Scenario design of security by students with different levels of tolerance to uncertainty

Abstract

The choice of psychological security issues as the subject of the article is determined by modern realities, which determined its social significance and research attractiveness. Tolerance to uncertainty is currently considered as one of the subject characteristics that have an uncertain status in relation to human security. Turning to the analysis of the security phenomenon as a complex phenomenon that has a semantic, emotional, behavioral and temporal dimension makes it possible to apply the construction procedure to it as an action to bring various elements into a certain mutual position. The purpose of the work was to study the features of mental construction of security by subjects with different levels of tolerance to uncertainty. Achieving the research goal was based on a scenario approach. The general research hypothesis is the assumption that subjects with different levels of tolerance to uncertainty build different security scenarios for themselves. The hypothesis was tested using the methods of free association, subjective scaling, and the technique of T.V. Kornilova “New questionnaire of tolerance to uncertainty”. At the stage of processing empirical data, the simplest mathematical statistics were used (finding the average, percentage distribution, statistical scope) and a nonparametric comparison method, the criterion φ*-Fisher’s angular transformation. The study was conducted on the material of students (20–21 years old) with a high (50 persons) and low (50 persons) level of tolerance to uncertainty. Statistically significant differences in the cognitive and semantic parameter of the security scenario between subjects with a high and low level of tolerance to uncertainty are established by the perception of security through its experience and identification. According to the emotional parameter of the scenario, a statistical trend towards the predominant experience of positive emotions in relation to security in subjects with a low level of tolerance to uncertainty was revealed. According to the behavioral parameter of the scenario, differences between subjects with different levels of tolerance to uncertainty were traced in relation to the propensity to overcome danger (statistically significant), to escape from danger and to prevent danger (statistical trends). According to the temporal parameter of the scenario, subjects with different levels of tolerance significantly differ in the choice of zones of medium (high level) and near (low level) prospects for their security. Comparison of the quantitative composition of the final arrays of security scenarios revealed a statistically significant tendency to the predominance of their variations in subjects with a high level of tolerance to uncertainty in comparison with the variations of scenarios in subjects with a low level of tolerance to uncertainty. According to the results of the study, the hypothesis is confirmed. The article presents the experience of a multidimensional study of subject security and fixing its results in the form of a symbolically encrypted script. The obtained results confirmed the variability of mental security scenarios due to the tolerance to uncertainty of their subjects. The paper proposes a method for constructing a study that can be used to study the relationship of subject security with other psychological characteristics of a person.