Life strategy. Study of life strategies in domestic and foreign literature Strategies for well-being, success and self-realization

Main types of life strategies in modern society : strategies for well-being, success and self-realization.

For a more detailed consideration of this issue, it is necessary to take into account the social stratification of Russian society to find out what an individual belonging to a certain stratum has in life.

There are classes such as the working class, the peasantry and the bourgeoisie.

Bourgeoisie- This is the ruling class of capitalist society, owning the means of production and exploiting wage labor.

Working class- these are hired workers who do not have the means of production and live by selling labor power, that is, their ability to work.

The working class is the main productive force of industrial society. In industrialized countries, the composition of the working class is changing. The category of employed workers currently includes, in addition to industrial and agricultural workers, office and sales employees, and service sector workers.

Peasantry- a class that has a dual nature, since it combines the functions of owner and worker in one person.

The concept of “class” is actively used in modern science. Following K. Marx (1818-1883) and M. Weber (1864-1920), modern researchers consider economic characteristics as the main ones for identifying classes.

Traditionally, today there are classes such as: 1) upper class, 2) middle class, 3) working class, 4) peasants.

The upper class is represented by people who own property or exercise direct control over its disposal, that is, we mean large industrialists and financial magnates.

The middle class consists of white-collar workers, so-called white-collar workers, and specialists.

And finally, the working class is people engaged primarily in industrial manual labor.

Marginalized- This is a special social group. Marginality, translated from Latin, means “on the edge.” An example of marginalized people are tramps. As a rule, marginalized people occupy a borderline, intermediate position in relation to some social communities, for example class, national, cultural. Among marginalized people, the social regulation of behavior is disrupted, their behavior becomes asocial.

Depending on the individual’s membership in various social groups, the social status of the individual is determined.

Within the framework of sociological knowledge, the study of the position of the individual in society, that is, the social position of the individual, is of great importance. This position is defined by the concept of “social status”. Social status includes attributive (belonging to a group, class, social group etc.), functional, evaluative (prestige) and normative characteristics. In this regard, the behavior and actions of an individual are assessed by others in accordance with social status.

Social connections between people are formed on the basis of their performance of social functions (roles, for example, teacher, driver, father, daughter, etc.), which indicate the position of people in the social structure of society. The social status of an individual is understood as the position of a person in society, which he occupies in accordance with age, gender, origin, profession, marital status, etc. In other words, we are talking about the rights, responsibilities, socio-economic status and standard of living of the individual .

A person plays many roles in life and is subject to many role requirements. In the clinic he is a patient, in the theater he is a spectator, in the service he occupies a certain position, etc. We can conclude that social role- this is the behavior expected from an individual, a set of actions that he must perform, occupying a certain position in society, i.e., having a certain social status.

But an individual not only has a certain social status and role set, he is constantly evaluated by other individuals, groups and the society in which he lives. This assessment by society of the significance of certain positions occupied by individuals is called prestige. And the degree of recognition by society of personal and business qualities someone is defined as an authority.

Some traits that influence a person’s social status are objective in nature, i.e. do not depend on his desires (nationality, gender, origin, etc.). But the main thing that determines the social status, social position, authority and prestige of an individual today is education, qualifications and other personal and socially significant qualities, which, when implemented, guarantee well-being and success in personal and public life. The strategy of well-being and success is inherent in all individuals, regardless of social class. The features of this strategy can be considered:

1. The presence of health and physical perfection as well as the desire for this perfection.

2. Receiving a prestigious education and working in a company for significant monetary compensation and advancement through the ranks.

3. Prosperous marriage and strong family.

4. Availability of your own housing (European style).

5. presence of a passenger car (cars).

6. Availability of a dacha, yacht, helicopter, airplane and other essential benefits that allow you to live comfortably.

7. A healthy moral lifestyle and participation in prestigious moral projects.

8. High spirituality, morality and spiritual beauty.

9. Transformation of good and rejection of evil.

10. Other essential features of a successful and prosperous person.

Personal self-realization is a process and state of the level achieved at a certain age. A level that allows one to realize oneself (education, upbringing, profession, level of scientific knowledge, social activity), that is, to materialize one’s formed “I” in life, while undoubtedly achieving well-being, success and recognition by society of one’s contribution to one or another sphere of human activity.

In life, as a rule, the process and fact of self-realization is not fully realized. In this case, the personality, its qualitative and other characteristics, abilities and desires will not be in demand by society. The personality is never realized as a person due to the fact that the process of self-realization is limited by age (the lower limit is age active work, and the upper active limit is the retirement age. However, even after going on vacation, individuals continue the process of self-realization, but this is more like an exception and not a rule.

Interests.

