Situational aspects of mental regulation of psychic states

Abstract

Background. The study of psychological mechanisms and patterns of “conscious” regulation of psychic states turns us to the structures of consciousness and their functions in the regulatory process. These structures and mechanisms remain the least studied to date, while the need to understand the psychological mechanisms of self-regulation of states is extremely relevant, and knowledge about them is in demand in various situations of a subject’s life.

Objective. The presented analytical article analyzes the concept of “situation” (approaches, principles, structure, levels, etc.) considered as a “psychological situation” and investigates its role in the actualization of the mental regulation of psychic states.

Results. It is shown that psychological situation, through the formation of an impression, which is a cognitive-affective complex, “launches” the regulatory process, actualizing the structures of consciousness constituted by semantic, reflective, representative structures, experiences, and the Self system. The article provides an analysis of results of the situational conditioning of self-regulation of states among the employees of government institutions, in the process of teaching students, in difficult life situations (reversible and irreversible) as well as its impact on the activation of consciousness structures and, accordingly, on the operational means of regulation. Consideration is also given to the relationships between mental structures in the process of regulating the subject’s states.

Conclusion. The formation of functional structures “situation — mental structures — regulatory means — mental states” occurs in the process of psychic states regulation. The actualization of functional structures is due to the purpose of regulation — the need to change the state in accordance with requirements of the situation of the subject’s life activity. Activation of the consciousness structures mediating the choice of operational means of regulation and their use leads to a change in the psychic state.

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