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Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research

September, 2019, Volume 21, 4, pp 16025-16026

Commentary

Commentary

Personality Values Under Uncertainty

Solovieva SL*

Author Affiliations

North-West State Medical University named after II Mechnikov, St. Petersburg, Russia

Received: September 23, 2019 | Published: September 27, 2019

Corresponding author: Solovieva SL, North-West State Medical University named after II Mechnikov, St. Petersburg, Russia

DOI: 10.26717/BJSTR.2019.21.003631

Introduction

A condition of existence in a changing world was the growth of uncertainty, the consequence of which is an identity crisis: loss of stability, disorientation, destruction of self-image, norms and values that govern behavior and activity [1,2]. Whenever any changes occur - biological, psychological or social - integrative work of the ego and restructuring of the elements of identity are necessary [3], since the destruction of the structure leads to negative states, up to depression and suicide [4]. The formation of a new identity in changing conditions is realized in the implementation of one’s own life path based on significant values. The achievement of individually significant goals based on individually significant values suggests that these values must be experienced and realized. The motivating power is possessed not so much by “known” as experienced in real events and therefore affectively charged values as significant for individual survival.

Meanwhile, the individual in most cases has an undifferentiated picture of values, fragments of which are uncritically borrowed from significant others along with scenarios of their implementation, which is internally contradictory and not completely conscious. In difficult life situations, this picture of values provokes “field behavior” - behavior determined by a specific situation. A person from an independent subject turn into an instrument for realizing the interests of other people or becomes a “decoration”, against which events of life of those around him take place. Behavior aimed at achieving personal goals of an individual becomes almost impossible, depriving her of a sense of identity.

Within the framework of existential psychology, anxiety arising in conditions of uncertainty and unpredictability is described as an inevitable attribute of human existence. Anxiety triggers suffering such as sleep disturbances, panic attacks, or irritable bowel syndrome. Assessing the role of uncertainty in the formation and preservation of psychological health, ET Sokolova writes that “a known tolerance of uncertainty and tolerance of ambivalence can indicate the achievement of individual maturity, constancy and integrity of the Self, capable of coping with ... anxieties” [5]. Tolerance of uncertainty is an attribute of a mature person who has his own conscious and experienced values and interests and at the same time respects the values of others. Meanwhile, in critical life situations, a person does not always have enough resources to maintain stability and stability. Under the influence of extreme factors, psychological resources may not be enough, and then there is a need for additional “points of support”, which are religion, philosophy or mental constructions, making up individual mythology of man. Individual mythology may include ideological myths that characterize a particular culture of a particular country in a particular historical period, as well as family myths and individual psychological illusions, such as the illusion of one’s own immortality, the illusion of reliability and stability of the surrounding world, or the illusion of just retribution [6-7].

When confronted with objective reality, individual mythology can be destroyed, and then the individual turns to psychotherapy for help, which is defined by Stockies as “reconstruction of shattered illusions.” The need for psychological intervention in conditions of uncertainty is determined primarily by the loss of the basic illusion of the reliability and stability of the world, which provokes confusion, helplessness and fear; expected difficulties unconsciously form a person’s negative life perspective. The relevant settings determine the behavior provoking predictable events (“the phenomenon of self-fulfilling prophecy”, laying the foundation for self-stigmatization: the subject’s own emotions are perceived as manifestations of a disease or defect, which provokes withdrawal into himself. A person interprets his fear as a signal of personal and professional failure, inevitable, it seems to him, in the face of a potential threat. Fear of life, the skills of interaction with which are affected by uncertainty, makes the client seek protection from a therapist. Most of the rehabilitation programs for people with the phenomena of socio-psychological maladaptation are aimed at restoring the normative system of values, rehabilitation of those values that allow solving the tasks of professional-labor and family adaptation.

These normative values, pledged by significant others or uncritically borrowed by a subject who finds himself in a difficult life situation, do not always coincide with his personal values experienced and integrated into the individual life scenario. This conflict creates psychological tension, against the background of which the events of mental life unfold, giving them an element of drama. A radical method of leveling the emotional burden of life events is to get rid of any criteria for comparison when they are evaluated. For this purpose, mainly Eastern practices with their specific semantic content, such as, for example, yoga or Zen Buddhism, are used. The rejection of the traditional European mentality based on assessments and comparisons, and the transition to contemplatively ascertaining oriental practices, allows us to learn to accept various aspects of our personality and various events of our life, not evaluating them in the categories of good and evil, but simply stating their presence as equal and the inevitable components of the ambiguous human nature: “this is so.”

The Buddhist principle of “suchness” in practice means increasing the client’s tolerance, his ability to accept his most diverse traits without feeling guilty and regretting his “wrong” nature and related actions. Minimalism and rational consumption, coupled with the contemplation of an invaluable oriental culture, is becoming increasingly popular in potentially traumatic conditions of uncertainty.

References

  • Antsyferova LI (1994) Personality in difficult living conditions: rethinking, transformation of situations and psychological protection. Psychological journal 1: 12-25.
  • Sokolova ET (2015) Clinical Psychology of the Loss of Ya. M: Sense pp. 895.
  • Erickson E (1996) Identity: youth and crisis / Per. from English - M Progress p. 12.
  • Ambrumova AG (1985) Analysis of the states of the psychological crisis and their dynamics. Psychological Journal 6(6): 107-115.
  • Sokolova ET (2015) Clinical Psychology of the Loss of Ya. M: Sense pp. 895.
  • Solovieva SL (2016) The basics of psychotherapy for “practically healthy”. Medical Psychology in Russia: electron. scientific journal 3(38).
  • Argyll M (2003) Psychology of happiness. (2nd edn.). SPb pp. 271.
Commentary

Personality Values Under Uncertainty

Solovieva SL*

Author Affiliations

North-West State Medical University named after II Mechnikov, St. Petersburg, Russia

Received: September 23, 2019 | Published: September 27, 2019

Corresponding author: Solovieva SL, North-West State Medical University named after II Mechnikov, St. Petersburg, Russia

DOI: 10.26717/BJSTR.2019.21.003631

Abstract

A condition of existence in a changing world was the growth of uncertainty, the consequence of which is an identity crisis: loss of stability, disorientation, destruction of self-image, norms and values that govern behavior and activity [1,2]. Whenever any changes occur - biological, psychological or social - integrative work of the ego and restructuring of the elements of identity are necessary [3], since the destruction of the structure leads to negative states, up to depression and suicide [4]. The formation of a new identity in changing conditions is realized in the implementation of one’s own life path based on significant values. The achievement of individually significant goals based on individually significant values suggests that these values must be experienced and realized. The motivating power is possessed not so much by “known” as experienced in real events and therefore affectively charged values as significant for individual survival.