Manifestation of Protectability as a Factor of Psychological Security of Students under Conditions of a HEI

Abstract

The article deals with the problem of preservation of students’ security in the educational environment of a higher educational institution. Urgency of the selected subject of research does not arouse doubts because the satisfaction of the need for security, which is one of the basic needs of the personality, directly affects the psychological well-being and mental health.

Educational environment of a higher educational institution differs substantially from the educational environment of a school. The authors of the article emphasize that education in a higher school has greater pragmatic direction because every subject directs the student towards future professional occupation, prepares to fulfill their professional functions, to master necessary knowledge, abilities and skills. The young person needs to adopt a new social role of a student, to get used to a new collective, new requirements and routine duties, to join the future profession. In addition, during the adaptation process changes occur in the inner world of the student’s personality. These and other factors could influence the inner sense of well-being, reduce the potential of the psychological security.

On the basis of the results of empirical research the authors of the article describe a number of typical difficulties and stress-factors the students come across during their study in a higher school and analyze the ways of preserving the sense of their own psychological security The research allowed the authors to conclude that students often use unconscious mechanisms of psychological defense, mainly projection and denial. Unfortunately, these protection mechanisms can hardly be called constructive because they prevent the personality from understanding in a realistic way the problems and shortcomings. Hence, the authors emphasize the importance and the necessity of processes of students’ personal development.