HIGHLIGHTING ANTHROPOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF STUDENT PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING

Tatyana Levkova¹, Ruslan Bazhenov²*, Gul'nora Arutjunova³ and Marina Romanova^4
1Assoc. Prof. Dr., Sholom-Alechem Priamursky State University, Russia, tvlevkova@mail.ru
²Assoc. Prof. Dr., Sholom-Alechem Priamursky State University, Russia, r-i-bazhenov@yandex.ru
³Assoc. Prof. Dr., Far Eastern branch of the Russian State University of Justice, Russia, argal-69@yandex.ru
⁴Prof. DSc., Samara State University of Social Science and Education, Russia, oroman3000@mai.ru
*Corresponding author


Abstract

The article deals with the personal main features and mechanisms for psychological health development. Personal psychological health is regarded as a cumulative phenomenon and a part of two categoric concepts, such as Personality Psychology and Health Psychology. They are two fundamental notions viewed for the development prospects of Psychology as a scientific and practical subject. A student age is a shift in focus on addressing towards psychological health issues. It is taken into consideration that various factors influence student health. They are a way/standard of living, hereditary background, the environment (natural and social), health care quality provided, etc. The reality that a psychologist has to face at university is an adaptive health level of student psychological health. The characteristics of this level are individual features of social maladjustment. The authors define the main indicators of young people’s psychological health via an anthropological approach. The anthropological approach serves as a fundamental and research basis of the process of supporting student psychological health. The basis of psychological health is considered to be the healthy development of human personality as an essential human power. The essential strength of each person appears while solving and implementing important vital challenges. The purpose of the studies is a fundamental and empirical survey of student alexithymia and coping strategies, which can be treated as the most important factors of their psychological well-being. The survey sample consisted of 198 students at Sholom-Aleichem Priamursky State University (the town of Birobidzhan). The representativeness of the research sample acknowledges that understanding and describing feelings and emotions in adolescence have a direct say in social interaction distance with other people. Eventually, it determines the quality of behavior strategies and their psychological health condition. The scholars use the following techniques to review the anthropological instruments for measuring student psychological health. They are The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS), Psychological coping mechanisms to protect oneself in stressful events methodology (an adapted version of N. Endler and J. Parker’s technique [Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS) (N. Endler, J. Parker)]). The researchers observe the relevance of correlation between psychological well-being indicators - in this case it is the alexithymia level and key coping strategies. They also monitor the correlation ratio between them. This mechanism can be applied through a variety of ways. A student peculiar feature is to avoid traumatic incidents, and in some cases, to deny them completely, to distance themselves mentally or behaviorally. During the reflection on the study results, it was found out that the testees’ dominant use of the escape coping can provoke their negative one’s self-concept and negative self-esteem. The more proper the alexithymia level presented in the sample, the more reflected the action strategy, focused on overcoming obstacles and difficulties. As a result of researching university students’ psychological health, there have been identified the main directions to keep and promote psychological health.

Keywords: Psychological well-being, Anthropological approach, Alexitymia, Coping strategies, Self-control, Self-fulfillment, Self-actualization, Human life challenges.