PERM UNIVERSITY HERALD. SERIES “PHILOSOPHY. PSYCHOLOGY. SOCIOLOGY”

VESTNIK PERMSKOGO UNIVERSITETA. SERIYA FILOSOFIA PSIKHOLOGIYA SOTSIOLOGIYA

DOI: 10.17072/2078-7898/2017-3-381-395

UNACHIEVED PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY OF THE SCHOOL LEAVER
AS A PREDICTOR OF THE «SOPHOMORE SLUMP»*

Kozhevnikova Oksana Vyacheslavovna*
Ph.D. in Psychology, Docent,
Associate Professor of the Department of General Psychology

Udmurt State University,
1, Universitetskaya str., Izhevsk, 426034, Russia;
e-mail: oxana.kozhevnikova@gmail.com
ORCID: 0000-0002-1995-3886

Shreiber Tatyana Viktorovna
Ph.D. in Psychology,
Associate Professor of the Department of General Psychology

Udmurt State University,
1, Universitetskaya str., Izhevsk, 426034, Russia;
e-mail: tschreiber@yandex.ru
ORCID: 0000-0002-0120-1803

The article contains analysis of the issues associated with the process of personal self-determination on different stages of professional formation and the description of various approaches to understanding the phenomenon of «sophomore slump» which is considered as one of the phases of a regular age-related identity crisis emerging within specific conditions of the subject’s academic adjustment. The results of the empirical research oriented towards exploring professional identity statuses of high-school graduates followed by sophomores’ experiences in the second year of studying are presented. Professional identity statuses at the time of entering university were identified by using content-analysis procedures for analyzing essays representing respondents’ retrospective self-reports describing the process of the major and future profession choice and subjects’ feelings related to that process. It is found out that at the time of taking a decision on entering higher education institution half of the respondents were in the moratorium status that took two forms: the lack of clearly defined professional visions and the modification of professional visions forced by external circumstances. The second half of the research sample was characterized by developing clear and steady interests, intentions and goals that defined their ability and commitment to implement their independent and deliberate choice of the university higher educational establishment and their future profession. The specificity of experiencing the crisis associated with the «sophomore slump» was researched with the involvement of reliable and valid psychometric techniques (The Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF) and The Self-Evaluation Questionnaire). Statistical processing of the empirical data using open and professional software packages (MS Excel and IBM SPSS Statistics) showed that unachieved professional identity at the time of university entrance could be considered as a predictor of more intense development of «sophomore slump» symptoms. The same tendencies were detected during the analysis of the essays representing sophomores’ ideas and perceptions of the crisis they had to cope with in the second year of their studies.

Keywords: identity crisis, sophomore slump, professional identity status, achieved professional identity, moratorium status.

