Professional Emotional Readiness in Future Journalists at Different Stages of University Education

Abstract

Emotional readiness plays an important role in the general structure of psychological readiness for professional activity. This article provides a theoretical substantiation of the place that emotional readiness occupies in the structure of psychological readiness. Professional emotional readiness includes emotional awareness, coping with one’s own emotions and with those of others, empathy, and self-motivation. The research revealed various emotional manifestations of psychological readiness in university students that majored in journalism at different years of study. The study included an experiment that proved the beneficial impact of student journalism as part of academic and extracurricular media projects, especially those connected with filming. The undergraduates that participated in such activities proved able to cope with emotions and demonstrated a better emotional awareness and empathy. However, they proved unable to cope with other people’s emotions and had a low self-motivation. These problems might be associated with insufficient life and professional experience. Therefore, the emotional development of future journalists requires a comprehensive program of psychological and pedagogical support at different stages of university education. Such an approach may help students to interpret and control their own emotional state, as well as to build effective communicative strategies for interpersonal communication.