Personality traits as determinants of political behavior: Ukrainian electoral and voting tendencies

Now there is a sharp increase of interest in politics, especially among young people. Meanwhile, the psychological mechanisms of the person’s political behavior (its manifesting and regulating), as well as interaction of his cognitive, emotional, motivation and value factors with the political system remain insufficiently studied. The aim of this research is to study the influence of personality traits on political behavior in order to find out the connection between person’s individual-psychological characteristics and the degree of his participation in political life within the territory of Ukraine. The Five-Factor NEO-PI-R (NEO Personality Inventory-Revised) model was used for analyzing the respondents’ tendency to politically significant behavior. The survey was conducted in 2017 in Ukraine (n=1247, age: 15-50 years). A positive correlation of the political participation indicators with the personal indicator Conscientiousness and the negative correlation with the Agreeableness parameter were revealed. We have established that emotionally balanced respondents more often show a desire to run for office and rarely participate in voting. High results for Agreeableness and Neuroticism determine the low level of political ambitions. These findings constitute a new step forward in understanding how personality traits form responses in the people’s political engagement while demonstrating the Ukrainian political tendencies

Psychological Peculiarities of Styles of Professional Activity and the Level of Stress among Members of Election Commissions in Parliamentary Elections in Ukraine

The results of the empirical study among the members of election commissions (N=112, age: 25−68 years) for Ukrainian parliamentary elections 2019 to study the styles of their professional activity and the level of stress are presented. The most pronounced style of professional activity is “Professional-perfectionist”, which contributes to the high productivity of members of election commissions. The work tasks at a polling station are best fulfilled by the person with a more pronounced style of professional activity “Formalist-bureaucrat”. It is undesirable to involve working at the polling station persons with high rates in the style of the professional activity of “Nihilist”. It has been found that the major psychological difficulties of working in election commissions are due to excessive psycho-emotional and psychophysical overload, to which some members of the commissions are not ready. This overload can cause them to experience certain mental stress, different levels of stress, their manifestation, and consequences. Although the majority of participants demonstrated a high degree of adaptability to stressful workloads, members of commissions should perform their duties at a highly professional level in extremely difficult circumstances, including at night and in a state of intense emotional stress. The results of the research should be taken into account during the organization of the election process and the holding of elections to central and local authorities. To improve it, it is advisable to organize and conduct early training and skills upgrading of members of election commissions. To do this, it is necessary to develop and implement training programs for the development of style peculiarities of professional activity, which will contribute to effective work in the election commission and overcoming psychological difficulties.</em

Psychological Aspects of Captivity in the War in the East of Ukraine

The study aimed to determine the psychological aspects of captivity in the War in the East of Ukraine: the purposes and motives of the capture of Ukrainian Forces (UF); the types of captivity and their specifics; the stages and phases of captivity. The measures included a questionnaire and interview method. 694 former prisoners of war (POWs) (servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and soldiers of volunteer battalions) participated in the study. The research results revealed the purposes of capturing UF: to stop UF advance; obtaining intelligence; demoralization of UF; demonstration of military superiority; capturing prisoners for exchange; unwillingness to kill; receiving a ransom. The UF invaders were military units, professional mercenaries’ units, and gang formation units. The stages of captivity (capture and transportation to a place of permanent detention; first interrogation; being held captive; exchange of POWs and homecoming) were characterized by intimidation, aggression, physical, psychological and sexual violence against POWs, the purposeful creation of an environment of mass psychosis among POWs. Captivity kept the POWs in constant tension and fear. The altered mental status of POWs took place in successive phases: life reactions, shock, psychological demobilization, denouement, recovery, and conflict phase

Ukrainian rescuers in local armed conflict conditions: how does it affect the psyche?

