Psychological Support for the Formation of Responsibility in the Structure of Professional Reliability among Students – Novice Specialists of the Ministry of Emergency Situations

Pisarevskii Konstantin Leonidovich Senior Lecturer, Department of Pedagogy and Psychology, Russian International Academy of Tourism 127005, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, Stroginskaya str., 7 starway48@yandex.ru

Savinkov Stanislav Nikolaevich ORCID: 0000-0002-5485-4066 Leading psychologist, EMERCOM of Russia; Associate professor, Department of Psychology, Moscow University for the Humanities and Economics 127055, Russia, Moskvskaya oblast', g. Moscow, ul. Uglovoi Pereulok, 27a, kab. 2-5 savinkov-psy@mail.ru Other publications by this author

IntroductionIn modern socio-economic conditions, when society's need for reliable specialists increases, the problem of reliability formation remains highly relevant.

Russian society is achieving ever higher achievements in the fields of technology, information, production, etc., which ensure efficiency and simplify the lives of citizens. However, at the same time, the likelihood of developing risks associated primarily with the so-called "human factor" increases.

About 12 million people have suffered from accidents and catastrophes caused by violations of norms and rules in recent years. Such data indicate the need for increased attention to the problem of specialist reliability, in order to prevent man-made disasters, improve the quality of specialist work. In Russian psychology, this problem is closely related to engineering psychology and labor psychology.

In modern science, reliability is understood as "unconditional compliance with the established requirements, from which the assessment of the basic personality traits of an employee begins" ^{[1; 6; 12]}.

The formation of reliability as a professionally important quality of future specialists of the Ministry of Emergency Situations is an important stage in their development as professionals who show the necessary activity, are able to effectively apply their knowledge and skills in the profession, as well as improve the level of professional, social and other competencies.

The professional activity of the specialists of the Ministry of Emergency Situations is associated with extreme working conditions. They have to deal not only with high physical, but also with psycho-emotional stress. Excess stress, the negative impact of which has a negative impact on the health of a specialist, causes neuropsychiatric stress. In such conditions, a specialist needs to maintain a high level of attention, remain vigilant and be ready to make a responsible decision on which the life and health of a person depends. As numerous studies show, the level of reliability of specialists working under such high loads inevitably decreases, this leads to a high turnover of personnel, a decrease in the efficiency of performing professional tasks, and the destruction of the positive image of emergency workers in the eyes of society ^{[13; 17]}.

Experts note that the areas of activity to reduce the level of physical and psychological losses among employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations include the development of emotional and psychological stability among employees, the formation of psychological readiness to act in extreme and dangerous conditions, as well as the organization of professional and psychological training. However, the practical implementation of these directions remains insufficient today ^{[18; 21]}.

In this regard, it is necessary to note the importance of responsibility and its formation as a personal and professionally important quality in the structure of professional reliability among students - beginning specialists of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

Reliability is a multidimensional and systemic quality of a trained specialist, which allows him to maintain stability in emergency situations, promptly carry out his professional activities, work effectively in a team, while maintaining both personal and business relationships ^[11]. Thus, modern psychological science has all the necessary conditions and opportunities for a systematic and comprehensive study of psychological support for the formation of the responsibility of a novice specialist, for the actual needs of practice.

The psychological study of reliability as a professionally important quality originates in the early works of psychologists engaged in the study of various aspects of professional activity.

In the works of the Russian and American sociologist P. Sorokin, it is noted that "people who are engaged in an inappropriate business are not able to create anything worthy and valuable for society" ^[15]. The effort and time spent in vain contribute to the strengthening of negative psycho-emotional processes, leading to a relatively rapid "burnout" of the specialist.

Thus, the timely start of psychological support in the formation of the responsibility of the future specialist, allows you to proactively influence the negative factors of labor, improve the psychological state of the specialist, maintain his efficiency and even increase the level of reliability.

In the works of A.Y. Fedotov, it is noted that "reliability implies the presence of a certain reserve, a "margin of safety", the ability to preserve the most important parameters of professional algorithms, including in difficult and even extreme situations" ^[19].

Foreign psychologists Cooper D., A. Robertson, studying the effectiveness of personnel, note that the economic efficiency of reliable employees is 20-70% of the total income of the organization, and unreliable employees increase expenses by an average of $ 1 million per year ^[7].

In the USA, studies have shown that timely professional and psychological selection, as well as competent support of personnel, reduces the costs of organizations, and increasing the efficiency and reliability of employees makes it possible to receive additional income in the amount of 30-40% of the total profit.

In recent decades, foreign researchers have been paying more and more attention to the problem of professionally important qualities of employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, however, in understanding this problem, emphasis is placed on the readiness of the employee, his success, coping strategies and stability in the event of loads.

In the works devoted to professional success, it is proposed to consider this concept as "an integral characteristic that combines the external and external assessment of the professional activity of a specialist" ^{[3; 4]}.

