It is known that work has a positive effect on the human psyche. In relation to different types of professional activities, it is generally accepted that there is a large group of professions, the performance of which leads to occupational diseases of varying severity. Along with this, there are types of work that are not classified as harmful, but the conditions and nature of professional activity have a traumatic effect on the psyche.

Researchers also note that many years of performing the same professional activity leads to the appearance of professional fatigue, the emergence of psychological barriers, an impoverished repertoire of ways to perform activities, loss of professional skills, and decreased performance. It can be stated that at the stage of professionalization in many types of professions, including the military profession, professional deformations develop.

Relevance of the study .

Professional deformations violate the integrity of the individual, reduce its adaptability, and negatively affect labor productivity. Certain aspects of this problem are highlighted in the works of S.P. Beznosov, N.V. Vodopyanova, R.M. Granovskaya, L.N. Korneeva. Researchers note that in to the greatest extent“person-to-person” professions are subject to professional deformations. This is due to the fact that communication with another person necessarily includes its return impact on the subject of this work. It should be noted that professional deformations are expressed differently among representatives of different professions. At the same time, we were unable to find publications in the scientific and methodological literature concerning this problem in relation to the profession of a military man. This was the reason for conducting this study.

The work was marked target : to summarize existing ideas about professional personality deformations and their manifestations in the profession of a military personnel.

To achieve this goal, the following were decided tasks:

• characterize the concept of “professional deformation”, determine the psychological factors of their occurrence;
• to study one of the types of professional deformations - “emotional burnout” and the features of its manifestation in the activities of military personnel.

As object of study The professional activities of military personnel were highlighted.

Subject of research There were professional deformations in the activities of officers of the Voronezh VVAIU (VI).

Theoretical and methodological basis of the study.

The complexity and insufficient knowledge of the problem of professional personality deformation, the presence of interdisciplinary aspects in it, led to a combination of special and general psychological methodology.
The initial methodological position that determined the theoretical and practical foundations of the study is the fundamental position of psychological science on the relationship between personality and activity, the activity approach to understanding the mechanisms of personality formation.
The methodological basis was the concept of humanism, its interpretation within the framework of humanistic psychology and pedagogy, systematic approach to the study of professional activity and work environment.

Practical significance of the study

The point is that the results of the study can contribute to a qualitative improvement in work with personnel and be taken into account when developing regulations that regulate the moral, psychological and ethical aspects of the activities of officers, depending on the specifics of their official activities.

1. THE CONCEPT OF PROFESSIONAL DEFORMATIONS

1.1. Normal professional developmentand signs of deformation

E.I. Rogov proposes to distinguish, along with the progressive direction of personality development, the regressive one.

If we rely on the criteria of progress and regression in the development of complexly organized entities of a systemic nature, developed in the “tectology” of A.A. Bogdanov (1989), then progress is characterized by an increase in the level of energy resources of this integrity, an expansion of the forms of its activity and points of contact with the external environment, increasing the stability of integrity in a changing environment.

Regression - This direction of development of integrity (in this study - the personality of a professional), which is accompanied by a decrease in energy resources, a narrowing of the field and forms of its activity, and a deterioration in the stability of integrity in relation to the influences of a changing environment.

An example of the norm of human development in professional activity is given by the idea of ​​​​the properties of the subject of labor and the model, the characteristics of his consciousness as a subject of labor that are desirable for society.

The development of a person’s personality and psyche during the period of professionalism is subject to general laws developmental psychology, which include the position of the determining role of the activity performed by the subject, its substantive and functional content. But at the same time, the activity itself and the environment do not have a direct impact on the personality of the subject and his psyche, but is mediated by the internal conditions of the subject (the subject’s semantic assessment of the activity being performed, his abilities, state of health, experience) (Rubinstein S.L., 1999).

Normal work - this is work that is safe and healthy, free from non-economic coercion, highly productive and of high quality, meaningful. Such work is the basis for the normal professional development of the personality of its subject. An employee engaged in it has the opportunity for self-realization, shows his best qualities and develops comprehensively, harmoniously. The ideal of progressive personal development in work presupposes that a person masters increasingly complex types of professional tasks and accumulates experience that remains in demand by society. A person receives satisfaction from the labor process, its result, he participates in constructing the concept of labor, its implementation, in improving the means of activity, in production relations; he can be proud of himself, the social status he has achieved, and can realize the ideals approved by society, oriented towards humanistic values. He successfully overcomes constantly emerging development contradictions and conflicts. And this progressive development occurs gradually, giving way to regressive development, when periods of decompensation (due to age-related changes and diseases) begin to predominate.

It is also useful to rely on a certain standard of mental health for an adult of working age, which includes the following guidelines: reasonable independence, self-confidence, ability to self-govern, high performance, responsibility, reliability, perseverance, ability to negotiate with work colleagues, ability to cooperate, ability to obey work rules, show friendliness and love, tolerance towards other people, endurance to frustration of needs, a sense of humor, the ability to rest and relax, organize leisure time, find a hobby.

Really existing types of professional work often actualize some aspects of the psyche and personality (and thereby stimulate their development), while others turn out to be unclaimed and, according to the general laws of biology, their functioning decreases. Prerequisites arise for the formation of preferably developed and defective qualities of the subject of labor, which E.I. Rogov proposes to designate as professionally determined personality accentuations . They manifest themselves to varying degrees and are characteristic of the majority of workers involved in the profession and who have worked in it for a long time.

More pronounced changes in mental functions and personality under the influence of professional activity are usually called professional deformations. In contrast to accentuations, professional deformations are assessed as an option for unwanted negative professional development.

E.I. Rogov proposes to call professional deformations of personality such changes that arise under the influence of professional activities performed and are manifested in the absolutization of work as the only worthy form of activity, as well as in the emergence of rigid role stereotypes that are transferred from the labor sphere to other conditions when a person is not able to adjust his behavior adequately to changing conditions.

An example is the case from real life. One general, who had adopted an authoritarian style of communication with subordinates as quite effective during combat operations, transferred this style to interactions with close people in the family and even to the situation of defending his own dissertation. So, during a meeting of the dissertation council, he ordered his subordinate to read out for him a report on the content of the dissertation work completed and answer questions. It took the chairman a lot of effort to get the dissertation author to agree to independently present and defend his work.

From the point of view of O.G. Noskova, one can consider the phenomena of professional deformation of personality as adequate, effective and therefore progressive within the framework of the professional activity performed by the subject, but at the same time regressive, if we mean human life in the broad sense, in society. The basis for such an understanding may be that, on the one hand, professional deformations of the individual are determined by the labor process, and on the other hand, they have intra-subjective prerequisites. Thus, most psychologists who have studied the manifestations of professional personality deformation consider these phenomena to be a negative option for personality development, noting that they are generated by the adaptation of the subject of labor to professional activity and are useful within its framework, but these adaptations turn out to be inadequate in other, non-professional, spheres of life . A negative assessment of professional personality deformations (PDD) is based on the fact that they allegedly lead to a violation of the integrity of the individual, reducing its adaptability and stability in general in social life.

Perhaps the phenomenon of PDL manifests itself with particular vividness among those people for whom the professional role they perform is overwhelming, but they, having increased ambitions, claims to status, and success, do not refuse this role.

The term “deformation” itself suggests that changes occur in a certain previously established structure, and not in the initial formation of personality and its characteristics in ontogenesis. That is, the phenomena of changes in the existing structural and functional characteristics of the psyche and personality that arise as a consequence of long-term professional functioning are discussed here. In other words, professional deformations can be understood as the result of fixation (preservation) of previously formed (in the part of life that preceded the development of a profession and professional activity) functional mobile organs and means of organizing human behavior that were changed under the influence of work activity. We are talking about the deformation of attitudes, dynamic stereotypes, thinking strategies and cognitive schemes, skills, knowledge and experience, professionally oriented semantic structures of a professional. But in such a broad understanding, professional deformations are a natural, normal, ubiquitous and widespread phenomenon, and the severity of its manifestations depends on the depth of professional specialization, on the degree of specificity of work tasks, the objects used, tools and working conditions (for workers in the first age category). half of the maturity period). These essentially normal phenomena that accompany professional development in its ascending, progressive line may be subject to age restrictions in the second period of maturity, reinforcing the need for selectivity in forms of activity, compensatory manifestations and other forms of adaptive behavior described above.

The area of ​​phenomena of professional personality deformation covers phenomena that are different in nature, and these phenomena, as determined by professional activity, should probably also be distinguished from neurotic, suboptimal personality development, which A.F. Lazursky called in his “Classification of Personalities” “perverted types personalities”, and K. Leongard “accentuated personalities”.

At the same time, it would be useful to distinguish professional deformations of personality and psyche from mixed forms of not always effective adaptation to work, developing during a period of pronounced decrease in the employee’s internal resources under the influence of age and illness.

1.2. Main types of professional deformations

E.I. Rogov proposes to distinguish several types of professional personality deformation:

general professional deformities, which are typical for most people engaged in this profession. They are determined by the invariant features of the means of labor used, the subject of work, professional tasks, attitudes, habits, and forms of communication. From our point of view, this understanding of PDL is identical to “professional accentuations of the individual.” The more specialized the object and means of labor are, the more the amateurism of the beginner and the professional limitations of the worker immersed only in the profession are manifested. K. Marx in Capital called the gross manifestations of such narrow, flawed personality development “professional idiocy.” Acceptable and inevitable for persons committed to their profession, general professional deformations of the image of the world and professional consciousness were discovered by E.A. Klimov as typical for representatives of professions that differ in subject content. Examples: representatives of the socionomic type of professions perceive, distinguish and adequately understand the behavioral characteristics of individual people to a much greater extent compared to professionals of the technonomic type. And even within the framework of one profession, for example a teacher, one can distinguish typical “Russianists”, “physical educators”, “mathematicians”;

typological deformations, formed by the fusion of personal characteristics and features of the functional structure of professional activity (thus, among teachers one can distinguish organizational teachers and subject teachers, depending on the degree of expression of their organizational abilities, leadership qualities, and extroversion);

individual deformations, caused primarily by personal orientation, and not performed labor activity person. A profession can probably create favorable conditions for the development of those personality qualities, the prerequisites for which existed even before the start of professionalization. For example, an officer in his activities acts as an organizer, a leader, vested with power and authority in relation to subordinates, often unable to defend himself from unfair accusations or aggression. Among officers there are often people who remain in this profession because they have a strong need for power, suppression, and control over the activities of other people. If this need is not balanced by humanism, a high level of culture, self-criticism and self-control, such officers turn out to be clear representatives of professional personality deformation.

So, along with the influence of long-term implementation of special professional activities on the unique development of the personality of the subject of labor, which manifests itself in the majority of people involved in the profession (a variant of general professional deformation of personality, mental functions), the individual personal characteristics of the subject of labor can also play an important role. Special significance E.I. Rogov gives such qualities of individuality as: rigidity of nervous processes, a tendency to form rigid stereotypes of behavior, narrowness and overvaluation of professional motivation, defects in moral education, relatively low intelligence, self-criticism, reflection.

In people prone to forming rigid stereotypes, thinking becomes less and less problematic over time, and the person turns out to be increasingly closed to new knowledge. The worldview of such a person is limited by the attitudes, values ​​and stereotypes of the professional circle, and also becomes narrowly professionally oriented.

E.I. Rogov believes that professional deformations can be caused by the peculiarities of the motivational sphere of the subject of labor, consisting in subjective over-importance of work activity with his low functional-energy capabilities, as well as with relatively low intelligence.

A variant of professional and personal deformation is personal-role dissonance , consisting in the fact that a person finds himself “out of place,” i.e. he undertakes to fulfill a professional role for which he is not ready and is not capable. Realizing this shortcoming, the subject of labor nevertheless continues to work in this role, but reduces his labor activity, he develops a dual personality, he cannot fully realize himself in the profession.

The problem of professional personality deformations in domestic psychology began to be developed relatively recently, and most of the work has been carried out to date on the material of pedagogical work, as well as types of work related to the penal system for criminal offenders and the services of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. PDL manifests itself, for example, in the fact that people called upon to control convicts, to be an example of statehood, of high civic qualities, adopt cliches of speech of offenders, manner of behavior, and sometimes a system of values.

1.3. Ppsychological determinantsprofessional deformations

The whole variety of factors that determine professional personal deformations can be divided into three groups:

• objective, related to the socio-professional environment: socio-economic situation, image and nature of the profession, professional-spatial environment;
• subjective, determined by personality characteristics and the nature of professional relationships;
• objective-subjective, generated by the system and organization of the professional process, the quality of management, and the professionalism of managers.

Let us consider the psychological determinants of personality deformations generated by these factors. It should be noted that the same determinants appear in all groups of factors.

1. The prerequisites for the development of professional deformations are already rooted in the motives for choosing a profession. These are like conscious motives: social significance, image, creative character, material wealth, and unconscious: the desire for power, dominance, self-affirmation.

2. The triggering mechanism for deformation is the destruction of expectations at the stage of entering an independent professional life. Professional reality is very different from the idea formed by a graduate of a vocational educational institution. The very first difficulties prompt the novice specialist to search for radical methods of work. Failures, negative emotions, and disappointments initiate the development of professional maladaptation of the individual.

