Психическое здоровье женщин, вовлеченных в процесс непрерывного образования

Liberska Hanna; Farnicka Marzanna

Вестник Новосибирского государственного педагогического университета Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University Bulletin

1(17) 2014 www.vestnik.nspu.ru ISSN 2226-3365

УДК 612.66 + 371.7

ПСИХИЧЕСКОЕ ЗДОРОВЬЕ ЖЕНЩИН, ВОВЛЕЧЕННЫХ В ПРОЦЕСС НЕПРЕРЫВНОГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ

Ханна Либерска (Быдгощ, Польша), Марзана Фарниска (Зелена Гора, Польша)

В статье авторами рассматривается важность непрерывного образования в жизни взрослых, в частности, женщин. В эру интенсивного развития цивилизации и технологии, образование взрослых - не просто шанс реализации профессионального уровня, но также и шанс оправдания надежд относительно социально-экономического статуса семейной жизни, различных видов деятельности в свободное от работы время, в том числе и политической деятельности. Во время экономического кризиса ценность образования увеличивается из-за получения возможности приспособиться к фактическим условиям на рынке вакансий. Образовательная деятельность взрослых может быть и фактором улучшения состояния психического благополучия. Повышение уровня знаний способствует улучшению психологического здоровья и открывает возможности к социальному и профессиональному продвижению.

Авторы отмечают, что на протяжении многих веков сфера образования и профессиональная карьера были прерогативой мужчин, а женщины должны были заботиться о доме и детях. Доступ к образованию и профессиональному развитию, что был накоплен женщинами в течение последних нескольких десятилетий оказался большим прорывом в социальной эволюции. Вопрос в том, внес ли этот доступ к образованию и профессиональной жизни свой вклад в благополучие женщин. Возможно, доступ к новым сферам развития (образованию и профессиональной деятельности) снизил чувство благополучия, ограничивая участие женщин в деятельности, связанной с заботой о семье.

Авторы выдвигают рабочие гипотезы, связанные с общим благосостоянием, психическим, социальным и эмоциональным благополучием женщин, занимающихся самообразованием и тех женщин, которые этим не занимаются.

Чтобы проверить вышеупомянутые гипотезы, было проведено сравнительное исследование двух групп женщин по 30 чел. в каждой в возрасте от 21 до 35 лет. Одна группа включала женщин, которые продолжали постоянное обучение и другая группа женщин, которые не продолжали обучение. Все женщины работали, и у всех были семьи (муж, ребенок

Ханна Либерска - доктор психологических наук, профессор, директор отдела социальной психологии и исследований молодежи факультета педагогики и психологии, университет г. Быдгощ им. Казимира Великого.

E-mail: hanna.liberska@op.pl

Марзана Фарниска - кандидат наук, кафедра педагогики, социологии и наук о здоровье, университет г. Зелена Гора.

E-mail: marzanna@farnicka.pl

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или дети). Они жили в городах или пригородах с населением приблизительно 60000 жителей. В качестве инструментов исследования авторы использовали анкетный опрос для оценки психического благополучия (Ь. Wojciechowska, 2008). Авторы приходят к выводам, что женщины, продолжающие обучение на протяжении жизни, испытывают лучшее психическое, социальное, эмоциональное и физическое состояние по сравнению с теми, кто не обучается.

Ключевые слова: непрерывное образование, благополучие, психическое, социальное, эмоциональное и физическое состояние, профессиональное развитие, самообразование.

Introduction

Education is an important element in human development and usually translates into success in life. It is essential not only for gaining knowledge and abilities that could be helpful in coping with developmental stress related to realisation of tasks in subsequent stages of life, but also contributes to the social status and wellbeing in general. In adulthood, particularly important is professional development and social position. From the point of view of the sphere of the nearest development, education is necessary for realisation of developmental potential of human being (Wygotski, 1972), therefore, education can be treated as a factor activating human resources. The level of education is also highly relevant for economic and cultural development of a country or region. The awareness of engagement into this development can be a factor optimising the wellbeing of individual.

Education in human development

Education supports a few areas of development, i.e. (1) gaining of knowledge, (2) orientation in the world of values, (3) development of interpersonal abilities [or interpersonal contact abilities], (4) development of the ability of functioning in social world, (5) development of the ability of self-knowledge and (6) development of the ability of directing self-

development (Luczynski, 2011, Liberska, Farnicka, 2013). In the era of intensive development of civilisation and technology, education of adults is not just a chance of realisation of professional carrier, but also brings a chance of meeting the expectations as to the socio-economic status, family life, forms of leisure activity, political activity and others. In the time of economical crisis, the worth of education increase because of the possibility of getting the ability to adapt to the actual conditions on the job market. When the problems with employment continue, education can have a protective role making grounds for positive thinking about oneself as a person capable of development and taking care of ones image in spite of objective difficulties. Therefore, educational activity of adults can be a factor favouring maintenance or improving the state of psychological wellbeing. Elevation of the level competences contributes to improvement of one's image and opens a possibility of social and professional promotion. The belief that a person brings personal contribution to development of an institution at which he/she is employed or success of an organisation to which he/she belongs is a personal profit of the one who takes care about the level of his/ her education in adult life. It can also contribute to a higher level of wellbeing. In general, taking up education by an adult is a manifestation of his/her activity as a subject creating his/her personality and life path (Tyszkowa, 2000). However, as yet the

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psychological knowledge on the significance of education of adults for the state of psychological wellbeing is relatively limited.

