Psychological Peculiarities of Styles of Professional Activity and the Level of Stress among Members of Election Commissions in Parliamentary Elections in Ukraine

Abstract

The results of the empirical study among the members of election commissions (N=112, age: 25−68 years) for Ukrainian parliamentary elections 2019 to study the styles of their professional activity and the level of stress are presented. The most pronounced style of professional activity is “Professional-perfectionist”, which contributes to the high productivity of members of election commissions. The work tasks at a polling station are best fulfilled by the person with a more pronounced style of professional activity “Formalist-bureaucrat”. It is undesirable to involve working at the polling station persons with high rates in the style of the professional activity of “Nihilist”. It has been found that the major psychological difficulties of working in election commissions are due to excessive psycho-emotional and psychophysical overload, to which some members of the commissions are not ready. This overload can cause them to experience certain mental stress, different levels of stress, their manifestation, and consequences. Although the majority of participants demonstrated a high degree of adaptability to stressful workloads, members of commissions should perform their duties at a highly professional level in extremely difficult circumstances, including at night and in a state of intense emotional stress. The results of the research should be taken into account during the organization of the election process and the holding of elections to central and local authorities. To improve it, it is advisable to organize and conduct early training and skills upgrading of members of election commissions. To do this, it is necessary to develop and implement training programs for the development of style peculiarities of professional activity, which will contribute to effective work in the election commission and overcoming psychological difficulties.