Formation of critical thinking to overcome existential fears in people 15–17 years old as an element of sustainable behavior

Abstract

Recently, due to the changing conditions of objective reality, the actualization of fears among the population has been growing. Highly intense fears interfere with the normal social life of the individual and can lead to its maladaptation, which can begin to manifest itself already in adolescence, when many stressful factors affect the personality, emotional and cognitive immaturity of the individual only increase the negative impact. In this regard, it is necessary to create an effective screening technique aimed at identifying the actual fears of the individual with an assessment of their intensity. To this end, we have proposed the author’s questionnaire “Features of actualization of existential fears of the individual”, the internal structure of which allows not only to identify fears, but to determine their intensity and need for psychological help. In order to ensure the adequacy of the integrative indicator “intensity of fear”, determined by the author’s questionnaire, the data were compared with the results obtained using the methods “Life Satisfaction Scale” and “Death Anxiety Scale”. We also associate an increase in the intensity of fears, their impact on the quality of life, the appearance of somatovegetative reactions in fear with a number of personal characteristics of the individual, including critical thinking, as an important cognitive property of the individual.