3. In the process of performing professional activities, a specialist repeats the same actions and operations. In typical working conditions, the formation of stereotypes in the implementation of professional functions, actions, and operations becomes inevitable. They simplify the performance of professional activities, increase its certainty, and facilitate relationships with colleagues. Stereotypes give stability to professional life and contribute to the formation of experience and individual style of activity. It can be stated that professional stereotypes have undoubted advantages for a person and are the basis for the formation of many professional destructions of the individual. Stereotypes are an inevitable attribute of professionalization of a specialist; the formation of automated professional skills and abilities, the formation of professional behavior are impossible without the accumulation of unconscious experience and attitudes. And there comes a moment when the professional unconscious turns into stereotypes of thinking, behavior and activity. But professional activity is replete with non-standard situations, and then erroneous actions and inadequate reactions are possible. When the situation changes unexpectedly, it often happens that actions begin to be carried out according to individual conditioned stimuli, without taking into account the actual situation as a whole. Then they say that automatisms act contrary to understanding. In other words, stereotyping is one of the advantages, but at the same time it introduces great distortions into the reflection of professional reality.

4. The psychological determinants of professional deformations include various forms of psychological defense. Many types of professional activity are characterized by great uncertainty, causing mental tension, often accompanied by negative emotions, destruction of expectations. In these cases, the protective mechanisms of the psyche come into play. Of the huge variety of types of psychological defense, the formation of professional destruction is influenced by denial, rationalization, repression, projection, identification, alienation.

5. The development of professional deformations is facilitated by the emotional intensity of professional work. Frequently repeated negative emotional states with increasing work experience reduce the frustration tolerance of a specialist, which can lead to the development of professional destruction.

The emotional intensity of professional activity leads to increased irritability, overexcitation, anxiety, and nervous breakdowns. This unstable mental state is called the “emotional burnout” syndrome. This syndrome is observed in teachers, doctors, managers, and social workers. Its consequence may be dissatisfaction with the profession, loss of prospects for professional growth, as well as various types of professional destruction of the individual.

6. In the studies of E.F. Zeer, it was established that at the stage of professionalization, as the individual style of activity develops, the level of professional activity of the individual decreases, and conditions arise for stagnation of professional development. The development of professional stagnation depends on the content and nature of work. Monotonous, monotonous, rigidly structured work contributes to professional stagnation. Stagnation, in turn, initiates the formation of various deformations.

7. The development of a specialist’s deformities is greatly influenced by a decrease in his level of intelligence. Studies of the general intelligence of adults show that it decreases with increasing work experience. Of course, there are age-related changes here, but the main reason lies in the peculiarities of normative professional activity. Many types of work do not require workers to solve professional problems, plan the work process, or analyze production situations. Unclaimed intellectual abilities gradually fade away. However, the intelligence of workers engaged in those types of work, the implementation of which is associated with solving professional problems, is maintained at a high level until the end of their professional life.

8. Deformations are also due to the fact that each person has a limit to the development of the level of education and professionalism. It depends on social and professional attitudes, individual psychological characteristics, emotional and volitional characteristics. The reasons for the formation of a development limit can be psychological saturation with professional activity, dissatisfaction with the image of the profession, low wages, and lack of moral incentives.

9. The factors that initiate the development of professional deformations are various accentuations of the personality’s character. In the process of many years of performing the same activity, accentuations are professionalized, woven into the fabric of the individual style of activity and transformed into professional deformations of a specialist. Each accentuated specialist has his own ensemble of deformations, and they are clearly manifested in their activities and professional behavior. In other words, professional accentuations are an excessive strengthening of certain character traits, as well as certain professionally determined personality traits and qualities.

10. The factor that initiates the formation of deformities is age-related changes associated with aging. Experts in the field of psychogerontology note the following types and signs of human psychological aging:

• socio-psychological aging, which is expressed in the weakening of intellectual processes, restructuring of motivation, change emotional sphere, the emergence of maladaptive forms of behavior, an increase in the need for approval, etc.;
• moral and ethical aging, manifested in obsessive moralizing, a skeptical attitude towards the youth subculture, contrasting the present with the past, exaggerating the merits of one’s generation, etc.;
• professional aging, which is characterized by immunity to innovations, canonization of individual experience and the experience of one’s generation, difficulties in mastering new means of labor and production technologies, a decrease in the pace of performing professional functions, etc.

Researchers of the phenomenon of old age emphasize, and there are many examples of this, that there is no fatal inevitability of professional aging. This is true. But the obvious cannot be denied: physical and psychological aging deforms a person’s professional profile and negatively affects the achievement of the peaks of professional excellence.

2. “EMOTIONAL BURNOUT” AS A KIND PROFESSIONAL DEFORMATION

Burnout syndrome is a phenomenon of personal deformation and is a multidimensional construct, a set of negative psychological experiences associated with prolonged and intense interpersonal interactions characterized by high emotional intensity or cognitive complexity. This is a response to prolonged stress in interpersonal communications.

2.1. “Emotional burnout” as a psychological phenomenon

Scientific and practical interest in burnout syndrome is due to the fact that this syndrome is nothing more than a direct manifestation of the ever-increasing problems associated with the well-being of employees, the efficiency of their work and the stability of the organization. The concern of military psychologists about the burnout of military personnel can be explained by the fact that it begins unnoticed, and its consequences in extreme conditions of military activity can cost human lives.

Currently, there is no common view on the structure and dynamics of burnout syndrome. Single-component models view it as a combination of physical, emotional, and cognitive exhaustion. According to the two-factor model, burnout is a construct consisting of affective and attitudinal components. The three-component model manifests itself in three groups of experiences:

- emotional exhaustion (feelings of emptiness and powerlessness);

- depersonalization (dehumanization of relationships with other people, manifestation of callousness, cynicism or even rudeness);

- reduction of personal achievements (underestimation of one’s own achievements, loss of meaning and desire to invest personal efforts in the workplace).

Despite the differences in approaches to measuring burnout, it can be concluded that it is a personal deformation due to emotionally difficult or tense relationships in the “person-person” system, developing over time

There are various definitions of burnout. In accordance with the model of Maslach and Jackson, it is considered as a response to long-term professional stress of interpersonal communications.

Emotional exhaustion manifests itself in feelings of emotional overstrain and in a feeling of emptiness, exhaustion of one’s own emotional resources. The person feels that he cannot devote himself to work as before. There is a feeling of “muffledness”, “dullness” of emotions, and in especially severe manifestations, emotional breakdowns are possible.

Depersonalization is the tendency to develop a negative, callous, cynical attitude towards recipients. Contacts become impersonal and formal. Emerging negative attitudes may initially be hidden and manifest themselves in internal pent-up irritation, which over time breaks out in the form of outbursts of irritation or conflict situations.

A reduction in personal achievements manifests itself as a decreased sense of competence in one’s work, dissatisfaction with oneself, a decrease in the value of one’s activities, negative self-perception in professionally. Noticing negative feelings or manifestations in oneself, a person blames himself, his professional and personal self-esteem decreases, a feeling of personal inadequacy appears, and indifference to work appears.

In this regard, burnout syndrome is considered by a number of authors as “professional burnout,” which makes it possible to study this phenomenon in the aspect of professional activity. It is believed that this syndrome is most typical for representatives of social or communicative professions - the “person-to-person” system (these are medical workers, teachers, managers of all levels, consulting psychologists, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, representatives of various service professions).

The term burnout was first introduced by the American psychiatrist H. Fredenberger in 1974 to characterize the psychological state of healthy people who are in intensive and close communication with clients (patients) in an emotionally charged atmosphere when providing professional assistance. Burnout originally meant a state of exhaustion with a feeling of worthlessness.

Since the appearance of this concept, the study of this phenomenon has been difficult due to its substantive ambiguity and multicomponent nature. On the one hand, the term itself was not carefully defined, so the measurement of burnout could not be reliable; on the other hand, due to the lack of appropriate measurement tools, this phenomenon could not be described in detail empirically.

Currently, there is a wide debate on the relationship between such concepts as stress and burnout. Despite the growing consensus on the concept of the latter, there is unfortunately still no clear distinction between the two concepts in the literature. Although most researchers define stress as a discrepancy in the person-environment system or as a result of dysfunctional role interactions, there has traditionally been little agreement on the conceptualization of occupational stress. Based on this, a number of authors consider stress as general concept, which can become the basis for studying a number of problems.

Many researchers believe that burnout is a separate aspect of stress, so it is defined and studied primarily as a pattern of responses to chronic work stressors. The burnout reaction begins more as a result (consequence) of demands, including stressors of an interpersonal nature. Thus, it represents a consequence of occupational stress, in which a pattern of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal achievement is the result of a variety of work demands (stressors), especially of an interpersonal nature.

Burnout as a consequence of professional stress occurs in cases where a person’s adaptive capabilities (resources) to overcome a stressful situation are exceeded.

N.V. Grishina considers burnout as a special human condition resulting from professional stress, an adequate analysis of which requires an existential level of description. This is necessary because the development of burnout is not limited to the professional sphere, but manifests itself in various situations of human life; painful disappointment in work as a way of finding meaning colors the entire life situation.

Numerous foreign studies confirm that burnout results from professional stress. Poulin and Walter, in a longitudinal study of social workers, found that increased levels of burnout were associated with increased levels of occupational stress (Poulin and Walter, 1993). Rowe (1998) found that people experiencing burnout have higher levels of psychological stress and less resilience.

Many scientists note that the rapidly changing business environment is becoming increasingly stressful. A study of 3,400 workers by Lawlor (1997) found that 42% of respondents felt “burnt out” or “exhausted” at the end of the workday; 80% said they work too much, 65% said they are forced to work at too fast a pace. According to Northwestern National Life, the percentage of workers who report that their job is “very or extremely stressful” is 40%, and 25% of respondents consider it their number one stressor.

Workplace stress is closely linked to burnout. For example, a study of 1,300 employees at ReliaStar Insurance Company of Minneapolis (Lawlor, 1997) found that employees who believed their jobs were highly stressful were twice as likely to experience burnout as those who did not think so. According to the American Institute of Stress, the “cost” of job stress and burnout is employee turnover, absenteeism, low productivity, and rising health benefits.

Based on the results of a number of studies, Perlman and Hartman (1982) proposed a model in which burnout is viewed in terms of occupational stress. The three dimensions of burnout reflect three major symptomatic categories of stress:

• physiological, focused on physical symptoms (physical exhaustion);
• affective-cognitive, focused on attitudes and feelings (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization);
• behavioral, focused on symptomatic types of behavior (depersonalization, reduced work productivity).

According to Perlman and Hartman's model, individual characteristics and the work and social environment are important in the perception, impact and evaluation of stress in conjunction with effective or ineffective coping with a stressful situation. This model includes four stages.

The first reflects the degree to which the situation contributes to stress. There are two most likely types of situations in which it occurs. The employee's skills and abilities may be insufficient to meet perceived or actual organizational requirements, or the job may not meet the employee's expectations, needs, or values. In other words, stress is likely if there is a contradiction between the subject of work and the work environment.

The second stage involves the perception and experience of stress. It is known that many situations that contribute to it do not lead to what people consider to be a stressful state. The movement from the first stage to the second depends on the resources of the individual, as well as on role and organizational variables.

The third stage describes the three main classes of reactions to stress (physiological, affective-cognitive, behavioral), and the fourth represents the consequences of stress. Burnout, as a multifaceted experience of chronic emotional stress, correlates precisely with the latter, representing the result of a reaction to stress.

Variables significantly associated with burnout are divided into organizational, role and individual characteristics that influence:

• the subject's perception of his professional role and organization;
• response to this perception;
• the organization's reaction to the symptoms manifested by the employee (at the third stage), which can then lead to the consequences indicated at the fourth stage (Table 1).

It is from this point of view that the multidimensional nature of “burnout” must be understood. Since the organization reacts to such symptoms, various consequences are possible, such as dissatisfaction with work in the organization, staff turnover, the desire to minimize business and interpersonal contacts with colleagues, decreased productivity, etc.

There are close connections between the personal significance of production tasks and productivity, intention to leave work and the integral indicator of “burnout”, absenteeism and depersonalization; poor relationships with family and friends and depersonalization, psychosomatic illnesses and emotional exhaustion, meaningful work and personal achievements, alcohol consumption and productivity, etc.

Table 1 Variables significantly associated with burnout

Characteristics of the organization	Organizational aspects	Role characteristics	Individual characteristics	Result
Workload Formalization Fluidity workers	Management Communications Support employees Rules and procedures Innovation Administrative support	Autonomy Inclusion in Subordination Work pressure Feedback Achievements Significance	Family/Friends Support The power of I-con-	Satisfaction

K. Maslach identified factors on which the development of burnout syndrome depends:

• individual limit, the ceiling of the ability of our “emotional self” to resist exhaustion; self-preservation, counteract burnout;
• internal psychological experience, including feelings, attitudes, motives, expectations;
• negative individual experience in which problems, distress, discomfort, dysfunction and/or their negative consequences are concentrated.

Many researchers view burnout as a relatively stable phenomenon. In a longitudinal study of 879 social workers (Poulin, Walter, 1993), it was shown that almost 2/3 of the subjects had the same level of burnout as at the beginning of the study (one year ago). For approximately 22% of respondents it was low, for 17% it was medium, and for 24% it was high; For the rest, the level of “burnout” has changed. In 19% it decreased, in 18% it increased.