The modern generation is entering a world not only of new market relations, spiritual values and ideals, but also of increasing material opportunities. And one must be able to correctly correlate material and spiritual needs. People's interests result in the preservation or transformation of those conditions (institutions, norms of relationships) on which the distribution of goods depends. It also happens, unfortunately, that following the chosen image takes the form of purely external imitation. In such cases, a person, based on certain interests, plays one or another role that does not coincide with his actual essence. Thus, a timid person plays the role of a rake, a cheerful person puts on the “mask” of a pessimist, a cowardly person strives to turn into a kind of “Superman,” etc. There are various interests in society: individual, group interests of society as a whole. Based on their focus, interests are divided into economic, social, political, spiritual, and personal. People's activities manifest themselves in various spheres of social life; their direction, content, and meaning are infinitely diverse.

Related information.

Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, psychologist, mediator-trainer,

systemic family therapist, trauma therapist

“Either you are part of the solution or you are part of the problem.”

Eldridge Cleaver

The intensity of life of a modern person leads to the fact that he often has no time to think about what he wants, how satisfied he is with his life, whether he is living as he planned.

Work, affairs, worries about the house, about children acquire power over our lives. We devote a good half of our lives to satisfying basic basic needs (food, shelter, clothing, a car), spending twenty or even thirty years.

And in the middle of life, as a rule, we ask ourselves one of the “eternal” questions: can my life be called successful? And what is success, what is the secret of success, are there laws and rules of success, traps and pitfalls on the path to success, and finally, what is a life strategy for success and how much does it depend on our activity? This is what we are concerned about seriously and for a long time.

Is it possible to learn success? Among the fundamental knowledge that a modern person receives at school or university, there is practically no knowledge of how to properly build his individual life.

For many centuries people have been studying in detail stamens and pistils, the human skeleton and the location of muscles, mathematical formulas and the rules of grammar, but do not receive any knowledge about the role and meaning of consciousness and the unconscious in human life, about will and responsibility. They do not know the laws by which groups and teams are formed and managed, the laws of forming a true partnership both in the family and in business life.

It is not possible to understand such a complex topic as success without knowledge of psychology. Knowledge of psychology helps a person understand himself, see his individuality, study his character, and understand his own life strategy for achieving success.

What is success and what does it depend on?

Let's first think about what prevents us from being satisfied with the fullness of life? The first difficulty that almost each of us faces is the question how to separate your personal life from a life that is under the “close control” of others: parents, bosses at work, colleagues and friends, husbands and wives, society itself, in the end?

For many years, an attitude dominated in our consciousness, according to which we were prescribed: whom to love and hate, to whom to treat in what way, with whom to be friends, whom to study for, whom to bow before, etc. This attitude has deprived us of our “right” to privacy.

The presence of “two responsible” (a person and “someone else”) has formed a double standard in our attitude towards our own lives. On the one hand, we understand that success in life depends on ourselves; on the other hand, there is a personal mechanism of “assigning responsibility”, when a person, removing it from himself, seeks to blame others for his failures, miscalculations, mistakes: parents, others, society, circumstances, superiors, subordinates (“they didn’t give”, “they didn’t create conditions”, “they didn’t provide”, “they didn’t help”, “they didn’t love”).

The presence of an externally blaming position is the first sign of a person’s non-acceptance of responsibility for all the events of his own life. Confidence that the world around us must and is obliged to give us something, if not according to the first, then according to the second requirement, greatly spoils our character, and subsequently our destiny.

Other mechanism: a person imitates those around him in everything, in clothes, in lifestyle, in habits, and at the same time he is deeply convinced of his individuality, uniqueness, independence, even originality. This mechanism of self-deception helps a person lead a very active life, achieve external success and satisfaction, but gradually leads to the loss of his true “I”.

However, most people find it difficult to admit to themselves that only they themselves influence their own lives, and to do this you just need to “look closely at yourself”, and quite self-critically.

The great psychologist, philosopher, K.G. Jung said: "... that the most unpleasant meeting in a person’s life is meeting with himself" Refusal to be an individual and to accept responsibility for every action and decision, for every word is a rejection of oneself.

The first law of the philosophy of success is that the one who believes in his best qualities, strengths, who is always convinced that he has them, and who accepts himself as he is, wins. I am not a doll, not a puppet, not the embodiment of someone’s expectations, but the one nature created me to be, I correspond to myself every day.

Presenting the individual “history” of a person, is it possible to talk about general patterns of success along the path of life? Speaking about personal life, we are looking for it not in the sphere of free time, not in the sphere of leisure, not in the sphere of family, not in the sphere of achieving the highest professionalism in our field (although, in my opinion, this is a necessary but not sufficient condition).

