Meaning-of-life Orientations and Strategies of Coping Behavior in Young People with Different Orientations for the Future

Abstract

Introduction. At the moment an urgent topic of psychological research is the identification of opportunities for young people to overcome difficult life situations, especially in situations of uncertainty. One of the areas of research in this area is the relationship of the choice of coping strategies with elements of the value-meaning sphere, this can shed light on the mechanisms of meaning regulation of the choice of ways to overcome difficult situations.Objective. The study of the choice of various coping strategies in connection with life orientations is depending on the type of orientation for the future in young people.Materials and methods. The method “Meaning-of-life orientations” by D. A. Leontiev was used to determine the meaning-of-life orientations of young people. According to this methodology, the respondents’ orientation towards the future was also determined using indicators on the “goals in life” scale: the presence of a goal in the future, orientation and time perspective, and on the “process of life” scale. The methodology “Methods of coping behavior” by R. Lazarus was applied to determine the choice of coping strategies.Results. The subjects were young people aged 19–23 years. According to the severity of the orientation towards the future, the sample was divided into two groups: with high and medium orientation towards the future (group 1, 47.3 %), and with low and below average (group 2, 52.7 %). An analysis of the results obtained which is used the “Life-meaning orientations” method showed that the studied groups of young people have differences in the severity of all scales of CSF. According to the results, the greatest differences were found on the scales of “Goals in life” and “Locus of control of life”. Statistical analysis of the differences which used the Mann-Whitney U criterion in the severity of coping behavior strategies showed that significant differences between the groups were identified by the indicator “Problem solving planning”.Discussion. The results obtained on the type of orientation towards the future as a predictor of the choice of coping strategies are consistent with existing data that overcoming a problem through a purposeful analysis of the situation and possible behaviors, planning one’s own actions taking into account objective conditions, past experience and available resources can help a person manage a difficult situation more effectively and reduce negative consequences through the use of imagination and constructive modeling of the future.