Assertiveness in the System of Behavioral Strategies of the Modern Youth

Abstract

This article is an empirical study of the psychological features of assertive strategies of modern youth. The research methods include the modified test-questionnaire "Studying the assertiveness level", K. Thomas' test of behavioral strategies, and the test to determine the integral empathy in adolescents and young people. The results of an empirical study of the dominant behavioral strategies of Ukrainian modern youth, including early and mature adolescence are presented. The hierarchy of behavioral strategies of boys and girls is empirically determined as assertive, conformal, passive, altruistic, aggressive. Among the assertive strategies the following hierarchy is established: assertiveness as a representation of one's own autonomy, assertiveness as a manifestation of confidence in typical situations, assertiveness as a finding of compromise and as a real assistance not to the detriment of oneself in empathogenic situations. It has been shown that assertive strategies such as cooperation, compromise, and real self-help in empathogenic situations represent the most symmetrical subject-subject interpersonal relationships. It was found that the indicators of behavioral assertive strategies have significant positive age dynamics during adolescence with a simultaneous increase in their egocentrism and asymmetry in interpersonal interaction. The existence of gender differentiation during interactions in terms of assertiveness is demonstrated. It is proved that masculine and feminine assertive behavioral strategies are formed during early and mature adolescence in boys and girls in situations of interpersonal interaction.

Keywords: Assertiveness, behavioral strategies, assertive behavioral strategies, subject-subject relationships, early and mature adolescence

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1001816