UKRAINIANS SOCIAL AND PERSONAL MILITARY IDENTITY DURING WAR

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of Ukrainians social and personal military identity during Russian- Ukrainian war. The purpose of the article is theoretical substantiation and empirical study of the peculiarities of Ukrainians social and personal military identity in wartime. Research methods: PTSD Symptom Questionnaire (PCL-5, Weathers, Litz, Keane, 2013), Posttraumatic Growth Questionnaire (PGI, Tedeschi, Calhoun, 1996) and Military Identity Scale (WIS-6, Lancaster, Hart, 2015). In this study, we analyzed the features of military identity in its connection with the traumatic experience and post-traumatic growth of college students of 1–3 years who moved from the temporarily occupied territories to the territory under Ukrainian control. Results. Military identity is a social identity that is formed and integrated into self-esteem when civilian identity becomes less visible due to military inculturation, which is especially characteristic of martial law conditions. The researched are characterized mainly by a situational military identity, less by an unformed and much less by a stable one, this tendency is characteristic of young people regardless of age. Conclusions. Men more often than women avoid the circumstances of traumatic events and situations that remind them of them, as well as negative changes in emotions and beliefs, on the other hand, a high level of post-traumatic growth was found in all participants of our study According to the results of correlation analysis, it was found that post-traumatic growth is most correlated with a stable and situational military identity, on the other hand, the presence of a traumatic event determines more often an unformed and less often a situational military identity. The sense of a shared fate, shared experiences, contributed to the development of a shared social identity, which, in turn, played a positive role in alleviating the potential negative effects of trauma. Consolidation during trauma has also affected people’s willingness to help others (as we see during the Russian-Ukrainian war), and thus allows victims and those who help them to feel supported in times of great grief. That is, when membership in a group is internalized within the framework of a person’s self-concept, he (re)defines his life meanings and values, respectively, revitalization social “I” enables a person to experience positive post-traumatic changes.