This study is also interesting because the number of subjects whose burnout levels decreased or increased was approximately the same. Although there is evidence in the literature that it tends to increase with duration of work, the results of the mentioned study show that this is not always true and the process of professional burnout can be reversible. Such information seems encouraging for the development and implementation of rehabilitation measures for people with high levels of burnout.

What symptoms help identify incipient burnout in employees? Currently, researchers have identified over 100 of these. Symptoms signaling the development of burnout may be:

• decreased motivation to work;
• sharply increasing job dissatisfaction;
• loss of concentration and increase in errors;
• increasing carelessness in interactions with clients;
• ignoring safety requirements and procedures;
• weakening performance standards;
• lowering expectations;
• violation of work deadlines and an increase in unfulfilled obligations;
• looking for excuses instead of solutions;
• conflicts in the workplace;
• chronic fatigue;
• irritability, nervousness, anxiety;
• distancing from clients and colleagues;
• increase in absenteeism, etc.

According to other sources, the symptoms of burnout are divided into the following categories:

1. Physical

• fatigue;
• feeling of exhaustion;
• sensitivity to changes in indicators external environment;
• asthenization;
• frequent headaches;
• gastrointestinal disorders;
• being overweight or underweight;
• dyspnea;
• insomnia.

2. Behavioral and psychological

• the work becomes harder and harder, and the ability to do it becomes less and less;
• an employee comes to work early and leaves late;
• shows up to work late and leaves early;
• takes work home;
• has a vague feeling that something is wrong (feeling of unconscious anxiety);
• feels bored;
• decreased level of enthusiasm;
• feels resentful;
• experiences a feeling of disappointment;
• uncertainty;
• guilt;
• feeling of not being needed;
• easily arising feelings of anger;
• irritability;
• pays attention to details;
• suspicion;
• a sense of omnipotence (power over the patient’s fate);
• rigidity;
• inability to make decisions;
• distancing from colleagues;
• increased sense of responsibility for other people;
• growing avoidance (as a coping strategy);
• general negative attitude towards life prospects;
• alcohol and/or drug abuse

It is important to remember that burnout is a syndrome or group of symptoms that appear together. However, all of them together do not appear in anyone at the same time, because burnout is a purely individual process.

Perlman and Hartman conducted a comparative analysis and synthesis of research published from 1974 to 1981 on burnout. As a result, the authors came to the conclusion that most publications are descriptive studies and only a few contain empirical material and statistical analysis of data.

2.2. Social-psychological, personaland occupational risk factorsmental burnout

Any employee can become a victim of burnout. This is due to the fact that a variety of stressors are present or may appear at work in each of the organizations. Burnout syndrome develops as a result of a combination of organizational, professional stress and personal factors. The contribution of one or another component to the dynamics of its development is different. Stress management experts believe that burnout is contagious, like an infectious disease. Sometimes you can find “burning out” departments and even entire organizations. Those who are subject to this process become cynics, negativists and pessimists; By interacting with others at work who are under the same stress, they can quickly turn an entire group into a collection of burnouts.

As N.V. Vodopyanova notes, burnout is most dangerous at the beginning of its development. A burnt-out employee, as a rule, is almost unaware of his symptoms, so his colleagues are the first to notice changes in his behavior. It is very important to recognize such manifestations in a timely manner and to properly organize a support system for such employees. It is known that a disease is easier to prevent than to treat, and these words are also true for burnout. Therefore, special attention should be paid to identifying those factors that lead to the development of this syndrome and taking them into account when developing preventive programs.

Initially, people potentially susceptible to burnout included social workers, doctors and lawyers. The burnout of these specialists was explained by the specific features of the so-called “helping professions.” To date, not only the number of symptoms of professional burnout has significantly expanded, but also the list of professions exposed to such danger has increased. This list includes teachers, military personnel, law enforcement officers, politicians, sales personnel and managers. As a result, “from a price for complicity”, the professional burnout syndrome has turned into a “disease” of workers in social or communication professions.

The specificity of the work of people in these professions is different in that there is large number situations with high emotional intensity and cognitive complexity of interpersonal communication, and this requires a specialist to make a significant personal contribution to establishing trusting relationships and the ability to manage the emotional intensity of business communication. Such specificity allows us to classify all the above-mentioned specialties into the category of “professions of the highest type” according to the classification of L.S. Shafranova (1924).

While studying the professional maladaptation of teachers, T.V. Formanyuk formulated the characteristics of teaching work, with the help of which it is possible to describe the specifics of the activities of all professions that contribute to the burnout of people employed in them. Among them:

• the constant feeling of novelty inherent in work situations;
• the specifics of the labor process are determined not so much by the nature of the “object” of labor, but by the characteristics and properties of the “producer” himself;
• the need for constant self-development, since otherwise “there is a feeling of violence against the psyche, leading to depression and irritability”;
• emotional intensity of interpersonal contacts;
• responsibility for wards;
• constant inclusion of volitional processes in the activity.

Speaking about the emotional intensity of interpersonal contacts, characteristic of the professions under discussion, it is noted that it may not be constantly very high, but has a chronic nature, and this, in accordance with the concept of “chronic everyday stress” by R. Lazarus, becomes especially pathogenic.

Initially, the vast majority of research on the phenomenon of burnout concerned various categories medical personnel, social workers, psychologists and teachers. Recently, judging by publications and sites on the Internet, attention is beginning to be paid to managers and sales representatives. Let's consider the results of some studies containing information about factors contributing to the development of mental burnout.

Social similarity/comparison as a risk of burnout

Dutch scientists B. P. Bunk, W. B. Schaufeli and J. F. Ubema studied burnout and insecurity in nurses in relation to the need for social similarity/comparison. The authors found that emotional exhaustion and reduced levels of self-esteem (reduced personal achievements) have significant connections with the desire for social similarity. At the same time, subjects with a high level of burnout and low levels of self-esteem and self-esteem avoid contacts with more successful subjects and situations associated with social comparison, i.e. situations of social comparison or evaluation for certain individuals act as strong stress factors that have a destructive effect on their personality.

Based on L. Festinger's theory of social similarity, it was suggested that it is possible to master stress through managing the need for social similarity/comparison. A number of other studies also note the leading role of “social comparison” processes in coping with professional stress. However, at present, this issue has not yet been adequately developed either theoretically or methodologically.

Experience of injustice

Of particular interest is research on burnout in the light of equity theory. In accordance with it, people evaluate their capabilities relative to others depending on the factors of reward, price and their contribution. People expect fair relationships in which what they put in and get out of them is proportionate to what other individuals put in and get out.

In professional activities, relationships are not always built on the basis of the factor of fairness. For example, the relationship between physicians and patients is considered primarily “complementary”: the physician is obligated to provide attention, care, and “investment” more than the patient. Consequently, the two parties structure their communication from different positions and perspectives. As a result, unequal relationships are established, which can cause professional burnout for doctors.

A study of Dutch nurses (Van Yperen, 1992) showed that feelings of injustice were an important determinant of burnout. Those nurses who believed that they invested more in their patients than they received in return in the form of positive feedback, improved health, and gratitude had high levels of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal achievement. Bunk and Schaufeli (1993) established a close connection between the injustice factor and the burnout syndrome: the more pronounced the experiences of injustice, the stronger the professional burnout.

Social insecurity and injustice

Researchers also name feelings of social insecurity, uncertainty about socio-economic stability and other negative experiences associated with social injustice as factors contributing to the development of the syndrome. B.P. Bunk and V. Horens noted that in tense social situations, most people have an increased need for social support, the absence of which leads to negative experiences and possible motivational and emotional deformation of the individual.

Social support as protection against the effects of stress

Social support has traditionally been viewed as a buffer between occupational stress and the dysfunctional consequences of stressful events because it influences a person's confidence in coping and helps prevent the damaging effects of stress. Seeking social support is the ability in a difficult situation to find support from others (family, friends, colleagues) - a sense of community, practical assistance, information. Social support is significantly associated with psychological and physical health, regardless of whether life and work stress are present or not (Cordes & Dougherty, 1993).

Research shows that social support is associated with levels of burnout. Employees who have high levels of support from managers and coworkers are less likely to experience burnout.

The results of a one-year longitudinal study (Poulin and Walter, 1993) also showed a relationship between social support and burnout. Thus, social workers whose level of burnout increased experienced an increase in the level of work stress, and also noted a decrease in social support from management. Social workers whose burnout levels decreased over the course of the year did not experience such changes.

There is also evidence of an inverse relationship between social support and burnout (Ray and Miller, 1994). Researchers have found that high levels of the former are associated with greater emotional exhaustion. This is explained by the fact that work stress leads to the mobilization of social support resources to overcome burnout.

According to G. A. Roberts, support can be ineffective when it comes from family and colleagues, rather than those who can actually change the work or social situation. These types of social support help in general, but may not solve a specific problem. At the same time, intraorganizational sources of support (from administration and supervisor) were associated with low levels of burnout. The data obtained raise the question of differentiating forms of social and psychological support for coping with life and professional stress.

It should be recognized that different types of support have mixed effects on burnout. Leiter (1993) studied the effects of personal (informal) and professional support on burnout. It turned out that the first of the two prevented the reduction of personal achievements, and the professional one played a dual role, reducing and increasing burnout. On the one hand, it was associated with a stronger sense of professional success, and on the other, with emotional exhaustion. It was also found that the greater the personal support, the more less risk emotional exhaustion and depersonalization.

Similar connections have been made regarding professional and administrative support in the organization. The greater it is, the less often employees experience depersonalization and reduction of personal achievements. Another study examined three types of organizational support: skill utilization, peer support, and supervisor support. The first is positively associated with professional achievements, but negatively with emotional exhaustion. Peer support is negatively associated with depersonalization and positively associated with personal achievement. Support from a supervisor was not significantly associated with any of the components of burnout.

Metz (1979) conducted a comparative study of teachers who identified themselves as either “professionally burnt out” or “professionally renewed.” Most men aged 30-49 considered themselves to be in the first group, and most women of the same age were in the second. “Professionally renewed” teachers perceived administrative support and relationships with colleagues as a significant source of such “renewal” compared to the group who considered themselves “burned out.”

Among medical college teachers, a high level of burnout is associated with a heavy classroom load and student management, and a low level is associated with support from colleagues, an open leadership style that involves participation in decision making, and time spent on research work and clinical practice.

In summary, empirical evidence suggests a complex interaction between social support and burnout. Sources of the first can influence the components of the second in different ways. The positive effect is due to both the nature of the support and the willingness to accept it.

Apparently, there are significant individual differences in the dynamics of this need in stressful situations and the strategies of overcoming behavior associated with it. Knowledge of the features of the interaction between social support and burnout syndrome should be taken into account when developing technologies for coping with stress based on the use of various types of social support.

For the professional adaptation of specialists and the preservation of their professional longevity, in our opinion, the development and use of various types of social, professional and personal support that prevent burnout syndrome will be promising.

Job dissatisfaction as a risk of burnout

Gunn (1979) examined the personality characteristics of social service workers that are important for understanding burnout. He found that it was not identical to job dissatisfaction. More severe burnout is associated with the unattractiveness of work in the organization: the higher the attractiveness, the lower its risk. At the same time, employees with high levels of self-concept strength are more positively oriented towards clients and are less susceptible to burnout.

Burnout is negatively associated with the so-called psychological contract (loyalty to the organization), because “burned out” employees tend to view the organization negatively (as an enemy) and psychologically distance themselves from it. Thus, emotionally exhausted employees treat colleagues and clients in an isolated, cynical manner; they are not confident that their work provides them with a sense of satisfaction own achievements. The person feels as if they have little or no control over the work situation and their confidence in their ability to solve work-related problems decreases.

Chronic burnout can lead to psychological detachment not only from work, but also from the organization as a whole. A “burnt out” employee emotionally distances himself from his work activity and transfers his inherent feelings of emptiness to everyone who works in the organization, avoiding all contact with colleagues. Initially, this withdrawal may take the form of absenteeism, physical isolation, or increased breaks as the worker avoids contact with organizational members and consumers. Finally, if burnout continues, he will constantly avoid stressful situations, giving up his position, work in the company, or even his career. Emotionally burnt out professionals are often unable to cope with work-related emotional stress, and when the syndrome develops to a sufficient extent, they also develop other symptoms. negative manifestations. For example, high correlations of burnout with low employee morale, absenteeism and high staff turnover were found (K. Maslach).

According to N. Vodopyanova, the attractiveness of organizational culture and work in an organization has a restraining effect on the development of burnout processes.

Burnout and pay

When studying burnout syndrome among consulting psychologists, it was found that psychologists in private practice had higher salaries and lower levels of burnout, in contrast to colleagues working in various health care institutions. Such differences in burnout are obviously due not so much to the nature of the work as to the amount of payment for skilled labor.

The researchers also found a positive relationship between client workload and confidence in personal achievement, and no significant correlations between workload, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization. The authors believe that an increase in the number of clients is perceived by consultants as an opportunity to help more people, and in private practice, to earn more money; it increases feelings of professional efficacy and satisfaction with one's own achievements and reduces the risk of burnout (particularly emotional exhaustion and depersonalization).

A study among managers of production and commercial departments of a large Russian shipbuilding enterprise demonstrated the dependence of the risk of burnout on the remuneration system. It was found that with commission pay, managers are less likely to show symptoms of burnout than with an official salary system, which may be explained by the presence of greater freedom and the need for creativity with commission pay.

