Abstract

The dissertation theoretically substantiates and experimentally examines the problem of resilience formation in volunteers. The work is an independent, integrated and complete study presenting the theoretical and practical aspects of psychological factors and conditions for forming volunteers' resilience.

Scientific novelty and theoretical significance

For the first time

A conceptual model of phased resilience formation in volunteers has been developed, covering personal, motivational, regulatory and behavioural levels.

The leading role of social-support seeking coping among the psychological predictors of volunteers' resilience has been demonstrated.

Clarified

Age and gender specificity of resilience in volunteers; the linear dependence of personal resilience on the duration of volunteer activity; the positive impact of personal maturity, emotional stability, existentiality and existential motivation on resilience.

Further developed

Means of psychological support of volunteer activity through the design and implementation of a resilience-formation program; means of psycho-diagnostics through a valid and reliable methodology of altruistic orientation of a volunteer; the conception of resilience as a resource for overcoming negative effects of professional volunteer activity.

Chapter summaries

Chapter 1. Theoretical and methodological foundations

Volunteering is conceptualised as a process of multi-level interaction between personal and social factors, simultaneously influencing the volunteer's self-development, formation of pro-social identity and the collective resilience of the community. Volunteer activity performs both adaptive and regulatory functions, reducing helplessness, supporting the integration of traumatic experience and the formation of moral values, social maturity, empathy and responsibility — but it can also be accompanied by emotional exhaustion, secondary traumatisation and professional burnout. This necessitates the development of psychological resilience resources. Resilience is treated as a dynamic mechanism of adaptive functioning under stress, which can be developed through psychological preparation, self-regulation training and social support.

Chapter 2. Empirical analysis of psychological factors of resilience

A comparative analysis of resilience by gender, age and length of volunteering experience showed that volunteers with the longest experience have the highest resilience indicators. A non-linear age-specificity of resilience was determined: middle adulthood shows higher indicators than early or late adulthood, but extensive volunteering experience in younger age groups positively affects resilience — particularly orientation to challenges and goal achievement in men and constructive coping in women.

Empirical correlates of resilience were established: orientation to challenges correlates with personal maturity (especially life philosophy); self-control and ability to overcome difficulties correlate with responsibility; self-determination and meaningfulness of life correlate with all indicators of personal maturity, with existential self-transcendence; stress resistance correlates strongly with self-acceptance and existential freedom; constructive coping correlates with synergy of personal maturity; social contact relates to tolerance, fundamental motivation of relatedness, time and closeness; optimal regulation correlates with self-acceptance, self-transcendence, responsibility and motivation of support, security and space; openness to experience correlates with creativity, existential freedom and responsibility, motivation of interested attention, fair attitude and value determination.

Four coping profiles were identified: dominance of avoidance coping, dominance of confrontational coping, denial of responsibility for problem-solving, and dominance of constructive coping. The first two profiles are inferior in resilience to the latter two. Critically low personal maturity, low existentiality and existential motivation, low emotional stability and high anxiety reduce resilience. Regression analysis identified the strongest predictors of resilience: high social-support coping, planning, self-acceptance and creativity, combined with low neuroticism. Self-transcendence and existential motivation of relatedness, time and closeness positively shape most parameters of resilience.

Chapter 3. Psychological program of resilience formation and its evaluation

A conceptual model and structural-content characteristics of a psychological program for forming volunteers' resilience were developed, accounting for phased formative impact at the personal, motivational, regulatory and behavioural levels. The program was implemented in a group format using psycho-educational, reflective and practice-oriented methods, aiming not at isolated skills but at the integration of internal coherence, autonomous motivation, emotional stability and mature altruistic orientation. Implementation produced significant gains in resilience indicators in the experimental group, while the control group showed no significant change.

Keywords

Volunteering · resilience · coping strategies · personal maturity · altruistic orientation · existentiality · fundamental existential motivations · neuroticism · anxiety · resources · psychological support program.

Full text

The full text of the dissertation is available in Ukrainian.

Read full Ukrainian text →