Barabanov Daniil D.

Background. This study examined a set of personality traits related to self-control or willpower, (WP), and how self-ratings of these self-control traits are influenced by the cognitive constructs of action (versus state) orientation and meaningfulness.

Design. The subjects were 943 university students, aged 17–29 (M = 19.5 years), who volunteered to complete J. Kuhl's (1996) Action-State Orientation (ASO) scale, a Russian adaptation of the Purpose In Life test (PIL) as a measure of meaningfulness and sense-making capacity, and self-ratings of self-control traits, such as “persistence”, “decisiveness”, and “self-discipline” that produced an aggregate measure of WP and four willpower factors reflecting (1) emotional regulation, (2) commitment to action, (3) energy, and (4) execution.

Results. State-oriented ineffective sense-makers (those who scored low on both ASO and PIL) rated themselves the lowest on WP. Conversely, action-oriented effective sense-makers (high scorers on both ASO and PIL) produced the highest WP self-ratings. Mediator-modelling regression analyses showed ASO and PIL to be predictive of self-rated WP – both independently, and by mediating each other’s influence on aggregate WP ratings. However, the predictive power of PIL was substantially higher than that of ASO, and the overall pattern of prediction varied across the four willpower sub-factors.

The relevance of the study is the need to clarify what factors can determine the self-esteems of volitional traits of a person.

Objective. The empirical study of the possible influence of action control mode and action and meaningfulness of life level on person's representation  about the development of his volitional traits.

Methods. 943 first-fifth year university students were asked to complete three questionnaires: Self-esteem technique of the volitional traits (V. Ivannikov, E. Aidman), Action control in planning scale (NAKEMP-90) in adaptation of S. Schapkin, Purpose in Life test in adaptation of D. Leontiev.

Results. There was a reliable relationship of the values of action control in planning scale (ACP) and general meaningfulness of life index (MLI) with three volitional traits (strong-willed, confident, bold) and total score of 20 volitional traits (TSVT). The results of 2-way ANOVA showed significant effects of Action Control and Meaningfulness of Life on the value of TSVT. The lowest TSVT values were observed in students with low values of ACP and MLI, and the highest -with high values of these indexes.

Conclusion. The results are discussed in the framework of V.A. Ivannikov’s theoretical ideas about psychological mechanisms of volitional regulation of personality, especially the role of the meaning formation in the process of transferring prompting from motive to purpose. It explains the natural connection of person`s meanings and self-esteems of volitional traits, as well as the contribution of such resource of self-regulation of human activity as action control mode.

The article describes the results of the empirical research, which aim was to identify features of the volitional regulation changes, when students pass from the first year of studies to the second year. First and second year students of various faculties were involved in the research (n=481). Techniques: “A formalized modification of Dembo—Rubinstein self-esteem technique”, V.A Ivannikov, E.V. Eydman; “Scale of action control in planning” J. Kuhl (NAKEMR-90) in adaptation of S.A. Shapkin; “Questionnaire for detection of self-control in emotional sphere, activity and behavior” G.S. Nikiforov, V.K. Vasilyev and S.V. Frisov; Purpose-in- Life Test in adaptation of D.A. Leontiev. When students pass from the first to the second year of studies, they show some changes: the indices of volitional regulation grow. However, the nature of changes varies for groups of students with different individual features and for male student and female student groups.

The article presents results of the comparative analysis of the features in volitional regulation and motivational-meaningful sphere of personality of students from 1 and 5th courses of different faculties Lomonosov Moscow State University (n=443). According to results of using techniques the age, gender and individual differences were established. The link between indicators of volitional regulation and characteristics of motivational-meaningful sphere of student’s personality was established.