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REFLEXIVITY AS CONTROL FACTOR OF PERSONAL COPING BEHAVIOR
A.A. Bekhter
Chair of Psychology and Pedagogy Peoples' Friendship University of Russia
Miklukho-Maklaya str., 6, Moscow, Russia, 117198
The article deals with the issue of coping behavior control. The author defines the criteria, levels and aspects of reflexivity within the framework of personal coping behavior. In conclusion the author describes the key facets of coping behavior control and how reflexivity affects them.
Key words: coping behavior, reflexivity, control aspects.
The topicality of the chosen issue can be justified by a constant interest of researchers in personal behavior which is understood as an ability to overcome life problems in the variable modern world. Growing economic instability, unemployment, personal problems and vulnerability of people facing challenges make them look for the ways to cope with this condition of helplessness. Facing such challenges a person tries to deal with the problems by himself/herself or seeks assistance of other people. Coping behavior is determined as one allowing an individual to cope with the stress or a predicament thanks to conscious actions and methods adequate to personal features and situation. Thus determining control factors of coping behavior proves to be up-to-date.
Considering theoretically personal reflexivity can be a control factor of coping behavior. The research objectives are as follows:
— study theoretic-methodological principles of coping behavior control;
— determine and interpret coping behavior factors;
— describe reflexivity as a control factor of coping behavior by defining its criteria, levels and aspects within the framework of coping behavior.
Studying the structure of coping behavior we designate its basic components: an emotional component (self-control of psychic emotional state), a cognitive component (cognitive evaluation, cognitive control, decision making about the choice of coping strategy, after-event review, etc.) and a behavioral component (the realization of adequate situations, strategies and ways of coping with a challenge). By designating reflexivity in the structure of personal coping behavior we see it as a psychological attribute with its own structure and functions [2; 3].
Reflexivity stipulates such a personal characteristic as accepting yourself, other people and social realm and awareness of how one needs to act in this realm [4]. Judging by the nature and structure of reflexivity and basing on theoretical-methodological analysis [1; 5; 7; 8] of scientific literature we were able to define the criteria for its assessment within the framework of coping behavior. They are: motivation, emotional-volitional, assignment-behavioral, reflexive-conceptual and pure-reflexive (Table 1).
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Table 1
Criteria, aspects and levels of reflexivity represented in coping behavior
Criterion Aspect Level
Low Medium High
Motivation Motivation of coping behavior External motivation of coping behavior Using only the previous experience Choosing a coping strategy according to the previous experience and clear understanding of the motive
Emotional-volitional Self-regulation and control of emotional state Impulsivity, volitional behavior, dependence of behavior on external evaluation or control from aside Partial acceptance of personal emotions, problems in controlling emotional state Ability to recognize a personal emotional state, control emotional expression and make a free choice between several behavioral strategies
Assignment-behavioral Control and correction of personal actions at problem solution Low level of control and correction (impulsivity or inaction) Medium level of control and correction allowing to partially monitor personal actions High level of control and correction of personal actions during the time of activity, high flexibility and mobility
Reflexive-conceptual Comprehension of personal motives and needs Low level of refram-ing the situation. Absence of situational analysis, inability of its reframing A vague understanding of the situation, partial reframing of the events Situational analysis, finding a cause-and-effect link, reframing of the situation
Pure-reflexive Activation of interaction of all reflexivity components Absence of reflexive activity of coping situation, presence of destructive strategies or strategies of escape "Action" strategies are preferred ra-therthan "speculating" strategy Strategies oriented on reframing the situation or changing personal attitude to it
Motivation criterion reflects the person's ability to comprehend and designate his/her own needs and motives as well as separate them from behavioral strategies implemented from ab extra and avoid the risk of emergence of inadequate and non-adaptive behavior strategies, or defense activity.
Emotional-volitional criterion is characterized by a person's ability to check his/her emotional state in the process of coping activity as well as to recognize and control it. This criterion includes the degree of personal freedom to choose the variant of his/her behavior and overall capability to make the right choice between several strategies.
Assignment-behavioral criterion is described as a person's ability to analyze his/her current activity or his/her coping behavior in the process of decision making. This criterion also presupposes planning, modeling and programming the personal behavior as well as the correction of behavior or activity.
Reflexive-conceptual criterion reflects the process of personal reframing and shift in mindset in the context of life-significant concepts, activity, and communication.
Pure-reflexive criterion is characterized by reflexivity as a personal integrative characteristic and by a degree of activation of other relevant characteristics and processes.
