The Relationship between the Need for Security and Its Personal Meanings among University Students

Abstract

<p>The need for security as a powerful motivator causes a wide range of behavioral activity of the subject. Understanding the relationship between the need for security and personal security meanings can help to increase the accuracy of its prediction. The purpose of this study was to establish the features of this relationship among university students. His hypothesis was that the connection of the need for security with the personal meanings of the category "security" in university students can be determined by the subject, the strength and frequency of occurrence of this need and the content of the personal meanings of the category "security". The sample included 120 students (54,2% girls and 45,8% boys) of several Moscow universities aged 18 to 21 years (M=19,6 years, SD=1,5). The research possibilities of methods of associative experiment, analysis of products of activity, subjective scaling are used. The study confirmed the relationship between the need for security and personal meanings of security among university students. The complexity of the students' need for security is indicated. Students assign the greatest subjective significance and frequency of occurrence to clearly localized, specific varieties of security needs. The subjective significance of the need for security for students diverges from the frequency of its occurrence. The connection of the students' need for security with the personal meanings of security formed in them is revealed. The relationship between the subjective significance of the need for security and personal meanings of security among students is more versatile than the relationship between the frequency of the need for security and personal meanings of security.</p>