Dissertation glossary

A

Adaptation

The process by which the personality adjusts to external demands. In the context of this study — a function of volunteer activity that reduces the sense of helplessness and supports the meaningful integration of traumatic experience.

Adaptation trajectories

Typical patterns of psychological adjustment over time following a stressful or traumatic event. A concept derived from the longitudinal studies of G. Bonanno. The classical four trajectories are: resilience (minimal symptoms, rapid return to baseline — ~60–65%, the most common outcome); recovery (moderate symptoms, return within 6–24 months — ~10–15%); chronic distress (persistently elevated symptoms, risk of clinical diagnosis — ~10–20%); delayed reaction (breakdown 2–6 months after an apparent "I'm fine" period — ~5–10%). A fifth trajectory is post-traumatic growth. The pivotal finding: resilience is the normative, most frequent outcome, not an exceptional strength. In the dissertation, the analysis of volunteer groups by years of experience is, in effect, an analysis of trajectories — "veteran volunteers" are those who remained on the resilient trajectory; the formation programme aims to move participants from the chronic-distress and delayed-reaction trajectories onto the recovery or resilience trajectory.

Adaptive

That which fosters adjustment — a reaction, behaviour or strategy that makes the person more effective under new or stressful conditions. The antonym is maladaptive. Resilience is defined as "a dynamic mechanism of sustaining adaptive functioning under stress." In the dissertation, adaptive forms include constructive coping (planning, reappraisal, social support seeking), prosocial behaviour, and openness to experience; maladaptive forms include avoidance, confrontation, and distancing of responsibility.

Actualization (of a state)

The psychological process whereby a mental phenomenon moves from a latent, potential state into an active, manifest one. From Latin actualis — present, effective (in contrast to potentia — possible). Rests on the Aristotelian pair "potentiality ↔ actuality." In psychological terms, this is the transition from a disposition to a state: latent trait anxiety, under a trigger, is actualised as acute state anxiety; neuroticism as a disposition combined with a stressor produces an affective breakdown. The concept yields a three-level analysis of any phenomenon: (1) what exists potentially (disposition, risk, resource); (2) what actualises it (trigger, load); (3) what manifests (the actual state). In the dissertation this is a methodological key — the formation programme operates on both levels: it reduces triggers of negative-state actualisation and strengthens internal resources against it. Not to be confused with actualisation in memory (retrieval), actualisation of a need (a need becoming a motivator), or self-actualisation (Maslow — realisation of personal potential). Related notions: manifestation (the visible expression of what has been actualised), activation (the neurobiological aspect), realisation (the behavioural outcome).

Affective characteristics

Everything bound up with feeling — emotions (brief, situation-specific), feelings (more stable), mood (background tone), affective reactions, emotional states (from Latin affectus — feeling, disposition). One of the three levels of the classical ABC model in psychology (Affect–Behaviour–Cognition). In the context of resilience this includes emotional stability, emotion regulation, the capacity to feel without repressing, and tolerance of negative emotion. The formation programme works at this level through emotion work, permission to feel, and body-based regulation. Interacts with cognitive and behavioural characteristics.

Altruistic orientation

The author's definition (Barinov): "the motivated behaviour of a person based on benevolent intentions to help others without obtaining external benefits." Extended formulation — the personality's drive to enact prosocial behaviour through volunteering with the aim of providing selfless social help. Three key components of the definition: (1) being motivated — not an accidental or externally imposed act, but a stable internal disposition; (2) benevolent intentions — the motivational basis lies in the value-meaning sphere, not in pragmatic calculation; (3) without external benefits — the criterion of genuine altruism, distinguishing it from reputation-, career-, or materially-motivated "help." Why it matters: in psychology altruism is traditionally contrasted with egoism, yet many everyday "altruistic" acts are in fact utilitarian (yielding status, approval, a sense of one's own importance). Barinov isolates precisely the rarer subtype that is motivationally "clean." Psychological mechanism: the dissertation shows that altruistic orientation acts as the central motivational core of wartime volunteering, serving several functions — protective (compensating for helplessness), meaning-giving (lending sense to difficult circumstances), and adaptive (integrating traumatic experience into a positive narrative). Empirical links: correlates positively with every component of resilience, with personal maturity, existential fulfilment, and constructive coping. The author's diagnostic instrument (Barinov & Shandruk, 2025) is a 23-item questionnaire with validated norms, Cronbach's α = 0.673 (acceptable for a new scale) and test–retest reliability r = 0.78 (n = 67, two-month interval).

Anhedonia

The inability to experience pleasure from things that previously brought it. From Greek ἀν- (without) + ἡδονή (pleasure). A distinction is drawn between anticipatory anhedonia ("I no longer look forward to anything") and consummatory anhedonia ("I cannot enjoy the moment"). In volunteers, anhedonia is one of the earliest markers of burnout, PTSD, and depression: pleasure first drains from the work itself ("I used to love it — now I just do it"), then from personal life. A symptom rather than a diagnosis — a core criterion of major depressive episode and one of the twenty PTSD symptoms in DSM-5.

Anxiety

All indicators of volunteer resilience correlate negatively with reactive (state) and situational anxiety. High anxiety, combined with low personal maturity, is a factor that lowers resilience. Measured with the Spielberger–Khanin inventory.

Anxiety–phobic syndrome

A psychopathological syndrome combining persistent background anxiety, panic attacks, specific phobias, avoidant behaviour, and anticipatory anxiety ("fear of fear"). In wartime volunteers it often manifests as fear of shelling, of loud noises, or of particular places or situations following traumatic exposure. Frequently part of the clinical picture of PTSD.

Asthenic syndrome

The "exhaustion syndrome" — the most widespread psychopathological syndrome. Characterised by persistent fatigue that rest does not relieve, reduced mental and physical productivity, irritability, hyperaesthesia (heightened sensitivity to noise and light), sleep disturbance, headaches, and impaired concentration. In volunteers it is a classical precursor of burnout and an early warning sign of resource depletion.

Autonomy

One of the indicators of personal maturity. The capacity to act and make decisions independently of external pressure, guided by one's own values. Correlates with self-determination and the meaningfulness of life.

Axiological (value-related)

That which concerns values. Axiology is the branch of philosophy and psychology that studies the nature, hierarchy, and experience of values. In the dissertation the axiological level is the deepest stratum of work with resilience: the internalisation of humanistic values (dignity, empathy, responsibility, freedom) as the foundation of altruistic orientation, prosocial identity, and mature volunteer motivation. Related notions: life philosophy (a component of personal maturity), meaning-life orientations (Frankl).

B

Behavioural characteristics

Observable actions and reactions of the person — specific acts, habits, response patterns, communicative behaviour, coping strategies as behavioural choices, avoidance versus engagement. One of the three levels of the classical ABC model (Affect–Behaviour–Cognition). In the context of resilience this includes active coping (planning, support seeking), prosocial behaviour, the self-care regime (sleep, nutrition, movement), and help-seeking as a behavioural pattern. The formation programme operates at this level through coping-skill training, role play, and the construction of self-support rituals. Interacts with cognitive and affective characteristics.