BACKGROUND: Currently, armed conflicts around the world are not decreasing. For the first time, the mental state and behavioral changes of rescuers who were involved not during natural/man-made disasters but directly in the area of armed actions for fulfilling their professional tasks were investigated. METHODS: The study involved males (N.=331), aged 24-59, Ukrainian rescuers of pyrotechnic and emergency rescue units. A specially designed questionnaire (37 items), and an interview method were used. RESULTS: Types of stressogenic situations, characteristics of rescuers’ threats and fears, impact of experienced traumatic events on their mental health, signs indicating negative changes in behavior, attitudes of the relatives and local residents to the rescuers’ activities in the battle area have been revealed. There were identified three groups of stressful situations in which rescuers fell: professional, situational-psychogenic and personal. The most harmful fears were falling under shelling-attacks (45.9%), threat to own life/health (79.5%), threat of captivity (37%), wounding/death of colleagues-rescuers (24.9%), wounding/injuries/doom of civilians (64.7%). CONCLUSIONS: Main changes in rescuers’ behavior were observed in emotional, value-semantic, cognitive and communicative spheres. Duration of staying in battle area had a direct influence on the rescuers which caused great growth of post-traumatic symptoms and their exacerbation: 15% of rescuers showed signs of behavioral regression. Traumatic stress emerged in rescuers was associated with the sudden reprogramming of human reserves for survival in extreme situations. A number of preventive measures was recommended for unlocking the adaptive resource potential that acted as an internal defense mechanism against stress and overload

Is there a “victim syndrome” among forced displaced persons in Ukraine?

This study revealed the negative health effects of forced displaced persons who were resettled to the other region inside Ukraine due to a military conflict in the east of the country. To study both pre-migration traumatic influence and the negative consequences of relocation, three instruments were used: A. Bass and A. Darki technique for diagnosing indicators and forms of aggression, E. Wagner projective hand test and A. M. Etkind’s Relationship Color Test. The results of a sample of Ukrainian forced displaced persons (n=3500) indicate that they have fear, confusion, lack of feeling safety in the near future and dissatisfaction with one of the basic needs – security need. It was established that 7-8% of forced displaced persons have recorded “victim syndrome”, which develops in a situation when a person has lost hope of returning home in the near future and is in a state of constant heightened anxiety. It has been revealed that the “victim syndrome” among forced displaced persons is simultaneously characterized by increased aggressiveness towards others (primarily state structures), as well as the presence of «learned helplessness» and a general negative attitude towards everything that happens in the environment and in life of the refugee. The results of this study will permit to strengthen the potential of the social system in the host community and invest in the planning of health services and the social integration of displaced persons which were resettled not only within the territory of their native country, but also for those who migrated to other national societies

Personality traits as determinants of political behavior: Ukrainian electoral and voting tendencies

Now there is a sharp increase of interest in politics, especially among young people. Meanwhile, the psychological mechanisms of the person’s political behavior (its manifesting and regulating), as well as interaction of his cognitive, emotional, motivation and value factors with the political system remain insufficiently studied. The aim of this research is to study the influence of personality traits on political behavior in order to find out the connection between person’s individual-psychological characteristics and the degree of his participation in political life within the territory of Ukraine. The Five-Factor «NEO-PI-R (NEO Personality Inventory-Revised)» model was used for analyzing the respondents’ tendency to politically significant behavior. The survey was conducted in 2017 in Ukraine (n=1247, age: 15-50 years). A positive correlation of the political participation indicators with the personal indicator Conscientiousness and the negative correlation with the Agreeableness parameter were revealed. We have established that emotionally balanced respondents more often show a desire to run for office and rarely participate in voting. High results for Agreeableness and Neuroticism determine the low level of political ambitions. These findings constitute a new step forward in understanding how personality traits form responses in the people’s political engagement while demonstrating the Ukrainian political tendencies

Personality traits as determinants of political behavior: Ukrainian electoral and voting tendencies

Now there is a sharp increase of interest in politics, especially among young people. Meanwhile, the psychological mechanisms of the person’s political behavior (its manifesting and regulating), as well as interaction of his cognitive, emotional, motivation and value factors with the political system remain insufficiently studied. The aim of this research is to study the influence of personality traits on political behavior in order to find out the connection between person’s individual-psychological characteristics and the degree of his participation in political life within the territory of Ukraine. The Five-Factor «NEO-PI-R (NEO Personality Inventory-Revised)» model was used for analyzing the respondents’ tendency to politically significant behavior. The survey was conducted in 2017 in Ukraine (n=1247, age: 15-50 years). A positive correlation of the political participation indicators with the personal indicator Conscientiousness and the negative correlation with the Agreeableness parameter were revealed. We have established that emotionally balanced respondents more often show a desire to run for office and rarely participate in voting. High results for Agreeableness and Neuroticism determine the low level of political ambitions. These findings constitute a new step forward in understanding how personality traits form responses in the people’s political engagement while demonstrating the Ukrainian political tendencies