The Study of the Relationship Between Anxiety and the Sociometric Status of Secondary School Teachers.

Potapova Ekaterina Vadimovna PhD in Psychology Associate Professor, Department of Developmental Psychology and Counseling, Siberian Federal University 82 Svobodny str., Krasnoyarsk, 660028, Russia potapowa.catia2011@yandex.ru Anikina Marina Anatol'evna PhD in Psychology Associate Professor, Department of Developmental Psychology and Counseling, Siberian Federal University 79 Svobodny str., Krasnoyarsk, 660072, Russia exclus_ttt@mail.ru Chistov Roman Sergeevich PhD in Philosophy Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Siberian Federal University 79 Svobodny str., Krasnoyarsk, 660041, Russia chistovrs@mail.ru Gudovskii Igor' Vital'evich PhD in Pedagogy Associate Professor, Department of Psychology and Pedagogy, Siberian State University of Science and Technology. Academician M.F. Reshetnev 79 Svobodny str., Krasnoyarsk, 660074, Russia shepeleva2024@inbox.ru

Shepeleva Yuliya Sergeevna Senior Lecturer, Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences and Humanities, Krasnoyarsk State Medical University Prof. V.F. Voyno-Yasenetsky 660022, Russia, Krasnoyarsk, Partizan Zheleznyak str., 1 shepeleva2024@inbox.ru

Today, the profession of a teacher is subject to increased requirements related to the availability of such competencies that would meet the new trends of the time. Of course, first of all, these are competencies in the field of information, communication, and remote technologies that have been actively introduced into our lives. But no less important are such "classic" characteristics, relevant at all times, as psychological stability, low anxiety, authority and social position of the teacher not only among students, but also among the entire teaching staff ^[11].

Any teacher, when faced with various problematic and stressful situations in his professional activity, should be able to solve them promptly and effectively. To do this, first of all, he must have a low level of anxiety, since increased anxiety negatively affects the ability to rationally solve problem situations. The teacher who manages the student's personal development should be able to consciously regulate the manifestations of his emotionality and anxiety, including ^[12].

In Russian science, the state of anxiety among teachers, their specifics are studied by Alasheev S.Yu., Bykov S.V. Shabanova T.L. ^{[1, 12]}, etc.

Methods of regulation of anxiety states are studied in the monograph by T.L. Shabanova ^[12], articles by B.A. Gunzunova ^[4,], N.L. Malenkova ^[9], etc.

A significant number of works by Russian scientists are devoted to the study of the relationship between anxiety and various psychological aspects: emotional burnout, normative behavior, stress tolerance. These are primarily the works of I.A. Verchenko^[2], T.P. Maralova^[8], E.V. Litueva^[7] and others.

Abroad, teachers' anxiety as a negative quality that negatively affects the general psychological state and the effectiveness of professional activity is studied by Amen E.W., Renison N. A. May R. Phillips B.N. Gorsuch R.L. ^{[13, 19, 20,]} and others.

The study of the sociometric status of secondary school teachers and its relationship with various psychological components of professional activity are studied by Gonina O.O.^[3], Kurnaeva I.T. ^[5], Kutz A.N.^[6], Mechik-Groznaya O.S. ^[10] and others.

In modern foreign studies, the sociometric status of teachers is studied from the point of view of how its change occurs in the process of socialization, as the process most important from the point of view of the social formation of the subject ^{[14, 15, 16, 17]}. Also, the sociometric status of a teacher is studied as a factor of effective education and upbringing of adolescents ^{[18, 21]}.

In this regard, we organized and conducted a study on the basis of Secondary School No. 12. Krasnoyarsk. 37 teachers of the school took part in it. Of them: 22 women, 15 men. The age of respondents is 27-35 years. Work experience – 5-10 years.

The aim of the study was to study the relationship between anxiety and the social status of a secondary school teacher.

We hypothesized that for secondary school teachers with different social status in the group, differences in anxiety indicators are characteristic, both in severity and in the ratio of its individual components.

The study was conducted in several stages:

Stage 1 – collection of empirical data

Stage 2 - Analysis and interpretation of the results

Stage 3 - Statistical processing using the Pearson correlation coefficient

To determine the level of anxiety among teachers, we used the following methods:

1. The scale of apparent anxiety CMAS (adapted by A.M. Parishioners).

2. "Phillips School Anxiety Test", adapted for teachers

3. The methodology of J. Moreno "Sociometry".

To study anxiety among teachers, we conducted a test - "The Scale of apparent anxiety CMAS" (adapted by A.M. Parishioners)  and we got the following results (Table 2).

