Success in Solving Real Life Problems and the Dynamics of Intellectual Emotions

Background. The research is devoted to the study of solving difficult problem situations of thinking on the material of real-life problems. A real-life problem is a special object of thinking in the approach of S.L. Rubinstein, K.A. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya. The relevance of the topic is determined by the need to identify the conditions within the problem-solving process that contribute to a more effective resolution of difficult life problems.

Objective. The goal is to analyze the dynamics of intellectual emotions in solving real-life problems.

Study Participants. The study involved 90 participants: 57 women and 33 men aged 18 to 57 years, (M = 32.29; Me = 32; SD = 9.93) specialists from different professional fields who had experience in successful solving real-life problems.

Methods. The participants were offered to participate in an interview, aimed at investigating the process of solving a real-life problem. It included questions about their content and the experienced intellectual emotions at each stage of the solution and also subjective-evaluation scales to measure the expression of intellectual emotions.

Results. In the process of problem-solving related to real-life contradictions, the need to find a fundamentally new solution is activated. This need is experienced by the subject in the form of intellectual emotions corresponding to the stage of problem-solving. The process of successful resolution of the life problems is connected with the characteristic patterns of intellectual emotions dynamics, reflecting experiencing of the cognitive need to find an absolutely new solution. The expressed experience of confidence at the final stage of solving a life problem accompanies the success of solution. The most successful solution in comparison with a less successful one is determined by more pronounced surprise at the stage of problem understanding and by confidence at the stage of making a final decision and its implementation.

Conclusions. Intellectual emotions represent to the subject the potential success of the solution, performing regulatory functions. Successful problem solving, based on understanding the contradictions of real life, is characterized by special patterns in the dynamics of experiencing intellectual emotions.

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