The theoretical analysis of scientific literature showed that the levels of reflexivity can be defined according to its representation in the structure of coping behavior. We have indicated three levels. They are high, medium and low. The high level is characterized by the abilities of being aware of your own motives, aims, emotional state when choosing the variant of coping behavior, to employ the needed strategy regarding the previous experience and circumstances of the situation and to be flexible at changing the variant of coping behavior in case of no result. The medium level is associated with partial abilities of being aware of your own actions and emotions as well as an adequate comprehension of the present situation and the attitude to it and choosing a variant of coping behavior regarding only the previous experience not taking into consideration the present situation.
The low level of reflexivity is manifested through the absence of understanding and unawareness of personal motives of behavior, the disposition to suggestibility from the outside, the weakness of volition processes. The absence of a clear understanding of the result of personal behavior is combined with a low level of control and constriction in the process of coping activity in general (the absence of correction and the acceptance of personal mistakes as ineffectiveness of activity).
The main functions of reflexivity in coping behavior are to provide awareness, integrity and steadiness of coping activity process. In addition to these they are to regulate its stages and implementing coping strategies (the article of acmeology). Considering reflexivity as a control factor we mean its activating force in regard to the process of coping behavior.
Personal coping behavior is based on objective, subjective and objective-subjective factors. By objective factors we consider the objective conditions of a stated period of time: economic, political, cultural, situational stress and social-cultural peculiarities of an individual (influence of family tradition or a community on coping ability). Subjective factors include individual-psychological and personal characteristics: gender, age, social status, professional orientation, PIL features, survival ability, self-control, combination of ontogenetic, objective and social-psychological reflexivity. Objective-subjective factor is a control factor (different kinds of training, psychotherapeutic strategies, etc.) [6].
Reflexivity as a coping control factor is represented in purposive, time, structural, organization and functional facets. A purposive facet is based on a personal strive for a positive evaluation of his/her actions and a balanced existence in a stressful or difficult situation. A constant monitoring and self-control contribute to understanding and considering the purpose as the ideal result of behavioral activity. This process provides reflexivity and its assignment-behavioral component in combination with a motivation one. A time facet is reflected as a reflexive link of the previous, present (reflexivity of the past and present) and future experience on the stages of strategy development. Disruptiveness, incoherence or ignorance of one of the stages in "evaluation of the situation — strategy development — action" chain leads to ineffective coping behavior. The specificity of reflexivity in such variants of coping behavior is conditioned by the time facet (past, present, future). The emergence of new concepts represents the structural facet. These new concepts are based on stereotypes or patterns of the previous expe-
Вестник РУДН, серия Психология и педагогика, 2014, № 1
rience. If a person doesn't regard the stimulus as a harmful one it is not a stressor. But defining a situation as dangerous for a person's self- forces an individual has to look for the ways to cope with it. Thanks to the reflexivity of the situation we can observe the transformation of the experience or its unchanged character. As regards the organization facet we have pointed out a regulating and constructive function of reflexivity which suggests a step-by-step evaluation of the situation and the ability of modeling this process when needed. The inability to create or develop completely new strategies, the rejection of the speculation or fantasy formation prove the weakness of the organizing facet, whose aim is to check the adequacy of one's actions, correct the mistakes and understand the message of the events). The functional facet provides the development of personal reflexivity, its functioning as the analysis of a person's self, reflexive-conceptual and assignment-behavioral organization of a person.
The results of the research made it possible to make the following conclusions:
— personal coping behavior has its structure and functions;
— reflexivity has its criteria, aspects and levels in the structure of coping behavior;
— reflexivity acts as a control factor in purposive, time, structural and functional facets;
— a stabilizing factor of coping behavior is the integrity and interconnection of all components of reflexivity. A destabilizing factor is a poor development or the absence of the interconnection between the components, a one-sided development of one component and the prevalence of its level over others.
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РЕФЛЕКСИВНОСТЬ КАК ФАКТОР РЕГУЛЯЦИИ СОВЛАДАЮЩЕГО ПОВЕДЕНИЯ ЛИЧНОСТИ
А.А. Бехтер
Кафедра психологии и педагогики Российский университет дружбы народов ул. Миклухо-Маклая, 6, Москва, Россия, 117198
В статье раскрывается проблема регуляции совладающего поведения. Автором определены критерии, уровни и показатели рефлексивности в структуре совладающего поведения личности. Описаны основные аспекты регуляции совладающего поведения и участия в них рефлексивности. Ключевые слова: совладающее поведение, рефлексивность, аспекты регуляции.