References

  1. Freedman M.B. The passage through college. Journal of Social Issues. 1956, no. 12, pp. 13–27. DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1956.tb00385.x.(In English).
  2. Bonello F.J. Freshman-sophomore learning differentials: a comment. Journal of Economic Education. 1984, no. 3, pp. 205–210. (In English).
  3. Cooper C.A., McCord D.M., Socha A. Evaluating the college sophomore problem: the case of personality and politics. Journal of Psychology. 2011, no. 1, pp. 23–37. (In English).
  4. Lemons L.J., Richmond D.R. A developmental perspective of sophomore slump. NASPA Journal. 1987, no. 24(3), pp. 15–19. (In English).
  5. Bisese S.D., Fabian D.J. Sophomore men: the forgotten class, the forgotten gender. Recruitment & Retention in Higher Education. 2006, no. 3, pp. 1–4. (In English).
  6. Tobolowsky B.F. Sophomores in transition: The forgotten year. New Directions for Higher Education. 2008, no. 144, pp. 59–67. DOI: 10.1002/he.326. (In English).
  7. Visible solutions for invisible students: Helping sophomores succeed / 2000, 152 p. (In English).
  8. Young D.G., Schreiner L.A., McIntosh E.J. Investigating sophomore student success: the National survey of sophomore-year initiatives and the sophomore experiences survey, 2014. Columbia: The National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, 2015, 124 p. (In English).
  9. White W.F., Mosely D. Twelve-year pattern of retention and attrition in a commuter type university. Education. 1995, no. 3, pp. 400–403. (In English).
  10. Vyuzhanina S.A., Kozhevnikova O.V. «Krizis vtorokursnika»: osobennosti akademicheskoy adaptatsii v polikulturnoy srede regionalnogo vuza [«Sophomore Slump»: the Specifics of Academic Adjustment in the Multicultural Environment of the Regional University]. Ponyat drugogo: mezhkulturnoe vzaimoponimanie v sovremennom globalnom mire: Collected Articles of the 5th Russian conference Prakticheskaya etnopsikhologiya: aktualnye problemy i perspektivy razvitiya [Understanding the Other: Intercultural Understanding in the Modern Global World: Practical Ethnophychology: Topical Issues and Prospects of Development]. Moscow, GBOU VPO MGPPU Publ., 2015, pp. 25–26. (In Russian).
  11. Ovchinnikova Yu.G. K probleme interventsiy v situatsii krizisa lichnosti: ot teorii k praktike [To the Problem of Interventions in the Situations of the Identity Crisis: from Theory to Practice]. Kulturno-istoricheskaya psikhologiya [Cultural-Historical Psychology Journal]. 2010, no. 3. pp. 93–98.(In Russian).
  12. Soldatova E.L. Dinamika ego-identichnosti i predstavleniy o buduschem v normativnykh krizisakh vzroslosti [The Dynamics of Ego-Identity and Ideas of the Future in the Period of Normative Crises of Adulthood]. Psikhologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie [Psychological Science and Education]. 2006, no. 2, pp. 16–30. (In Russian).
  13. Coburn K.L., Treeger M.L. Letting go: A parent’s guide to understanding the college years. 5th ed. New York: Harper Perennial, 2009, 464 p.(In English).
  14. Margolis G. Unslumping our sophomores: Some clinical observations and strategies. Journal of the American Health Association. 1976, no. 27, pp. 153–156. (In English).
  15. Erikson E. Identichnost: yunost i krizis [Identity: Youth and Crisis]. Moscow, Flinta Publ., 2006, 342 p. (In Russian).
  16. Slobodchikov V.L., Isaev E.I. Osnovy psikhologicheskoy antropologii. Psikhologiya razvitiya cheloveka: Razvitie subektivnoy realnosti v ontogeneze [The Basics of Psychological Anthropology. Psychology of Human Development: Development of the Subjective Reality in the Ontogenesis]. Moscow, Shkolnaya Pressa Publ., 2000, 416 p. (In Russian).
  17. Soldatova E.L. Struktura i dinamika normativnogo krizisa perekhoda k vzroslosti [The Structure and the Dynamics of the Normative Crisis of the Transition to the Maturity]. Chelyabinsk, YuUrGU Publ., 2007, 267 p. (In Russian).
  18. Zeer E.F., Symanyuk E.E. Psikhologiya professionalnykh destruktsiy [Psychology of Professional Destructions]. Moscow, Akademicheskiy Proekt Publ., 2005, 240 p.(In Russian).
  19. Pryazhnikov N.S. Professionalnoe i lichnostnoe samoopredelenie [Professional and Personal Self-Determination]. Moscow, The Institute of Practical Psychology Publ., Voronezh, MODEK Publ., 1996, 256 p. (In Russian).
  20. Symanyuk E.E. Psikhologiya professionalno obuslovlennykh krizisov [Psychology of Profession-related Crisis]. Moscow, MSPI Publ.; Voronezh, MODEK Publ., 2004, 320 p. (In Russian).
  21. Slovar prakticheskogo psikhologa [Dictionary of the Practical Psychologist]. Minsk, Kharvest Publ., 1998, 800 p. (In Russian).
  22. Poltavskiy S.V. Psikhologicheskie usloviya preodoleniya tsennostno-smyslovogo krizisa serediny zhizni v protsesse samopoznaniya lichnosti: avtoref. dis. … kand. psikhol. nauk [Psychological Conditions of Overcoming Value and Meaning Crisis of the Midlife in the Process of Personal Self-Actualization. Abstract of Cand. psychol. sci. dis.]. Tambov, 2008, 27 p.(In Russian).
  23. Senkevich L.V. Oprosnik «Perezhivanie ekzistentsialnogo krizisa»: pervyy etap aprobatsii [The Questionnaire of the Existential Crisis Experiencing: the First Stage of Approbation]. Sistemnaya psikhologiya i sotsiologiya [Systematic Psychology and Sociology]. 2015, no. 4(16), pp. 46–54. (In Russian).
