(2025) Science and education, 1, 30-40. Odessa.
Viktor Plokhikh,
Doctor of Psychology, Professor,
Professor at the Department of General Psychology,
V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University,
6, Svobody sq., Kharkiv, Ukraine,
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7897-3417
Diana Koverdiuk,
Student at the Department of General Psychology,
V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University,
6, Svobody sq., Kharkiv, Ukraine,
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2221-2149
PECULIARITIES OF DECISION-MAKING BY STUDENTS IN A STATE OF MODERATE STRESS
SUMMARY:
Ukrainian students have been exposed for a prolonged period to a significant combined impact of various stressors, which affects their health, the decisions they make, and their overall academic performance. The aim of this study is to determine the characteristic features of decision-making by students experiencing moderate stress, taking into account the specifics of stable personality traits and states. The study involved 75 Ukrainian students (age in years: Me = 20.00; min = 17.00; max = 26.00). The research was conducted online using Google Forms. The following methods were applied: Psychological Stress Measure (PSM-25); Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (S. Norman, D. Endler et al.); Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire (L. Mann, P. Burnett et al.); and Freiburg Personality Inventory (FPI, Form B). Results. More than 60% of the total sample showed signs of moderate stress. It was found that task-oriented coping did not statistically differ between groups, yet significantly prevailed over other coping orientations (Friedman's test), both in the group without signs of stress and in the group experiencing moderate stress (coping strategies: χ² = 27.586, p = .000; χ² = 17.067, p = .000; decision-making styles: χ² = 27.211, p = .000; χ² = 29.638, p = .000). In the group under moderate stress, compared to the other group, significantly higher indicators were observed for emotion-focused coping (U = 237.00, p = .000), procrastination (U = 432.00, p = .010), and superfluidity (U = 282.00, p = .000) according to the Mann–Whitney U test. Conclusions. Both groups of students–those with and without signs of stress–opted for task-oriented coping strategies and decisions significantly more often than other options. Among students experiencing moderate stress and with high levels of neuroticism, depression, irritability, and emotional lability, emotion-focused coping, procrastination, and hypervigilance were significantly more common.
KEYWORDS:
stress, decision-making styles, coping strategies, personality traits, students, military actions
FULL TEXT:
REFERENCES:
2. Lutsenko, O.L. (2016). Fraiburzkyi osobystisnyi opytuvalnyk FPI – perevirka validnosti ta lokalna standartyzatsiia [Freiburg Special Inspectorate FPI – Validity Review and Local Standardization]. Visnyk Kharkivskoho natsionalnoho universytetu imeni V. N. Karazina. Seriia: Psykholohiia – Bulletin of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. Series: Psychology, 61, 49–54. http://nbuv.gov.ua/UJRN/VKhIPC_2016_61_11 [in Ukrainian].
3. . Petrovska, I. (2021). Psykholohiia pryiniattia rishen [Psychology of decision making]. Lviv: LNU im. Ivana Franka, 42 p. https://filos.lnu.edu.ua/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Psykholohiia-pryyniattia-rishennia_Metodychni_rekomendatsii_2021-2022_OPP_2019.pdf [in Ukrainian].
4. Sannikova, О.P. (2014). Skhylnist osobystosti do psykholohichnoho podolannia subiektyvno skladnykh sytuatsii [Personality’s propensity to psychological overcoming subjectively difficult situations]. Nauka i osvita – Science and Education, 9, 42–48. http://nbuv.gov.ua/UJRN/NiO_2014_9_9 [in Ukrainian].
5. Sannikova, О., Sannikov, А. (2018). Avantiurnist i ryzyk u strukturi pryiniattia rishen [Adventurousness and risk in the structure of making decisions]. Nauka i osvita – Science and Education, 9–10, 111–119. https://doi.org/10.24195/2414-4665-2018-9-10-16 [in Ukrainian].
