Locus-Control In Education Of An Anti-Victim Personality Of A Person With Disabilities

Abstract

The problem of identifying an effective type of locus-control for the full development and functioning of the personality of people with disabilities is examined in this article. It is shown that in modern studies of people with disabilities, ambivalent judgments and results on this issue are presented. The data of an empirical study of the significance of the locus-control type for the effective development of the personality of people with disabilities on the basis of physical culture and sports activity are presented. 40 people took part in the research. Of these, 30 people with disabilities are involved in sports sections while 10 people are their trainers. It has been found that there are differences in the assessment of the significance of the type of locus-control for people with disabilities among disabled athletes themselves and among their trainers. It is shown that the expectations of people with disabilities in terms of the type of locus-control affect both the satisfaction from exercising in sports clubs and are oriented towards the formation of a personality that is resistant to negative social influences. The most effective type of locus-control was the mixed type of locus-control, which implies the expectation of joint responsibility of disabled athletes and their trainers for the results of sports activity. The internal type of locus-control, which is effective for people with a standard of health (when people should take responsibility for overcoming obstacles exclusively on themselves), does not have a positive effect on people with disabilities.

Keywords: Inclusive education, athletes with disabilities, locus-control, anti-victim personality, human capital

Introduction

The change in the role of human capital, its transformation from a cost factor into the main productive and social resource of development, has led to the need to form a new development paradigm not only in relation to people with a standard of health, but also in inclusive education.

At the same time, people with inclusive needs will become a resource for the development of modern society only with a correct understanding of the paradigms of a personality development of people with disabilities. One of the important elements of personality functioning is its locus-control. Locus-control as a personality trait to attribute success or failures to external or internal reasons can stimulate or destabilize the effective formation and development of a person. In modern science, it is noted that only a properly organized locus-control of the personality can radically change the attitude of the individual to social reality, significantly increasing the quality of life (Xue et al., 2020).

Traditional research on locus-control has focused on the factors of satisfaction with life, work, sports, or school. The results of such studies generally confirm the ideas expressed by Rotter (1966), the author of the theory of locus-control, that the dominance of the internal locus-control is much more effective than the external one (Martin et al., 2005). At the same time, it is shown that these data are not gender specific, that is, the general trends in the advantages of the internal type of locus control over the external do not even depend on gender (Padmanabhan, 2021).

However, the personality of people with disabilities is considered in studies in a different way. Such direct correlations between the type of locus-control and, for example, life satisfaction and resilience were not found. Moreover, it is concluded that the mechanisms of locus-control identified in people with a standard of health are not implemented in the life strategies of people with disabilities (Annika & Smith, 2018; Rogowska et al., 2020; Tomlinson et al., 2020). The complexity of the problem is also evidenced by studies of the effectiveness of different types of locus-control in groups of the population with deprived backgrounds. There is also no direct correlation between the intrinsic locus of control and life satisfaction (Poortinga et al., 2008). This is additional evidence that the problem of locus-control requires further study.

However, studies of people with disabilities have highlighted the importance of partnerships in life satisfaction and balancing custody and empowerment of people with disabilities (Keyes et al., 2015).

Problem Statement

The dynamic balanced growth of society is no longer conceivable without solving the problems of people with inclusive needs. However, society is not fully prepared to accept special children. There is no single, scientifically verified position on the definition of effective means and forms of integrating people with inclusion in society. This, in turn, determines the lack of methods for the development of such children, including sports-oriented and psychological ones.

The ambivalence of the results available in science prompted us to study the mechanisms of locus-control in people with disabilities in order to identify the most effective variants of it, contributing to the self-realization of the personality of people with disabilities. At the same time, the partnership factor and its role in the formation of an effective locus-control became an additional subject of research. Of the activities where partnerships are most clearly represented, we have chosen physical culture and sports, which takes place under the guidance of a trainer.

Research Questions

In the course of theoretical and empirical research, the following questions were resolved:

What type of locus-control is most effective for the normal and successful functioning of a person with disabilities in the course of sports activities? What is the role of a sports trainer in the formation of locus-control in a person with disabilities?

Purpose of the Study

It is assumed that the identification of effective locus-control in people with disabilities and the conditions for its formation in the course of sports and physical activity will contribute to the full development of the personality of people with disabilities and the formation of reliable psychological protection from external and other threats to his personality.

Research Methods

Findings

The tables below show the comparative data of the assessment by trainers and participants of sports sections with disabilities of the significance of the type of locus-control in athletes with disabilities.

Comparative analysis of Table 1 and Table 2 shows that trainers generally adhere to the traditional position in relation to the independence and responsibility of athletes. It is practically not differentiated for athletes with a standard of health and people with disabilities attending sports clubs. Trainers by and large believe that the same type of requirements of independence and responsibility for all categories of athletes more stimulate athletes with disabilities to get rid of personality complexes. In general terms, this position was formulated as follows: “A person with disabilities should understand that in any actions he bears the same responsibility as people without restrictions”.

A minority of trainers believe that it is necessary to be as attentive as possible to the participants of sports sections with disabilities, to be guided by their peculiarities and to adapt to them. We partly share this position, since in our earlier studies it was found that in critical situations, it is the weak position of the conflict participant that can be advantageous (Budyakova, 2014). The trainer’s orientation to the characteristics of his trainee in the right perspective will provide him with an advantage, and there will be no fixation on the peculiarities of health as a disadvantage.

The expert assessments of people with disabilities are presented in a completely different way. In keeping with the concept of an anti-victim personality being developed by us, people with disabilities are considered as individuals requiring the use of special approaches in learning and upbringing (Budyakova, 2020). In our study, the majority of participants with disabilities also implicitly presented this position. They generally did not assess any type of locus-control as effective. It was revealed that people with disabilities expect from their mentors not paternalistic care and not an appeal to independence, but equal cooperation based on mutual respect and mutual assistance. It is this style of relations that attracts people with disabilities to sports sections, affects the turnover of attendance at sports facilities.

Thus, the most attractive for the purposes of educating an anti-victim personality in people with disabilities is not the internal locus-control, which stimulates the complete independence and responsibility of the disabled athlete, and not the external locus control based on the complete dependence of the disabled person on the help of other people, but mixed locus-control.

Mixed locus control is a way of perceiving responsibility, when both the trainer helps the trainee and the trainee helps the trainer, forming a tandem of mutually responsible people.

Conclusion

Thus, it was established that:

• The orientation towards the joint responsibility of the trainer and his trainee with disabilities is more attractive and expected from the side of people with disabilities. In such cases, disabled athletes feel not only protected, but also realize their benefits for society and responsibility not only for themselves, but also for other people affiliated with them. This is just important for the modern needs of society in the development of human capital.

The most effective locus-control in athletes with disabilities is the mixed type of locus-control.

Acknowledgments

The reported study was funded by RFBR, project number 20-013-00020А “Physical culture and sport as predictors of the formation of an antivictivistic personality in people with disabilities and with a health standard”.

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