PECULIARITIES OF COPING BEHAVIOUR OF SENIOR SCHOOL-PUPILS WITH DIFFERENT LEVEL OF INTELLECTUAL RESOURCES

Abstract

Purpose. The purpose is to analyze the results of investigating the coping behavior of senior secondary school pupils with different levels of intelligence.

Methods. The methods used are: the black and white progressive matrixes by J. Raven, the coping strategy indicator test of overcoming the stress by J. Amirkhan, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support by G. Zimet, the techniques for diagnosing the level of subjective control by E. Bazhin and co-authors.

Results. The significant differences are found in the values of the general IQ of secondary school pupils and secondary special school pupils; the secondary special school pupils are characterized by a small degree of dementia. The peculiarities of coping strategies of senior secondary school pupils with different levels of general intelligence are determined. The problem-solving strategy is highlighted as the leading personality strategy, regardless of intelligence level. The secondary special school pupils are significantly more likely than secondary school pupils to focus on the coping strategy for finding social support and the coping avoidance strategy. The assessment of the peculiarities of senior school pupils’ coping resources with different levels of general intelligence is given. It is established that the pupils of the special secondary school have the most expressed perception of social support from the so-called “significant others” than from the family. For secondary school pupils, the family is the main resource for assistance in difficult life circumstances. The significant differences are found between the pupils in terms of overall internality, internality in the field of achievements and internality in the field of failures. It has been supposed that the prevalence of the external locus of control in the secondary special school pupils plays the role of a protective mechanism that allows their self-esteem to be maintained under the conditions of negative external assessments. The connection between the coping strategy for solving problems and internal locus control is found.

Сonclusions. The conclusion is made regarding the specific peculiarities of the influence of intelligence on the coping strategies and the copying personality resources. The prospects for further research on the psychological resources of the individual in early adolescence are outlined.