Self-regulation reliability as resource of goal achievement in high-risk occupations

Relevance. In occupations with high demands for resistance to stress, the reliability of conscious self-regulation is considered an important factor ensuring personnel reliability. This interdisciplinary study takes place at the intersection of general psychology, psychology of self-regulation, labor psychology, professional psychology, and extreme psychology.

Objective. To study the reliability of self-regulation as a universal and special resource for achieving goals under stressful conditions in high-risk occupations.

Methodology. Representatives of high-risk occupations – sailors (N = 139), pilots (N = 33), rescuers (N = 123) – and low-risk professions (teachers, N = 154) took part in the study. Individual differences in self-regulation and its reliability under stress were assessed by means of the Self-Regulation Profile Questionnaire (V.I. Morosanova & N.G. Kondratyuk, 2011).

Results. Self-regulation and its reliability in stressful conditions were found to be significantly greater among the high-risk professions than the low-risk ones. There were no significant differences in self-regulation reliability between the different groups of high-risk professionals.Using one-way ANOVA and Cohen’s effect size measures, differences in self-regulation variables were found between experts and novices for different professional groups. Among sailors and pilots, significant differences were found between experts and novices only for one variable:  reliability of self-regulation. Quite the opposite result was obtained for the teachers: Experts differ significantly from novices in all self-regulation parameters except for  reliability of self-regulation.

Conclusion. The study substantiated the view that reliability of self-regulation is a universal and special regulatory resource for professional goal achievement. The research results allow us to conclude that in high-risk occupations, reliability of self-regulation may serve as a professional resource ensuring efficiency, faultless operation, and safety.