Psychological Health of University Youth as a Subject of Axiological Reflection / Психологическое здоровье студенческой молодежи как предмет аксиологической рефлексии

Шутенко Елена Николаевна ORCID: 0000-0002-4499-2756 кандидат психологических наук доцент, кафедра общей и клинической психологии, Белгородский государственный национальный исследовательский университет 308012, Россия, Белгородская область, г. Белгород, ул. Костюкова, 34, оф. 34 Shutenko Elena Nikolaevna PhD in Psychology Associate Professor of the Department of General and Clinical Psychology at Belgorod National Research University 308012, Russia, Belgorodskaya oblast', g. Belgorod, ul. Kostyukova, 34, of. 335 avalonbel@mail.ru Другие публикации этого автора     Шутенко Андрей Иванович кандидат педагогических наук старший научный сотрудник, институт экономики и менеджмента, Белгородский государственный технологический университет им. В.Г. Шухова 308012, Россия, Белгородская Область область, г. Белгород, ул. Костюкова, 34, оф. 335 Shutenko Andrey Ivanovich PhD in Pedagogy Senior Researcher at Institute of Economics and Management at Belgorod State Technological University 308012, Russia, Belgorodskaya Oblast' oblast', g. Belgorod, ul. Kostyukova, 34, of. 335 avalonbel@mail.ru

Деревянко Юлия Петровна кандидат психологических наук доцент, кафедра общей и клинической психологии, Белгородский государственный национальный исследовательский университет 309070, Россия, Белгородская Область область, г. Строитель, ул. Жукова, 1, оф. 39 Derevyanko Yulia Petrovna PhD in Psychology Associate Professor of the Department of General and Clinical Psychology at Belgorod State National Research University 309070, Russia, Belgorodskaya Oblast' oblast', g. Stroitel', ul. Zhukova, 1, of. 39 geyman@bsu.edu.ru

Исследование выполнено при финансовой поддержке РФФИ в рамках научного проекта № 18-013-01151 «Самореализация студенческой молодежи как показатель и фактор ее психологического здоровья в условиях социокультурных вызовов российскому обществу» на 2018-2020 годы.
The reported study was funded by RFBR according to the research project No 18-013-01151 “Self-realization of student youth as an indicator and a factor of psychological health in conditions of socio-cultural challenges for Russian society” (2018-2020).

Introduction

The psychological health of young people is a key pillar of a stable and viable society. Today's young generation comes into life in difficult conditions of increasing uncertainty, finding themselves in the cross-hairs of various destructive forces participating in the global fight for influence. Many scientists, doctors, educators and public figures have observed a noticeable decline in psychological health of young people during the past quarter of the century. There has been noted a decrease in the intellectual level of new generations, primitivization of thinking and behavior, growth of apathy, infantilism, egocentrism and various forms of addiction, simplistic worldview and inability to goal setting, value and moral instability, mental disorientation and so on ^{[12, 42]}.

And it is not accidental. The modern student youth develops under the growing pressure of mass culture, consumer society with its user-wasteful psychology and moral-ethical devaluation ^{[2, 3, 31]}. This process goes on the background of noticeable deformation of leading pedagogical institutions, decrease of intellectual level of educational standards and devaluation of traditional values. The ongoing transformations mostly negatively affect the young generation that is painfully looking for its way of self-realization and “corridor of normality” for a decent life in crisis conditions of mental sphere transformation ^[20].

As a scientific problem the issue of psychological health is associated with the leading areas of psychological science and is in the focus of attention of related scientific branches. Thereat, for quite a time a major part of research was confined to issues of “mental health”, while its interpretation was dominated by biological or psycho-physiological schemes. Further research advances in this area went along the path of weakening the medical-psychiatric devotion and transition to person-focused definition within the conceptual construction of “psychological health”. If the term "mental health" covers only some psychic processes and phenomena, then "psychological health", as I.V. Dubrovina explains, characterizes the whole personality as “... property of a mature personality. It is one of the most significant personal states and relates to the moral development of Man” ^{[12, p. 69]}.

