The thesis presents the performed theoretical and experimental study of elderly people’s hardiness.
The performed theoretical and methodological analysis and generalization of scientific approaches to the researched problem have showed that an individual’s psychological hardiness is the unity of external (life loads, stressful situations, etc.) and internal (goals, values, meanings, attitudes, etc.) factors. It is manifested at emotional, cognitive and behavioural levels and affects an individual’s life as a whole (his/her responsibility for their actions, reflexivity, ability to self-development and self-realization, etc.). A rejected desire for psychological hardiness, existential isolation leads to disharmony and even destruction of a personality. The characteristics of an individual’s hardiness depend on the social-cultural conditions, in which the individual self-organizes and acts.
The thesis author shows and emphasis that passivity, helplessness and alienation – the stereotypical notions of the elderly age – are manifestations of maladaptation in the elderly age that, however, cannot be considered as normative phenomena. The representatives of the mentioned age group are attracted by social activities, especially altruistic activities.
A concept has been developed that includes two age crises. The first one is a crisis of adaptation in the elderly age caused, primarily, by social-cultural factors. The second crisis is existential, caused by an individual’s confrontation with fears of death, nothingness, nonsense and loneliness. The first crisis is manifested very individually. Its course depends on all previous human experience and some social factors. The second crisis is determined not by social but by purely existential factors: the anxiety caused by human mortality and futile existence was suppressed at the early ages, but it grows into expressive fears with the elderly age, which can no longer be counteracted by psychological protective methods developed in previous years. Accordingly, a means counteracting fears lies in the cognitive plane. The construct of «uniqueness of personal existential experience» helps to remove fears of death, non-existence, meaninglessness and loneliness and reflects the levels of elderly people’s hardiness.
A conceptual psychological model of elderly people’s hardiness is presented in the thesis. Elderly people’s hardiness is a new holistic psychological formation, characterized by the acceptance by an individual of a specific existential situation, an attitude to his/her life as a whole and focus on further successful life. The system of elderly people’s hardiness contains three manifesting components: emotional, cognitive and conative. Integrated hardiness embodies interconnected structured unities. So, psychological bases of elderly people’s hardiness are multidimensional.
During the observational stage of the study, hardiness levels were identified, and the relations between elderly people’s hardiness, cognitive construct of «uniqueness of personal existential experience» and personal manifestations (cognitive, behavioural, emotional components) were shown and proved.
The first level: high psychological hardiness, formed cognitive construct of «uniqueness of personal existential experience» and a life-affirming attitude to life.
The second level: average psychological hardiness, insufficiently formed cognitive construct of «uniqueness of personal existential experience» and a moderately effective attitude to life.
The third level: low psychological hardiness, not formed cognitive construct of «uniqueness of personal existential experience» and a depressed attitude to life.
The correlations between hardiness and emotional, cognitive, conative parts were strong and positive, so these parts influenced on the structuring of the hardiness model. These links had specific features depending on their force.
The experimental part of the study revealed that elderly people had both positive and negative coping behavioural strategies in a case of cognitive dissonance. «Valued attitude to life», «optimism», «protest», etc. were positive coping strategies; «self-blame», «passive cooperation», «active avoidance» were negative strategies.
A set of measures forming and developing the elderly people’s hardiness was proposed and implemented, which included the author’s «Comprehensive program for development of the culture of elderly people’s life». This program implemented the ideas on valued attitude to live, developed the culture of resolutions for difficult life situations; the work was organized in groups in order to achieve a psychological correctional effect, etc.