Beta coefficient (β)

The standardised regression coefficient — the principal output of regression analysis, which quantifies the unique contribution of each predictor to the dependent variable while controlling for all others. How to read it: β typically lies in [−1; +1]; the sign indicates direction, the magnitude indicates strength. β = +0.40 — a strong positive predictor; β = −0.35 — a strong negative one (it suppresses Y); β = +0.05 — noise, the variable does not really work. Benchmarks of strength: |β| ≈ 0.1 — weak, ≈ 0.2 — moderate, ≈ 0.3 — strong, ≈ 0.4+ — very strong in psychological research. How it differs from the unstandardised B: β is expressed in standard-deviation units ("if X rises by 1 SD, Y rises by β SD"), which allows direct comparison of predictors measured on different scales (for example, a 20-item questionnaire versus a 50-item one). In the dissertation, β-coefficients reveal the hierarchy of resilience predictors: neuroticism shows the strongest negative β, while planning, social support seeking, and self-acceptance are the strongest positive predictors. Each β is accompanied by a p-value to distinguish genuine predictors from chance findings.

Big Five

The five-factor model of personality: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience. The standard of contemporary psychometrics. Eysenck's EPI scale captures two of these factors — neuroticism and extraversion.

Burnout

A state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion that develops as a result of prolonged occupational or volunteer stress.

C

CD-RISC-10 (Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale)

The abbreviated form (10 items) of the Campbell-Sills & Stein resilience scale, in the adaptation of Z. Kireyeva, O. Odnostalko, and B. Biron. Unidimensional — it yields an integrative measure of resilience as a disposition.

Challenge orientation and goal achievement

One of the components of resilience in Hrishyn's method. Positively correlated with the overall index of personal maturity, and most strongly with the life-philosophy indicator.

Client-centred psychotherapy

The humanistic psychotherapeutic approach of C. Rogers. A separate paper by the author, co-authored with O. Kocharian (2023), is devoted to the contemporary possibilities of client-centred and experiential psychotherapy.

CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)

A psychotherapeutic approach that works with dysfunctional beliefs and behavioural patterns. In the author's paper with colleagues (Kharchenko et al., 2025), the specifics of CBT work with client requests during the period of martial law are examined.

Cognitive characteristics

Everything to do with the person's processing of information — perception, thinking, attention, memory, beliefs, mental models, metacognition (from Latin cognitio — knowledge). One of the three levels of the classical ABC model in psychology (Affect–Behaviour–Cognition). In the context of resilience this includes cognitive flexibility, capacity for reappraisal, meaning-making, and a positive attitude toward challenges. Barinov's formation programme operates at this level through psychoeducation, reflective techniques, and the rewriting of personal narratives. Interacts with affective and behavioural characteristics.

Coefficient of determination (R²)

A measure of regression-model quality — the share of the dependent variable's variance that is explained by the predictors in the model. Reported as a proportion between 0 and 1, or as a percentage. How to read it: R² = 0.65 → "65% of the individual differences in the dependent variable (e.g. level of resilience) are explained by the chosen set of predictors; the remaining 35% reflect other, unmodelled factors, individual idiosyncrasies, and measurement noise." R² = 0.15 is a weak model — most variance lies outside the predictors used; R² ≥ 0.5 is a strong model in psychological research. An important caveat: R² describes variance between people in the sample, not "65% of resilience within a given volunteer." Adjusted R² is a modification that penalises extra predictors, allowing comparison of models with different numbers of variables and preventing artificial inflation by adding weak predictors. In the dissertation, the resilience regression models explain a substantial share of variance, confirming the practical usefulness of the predictive models constructed.

Constructive coping

Strategies that both reduce emotional load and move the person toward solving the problem. They include planning of problem-solving, social support seeking, positive reappraisal, moderate self-control, acceptance of responsibility without self-flagellation, and mindful acceptance. In the dissertation these form the basis of the "constructive-coping dominance" profile, which is associated with the highest resilience among the four coping profiles identified in volunteers. Regression analysis showed that planning and social support seeking are among the strongest positive predictors of resilience. The opposite pole is negative coping.

Continuous (prolonged) exposure

Has two senses in psychology. (1) As a situation — sustained, systematic contact of the person with psychologically loaded material without respite. For a wartime volunteer this is the constant stream of loss stories, contact with the traumatised, background safety risk, and the absence of a "work → rest" boundary. Continuous exposure without recovery is the principal risk factor for secondary traumatisation, compassion fatigue, burnout, and PTSD. (2) As a therapeutic technique — deliberate prolonged contact with a trigger situation within a safe therapeutic space in order to reduce avoidance and extinguish anxiety. E. Foa's method (prolonged exposure therapy) is the gold standard for treating PTSD. In the dissertation, the first sense predominates — describing the conditions of wartime volunteering.

Coping strategies

Cognitive and behavioural efforts of the person to regulate stress. The study identifies four coping profiles of volunteers: "Dominance of avoidance coping," "Dominance of confrontational coping," "Distancing of responsibility," and "Dominance of constructive coping." The latter two are associated with higher resilience.

Correlation

A statistical indicator of the relationship between two variables. The dissertation uses Pearson's coefficient to analyse the links between components of resilience and personal maturity, existentiality, and coping strategies.

Creativity

One of the indicators of personal maturity — the capacity for creative thinking and non-standard solutions. According to the regression analysis, one of the strongest positive predictors of volunteer resilience.

Crisis

A state in which the person's habitual means of overcoming difficulty prove insufficient. War is an example of a prolonged collective crisis. Resilience is treated as a key resource for functioning under crisis conditions.

Cronbach's alpha (α)

An indicator of the internal consistency (reliability) of a scale or test. Values of α ≥ 0.7 are considered satisfactory. The author's instrument for diagnosing altruistic orientation has α = 0.673 — acceptable for a new scale.

D

Decentration

One of the indicators of personal maturity. The capacity to see a situation from outside one's own perspective, to move beyond egocentric thinking. In the study of Antonovych et al. (2022) — positively correlated with the resilience of female volunteers.

Depressive syndrome

A psychopathological syndrome built around Kraepelin's classical triad: (1) hypothymia — persistently lowered mood, sadness, joylessness; (2) bradyphrenia — slowing of thought; (3) hypokinesia — motor retardation. Typically accompanied by anhedonia, feelings of guilt and hopelessness, self-blame, sleep disturbance (early awakening), loss of appetite and weight, and in severe cases suicidal ideation. In volunteers, a frequent consequence of prolonged moral distress, accumulated loss, and a sense that one's efforts are ineffective.

