Life Orientations and Aspirations of the Penal System's Employees, Depending on Their Level of Self-Efficacy

Abstract

The authors discuss the problem of developing the self-efficacy of penitentiary systems employees. It is an urgent problem because this personal meta-quality of Russian penitentiary systems employees has not been studied sufficiently. At the same time, according to available research, a high level of self-efficacy makes it possible even for a moderately gifted person to achieve significant results. The paper presents the results of an empirical study carried out by the authors in 2018. They surveyed 117 penitentiary systems employees with the purpose of researching their self-efficacy, identifying its connection with life orientations and motivation for achievements (aspirations). The aim of the study was the verification of the hypothesis that certain psychological characteristics of employees hinder the development of their self-efficacy - inadequate motivation for achievements (aspirations) and insufficient awareness of the meaningfulness of life. The verification method for the hypothesis was psychological testing: self-efficacy level methodology by J.E. Maddux and M. Sherer (as modified by A.V. Boyarintseva); «MAS» motivation study methodology by M.L. Kubyshkina; «Life Orientations» test by D.A. Leontyev, as well as methods of mathematical statistics for data processing (comparative analysis using Mann-Whitney U-test, Pearson correlation analysis). It is noted that the surveyed employees have a rather high level of self-efficacy in «substantive activity», while the self-efficiency in «interpersonal communication» is low. The authors present the results of a comparative analysis of data from two groups selected depending on how well this parameter is developed, and on their gender. The correlation data analysis results demonstrated a strong positive correlation between both parameters of self-efficacy - substantive activity and interpersonal communication - with all indicators of the general level of awareness of the meaningfulness of life. The authors conclude that insufficient competence of employees in the sphere of interpersonal communication, competitiveness that increases with age, insufficient awareness of the meaningfulness of some aspects of life hinders the development of their self-efficacy, which is more typical of female employees. The authors also present a structure of the process of improving the self-efficacy of penitentiary systems employees.