We also cannot study our personal lives based on the number of books we have read and the information we have mastered. The success of personal life begins with asking questions such as: does a person live in accordance with his needs, does he put up with his dissatisfaction with life, does he have life prospects, how does he connect in his life what he wants, what he can and what he should?

In other words, from the point of view of success, the life path of each person has the same “measurement” criteria for all people: it worked out or didn’t work out, satisfied or dissatisfied, happy or unhappy, living an interesting life or not, etc.

But the methods of their implementation are purely individual. And from this point of view, the philosophy of success is how satisfied a person is with his life.

This is, first of all, a feeling - a complex feeling, not always unambiguous, but always generalized by a successful or unsuccessful, successful or unsuccessful life. When we experience disappointment in one thing, we always console ourselves in another, trying to bring us to some kind of balance. At the same time, we don’t notice that we are only calming ourselves down, driving the feeling of dissatisfaction deeper, instead of revealing the reasons and really changing ourselves.

Contentment is a feeling of being true to yourself, of the authenticity of your life.

Law two: the only criterion that can be interpreted that your life is successful is satisfaction or dissatisfaction with life. It has many shades depending on the types of people, but this is perhaps the only infallible criterion that can be logically explained.

Accordingly, you and I have a great opportunity to move from a spontaneous way of living life to one that we determine ourselves.

The essence of this definition lies in the choice of conditions and direction in life, in the choice of education and profession that best suits our characteristics, desires, abilities, and therefore best suits our life strategy for success.

There are several signs of building a life strategy:

1. Choosing the main direction in life, determining the main goals, stages of achievement and their subordination.

Often a person's intentions and the counter demands of life create contradictions between what a person wants and what life offers him.

2. Resolving life's contradictions, achieving goals and plans.

Methods for resolving contradictions, the desire to resolve them or get away from them, depend on the special qualities of the individual (spiritual qualities, such as responsibility and will), which are developed in the process of life and differ from abilities or character.

Thus, success depends not only on the area in which a person applies his strength, but also on how he manifests himself.

3. Human creativity, or rather, the creative creation of one’s own values, the combination of one’s needs and values.

The value of life, consisting of passion, incessant search, and satisfaction, is a product of an individual life strategy, which is determined by the person himself.

Observing modern reality, one can notice that now many are aimed at realizing the standards of ideas about a successful life, which involve material enrichment. While one of the manifestations of personality maturity is a person’s ability to determine the “threshold” of satiation, at which satisfied material needs are considered as an intermediate task that helps to realize more important goals.

Thus, the third law says - the ability to “switch” life’s aspirations from material to spiritual values helps a person live his life and he has a much greater chance of achieving success and satisfaction.

The famous scientist of the twentieth century A. Maslow, studying famous people as “samples” (these were his contemporaries, historical figures, scientists, writers, musicians, etc.) noted that only those who have a strong commitment to one’s own values, chosen activities and one’s goal.

Despite the fact that these people were not perfect and made many mistakes, they all had the following traits:

acceptance of self, others and nature;

spontaneity, simplicity, naturalness;

focus on the task, not on oneself;

more effective perception of reality and consistent relationships with it;

some detachment and need for solitude;

autonomy, independence of judgment from culture and environment;

non-standard thinking and non-stereotypical assessments;

experience of spiritual and mystical, not necessarily religious, experiences;

a sense of empathy and belonging;

deeper interpersonal relationships;

democratic values;

the habit of not confusing goals and means, good and evil;

philosophical sense of humor;

great creative resources;

the ability to go beyond, for example, private cultural traditions and familiar environments.

When talking about success in life, it is always interesting how a person relates to the time in which his life perspective unfolds. This is a person’s attitude to events in time: past, present, future.

Many psychological scientists divide time into three types of perspectives. Psychological Perspective– the ability to imagine your future and predict it. Personal perspective– the ability not only to see the future, but also readiness for the present, the ability to organize it.

Life perspective- this is a set of circumstances and living conditions that, other things being equal, create for an individual the maximum opportunity for optimal advancement in life. Life prospects are not always revealed to those who have a psychological and personal perspective, that is, are able to see the future and have potential, capabilities, and maturity.

A person, having a personal perspective in the absence of a developed life position, can quickly exhaust his capabilities and abilities, finding himself in critical periods of life, saturated with difficulties, contradictions, and stress. Often it opens up to someone who has created a system of optimal supports in the present (i.e. has many different possibilities), in the form of unique relationships, life position, and values.

Therefore, the fourth law of success says that every person should know that life always provides the prospect of becoming better, the opportunity to resolve one’s contradictions, to find the strength within oneself to change one’s life, to make it different.