Table 2Characteristics of anxiety levels in teachers

Characteristic

Table 2 shows that the state of anxiety is not characteristic of the subjects in 20% of cases. Such "excessive calmness" may or may not have a protective character. In this case, it can be assumed that there is a "hidden anxiety" - defensive behavior. Subjects often say that they do not experience anxiety, but constantly fail because of their bad luck, insolvency, and other people's relationships.

 Among teachers, a normal level of anxiety prevails, which is necessary for adaptation and productive activity. This level is characterized by an optimal manifestation of anxiety in cases when mobilization is needed to complete tasks, on the way to a certain goal, an adequate level of criticality regarding life situations and is 30%.

Slightly increased anxiety occurs in 20% of respondents. In this case, the occurrence of anxiety is often associated with a limited range of situations, a certain sphere of life. These may be situations related to school life (inspections, open lessons, reports), with ideas about oneself (for example, a high level of pretensions and low self-esteem), with communication with colleagues ("I'm worse", "I'm not doing as well as others"), etc.

Clearly increased anxiety is manifested in 20.0% of respondents and usually has a "diffuse", generalized character, freely changing objects depending on changes in their significance for a person. In these cases, private anxiety is only a form of general expression.

Very high anxiety is manifested in 10 % of respondents . This level of anxiety belongs to the risk group, it can be generated either by the real disadvantage of the student in the most significant areas of activity and communication, or exist as if contrary to an objectively prosperous situation, being a consequence of certain personal conflicts, violations in the development of self-esteem, etc. Such anxiety is often experienced by teachers who study well and even excellently, are responsible for their studies, social life, and school discipline, but this apparent well-being comes at an unreasonably high price and is fraught with disruptions, especially with a sharp complication of activities.

Table 3. Gender differences in anxiety among teachers

From Table 3, we see that obvious anxiety prevails among female teachers (19%), normal anxiety prevails among male teachers (20%) and very high anxiety (11%).

Thus, in women, the occurrence of anxiety is often associated with a limited range of situations, a certain sphere of life, or occurs depending on the change in the significance of the object.

In men, the normal level of anxiety prevails (20%). They adapt better to the situation and are capable of productive activities. They are able to mobilize their forces to perform tasks. At the same time, very high anxiety in 11% puts them at risk. Visible well-being gets to them at an unreasonably high price and is fraught with disruptions, especially with a sharp complication of activities.

To identify the main types of anxiety, we conducted the "Phillips School Anxiety Test", adapted for teachers.We analyzed the general emotional internal state of teachers, largely determined by the presence of certain anxiety syndromes (factors) and their number.

Table 4Indicators of anxiety among teachers

№№

Using this technique, we considered each parameter separately, which was informative for us, and in a certain way prompted us to identify the causes of anxiety.

Fig. 1. Indicators of the most pronounced anxiety among teachers

Analyzing the result of this study, we noticed that the greatest number of teachers had a high anxiety factor:

1. Fear of the verification situation - 72.7%, negative attitude and anxiety in verification situations.

2. Fear of not meeting the expectations of others - 67%, teachers focus on the importance of others in assessing their results of actions and thoughts.

3. Fear of self-expression - 59%. Teachers experience negative emotional experiences of situations involving the need for self-disclosure, presenting themselves to others, demonstrating their capabilities.

Thus, we see that most of all teachers are worried about checking their activities, worried that they might do something wrong.  And also, teachers are very worried about the fact that they do not know how to present themselves to others, express their capabilities.

The results obtained with the help of sociometric studies are presented in the form of a sociomatrix (Appendix No. 4).

As a result of the conducted sociometric research among teachers, we identified the following diagnostic indicators:

 "stars" - 11%, "preferred" - 24%, "accepted" - 54 and "not accepted" - 11%. 

Fig. 2. Social status of teachers

Next, we analyzed the status of teachers by gender. The results are shown in Fig. 3

Fig. 3. Status status in the group of women

From Figure 3 we can see that the status status of women in the group is quite high. 8% of female teachers are stars, 15% are preferred, and 77% are well received in the team. Only one female teacher is considered not accepted by the group.

In the following figure we see the situation in the male group.