Disposition (trait)

A stable, latent tendency of the personality to react, feel, or behave in a particular way across different situations. From Latin dispositio — disposing, arrangement. Crucially distinct from state: a state is "here and now" (transient), a disposition is "in general, the way I am" (stable over years). The classical Spielberger–Khanin instrument deliberately distinguishes reactive (state) anxiety from trait anxiety. In the dissertation this is one of the key methodological distinctions: resilience is measured both as a disposition (via CD-RISC-10 — an integrative index of stable resilience tendency) and as a process (Hrishyn's method — eight dynamic components). Barinov uses both because neither alone gives the full picture: the dispositional reading explains the general level, the process reading the mechanisms. Related concepts: trait, temperament (biologically grounded disposition), character (socially grounded dispositions), Big Five. The founders of the dispositional approach are G. Allport, R. Cattell, and H. Eysenck.

Distress

The harmful form of stress — a state of psychological overload in which the stress response exceeds the person's adaptive resources, depletes the organism, and leads to a breakdown of functioning. The concept is owed to Hans Selye (1956), who first distinguished two opposing kinds of stress:

• Eustress (Greek eu-, "good") — positive, mobilising stress that enhances performance, sharpens concentration, and provides drive. Felt before an examination, in a sporting contest, or when working on an absorbing problem. Useful in the short term;
• Distress (Latin dis-, "bad, disordered") — negative, destructive stress that exhausts and harms. It arises when demands chronically exceed resources, when there is no way out, or when the stressor lasts too long.

An etymological hint: "distress" is from dis-stress = "bad stress." "Stress" itself is neutral; distress is specifically its destructive form. In everyday speech the two are often conflated ("I have stress" usually means "I have distress"). Stages of distress (Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome):

1. Alarm — mobilisation, activation of the sympathetic nervous system (rising cortisol, adrenaline);
2. Resistance — the organism adapts, functions at an elevated level, resources are spent;
3. Exhaustion — resources are spent; the distress phase begins, with physical and psychological disorganisation, risk of illness, breakdown, depression, and burnout.

Manifestations of chronic distress: persistent fatigue, irritability, sleep disturbance, headaches, psychosomatic conditions (ulcer, hypertension, autoimmune disorders), reduced immunity, anxiety-depressive states, cognitive impairment (poor concentration, forgetfulness), emotional numbing, cynicism, loss of meaning. Specific kinds of distress:

• Moral distress — from being forced to act against one's own moral convictions (frequent in clinicians, military personnel, and volunteers);
• Emotional distress — predominantly affective manifestations: fear, anxiety, despair, helplessness;
• Traumatic distress — the response to a traumatic event (with risk of developing PTSD);
• Social distress — from role conflicts, isolation, loss of status.

Distinguished from neighbouring concepts:

Stress	a neutral response to demand — may be either eustress or distress
Distress	only the harmful form; demand exceeds adaptive capacity
Anxiety	the experience of threat; may be a component of distress
Trauma	the residue of extreme distress that leaves lasting traces
Burnout	the end-state of chronic distress in a professional role

In the dissertation: although the term "distress" is not foregrounded in chapter titles, it describes the background against which volunteer resilience is studied. War creates persistent distress, and the entire logic of the dissertation turns on the question of "what allows a volunteer not to break down under distress conditions." Resilience is, in effect, the capacity to maintain functioning under conditions that for most people would produce distress. Stress resistance as a component of resilience is specifically the measure of one's resistance to the transition stress → distress. Psychological help for distress: reduction of stressors, restoration of resources, learning constructive coping, development of emotion regulation, social support, and in severe cases pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy (CBT, EMDR, schema therapy). Barinov's psychological programme works precisely at this level — preventing chronic distress through the development of the predictors of resilience.

E

Emotional competence

The real, behaviourally manifested capacity to recognise, understand, express, and regulate one's own and others' emotions, and to use this information for effective interaction. Distinct from emotional intelligence (EQ): EQ is a potential capacity, competence is its actual deployment. Components (C. Saarni): awareness of one's own emotions, empathic recognition of others' emotions, an emotional vocabulary, regulation of negative emotion, distinction between inner state and outer expression, and emotional self-efficacy. An umbrella concept over emotional stability, self-control, and self-distancing. Its antipode is alexithymia ("I cannot name what I feel"). For volunteers it is a working tool against secondary traumatisation, exhaustion, and primitive defences (numbing, cynicism).

Emotion regulation

The process of monitoring, evaluating, and modifying one's emotional responses in the service of one's goals. The technical, concrete part of emotional competence. J. Gross's classical model identifies five strategies according to the "point of intervention" in the emotion process: (1) situation selection, (2) situation modification, (3) attentional deployment, (4) cognitive reappraisal, (5) response modulation. Adaptive strategies are reappraisal, acceptance, problem-solving, and meaning-making. Maladaptive ones are suppression, rumination, expressive aggression, and dissociation. A key finding: suppression ("I just don't show it") is maladaptive — it impairs memory and increases physiological load — unlike reappraisal, which is adaptive. In volunteers, weak emotion regulation is a precursor of burnout and breakdowns.

Emotional stability

An integrative personality trait, the opposite pole of neuroticism in the Big Five. One of the key factors of resilience — positively correlated with every resilience indicator in the sample of volunteers. Measured with Eysenck's EPI scale.

Experimental / control group

In the trial of the resilience programme — the experimental group completed the author's programme, while the control group did not. The growth of resilience indicators in the experimental group and their absence in the control group provide evidence for the programme's effectiveness.

Existentiality

The capacity of the person for openness, decisiveness, and authentic engagement with the world (A. Längle). Comprises self-distancing, self-transcendence, existential freedom, and responsibility. Empirically established as a powerful predictor of volunteer resilience.

EPI (Eysenck Personality Inventory)

The classical personality inventory of H. Eysenck (1964), 57 items. Measures neuroticism (emotional instability) and extraversion–introversion, plus a lie scale. One of the principal instruments of the study.

F

Fundamental existential motivations

Four basic dimensions of existence in A. Längle's framework: support ("to be"), value ("to love"), authenticity ("to be oneself"), and meaning ("to act"). All four correlate positively with volunteer resilience.

H

Hardiness

S. Maddi's concept — a personality trait with three components: commitment, control, and challenge. Close to, but not identical with, resilience: hardiness is a static personal resource; resilience is a dynamic process of adaptation.

Hysteroform syndrome (functional dissociative)

A psychopathological syndrome involving demonstrative behaviour, emotional lability, and psychogenic somatic symptoms without organic cause (conversion symptoms: psychogenic paralysis, mutism, seizures, fainting). Contemporary psychiatry uses more precise terms — functional neurological disorders, conversion disorders, dissociative symptoms (the term "hysteria" is regarded as stigmatising). The underlying phenomenon: the psyche cannot contain affect through its ordinary channels, and that affect breaks through in a bodily or behavioural "cipher" outside the person's control. Not malingering.

I

IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons)

Persons forced to leave their place of permanent residence as a result of armed conflict, yet remaining within the borders of their country. The subject of a separate study by the author (Barinov & Lisena, 2024) on the psychological features of the emotional sphere of first- and second-wave IDPs.

