Possibilities of the Passive Image-Therapy Method in Reducing Information and Psychological Stress among Students during the Examination Session

Abstract

Background. The article is devoted to the study of the possibility of using the method of passive image-therapy to correct the psycho-emotional states of students. It has been established that the demonstration of positive artistic photo content after a stressful impact on students makes it possible to compensate for the consequences of a negative influence at the level of psycho-emotional states, namely, protection is realized in relation to anxiety, lack of concentration, lethargy, inertia, passive attitude to what is happening, as well as to a decrease in the emotional background and generalization of asthenic behaviour. Objectives. The purpose of this work is to prove the effectiveness of passive image-therapeutic technology within the framework of the psychological mechanism for overcoming negative emotional states associated with informational impact on the personality of students. Study Participants. An empirical study was carried out with the participation of 68 students of various forms of education at Moscow State Psychological and Pedagogical University, the Institute of Economics and Culture. Methods. Assessment of the current psycho-emotional state before and after the experiment was carried out with the method “Health, activity, mood”, the questionnaire determining the dominant mental state, and the questionnaire “Determination of neuropsychic stress”. Stress impact was modeled by an examination session. Passive image-therapy involved the participants' perception of 12 images with positive content (artistic paintings and reproductions depicting nature, abstractions and positive, attractive images). For data processing, descriptive statistics, frequency analysis, assessment of differences in groups and shifts were used. Results. In the study of the influence of positive content on the psycho-emotional state of a person, as well as its compensatory capabilities, data sets collected before and after the experiment were compared using the Wilcoxon T-shift criterion for dependent samples. Preservation of the initial level of psycho-emotional characteristics in the control group in combination with a decrease in such parameters as “Mood”, “Calm”, “Activity” (DS-6), “Efficiency”, “Satisfaction with life” in the experimental group can be interpreted as follows: psycho-emotional state of students in stress improves significantly in response to the presentation of positive artistic photo content. The subjects noted a decrease in the level of anxiety. Their activity and positive emotional response increase. Conclusions. The results make it possible to improve the technologies of psycho-corrective work and psychological assistance based on the elements of art therapy. As the main recommendations, it is proposed to use image-therapeutic technology after negative informational pressure on significant subjects.

Keywords

• information and communication technologies
• passive image-therapy method
• information and psychological stress
• stress factor
• psycho-emotional state