 Fig. 4. Status position in the group of men

          Based on the data obtained, it can be concluded that the status position in the group of male teachers is also quite high for the majority. 4% of them are stars, 8% are preferred, and 80% are well received in the group. At the same time, two (8%) are not accepted by the rest.

The level of well–being of relationships (UBV) is 88.4%. We have received a high level of well-being of relationships, since more teachers in the group have a favorable status (1 and 2 status).

The isolation index (AI) is 11.5%, i.e. this group can be considered less prosperous, since three teachers in the study group have the status category "not accepted".

When studying the sexual differentiation of interpersonal relationships between men and women of this group, we noticed a tendency to have a more favorable position in the group of women than men. Although the men's position in the group is not bad.

Thus, the total number of expected choices for teachers is quite high.

Comparing the status position of each teacher with the level of anxiety inherent in him, we obtained the following results:  out of the total number of teachers of the I status ("stars") 11% of teachers have a high level of anxiety, 15% have an average level of anxiety and 19.2% have a low level. Of the teachers of the group who are in the II status ("preferred"), 7% have a high level of anxiety and 4% have an average level of anxiety, 4% have a low. Of all teachers of the III status ("accepted") 8% have a high level of anxiety, 8% have an average level of anxiety and 4% have a low level of anxiety. Of all teachers in the IV status ("not accepted"), they have a high level of anxiety – 15%, a low level – 4%.

Now let's consider the percentage of teachers with different status for each level of anxiety (the percentage is taken from the total number of teachers for a given level of anxiety).

Table 7The relationship between the levels of anxiety and the social status of the child in the group

Anxiety level

 To obtain more reliable information related to the proposal on the relationship between the status position in the group and anxiety, the Pearson correlation coefficient was used (for this group of teachers, indicators from 0.40 to – 0.40 are significant).

The Pearson correlation coefficient (gcu) characterizes the existence of a linear relationship between two quantities. It was calculated for the following parameters: between the status position in the group (groups 1-4) and anxiety; as well as between anxiety and the factors causing it.

Calculations of the Pearson coefficient were made. Based on these calculations, we have identified a correlation coefficient:

· between anxiety and frustration of the need to achieve success gcu = 0.45;

· between anxiety and fear of self-expression ghu = 0.64;

· between anxiety and problems in relationships with colleagues gcu = 0.40;

These data suggest that teachers have a direct relationship between anxiety and frustration, between anxiety and self-expression, between anxiety and fear of colleagues.

We calculated the Pearson coefficient between the status position in the group (groups 1-4) and anxiety. Correlation analysis showed

· between anxiety and status I – "star" = gcu 0, 01;

· between anxiety and I I status – "preferred" gcu = 0, 04;

· between anxiety and I I I status – "accepted" hcu = 0.04;

· between anxiety and IV status – "not accepted" = 0.014.

Thus, the correlation analysis showed that there was no connection between the status position in the group (groups 1-4) and anxiety.

Thus, as a result of the conducted research, it was established:

1. Teachers with pronounced anxiety can occupy any status position, i.e. they can have any number of choices, both positive and negative. The social status is not affected by the level of anxiety among teachers

2. There is a relationship between anxiety and the factors that cause it, namely: between anxiety and frustration, between anxiety and self-expression, between anxiety and fear of colleagues.

Thus, the main hypothesis put forward by us that secondary school teachers with different social status in the group are characterized by differences in anxiety indicators, both in severity and in the ratio of its individual components, has not been confirmed. This means that modern teachers do not worry about their position, status, authority in the group. Nevertheless, they worry about situations related to the verification of their activities, the negative attitude of colleagues towards them, not meeting the expectations of others, because they are guided by the importance of others in assessing their results of actions and thoughts. In addition, modern teachers experience negative emotional experiences of situations involving the need for self-disclosure, presenting themselves to others, demonstrating their capabilities. Moreover, obvious anxiety prevails among female teachers, normal level of anxiety and very high anxiety prevail among male teachers. In women, the occurrence of anxiety is often associated with a limited range of situations, a certain sphere of life, or occurs depending on the change in the significance of the object. Men who adapt better to the situation and are capable of productive activities have the ability to mobilize their forces to perform tasks. At the same time, very high anxiety in 11% of men suggests that visible well-being is fraught with disruptions, especially with a sharp complication of activities.

Thus, despite the fact that social status does not directly affect the level of anxiety of secondary school teachers, it is necessary to carry out prevention and organize psychological measures to correct the level of anxiety, as well as minimize the identified causes of increased anxiety associated with professional activity.

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