RESEARCH ON SELF-ACTUALISATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS: GENDER ASPECT

Abstract

The article presents the results of an empirical study of the psychological characteristics of self-actualisation of higher education students' personality, taking into account gender, which was conducted in 2021-2022 at the Department of Psychology of the State Institution «Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University», the study sample consisted of 80 first (bachelor's) level higher education students, including 47 female and 33 male respondents, the age of the sample was 19-22 years. The diagnostic toolkit included: S. Bem’s sex-role questionnaire (BSRI); CAT test questionnaire (a modified version of E. Shostrom's personality orientation questionnaire); the Who Am I? by M. Kuhn and T. McPartland (modified by T.V. Rumyantseva); Test of Sense-Life Orientations (adapted by K. Muzdybaev). As a result, a number of conclusions were drawn, for example, female higher education students fully comprehend their lives, their past, present and future, they are purposeful, with a clear understanding of the future goal, while young men do not have a clearly defined goal, they are not ready to take personal responsibility for the implementation of their plans, and do not believe in the possibility of controlling the events of their lives. Girls also consider their lives to be more meaningful and tend to plan their future. The female sample is able to manage their lives and build their lives at their own discretion, with material independence as their main goal. Girls, in comparison to boys, tend to perceive human nature as generally positive («people are generally good»), are more sensitive to their internal states, and understand their own feelings and needs more accurately