Psychological characteristics of a volunteer's personality maturity

Shutkina Zhanna Aleksandrovna PhD in Pedagogy Associate Professor; Department of Age and Clinical Psychology; National Research Nizhny Novgorod State University named after N.I. Lobachevsky 7 Universitetskiy str., Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod Region, 603000, Russia zhannashutkina@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Mikhaylova Natalya Vladimirovna PhD in Pedagogy Associate Professor; Faculty of Social Sciences; N.I. Lobachevsky National Research Nizhny Novgorod State University Ankudinovskoe shosse, 3, Nizhny Novgorod, 603029, Russia sorokanv@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction

Currently, the directions of volunteer activity development are determined by two areas: state policy and social demand of society. The main guiding vector of the formation of this socio-psychological phenomenon is the personal development of volunteers. By joining the volunteer movement, people develop and master moral, ethical and humanistic values, advance in spiritual development, self-realization of personal potential.

At the moment, the vast majority of domestic and foreign studies posit an activity-based and procedural approach to the volunteer movement, but there are practically no works devoted to the study of specific psychological characteristics of the maturity of the personality of volunteers. Numerous studies of the phenomenon of volunteerism are devoted primarily to the study of the motivation of individuals involved in volunteering and the problem of social training of members of these organizations.

Review of scientific literature

Modern psychological science is increasingly interested in forms of activity called "maladaptivity" and "suprasituativity." V.A. Petrovsky believes that the key characteristic of this phenomenon is the discrepancy between the goal and the end result of activity, and it is in this contradiction that we see the possibility of modern human development. Thus, suprasituative activity is the ability of a subject to exceed the demands of a situation, to set goals that are excessive in relation to the initial task. This type of activity allows overcoming external and internal limitations of activity and manifests itself in creativity, cognitive activity, selfless risk and excessive activity ^[1].

Studies of the phenomenon of maladaptive activity lead to the search for new forms of its manifestation (Ackermann K., Benevene P., Cox J., Gray D., Haski-Leventhal D., Lau Y.) ^{[2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]}. In our opinion, volunteerism has a direct relation to this and can be considered within the framework of V.A. Petrovsky's theory of maladaptive activity, and more specifically, it can be defined as one of the forms of "suprasituative behavior." Thus, the activity of a volunteer is defined as the ability of a person to act outside the situation, not relying on adaptive actions in relation to it ^{[8, p. 308]}.

Kretova U. P. identifies signs of maladaptivity in the nature of volunteer activity:

1. Volunteers, unlike other members of the society, show a special desire for activity without expectation of financial reward. Having a clear understanding of the value of their work and its importance to society, they act out of intrinsic motivation. In today's world, where most people are looking for financial rewards, volunteering is presented as an unconventional direction. Therefore, the volunteer movement stands out for its immunity from the influence of external factors on the motivation of participants.

2. In a situation of personal choice, volunteers tend to prefer a new and unusual situation, a situation of uncertainty, as opposed to an indifferent choice or a choice of a familiar situation, taking into account the search for unusual solutions. This is due to the high level of tolerance to uncertainty.

3. Volunteers tend to be convinced of the importance of fighting, regardless of the guarantees of success of their actions. They do not consider volunteering as promising, they do not evaluate it in the context of time. A high degree of resilience explains the tendency to uncertainty and active participation in what is happening in life in general. It can be concluded that volunteers are characterized by conscious goal setting with an unforeseen outcome, which is a sign of maladaptive personality activity.

4. The ability of a personality to go beyond the established limits — as a characteristic of manifestations of maladaptive personality tendencies — is manifested in volunteers by an unmotivated desire for change even in habitual life situations ^[9].

Interest in the problem of personality maturity in psychological science is increasing every year. Currently, there is no generally accepted definition of personal maturity and criteria for its assessment. The difficulty of this topic lies in the fact that the relationship between age and personal development has not yet been fully clarified. Psychology considers the problem of personality maturity as a relatively new area of research. (Koltsova V.A., 2007)

The problem of psychological maturity of a personality is being developed in existential-humanistic psychology and psychotherapy. Rogers, A. Maslow, E. Fromm), developmental psychology (E. Erikson, B.G. Ananyev, G. Kraig,), acmeology (A.A. Bodalev, A.L. Derkach, A.A. Rhean), Russian personality psychology (K.A. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya, A.G. Asmolov, B.S. Bratus, D.A. Leontiev, etc.) ^[10].