The influence of age, length of service and satisfaction

career burnout

There are complex relationships between the degree of burnout, age, experience and the degree of satisfaction with professional growth. According to some reports, professional growth , providing a person with an increase in his social status, reduces the degree of burnout. In these cases, from a certain point, a negative correlation may appear between experience and burnout: the greater the first, the less the second. In case of dissatisfaction with career growth, professional experience contributes to employee burnout.

The influence of age on the burnout effect is controversial. Some studies have found that not only older people, but also younger people, are predisposed to burnout. In some cases, the state of the latter is explained by the emotional shock that they experience when faced with reality, which often does not correspond to their expectations regarding professional activity.

The positive correlation of burnout with age, which some studies show, is due to its (age) correspondence to professional experience. However, if we are talking about the turn of 45-50 years, then age begins to have an independent influence, as a result of which the direct relationship often turns into a reverse one. The appearance of a negative correlation is explained by age-related revaluation of values ​​and modifications during personal growth hierarchy of motives.

Westerhouse (1979) studied the effects of tenure and role conflict in 140 junior teachers working in private schools. He found that the frequency of role conflict is an important variable in predicting burnout, although there was no significant positive relationship between teacher experience and burnout. Obviously, the risk factor for burnout is not the length of work (as experience), but dissatisfaction with it, lack of prospects for personal and professional growth, as well as personal characteristics that influence the tension of communication at work.

Career as a source of psychological danger

Specialists from the Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences studied the relationship between career aspirations and emotional burnout of employees. For the main group, managers with real career advancement were selected (47 people in total). All of them had at least 4-5 years of work experience, and they started their careers as ordinary employees.

During the research, the “Career Anchors” questionnaire by E. Shein and the method of diagnosing the level of emotional burnout by V.V. Boyko were used, as well as a specially developed questionnaire to identify the gender and age characteristics of the subjects, their place in the organization, their real career and its subjective assessment.

• For men who are employees, compared to male entrepreneurs, the type of career orientation does not affect the level of emotional burnout. This is probably due to the fact that the implementation of any career orientation largely depends on the employer. Among male entrepreneurs, a significant negative correlation was revealed between professional competence, management skills and the overall level of emotional burnout, as well as its “exhaustion” phase: the more pronounced the orientation towards professionalism, the lower the risk of emotional burnout.
• Among women entrepreneurs, a career orientation towards mastering management negatively correlates with the level of emotional burnout, which may be associated with satisfying the desire for excellence, described by A. Adler, through management activities. If a person controls the activities of others, it means that, according to his subjective assessment, he is superior to them in some way.
• The female sample of entrepreneurs is characterized by a negative correlation between career orientation to service, the general indicator of emotional burnout syndrome and its “stress” phase. When implementing a strong service orientation, a person tends to ignore his needs, which also leads to an increase in internal tension and, obviously, predisposes to burnout.
• In women, significant positive correlations were revealed between the level of emotional burnout and such career orientations as stability and integration of lifestyles. The inability to satisfy the need for stability and an optimal balance between career, personal life and self-development contributes to the growth of emotional stress.
• The influence of career orientation “management” on emotional burnout depends on its actual implementation. Among students, there was a positive correlation between these factors, while samples of people working in management showed that this relationship was the opposite.

Researchers have come to the general conclusion that the lack of opportunity to realize most career aspirations leads to an increase in the level of emotional burnout, just as any frustration of needs leads to an increase in the level of internal tension.

Gender and burnout

Gender differences are clearly evident when considering individual components of the syndrome. Thus, it was found that men are more likely to have a high degree of depersonalization and a high assessment of their professional success, while women are more susceptible to emotional exhaustion.

There is also a gender difference in the subjective assessment of stress factors. Thus, female teachers consider “difficult students” to be the strongest stress factors, while male teachers consider the bureaucracy inherent in schools and a large amount of “paper” work. However, other studies do not confirm the existence of correlations between the components of burnout and gender.

Personal risk factors for burnout

Among the personal factors contributing to burnout, such indicators of predisposition to stress reactions as the ratio externality And internality, implying the degree of responsibility of a person for his life, type A behavior preferred by man strategies for overcoming crisis situations. An external “locus of control” correlates with emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, and the use of a passive avoidance strategy correlates with the development of emotional exhaustion and a reduction in personal achievements. Moreover, the greater the burnout, the more often passive, asocial and aggressive models of overcoming behavior are used.

The strategy of a person’s overcoming behavior in a situation of stress is one of the most important factors that determines the likelihood of an individual developing psychosomatic diseases. Strategies to suppress emotions often increase the risk of pre-disease or disease states. However, the ability to manage emotional manifestations, and sometimes suppress them, is a necessary “skill” for people in communicative (social) professions. Once it becomes habitual, it often carries over into non-work life. Thus, in studies of medical and hygienic aspects of the lifestyle of doctors, it was revealed that the desire to suppress emotions is characteristic of every fourth doctor.

How an employee copes with stress is also important for the development of burnout. Research shows that the most vulnerable are those who react to it aggressively, unrestrainedly, want to resist it at any cost, and do not give up competition. Such people tend to underestimate the complexity of the tasks they face and the time required to solve them. The stress factor causes them to feel depressed, despondent, due to the fact that they cannot achieve their goals (the so-called type A behavior).

Type A Personality There are two main features: extremely high competitiveness and a constant feeling of time pressure. Such people are ambitious, aggressive, strive for achievements, while pushing themselves into tight time frames.

2.3. Features of the manifestation of the syndrome"burnout" among military personnel

Professional burnout syndrome is an unfavorable reaction to work stress, including psychological, psychophysiological and behavioral components. As the consequences of troubles at work worsen, a person’s moral and physical strength is depleted, he becomes less energetic; the number of contacts with others decreases, which in turn leads to an increased experience of loneliness. People who are “burnt out” at work lose motivation, develop indifference to work, and deteriorate the quality and productivity of their work.

Those people who have a stable and attractive job that offers the opportunity for creativity, professional and personal growth are less likely to experience burnout; have diverse interests and promising life plans; by type of life attitude - optimistic, successfully overcome life's adversities and age-related crises; have an average degree of neuroticism and relatively high extroversion. The risk of burnout is reduced with high professional competence and high social intelligence. The higher they are, the lower the risk of ineffective communications, the greater the creativity in situations of interpersonal interaction and, as a result, the less satiety and fatigue during communication.

The specificity of the work of an educational officer is characterized by the fact that there are a large number of situations with high emotional intensity and cognitive complexity of interpersonal communication, which requires a significant personal contribution to establishing relationships and the ability to manage the emotional tension of business interaction.

During the course of this study, the degree of development of burnout syndrome among course officers of the VVVAIU was assessed. 42 officers took part in it. For the survey, a methodology developed based on the model of K. Maslach and S. Jackson was used. The questions were adapted to the specifics of the educational officer’s activities.

The results of the study showed that the level of emotional exhaustion in 73% of respondents could be assessed as high, in 19% as average, and in only 8% as low. Respondents indicated feelings of emotional overstrain, fatigue, emptiness, and exhaustion of their own emotional resources. Moreover, it is paradoxical that emotional exhaustion turned out to be more characteristic of officers who have been in office for less than two years, while those who have been in office for more than 5 years demonstrated an average and low level of exhaustion.

The average level of depersonalization in the sample can be characterized as average. 11% of respondents had a high level of depersonalization, 69% had an average level, and 20% had a low level. It should be noted that such signs of depersonalization as coldness, callousness, and cynicism are more characteristic of officers occupying the positions of course commanders compared to course officers.

A low level of reduction in personal achievements was noted among 14% of respondents. This group officers indicates a decreased sense of their own competence at work, the experience of dissatisfaction with themselves, and a decrease in the value of their own activities. An average level of reduction in personal achievements was recorded in 32% of respondents, a high level - in 54% of respondents. The analysis revealed a direct relationship - the longer an officer remains in his position, the lower the level of reduction in personal achievements.

CONCLUSION

The study allowed us to draw a number of general conclusions:

Any professional activity already at the stage of mastering, and in the future, when carried out, deforms the personality. Many human qualities remain unclaimed. As professionalization progresses, the success of an activity begins to be determined by an ensemble of professionally important qualities that have been “exploited” for years. Some of them are transformed into professionally undesirable qualities; At the same time, professional accentuations gradually develop - overly expressed qualities and their combinations that negatively affect the activities and behavior of a specialist.

Sensitive periods for the formation of professional deformations are crises of professional development of the individual. An unproductive way out of a crisis distorts professional orientation, contributes to the emergence of a negative professional position, and reduces professional activity.

Any profession initiates the formation of professional personality deformations. However, the most vulnerable are socionomic professions of the “person-to-person” type. The nature and severity of professional deformations depend on the nature, content of the activity, the prestige of the profession, work experience and individual psychological characteristics of the individual.

Among social workers, law enforcement agencies, doctors, teachers, and military personnel, the following deformations are most common: authoritarianism, aggressiveness, conservatism, social hypocrisy, behavioral transfer, emotional indifference.

As work experience increases, the “emotional burnout” syndrome begins to affect itself, which leads to emotional exhaustion, fatigue and anxiety. Emotional deformation of the personality occurs. In turn, psychological discomfort can provoke illness and reduce satisfaction with professional activities.

The results obtained indicate that for the majority of officers surveyed, the level of emotional exhaustion can be assessed as high, which is expressed in a feeling of emotional overstrain, fatigue, emptiness, and exhaustion of one’s own emotional resources. The level of depersonalization on average can be characterized as average, and the level of reduction of personal achievements in more than half of the sample is noted as high.

Occupational deformities are a type of occupational disease and are inevitable. The main problem of specialists in in this case lies in their prevention and technologies for overcoming them.

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TOMSK POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY

Department of Sociology, Psychology and Law

Professional personality deformation

Tutorial

Tomsk - 2009

BBK 88.37

Professional personality deformation. Study guide. (Compilers,). – Tomsk: TPU Publishing House, - 20 p.

The content of the textbook is devoted to the consideration of the current problem of the impact of professional activity on a person’s personal structure, the reasons for the appearance of professional personality deformations.

The manual is aimed at students and listeners of all specialties and forms of study.

Topic 1. Theoretical justifications of professional activities………………………………………………………………………………..4 1.1 Profession and professional self-determination…………….4 ……………………………………...9 1.3. Professionally significant personality traits and their dynamics………..10

Topic 2. Theoretical issues of professional deformation………….17 2.1. Concept and types of professional deformation……………………17 2.2. Professional destruction of personality……………………………19 2.3. Classification of signs of professional deformation………...27 2.4. Causes of professional personality deformations………………..28

Topic 3. Factors in the formation of professional personality deformation……34 3.1. Psychological states of a person in the process of work……………….34 3.2. Professional crisis: the problem of personal choice………………..52 3.3. Emotional Burnout Syndrome……………………………….54

Topic 4. Factors of professional longevity……………………………57

Topic 5. Professional deformations of managers…………………………. 62 5.1. Modern conditions of activity of managers………………………...62 5.2. Personal limitations of modern managers………………….74 5.3. Professional crises of managers……………………………...78

List of used literature………………………………………………………..90

Topic 1. Theoretical justifications of professional activities

1.1 Profession and professional self-determination of the individual.

1.2. Basics of classification of professions.

1.1. Profession and professional self-determination of the individual.

Despite all the obvious semantic similarity, the concept of “profession” in the general case does not coincide with the concept of “professional activity”.

Here the basic conditions (or signs) are formulated, when met, we can talk about the existence of a specific phenomenon called “profession”, as well as about a “professional” as a bearer of these signs. Here are these conditions:

1. Social necessity of this profession. Society as a whole, or some part of it, needs in some service and is ready to provide certain life benefits to the people performing it, i.e. pay her. In other words, the profession is based on services, provided to others, satisfying them needs and, accordingly, having a certain price.

2. A profession is something that has developed historically. The profession assumes that: a given (historically established) way of satisfying a social need:

· acts (is implemented) for some time (extent in time);

carried out not by one person, but group of persons - specialists who are proficient in this method of meeting social needs;

· mandatory is being reproduced in time.

3.In the public consciousness, a specific profession is presented as a discrete unit of the world of professions and the bearer of a certain, characteristic only for her, set of properties.

(For example, despite the similarity of the professions “joiner-carpenter”, nevertheless, even at the everyday level they are presented as different, separate professions). At the same time, a profession, as a discrete unit and a carrier of specific properties, is interconnected with other professions. The very existence of this profession is a consequence of the existence of other professions and a condition for the existence of third professions.

4. Mastering a profession is associated with the process of professional training. Any profession, as follows from the definition, is an occupation that must be specially studied, mastering a complex of special theoretical knowledge and practical skills. Any work that is done without preparation or after short-term(from several days to several months) preparation can be carried out by any healthy, i.e. able-bodied person, who should be classified as unprofessional labor, which means it is not a profession,

In general, we can talk about professionalism as an integral characteristic of a person’s activity, communication and personality. Professionalism can be described through the relationship between a person’s motivational sphere (professional values, professional aspirations and motives, professional goal setting, etc.) and the operational sphere (professional self-awareness, professional abilities, learning ability, techniques and technologies as components of professional skill and creativity, etc.). d.). Professionalism correlates with various aspects of employee maturity; accordingly, the following are distinguished: types of professional competence:

special or activity professional competence - characterizes mastery of activities at a high professional level;

▪ social professional competence - characterizes mastery of methods of joint professional activity and cooperation, methods of professional communication accepted in the community;

personal professional competence - characterizes mastery of methods of self-expression and self-development, means of resisting professional deformation of the individual;

individual professional competence - characterizes mastery of methods of self-realization and self-development of individuality within the profession, the ability to creatively express one’s individuality, etc.