New researches proceed from the fundamental proposition that a person, being quite mentally healthy (possesses good memory and developed thinking, sets complex goals, very active, guided by conscious motives, achieves success, avoids failures, etc.) at the same time may be personally defective, imperfect and unwell (does not coordinate and does not direct his life to the achievement of human destination, disconnected from it, satisfied with surrogates, etc.) ^[7].

In psychological science the problem of psychological health is treated as one of the priorities and represents an independent branch – “Health psychology” ^[32]. Alongside, in this field there was also observed a continuing psychiatric bias that gave way to the tendency of expansion and deepening of scientific knowledge on a healthy person within the scope of specific tasks both medical and psychological practices ^[6]. In contemporary studies, efforts are being made to fill in the existing gap, to identify not-considered details and dimensions of health linked to fundamental aspects of human existence ^[43].

As for problems of youth development, many studies link their psychological health with process of versatile self-realization ^{[12, 26, 41, 45]}. In most cases these works were influenced by the scientific tradition laid in the mainstream of humanistic psychology In line with this tradition, the health phenomenon is regarded as an attribute of a fully functioning personality freely realizing his Self (C. Rogers, A. Maslow, G. Allport, S.R. Maddi etc.). ^{[29, 30, 35]}. Representatives of this concept hold that authenticity of personality, self-actualization, maturity, self-acceptance and so on are basic in psychological health ^[34]. Likewise, the adherents of eudaemonistic psychology (R.M. Ryan, K. Ryff, E. Deci, A.S. Waterman, etc.) great significance in maintenance of psychological well-being give to productive self-actualization and self-determination ^{[11, 37, 38, 48]}.

Progress of new heuristic trends was due to a revision of the egophilic propositions of humanistic psychology. New approaches are being created in the line of untying from the self-centered dominants in favor to socio-cultural determination. These approaches are based on the scientific tradition, in accordance with which, psychological well-being, as well as human health depend, above all, on situation in Psychosphere and value organization of society (V.E. Frankl, A. Längle, D.A. Leontiev etc.) ^{[15, 25, 27]}.

Meanwhile, prominent thinkers note the systemic deformations of psychosphere in the present period. Modern world and culture increasingly immerse in the abyss of designed absurdity, postmodernist chaos and global disintegration of the traditional socio-cultural soil of the civilization ^{[4, 5, 33]}.

Many eminent scholars and thinkers have come to the conclusion that in today's world everything has its price, but nothing has value. The world has shrunk to narrow-utilitarian, pragmatic things of short-term use. People have stopped to think everlasting categories, preferring instead different conventions and arrangements to long-term obligations and responsibilities ^[4]. Values decay in the Western world is in full swing. In Russian society under various pretexts an alien psychosocial code is obtruded upon in the growing vacuum of values.

If we consider the situation of modern youth development in the axiological dimension, it is easy to see that in the first place values fall under the attack of various pseudo-humanitarian invasions and above all the traditional values of Family, Marriage, Homeland, God, Love, Kindness, Truth, Justice and so forth.

It is known that neither society nor personality can live without values. Values are the carriers of laconic, succinct and comprehensible public experience. They reflect tested by centuries and proven by history the vitally important basis of worldview, potentials, norms, behavior and world perception patterns of Ethnos, nation, society as a whole ^[21]. Values are the criteria and priorities of the internal arrangement of Society elaborated by History, they ensure its stability and unity, continuity, link of times and possibility of movement into the future. Hereby the values appear to be the bearing constructions of any society forming up a basis of mentality of its members, and in their aggregate transmitting function the values create a process, which is called tradition ^[16].

The educational institutions and, especially, higher school are of pivotal importance for values transferring process ^[44]. By introducing a young man into the world of culture and profession, tertiary education gives him an opportunity to become a capable member of society and a fully-functioning subject ^[17]. Education forms worldview, thinking, skills, habits, values and life standards, which a man is guided by to a large extent in his independent life ^[40]. By structuring basic thinking and behavioral patterns, education plays an important role in providing psychological health ^[45].