6. Sannikova, О.P., Sannikov, О.I. (2020). Tolerantnist do nevyznachenosti yak predyktor pryiniattia rishen osobystistiu [Tolerance to uncertainty as a predictor of decision–making by the person]. Visnyk pisliadyplomnoi osvity – Bulletin of Postgraduate education, 12 (41), 98–123. https://doi.org/10.32405/2522‐9931/2522‐9958‐2020‐12(41)‐98‐123 [in Ukrainian].
7. Shtepa, O.S. (2012). Samomenedzhment (samoorhanizuvannia osobystosti): navch. posibnyk [Self-management (self-organization of the individual): a textbook]. Lviv: LNU im. Ivana Franka. 362. https://filos.lnu.edu.ua/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Resurs-menedzhment.-Samomenedzhment-samoorhanizuvannia-osobystosti.-SHtepa-O.-S..pdf [in Ukrainian].
8. Barbayannis, G., Bandari, M., Zheng, X., Baquerizo, H., Pecor, K.W., & Ming X. (2022). Academic Stress and Mental Well-Being in College Students: Correlations, Affected Groups, and COVID-19. Frontiers in Psycholodgy, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.886344 [in English].
9. Bayram, N. and Aydemir, M. (2017). Decision-Making Styles and Personality Traits. International Journal of Recent Advances in Organizational Behaviour and Decision Sciences, 3, 905–915. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330832648_Decision-Making_Styles_and_Personality_Traits [in English].
10. Candeias, A.A., Galindo, E., Reschke, K., Bidzan, M. & Stueck, M. (2024). Editorial: The interplay of stress, health, and well-being: unraveling the psychological and physiological processes. Frontiers in Psycholodgy, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1471084 [in English].
11. Chebykin, O. (2023). Psycholinguistic Mechanisms of Emotion Regulation of Educational Activity. Insight: the psychological dimensions of society, 10, 117–136. https://doi.org/10.32999/2663-970X/2023-10-6 [in English].
12. Cristofaro, M., Giardino, P.L., Malizia, A.P. and Mastrogiorgio, A. (2022). Affect and Cognition in Managerial Decision Making: A Systematic Literature Review of Neuroscience Evidence. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 762993. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.762993 [in English].
13. Halian, I., Halian, O., & Myshchyshyn, M. (2024). Coping Strategies in the Behavioral Models of Youth in Martial Law Conditions. Insight: the psychological dimensions of society, 12, 44–65. https://doi.org/10.32999/2663-970X/2024-12-17 [in English].
14. Lazarus, R.S., & Folkman, S. (1987). Transactional theory and research on emotions and coping. European Journal of Personality, 1, 141–169. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.2410010304 [in English].
15. Nater, U.M. (2021). Recent developments in stress and anxiety research. Journal of Neural Transmission, 128, 1265–1267. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-021-02410-3 [in English].
16. Peters, A., McEwen, B.S., & Friston, K. (2017). Uncertainty and stress: Why it causes diseases and how it is mastered by the brain. Progress in Neurobiology, 156, 164–188. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301008217300369 [in English].
17. Plokhikh, V.V. (2023). Relationship between coping behavior and students’ perceptions of the passage of time. Insight: the psychological dimensions of society, 9, 72–93. https://doi.org/10.32999/KSU2663-970Х/2023-9-5 [in English].
18. Plokhikh, V., Kireieva, Z., & Skoromna, M. (2024). Emotional Accompaniment of the Organization of Time Perspective of Forced Ukrainian Migrants Staying Abroad. Insight: the psychological dimensions of society, 11, 15–37. https://doi.org/10.32999/2663-970X/2024-11-2 [in English].
19. Plokhikh, V., Yanovskaya, S., Bilous, R. (2023). Psychological Defenses of Students in the Process of Experience of Time. BRAIN. Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience. 14, 1, 138–156. https://doi.org/10.18662/brain/14.1/411 [in English].
20. Pomytkina, L., Melnyk, N., Kovtun, O., Kokarieva, A. (2024a). Features of Life Planning Among Student Youth During Wartime and the Post-Pandemic Period. Strategies. Insight: the psychological dimensions of society, 12, 166–190. https://doi.org/10.32999/2663-970X/2024-12-19 [in English].