Internalisation of humanistic values

The psychological process by which external (social, cultural) values are transformed into internal ones — part of the person's authentic identity. A term from Vygotsky / P. Janet. Applied to the volunteer, this is the path from external regulation ("I help because one ought to") through identification to authentic motivation ("I help because this is who I am"). Internalised humanistic values (dignity, freedom, empathy, responsibility, self-realisation — after Maslow, Rogers, Frankl) are the foundation of mature altruistic orientation and of resourceful volunteering that does not burn out.

K

Kruskal–Wallis test (H)

A non-parametric statistical test for comparing three or more independent groups on a quantitative or ordinal variable. Proposed by William Kruskal and W. Allen Wallis in 1952 as a rank-based alternative to one-way ANOVA, applicable without the assumptions of normality and homogeneity of variances. When it is used: (1) data are not normally distributed (skewed, with outliers, small samples); (2) the dependent variable is measured on an ordinal scale (Likert, ranks); (3) group sizes are unequal. Mechanics: values from all groups are pooled and ranked from 1 to N; for each group the sum of ranks R_i is computed; the statistic H is then given by H = 12 / (N × (N+1)) × Σ(R_i² / n_i) − 3 × (N+1), where N is the total sample size, n_i the size of the i-th group, and R_i the sum of ranks of the i-th group. The statistic is approximately distributed as χ² with df = k − 1 (k being the number of groups), so the p-value is obtained from the χ² table. Logic of interpretation: if ranks are distributed uniformly across groups, H is small (~0); if ranks in one group are systematically higher than in another, H grows and p shrinks. How to read a table:

• "H = 12.47; df = 2; p < 0.01" → among the three groups compared, at least one differs significantly; the risk that this is chance is below 1%.
• "H = 2.1; p > 0.05" → no differences; the null hypothesis is not rejected.
• "H = 47.21; p < 0.001" → a very strong, well-established difference between groups.

Strength benchmarks: the magnitude of H itself depends on sample size and the number of groups, so the absolute value is not interpreted "by ruler" — what is informative is the p-value together with an effect-size measure (η², ε²). For effect size, ε² = (H − k + 1) / (N − k) is used: small ≈ 0.01–0.06, medium ≈ 0.06–0.14, large ≥ 0.14. Important limitation: the test detects the fact of difference but does not tell us between which specific pairs of groups it lies. For that, pairwise comparisons are run with the Mann–Whitney U test, with a correction for multiple comparisons (Bonferroni: divide the critical p by the number of pairs). Typical interpretive errors: (1) reading "large H" as "large difference" — wrong; one must look at the effect size; (2) skipping post-hoc pairwise tests, so it remains unclear which groups differ; (3) applying it to two groups — for two groups one uses Mann–Whitney U directly. In the dissertation the test is used to detect differences in dependent variables (components of resilience, coping, personality characteristics) across volunteer groups divided by level of resilience factors, by years of volunteering, by level of altruistic orientation, and so on.

L

Life philosophy

One of the indicators of personal maturity — the presence of a considered system of views on life. Correlates most strongly with the challenge-orientation component of resilience.

Logotherapy

The psychotherapeutic approach of V. Frankl, which treats the striving for meaning as the principal motivational force of the personality. Developed by A. Längle into Existential Analysis — the basis of the instrument for measuring existentiality used in this study.

M

Maladaptation

A disruption of the process of adjustment to the environment, accompanied by deteriorating psychological functioning. Factors that drive volunteer maladaptation include low resilience, high anxiety, and the predominance of avoidant coping.

Maladaptive behaviours

Stable patterns of behaviour that provide short-term relief but deepen problems in the long run. A wider notion than maladaptive coping: coping is a discrete response in the moment of stress, while maladaptive behaviour is a way of life. Classical forms: avoidance (procrastination, isolation), aggression, self-injurious behaviour (alcohol, overeating), hyper-control, somatisation, dissociation, passive aggression, and co-dependency. Typical in wartime volunteers: workaholism as flight, hyper-responsibility ("if not me, then no one"), helping as compensation for one's own pain, emotional numbing, cynicism, and a "heroic" narrative masking hidden exhaustion. Resilience is precisely the capacity to function under stress without slipping into such patterns.

Mann–Whitney U test

A non-parametric statistical test for comparing two independent groups — the rank-based alternative to Student's t-test. Does not require normality of distribution. It pools values from the two groups, ranks them, and tests whether ranks in one group are systematically higher than in the other; the statistic U is the smaller of the two rank sums shifted by a constant. How to read it: "U = 245; p < 0.05" → the groups differ significantly on the variable in question. In the dissertation it is used for pairwise comparison of two independent volunteer subsamples — after the Kruskal–Wallis H test has detected an overall difference across three or more groups, Mann–Whitney U identifies which specific pairs differ (e.g. "low vs high resilience," "newcomers vs veterans"). With multiple pairwise comparisons the Bonferroni correction to the significance level should be applied.

Mean (M)

"The typical value in a group" — the sum of all scores divided by the number of people. The simplest and best-known descriptive statistic. Denoted M (from Mean) in psychology, x̄ in mathematics, and μ for the population.

Formula: M = (x₁ + x₂ + … + xₙ) / n

What it says: "on average, a volunteer in this group scores so-and-so." If M = 25 on a stress-resistance scale ranging 0–40, the typical volunteer in the sample scores 25 — slightly above the midpoint.

Limitation: M on its own does not reveal whether everyone in the group is similar or very different. It therefore almost always travels with the standard deviation (σ). Without σ the mean can mislead: M = 25 in a homogeneous group (everyone near 25) and M = 25 in a group split between 0s and 50s look identical as a single number but describe entirely different pictures.

Related concepts: the median (Me) — the value that divides the distribution in half; more robust to outliers. The mode — the most frequent value. In most psychological tables it is M that is reported (parametric statistics rests on it).

In the dissertation: in every empirical table of Chapter 2 (Table 2.2 onward) the column M is the first column describing each indicator, next to σ. It enables the reader to see the mean level of an indicator for the whole sample and for sub-groups (newcomers / experienced / veterans).

Meaning orientation

The fundamental orientation of the personality toward seeking, holding, and realising meaning as the basis for decision-making and overcoming difficulty. Distinct from meaningfulness of life: meaningfulness is a state ("meaning is present"), meaning orientation is a stable attitude ("I always seek meaning, even in adversity"). Rooted in Frankl's logotherapy ("he who has a why to live can bear almost any how"). Realised through Frankl's three types of values: creative (what we create), experiential (what we receive), attitudinal (the stance we take before the unalterable). Corresponds to the contemporary coping concept of meaning-focused coping (C. Park) — re-construal of suffering, one of the most adaptive forms of coping under prolonged stress when the problem itself cannot be solved directly. In volunteers it is a deep stem of resilience: it enables one to endure helplessness, to convert senseless suffering into meaningful sacrifice, and to resist cynicism.

Meaningfulness of life

The lived experience of having life-meaning, of the sense of one's own path. V. Frankl's concept. In the dissertation a component of resilience (Hrishyn's method), positively correlated with self-acceptance, synergy, and fundamental existential motivation.