The presence of all aspects of competence means that a person has achieved maturity in his professional activities, communication and cooperation, and characterizes the formation of the personality and individuality of a professional. Note that a person may not have all types of competence, which must be taken into account in his professional characteristics.

Levels of professionalism, its stages and steps are related as follows: they present unequal requirements for professionally important qualities (PIQ) of an individual.

For example, at the stage of “self-diagnosis” the necessary qualities are self-awareness, optimism, and a positive “I-concept”. At the level of mastery- professional goal setting, thinking, intuition, improvisation, mastery of rational techniques and technologies.

Choosing a profession, or professional self-determination, seen as the basis self-affirmation person in society. Choosing a profession is not a one-time act, but a process consisting of a number of stages, the duration of which depends on external conditions and the individual characteristics of the person making such a choice.

Based on the personal approach, researchers identify four stages in the process of professional self-determination:

1. The emergence and formation of professional intentions and initial orientation to various fields labor (senior school age). By the age of 14-15, girls and boys have already developed certain knowledge about professions and have developed a selective attitude towards one or more of them. At this stage, educational activities are re-evaluated: motivation changes depending on professional intentions. Studying in high school takes on a professionally oriented character. There is reason to believe that at the stage of professional development there is a change in leading activity: educational and cognitive activity is replaced by educational-oriented activity.

2. Vocational education and training as the basis of the chosen profession;

3. Professional adaptation, characterized by independent work activity, the formation individual style of activity(ISD) and inclusion in the system of industrial and social relations;

4. Self-realization in work (partial or complete) - fulfillment or non-fulfillment of those expectations, that are related to professional work. Fourth period (self-realization person in work) in turn can be presented as a sequence of its three components stages:

Stage primary professionalization - characterized by the fact that a specialist masters and productively performs normatively approved activities, determines his social and professional status in the hierarchy of industrial relations.

Stage Its feature is high-quality and highly productive performance of professional activities. The methods of its implementation have a clearly expressed individual character. The specialist becomes professional. He is characterized by a socio-professional position and stable professional self-esteem.

Stage professional excellence characterized by a creative and innovative level of professional activity. The driving factor in further professional development of the individual is the need for self-realization and self-fulfillment.

Thus, professional self-determination is considered as a process that covers the entire period of a person’s professional activity: from the emergence of professional intentions to exit from work.

The choice of profession is related to past personal experience, and the process of professional development extends far into the future, participating in the formation of a general image of “I”, ultimately determining the course of life.

Considering professional self-determination as a personality property, the following characteristics are distinguished:

The ability to adequately assess one’s qualities as factors in choosing a profession;

The ability to form an adequate understanding of the world of professions and social needs in certain types;

The ability to highlight the most important thing for yourself when choosing a profession.

Thus, we can give the following definition of profession. Profession is a type of work activity of a person who has a complex of theoretical knowledge and practical skills acquired as a result of special training and work experience.

The transition from one stage of the process of professional development to another is accompanied by certain crises. Let us briefly consider the psychological features of crises in professional personality development:

1. At the stage formation of professional intentions a clash of the desired future and the real present manifests itself, which takes on the character of a crisis of educational and professional guidance. High school students who continued their studies in grades 10-11 clearly experience this crisis at the age of 16-17, before completing their school education. The core of the crisis is the need to choose the method of obtaining vocational education or training. Researchers emphasize that at this age, as a rule, the option of continuing education is chosen, focused on a certain professional field, and not for a specific profession.

2. At the stage vocational education Many pupils and students experience disappointment in their profession. Dissatisfaction with certain academic disciplines arises, doubts arise about the correctness of the professional choice, and interest in studying decreases. Observed crisis of professional choice. As a rule, it clearly manifests itself in the first and recent years vocational training. In rare exceptions, this crisis is overcome by changing educational motivation to social and professional one. Increasing from year to year professional orientation educational disciplines reduces dissatisfaction with the future profession.

However, the crisis of revision and correction of professional choice at this stage does not reach the critical phase when conflict is inevitable. Researchers note the sluggish nature of this crisis.

3. After completing vocational education, the stage begins professional adaptation. The situation of professional development is changing radically: a new group of different ages and socio-professional values, a different social role and hierarchical system of industrial relations, a fundamentally new type of activity - professional. Inconsistency, discrepancy between real professional reality and previously formed ideas and expectations young specialist causes crisis of professional expectations.

This crisis manifests itself in a person’s dissatisfaction with the level of organization and content of work, job responsibilities, industrial relations, working conditions and wages. There are two options for resolving the crisis:

· constructive(intensifying professional efforts to quickly adapt and gain work experience);

· destructive(dismissal, change of specialty, inadequate, unproductive performance of professional functions).

4. Stage primary professionalization begins after 3-5 years of work. At this stage, a person becomes dissatisfied with his professional life and protests against the inertia of his professional development. Consciously or unconsciously, a person begins to feel the need for further professional growth. In the absence of his prospects, the individual experiences internal discomfort, mental tension, and thoughts of possible dismissal or a change of profession appear.

Emerging crisis of professional growth can be temporarily compensated by leisure activities, everyday worries, or can be radically resolved by leaving one’s profession. But such a resolution of the crisis can hardly be considered productive. The conflict can be resolved by introducing certification and assigning a new professional category to the performer.

5. Further professional development of a specialist leads to secondary professionalization. Socio-professional values ​​and relationships are radically restructured, ways of performing activities are changing, which indicates the transition of a specialist to a new stage of professional development, since these changes lead to a significant transformation of both social reality and leading activities.

However, the stabilization of all aspects of professional life leads to professional stagnation of the individual, humility and professional apathy. Professional stagnation can last for years, sometimes until retirement.

On the other hand, high-quality and productive performance of activities in many cases leads to the fact that a person “outgrows” his profession. Dissatisfaction with oneself and one’s professional position increases. The professional self-awareness that has formed by this time suggests alternative scenarios for a future career and not necessarily within the framework of a given profession. The individual feels the need for self-determination and self-organization. Contradictions between the desired career and its real prospects lead to development professional career crisis. At the same time, the “I-concept” is subjected to a serious revision, and adjustments are made to the existing production relations.

Possible options for overcoming the crisis: dismissal, mastering a new specialty within the same profession, moving to a higher position. The individual must commit a professional act, show above-standard activity, which can be expressed in the transition to a new educational qualification, or a qualitatively new, innovative level of activity performance. One of the productive options is the transition to the next stage of professional development, the stage of mastery.

6. On mastery stages a crisis may occur unrealized opportunities or, more precisely, crisis of social and professional self-actualization, expressed in deep the specialist's dissatisfaction with himself.Constructive The way out of this state is innovation, invention, rapid career, social and professional activities beyond the norm. Destructive options for resolving the crisis - illegal actions, alcoholism, creating a new family, depression, development of professional deformation.

7. The last crisis of a working person (in the logical chain of professional development and human life) is due to his departure from professional life. When a certain age limit is reached, a person retires and experiences crisis of loss of profession. The pre-retirement period is already becoming a crisis for many workers. This is due to the assimilation of a new social role and norms of behavior. Retirement means a narrowing of the socio-professional field and contacts, a decrease in financial opportunities. The severity of the crisis of loss of professional activity depends on the nature of work activity (physical workers experience it more easily), marital status and health.

1.2. Basics of classification of professions.

The next stage in the psychological study of professional activity is the study of the “Man - Professional Environment” system, in which the components of the professional environment are the subject and means of labor, professional tasks, physical and social environment. An object of labor is a system of properties and relationships of things, phenomena, processes with which a person working in a certain job position must mentally or practically operate (recognize, take into account, transform, save or find them).

In accordance with the five main types of objects of labor, a classification of types of professions is proposed, shown in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1.

Classification of types of professions

However, when analyzing work activity, one should always distinguish between subjective goals and so-called “objective” ones, given from the outside, somewhere approved by someone, prescribed, but not yet “accepted” by the subject, which have not become his own goals - images of the desired future. With this approach, the goal of labor, considered as some objective result that society requires or expects from a person, determines the corresponding professional tasks.

Below is Table 1.2, which shows the relationships between specialty types and professional tasks.

It is proposed to consider not only processing tools as tools of labor, but also any means that enhance a person’s ability to recognize the characteristics of the object of labor and influence it. Therefore, he classifies measuring instruments and instruments, and the so-called “functional means of the body” (expressive means of behavior, speech, rules for solving theoretical and practical problems) as tools of labor.

Table 1.2

Relationship between types of specialties and types of professional tasks

The basis of the classification proposed in the years is the “predominant presence of creativity.” As a result, three groups of professions were identified:

Professions of the highest type on the basis of “the need for constant extracurricular work on the subject and on oneself.” This group initially included professions related to the arts and education; Later, doctors, engineers, and responsible trade unionists were added to this group.

Professions of the average (craft) type involve working only on a subject.

Professions of the lower type, which after training do not require work on either oneself or the subject.

Such a basis is perhaps more suitable for determining a person’s subjective contribution to professional activity, depending on whether he is working on himself and/or on the subject or not, and thereby for psychological diagnostics prospects for his advancement in the profession.

1.3. Professionally significant personality traits and their dynamics.

When considering each of the professionally significant properties, it is necessary to pay attention to how stable this property is, how amenable to development and compensation it is in the process of learning and professional activity. The main characteristics of nervous processes (strength of excitatory and inhibitory processes, mobility, balance) leave their mark on professional activity in any field, but different professions make their own demands on different properties of the nervous system.

Individual typological properties. Individual typological characteristics change little throughout the professional path and are among the most stable properties. It should be remembered that the same typological property can have both positive and negative (from the point of view of professional success) manifestations. For example, weakness of nervous processes determines a low limit of performance and at the same time high sensitivity (sensitivity). And the inertia of nervous processes is manifested in low rates of speed of the nervous system and in the strength of temporary connections, etc. Thus, natural deficiency in the area of ​​one function is compensated by an advantage in the area of ​​another, no less important. And different types of higher nervous activity should be considered not as different degrees of perfection, but as ways of balancing the body with the environment.

Among the individual-typological properties that manifest themselves in all types of activity of the subject - activity, communication, behavior, etc. - and therefore influencing cognitive and emotional processes, mental states and properties, is temperament as one of the most important properties of individuality .

Individual style of activity – a system of methods determined by typological features that develops in a person striving for the best implementation of a given activity is called the individual style of activity (IAS). An individual style of activity (in work, study, sports) is a system of skills, methods, techniques, and ways of solving the problem of a particular activity characteristic of a given person, ensuring its more or less successful implementation.

The complex of individual characteristics of a person can only partially satisfy the requirements of any type of activity. Therefore, a person consciously or spontaneously mobilizes his valuable qualities for a given type of work, while at the same time compensating for or somehow overcoming those that hinder the achievement of the goal. As a result, it is created individual style activity - a unique version of typical work methods for a given person in typical conditions.

In the professional literature there is a widely presented point of view that distinguishes three types of professions:

1. Professions where every healthy person can achieve socially acceptable effective activity.

2. Professions in which not every person can achieve the desired effect.

3. Professions that, by their nature, require achievement of the highest levels of skill.

Type 3 professions make specific demands on a person’s individual characteristics, which in some cases can be determined genetically. Most professions do not impose such stringent requirements on the subject of activity (type 1) or allow, through the inclusion of compensation mechanisms and the development of ISD, to correct the lack of certain professionally important qualities (type 2 professions).

ISD can be considered as a way of adapting carriers of various individual typological qualities to working conditions. So, for example, when the requirements for the pace of activity change, a person with a mobile type of nervous system successfully solves problems by using his quickness, the ability to easily speed up actions and move from one state to another.

Under the same objective conditions, a person of an inert type uses completely different means. He can save himself from the need to quickly respond to signals due to forethought and increased attention to preventive measures. In the process of his work, a tendency to systematicity and thoroughness in work is developed.

The individual style of activity of any individual cannot be taken as a universal, “ideal model”. Imposing it “in the order of sharing experience” on others (for example, encouraging an inert performer to work in the style of a dynamic one) can lead to the fact that the tasks of the activity become impossible for him.

One of the first factors that people pay attention to when studying the psychological characteristics of a particular profession is psychomotor skills.

Every work activity, one way or another, includes a system of actions. Analyzing general structure activity, emphasized that human activity does not exist except in the form of an action or a chain of actions.

In the structure of human actions when dealing with complex technical devices, sensorimotor reactions are of great importance. From the point of view general characteristics human psychomotor is of interest in discovering the trainability of all types of sensorimotor reactions. Moreover, there is information about the possibility of voluntary regulation of the speed of the sensorimotor reaction with an accuracy of hundredths of a second.

Can be practically used in work the entire sensory organization of man. Despite the wide variety of types and levels of sensitivity in the same person, sensitivity is a general, relatively stable personality trait that manifests itself in different conditions, under the influence of external stimuli of a wide variety of nature.

