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Escapism: current studies and research prospects in contemporary psychology
2 часть. Развитие антикризисной переговорной компетентности:
а) алгоритм развития — повышение уровня сформированное™ переговорных умений и навыков;
б) совершенствование стиля переговорной деятельности;
в) развитие ценностно-смысловой сферы личности переговорщика;
г) критерии эффективности переговоров;
д) уровень развития антикризисной переговорной компетентности — низкий, средний высокий [5, 153].
Таким образом, антикризисная переговорная компетентность формируется из следующих
составляющих: знания составляющих антикризисной переговорной компетентности; умения вести вербальный и невербальный обмен информацией; умения проводить диагностирование психологических свойств и качеств собеседника; умения определять эффективные стратегии, тактики и психотехники; умения взаимодействовать с субъектами переговоров, организовывать их совместную коммуникативную деятельность для достижения определенных целей переговоров; готовности к применению знаний и умений, присущих антикризисной переговорной компетентности; эмоционально-волевой регуляции в процессе переговоров; желании успешного (антикризисного) ведения переговоров.
Список литературы:
1. Гулина М. А. Энциклопедия социальной работы. - СПб: Питер, 2008. - 400 с.
2. Дмитриев А. В. Конфликтология. Учебное пособие. - М.: Гардарики, 2000. - 320 с.
3. Галтунг Й. Теория малых групп и теория международных отношений. Хрестоматия./Сост. П. А. Цыганкова. - М.: Гардарики, 2002. - С. 135-146.
4. Вахнина В. В. Формирование антикризисной переговорной компетентности сотрудников органов внутренних дел в процессе профессионально-психологической подготовки.//Вестник Тувинского государственного университета. - Выпуск 4. Педагогические науки. - 2014. - С. 35-42.
5. Вахнина В. В. Развитие антикризисной переговорной компетентности сотрудников органов внутренних дел.//Национальная ассоциация ученых (НАУ). Ежемесячный научный журнал, - № 2 (7). - 2015. -Часть 8. - С. 152-154.
Olkina Oxana Igorevna, Institute of Psychology of Russian Academy of Sciences (IP RAS), Postgraduate student E-mail: [email protected]
Escapism: current studies and research prospects in contemporary psychology
Abstract: A review and investigation of current empirical studies and tendencies in the escapism problem is presented. It is also substantiated that the future research projects should be concentrated on designing and validating a fundamental theoretical approach of escapism. The integrative theory should be able to explain the phenomenon in a broader meaning and integrate its two opposite poles — negative and positive escapism.
Keywords: escapism, avoiding the reality, cyberpsychology, role-playing games, online addiction, imagination, integrative approach.
In a modern media society, individuals are provided with a wide range of tools to escape from reality which vary from consuming psychoactive substances to participating in online games or engaging in different subcultures’ activities. The problem of escapism and immersion in alternative realities, of any kind, is that it involves the issues of emotional, mental and sometimes even physical personal well-being, and, thus, becomes critical.
At the moment a number of empirical studies, devoted to the issue of avoiding the reality, or escapism, exist in USA and Europe. The phenomenon is mostly associated with, or affected by, emerging technology and is being studied in a specific field of cyberpsychology. The issue of escapism emerges in a context of young people and adults getting involved into different types of online games and the developing problems of addictive
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behavior. For instance, N. Yee considers escapism as a way of relaxation and avoiding real world problems. He invented a tool for measuring different aspects of online players’ motivation (MTPI, Motivation of play inventory). His data analysis showed that escapism was the strongest predictor of online addiction [8]. Thereafter, Hagström D., Kaldo V. modified the MTPI scale dividing so-called “positive" and “negative” escapism. After replicating Yee’s research, they concluded that, in determining the symptoms of psychological distress, life satisfaction and internet addiction, the negative escapism factor is much more significant than the positive. Because of this, they define escapism as an avoiding behavior and propose to measure only negative aspects of the phenomenon [2]. The most recent Polish research conducted on a large scale sample (N = 1056), also showed that those players who have the escapist motivation spend more time online. They highlight the lack of offline support and the growing amount of online support as a key factor of internet addiction [4].
The two aspects of escapism are also investigated in a number of theoretical studies. A. Evans supposes that escapism is a kind of activity occurring because of the current conditions of our media society. He offers a mixed classification of escapism types:
• Avoiding — the main aim of this type of escapism is running from reality and real life difficulties;
• Passive — this type of escapism includes activities when person doesn’t have to make efforts, e. g. listening to music, watching TV or movies etc.
• Active — this type of escapism assumes a change of activity, from the main one (e. g. job) to the alternative one (hobbies). Among the brightest examples are computer games, fishing, poetry, singing etc.
• Extreme — activities which are actually or potentially dangerous (drugs or alcohol use, roof jumping etc.)
A. Evans distinguishes productive and “unhealthy” escapism and outlines the following indicators of the second one: procrastination, psychosis, denial (leading to rejection of social norms, rigid personal stance on life and isolation) and addiction (inability to control habits) [1]. Hartevald C. H., Mayer I. developed A. Evans’ approach and consider cause-based and effect-based escapism. The first one emerges when a person gets bored and wants to escape from a mundane daily life, or, to the opposite, when one gets too stressed and desires to avoid life challenges. The second kind of escapism is aimed to quit beyond the limits of the reality by means of
daydreaming or getting involved into activities for getting pleasure. The researchers suppose that the effect-based escapism is productive and contributes to personal self actualization [3].
