State Anxiety In Developing Persons In Education System Modernization

Abstract

State anxiety in a developing person in the process of modernization of the education system is an acute issue of pedagogy and psychology. The purpose of the study is to theoretically examine and experimentally determine the level of state anxiety in a developing person in the process of modernization of the education system on the example of older adolescents, in particular, tenth-grade students of a state secondary school in a remote town-type village. The study was carried out in three stages, including a desktop analysis, the conducting of an experiment (Dembo-Rubinstein self-esteem assessment technique modified by A.M. Prihozhan, and Spielberger`s State-Trait Anxiety Inventory technique adapted by Yu.L. Khanin), and a data analysis (Spearman's correlation analysis). Methods of observation and psychodiagnostic showed that the majority of the students (68%) have an average level of anxiety. Spearman's correlation analysis was applied to indicate a correlation between self-esteem and state anxiety in teenagers based on the findings on self-esteem provided by the Dembo-Rubinstein technique modified by Prihozhan and the findings on state anxiety provided by Spielberger`s technique adapted by Khanin. Spearman's correlation analysis proved direct correlations between self-esteem and state anxiety in the students. The findings showed that the great majority of the students have adequate self-esteem and an acceptable level of state anxiety. Therefore, our study proves that the process of education system modernization in state secondary schools in town-type villages of Sverdlovsk Oblast is psychologically safe.

Keywords: State anxietyself-esteemolder adolescentspersonalitybehavior

Introduction

In the process of modernization of the education system students are required to adapt to new learning conditions (Shipunova, Berezovskaya, Evseev, Evseeva, & Mureyko, 2018).

Due to the fact that it is significantly difficult to provide them with systematic and professional psychological and learning support, some school and university students fail to adapt to the new environment, thus experiencing higher anxiety (Liu & Li, 2019; Lucibello, Parker, & Heisz, 2019; Barnard & Chapman, 2018).

High anxiety in a developing person can be caused by poor emotional adaptation to different social situations, which have their result in a deficiency of self-confidence (Dolgova, Mamylina, Golieva, Kapitanets, & Kondratieva, 2019; Watson, DeMarree, & Cohen, 2018; Pires, Bezerra, Tufik, & Andersen, 2016). Many researchers dedicated their works to this issue at different stages of development of psychology and pedagogy. They covered a broad variety of topics, including aggressive behaviour, vandalism and violence in modern society (Kronauer, 2015; Tsiring & Ponomareva, 2015; Rosen & Underwood, 2010); crisis of confidence, that also results in trust being one of the highest values in society (Sidorov, 2017); jealousy, hostility, vanity, pridefulness and ambition in modern society (Arynbaeva, Massyrova, Kaimova, Suranshieva, & Seidakhmetov, 2015; Haller, Raeder, Scerif, Kadosh, & Lau, 2016); communication, interpersonal relationships and love (Viyayanand, 2019); helping behaviour, personal characteristics that contribute to or hinder such behaviour (altruism, egoism, others) and helping occupations; an analysis on the structure of the emotional sphere and its components, such as emotions, the emotional background, emotion-related personality traits, feelings and emotional types (Zhakupova, Dolgova, Kondratieva, Kapitanets, & Nurtdinova, 2018; Lachowicz-Tabaczek & Bajcar, 2017); various types of fears and phobias (Ilyin, 2015; Litinskaya, 2017; Gill, Watson, Williams, & Chan, 2018; Thompson, Kaminska, Marshall, & Zalk, 2019); individual characteristics, such as temperaments and personality types; nervous system properties; individual differences in behavioural pattern; efficiency of an activity based on a person`s individual characteristics; correlations between one`s individual characteristics and a predisposition to different diseases (Dolgova, Rokickaya, & Salamatov 2018); typical patterns of the establishment of one`s motivational sphere in development and various types of behaviour and activity, as well as a lack of motivation in pathology (Panadero, Jonsson, & Botella, 2017; Hosein & Harle, 2018); psychology of creativity, imagination and genius (Galkina, 2017); physiological, psychological and social differences in people of different sexes and genders (Muhina, 2015).

We used these and other works as a theoretical basis for our research.

Anxiety as a personality feature and as a condition seem to be co-existing, as trait anxiety gets exhibited through state anxiety occurrences. Therefore, anxiety can be considered a systemic phenomenon.