Here I want to draw the readers’ attention to this particular formulation, since “the prospect of becoming better” (in other words, the prospect of changing) is an individual way of life. This is an individual trajectory of manifestation of vital activity and initiative, the choice of means and methods of self-expression.

Strategy is a kind of universal law, a way for a person to realize himself in various spheres of life. And since everyone builds their own life, strategy is an individual discovery for everyone.

Authoritative modern philosopher, psychologist, academician K.A. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya said: “ As a result, every person has a life that he built himself. The fundamental difference is that one actually builds his life, while the other uses only what he has available».

To sum it up, we can say that personal success is impossible at the behest of someone else. We are participants in a certain sense of a unique project - ourselves, as a source of life changes, events and actions, as a “treasury” of new and never-before-tried opportunities, strengths, abilities, aspirations.

The article examines the essence of life strategy and its typology. Theoretical analysis definitions of the concept “life strategy” and the identification of their characteristics made it possible to formulate the author’s definition of the concept. A life strategy is a person’s consciously planned and designed immediate and distant life plans for the future, which are based on terminal and instrumental values-goals and conditions that contribute to her self-promotion and improving the level of her quality of life; built in accordance with her individual intellectual and creative capabilities, life experience and allow her to take an active subjective life position. The study of typologies of life strategy contributed to the identification of its types that high school students adhere to, as well as the choice for the formation of a life strategy among high school students of such a type as creative uniqueness, which allows the student to model his future.

life strategy

signs of life strategy

high school students

formation of life strategy

typology of life strategies.

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The sensitive age for the formation of a life strategy is the period of early adolescence. Most often, high school students’ ideas about their future are limited only by the final result. When high school students begin to understand that in order to realize a life goal it is necessary to think not only about the end result, but also about the methods and resources that allow them to achieve what they want, then they have a need to design a life strategy.

Currently, there are several definitions of the concept “life strategy”. This term was first discovered (1933) by Charlotte Buhler. She defined the life path of an individual as individual and personal life in its dynamics. S.L. Rubinstein, in contrast to S. Buhler (1935), considered the concept of “life path” not as a person’s movement forward, but as a movement of the individual upward, to higher, more perfect forms, to the best manifestations of human essence.

A more precise definition of the concept of “life strategy” was formulated by K.A. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya (1991), in which the main feature is not self-improvement, as in S.L. Rubinstein, but the individual characteristics of a person. She defined it as the ability to design life taking into account one’s individual characteristics, personality type, and as a way of resolving contradictions between external and internal conditions of life, transforming conditions and situations of life in accordance with human values. Based on the definition given by K.A. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya, the following three fundamental features of a life strategy can be identified: choosing a way of life, resolving the contradiction “I want - I have” and creating conditions for self-realization and creative search.

Yu.M. Reznik and E.A. Smirnov (1995) consider the concept of “life strategy” as a way for a person to consciously plan and design his life through the gradual formation of its future. IN this definition the idea that is visible is that the life of an individual is built in accordance with its orientation towards the future. However, in the definitions of the concept under consideration by domestic scientists there is no such feature, identified earlier by K.A. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya, as taking into account the individual characteristics of a person, necessary in the process of forming a life strategy.

From the point of view of O.S. Vasilyeva and E.A. Demchenko (2001), “life strategy” is a way of being, a system of values and goals, the implementation of which allows a person to make his life more effective. The main emphasis in this definition is on the realization of a person’s life goals, which allows him to make his life better.

According to P.G. Postnikova (2005), “life strategy” is the target guideline for the entire educational system, necessary to create conditions that contribute to: the harmonious development of the student’s personality at different stages of education, influencing the formation of his life position; students’ awareness of their calling in life, their determination of ways to realize their goals in life - in a word, self-education. Proposed by P.G. Postnikov’s definition reflects the universality of the concept of “life strategy” and contains teaching and educational opportunities, thanks to which a teacher can help students develop independence in the process of designing a life strategy in the process of teaching and educational activities.

O.A. Voronina (2008) is of the opinion that life strategy should be understood as an individual way of designing and realizing a person’s life goals in a time perspective, taking into account his value orientations, needs, personal qualities, and the meanings of his own life. In her definition, she highlights the idea of a person’s conscious attitude to the choice of life goals, which should be based on the individual characteristics of a person.

Definitions of the concept “life strategy” proposed by various scientists can be grouped according to such characteristics as focus on self-promotion of the individual (S. Buller; S.L. Rubinstein; P.G. Postnikov), terminal and instrumental values-goals (K.A. Abulkhanova -Slavskaya; O.A. Sozontov; E.A. Demchenko; creating conditions for improving the quality of life (L.G. Buzunova, M.R. Plotnitskaya . Shaposhnikov, O.V. Rudakova), future planning (Y.M. Reznik, E.A. Smirnova; M.O. Mdivani, P.B. Kodess; V.A. Berkovsky, M.A. Belugina; D. .Yu. Chebotareva).