Type of nervous system of a particular person affects the general nature of the sensitivity of all his analyzers. The speed of sensation and discrimination depends on the mobility of nervous processes and their balance. The stability of the level of sensitivity depends on the strength of the nervous processes, their mobility and balance. Emotional reactivity when exposed to stimuli on receptors depends especially strongly on the strength of nervous processes - greater in the weak type, least in the inert.

Due to the stability of the considered characteristics, for professions that place increased demands on such properties as speed of discrimination, stability of the level of sensitivity, etc., a real means of increasing the efficiency of specialists is professional selection.

The next characteristic of sensory processes, which is of great importance for success in many types of professional activities, is analyzer sensitivity level . There is uneven development of different types of sensitivity in the general sensory organization: the same person may have increased sensitivity in the field of spatial discrimination or speech hearing and, at the same time, decreased sensitivity of color vision and musical hearing. These features can be associated either: a) with the natural predominance of one of the analyzers; or b) with the leading role of this analyzer, formed as a result of long-term professional experience. These features are determined by both the individual characteristics of information reception and the predominance of one or another type of representation in the imagination, memory, and figurative thinking.

Numerous studies indicate that the effectiveness of solving sensory and perceptual tasks significantly increases under the influence of social experience or special training.

One of the most important components of sensory culture is observation - polyanalyser purposeful activity of perception, mediated by knowledge and thinking. Professional observation skills are associated with a person’s observational ability: it relies on this property and at the same time develops it.

Memory - one of the most important mental processes. It underlies the formation of a person’s individual experience, his speech, thinking, emotions, and motor skills. In the structure of memory, three main links can be distinguished: 1) memorization of perceived information; 2) saving information; 3) extracting what has been preserved.

Various mnemonic properties are important for the success of work activity:

memory capacity;

memorization speed;

strength of retention of learned material;

accuracy and speed of playback;

readiness of memory to quickly reproduce material at the right time.

Professional memory can operate with visual images, auditory (for a radio operator, musician), motor (for a mechanic - adjuster, acrobat), tactile (for a doctor), olfactory (for workers in the food and perfume industries). This can be memory for faces (for an administrator, a train conductor, a teacher), for graphic and digital material, and finally, the content of professional memory can be artistic images, words, concepts, ideas. Individual differences in this regard are great.

Professional experience is stored in long-term memory . But basically, professional activity is based on operative memory, which is organically included in this activity. The mechanisms of functioning of RAM are lifelong developing systems of nervous connections that serve this activity. Therefore, the characteristics of RAM are directly dependent on the degree of formation of such functional systems. They change as these systems are formed and one or another activity is mastered, reaching at some level relative stability with fixed ways of performing certain activities. As new, more advanced methods of activity are learned, a new shift occurs in the characteristics of RAM.

Individual differences in the characteristics of imagination and factors influencing the dynamics imaginative properties , have been little studied. However, based on the materials accumulated by psychological science, it can be noted that schoolchildren with a penchant for technical creativity have significantly fewer errors when solving problems that require operating with images of objects of complex shape than their peers who do not attend technical clubs

Based on these observations, the conclusion suggests itself about the possibility of developing appropriate skills. Apparently, for this, firstly, some kind of fund of images is needed (not only visual, but also auditory, motor, etc.), which is created as a result of professional experience, but can be formed using special techniques in the process industrial training, and, secondly, it is necessary to develop skills in operating with representations.

In psychology there is a concept general intelligence and its two substructures: verbal and nonverbal. Verbal intelligence is an integral education, the functioning of which is carried out in a verbal-logical form, relying primarily on knowledge. Nonverbal intelligence is an integral education, the functioning of which is associated with the development of visual-figurative thinking based on visual images and spatial representations.

General intelligence is understood as a complex integral quality, a certain synthesis of the psyche, which together ensures the success of any activity. The level of general intelligence is often measured through IQ - intelligence quotient, which was proposed by the famous researcher and author of a specialized intelligence test D. Wexler. In the Wechsler scale, intelligence is measured by points on the following scale: over 135 points - genius, from 135 to 120 points - high level, from 120 to 100 - average, from 100 to 80 - low, below 80 points - mental retardation.

In particular, the results of studies of students with a technical and humanitarian orientation revealed a statistically significant difference between the two named contingents. It was found that the intelligence profile of technical students is shifted towards the development of non-verbal intelligence and slightly reduced in verbal intelligence. Students of humanities, on the contrary, have more developed verbal intelligence and reduced non-verbal intelligence. However, the results of a study of intelligence, in particular, of electrical engineers, showed that the best success in their work was achieved by those specialists who had developed non-verbal and verbal intelligence, i.e. general and special abilities.

In addition, a distinction is made between so-called professional and social intelligence. Professional intelligence is focused on specialization in activity, social intelligence - on solving problems of interpersonal relationships, on finding a rational way out of the situation.

Along with mental qualities, the so-called attentional properties . Attentional properties include the following characteristics of attention, which can be determined through experimental research: selectivity of attention, volume of attention, stability of attention, the ability to distribute and switch.

Professionally significant properties of attention, such as the intensity of its concentration, stability, speed of switching, appear differently in various types activities. For example, for the driver’s profession, the distribution and switching characteristics come to the fore, for other professions whose main goal is observation and control (proofreader, continuous rolling mill operator, etc.), highest value gains stability (concentration) of attention.

All characteristics of attention are determined to one degree or another by the typological characteristics of the nervous system and therefore change little. The speed of switching depends on the mobility of nervous processes. As is known, with age their mobility decreases somewhat and one can expect a decrease in the speed of switching attention.

None of the professionally significant properties depends as much on external factors as the property of attention. Monotony, for example, has a sharply negative effect on the stability of attention, while the content and responsibility of the task increase the stability of attention. Fatigue, first of all, affects attention, manifesting itself in a deterioration in its characteristics.

No special training in the process of professional training can provide a sharp improvement in individual characteristics of attention, since the underlying features of the nervous processes change extremely slowly. Therefore, the characteristics of attention, as well as mental properties, can be considered as fairly stable diagnostic indicators.

Under efficiency refers to the potential ability of a person to perform labor activity for a given time with a given efficiency and quality. Performance depends on the external conditions of activity and the psychophysiological resources of the individual. In relation to the task being solved by the subject of labor, one can distinguish maximum, optimal and reduced performance.

For long-term work activity, the following phases, or periods of working capacity, are typical:

Workability phase. Characterized by an increase in the body's metabolic processes. The duration of this period depends on the preparedness, work experience and condition of the person. Preliminary training helps reduce the processing time.

Compensation phase. Characterized by sustainable activities. Working reactions are precise and correspond to the required rhythm. There is a stable mobilization of attention, memory, and information processing processes. Labor productivity and quality at this stage are maximum.

3. Subcompensation phase. After time has passed in unfavorable conditions, the subcompensation phase begins. It is characterized by a slight decrease in performance due to the development of fatigue, as well as a decrease in concentration. Labor productivity may remain high, but the quality of labor decreases. Activation occurs, “boosting” the functional systems of the body, involving most of its reserves. Physiological resistance temporarily increases, but later the vital forces of the body are depleted.

4. Decompensation phase. Characterized by a violation of the energy supply of activity. Motivational characteristics change. Labor efficiency, quality and reliability are significantly reduced. Social contacts in the team are deteriorating. The number of errors is increasing. Work activity becomes exhausting. The leading motivation is aimed at stopping the activity. 5. Phase of disruption of activity. Occurs with very intense or prolonged work.

5. During the work process, a final rush phase may appear. Its essence is the emergency mobilization of the body's functional reserves to ensure a sharp increase in performance under the influence of appropriate motivation associated with the imminent completion of work.

The effectiveness of activity is often determined by how effectively a person’s potential is used - his ability to work under given conditions. And in some cases, external conditions may be so far from optimal that they will not provide the opportunity to show the result for which the specialist is ready, even with the maximum return of spiritual and physical strength.

Questions for self-control

1. Determine the main content of the “profession” phenomenon.

3. What stages does a person go through during his professional activity?

4. Highlight the most significant professional personal qualities necessary for your profession.

Topic 2. Theoretical issues of professional deformation

2.1. Concept and types of professional deformation.

2.3. Classification of signs of professional deformation.

2.4. Causes of professional personality deformations.

2.1. Concept and types of professional deformation.

Professional personality deformation – changes in personality traits (stereotypes of perception, value orientations, character, methods of communication and behavior), which occurs under the influence of performing professional activities. A professional personality type is formed, which can manifest itself in professional jargon, demeanor, and physical appearance.

Considering the parameters of professional personality deformation, the following characteristics can be tentatively identified. The impact of a profession on a person can be assessed, first of all, by its modality (positive or negative impact). It is known that work itself has neutral properties in relation to the results of education. It is capable of exerting a beneficial, ennobling influence on a person, forming a noble attitude towards work, the team, cultivating spiritual needs, worldview, improving work skills, abilities, experience, and generally shaping the characteristics of a person’s character.

Professional deformation is manifested in such personality qualities that change under the influence of the professional role. The sources of professional deformation lie in the depths of the professional adaptation of the individual to the conditions and requirements of work. It is known that professional deformation manifests itself to the greatest extent among representatives of those specialties where work is connected with people, especially with “abnormal” people in some respect. Objective division of labor, differences between mental and physical labor, disharmony in personality development creates the prerequisites for the emergence of professional personality types, the transformation of subjects into “narrow specialists”.

Speaking about professional deformation, we can briefly note that its essence lies in the interaction of the subject and the individual in a single structure of individuality. For the first time in psychology, the academician noted the possibility of non-coinciding, contradictory development of personality properties and properties of the subject of activity, and also analyzed the conditions that contribute to the discrepancy between personality properties and the properties of the subject, professional, specialist in their interaction.

The phenomenon of professional deformation can be defined as the penetration of the “Professional Self” into the “Human Self,” meaning that with professional deformation, the impact of professional frameworks and attitudes is not limited exclusively to the professional sphere. We can say that after a person leaves a professional situation, his natural “straightening” does not occur, therefore, even in his personal life, a person continues to bear the “deforming imprint” of his profession. Thus, the term “professional deformation” is a fairly successful metaphor on the basis of which one can build a model that clearly describes the mechanism of the deforming influence of professional activity. To do this, let’s imagine a certain production process for making a product using pressing.

At the entrance to this process we have material a certain shape, which passes through the influence of the press and therefore loses its old shape (that is, deformed). The output of this material is new uniform, which corresponds press configurations. In order for the deformation process to take place successfully, sufficient strength press and suitable material properties. Otherwise, the material will not change its shape (if the press is not powerful enough) or after some time it may return to its original shape (if the material is too elastic). To prevent this from happening, some manufacturing processes use various methods. consolidation the resulting form (for example, burning in the manufacture of ceramic products).

The fact is that all of the above deforming factors have their analogies in the work of any professional:

· Material properties- these are the personal characteristics of the consultant and his initial inclinations: mental mobility/rigidity, ideological independence/compliance, personal maturity/immaturity, etc.

· Press configuration- this is the professional framework in which the consultant places himself: principles and attitudes, professional picture of the world, professional skills, clientele and their problems, job responsibilities, working conditions, etc.

· Abs Strength- this is the degree of influence of the previous factors, depending on such parameters as: faith in the method and authority of teachers, the personal significance of professional activity, a sense of responsibility, emotional involvement in professional activity, motivation, a sense of mission, the strength of external control, etc.

· "Burning"- this is a factor that helps to consolidate the acquired form, and it is mainly associated with receiving positive emotions: professional success, gratitude from clients, praise from teachers, recognition from colleagues, admiration from others, etc.
As a result, thanks to the “successful” combination of the above factors, we risk getting a deformed consultant who can hardly “straighten out,” that is, restore his original human form.

Below are some of the impacts we have from our professional exposure. Some of them, indeed, can be considered positive for our personality and fit into the concept of “ personal growth", however, the other part, in my opinion, should be attributed to negative consequences, that is, to what we call "professional deformation".

Table 2.1.

Positive consequences (“personal growth”)

Negative consequences (“professional deformation”)

1. Deeper self-awareness, understanding of the people around you and current events. 2. Analysis of life situations. 3. The ability to reflect. 4. Skills for productively coping with crisis and traumatic situations. 5. Communication skills. 6. Resistance to other people's influence. 7. Self-regulation. 8. The ability to accept and empathize. 9. A broader view of the world, tolerance towards “dissidents”. 10. Cognitive interest. 11. The emergence of new forms of self-realization.

1. Projecting negative issues onto yourself and your loved ones. 2. Obsessive diagnostics of oneself and others (“labeling” and interpretations). 3. Consulting others. 4. Acceptance of the role of "teacher". 5. Excessive self-control, hyperreflection and loss of spontaneity. 6. Idea fixe - “work on yourself.” 7. Rationalization, stereotyping and desensitization to lived experience. 8. Saturation of communication. 9. Emotional coldness. 10. Cynicism.

In addition to those noted above, more or less universal consequences of professional activity, one can try to highlight specific manifestations of professional deformation.