Personality undergoes the most intensive development in adolescence. This stage is described as the transitional period of development that is associated with radical changes in many already established primary anatomic, psychological and physical characteristics of a person, as well as with the development of the foundations for conscious behavior and establishment of moral values and personal beliefs. Moreover, inner conflicts, which indicate errors in self-concept and self-perception, play a central role in continuing the process and taking it further. With each new step one`s anxiety expands by absorbing those elements of self that are of the greatest importance at each particular stage of development.

Problem Statement

Personality undergoes the most intensive development in adolescence. It is during adolescence that anxiety emerges and gets established as a personality trait due to one`s need to be perceived in an adequate and proper way. Anxiety generally has an adverse impact on individual development. In particular, it negatively affects one`s communication, behavior, various spheres of activity, as well as one`s mental and physical health. Many researchers dedicated their works to this issue, but the determination of the level of anxiety in the process of modernization of the education system on the example of older adolescents in remote villages is not carried out sufficiently.

Research Questions

In the study we investigated whether the modernization of the education system in a state secondary school in a remote town-type village could lead to higher state anxiety. We also tried to determine how adequate self-esteem of tenth-grade students was and whether there was any correlation between their state anxiety and self-regard.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study is to theoretically examine and experimentally determine the level of state anxiety in a developing person in the process of modernization of the education system on the example of older adolescents, in particular, tenth-grade students of a state secondary school in a remote town-type village.

Research Methods

The study on state anxiety in a developing person in the process of education system modernization was conducted on the example of older adolescents, in particular, tenth-grade students of a state secondary school in a remote town-type village with the population of 3000 people.

The study comprised 19 tenth-grade students and was conducted in three stages.

1. Desktop analysis. It included selection of a research topic, specification of an object and a subject, a statement of a hypothesis, an analysis of literature on psychology and pedagogy, selection of subjects for an experiment, selection of research methods and techniques, and development of a research program.

2. Conducting of an experiment. It involved the realization of a research program, observation of subjects before and after its realization, and implementation of two techniques, in particular, self-esteem assessment technique by Dembo-Rubinstein modified by A.M. Prihozhan, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory technique by Spielberger adapted by Yu.L. Khanin.

3. Data analysis. It included the analyzing and the interpreting of the findings, the drawing of conclusion, and the making of recommendations.

This approach allowed us to use the following methods to fulfill the outlined objectives (Zabrodin & Pakhalyan, 2015): an ascertaining and an educational experiments, observation, and testing, as well as some methods of the mathematical and statistical analysis, in particular Spearman's correlation analysis.

Findings

The findings are based on the results of observation of the subjects, on the Dembo-Rubinstein technique modified by Prihozhan, and on Spielberger`s technique adapted by Khanin.

Figure 01 shows the findings provided by the Dembo-Rubinstein self-worth assessment technique modified by Prihozhan.

Dembo-Rubinstein technique demonstrated that 11% of the students have a very high level of self-esteem. These students consider themselves better and more important than other people. They seek to be the best in every sphere of activity, which results in higher anxiety. When failing, they believe it is due to other people`s actions or because of disadvantageous circumstances that cannot be altered by them. They refuse to acknowledge their mistakes, lack of knowledge, skills or capacities, and inappropriate behavior. These statements are supported by other studies (Ratanova, 2015; Harlamenkova, 2017). The same number of students (11%) showed a great level of self-esteem. These students idealize their image and personality and overestimate the degree of their value to others. It is rather difficult for them to establish good relationships with other people, which is the main cause of higher anxiety in this group.

Most of the students (67%) demonstrated average, or adequate, self-esteem. These students display flexibility, leadership, and adaptability to new conditions. They can evaluate their opportunities and skills properly and be critical of themselves. They can acknowledge their failures and achievements and set attainable and realistic objectives. Therefore, they are less likely to experience state anxiety.

See Full Size >

Low level of self-esteem was discovered in 11% of the students as well. These students undervalue themselves. They are prone to high state anxiety, which in turn demonstrates their unsuccessful and poor personality development. Therefore Dembo-Rubinstein self-worth assessment technique modified by Prihozhan demonstrated that most of teenagers have average self-esteem. Figure 02 shows the findings provided by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory technique by Spielberger adapted by Yu.L. Khanin.