Metacognition

The capacity to analyse one's own thought processes ("thinking about thinking"). A component of reflectiveness — one of the conditions of constructive coping and psychological flexibility.

Methods of the cognitive-behavioural approach

The third of the seven groups of programme methods. Work with the cognitive appraisal of situations, identification and re-examination of maladaptive beliefs, formation of self-regulation skills and the choice of constructive behavioural strategies. Based on classical CBT (A. Beck, A. Ellis): thought → feeling → action, so that changing thoughts changes the entire chain of response to stress.

Coping strategy development methods

The fifth of the seven groups of programme methods. The formation of a flexible repertoire of ways to overcome stressful and crisis situations, with attention to the individual's resources and the context of activity. The work is not about "discarding" maladaptive coping but about adding alternatives (see constructive coping ↔ negative coping). Concrete skills are trained: planning, reappraisal, social support seeking, and mindful acceptance.

Existentially-oriented methods

The fourth of the seven groups of programme methods. Aimed at the apprehension of the value- and meaning-related aspects of volunteer activity, awareness of personal choice, responsibility, and inner agreement with one's decisions. Based on Frankl's logotherapy and Längle's existential analysis. Realised through dialogues on meaning, narrative work, and values exercises. Especially important in cases of moral distress.

Practice-oriented methods

The seventh of the seven groups of programme methods. Analysis of real situations in volunteer practice, modelling of behavioural decisions, exercises in setting psychological boundaries, and the planning of individual strategies for sustaining resilience. Implements the principle of practical orientation — transferring acquired knowledge and skills into everyday practice. Without this module, declarative knowledge does not translate into behavioural change.

Psychoeducational methods

The first of the seven groups of programme methods. Communication of evidence-based knowledge about resilience, stress, emotion regulation, motivation, and coping. They increase participants' awareness and create a cognitive basis for further change — without an understanding of "what is happening to me," practical skills do not take hold. Delivered through mini-lectures, infographics, and the discussion of reading materials. Related to psychoeducation as a methodological approach.

Reflective methods

The second of the seven groups of programme methods. Include individual and group reflection, analysis of personal experience, and the keeping of self-observation journals. Aimed at the conscious recognition of one's inner states, motives, and modes of response in difficult situations. Without reflection, automatic reactions remain invisible to the person — and therefore unchangeable. They provide a tool for translating non-verbal experience into deliberate choice.

Resource-oriented methods

The sixth of the seven groups of programme methods. Identification, preservation, and restoration of psychological resources, sustaining balance between engagement in helping activity and self-recovery. Implements the principle of resourcefulness. Includes inventory of resources (social, physical, spiritual), "recharging" exercises, and mindful self-care practices. Prevents exhaustion and develops strategies that preserve psychological resources over the long term.

Moral distress

A psychological state arising when a person knows what the right action would be but cannot perform it because of external constraints — lack of resources, rules, circumstances. Experienced as "a betrayal of one's own values." A concept introduced by A. Jameton (1984), central to medical ethics, military psychology, and humanitarian missions. Distinct from ordinary stress and from an ethical dilemma. Accumulated moral distress leads to moral injury — a deep transformation of one's worldview and self-perception. In wartime volunteering it is a systematic phenomenon (resources are always less than needs; safety rules often run against the human impulse to help). A resilient volunteer feels moral distress just as painfully but processes it through reflection and a support group rather than repressing it.

Moral injury

A deep psychological wound from the violation of one's own moral principles — or from participation in events that the person judges morally impermissible. Accumulated moral distress that has altered the personality: cynicism, loss of trust in the world and in oneself, spiritual crisis, change in basic convictions. Clinically it may overlap with PTSD, but it is a distinct phenomenon — the focus is not fear but shame, guilt, and the sense that one's values have been betrayed.

N

Negative (maladaptive) coping

Strategies that bring short-term relief but do not resolve the problem or worsen the situation in the long run. Important caveat: "negative" does not mean "bad character" — these are automatic defence mechanisms that fire when resources for constructive strategies are insufficient. Classical forms: avoidance, confrontation/aggression, distancing, distancing of responsibility, self-flagellation, denial, self-injurious behaviour (alcohol, overeating), and magical thinking. In the dissertation, three of the four coping profiles of volunteers rest precisely on negative coping and are associated with lower resilience. Neuroticism is a trigger of negative coping and, by the regression analysis, one of the strongest negative predictors of resilience. Psychotherapeutic work consists not in eliminating negative coping (it once protected something) but in widening the repertoire — adding constructive alternatives.

Neuroticism

One of the factors in the Big Five model, reflecting the tendency toward negative emotion, anxiety, and mood instability. By the regression analysis, one of the strongest negative predictors of resilience. Measured with the N scale of the EPI inventory.

O

Ontogenesis

The individual development of the personality from birth to death — all age-related changes in the psyche of a particular person. From Greek ὄν (being) + γένεσις (origin). Distinct from phylogenesis (the development of a species over millions of years): ontogenesis is the decades of a single life. Stages include infancy, early childhood, preschool, school age, adolescence, youth, and early / middle / late adulthood (Erikson, Vygotsky, Piaget). Resilience is formed throughout ontogenesis: basic trust and attachment in infancy, self-control in childhood, identity in adolescence, meaning orientation in youth, integration of experience in middle adulthood. Notably: in the dissertation, middle adulthood shows the highest resilience — the peak integration of ontogenetic achievements. Barinov's programme is, in effect, "later development" — a corrective intervention upon ontogenetic deficits through activity and psychological support.

Openness to life experience

A component of resilience — readiness to accept new experience and to learn from it. Correlates with the creativity indicator of personal maturity, and with existential freedom and responsibility.

Optimal regulation

A component of resilience — the capacity to regulate one's behaviour and emotions effectively in accordance with the situation. Correlates with the self-acceptance indicator of personal maturity, with existential self-transcendence, and with the fundamental motivation of support, security, and space.

P

Personal maturity

An integrative personality characteristic comprising responsibility, decentration, depth of experience, life philosophy, tolerance, autonomy, contact, self-acceptance, creativity, and synergy. A low level of personal maturity is a critical factor in reduced resilience.

Post-traumatic growth (PTG)

Positive psychological changes in the personality that develop in response to extreme stress or trauma. Considered as a potential outcome of volunteer activity when resilience is sufficient.

Predictive model

A mathematical-statistical model that allows one to predict the value of one variable (for example, level of resilience) from others — the predictors. It is built through regression analysis: the equation that best explains the dependent variable is identified. The dissertation constructs a predictive model of volunteer resilience — the strongest positive predictors are social support seeking, planning, self-acceptance, creativity, and self-transcendence; the strongest negative predictor is neuroticism. In practice the model allows one to (1) screen volunteers for risk of low resilience before problems arise, (2) target psychological intervention precisely, (3) evaluate the effectiveness of the programme. It differs from a simple correlation in its multivariate nature and its capacity for prediction.

