Problems of Psychology in the 21st Century

3

Authors: Editorial Board

Contents

6-14

Authors: Natasha Angelova, Magdalena Trencheva

The search for relations, dependencies, and influences between marital status and mental phenomena outlines an accurate and clear picture not only of the family status as a social phenomenon but also as a mental field, where our awareness as individuals is directly or indirectly linked. In this sense, the differences among women with different marital context and the optimistic and pessimistic attitudes as well as the expectations regarding the past, present, and future that were investigated in this research. Four different marital status groups were identified and are shown the differences in time perspective and optimistic-pessimistic attitudes between them. The survey was conducted with 140 women aged between 32 and 67 years M=41.09 SD=6.58. The research methods are Method of evaluation of optimism and negative expectations, published by Velichkov and Radoslavova (2005) and Time perspective Questionnaire by Philip Zimbardo, adapted by Slavchov and Virmozelova (2008). The results verify the supposition that there are statistically significant (p<.05) differences between the four groups of women with different marital status, with regard to their attitudes to optimism and pessimism as well as to their time perspective. The group of married women shows the highest result in Past-positive time perspective and Future time perspective, in comparison with the divorced that have the lowest scores on the same factors Past-positive time perspective and Future time perspective. At the same time, the divorced women experience the highest level of optimism compared to the other groups.

22-30

Authors: Damian Jeraj, Lisa Musculus, Babett H. Lobinger

The prosthesis that athletes use should take over the function of the missing limb. Playing table tennis without constraints is one exemplary goal. The question arose whether table tennis players who used a prosthesis and players who did not show similar body image values and mental representation of movements. Five matched pairs of active table tennis players (n = 10) completed a body image questionnaire. Additionally, the mental representation of a forehand table tennis serve was assessed. Results revealed no significant differences between the two groups of athletes on mental representations. Furthermore, the integration of the prosthesis into the body image was considered satisfying by four out of the five athletes with prosthesis, the use of a prosthesis did not appear to affect athletes’ body image. Based on the research results it can be recommended that in technical and mental training sessions, one methodological approach be used for all athletes, regardless of whether they use a prosthesis. Finally, it is suggested to foster the integration of athletes who use a prosthesis into the established leagues in which athletes compete who do not use prosthesis.

42-50

Authors: Grzegorz Pajestka

In a research conducted on a sample of participants from three countries (N = 256): Poland, Ukraine and Denmark, a hypothesis of the moderating impact of other person sex on the level of social value orientation of men and women was tested. The study applied the now rarely used method of measuring social value orientation: the Warsaw Method, which was expected to reveal more subtle differences between men and women than those observed in the studies using the most popular social value orientation measurement tools, such as decomposed games. The direction of the observed relationship proved to be compatible with the predictions resulting from the phenomenon of intrasexual competition for a partner, however only in the case of men. Men were more prosocial in interaction with women than with other men, and more pro-self- interacting with men rather than women. Similar relationships assumed in the case of women were only partially confirmed: women were more pro-self in interaction with same-sex partners compared to interactions with opposite sex partners (however, the relationship was statistically significant only within the individualistic value orientation), but at the same time they were prosocial (but only within the cooperative value orientation).

59-72

Authors: Stanislava Stoyanova, Stavroula Roumbou, Christos Douvlos, Tsvetelina Hadzhieva, Stavroula-Vera Strychnou, Dimana Arnautovska, Nikolay Ivantchev

Goal achievement is considered to be related to need satisfaction, motivation, and self-esteem. The self-assessed abilities for goal achievement were operationalized as positive self-talk, perceived self-efficacy, the performance level of doing a task, the aspiration level, the in/congruence between performance and prognosis, and frustration tolerance to pursue one’s goals in spite of some obstacles. In total, 392 students whose mean age was 21 years old were investigated, divided in sub-samples, with the positive self-talk scale from the ASTQS questionnaire, the self-efficacy scale by Schwarzer & Jerusalem, and the AHA computerized test method from Vienna test system. Students’ self-assessment of one’s abilities for goal achievement revealed the most frequent high levels of perceived self-efficacy and good performance in coding tasks. The other self-assessed abilities for goal achievement were expressed more often at a medium level. The gender differences in the performance level of doing a task were compared to some previous results that indicated a variety of trends, because of the age peculiarities and the types of the tasks that were executed. The advance in age was related to more frequent use of positive self-talk and lower aspiration level, besides to lower performance level. The proposed model of the abilities for goal achievement was successfully approbated in this study revealing the strengths in the students’ self-assessment of one’s abilities for goal achievement and some weaknesses that should be the focus of further interventions in order to increase the students’ frustration tolerance ability and the use of positive self-talk.