See Full Size >

Figure 02 illustrates that nearly every sixth student (16%) displayed high anxiety. It means that these students tend to experience state anxiety when being evaluated based on their competences and knowledge.

The same number of students (16%) showed low anxiety. They are recommended to be more attentive to their motivation. However, it should be noted that sometimes, when test results indicate very low anxiety in a subject, it can be explained by the subject`s suppression of high anxiety in order to present themselves well as the sample is rather small, thus allowing for an individual approach to every subject (Kuhn, Mertens, & Lonsdorf, 2016; Meissel, & Salthouse, 2016).

Conclusion

The study on state anxiety in older adolescents was conducted in three stages, including a desktop analysis, the conducting of an experiment, and a data analysis. The purpose of the study was to theoretically examine and experimentally determine correlativity betwixt self-esteem and state anxiety in older adolescents. In the study, we conducted analyses and detected some levels of state anxiety in older adolescents. Moreover, we determined correlations between self-esteem and state anxiety. The findings show that the great majority of the students have adequate self-esteem and an acceptable level of state anxiety. It proves that the process of education system modernization in a state secondary school in a remote town-type village of Sverdlovsk Oblast with the population of 3000 people is psychologically safe.

Acknowledgments

The research is conducted in the framework of the Scientific and Methodological Foundations of Psychology and Management Technology of Innovative Educational Processes in the Changing World project supervised by the South Ural research center of the Russian Academy of Education in the South Ural State Humanitarian Pedagogical University.

The authors would like to express their gratitude to a postgraduate student of the Department of Psychology of the South Ural State Humanitarian Pedagogical University E.A. Grasmik for conducting an ascertaining experiment under their supervision.