It is known that a healthy person has not only a healthy body, but a healthy consciousness, positive conscious attitude to life. Modern authors, psychologists, doctors, teachers concurred in recognizing psychological health as a holistic dynamic set of sustainable intrinsic processes and constructive harmonious relations of personality ^{[11, 32, 38]}. Psychological health as a phenomenon that represents the common result and denominator of full-fledged socialization, adequate worldview formation, developed self-awareness and constructive life pattern ^{[37, 42]}.

Method and methodology

This study is carried out in the framework of the methodology of socio-cultural determination of psychic and personal development (S.L. Rubinstein, L.S. Vygotsky, A.N. Leontiev etc.). The key provisions of this methodology underline the leading role of cultural factors and social development in formation of higher psychological functions and basic personal structures ^{[36, 47]}. The research of the designated issue is based on cultural-historical and axiological approaches. The first approach considers the personality as a product of cultural values comprehension by the individual ^[47], while the second approach recognizes it as an active seeker and carrier of values ^{[14, 19, 22, 26, 28]}.

The study applies the method of conceptual reconstruction of the value space of psychological health, which comprises distinguishing and subsequent summation of value resources of socio-cultural experience, where the main meaning loci of the civilizational matrix are historically concentrated ^{[39, 40]}. As for the tools of scientific design, in our study we rely on the method of modeling.

Findings and discussions

Structural components and levels of youth psychological health. In revealing structural characteristics of such complicated phenomenon as psychological health various researchers commonly distinguish several levels of psychological functioning forming up a complex of productive human performance and life activity ^[24]. Before everything else the biological, psychological, sociocultural aspects are singled out in this intrinsic organization ^[6].

Proceeding from existing approaches and studies, we deem it to be rightly to distinguish three primary components of psychological health – psychosomatic, functional-psychological and spiritual. Being deeply interrelated, the said components mediate each other and, on the whole, correspond to three levels of human life activity: organismic level, levels of individuum and personality ^[46]. These components form a structure, which is schematically presented in table 1.

Table 1.

The structure and levels of youth psychological health

The psychosomatic component is responsible mainly for bodily physiological health, and functional-psychological component is responsible for regulatory-behavioral status (ensuring stable and coordinated work of psychical functions both lower and superior), while the spiritual component foots value-sense or moral foundation of health. Relevant to the sphere of consciousness and self-consciousness, the spiritual component comprises personal formations of psychological health (values, meanings, ideas, ideals, beliefs, principles, moral standards etc.).

At the level of the first two components a number of processes comprising the foundation of mental health are outlined, but upon introduction of the third spiritual component yet a higher metaphysical level is formed which ensures integrity of personality and its adequate life activity. Combined together the said levels form an integral set of patterns and features, which define the status of psychological health (see Table 1).

On the whole, psycho-somatic and functional-psychosocial components jointly form a natural basis of psychological health, and the spiritual component represents organizational super-structure that operates the two primary components. The ancient maxim “A healthy mind lives in a healthy body” is undoubtedly true. However, it is not the whole truth about health. Thus, if the spirit is undermined, the body suffers too. On the opposite, strength and fortitude of spirit can mend body malfunctions to foster a man to live a full life.

It should be noted that in reliance to the age the role of the specified components is not definitive and may shift through different stages of ontogenesis. So, at early stages of ontogenesis the psychosomatic and functional-psychological components have predominant role in health maintenance. However, the spiritual component starts dominating especially during teenage and preadult periods, when ego-structures set up; this leading role is retained for spiritual component throughout the years up to later stages, and then primary components can come to the fore again under objective process of physical ageing. Nevertheless, as long as the consciousness lingers in a man, the spiritual component preserves its dominant part in the mental health structure.

Need to say that at present this particular component of psychological health of Russian youth undergoes serious negative transformation under the influence of consumer-user mainstream both in mass culture and educational-information domain ^{[20, 42]}.

Psychological devastation of young people in a consumer society. By the end of the last century at the macro-social level scientists had identified a systematic shift of the social structure in the logic of transition from the model of "Welfare state” state ” with a strong middle class of producers to the model of “Consumer society” based on the mass consumer-user ^[2]. In humanistic dimension such transition is accompanied by changes of inner psychological structure wherein sphere of needs expands excessively by minimizing value-sense formations.

