Shlyapnikov Vladimir N.

Background. The paper presents the results of research into the features of volitional regulation among Tuvans living in rural areas and cities.

Objectives. The study had its purpose to test the hypothesis about the relationship of volitional regulation with the characteristics of the lifestyle and semantic sphere of the respondents.

Methods: “Action Control Scale”, “Questionnaire for identifying the severity of selfcontrol in the emotional sphere, activity, and behavior”, PIL test, and the author’s ad hoc questionnaire for studying the lifestyle characteristics.

Sample. Tuvans living in Erzin (185 people), in Mugur-Aksy (265 people), in Kyzyl (172 people), and in Moscow (105 people) were compared. In total, the study involved 727 people aged 18 to 79 years, 466 women and 261 men.

Results. It is shown that Tuvans living in rural vs urban areas assess their lifestyle differently. Rural residents are significantly more likely (p = 0.01) to assess their way of life as traditional whereas urban residents consider their lifestyle as modern (p = 0.01). MANOVA revealed the significant differences between the compared groups in all indicators of volitional regulation. Сovariance analysis showed that these differences are due to the lifestyle characteristics as well as the features of the respondents’ semantic sphere. The data processing obtained significant effects of the PIL test indicators and lifestyle characteristics for the Action Control Scale (p = 0.01 and p = 0.05, respectively), for emotional self-control (p = 0.01 and p = 0.01), behavioral self-control (p = 0.01 and p = 0.01), and social self-control (p = 0.01 and p = 0.01).

Conclusion. The obtained results allow to assume that in the process of modernization/urbanization of Tuvan society, the role of traditions and group experience in the regulation of activity decreases whereas the role of volitional regulation increases.