References

• Arynbaeva, K., Massyrova, R., Kaimova, R., Suranshieva, M., & Seidakhmetov, L. (2015). The Scientific Basis of Socio-pedagogical Rehabilitation with Deviated Behavior Content Designing. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 177, 406-407.
• Barnard, M. P., & Chapman, P. (2018). The effects of instruction and environmental demand on state anxiety, driving performance and autonomic activity: Are ego-threatening manipulations effective? Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 55, 123-135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2018.02.040
• Dolgova, V. I., Mamylina, N. V., Golieva, G. Yu., Kapitanets, E. G., & Kondratieva, O. A. (2019). Changing school-based anxiety during physical education, taking the individual typological approach into account. Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews, 7(1), 1–10.
• Dolgova, V. I., Rokickaya, Yu. A. & Salamatov, A. A. (2018). Individual'no-psihologicheskie predictory adaptivnogo povedeniya podrostkov [Individual and psychological predictors of adaptive behaviour in adolescents]. Bulletin of the Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University, 8(1), 45–59. [in Rus.]
• Galkina, T. V. (2017). Samoocenka kak process resheniya zadach. Sistemnyj podhod [Self-esteem in addressing challenges. Systematic approach]. Мoscow: Publishing house of Institute of Psychology of Russian Academy of Sciences. [in Rus.]
• Gill, C., Watson, L., Williams, C., & Chan, S. W. Y. (2018). Social anxiety and self-compassion in adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 69, 163-174.
• Haller, S., Raeder, S., Scerif, G., Kadosh, K. C., & Lau, J. Y. E. (2016). Measuring online interpretations and attributions of social situations: Links with adolescent social anxiety. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 50, 250-256.
• Harlamenkova, N. E. (2017). Samoutverzhdenie podrostka, 2-e izd., ispr. i do [Self-affirmation of teenagers, second edition, revised and enlarged]. Moscow: Publishing house of Institute of Psychology of Russian Academy of Sciences. [in Rus.]
• Hosein, A., & Harle, Ja. (2018). The relationship between students’ prior mathematical attainment, knowledge and confidence on their assessment. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 56, 32-41.
• Ilyin, E. (2015). Psihologiya straha [Psychology of fear]. Saint Petersburg: Piter. [in Rus.]
• Kronauer, M. (2015). Wer Inklusion möchte, darf über Exklusion nicht schweigen. Plädoyer für eine Erweiterung der Debatte. Jahrbuch für Pädagogik, 1, 147–158. https://doi.org/10.3726/267059_147
• Kuhn, M., Mertens, G., & Lonsdorf, T. B. (2016). State anxiety modulates the return of fear. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 110, 194-199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2016.08.001
• Lachowicz-Tabaczek, K., & Bajcar, B. (2017). Future self-appraisals and global self-esteem: Who benefits more from thinking about the future, and why? Self and identity, 16(1), 1–20, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2016.1270850 ]
• Litinskaya, D. G. (2017). Fenomenologicheskij podhod k probleme lichnostnyh osobennostej v norme i patologii [Phenomenological approach to personal characteristics in normal and pathological context]. Bulletin of the Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University, 8(1), 129-142. [in Rus.] http://dx.doi.org/10.15293/2226-3365.1701.09
• Liu, J., & Li, H. (2019). Interactive effects of trait and state anxieties on time perception. Acta Psychologica, 195, 64-70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2019.03.004
• Lucibello, K. M., Parker, J., & Heisz, J. J. (2019). Examining a training effect on the state anxiety response to an acute bout of exercise in low and high anxious individuals. Journal of Affective Disorders, 247, 29-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2018.12.063
• Meissel, E. E. E., & Salthouse, T. A. (2016). Relations of naturally occurring variations in state anxiety and cognitive functioning. Personality and Individual Differences, 98, 85-90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.04.018
• Muhina, V. S. (2015). Vozrastnaya psihologiya: fenomenologiya razvitiya, detstvo, otrochestvo [Developmental psychology: phenomenology of development, childhood, adolescence]. Мoscow: Academy [in Rus.]
• Panadero, E., Jonsson, A., & Botella, Ju. (2017). Effects of - on-regulated learning and self-efficacy: Four meta-analyses. Educational Research Review, 22, 74-98.
• Pires, G. N., Bezerra, A. G., Tufik, S., & Andersen, M. L. (2016). Effects of acute sleep deprivation on stateanxiety levels: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Medicine, 24, 109-118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2016.07.019
• Ratanova, T. A. (2015). Vozrastnye osobennosti differencirovannosti i integrirovannosti kognitivnyh struktur u shkol'nikov [Age-specific characteristics of differentiation and integration of cognitive structures in school children]. Issues of psychology, 2, 34-41. [in Rus.]
• Rosen, L. H., & Underwood, M. K. (2010). Facial attractiveness as a moderator of the association between social and physical aggression and popularity in adolescents. Journal of School Psychology, 48(4), 313-333.
• Shipunova, O. D., Berezovskaya, I. P., Evseev, V. V., Evseeva, L. I., Mureyko, L. M. (2018). Personal intellectual potential in the E-culture conditions. Espacios, 39(40), 15.
• Sidorov, K. R. (2017). Samoocenka, uroven' prityazanij i effektivnost' uchebnoj deyatel'nosti podrostkov [Self-esteem, level of pretensions and learning efficiency in teenagers]. Issues of psychology, 3, 149-156. [in Rus.]
• Thompson, T., Kaminska, M., Marshall, Ch., & Zalk, N. V. (2019). Evaluation of the social phobia scale and social interaction anxiety scale as assessments of performance and interaction anxiety. Psychiatry Research, 273, 725-731.
• Tsiring, D., & Ponomareva, I. (2015). Characteristics of Teenager-to-Parent Relationships and Their Inputs into the Formation of Juvenile Personality Helplessness. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 214, 852-857.
• Viyayanand, N. (2019). Self-assessment. Anaesthesia & Intensive Care Medicine, 20(7), 402-403.
• Watson, N. l., DeMarree, K. G., & Cohen, L. M. (2018). Cigarette craving and stressful social interactions: The roles of state and trait social anxiety and smoking to cope. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 185, 75-81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2017.11.037
• Zabrodin, Yu. M. & Pakhalyan, V. E. (2015). Psikhodiagnostika: monografiya. [Psychodiagnosis: monograph]. Saratov: Tertiary Education [in Rus.]
• Zhakupova, Y. T., Dolgova, V. I., Kondratieva, O. A., Kapitanets E. G., & Nurtdinova A. A. (2018). Reculiarities of emotional and volitional component of creative giftedness of adolescents. Espacios, 39(21), 35.