Tolerance to uncertainty among psychology students as a predictor of adaptation strategy in the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The aim of the study is to identify the correlation between tolerance/intolerance to uncertainty with coping strategies and mechanisms of psychological protection of the individual in the conditions of adaptation to situations with a high degree of uncertainty associated with the coronavirus pandemic. A positive correlation was established between tolerance to uncertainty and the protective mechanisms of “humor” and “compensation”, and a negative correlation with the mechanism of “omnipotent control”. Increasing the level of tolerance to uncertainty entails: 1) increased levels of regression and withdrawal in uncertain situations; 2) reduced readiness for systematic problem solving and the emergence of an inability to separate emotions about the situation from its cognitive solution; 3) reduced ability to enter into active opposition with uncertainty, reduced ability to humor and positive reassessment of an uncertain situation. In addition, an increase in the level of interpersonal tolerance to uncertainty leads to an increase in the defense mechanisms and used coping strategies (passive aggression, dissociation, projection, displacement, substitution, distancing, etc.), which clearly indicates the perception of an uncertain situation by such students as extremely difficult, threatening, negative. Thus, tolerance to uncertainty is a significant resource for adaptive living by a person in the conditions of uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. Students with a high interpersonal tolerance to uncertainty are the most vulnerable to the uncertainty associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The practical significance of the study is in the need to form the ability to constructive activity in conditions of uncertainty, which can be implemented in the process of training interventions. Further research may be based on considering the relationship between tolerance to uncertainty and other factors of adaptation to the conditions of uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The relevance of the study is associated with the scarcity of works on the assessment of adaptive resources of the individual in the conditions of uncertainty associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.