As a result of the analysis of the definitions of the concept “life strategy” and its identified characteristics, an attempt was made to formulate the author’s definition. A life strategy is a person’s consciously planned and designed immediate and distant life plans for the future, which are based on terminal and instrumental values-goals and conditions that contribute to her self-promotion and improving the level of her quality of life; built in accordance with her individual intellectual and creative capabilities, life experience and allow her to take an active subjective life position.

It is advisable to begin the teacher’s educational activities in developing a life strategy for high school students by choosing its most promising type for high school graduates. secondary school.

E.I. Golovakha and N.V. Panina (1988) identified the following two types of life strategies of people, depending on their attitude to life - “contemplators” and “practitioners”. “Contemplators” are distinguished by their internal activity, depth of feelings and thoughts. The disadvantages of “contemplators” include being limited by dreams and fantasies, which manifests itself in an unwillingness to realize them in life. A feature of people with a practical type of activity is their endowment with a quick reaction and action on external influence. The weakness of practitioners is their inability to analyze the consequences of actions.

In order to complement the typology of life strategy developed by E.I. Golovakha and N.V. Panina, K.A. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya (1991) was the first to propose personal activity (internal factor) and type of time organization (external factor). In her opinion, each person can design his own life strategy as a strategy for taking into account his individual capabilities and/or a strategy for developing abilities for something.

Yu.M. Reznik and E.A. Smirnov (1995) consider three main directions in the development of life strategies: objective ideality, subjective ideality and the social dimension of life strategies. Objective ideality is reflected in culture, while subjective ideality is determined by the individual consciousness and behavior of a person, his past experiences and goals as ways of predicting the future.

E.A. Smirnov (2002) presented a typology of life strategy based on the self-realization of an individual in life. In his opinion, self-realization in life is a type of life strategy that is determined by a person’s attitude toward the creative transformation of life, his self-actualization and self-development in the role of a subject of life creativity.

E.P. Varlamov and S.Yu. Stepanov (2002) developed a typology of life strategies, which differs from the typologies we previously considered in that it complements them by dividing life strategies into individual uniqueness and creative activity of the individual in his life events. They distinguish the following types of life strategies:

1) creative uniqueness, reflecting a person’s creative attitude towards his own life, when his transformative initiative leads to extraordinary events in his life;

2) passive individuality, which represents the random nature of human formation, when personality traits his character does not depend on his efforts, but is determined by the influence of external circumstances;

3) active typicality, expressing the individual’s conformist desire to “be like everyone else,” when all of her actions are aimed at realizing generally accepted goals and values;

4) passive typicality, characterizing a person’s unconscious adherence to social stereotypes, his subordination to the norms of society.

Typology of life strategies S.I. Kudinova (2007) compares favorably with the typology of E.P. Varlamova and S.Yu. Stepanov in that it lacks the idea of a person’s object-subject position regarding his life strategy. He pays attention to the active, social and personal types of self-realization, i.e. on the demand for the subject position of the individual. Her active self-realization is determined by S.I. Kudinov as self-expression in various spheres of life. Social self-realization of an individual is focused on the implementation of socially significant activities, personal - promotes spiritual development And personal growth.

A.E. Sozontov (2007) developed the following types of life strategies, which, in our opinion, are characteristic of Russian high school students:

the “have” type is the individual’s focus on achieving social success, high status, and the possibility of limitless acquisition and consumption. The most preferred values are: success, social recognition, wealth, reputation, competence, pleasure, etc.;
the “not to have and not to be” type - focus on adapting to socio-economic conditions. The priority values transmitted from generation to generation include: family safety, health, social order;
type “to be” - focus on creative self-realization, maintaining conditions that ensure the well-being of loved ones, significant people. The most important values include: creativity, meaningfulness of life, cheerfulness, unity with nature, curiosity, etc.;
type “to have versus to be” - orientation towards achieving social success, security, and the development of one’s own individuality. These two aspirations are in conflict, and therefore the life goal is uncertain. As a result, a value crisis appears, which is expressed in the acceptance of “all values” (except for those that are socially disapproved);
the “have to be” type - focus on achieving success, security and creative self-realization. Life values include: creativity, cheerfulness, responsibility, open-mindedness, success, competence, wealth, etc.

M.R. Plotnitskaya (2008) identified progressive and receptive types of self-realization. Characteristics progressive type of self-realization strategy is an internal strategy for achieving and self-actualization of a person in society, which manifests itself in a harmonious perception of the world and oneself in it, as well as high degree self-reflection. The receptive strategy of self-realization is an external strategy of “consumption” of social successes and benefits by an individual. The receptive strategy of self-realization differs from the progressive strategy in fragmentation, the lack of a holistic concept of oneself in the world, the dominance of social factors in the process of self-realization, as well as the limitation of life spheres of self-realization.

