the nature of the relationship between personal characteristics and features of professional development. Thus, among social workers with the highest qualification category, with significant professional experience, there is a decrease in the intensity of the relationship between personal attitudes and features of professional development, which is due to personal characteristics: they have more pronounced indicators of dominance, high normativity of behavior, they are more independent in comparison with employees of the first category and are confident, conscientious, and responsible for their actions, are able to insist on their own, and strive to comply with established norms and rules. Social workers of the first qualification category are more dreamy, imaginative, prone to abstractions, focused on their inner world, an easy rejection of practical reasoning on the problem, in comparison with social workers of the highest category who are more practical. Social workers of the highest qualification category prefer the use of an emotional and methodical style, with a characteristic focus on the process and its effectiveness, with adequate planning, high efficiency and a possible predominance of intuitiveness, in comparison with social workers of the first qualification category.

Social workers of the highest qualification category prefer the use of an emotional -methodical style, with adequate planning, high efficiency and a possible predominance of intuitiveness, in comparison with social workers of the first qualification category, who are characterized to a greater extent by an emotional-improvisational style, which confirms the hypothesis put forward.

Both groups of employees have high rates of self-actualization, however, respondents of the first qualification category are more contactable, attuned to interpersonal interaction, react faster to the situation and are capable of self-acceptance in comparison with respondents of the highest qualification category.