INDICATORS OF SENSE OF CONTROL AT A YOUNG AGE: A COMPARATIVE ASPECT

Abstract

Sense of control over life events which happen in everyday life (personal and social) can play a role of a self-defence mechanism in stress situations that occurs in a crisis society. The research suggests that process of searching ways and methods to take control over stress events not only is a process of psychological adaptation to unusual stress situation but also is a natural instinct is presented in everyone. Interestingly, there is a lack of empirical studies of subjective sense of being in control and indicators of sense of personal control among young Ukrainians. The purpose of this article is to investigate indicators of sense of control factors’ distribution in two independent study of young Lviv citizens. The study uses established metrics called «subjective control measure». Two studies were conducted for proper assessment of working hypothesis. 90 participants of different sexes, aged from 14 to 35, who work and study in Lviv, took part in the first study. 68 female and male participants aged from 16 to 17, who were students of Lviv secondary school № 2, took part in the second study. The null hypothesis suggests that participants from the first and second study will have different subjective sense of control factors’ distribution. Factor analysis of the first study (2016) participants highlighted the following sense of control factors: measure of personal presentation in control, control factors for outside social world, methods of upbringing (education) and life principles, quality of implementation controls, future without obeying, pedantic control, democratic control, external presentation control, work process management control. In the second study (2017), factor analysis showed the following six sense of control indicators: structured progressive control, perfection business control, external presentation control, work accuracy control, over control, parental control. Next steps for the study will be the analysis of sense of control in participants of different ages on the basis of the improved «subjective control measure».