Taking into account the nature and degree of rationality of strategies, E.N. Bondarenko (2009) developed the following typology of life strategies of young people: “pragmatist”, “professional”, “go with the flow”, “dependent”, “player”. The goal-oriented principle, in her opinion, is more present in such types of life strategies as: “pragmatist”, “professional” and “dependent”. The value-rational principle is manifested in the life strategies of the “player” and “go with the flow.” The priority strategy of “professionals” is education. The implementation of this strategy is possible thanks to their academic mobility. Unlike “professionals” who are interested in success in life, “go with the flow” do not design a life strategy. For “dependents” a characteristic feature is the absence of a system of life values. This can be explained by the low self-esteem of the owners of this type, which encourages them to imitate others, which prevents them from showing individuality in constructing a strategy for their life. The dominant resource of “players” is luck. “Pragmatists,” on the contrary, build a life strategy in accordance with main goal life. Their difference from “professionals” is expressed by their focus on self-realization in their career.

Based on the goals of life and the means of its implementation, R. Merton identified the following types of life strategies:

Conformist dominants, which are expressed in the continuity of values and generally accepted means of achieving them;

Innovative - focused on changing means, taking into account the continuity of goals;

The dominants of ritualism are the absence of goals, the reproduction of means that generate imitative forms of life strategies;

Dominants of retreatism with a person’s attitude towards alienation and withdrawal from real life;

Rebellious dominants, determined by the individual’s reluctance to follow social norms of behavior, when the choice of activities completely contradicts the values of the environment in which the person grew up.

L.I. Dementiy and V.E. Kupchenko (2013) identified three types of life strategies as parameters for identifying life goal-setting and the ability to influence one’s life: “fatalistic”, “self-actualizing” and “conformist” types. Representatives of the “fatalistic” type of life strategy are characterized by a lack of life goals and time perspective. A good knowledge of their individual characteristics and needs, as well as a readiness for spontaneous actions, are inherent in people with a self-actualizing type of life strategy. Those with a conformist type of life strategy believe that their lives are in the hands of the people around them.

The study and analysis of typologies of life strategies developed by scientists are necessary to determine the types that high school students adhere to. The work performed contributed to the choice of this type of life strategy as “creative uniqueness”, proposed by E.P. Varlamova and S.Yu. The choice made can be explained by the fact that the key idea of this type of life strategy is that the high school student takes a subject position in the process of designing and implementing his life strategy. The role of the teacher in this process is that by shaping the creative uniqueness of a high school student, he assists the high school student not only in forming a life strategy, but also creates conditions so that a secondary school graduate can take an active position in life and get involved in the creative transformation of his future.

Bibliographic link

Ilaeva R.A., Savina N.N. THE ESSENCE OF LIFE STRATEGY AND ITS TYPOLOGY // Modern problems of science and education. – 2016. – No. 6.;
URL: http://science-education.ru/ru/article/view?id=25635 (access date: 08/18/2019). We bring to your attention magazines published by the publishing house "Academy of Natural Sciences"

A person, living in society, constantly faces many demands placed on him from parents, teachers, friends, strangers, etc. Each person, in turn, has his own needs, desires, and interests that he strives to realize. In real life circumstances, there is often a clash between the objective demands of reality and the needs of the individual, which gives rise to various kinds of life contradictions. The degree of integration of life requirements with the needs, interests, and values of the individual leads to the formation of various life strategies.

In foreign and domestic psychology, the number of works devoted to the consideration of life strategy and its varieties is limited. This aspect was studied in detail by K.A. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya and R. Pehunen as part of a study of the issue of a person’s life path.

In a broad sense, K.A. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya gives the following definition of life strategy - it is “a fundamental ability of an individual, realized in various life conditions and circumstances, to connect his individuality with the conditions of life, to reproduce and develop it.” In a narrow sense, it is the development of a specific life solution to overcome life’s contradictions.

In his works, R. Pehunen notes that a life strategy is developed by the individual. Personality in this regard is divided into three subsystems based on the life function performed - control systems, actions and feedback. Each of the subsystems is responsible for different aspects of life strategy.

Control system regulates the goal-setting characteristics of life strategy:

Ø having an idea about your future;

Ø avoidance or desire for it;

Ø degree of hierarchy of life goals;

Ø externality/internality of the locus of control over one’s own life;

Ø the presence of a time perspective (connection between the past, present and future);

Ø range of life interests;

Ø external/internal orientation of goals.