In psychological literature, the concept of maturity is often used as a synonym for adulthood, which is associated with age-related human development. However, at present, science distinguishes and connects these two concepts. Most researchers believe that adulthood is a quantitative characteristic determined by a person's age. However, reaching a certain age does not always mean reaching maturity. In this case, we can say that the concept of maturity has another characteristic - evaluative, related to the qualitative development of personality. For example, E. P. Ilyin argues that maturity does not come with age, but with the development of human responsibility ^[11].

Golovey L.A. and colleagues draw attention to the fact that "in most approaches, criteria of personal maturity are clearly distinguished, characterizing it both in terms of individual psychological (intrapersonal) characteristics and in terms of sociopsychological (interpersonal)" (Golovey L.A., 2014, p. 28).

Despite the multiplicity and diversity of the identified components, personality maturity is not just a complex of certain personal characteristics, but "... a high level of development of its substructures and sides that ensure the full performance of a set of social functions at a high level in various spheres of life" (Golovey L.A., 2014, p. 10).

We study maturity as a qualitative characteristic of a volunteer's personality development. A volunteer is a vivid example of the moral formation of a person, as he is ready to change himself and his behavior, consciously understanding the problems of the surrounding reality. He is also ready to adjust his desires and needs in accordance with public demands. The variety of theoretical approaches to maturity shows that this concept has a multidimensional interpretation and complex criteria for definition.

In the monograph edited by L.A. Golovey, as a result of the analysis, a number of criteria for a mature personality are highlighted. The main criteria that can be correlated with volunteerism are: responsibility, focus on self-development (self-actualization), positive interpersonal relationships, moral consciousness and humanistic values ^[12].

Responsibility, as one of the key personality traits, affects the degree of freedom and behavioral tendencies. Many scientists emphasize that responsibility is an integral part of mature behavior. For a long time, responsibility has been considered as a form of interaction between an individual and society, necessary for development.

The term "self-actualization" was introduced by Goldstein K., who considered it as the main and most important motive (Korostyleva L.A., 1999). This construct was widely developed in the humanistic psychology of A. Maslow, who used it in a more specific sense. The author believed that self–actualization is one of the most important human needs "... to be what he can be," related to a person's desire "... to remain faithful to his nature" (Maslow A., 2014, p. 77).

Interpersonal interaction in the social sphere always results from individual and public relations. It is a reflection of social relationships, the social structure of society and individual contacts between people. Thus, three main levels of subject-subject, interpersonal, and interindividual interaction can be distinguished. However, these levels of interaction are intertwined and interact with each other without a clear boundary.

It is important to take into account various aspects and parameters of interaction between people: orientation, level of awareness, intensity, valence, adequacy of understanding and breadth of views. Relationships can be assessed according to various criteria, including modality, differentiation, and cognitive identification between subjects. It is important to keep in mind that relationships can be either positive, negative or neutral, and it depends on many factors.

O.A. Mitroshenkov's works emphasize that spirituality always transcends egoism, pointing out that the goals and directions of a person's life are determined by universal values. Humanistic values, as the fourth parameter of a mature personality, become the object of our analysis. A person, reflecting on his existence, evaluates the world around him and forms his own hierarchy of values, which depends on age, experience, social status and many other parameters.

The personal substructure plays a key role in shaping the members of a group of volunteers, determining the direction of their actions, reviewing and selecting values, setting goals and choosing ways to achieve them. By understanding the ideology that a person adheres to, we can determine his behavior, analyze his motives and actions, which allows us to understand the meaning of his actions.

As part of our research, we will consider:

- responsibility as a criterion of personal maturity, we will clarify the understanding of social responsibility as a psychological characteristic;

- for a deeper study of the focus on the self-development of a mature personality, we will consider self-actualization as a psychological characteristic.;

- tolerance, moral consciousness, humanistic values – within the framework of this broad criterion of a mature personality, we will consider such a psychological characteristic as altruism.;

- Empathy is a significant part of positive interpersonal relationships.

Social responsibility can be viewed from two perspectives – internal and external. On the one hand, this is a level of self-regulation of the individual, in which the importance and hierarchy of realized higher values leaves the subject free to choose actions and assumes responsibility to himself and others for his choices, actions and their consequences, and on the other hand, individual subordination to social norms and national laws and the prevention of their violation. In both cases, social responsibility leads to moral regulation only if it motivates the further development of good and moral motives (I.V.Vasilenko).

Meaningfully, the essence of self-actualization lies in a person's desire to realize the potential that is inherent in him from the beginning, to achieve what he is capable of. Self-actualizing people make full use of their abilities, talents, and personal potential on their way to achieving the heights they can reach.