Predictor

A variable that predicts the value of another variable in a predictive model. In the dissertation, a psychological characteristic that makes a statistically significant contribution to volunteer resilience. A predictor may be positive (raising resilience) or negative (lowering it). Identified through regression analysis with a statistically significant coefficient (p < 0.05).

Principles of constructing the resilience programme

Seven methodological principles on which the author's psychological programme for forming volunteer resilience is built. They determine the logic, content, and organisation of the formative intervention. They reflect the integrative character of the programme and its orientation toward resilience as a unified, dynamic, and multidimensional construct. Each principle has its own entry in the glossary: systemic integrity, stepwise progression, person-centred approach, autonomy and voluntariness, resource and recovery focus, existential coherence, and practical orientation.

Principle of autonomy and voluntariness

The fourth of the programme principles. An orientation toward supporting participants' intrinsic motivation and preventing external coercion or normative pressure. Participation, the content of tasks, and the pace of work require participants' active engagement and respect for their personal limits. This is critical for preserving psychological stability: a volunteer compelled to "be resilient" loses the authenticity of helping activity.

Principle of existential coherence

The sixth of the programme principles. Integration of volunteer activity into the person's system of values and life-meanings. The development of resilience is treated not merely as adaptation to stress, but as a process of becoming aware of one's stance, making responsible choices, and arriving at inner agreement with the way one helps others. Rooted in Frankl's logotherapy and Längle's existential analysis.

Principle of person-centredness

The third of the programme principles. Attention to the individual features of each volunteer — life experience, motivational grounds, level of personal maturity, available resources. The formative work is not a uniform "correction" but support for the participant's subjective agency, self-knowledge, and conscious choice of ways to meet challenges. Akin to C. Rogers's humanistic approach.

Principle of practical orientation

The seventh of the programme principles. An orientation toward the formation of skills that are directly applicable in real situations of volunteer activity. The content of the modules ensures the transfer of experience into everyday practice. This anchors change at the behavioural level — without which declarative knowledge of resilience does not translate into sustained change in functioning. Realised through analysis of real cases, modelling, homework assignments, and reflection on application.

Principle of resource and recovery focus

The fifth of the programme principles. An orientation not only toward skills of coping with difficulty but also toward awareness, preservation, and restoration of psychological resources. It maintains a balance between engagement in volunteer activity and the recovery of emotional, cognitive, and personal resources. Reduces the risk of exhaustion and secures the sustainability of resilience formation — the aim is not to "teach endurance" but to teach how to recharge.

Principle of stepwise progression

The second of the programme principles. A sequential formative influence on different levels of resilience — from personal preconditions to behavioural manifestations. The programme provides for staged advancement: awareness of inner resources and value-meaning orientations → development of self-regulation skills → constructive coping → conscious helping behaviour. Reflects the conception of resilience as a process that unfolds over time and requires gradual consolidation of change.

Principle of systemic integrity

The first of the programme principles. Treats resilience as the result of interaction among personality, motivational, regulatory, and behavioural components. The programme is built as a unified system of interrelated modules within which the development of individual characteristics is coordinated and subordinated to the common goal of strengthening psychological stability in volunteer activity. It avoids fragmentary influence: it forms an internally consistent model of resilience rather than a set of disconnected skills.

Programme intervention methods

Seven groups of methods through which the principles of the author's programme for forming volunteer resilience are realised. They combine psychoeducational, reflective, cognitive-behavioural, existential, coping, resource, and practice-oriented interventions in order to act simultaneously on the personal, motivational-meaning, regulatory, and behavioural levels. Each group has its own glossary entry: psychoeducational, reflective, CBT-approach, existentially-oriented, coping-development, resource-oriented, and practice-oriented.

Prosocial behaviour

Behaviour directed toward the benefit of others without expectation of reward. Altruistic orientation is the motivational basis of prosocial behaviour in volunteering.

Prosocial identity

The person's self-awareness as someone for whom helping others is an essential feature of the self. Formed through volunteer practice together with the internalisation of humanistic values. At the level of a "veteran volunteer," it becomes a stable basis for autonomous motivation.

Psychological flexibility

The capacity to adapt to changes in the environment, reappraise the situation, and choose an effective behavioural strategy. Closely linked to constructive coping and to openness to life experience.

Psychological well-being

The integrative experience of life satisfaction, of having meaning, and of realising one's potential. In the dissertation, resilience is treated as a resource for sustaining psychological well-being under crisis conditions.

Psychological support

A system of psychological interventions aimed at supporting, developing, and rehabilitating the personality. In the dissertation — the author's programme for forming volunteer resilience through psychoeducational, reflective, and practice-oriented methods delivered in a group format.

Psychological trauma

An event or experience that exceeds the adaptive resources of the psyche. In the context of volunteering — the risk of direct and secondary traumatisation, which can be offset through the development of resilience and adequate psychological support.

Psychodiagnostics

The body of methods for identifying and measuring the individual-psychological features of the person. The dissertation contributes to psychodiagnostics by creating the author's instrument for measuring the altruistic orientation of the volunteer.

Psychoeducation

A method of psychological intervention through informing the person about psychological processes and mechanisms. One of the key elements of the volunteer resilience formation programme, alongside reflective and practice-oriented methods.

PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder)

Post-traumatic stress disorder. One of the principal risks of volunteer activity in wartime, especially in the absence of adequate preparation and support systems.

p-value (significance level)

The probability that the observed result arose by chance — under the assumption that no real effect exists in the population (the null hypothesis H₀). It is not "the probability that H₀ is false" — a common misinterpretation. The smaller p is, the less plausible chance becomes as an explanation. Conventional thresholds: p < 0.05 — statistically significant (the standard in psychology); p < 0.01 — highly significant; p < 0.001 — very highly significant. Where 0.05 came from: R. Fisher proposed this threshold in 1925 as a working convention ("1 in 20 — an intuitively rare event"), not a natural law. Over a century it has become entrenched in the entire scientific infrastructure (journals, reviewers, software). Important limitations: (1) p < 0.05 does not mean "a strong effect" — on a large sample even a trivial difference may become "significant"; one must always look at effect size (Cohen's d, η², R²) and confidence intervals; (2) with multiple comparisons (for example, a 30×30 correlation matrix → 435 pairs), the unadjusted 0.05 threshold guarantees false "findings" — corrections such as Bonferroni, Holm, or FDR are applied; (3) since 2016 the American Statistical Association has formally cautioned against the mechanical use of 0.05 as a "true/false" boundary. In the dissertation tables p is read together with the indicator itself: "ρ = 0.42; p < 0.05" → the risk that this moderate relationship is chance is below 5%.

R

Reflection (reflective capacity)

The capacity to analyse one's own experience, emotions, and actions. Low reflectiveness impedes the conscious choice of coping. A separate paper by the author with A. Kharchenko (2023) addresses the technique of schematic visualisation for working with clients of low reflectiveness.