Action system responsible for achieving life goals.

Ø level of planning of actions to achieve set goals;

Ø rigidity/plasticity in the use of means of achievement;

Ø specificity of establishing social contacts and activities in general.

Feedback system characterizes the degree of openness in expressing emotions of success or failure.

As a basis for the classification of life strategies, R. Pehunen proposes to consider the way in which an individual resolves emerging life conflicts between the demands and opportunities of the social environment and the individual’s habitual way of life. Based on the above, Pehunen identifies two general types of life strategies: at the stage of detecting a conflict and at the stage of overcoming it.

In the stage of conflict detection, a person, according to the author, is capable of demonstrating defensive strategies of two subtypes: conservatism and avoidance. The essence of the conservative strategy lies in the individual’s desire to maintain a familiar way of life, not paying attention to changed external conditions. A conservative life strategy has a reluctance and inability to change in new conditions of life, a clear and rigid hierarchy of life goals, punctuality in performing daily activities, and limited life interests.

The avoidance strategy manifests itself either in increased activity of the individual in less conflicting areas (active avoidance) or in isolation (passive avoidance). A person with such a strategy tends to perceive the future as a threat and the unknown, which leads to inconsistency in life goals that do not take into account the real capabilities of the individual. In the time perspective, there is a predominance of the present with a focus on satisfying one’s own needs. The emotional sphere is characterized by a predominance of depression and anxiety.

After a person has discovered a life conflict, Pehunen believes, he is able to demonstrate one of three subtypes of life strategies that characterize the person’s behavior in a difficult life situation:

Ø Refusal strategy;

Ø Adaptation strategy;

Ø Development strategy.

Refusal strategy manifests itself when life difficulties are perceived by a person as insoluble, which leads to the cessation of the fight against them. At the subjective level, this strategy manifests itself in the presence of a feeling of helplessness, which is reflected in the picture of the life path as a whole in the form of a narrowing of a person’s social contacts and areas of activity. A person exhibiting a life strategy of refusal is characterized by the perception of life in the form of numerous life failures, a negative perception of the future, which leads to a lack of planning. In the life perspective, one observes the predominance of the present, the egocentric nature of life goals, limited by the need for survival. Such a person constantly needs external help, showing conservatism in terms of the chosen methods of action. A gradual loss of interest in the past and a cessation of the active search for social contacts are possible.

If available adaptive strategy the individual accepts the changed life situations, as a result of which he strives to change his lifestyle and himself. Pehunen identifies three types of possible adaptation: passive, active and in the form of adaptive self-restraint. If a person adheres to a strategy of passive adaptation, then the difficulties that arise in life are perceived by him as granted and irreversible. As a result, such a person places responsibility for his own life on external authorities. In the case of a strategy of passive adaptation of life, the person is under the control of external forces (submission to authority, religion, society, the will of others, relying on circumstances). The life perspective is limited to the present with the absence of a clear hierarchy of goals. Social contacts are limited to the search for support and submission. There may be some dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs.

A person with active adaptation is able to change his own attitude towards his activities and develop new ways of behavior and activity under the restrictions set by the current situation. Active adaptation is characterized by the presence of a life perspective that has a wide potential for future opportunities. The present manifests itself in the search for new opportunities and the construction of plans for their implementation. Life is subordinated to its own, hierarchically structured goals with a diverse arsenal of means that allows easy adaptation to changing life situations. Social contacts and activities are characterized by breadth with the presence of a particularly significant sphere.

In the case of adaptive self-restraint, a person performs only those activities that are familiar, without mastering new ones, taking into account the changed conditions. The life perspective includes several life goals, in which the dominant one does not stand out. Life goals are based on the goals of society. Such a person is satisfied with the present, showing a desire to maintain a familiar way of life, using generally accepted methods in his activities. Social contacts are limited.

Development strategy represents overcoming a life conflict, manifested in the search and mastery of new life areas of activity.

K.A. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya in one of her works examines in detail the issue of typology of life events. The author notes that the fundamental aspect of a life strategy is the question of correlating the type of personality with a way of life, and therefore two criteria for life strategies are identified - internal and external. The internal criterion refers to the degree of activity of the individual in building his own life. The external criterion for identifying life strategies is the objective requirements of social reality. Activity is a leading parameter that permeates all spheres of human life. It manifests itself as “the ability to achieve an optimal balance between what is desired and what is necessary.” Based on this, all life strategies are divided into two general types - active and passive. In addition, Abulkhanova identifies two forms of activity: initiative and responsibility. Their ratio may or may not be optimal. Active strategies can be with a predominance of initiative or with a predominance of responsibility.