Altruism is a manifestation of a person's selfless actions aimed at supporting other people without the desire to receive something in return. This is an important aspect of morality that allows us to live in order to help and spread love around the world. Philosophers of the 19th century, such as N.A. Berdyaev, V.S. Solovyov and A. Schopenhauer, studied this social phenomenon and emphasized its importance in shaping human moral behavior.

According to V.V. Boyko, empathy is a special reflection of interaction partners, which is based on emotional responsiveness and intuition. Rational perception is also important. Empathy helps not only to understand, but also to grasp the essence of another person's motives and intentions, as well as to identify the sources of their interests or apathy, the causes of lies or sincerity, and the goals of interaction.

A. I. Shutenko, E. N. Shutenko, and A.V. Lokteva, in their study of the value dimensions of volunteerism, confirmed that the value orientations of volunteers have a prosocial and altruistic orientation ^[13].

Thus, the conceptual analysis provides a theoretical basis for a reasoned choice of standardized diagnostic methods for studying the psychological characteristics of the maturity of the personality of volunteers in the process of carrying out activities. The selected psychological characteristics – social responsibility, empathy, altruism and self-actualization, in our opinion, are fundamental in drawing up a diagnostic program for studying the personality of members of the volunteer movement.

Research methods and methodology

The research methodology was based on systemic, institutional, activity-based approaches, as well as the principles of scientific validity, determinism, unity of consciousness and activity, socio-historical conditioning of the psyche, and the systemic-structural principle.

The purpose of the study: to study the psychological characteristics of the maturity of a volunteer's personality.

The object of the study is the maturity of the volunteer's personality.

Subject of the study: psychological characteristics of the maturity of a volunteer's personality: social responsibility, self-actualization, altruism and empathy.

Research hypotheses:

1) There are differences in the psychological characteristics of the maturity of the personality of volunteers and persons not involved in volunteer activities, which are expressed in higher values for volunteers:

- an indicator of social responsibility;

- a general indicator of self-actualization, with a predominance of scales of orientation in time, value, the need for knowledge, and the desire for creativity;

- the level of altruism;

- the total indicator of empathy, with a pronounced emotional channel of empathy.

2) The structure of the interrelationships of social responsibility, altruism, self-actualization and empathy differs between volunteers and people who are not involved in volunteer activities.

Research base: the study was conducted on the basis of the educational and scientific laboratory of special psychological training and expertise of the Department of General and Social Psychology of N.I. Lobachevsky National Research University with the participation of E.A. Kozlova.

Sample characteristics: students of N.I. Lobachevsky Nizhny Novgorod University (Nizhny Novgorod) participated in the study There are 108 people in various fields of training, including 25 men and 83 women. Age range: from 18 to 30 years old. The average age is 24 years.

Among the subjects, 48 people have been engaged in volunteer activities for more than two years, 60 people are not volunteers in any field.

Psychodiagnostic techniques:

1) "The scale of social responsibility" by L. Berkowitz and K. Lutterman (according to K. Muzdybaev).

2) Diagnostics of self-actualization of personality A.V. Lazukin's method in adaptation by N.F. Kalin (SAMOAL), (1998).

3) Diagnosis of the personal attitude "altruism-egoism" Fetiskina N.P., Kozlova V.V. and Manuilova G.M. (2002).

4) The methodology for diagnosing the level of empathic abilities of V. V. Boyko (1996).

Statistical processing of the obtained data was carried out using the nonparametric statistical Mann–Whitney criterion, designed to identify differences in indicators in two unrelated samples, and correlation analysis (Spearman correlation coefficient) was also used.

The results of the study

The statistical analysis revealed indicators with significant differences, namely:

- a significantly high level of self-actualization among volunteers with significant differences on the time orientation scale;

- statistically significant high level of altruism among volunteers (Table 1).

Table 1 - Descriptive statistics for a group of volunteers and non-volunteers

Thus, representatives of the volunteer movement have higher rates of self-actualization. Their abilities, talents and personal potential are fully utilized on the way to the heights available to them, they are characterized by high motivation for development, acceptance of themselves, their feelings, emotions.

People who actively participate in the volunteer movement have a high score on the time orientation scale. They live in the present, without postponing their lives for the future or drowning in the past, are fully aware of the value of the present moment and know how to enjoy it, do not compare their current joy with past achievements and do not expect future successes, but live "here and now".