2.2. Professional destruction of personality.

It is known that work has a positive effect on the human psyche. In relation to different types of professional activities, it is generally accepted that there is a large group of professions, the performance of which leads to occupational diseases of varying severity. Along with this, there are types of work that are not classified as harmful, but the conditions and nature of professional activity have a traumatic effect on the psyche (for example, monotonous work, great responsibility, the actual possibility of an accident, mental stress of work, etc.). Researchers also note that many years of performing the same professional activity leads to the appearance of professional fatigue, the emergence of psychological barriers, an impoverished repertoire of ways to perform activities, loss of professional skills, and decreased performance. It can be stated that at the stage of professionalization in many types of professions, professional destruction develops. Professional destruction is a change in the existing structure of activity and personality that negatively affects labor productivity and interaction with other participants in this process. Based on a generalization of studies of violations of professional development of the individual, she identified the following trends in professional destruction:

Prevention of professional personality deformation. System of psychological support for professionalism.

Professional personality deformation

Professional personality deformation is a change in the perception of personality stereotypes, methods of communication, behavior, as well as character, which occurs under the influence of prolonged professional activity. Which professions are more susceptible to professional personality deformation? First of all, these are representatives of those professions whose work is related to people - managers, personnel workers, psychologists, teachers and officials. Workers in the medical and military spheres, as well as employees of special services, are slightly less susceptible to professional personality deformation.

Professional deformation of employees can be stable or episodic, positive or negative, and also have a superficial or global nature. As a rule, it manifests itself not only in demeanor and jargon, but also in a person’s appearance.

Types of professional deformation

General professional deformations are deformations characteristic of workers of a certain profession. For example, law enforcement officers are characterized by the “asocial perception” syndrome, in which every person is perceived as a potential violator;

Special professional deformations - these deformations arise in the process of specialization. For example, a lawyer has resourcefulness, a prosecutor has prosecutorial ability;

Professional-typological deformations are types of deformations associated with the imposition of certain psychological characteristics on the individual, which are reflected in the structure of professional activity;

Individual deformations are deformations characteristic of workers of various professions. They are caused by the excessive development of professional qualities, which subsequently lead to the emergence of super qualities, such as, for example, work fanaticism and super responsibility.

Prevention of professional deformation

Professional deformations of the individual are determined by many factors – objective and subjective. Objective ones include: the content of professional activity and communication; fulfillment conditions professional responsibilities; factors associated with the social macroenvironment (for example, socio-economic living conditions, increased legal regulation of labor, multilateral social control by state and public bodies, the private conflict nature of employee interactions with citizens).

Objective-subjective factors include the system and organization of professional activities, quality of management, management style and professionalism of managers.

Subjective ones include ontogenetic changes, age dynamics, individual psychological characteristics, the nature of professional relationships, crises of professional personality development, the official need to identify oneself with the pathological inner world of other people for their better understanding.

The reasons for professional deformation may be the following:

misunderstanding of the nature and goals of the work;

reluctance to work in this area;

self-confidence;

improper discipline;

weak control, or even lack of exactingness on the part of superiors;

employee overload with official duties;

increased nervousness.

Prevention of professional deformation is a set of preventive measures aimed at reducing the likelihood of developing the preconditions and manifestations of professional deformation. It is necessary to master consciousness control techniques, develop the ability to switch from one type of activity to another, strengthen willpower, and most importantly, not get hung up on stereotypes, standards, templates and act according to the situation, in real time, based on immediate conditions.

The object of labor and its main types.

The object of labor is an externally represented tangible reality that a professional has to deal with in his work position.

Firstly, there is a normative structure of work activity that does not depend on a person’s subjective intentions and assessments. This is an objectively existing and socially developed structure of labor activity, including a relatively rigidly fixed in time and space expedient series of operations and functions. This side is called: “object of labor”, “standard indicators of the operational and technological structure of the profession”, “structure of the profession”. This objective composition of work activity, independent of a particular person, includes the following characteristics: subject of work (what a person works with), professional tasks, actions and operations, means, conditions, result of work. All these objective realities have developed in society and exist before a specific person begins to master them. At the same time, in different types of labor a person has different opportunities to vary and modify the composition of labor.

The object of labor can be represented by a wide range of objects, substances, as well as people and animals. In economic literature, the object of labor is called the object of labor, which is essentially correct. The term “object” always appears where the term “subject” is present. They represent two sides of any process, including labor. In the labor process, the object of labor appears in the form of an object of labor. In the sphere of production of material goods, the following types of objects of labor are most common:

raw material - a natural substance extracted from the depths of nature, torn off, separated from it and not subjected to additional impact of labor (mined ore, oil, sand, sawn timber, threshed grain, etc.);

materials - objects of natural origin that have undergone the impact of labor and, as a result, have taken on a new material form (metal, coke, boards, flour, etc.), as well as objects of artificial origin, intended for the manufacture of items ready for final use (for example, plastics);

semi-finished products - products of processing materials that have not yet taken a finished form, ready for final consumption or use of the product (rolled steel, wooden blocks, dough, sheet-formed plastic, etc.);

component products - parts, product assemblies received through cooperative deliveries from other enterprises for further use in the production of a product ready for final consumption or use.

In the sphere of intangible production and services, the subject of labor can be finished products, people, animals, enterprises.

Main types of labor object:

biological systems (where the objects of labor are living organisms (plants, animals, bacteria, etc.), as well as various biological processes associated with living nature);

inanimate natural systems (where the objects of labor will be land, minerals, water, atmosphere, their various physical and chemical elements(hydrogen, oxygen, stones, ores, oil, gases, and so on), as well as the processes occurring inside these objects of labor);

technical systems (technology and its creation: machines, mechanisms, units, equipment, structures, technical systems, etc.);

social systems (the objects of labor are the person himself, children, any group of people (school class, brigade, group of students, orchestra, etc.));

sign systems (codes, numbers, formulas, programs, algorithms, various natural and artificial languages, etc.);

forms of artistic reflection of reality (the objects and results of work are literary works, cinema, theater, television, music, ballet, painting and other areas of art).

Contents of the article:

Professional personality deformation is a condition that affects a person’s character due to the specifics of his work activity. In addition to heredity, society and various life circumstances, it is she who primarily influences changes in people’s worldviews. It is necessary to understand the essence of this concept, which forms a model of human behavior.

Description of professional personality deformation

The voiced term implies the presence of a cognitive distortion of personality in people with some disorientation in society. This process occurs against the background of pressure on some individuals from internal and external aspects of professional activity. Subsequently, such pressure forms in a person a specific type of personality.

Pitirim Sorokin, a famous culturologist and sociologist, first identified this concept. He considered it exclusively from the perspective of the negative impact of production activity on human consciousness.

Subsequently, scientists such as A.K. Markova, R.M. Granovskaya and S.G. Gellerstein, voiced their point of view regarding professional deformation. It was they who identified the varieties of this phenomenon, which cannot be classified in the same way.

Given this problem, all prospects for resolving it should be considered. Sometimes it is worth letting go of a situation if it does not bring significant discomfort to the life of a person and his loved ones.

When it comes to family, such a change in consciousness can be useful. The teacher is able to give his children additional knowledge outside school curriculum right at home. A doctor can always treat relatives without waiting for them to go to the clinic. A manager can easily organize the life of his family and organize special events in it. The main thing is to distinguish where work activity ends and everyday life begins outside the walls of the workplace.

In this case, we mean emotional burnout, in which individuals who are overly passionate about their activities destroy the psychological protective barrier with such zeal. Psychologists also note the negative impact on a person of managerial erosion (the transformation of a boss into a despot) and feelings of administrative delight (an arrogant attitude towards colleagues after a promotion).

Reasons for the development of professional personality deformation

The development of a voiced change in consciousness usually occurs due to the following provoking factors:

• I don't like the job. Not every person is given the opportunity to self-realize in any field of activity they like. To achieve concrete results in your profession, you need to understand its nuances and love the work you do.
  Otherwise, fertile ground is created for the emergence of vocal destruction of the individual.
• Professional combustion. Quite often it occurs 10-15 years after the start of work. Even what you love becomes quite boring if you have no other interests other than work.
• Age-related changes. What you liked in your youth can sometimes set your teeth on edge in a more mature period. As a person grows older, a professional personality deformation may occur due to a reassessment of his views on life.
• Monotony. The woodpecker is exceptionally capable of chiseling the bark of a tree with amazing consistency. A thinking person gets tired of monotonous work literally a couple of years after starting to engage in some monotonous activity.
• Workaholism. If you want too much to achieve everything at once, there is a significant burden on the body. It ends with chronic fatigue syndrome and professional deformation.
• The bar is too high. Such bets in most cases turn out to be fiascos. You can’t jump above your head, which some vain careerists sometimes forget.
• Constantly stressful situation. The reasons for professional deformation in some cases lie in a change in consciousness, which occurs due to systematic pressure on the nervous system due to work with an increased risk to life.
• Impossibility of professional growth. If a person has no prospects for his further development, then he begins to incorrectly position himself as a person and loses interest in the chosen field of activity.

The stated causes of occupational deformation affect each person differently. For some they will create temporary discomfort, but for others they will become fundamental for future behavior in society.

Types of professional personality deformation

There are four types of influence of industrial activity on the human psyche:

1. General professional change. In this case we are talking about a specific area of ​​​​employment of people. A policeman often sees criminals everywhere, and a teacher often sees violators of the internal regulations of the school.
2. Special dysfunction. A specific profession, which implies flexibility of mind, can subsequently cause professional deformation of the individual. As an example, we can cite lawyers who quite often skillfully circumvent the letter of the Law.
3. Professional-typological change. It is usually observed among company managers. The ability to cope with a large team leaves some imprint on them regarding the perception of existing reality.
4. Individual deformation. In this case, we are talking about such manifestations of distortion of consciousness as labor superfanatism, the wrong concept of collectivism and hyperactivity.

The listed types of professional deformation can seriously complicate a person’s life. In any case, he ultimately becomes a victim of the announced phenomenon, even if he wants to appear victorious in public.

Main signs of professional deformation

You need to think about changes in your life if it is based on the following behavior model:

• Authoritarianism. Within reasonable limits, it is even useful for maintaining discipline in a team. If a leader turns from a wise mentor into a despot, then we are talking about signs of professional deformation.
• Demonstrativeness. This quality is a great way to stand out among your colleagues. However, it often turns into narcissism, when the sense of reality is lost due to excessive exposure.
• Dogmatism. The voiced life position is quite dangerous if a person occupies a leadership position. He sees people not with all the manifestations of their weakness, but as soulless robots.
• Dominance. In this case, we are talking not just about a constant readiness to enter into conflict with colleagues, but about regular demonstration of one’s superiority in the professional sphere.
• Indifference. For such figures, everything is sorted into shelves. Their emotional dryness is accompanied by ignoring the personal characteristics of other people and complete indifference to the interests of the work collective.
• Conservatism. People with such professional deformation cannot stand any innovations. They are a brake on progress and usually belong to representatives of the older generation.
• Asceticism in feelings. Excessive morality becomes a problem for a person with a similar position in life. In this case, I remember Elena Solovey, who played the role of a literature teacher in the film “You Never Dreamed of It.”
• Role transfer. The saying that suits this definition is that whoever you mess with, you'll gain from it. Professional deformation of this kind implies the emergence in a person of a desire to adapt to colleagues with a stronger life position and a successful career.

Features of professional personality deformation

Each specialty leaves a certain imprint on the behavior of its representatives. In this case, you should focus on the sphere of activity of people with the described problem.

Nuances of teachers' work

It is only possible to educate the younger generation if professional combustion has not occurred. In Japan, experts insist on the fact that after 10 years of experience, a teacher loses his ability to adequately present knowledge to students. Such a conclusion can be challenged, because even at a fairly advanced age you can remain an experienced teacher.

The professional deformation of a teacher with a certain amount of work experience is as follows:

1. Finding non-existent errors. Over time, some educators begin to find fault with every letter and number. They begin to be annoyed by the independent opinions of their students, and they equate the bold reasoning of their students with delusion.
2. Transforming relatives into students. Authoritarian behavior is characteristic of many teachers who have been teaching and raising children for a long time. Their desire to change the world for the better does not disappear within their own walls, where they persistently implement the legacy of Makarenko and Sukhomlinsky.
3. Negative assessment from strangers. Not only the teacher’s close people, but also complete strangers sometimes become victims of attacks from teachers with professional deformation. Quite adequate individuals turn into guardians of order and morality due to the specifics of their field of activity.

The voiced distortion of consciousness does not always happen to older people. As a counter-argument, we can give an example in the form of a young Russian language teacher from the film “Spring on Zarechnaya Street”, who taught everyone with a complete lack of teaching experience.

Professional deformation of a manager

A person who realizes himself in such a field of activity quite often tries to impose his opinion on an issue that interests him. Such attempts that stress people out look like this:

• Tourism Manager. With any memory of a great vacation, a person risks receiving a portion of recommendations from such a person. She will be interested in everything: the hotel, the country, the airline that the holidaymaker chose at the time. For each answer, a resolution with many subparagraphs will be issued.
• Sales Manager. He is usually interested not only in regular customers, but in any person to whom he can offer a certain product. People with such a field of activity already automatically begin to translate every conversation into an offer to buy something from their company.

The voiced professional costs are not an antisocial model of behavior. However, in some cases, such a change in consciousness is transformed into obsession.

