Psychological determinants and personal prerequisites of the propensity for deviant behavior of student youth

Abstract

The scientific article presents the results of an empirical research of the psychological determinants of the propensity for deviant behavior of student youth during wartime in Ukraine. The theoretical analysis covered psychoanalytic, existential-humanistic and sociological approaches to understanding deviance, and also systematized individualpsychological, socio-psychological, motivational and socioeconomic determinants of deviant behavior. The empirical basis of the study were the results of a survey of 69 students aged 17-22 using the methodology for determining mental states that determine a tendency to deviant behavior (M. Gorska), and the methodology for diagnosing a tendency to deviant behavior (A.N. Orla). To verify the verification between psycho-emotional states and specific forms of a tendency to deviant behavior, the Spearman grade correlation coefficient was used. Statistically significant correlations were established between the generalized indicator of psychological risk according to the Gorska method and all five scales of tendency to deviant behavior according to Orla, the strongest connection was found with the indicator of volitional control of emotional reactions (rs=0.49; p<0,001). Comparison of groups with high and low risk levels using the Mann-Whitney U-criterion confirmed statistically significant differences on all scales of tendency to deviant behavior. The results were interpreted in the context of the specifics of wartime period and some directions of psychoprophylactic work were proposed.