Distancing of responsibility for problem-solving

One of the four coping profiles of volunteers identified by cluster analysis in the dissertation (alongside dominance of avoidance, dominance of confrontation, and dominance of constructive coping). Psychological essence: the person consciously or unconsciously excludes themselves from the situation as a decision-making subject — "this is not my zone," "I cannot change anything anyway." Distinct from avoidance: in avoidance, anxiety remains ("I don't want to think about it"); in distancing of responsibility the person redraws the boundary — the problem is defined as "not mine," and anxiety subsides. The dissertation's paradox: this profile shows moderate resilience — higher than avoidance or confrontation, but lower than constructive coping. As a protective coping it is functional in unsolvable situations (war, systemic failures): it protects against exhaustion, moral distress, and rumination. As an active coping it is weak: problems remain unresolved. Risks: it may slip into learned helplessness (Seligman), a passive stance, and an external locus of control (Rotter). The mature volunteer combines the two: takes responsibility where they can influence and lets go where they cannot — this is the essence of mindful acceptance.

Regression analysis

A statistical method of prediction of one variable (the dependent variable, Y) from one or several others (independent variables, predictors, X₁, X₂, X₃…). Unlike correlation, it is asymmetric (it specifies direction: predictors → outcome) and multivariate (several predictors are considered simultaneously). It yields an equation: Y = β₀ + β₁·X₁ + β₂·X₂ + … + ε. Outputs: (1) R² — the proportion of Y's variance the model explains overall ("how strong the model is"); (2) β-coefficients for each predictor — the relative unique contribution while controlling for the rest; (3) the p-value of each β — whether the predictor really works. Why it is needed beyond correlation: correlational analysis says "resilience is linked to dozens of things"; regression separates "the real engines" from "passenger variables" — when all candidates are entered together, some retain their force while others collapse. Types: linear (Y continuous — the main variant in the dissertation), logistic (Y binary), hierarchical (block-wise), stepwise (auto-selection), non-linear. Important: regression does not establish causality — only unique statistical contribution; for a causal conclusion an experiment or longitudinal design is required. The dissertation constructs a predictive model of resilience: the strongest positive predictors are social support seeking, planning, self-acceptance, creativity, and self-transcendence; the strongest negative predictor is neuroticism.

Research hypothesis

A scientific conjecture tested in a study. The hypothesis of Barinov's dissertation is that volunteer resilience is an integrative characteristic formed through the interaction of personality, motivational, regulatory, and behavioural factors, and amenable to targeted development.

Resilience

A dynamic mechanism of sustaining adaptive functioning of the personality under stress. The integrative capacity to preserve effective functioning, emotional balance, and meaning-stability under conditions of prolonged volunteer activity bound up with crisis and traumatic events. It is shaped through the interaction of individual, social, and contextual factors, and can be developed through psychological preparation, the learning of self-regulation, and social support.

S

Secondary traumatisation

A psychological state that arises from prolonged contact with traumatised persons. One of the risks of volunteer activity under crisis conditions, alongside emotional exhaustion and burnout.

Self-acceptance

One of the indicators of personal maturity — the capacity to accept oneself with one's strengths and weaknesses, without excessive self-blame or self-justification. Strongly linked with stress resistance and with optimal regulation.

Self-actualisation

The realisation of personal potential — becoming who one is capable of becoming, the full unfolding of one's abilities and values. A central concept of humanistic psychology (A. Maslow, 1943; C. Rogers, 1951).

For Maslow — the highest need in his hierarchy: physiology → safety → belonging → esteem → self-actualisation. It awakens only once the basic needs are met. For Rogers — an innate "actualising tendency" toward authenticity and growth.

Link to the dissertation: the theoretical foundation for the category of personal maturity. The Shtepa questionnaire is the instrument that measures the actualised personality; all ten of its scales are significant predictors of resilience.

Not to be confused with: actualisation of a state (Längle, a different concept), self-realisation (narrower — in a specific activity), or self-determination (Deci–Ryan, a motivational theory).

Self-control

A component of resilience — the capacity to consciously regulate one's impulses, emotions, and behaviour. Positively correlated with the responsibility indicator of personal maturity.

Self-determination

The capacity of the person to act in accordance with their own values and convictions, independently of external pressure. Correlates with the meaningfulness of life and with all indicators of personal maturity. The underlying theory is that of E. Deci and R. Ryan.

Self-distancing

One of the components of existentiality in A. Längle — the capacity to step back from one's own emotions and drives and to take up the reflective stance of an observer. A precondition for authentic choice.

Self-efficacy

A. Bandura's concept — the person's confidence in their own ability to attain a desired outcome. A component of resilience, closely linked with self-determination and self-control.

Self-regulation

The conscious management of one's own mental activity — emotions, behaviour, thinking, motivation — in the service of one's goals amid changing conditions. An umbrella concept for the whole of self-management.

Four levels: emotional (managing affect), volitional (restraining impulses — close to self-control), cognitive (managing attention and reappraisal), and motivational (sustaining goal-directed activity — close to self-determination).

Classical models: the cybernetic feedback loop of Carver and Scheier (1998); A. Bandura's socio-cognitive theory (with self-efficacy at its centre); V. Morosanova's structural model; and Baumeister's resource-depletion model (ego depletion).

Link to the dissertation: a central mechanism through which all predictors of resilience operate. In Barinov's programme it is Module 3 (Sessions 7–9: stress → coping → cognitive reappraisal). "Optimal regulation" is self-regulation operationalised as one of the scales of resilience.

An important caveat: self-regulation ≠ suppression of emotion. It is the flexible "feel → understand → choose response," not a ban on feeling.

Self-transcendence

The capacity of the person to move beyond their own interests for the sake of values, other people, or a higher goal. According to the regression analysis, positively determines most parameters of volunteer resilience.

Sense of coherence (SOC)

An integrative psychological resource — a global orientation of the person that shapes their perception of the world and of their own capacity to function in it. The concept of A. Antonovsky (1979) within salutogenesis — the approach that studies not "why we fall ill" but "why we remain well." Antonovsky studied women who had survived concentration camps and found that their key resource was the sense of coherence. Three dimensions of SOC: (1) comprehensibility — "the world is structured, predictable" (cognitive level); (2) manageability — "I have the resources to cope" (regulative level); (3) meaningfulness — "challenges are worth engaging" (motivational level, the most important according to Antonovsky). One of the strongest predictors of physical and mental health and of resistance to stress. Integrates all three levels of the ABC model into a single meta-resource. Overlaps with resilience, but the difference is that SOC is a stable structure of the personality, whereas resilience is a dynamic process of adaptation. In a wartime volunteer all three SOC dimensions are systematically attacked (chaos, helplessness, doubt about meaning) — and the resilient volunteer is the one able to restore them. A separate meaning of "coherence" — narrative coherence (D. McAdams): the wholeness of one's autobiographical story as a marker of mature personality.

Social contact

A component of resilience — the capacity to establish and sustain interpersonal connections. Strongly linked with the tolerance and contact indicators of personal maturity, and with the fundamental existential motivation of relatedness.

