Intragroup relations of cadets as indicators of the social and psychological climate at diff erent stages of higher education

Abstract

The relevance of the study is due to the fact that assessment of intragroup relations is one of the means of studying social and psychological climate in a group; its use allows timely solving the problem of preventing confl icts and tension within the offi cial service group, which will positively aff ect the quality of the service. The study objective is to identify and describe diff erences in the degree of manifestation of functional characteristics (positive and negative) of the cadets’ intragroup relations, as well as to establish their correlation with the favorability indicator of the social and psychological climate in the academic-service group. The study hypothesizes, fi rstly, that there is a correlation between the functionally positive and negative characteristics of intragroup relations and the favorability of the socio-psychological climate; secondly, that manifestation of the functional characteristics of intragroup relations, and, correspondingly, the degree of the climate favorability will be diff erent for the cadets at diff erent stages of studying at the university. Participants: 508 cadets of St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Aff airs of Russia (St. Petersburg), including 115 cadets of the fi rst year, 101 of the second year, 101 of the third year, 98 of the fourth and 93 cadets of the fi fth year aged from 18 to 24; 107 females and 401 males. Methods (tools): “Subjective Assessment of Intragroup Relations Scale” (by S. V. Dukhnovsky, K. V. Zlokazov) aimed at identifying functional (positive and negative) characteristics of intragroup relations, the combination of which makes it possible to determine the index of the socio-psychological climate in the group, and the “Assessing the Level of Psychological Climate in the Group” Technique (by A. N. Lutoshkin) aimed at measuring the degree of the climate favorability / unfavorability. Results: it has been found out that the most favorable index of functionally positive characteristics of intragroup relations is expressed in cadets of the fi rst and fourth years, whereas in the second, third and fi fth years there is a decrease in this indicator. Moreover, the study has revealed signifi cant correlations between the functionally positive and negative characteristics of intragroup relations with the favorability level of the climate in the group. The index of the socio- psychological climate as a ratio of the functional characteristics of intragroup relations (positive and negative) is diff erent in the assessment of cadets at diff erent stages of university study. It is shown that the functional characteristics of intragroup relations act as indicators of the socio–psychological climate, and their general index refl ects the level of its favorability (unfavorability) in academic groups. The main conclusions. The results prove the consistency of considering the favorability index of the socio-psychological climate as an indicator of intragroup relations in academic groups. This index is an alternative to the well-known methods of the climate measurement. Practical significance: further study of intragroup relations as indicators of the socio-psychological climate will contribute to solving the problem of collaboration and compatibility of employees of internal aff airs bodies, as well as issues of their individual reliability.

Keywords

• socio-psychological climate
• academic and service group
• intragroup relations
• functionality
• higher education
• cadets