Professional deformation of a doctor

Healers of the human body are quite often susceptible to the described factor, which is expressed in them in the form of the following symptoms:

1. Automatic health assessment. Even with a handshake, some doctors begin to determine a person’s well-being. At the same time, they mentally calculate people's pulses, the moisture in their palms and their estimated body temperature.
2. Visual diagnosis. In case of occupational deformation, the doctor will see problems with the kidneys in bags under the eyes, and in case of yellowness of the face, he will authoritatively advise checking the liver. In humans, such changes can occur after a sleepless night and with vitamin deficiency, which doctors do not take into account with changes in consciousness.
3. Cynicism. It is difficult for some doctors to avoid professional deformation, because their work involves saving human life and enormous responsibility. By abstracting themselves, using “black” humor and becoming cold analysts, they protect their own nervous system from unnecessary shocks.

Changing the consciousness of a lawyer

Legal relations often leave an imprint on the worldview of people in this profession. In a person who is associated with this field of activity, occupational deformation manifests itself in the following forms:

• Nihilism. In this case, the servants of Themis begin to apply the principle of benefit in their practice contrary to generally accepted values. Without circumventing the law, such lawyers, having found certain loopholes, quite successfully ignore it.
• Legal infantilism. Typically, this phenomenon is observed among those people who do not occupy their positions by right. Their consciousness is changed solely due to legal incompetence or patron relatives occupying a higher rank.
• Legal radicalism. With such an attitude towards his duties, a person turns into a robot who strictly follows all the dogmas of the law. At the same time, he is absolutely not interested in the human factor, which he easily oversteps.
• Negative legal radicalism. It is the other side of the coin of an honest attitude towards fulfilling one’s duties. This pattern of behavior is based on fraud and outright bribery.

Occupational deformation among police officers

Quite often, people in this profession are faced with extreme situations, so they exhibit the following character changes:

1. Excessive assertiveness. Being constantly in a state of combat readiness, it is difficult for them to restrain their activity in some life situations. In this case, socialization is disrupted, which sometimes prevents police officers from organizing their personal lives.
2. Authority. Representatives of the voiced legal structure quite often do not want to hear any criticism addressed to them. They begin to consider their own opinion as the only correct one, thus suppressing their immediate environment and strangers.
3. Callousness. One of the manifestations of professional deformation among police officers is the fact that they cease to see manifestations of human grief. At the same time, such persons are able to continue to accurately fulfill their official duties and stand guard over the interests of the state.
4. Failure to comply with professional and ethical standards. Constant communication with criminals sometimes ends for servants of the law with a hostile attitude towards those who have violated it. As a result, cases of physical and moral humiliation of the human dignity of detained persons are becoming more frequent.

Professional deformation of a manager

Not all subordinates can boast of wise superiors who delve into the problems of their team. In some cases, the professional deformation of managers looks like this:

• Authoritarianism. In this manifestation, bosses are somewhat reminiscent of teachers with their peremptory views on many life situations. Taking advantage of their official position, over time they begin to consider themselves superhumans with unique organizational abilities.
• Dryness. The habit of giving instructions makes some managers stingy with their remarks. On the one hand, this is not an obvious drawback, but one cannot expect a meaningful conversation from such a person.
• Incorrectness. A certain amount of power can turn the heads of even adequate individuals. This is especially true for those people who have been climbing the career ladder for a long time. Having received the coveted leadership position, they can acquire a vulgar and uncontrollable personality change.

Professional deformation among programmers

People with a similar profession are able to turn even the simplest question into an analysis of a complex problem. They quite often have the following professional personality deformation:

1. Increased concentration. In this case, they completely turn off external attention. The hyper-focus on a specific process then carries over to everyday activities. While cleaning the apartment, such people will be irritated by all external sounds in the form of a telephone ringing or a neighbor’s drill turned on.
2. Dependence on the goal. Only a clear formulation of the problem reaches the programmer’s consciousness. Otherwise, one can observe a pronounced professional deformation. When sending such a person to the store, you cannot get by with general phrases and instructions. It is best to make a clear list indicating the number of products and the exact brand of their manufacturer.

Some ordinary people, when they hear the word “programmer” or “computer specialist,” immediately imagine a fanatic of his work, detached from the outside world. Professional deformation does not always occur in such people. They may well have interests other than working on creating codes.

Prevention of professional personality deformation

The problem voiced has a psychological nature of its occurrence. Therefore, it is necessary for the person himself to fight it. The following expert advice will help him with this:

• Developing self-criticism. With an adequate assessment of their own capabilities, even people in leadership positions remain competent individuals and create a healthy microclimate in the team.
• Search for new experiences. Quite often, it is routine that can provoke the occurrence of professional deformation. To avoid it, you need to attend various trainings and advanced training courses.
• Organizing a proper daily routine. Occupational deformation will never appear in those people who get enough sleep, properly organize their diet, play sports and do not have bad habits.
• Rest from work. Emotional exhaustion occurs due to the fact that some workaholics simply live in their profession. Such zeal is commendable only if you periodically give your body a rest.
• Leaving the comfort zone. It is here that the gradual degradation of personality occurs, when you don’t want to conquer new heights. You need to rest emotionally, but you should not turn this activity into a habitual way of life.
• Participation in non-standard projects. There is no need to be afraid to show your originality in some unusual matter. Vivid impressions of interesting work done will help prevent professional deformation.
• Communication with new people. It is best to choose active and creative individuals to meet. It would be good if they belonged to representatives of other professions.
• Refusal to accumulate negative emotions. A person who keeps all problems to himself is like a time bomb. Troubles at work can and should be discussed with your loved ones so that an irreversible process in the form of personality destruction does not occur.

What is professional deformation - watch the video:

It is recommended to eliminate professional deformation at its first manifestations. It can destroy not only the desire to create and benefit society, such a change in consciousness creates many problems for a person who strives to succeed as an individual in the professional field and in his personal life.

During his working life, an employee develops qualities that are in demand in the field of his employment, which helps to improve his personality. However, prolonged performance of the same work often changes the mental qualities of a person, leaving a negative imprint on his neuro-brain structure and behavior in general. Qualities that are not in demand in professional activities disappear, and those most often used in the work process are distorted. Professional acts performed by a person distort him repeatedly and comprehensively. Duration, specificity, difficulty in terms of adaptation are the circumstances under the influence of which professional deformation occurs.

Negative and positive impacts

The answer to what professional deformation is is as follows: it is a change in personal characteristics under the influence of prolonged performance of professional duties. People whose activities involve regular interpersonal communication (trade workers, doctors, etc.) are most prone to this. Professional personality deformation is expressed in the fact that the employee begins to transfer work issues to everyday life and family. Certain behaviors are used among loved ones and friends and become the cause of misunderstandings and conflicts, aggravating interpersonal relationships.

The consequences of professional deformation are presented below.

• Reduced process of personality restructuring. A person with a certain type of work stops looking for alternative ways to solve problems that have arisen. Qualities in demand at work develop into character and become part of behavior: an accountant can carefully check daily expenses, a doctor can demand strict hygiene, and a successful artist can demand attention and self-worship in non-work circumstances.
• Formation of a mechanical approach to work instead of a creative one. Professional personality deformation can lead to a deterioration in the quality of work performed.
• Personal burnout. When a person is constantly immersed in work, it becomes uninteresting for him. This behavior is typical for workers who have been unable to advance up the career ladder for a long time.
• Sometimes deformations can have positive influence per person, because certain professional skills sometimes help in everyday life. It is important that the individual is able to maintain the line between work and everyday life.

Species

Occupational deformations are divided into the following types.

• Physiological changes. This means atrophy of organs unsuitable for work or an increase in tissue structures and transformation of organs necessary to perform professional activities. Examples are diseases of the musculoskeletal system in people who work in front of a computer, throat problems in teachers, and delicate, sensitive skin of the hands in workers who do not engage in physical labor.
• Deformation of style and image. A person’s profession directly or indirectly affects the style of clothing, hairstyle, and accessories used. Personal activity also affects posture, manners, and gait. You can observe the swaying gait of sailors and the straightened posture of military men. The deformation also leaves a mark on a person’s speech, expressed by specific pronunciation of words, frequent use of terms and constructive phrases.
• Mental deformation. Representatives of the same specialty are often similar in the properties required for a given profession. In the process of professional development, the similarity and at the same time the difference from people of another specialty intensifies. When communicating, a doctor can assess the health of the interlocutor, a culinary specialist can advise recipes and comment on treats. Mental deformation stimulates an increase in the subjective importance of the employee's specialty.

Professional personality deformations are:

• general professional, characteristic of employees in certain areas;
• special, formed by specific specialists;
• typical, due to the psychological specifics of the work;
• professional individual deformation manifested in a specific person of any specialty and caused by the rapid development of skills.

Professional personal deformation in some can be revealed by unreasonable aggression and inflated self-esteem, in others - indifference, in others - a decrease in professional qualities.

Changes in the psyche are associated with a person’s character, experiences of conflicts, crises and psychological tension, dissatisfaction with the social environment and personal relationships, and reduced productivity of his work activity.

Risks of occurrence

It is believed that professional deformation develops as a result of the fact that an employee gets used only to a specific social role and cannot go beyond it. In this case, specialists in the field of psychology record personality changes. A person ceases to feel the boundary between work and personal life, and continues to fulfill his duties at home. Assessing the degree of one’s own professional deformation is almost impossible, since this requires introspection and a critical examination of one’s behavior from the outside. In such a situation, loved ones and those around you should help.

The risk of deformation can be predicted based on certain circumstances:

• there is a fear of losing normal contact with colleagues, work, and professional skills;
• the topics of conversation are reduced to discussing problems of labor activity;
• achievements and success are associated only with work;
• personal relationships are limited, there is contact only with colleagues;
• the expression of emotions is suppressed, and the expression of emotions on the part of colleagues is not perceived;
• a conversation with this person resembles communication with a doctor, investigator or teacher (depending on the profession), since a person transfers the professional terminology of communication into everyday life;
• the interests of this person are limited only to activities in his professional field;
• all loved ones and relatives are perceived as part of the work.

Forms of manifestation

Consideration of the problem using specific examples allows us to determine the manifestations of changes in the human psyche as a result of professional deformation.

For teachers, the problem manifests itself in the fact that they begin to look for flaws in students’ work and become picky. In the family circle, they continue to look at the behavior and activities of others, mentally rating them. Gradually, they begin to evaluate the actions and behavior of strangers whom they may meet on the street.

The designer can join the conversation of even strangers and start asking professional questions or recommending something. He can argue with another person, explain the intricacies of different styles, advise how to choose the right furnishings for an apartment, etc.

Deformation medical workers is detected by automatic assessment of a person’s health when meeting on the street or shaking hands. He can look for symptoms of a supposed illness when he observes a cough, pale skin, ask questions, mentally compiling a history of a friend. After asking questions, he begins to give advice and recommends getting examined.

When deformation is observed in a stylist, its manifestation is his appraising gaze, with which he determines the taste, style and flaws in the appearance of an acquaintance or even a random passerby. He can mentally transform a person to his liking, and also out loud suggest that he change his image, dress in some style that he finds more suitable, or not use a certain cosmetic product.

Reasons

The professional development of an employee cannot but be accompanied by continuous personal development. But over time, stabilization occurs. Experts call such stages stages of professional stagnation. It occurs when an employee reaches certain heights in a specific field of activity, but he has to perform monotonous work using monotonous techniques. Over time, stagnation becomes the cause of deformation; the individual becomes so attached to his specialty that he is able to fulfill only this role in society.

The following facts can serve as conditions for the formation of professional deformation.

• Monotonous acts that lead an employee to a psychological trait. A person will have great difficulty adapting to new requirements if circumstances change.
• Motivation for choosing a specialty. It may be the desire to acquire a certain social status and power, provided that the person does not achieve the intended goal.
• High expectations at the beginning of professional activity, which are not justified during the period of service.

Under the influence of these factors, the individual begins to manifest professional deformation. The following are the reasons for its manifestation:

• stress, excessive nervousness;
• fatigue as a result of many years of work;
• stereotypical work;
• reluctance to continue working in this field as a result of awareness of the wrong choice of specialty: for some, understanding comes immediately after entering work, for others it takes years;
• lack of understanding of the goals of one’s work activity;
• age-related changes: in youth, the choice of specialty satisfied the requirements of the individual, over time, the performance of work began to be automatic;
• conflicts in the team, violations of disciplinary norms;
• devoting oneself to a specialty with an absolute lack of understanding of the merits of colleagues;
• excessive self-confidence;
• impossibility of future professional growth.

There can be many more reasons, each of them can lie both in the chosen profession and in the personal qualities of the individual, i.e., have an individual character.

Correction

To avoid the development of deformation, its first manifestations should be noticed in a timely manner and eliminated.

You need to start by independently checking how much deformation is manifested. It is recommended to take tests with the help of which a person can find out which social roles he needs to pay more attention to, which aspects of social activity need to be given more time. This makes it possible to independently analyze your own condition and find out what qualities are missing to fully fit into ordinary life, what areas of life have been forgotten, pushed into the background by work.

There are also reclamation options;

• completing trainings aimed at personal and career growth;
• increasing socio-psychological awareness;
• taking advanced training courses and moving up the career ladder;
• independent identification of problems and development of personal mechanisms for their correction;
• self-correction of professional changes and adjustment of one’s own qualities;
• preventive measures for professional maladjustment of an employee with little experience.

Proper and correct resolution of professional difficulties will contribute to the development of personality, preventing the occurrence of deformation.