Predominance initiatives in life strategy leads to the fact that a person is in a state of constant search, dissatisfaction with what has been achieved. A state of satisfaction may arise not at the final stage of activity, but during the process, when there is novelty and awareness of a huge number of possibilities. When showing activity, such a person focuses mainly only on the desirable, and not on the possible. When faced with reality, which often differs from the imaginary, in this case the inability to independently identify goals, means and stages of exit from the current situation, to identify what is dependent and independent of the individual is manifested. External indicators of the life path may be limited to a small set of life events, but on a subjective level, life is perceived as very rich, since “such a person constantly creates contradictions.” Thus, an initiative life strategy is characterized by a constant expansion of the range of life activities, the presence of a personal perspective, manifested in the construction of a large number of multi-stage life plans, and a constant search for new living conditions.

Based on the method of self-expression in life, subtypes of life strategies of proactive people can be distinguished. For some, the way of self-expression in life is through self-giving and self-waste. Such people actively “involve many people in the circle of their creative searches, take responsibility not only for their scientific, but also for their personal destiny.” For others, the initiative is limited to “good and good intentions,” which almost never come true. The degree of activity is determined by the nature of the individual’s claims and the characteristics of the connection with responsibility. Externally, the life path of such a person consists of a large number of events that manifest themselves only in an external change in the previous way of life, i.e. in this case there is a tendency towards external dynamism of life.

In the case when a person’s life strategy shows a predominance responsibility personality “always strives to create for himself necessary conditions, foresee in advance what is needed to achieve the goal, prepare to overcome difficulties.”

According to the author, liability may be various types, which leads to the development of a variety of life strategies. The executive type is characterized by a low ability of self-expression, lack of self-confidence, focus on the support of others, subordination to external control, fear of change, desire to maintain the usual course and structure of life, and lack of one’s own living space.

The self-sacrificing (dependent) type finds self-expression in fulfilling “duty”, which leads to satisfaction. As a result of dependence on others, there is a constant loss of one’s own “I”. The cessation of reciprocal feelings on the part of others is regarded as a failure in life.

The conservative type has detailed life stages and lacks long-term prospects. Such a person is satisfied with the usual course of life; the mere thought of possible changes is frightening. In the process of life, a rejection of one’s own interests and a desire to fulfill other people’s demands are more often observed.

The lonely type is characterized by a variety of life paths as a result of the realization of responsibility in various roles. The prevailing attitude is that it is possible to survive only in solitude.

As an optimal life strategy, Abulkhanova calls one in which a person correlates his capabilities with life tasks, while constantly developing your potential. A person establishes the correspondence of his vital interests and living conditions on the basis of criteria chosen by himself or received from the outside.

In addition to active ones, Abulkhanova recognizes the existence of various types of passive life strategies. The main strategy is mental care, within which there is a strategy of hope and a strategy of life's dead end. When the strategy of hope prevails, a move away from a certain life contradiction into another area is manifested. At the same time, the person admits his inability to find a way out of the current situation, having new prospects in other areas. In a situation of internal impasse, the person does not see any alternative to continue real life.

In our opinion, to highlight the main parameters of life strategies, it is necessary to use three activity planning systems - aspirations, self-regulation and satisfaction, proposed by Abulkhanova-Slavskaya. Claims determine the contours of life, its limits, internal and external supports. They differentiate the living space, determining what the subject himself will do, and what he attributes to external conditions, expecting results from those around him or from the prevailing circumstances. After differentiation of the living space, the self-regulation system is activated, i.e. a system of means and ways to achieve set goals, as well as the ability to overcome life’s difficulties. In characterizing this system, it is important to pay attention to the amount of effort expended, perseverance, confidence, accuracy of achievement criteria, division of living space into what is dependent and independent of the individual. The main criterion is the individual’s reliance when achieving results - either on himself or on others. In addition, it is important to indicate how diverse and flexible the arsenal of a person’s means is, and her behavior in a situation of disapproval. By satisfaction, Abulkhanova understands “a form of feedback between an individual and the ways of his objectification in life (personal achievements, assessments of others, etc.).”

To summarize the description of the issue of life strategy, we will highlight the most significant, in our opinion, its structural components and parameters:

· Having ideas about the past, present and future;

· Integrity/disunity of life path;

· Presence/absence of meaning in life;

· Availability/absence of means and ways to achieve life goals;

· The need for external support when setting goals and overcoming difficulties;

· Degree of awareness of one’s own life;

· Ability for self-knowledge and life reflection;

· The degree of implementation of life plans;

· Life satisfaction/dissatisfaction.

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1. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya K.A. Psychology and personality consciousness. M., 2000.

2. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya K.A. Life prospects of the individual // Personality psychology and lifestyle / General. ed. E.V. Shorokhova. M., 1987.