Social deprivation

A psychological state arising from prolonged restriction or absence of full social contact, support, communication, and recognition by significant others (from Latin deprivatio — deprivation). Under wartime conditions it becomes a mass phenomenon — among internally displaced persons, civilians under occupation, and those who have lost their habitual community. It leads to chronic loneliness, anxiety-depressive states, and maladaptation. Volunteering and social support seeking coping act as antidotes: they restore the structure of social ties, community, and recognition — which explains the leading role of social support among the predictors of resilience.

Social support seeking (coping)

One of the key coping strategies. The leading role of social support seeking among the psychological predictors of volunteer resilience is empirically demonstrated — one of the central findings of the dissertation.

Somatised reactions (somatisation)

Persistent physical symptoms arising as an expression of unprocessed psychological pain, without organic cause (from Greek σῶμα — body). Distinct from somato-vegetative manifestations: those are acute reactions of the autonomic nervous system in the moment of stress, whereas these are the chronic conversion of emotion into bodily symptoms over months or years. Classified in ICD-10 as somatoform disorders (F45). Typical manifestations: chronic headache or back pain with no medical cause, fatigue not relieved by rest, nausea during emotionally loaded periods. In volunteers this is a widespread unconscious defence: emotional pain is too great to feel directly and the psyche converts it into the body. Work with somatisation includes psychoeducation, body-oriented therapy, recognition of emotions (often together with alexithymia), and work on the trauma history.

Somato-vegetative manifestations

Bodily symptoms mediated by the autonomic (vegetative) nervous system — palpitations, shortness of breath, gastrointestinal spasm, muscular tension, sleep disturbance, tremor, sweating. They arise as a "discharge" of psychological load through the body, without participation of awareness. In wartime volunteers they are often the first signals of exhaustion, occurring before the emotional state is consciously recognised. Closely linked with neuroticism, anxiety, PTSD, and the early stages of burnout. Competent psychological support includes screening for somato-vegetative symptoms and self-regulation techniques (breathing, body-oriented).

Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (ρ, r_s)

A non-parametric measure of monotonic association between two variables — the rank-based alternative to Pearson's coefficient. Unlike Pearson, it does not require normality and captures any monotonic relationship (as one variable rises, so does the other, even non-linearly). It works on ranks: values of both variables are replaced by their ordinal positions, and an ordinary Pearson correlation is then computed on those ranks. How to read it: ρ ∈ [−1; +1]; |ρ| ≈ 0.1 — weak relation, ≈ 0.3 — moderate, ≈ 0.5 — strong, ≈ 0.7+ — very strong; the sign indicates direction (+ direct, − inverse). Particularly suitable for: ordinal scales (e.g. 1–5 Likert responses), asymmetrical distributions, small samples, and the presence of outliers. The dissertation uses it to test correlations among components of resilience, personal maturity, existentiality, and coping strategies. Interpretation requires simultaneous attention to the p-value: "r_s = 0.42; p < 0.05" — a moderate positive, statistically significant relationship.

Standard deviation (σ, SD)

"The spread of scores around the mean" — how different people in a group are from one another. Denoted σ (lowercase Greek "sigma") in statistics, SD in English-language literature, and s for the sample estimate.

Formula: σ = √(Σ(xᵢ − M)² / n) — the square root of [the mean squared deviation from the mean]. Related to variance: variance σ² = σ², so σ is the square root of variance, returning the measure to the original units of the scale.

Benchmarks:

• Small σ → people in the group are similar (all score roughly the same), the group is homogeneous;
• Large σ → people in the group differ widely (some very high, some very low), the group is heterogeneous.

The 68/95/99 rule for the normal distribution:

• ≈ 68% of people fall within M ± 1σ;
• ≈ 95% fall within M ± 2σ;
• ≈ 99.7% fall within M ± 3σ.

Why σ must accompany M: imagine two groups with the same mean M = 25 but different σ. The first has σ = 2 (everyone scores 23–27) — a stable, predictable group. The second has σ = 10 (scores from 5 to 45) — heterogeneous, with both the very stress-resistant and the very fragile. Without σ these groups would appear identical, although in practice they describe entirely different psychological portraits.

Example from the dissertation: in Table 2.10, veterans show higher stress resistance (a higher M) and a lower σ — a uniformly resilient group. Newcomers show a lower M and a higher σ — among them are both the already formed and the entirely new with low resistance.

Related concepts: variance (σ²); the standard error (SE = σ/√n) — the deviation of the sample mean from the population mean; and the coefficient of variation (CV = σ/M × 100%) — the relative spread expressed as a percentage.

Stress

A non-specific response of the organism to any demand (Selye). In the study it is the background against which resilience is manifested. Prolonged volunteer stress in wartime is the principal risk factor for psychological functioning.

Stress resistance

The capacity to maintain performance and psychological balance under stressors. One of the components of resilience (Hrishyn's method). Strongly linked with the self-acceptance indicator of personal maturity and with existential freedom.

Stressogenic (stress-inducing)

That which generates or provokes stress. From "stress" + "-genic" (Greek γένος — "that which generates"). Stressogenic factors for a wartime volunteer include direct contact with the wounded and refugees, secondary traumatisation, uncertainty, moral pressure, and the duration of the stress load. Resilience is, in effect, the capacity to maintain functioning under stressogenic conditions.

Synergy (personal maturity component)

One of the indicators of personal maturity — the capacity to see the world whole, to hold opposites together without fragmenting into parts. Correlates with the constructive-coping component of resilience.

T

Tolerance

One of the indicators of personal maturity — the capacity to accept others in their differences. Strongly linked with social contact, a component of volunteer resilience.

V

Validity / reliability of an instrument

Validity — the degree to which an instrument measures what it claims to measure. Reliability — the stability of results across repeated measurements. The author's instrument for altruistic orientation has a test–retest reliability of r = 0.78 (n = 67, two-month interval).

Variance

The numerical measure of the spread of values around the mean in statistics. It shows how strongly the data "scatter": low variance — everyone is similar; high variance — people differ. Formula σ² = Σ(x − x̄)² / N. Related to the standard deviation (σ) — the square root of the variance, which returns the measure to its original units. The dissertation uses it on several levels: (1) descriptive statistics — the σ column next to M in every data table; (2) analysis of variance (ANOVA) — the comparison of three or more groups at once, testing whether between-group differences exceed within-group spread; this is how Barinov compared newcomers, the experienced, and veterans of volunteering; (3) in regression R² — the share of variance the model explains ("65% of individual differences in resilience are explained by the chosen predictors"); (4) in factor analysis and the clustering of coping profiles. Without variance there is no quantitative psychology — it is the basic language of statistics.

Volunteering experience (years of service)

The duration of a person's participation in volunteer activity. One of the key empirical findings of the dissertation is the linear positive relationship between years of service and volunteer resilience: "veteran volunteers" show the highest resilience indicators.

Volunteering

A multi-level interaction of personal and social factors that simultaneously shapes the volunteer's self-development, the formation of prosocial identity, and the collective resilience of the community. Under wartime conditions it requires a high level of resilience as a basic resource for mastering stress.

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