21. Pomytkina, L., Pomytkin, E., & Yakovytska, L. (2024b). Impact of Professionally Important Qualities of Patrol Police Officers on Decision-making Strategies. Insight: the psychological dimensions of society, 11, 321–341. https://doi.org/10.32999/2663-970X/2024-11-17 [in English].
22. Prokhorov, A.O., Yusupov, M.G., Plokhikh, V.V. (2015). Cognitive States in the Process of Students' Intellectual Activity. The New Educational Review, 41, 3, 263-274. DOI: 10.15804/tner.2015.41.3.21 [in English].
23. Sarmiento, L.F., Lopes da Cunha, P., Tabares, S., Tafet, G., Gouveia, A. Jr. (2024). Decision-making under stress: A psychological and neurobiological integrative model. Brain, Behavior, & Immunity – Health, Apr 16, 38, 100766. DOI: 10.1016/j.bbih.2024.100766. PMID: 38694793; PMCID: PMC11061251 [in English].
24. Sattar, K., Yusoff, M.S.B., Arifin, W.N., Yasin, M.A.M. & Nor, M.Z.M. (2022). Effective coping strategies utilised by medical students for mental health disorders during undergraduate medical education-a scoping review. BMC Medical Education, 22, 121. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03185-1 [in English].
25. Schönfeld, P., Brailovskaia, J., Bieda, A., Zhang, X.C., & Margraf, J. (2016). The effects of daily stress on positive and negative mental health: Mediation through selfefficacyEfectos del estrés cotidiano en la salud mental positiva y negativa: mediación de la autoeficacia. International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, 16, 1–10. https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/337/ 33743098001_1.pdf [in English].
26. Selye, H.A. (1975). Confusion and Controversy in the Stress Field. Journal of Human Stress, 1, 37–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0097840X.1975.9940406 [in English].
27. Sheth, M.S., Castle, D.J., Wang, W., Lee, A., Jenkins, Z.M., & Hawke L.D. (2023). Changes to coping and its relationship to improved wellbeing in the optimal health program for chronic disease. SSM-Mental Health, 3, 100–190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmmh.2023.100190 [in English].
28. Tran, T.D., Van Pham, T. (2024). The Relationship Between Thinking Ability, Emotional Intelligence, and Decision-Making. Emerging Science Journal, 8 (2), 644–657. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.28991/ESJ-2024-08-02-017 [in English].
29. Valencia-Florez, K.B., Sánchez-Castillo, H., Baruch, K., Vázquez, P., Zarate, P., & Paz, D.B. (2023). Stress, a Brief Update. International Journal of Psichologycal Research, 16 (2), 105–121. https://doi.org/10.21500/20112084.5815 [in English].
30. Van der Hallen, R., Jongerling, J., & Godor, B.P. (2020). Coping and resilience in adults: a cross-sectional network analysis. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 33 (5), 479–496. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2020.1772969 [in English].
31. Walkera, G., McCabe, T. (2021). Psychological defence mechanisms during the COVID-19 pandemic: A case series. European Journal of Psychiatry, 35 (1), 41–45. https://www.elsevier.es/es-revista-european-journalpsychiatry-431-articulo-psychological-defence-mechanismsduring-covid-19-S0213616320300914 [in English].
32. Wersebe, H., Lieb, R., Meyer, A.H., Hofer, P., & Gloster, A.T. (2018). The link between stress, well-being, and psychological flexibility during an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy self-help ntervention – Relación entre estrés, bienestar y flexibilidad psicológica durante una intervención de autoayuda de Terapia de Aceptación y Compromiso. International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, 18 (1), 60–68. https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/international-journal-of-clinical-and-healthpsychology/vol/18/issue/1 [in English].
33. Yaribeygi, H., Panahi, Y., Sahraei, H., Johnston, T.P., & Sahebkar, A. (2017). The impact of stress on body function: A review. EXCLI Journal, 16, 1057–1072. https://doi.org/10.17179/excli2017-480 [in English].
