Psychologists’ motivational readiness to provide emergency psychological assistance in emergency situations

Abstract

Relevance. Working in extreme conditions requires from psychologists involved in the implementation of measures for emergency rescue and other urgent work, not only to change the usual working conditions, but also to work effectively to provide emergency psychological assistance (EPA) to victims. At the same time, the motives for their participation in such events are very variable, and differ not only in content, but also in the degree of expression, since not all specialists are ready for such a format of professional activity.Intention: To study the degree of motivational readiness of psychologists to provide emergency psychological assistance to victims, as well as to identify the features of the motivational sphere that determine the participation of specialists in this type of professional activity.Methodology. We examined 117 psychologists using a questionnaire on the self-assessment of the motivational readiness of psychologists to provide emergency psychological assistance and the assessment of the leading motives that stimulate participation in this type of professional activity. Standardized psychodiagnostic techniques were also used: “Test of life orientations” (adaptation by D.A. Leontiev), questionnaire “Motivation for success and fear of failure” (A.A. Rean), questionnaire for study motivation to achieve success and motivation to avoid failure (T. Ehlers), questionnaire “Diagnosis of the motivational structure of the individual” (V.E. Milman). Results and Discussion. The results of the self-assessment questionnaire on the motivational readiness of psychologists to provide emergency psychological assistance showed that, in general, psychologists positively assess themselves according to this criterion (6.4 ± 2.2 out of 10 possible points). 46 % of psychologists have a high level of its formation, 36.5 % – average, 17.5 % of psychologists – low. The motivational readiness of psychologists has a 4-component structure and is made up of professional, hedonistic and emotional motives, and motives of recognition. The use of standardized psychodiagnostic methods demonstrated that motivational readiness to provide emergency psychological assistance is associated with the desire to achieve success, the idea of oneself as a strong person who has freedom of choice and independently controls the events of one’s own life, the desire for a high social status, the focus on creative activity and social utility.Conclusion. The studied features of motivational readiness of psychologists can be used for differentiated training of psychologists to provide emergency psychological assistance, and also taken into account for selecting specialists of this profile to work in extreme conditions.