A person becomes dependent on consumption of various “benefits” in a smartly fabricated supply and demand market. An individual in a consumer society feels his importance and self-sufficiency, his worthiness if he carries out specific consumer behavior rather than knowledge, skills, personal qualities and values ^[1]. The latter are also presented to him as finished goods at a reasonable price.

The literature indicates an important outcome of the consumer society related to deformation of the main activity when the concept of “work” and “creativity” is superseded by the concept of “services”. Productive labor comes to naught. Life achievements of a man are determined not by how much he made or produced, but by how much he consumed ^[2].

It is known that full motivation of human life is associated with motivating effect of both needs and values. Thereat, while the first ones reflect a naturally individual and largely spontaneous plan of motivation, the second ones express more robust and stable socio-cultural regulators and activators of motivation. If a person gets loaded with needs, then he lives by his values. Values constitute a vertex layer of mental organization, needs mainly relate to underlying (animal) layers ^[27]. Such important personal constructs as ideals, meanings, beliefs, principles and so on are formed on the ground of values, which are internalized and perceived in the culture. These constructs comprise the inner spiritual backbone of personality.

In this regard, it is reasonable to ask a question – what does it mean for a young person of nowadays to live without values? What does it mean for him today to stay alone with his needs, when the road to values turns out to be obstructed with various postmodern intrusions, and traditional institutions transmitting the values are made inoperative? Scholars have already described a lonely, aloof, indifferent, reflective, cornered individual without believes living in constant fear to lose a slice of benefits from the "table" of consumer society ^{[3, 33]}.

A man without values becomes an “invertebrate creature” enforced every time to adapt and mutate oneself under pressure of various needs skillfully “refueled” by consumer society. Consciousness plunges into an endless desire satisfaction cycle with no way out because the “window of values” in such a society is closed by the “showcase of offers” of various goods and services at a certain price. However, Meanwhile values are priceless ^[14].

Guided by values as a life of healthy maturity. For young people transition from the vital motivation needs to values is an important stage of growing up. Childhood psychologically exists under influence of different needs; adulthood is the world of values. As they get older people are increasingly guided by values ^[44]. An adult as a mature subject implies a status where a person is not only motivated by values but also acts as their active carrier, translator. In this capacity he starts influencing others thus becoming a socially meaningful figure and comes into the world already as a person of integrity ^[27]. Therefore, access to values is an important milestone in the life path of a man, when he either makes a step towards adulthood or remains in infantile dependent position.

In this regard, the task of society is to help young people to make this step, discover the world of values and meanings. However, in consumer society this “type of service” is not provided, and new generations have to independently find the ways to be past the maturity threshold, trying at their own risk to reach out values through the thickness of consumer mentality ^[4]. That aside, for many young people today such a move is undesirable for it is associated with a mass of problems and risk of responsibility, while in consumer society one can live without worries, not doing any work. As a result, the majority of today’s young people cannot (and not willing) to cross the Rubicon of adulthood, staying in the infantile state. Society is filled with growing number of silver-haired boys and girls who know neither duty nor responsibility but pay a high price for it by immaturity of their personalities. This way here and now a personal beginning in culture is being gradually erased; the social base of values renewal is disappearing ^[1].

Need to note, it is through the personality that the value stream is carried out in culture ^{[14, 22]}. The values, which find their way into the inner world of a person and form his personal meaning, begin to live a new life ^[19]. A man, as a subject and carrier of values, translates them in his actions and relationships filling them with new content ^[26]].. Thus, the values penetrating the personality continue to live in culture and a man, as a carrier of values, remains in history surmounting death and continues to live in social memory ^[49]. In consumer society this socio-cultural process is disrupted, values lose both its sources and carriers.

Altogether, it must be borne in mind that for a man to live solely his needs, means to destine himself to the animal existence. It is known that animals have no values, they live by different instincts and needs, and they have no consciousness. Therefrom, the consumer life construct excluding value-aspired plan of existence, is a way down the ladder of evolution.