When studying various professionally important qualities, one can distinguish those that can be attributed to any type of work. These include: self-control, professional self-esteem, emotional stability, adequate anxiety, attitude to risk and responsibility ^[16].

Federal Law No. 141-FZ "On Service in the Federal Fire Service of the State Fire Service and Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation" defines the degree of responsibility of employees of the fire service, which applies to their actions and behavior, up to criminal: for committing an administrative offense, for violations of official discipline, for harm caused to citizens and organizations, for damage caused to the federal executive authority ^[20].

The analysis of scientific literature has shown that the problem of responsibility of employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations is considered purely in the legal and legal aspect. At the same time, being a necessary personal and professionally important quality, responsibility is included in the structure of professional reliability, without which the entire structure of this reliability collapses. In our opinion, a more thorough study of the process of responsibility formation among students – future specialists of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, for a full understanding of this phenomenon, as well as the ability to develop programs for the development of personal qualities of law enforcement specialists. 

Psychological support for the training of novice specialists as a scientific paradigm and a practical field of activity of a psychologist in working with subjects of educational activity is traditionally used to form the necessary professional and personal qualities in the educational process. The necessity of carrying out this work with novice specialists is confirmed by many scientific studies in labor psychology conducted by both domestic and foreign authors E. F. Zeer, A. K. Markova, M.R. Bityanova, N.S. Pryazhnikov, L.M. Mitina, N. S. Glukhanyuk, I. V. Arkusova, G. V. Bezyuleva, D.A. Crighton, G.J. Towl, A. Connolly, D.A. Andrews, J. Bonta ^{[22; 23]}.

The features of the concept of support are presented in the works of E. F. Zeer, who understands psychological support as an integral process of studying, forming, developing and correcting the professional formation of a personality ^[5].

The purpose of the support, from the author's point of view, is to create conditions within which there will be a full realization of the professional and psychological potential of the individual, which includes personal and professional inclinations and abilities. The end result of psychological support for a novice specialist is personal and professional readiness to fulfill labor obligations. 

E.F. Zeer considers the technology of support itself as a complex interaction of a specialist with a future subject of labor, which includes a list of activities ranging from professional diagnostics and planning to professional consulting. The author's research describes in detail the role and function of a specialist (psychologist, career pathologist) who provides psychological support for a future professional.

N.S. Pryazhnikov considers the concept of psychological support as a process that will contribute to the professional self-determination of the accompanied ^[6]. He also identifies a number of necessary areas of psychological support for students in the process of professional self-determination:

- development of personal and professional adaptability as a quality necessary to adapt to the conditions of an ever-changing world,

- creation of professionally significant emotional and volitional qualities,

- formation of internal readiness to resolve internal barriers and external obstacles that may stand in the way of professional activity,

- the formation of not only personal, but also professional values, which will ultimately be the core of a self-determined person.

- formation of internal readiness to adequately cope with personal and professional crises.

Thus, psychological support can be considered as a process aimed at transforming the personal and professional qualities of the future subject of labor. Ultimately, the gradual formation of internal subjectivity is the criterion by which we can talk about the effectiveness or inefficiency of this process ^[8].At the same time, it is important to note the means that determine the content of psychological support.

Despite the variety of tools: lectures, seminars, discussions, round tables, one of the most effective, from the point of view of the authors, are training forms of work.

The training can be pre—empted as a method of active learning aimed at developing knowledge, skills and abilities in the personal or professional sphere. The peculiarity of the training forms of work is to obtain not only theoretical knowledge, but also the formation of practical skills. The end result of the effectiveness or inefficiency of the training is the application of the received changes in living conditions.

As part of this work, an empirical study was conducted, the purpose of which was to form responsibility as a necessary professionally important and personal quality in the structure of professional reliability of the future specialist of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

The means of achieving this goal in this work were training methods as part of psychological support. The object of this study was the personal characteristic of responsibility in the structure of professional reliability of the future specialist of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The subject is training as a means of psychological support in the formation of responsibility.

The purpose of this empirical study was to evaluate the effectiveness of training methods that are part of the psychological support program.

The hypothesis of the study is to verify the statement that training methods can be an effective tool in the structure of psychological support in the formation of professionally important qualities of a novice specialist.

25 students of the Institute of Management and Integrated Security of the Academy of GPS of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia took part in the empirical study.

Materials and methods of research

During this study, the methodology "Multidimensional-functional diagnostics of "responsibility" (OTV–70, author V.P. Pryadein), as well as psychological training aimed at forming the responsibility of future employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations were used.

Research resultsThe study was conducted in three stages.

At the first stage, a multidimensional functional diagnostics of V.P. Pryadein's "responsibility" (OTV-70) was carried out ^[10]. This technique was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the formative experiment.  The indicators were evaluated at the first and third stages.

At the second stage, psychological training was conducted, the purpose of which was to form a higher level of responsibility among the subjects. The training included a number of seminars and practical exercises that the subjects underwent during the implementation of this experiment.