  24. Zhedunova L.G. Psikhologiya lichnostnogo krizisa: avtoref. dis. … d-ra psikhol. nauk [Psychology of the Identity Crisis. Abstract of Dr. psychol. sci. dis.]. Yaroslavl, 2010, 54 p. (In Russian).
  25. Dmitrieva N.V., Samoylik N.A. Krizis identichnosti: fenomenologiya perezhivaniya [Identity Crisis: Phenomenology of Experience]. Novosibirsk, NGPU Publ., 2012, 279 p.(In Russian).
  26. Yalom I. Ekzistentsialnaya psikhoterapiya [Existential Psychotherapy]. Moscow, RIMIS Publ., 2008, 608 p. (In Russian).
  27. Klimov I.A. Psikhosotsialnye mekhanizmy vozniknoveniya krizisa identichnosti [Psychosocial Mechanisms of the Identity Crisis Development]. Transformatsiya identifikatsionnykh struktur v sovremennoy Rossii [The Transformation of the Identity Structures in Modern Russia]. Moscow, Moscow Public Scientific Fund Publ., 2001, pp. 54–81. (In Russian).
  28. Antonova N.V. Problema lichnostnoy identichnosti v interpretatsii sovremennogo psikhoanaliza, interaktsionizma i kognitivnoy psikhologii [The Problem of Personal Identity in the Interpretation of Modern Psychoanalysis, Interactionism and Cognitive Psychology]. Voprosy psikhologii [Questions of Psychology]. 1996, no. 1, pp. 131–143. (In Russian).
  29. Tatarko S.A. Izmerenie identichnosti v ramkakh statusnoy modeli J. Marsii [Measuring Identity in the Framework of Status Model by J. Marcia]. Psikhologicheskaya diagnostika [Psychological Diagnosis]. 2009, no. 1, pp. 130–138. (In Russian).
  30. Azbel A.A. Osobennosti formirovaniya statusov professionalnoy identichnosti starsheklassnikov: avtoref. dis. … kand. psikhol. nauk [The Specifics of the Formation of Professional Identity Statuses of Senior School Students. Abstract of Cand. psychol. sci. dis.]. Moscow, 2004, 20 p.(In Russian).
  31. Tazetdinova E.R., Kozhevnikova O.V. Professionalnoe samoopredelenie yunoshey i devushek v krizisnyy period: sotsialno-ekonomicheskie i individualno-psikhologicheskie aspekty problemy [Professional Self-Determination of Young People in the Crisis Period]. Aktualnye problemy gosudarstvennoy molodezhnoy politiki sovremennoy Rossii [The Topical Issues of the State Youth Policy in modern Russia]. Izhevsk, Udmurt University Publ., 2015, pp. 256–264. (In Russian).
  32. Krants I.I. Opredelenie statusov identichnosti: vozmozhnosti diagnostiki [Defining Identity Statuses: Possibilities of Diagnosis]. Available at: http://www.rusnauka. com/3._KAND_2007/Psihologia/18710.doc.htm (accessed 18.03.2017). (In Russian).
  33. Kuzmin M.Yu., Konopak I.A. Empiricheskoe izuchenie kriteriev krizisa identichnosti studentov starshikh i mladshikh kursov [Empirical Studying of the Criteria of the Identity Crisis of Senior and Junior Students]. Izvestiya IGU. Seriya Psikhologiya [Proceedings of the Irkutsk State University: Psychology]. 2014, vol. 8, pp. 45–55. (In Russian).
  34. Ovchinnikova Yu.G. K probleme krizisa identichnosti [To the Problem of the Identity Crisis]. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 14. Psikhologiya [Moscow University Bulletin. Psychology]. 2000, no. 2, pp. 84–89.(In Russian).
  35. Orestova V.R., Karabanova O.A. Metody issledovaniya identichnosti v kontseptsii statusov ego-identichnosti J. Marsia [The Methods of Identity Studying in the Concept of Ego-Identity Statuses of J. Marcia]. Psikhologiya i shkola [Psychology and School]. 2005, no. 1, pp. 39–90. (In Russian).
  36. Samoylik N.A. Psikhologo-pedagogicheskie usloviya perezhivaniya krizisa identichnosti studentov VUZa na nachalnom etape obucheniya: avtoref. dis. … kand. psikhol. nauk [Psychological and Pedagogical Conditions of Identity Crisis Experiencing by University Students in the Beginning of Studying. Abstract of Cand. psychol. sci. dis.]. Kemerovo, 2012, 23 p. (In Russian).
  37. Soldatova E.L., Shlyapnikova I.A. Svyaz ego-identichnosti i lichnostnoy zrelosti [The Connection of the Ego-Identity and Personal Maturity]. Vestnik YuUrGU: Psikhologiya [South Ural State University Bulletin: Psychology]. 2015, no. 1, pp. 29–33. (In Russian).
  38. Shlyapnikova I.A. Metodika diagnostiki simptomov normativnogo krizisa vzroslosti [The Method of Diagnosis the Symptoms of the Normative Maturity Crisis]. Vestnik ChGPU [Chelyabinsk State Pedagogical University Bulletin]. 2009, no. 4, pp. 185–192. (In Russian).
  39. Shneyder L.B. Lichnostnaya, gendernaya i professionalnaya identichnost: teoriya i metody diagnostiki [Personal, Gender and Profesional Identity: Theory and Methods of Diagnosis]. Moscow, Moscow Psychology and Social Institute Publ., 2007. 234 p. (In Russian).
  40. Mancini T., Caricati L., Panari C., Tonarelli A. Personal and social aspects of professional identity. An extension of Marcia’s identity status model applied to a sample of university students. Journal of Vocational Behavior. 2015, no. 89, pp. 140–150. DOI 10.1016/j.jvb.2015.06.002. (In English).

The date of the manuscript receipt 01.08.2017

Please cite this article in English as:

Kozhevnikova O.V., Shreiber T.V. Unachieved professional identity of the school leaver as a predictor of the «sophomore slump» // Perm University Herald. Series «Philosophy. Psychology. Sociology». 2017. Iss. 3. P.381395. DOI: 10.17072/2078-7898/2017-3-381-395


* Исследование выполнено при финансовой поддержке РГНФ (РФФИ) в рамках научного проекта № 16-16-18013а(р).