F. Stenseng investigates escapism in a social context. He designed the Dualistic Model of Passion and offers two dimensions of avoiding the reality: self-suppression and self-expansion. Self-suppression is aimed to avoid the negative emotions and has an alternate activity in its focus. Self-expansion is motivated by gaining a new positive experience and involvement. His empirical findings confirm the model: the correlation between self-suppression and low well-being, level of self-control has been proved, whereas self-expansion is related to subjective well-being, flexibility in choosing activities, and generally results positively [7].
In Russia the work which might be considered as the beginning of escapism’ investigation in personal psychology is a pilot study conducted by A. Kardopol-tseva. Based on F. Stenseng’s findings, she also investigates the two types of escapism in a life context. She concentrates on a positive escapism and defines it much broadly, as a form of self actualization. To her mind, escapism is a conscious and controlled distraction from reality and an essential condition for creative activities. Also she designed a questionnaire aimed to investigate the two types of escapism. Her pilot study (N = 62) on dancers (aged 18-32) shows that systematic self-reflection based on distancing oneself from the situation and an ability to look at oneself objectively, from aside, are the key predictors of positive escapism [5].
T. Savchenko and O. Olkina investigated avoiding the reality by means of immersion into the simulated world of live role-playing games (RPG). These games provide their participants with the opportunity of being submerged into a different reality created by the game master in actual time and space. Participants have their own individual roles, or personal legends according to the reconstructed epoch and game plot. Also they wear costumes relevant to the atmosphere of the simulated world (as in computer games, these words can vary from medieval times to futuristic scenarios) and interact with each other on behalf of their characters. Researchers suggested that in this case escapism can be driven with the intention to change the cognitive component of self-image to the more desired one. The empirical findings of the study (N-40) showed several clusters of gamers who had different changes in their self-image after participating in role-playing game and correlated it with personal qualities and special features
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Escapism: current studies and research prospects in contemporary psychology
of game’s context. Dreamy and considerate, empathic participants described themselves as less honest and truthful after the game. The same time, suspicious, less confident and more anxious gamers said noticed positive transformations in their self image and described themselves as more confident and self-efficient after the game. Due to the researchers’ conclusions, it can be explained by the dualistic feature of role playing games’ context, when, on the one hand, gamers have to make an unpleasant choice as, being highly motivated to reach their aims, they realize that if they win, the other people will certainly lose. On the on other hand, the game provides them with extra resources (like magic or special skills etc.) and freedom of actions they lack in real life. Thus, both-sided context determines different changes into self perception among role players [6].
As it can be seen from the above, most researchers use factoring methods in their empirical studies; they are mostly being held in the spheres of cyberpsychology and social psychology. Most researchers offer and justify the ambivalent model of positive and negative escapism, being mostly concentrated on the last one. Also several determinants of escapism (subjective
well-being, social support, self-reflection etc.) are being investigated rather fragmentally, without integrative theoretical layout.
In conclusion it must be said that current research projects of escapism are quite specific and do not fully cover fundamental theoretical issues of the phenomenon. It is rarely taken into account that escapism may have a broader meaning and can’t be reduced to a simple submersion into online world or participation in RPGs. Avoiding the reality also refers to an immersion into psychotic illusions caused by altered states of consciousness, worlds created in one’s imagination while reading fantasy books, listening to music, or watching pieces of art etc. Ultimately, the process of daydreaming and fantasizing can be considered as escaping from the real world as well. Finally, the phenomenon of escapism must be studied as a more encompassing one. Therefore, theoretical studies aimed to balance and explain the two poles of the escapism phenomenon and investigate it in a wider context, as a universal mechanism allowing a person to escape the reality for adaptation to real life, seem to be a prospect research line in a nowadays personality psychology.
References:
1. Evans A. This virtual life. Escapism and simulation in our media world. - London: Fusion Press, 2001.
2. Hagström D., Kaldo V. Escapism among Players of MMORPGs - Conceptual Clarification, Its Relation to Mental Health Factors, and Development of a New Measure.//Cyberpsychology, Behavior and social networking. - 2014. - 17 (1).
3. Hartevald C. H., Mayer I. Press enter or escape to play: deconstructing escapism in multiplayer gaming.//Break-ing new ground: innovation in games, play practice and theory. Proceedings of DiGRA, - 2009.
4. Kaczmarek L. D., Dr^zkowski D. MMORPG escapism predicts decreased Well-being: examination of gaming time, game realism beliefs, and online social support for offline problems.//Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, - 2014. - 17 (5).
5. Kardapoltseva A. Eskapizm kak slozhnoe psihologicheskoe yavlenie v zhizni obshchestva i lichnosti [Escapism as a complex psychological phenomenon in a life of person and society].//Proceedings of the VII International students’ scientific-practical conference. - Moscow: People’s Friendship University of Russia, 2012.
6. Savchenko T., Olkina O. Issledovanie obraza “YA” v rolevyh igrah v podrostkovom i yunosheskom vozraste [Study on adolescents and youths’ self image in a role-playing games].//Barabanshikov V., Nosulenko E., Samo-ylenko E. (ed). (Integration of academic and university psychology ser.) - Moscow: Institute of Psychology of Russian Academy of Sciences, 2011.
7. Stenseng F. A Dualistic Approach to Leisure Activity Engagement - On The Dynamics of Passion, Escapism, and Life Satisfaction. - University of Oslo, 2009.
8. Yee N. Motivations for play in online games.//Cyberpsychology & Behavior. - 2006, (9).
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