At the third stage, the indicators were measured again and their comparative characteristics compared to the first stage of the experiment.

The results of the experiment are shown below in Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 1. Results of the assessment of the level of responsibility before the experiment (A).Figure 2.

The results of the assessment of the level of responsibility before the experiment (B).The tables below reflect the result of the first diagnostic stage of the experiment according to the studied indicators: dynamic ergicity, sociocentric motivation, cognitive meaningfulness, subject effectiveness, stenic emotionality, regulatory internality, difficulties (see Table 1).

Table 1

Diagnostic indicators.

It follows from the indicators that the components of responsibility are developed unevenly in the group. At the same time, the multidirectional indicators were developed almost to the same extent. This indicates, in general, a disharmonious structure of student responsibility.

At the second stage, a number of activities were carried out, which are an integral part of psychological support. The main goal of this stage was the formation of a higher level of responsibility of a novice specialist of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The training included group work formats and was presented in the form of seminars and exercises that the group members performed in the process of conducting this study. The seminar sessions consisted of discussions on the following topics:

- the value of the profession of a GPS EMERCOM employee,

- motives that determine the choice of profession,

- professional future and growth of an employee of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

- reliability in the character structure of the employee of the Ministry of Emergency Situations,

- self-worth of yourself as an employee of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

At this stage, the participants of the experiment were able not only to expand their understanding of their future profession (cognitive component), but also to strengthen the value-semantic aspects of their professional activity (motivational-value component).

The next step was to conduct training exercises. The exercises were aimed at developing the following qualities:

- stress resistance and emotional stability,

- command formation and assistance in the ch.S. mode.,

- development of communicative competence in the ch.S. mode.

At the end of the formative stage, an assessment of the effectiveness of the formative experiment was conducted. The results of the study are presented below (see Figures 3 and 4).

Figure 3. Results of the assessment of the level of responsibility after the experiment (A).

Figure 4. Results of the assessment of the level of responsibility after the experiment (B).

Comparative results of the assessment of the level of responsibility of students – novice specialists of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, obtained before and after the experiment, are presented in Table 2.

Table 2. 

Comparative results of assessing the level of responsibility before and after the experiment

Note: * - differences are significant at the level of p?0.05; ** - differences are significant at the level of p?0.01; *** - differences are significant at the level of p?0.001.

Figure 5. Comparative results of assessing the level of responsibility before and after the experiment.

Briefly summarizing the results obtained, the following can be noted. Before the formative experiment, most of the indicators were at the level of average values and slightly higher, which suggests that most of the subjects were students who are just on the path of their professional development. The lack of practical experience made it impossible to fully realize their personal and professional qualities. Nevertheless, a number of indicators such as I.S. (sincerity) > 20, K.O. (cognitive comprehension) > 20 were initially at a fairly high level, which emphasized on the one hand the ability to perceive objectively their strengths and weaknesses as a novice specialist (I.S. indicator), and on the other hand to grasp the core basis and understanding the essence of things (indicator of K.O.).

Also above the average values were RP (subject performance) > 15, which is such a characteristic of a person as hard work, etc. (difficulty) > 15, which includes motivation and skills to overcome difficult situations. This personal characteristic is also an important personal and professional characteristic. It should be noted that the high values of the indicator M.S. (sociometric motivation) > 20, which indicates the willingness of the subjects to perform responsible tasks because of the desire to be among people, collective, society.

Conclusion and discussionAfter the experiment, we noted an increase in the above indicators by values from 3 to 5, which indicates a positive dynamics of the influence of psychological support on the subjects.

For example, the change in the index of EMF > 20 (emotional stenicity) can be attributed to the fact that during the training, the subjects learned to master their number of emotional states, among which were emotions such as: fear, stress, anxiety. Ultimately, this had a positive impact on the dynamics of changes in the index of E.S. The increase in the index of R.I. (regulatory internality) >18 we also associate with training exercises, the main task of which was to trust yourself when making decisions in difficult professional situations. The index of D.E. (dynamic ergicity) was initially slightly above the average level, but during the experiment it increased by 6 points, which suggests that role-playing exercises were an effective means of psychological support. Despite the fact that the index TR > 17 (difficulties) was initially in the zone of values above average, in the process of psychological support it increased by 7 points due to the fact that in the process of role-playing games, participants learned not only to take responsibility associated with difficult professional situations, but also to actively act, overcoming difficulties. The decrease in the CBS index <15 was due to the fact that the acquired knowledge led to greater awareness of the subjects in the field of professional activity. We also noted a slight dynamics of changes in the indicators of DAE, ME, CBS, RS, EA RE. For the most part, this difference is from one to three points, which suggests that psychological support, although insignificant, contributed to the change according to the above scales.

Summing up the results of the experimental study, it should be noted positive changes in a number of indicators of personal characteristics (indicators of responsibility), which emphasizes the effectiveness of training methods that are part of the program of psychological support of students.