PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY OF PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS AT THE ADAPTATION STAGE OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIALIZATION IN A HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION

Abstract

The article presents a theoretical and empirical study of an actual problem, the study of which is directly related to increasing the efficiency of professionalization and adaptation of the future specialist to the conditions of professional activity. The purpose of the article is to study the psychological features of the professional identity of psychology students at the adaptive stage of professional socialization in a higher education institution (HEI) and the nature of its interrelationships with their motivation to study, reflection, empathic abilities, and meaningful life orientations. The research used methods of theoretical analysis and generalization of scientific literature, psychological testing and methods of mathematical and statistical processing of the obtained data. Empirically, it was found that the vast majority of first-year psychology students have the 6th type of professional identity with a medium-expressive active position with a positive emotional attitude towards the future profession. For these students, the profession of psychologist is one of the important ways of self-realization in life. Most of the researched have a versatile idea of themselves, about various aspects of their «I», well-developed reflection, and the dominant motive for studying in higher education institutions is the acquisition of knowledge. However, almost a fifth of the researched psychology students are mainly motivated to get a diploma. It was found that it is the active subject position of psychology students at the adaptation stage of professional socialization at higher education institutions that orients them to the acquisition of professional knowledge and the expansion of their horizons. It has been established that the development of more productive types of professional identity of first-year psychology students is facilitated by a higher level of meaningfulness in life, since the subjects with higher satisfaction with the profession of psychologist and an active attitude towards its development have clearer life goals, greater emotional saturation of life, are convinced of the ability to influence their lives. Such students also have better empathic abilities, the ability to introspect, and the dominant motive of mastering the profession.