Peculiarities of Personal Constructs in Professionals of Extreme Spheres of Activity (with Officers of the Ministries of Emergency Situations and Internal Affairs as an Example)

Abstract

The article presents the results of an empirical study of personality traits of officers of the Ministries of Emergency Situations and Internal Affairs. The study is aimed at revealing specific combinations of personality traits - personality constructs characterizing specialists of different extreme occupations. 80 individuals took part in the research work. The pronouncedness of personality traits in the officers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) was compared using the following techniques and methodologies: S.Maddy Hardiness Survey; Holmes-Rahe Stress and Social Adjustment Scale; Method for Diagnosing of Emotional Burnout Levels by V.V. Boyko; California Psychological Inventory (CPI). The MIA officers have been found to have more pronounced personality traits such as vitality and hardiness (according to the S. Maddy Survey), social presence, independence, responsibility, socialization, making a good impression, "ordinary guy" impression, feeling of well-being, achievement through subordination, intellectual effectiveness, manliness (according to CPI). The comparison of the factor structures revealed invariant (with significant factor loading in both groups) and variable (with significant factor loading in one group) elements. The following personality constructs have been identified in the personality structure of the MIA officers: transactional leadership, strategy of variational adjustment in situations of uncertainty, strategy of taking responsibility under the given conditions, personal and social normativity. The following personality constructs have been identified in the personality structure of the MES officers: role-related masculinity, role-related empathy, strategy of volitional control in situations of uncertainty, strategy of variational adjustment under the given conditions.