The deformation of consciousness under the pressure of information technologies. For reproduction of needs in consumer society there is no necessity in services of educational institutions since more effective tools of influence are available, first and foremost Mass-media and latest Internet technology ^[4]. Today it is these technologies that educate and shape in fact the mentality of modern youth, exploiting one of the main human needs – his cognizance need, expressed in curiosity. Modern Media and Internet employing full power of the latest information-communication technologies have exploit this reflex actively. Having chained curiosity and inquisitiveness of young people to themselves, they take young unsophisticated minds in a world of endless informational flows, ready-made answers and solutions to all problems ^[50].

Taking possession of the sensory-perceptual apparatus of psychic activity, modern media and Internet have become a part of human perception. By giving the appearance of unbiased reflection of reality, they have overshadowed the real world and created their own with other laws in force, where millions of connected users, and especially young people slump in today ^[13].

What are the main functions of mass media and Internet in the modern world of consumption and global information war? Scientists say that today we have to deal with unprecedented media advertising, des-information, manipulation and “brainwashing” ^[23]. Psychologists, physiologists, doctors ascertain a detrimental effect on information technologies on the mental evolution of modern youth ^{[10, 13, 50]}. Nowadays numerous cases of informational addiction, intoxication and infomania are noted ^[50]. Uncontrolled, unlimited Internet causes mass mental illness. A person cannot exist without permanent info-injections, his ability of independent thinking, cognition, decision-making is disrupted. The logic of information consumption requires swelling of informational impressions that constantly bombards the brain, this eventually leads to degradation of consciousness whereby only reception and perception functions are used actively, while other higher mental functions of memory, thinking, imagination undergo atrophy or do not have time to get activated.

Therefore, information technology world in the consumer society is a world of mass addiction, manipulation and degradation. However, it is in this environment that the upbringing of the younger generations takes place at present time.

What are the values modern media and Internet convey to young people?

Adepts of uncontrolled informatization insist that Internet shapes the value of freedom among young people, that a young person can freely define oneself in culture on the background of different implications.

To our opinion, what actually happens in consumerist society is that Internet and mass media form the value of the forbidden among the youth. Aiming to expand their audiences, media and Internet promoters often resort to taboo topics and techniques to attract as many users of their services as possible. Herewith lies, deception, vulgarity, manipulation of facts and other dirty technologies become commonplace. Young minds are instilled with the idea of limitless possibilities of information technologies for self-realization, especially in social networks and various Internet portals. If the real world imposes various restrictions, obligations, norms, etc., then the world of virtual reality removes these restrictions. Everything that is forbidden in the real world is allowed in the virtual world. The forbidden fruit mechanism runs without failure, attracting most of young people ^[50]. And the main thing is that no one is responsible for this because real, live interpersonal communication is replaced by communications in which users are distant and depersonalized ^[10].

Thus, today mass-media and Internet form experience of going beyond the limits of tradition into the sphere of forbidden. The danger is that, by connecting with modern information technologies, the “zone of the forbidden” falls out of social control and covers the whole society. Society and people learn to live in pathology, to be abnormal, and largely because of influence of the new mass-media.

Valuable resources to ensure psychological health of students. At all times higher school (represented by universities) was a culture-generating project directed to the future ^[17]. The sphere of higher education has always served as a special structure and a unique mechanism of propagation of values corresponding to a certain type of socio-cultural system ^[18].

Modern higher school needs value reconstruction of the social-cultural environment of educational practices scheme and development of youth viability. It is of necessity to overcome values vacuum corroding culture, blurring out the time perspective and sense structure of society. For modern youth the existence of a value scale is a guarantee of its social-cultural and psychological identity ^[45] and for the society and country – it is a guarantee of future.

For a thoroughgoing reconstruction of value bases of educational practices, it is necessary to proceed from multidimensionality of social-cultural experience of their loci ^[9]. In search of value reference-points for the youth we deem it to be essential to refer to the social-cultural sources, which the leading sense loci of civilized matrix typical for any society are concentrated on ^[40]. In general aspect the following seven attractive sources can be differentiated: sociocentric, theocent

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