At the same time, there are significantly more people among the volunteers with a pronounced altruistic orientation, a desire to help people. They tend to behave in ways that involve selfless help for others, sometimes to the detriment of their own interests. An altruist renounces possible benefits and benefits in favor of another person or society as a whole. However, it is worth noting that there are no "pure" altruists among the subjects. From this we can conclude that in the "altruism-egoism" polarity, it is important to maintain the "golden mean" without going to extremes: not to isolate oneself from society by going over one's head to selfish goals, but also not to kill one's personality by suppressing one's own desires and needs, becoming an ardent altruist. It is the preservation of balance that will enable the harmonious development of personality.

Thus, the first hypothesis of our study is partially confirmed.

A correlation analysis of the results was also carried out.

According to the correlational galaxy of volunteers, we see that the more social responsibility is expressed, the more the level of altruism is expressed, the less the quality of spontaneity is expressed, while the level of communicative properties of the subjects increases, allowing them to create an atmosphere of openness, trust, and sincerity.

With a high level of altruism, there is a decrease in the severity of sensitivity, sensitivity of subjects to their desires and needs, while there is an increase in the level of ability to see the behavior of partners, act in conditions of a lack of objective information about them, based on the experience stored in the subconscious.

Also, with an increase in the level of altruism, the level of conscious positive Self—concept decreases, which serves as a source of stable adequacy of self—esteem, while the focus of attention, perception and thinking of the empath increases on the essence of any other person - on his condition, problems, behavior, and the level of expression of the general level of self-actualization, autonomy, independence and freedom decreases.

According to the correlational galaxy of non-volunteers, we can observe that with an increase in the values of social responsibility, the severity of the overall level of self-actualization increases, the well-recognized positive Self-concept increases, which serves as a source of stable adequacy of self-esteem, subjects are more likely to share values such as truth, goodness, beauty, integrity, lack of duality, vitality, uniqueness, perfection, achievements, justice, order, simplicity, effortlessness, play, self-sufficiency, and a preference for these values indicate a desire for harmonious existence and healthy relationships with people, while reducing the ability to enter into the same emotional "wave" with others, that is, the ability to empathize and participate.

With a decrease in the severity of the level of the empathic channel, the level of autonomy and independence increases, the overall level of empathic abilities decreases, while the level of sensitivity and sensitivity of subjects to their desires and needs increases. With a reduced level of the emotional channel of empathy, the ability to establish strong and friendly relationships with others and the ability to adequately express oneself in communication increases.

With a reduced level of communication properties that allow creating an atmosphere of openness, trust, and sincerity, the level of sociability of the subjects decreases, the ability to establish strong and friendly relationships with others decreases, there is a lack of social stereotypes, uncertainty about their attractiveness is more pronounced, that they are interesting to the interlocutor and communication with them can be enjoyable, while the ability to to see the behavior of partners, to act in conditions of a lack of objective information about them, based on the experience stored in the subconscious.

Conclusions

Combining the results obtained, we can draw conclusions:

- it is typical for volunteers that with an increase in the level of social responsibility, the level of altruism increases, the severity of self-actualization decreases, but at the same time the severity of empathic abilities increases;

- in the group of non-volunteers, with an increase in the severity of social responsibility, the level of self-actualization increases, while the ability of the emotional channel of empathy and the general level of empathy decreases, however, a decrease in the penetrating ability of empathy is associated with a decrease in the level of contact and flexibility in communication, which in turn is interrelated with an increase in the level of intuition in communicating with people.

Thus, the second hypothesis of the study is confirmed, that the structure and content of the interrelationships of social responsibility, altruism, self-actualization and empathy differ between volunteers and people who are not involved in volunteer activities.

The results obtained from the conducted research may depend on the age of the participants, which is tied to the formation of an individual, to the stability of human nature, which is why the indicators turned out to be diverse. In addition, the limited sample data could have an impact, which opens up prospects for deepening and expanding future research on this topic.

Conclusion

The answer to the main question of our research – whether a volunteer is a mature person – remains open. Are there really people involved in this activity who have grown above themselves, who have grown as a person? We confirmed the presence of at least two of the criteria for personal maturity indicators, and outlined trends towards the severity of others (for example, the presence of high indicators of social responsibility among volunteers).

Based on the work done, it can be assumed that people who have not yet become a mature person, but want to be one, who show an active positive orientation of behavior, responsibility, self-development, altruism and many others fully enter this activity, the characteristics described by us are slightly more than people who are not related to volunteering.

We emphasize that one of the conditions for the psychological development of maturity as a value is the organization of volunteer practices in the educational process.