The sense of wellbeing and psycho-social functioning

The sense of wellbeing has a direct influence on the general state of health, interpersonal relations, engagement in

professional work and satisfaction from work. In fact we can talk about a spiral of cyclic relations: (1) engagement in education - (2) increased level of professional, social competence - (3) increased engagement in work - (4) higher social status (social and economic gratifications) - (5) increased sense of wellbeing - (6) increased appreciation of education leading to decision about its continuation.

Persons of high sense of wellbeing are higher appreciated in professional life by superiors and subordinates, are more successful in work, are in better health and rarer take doctors' leave, also rarer suffer from syndrome of professional burnout. Such persons are more satisfied with professional life and social position.

In psychological literature the notion of wellbeing is related to many aspects of human health, including physical, emotional and

psychological health. According to the definition of WHO, wellbeing is complete physical, psychological and social wellness manifested as the lack of symptoms of diseases. According to some authors wellbeing is happiness, while others describe it as high quality of life (S§k, 2007). Most of psychologists agree that it is a multi-aspect notion. In this text we assume that the sense of wellbeing develops by cognitive and emotional evaluation of one's life. High sense of wellbeing is related to the domination of positive

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emotions, good atmosphere and general satisfaction with life (Diener, Lucas, Oshi, 2002).

According to the socio-ecological model, a human being is a complete system subjected to many interactions that stimulate him/ her to allround development of his/ her potential. The most important are believed to be social interactions, including those imposed by the educational environment and work environment.

According to the conception of developmental tasks proposed by Havighurst (1972), the tasks related to education are usually realised in the period of adolescence (12- 21 years of age) and early adulthood (21 - 35 years of age) (Liberska, 2011). Many people end their education in the period of adolescence and in early adulthood they already realise the task of "starting work". The current state of civilization imposes extension of time allotted to realization of the task of preparation for working life (in other words education) over not only early adulthood but also in further stages of human development. Continuous education has become a necessary condition for successful coping with changes related to professional life, e.g. on the job market or changes induced by technological progress. It is not easy. Education requires much energy, time, reduction of social contacts - often at the expense of other life tasks e.g. those related to family life. On the other hand, it brings considerable profits, such as a chance of acquiring higher social and economical status, improved image of oneself, acquiring and maintenance of professional competence and higher social prestige. As a consequence, the strength of the influence of a person on his/her environment increases. All these factors contribute to enhance the sense of wellbeing.

The problem of study

The above-mentioned profits following from the engagement in lifelong education have been concluded from literature on the subject. For many centuries the sphere of education and professional career were the domain of men, while women were supposed to take care of home and children. The access to education and professional development that has been gained by women over the last few decades was a great breakthrough in social evolution. The question is if this access to education and professional life has contributed to the wellbeing of women. Perhaps the access to new spheres of development (long time education and professional activity) has reduced the sense of wellbeing by limiting the women engagement in the activities related to taking care of the family.

Working hypotheses

The following working hypotheses were put forward.

H-1: There are significant differences in the sense of general, psychological, social, and emotional wellbeing between the women who are and those who are not engaged in selfeducation.

It is expected that the women engaged in education have a higher sense of general, psychological, social, and emotional wellbeing than those who are not.

H-2: There are significant differences in the degree of satisfaction from being useful to other people, to the country/ region between the women who are and those who are not engaged in self-education.

It is expected that the women engaged in self-education have a higher level of satisfaction from being useful to other people, to the country/ region than those who are not.

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H-3: There is a significant correlation between the general sense of wellbeing and the general level of satisfaction from being useful.

It is expected that there is a significant correlation between the general sense of wellbeing and the level of satisfaction from being useful.

Study group

To verify the above hypotheses a comparative study was performed on two groups of women in early adulthood, from 21 to 35 years of age. Group one comprised the women who continued life-long education and group two comprised the women who did not continue education. The condition for classification to group one was current engagement in selfeducation: studies, postgraduate studies,

seminars, workshops, learning at high school,

etc. All women were working and all had families (husband, child or children). Each group comprised 30 women, so the total number of respondents was 60 women. They were living in a city of about 60000 inhabitants or near this city.

Study tools

We used the questionnaire for evaluation of subjective wellbeing DAE written by L.Wojciechowska (2008) and a questionnaire to collect data on the family situation and material conditions of the respondents and their satisfaction from being useful for other people, for the country or region.

Results

Statistical analysis was performed on the basis of U - Mann Whitney test and analysis of correlations. Results are presented in Table 1.

Table 1

Results of U-Mann Whitney test

Type of wellbeing Women engaged in lifelong education Women not engaged in life-long education U Z p

Total of ranks Total of ranks

General wellbeing 1244,00 467,00 61,00 5,58 0,0002

Psychological wellbeing 1132,30 578,70 173,00 3,83 0,0001

Social wellbeing 1037,00 671,00 266,00 2,36 0,02

Emotional wellbeing 1304,00 406,00 0,00 6,53 0,0006

Level of satisfaction from being useful to others, to the country/ region 1295,00 416,50 10,50 6,35 0,0001

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Verification of H-1

The results reveal that the level of the sense of general, psychological, social, and emotional wellbeing is higher in the women engaged in education than in those not engaged in education. The differences are statistically significant (Table 1).

Verification of H-2

Results of the statistical analysis indicate significant differences in the level of satisfaction

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from being useful to other people, to the country or region between the women engaged and not engaged in life-long education.

Verification of H-3

Analysis of correlation has shown a significant relation between the sense of general wellbeing and the level of satisfaction from being useful (Table 2).

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Table 2

Results of linear r-Pearson's correlation

Average Standard deviation r(X,Y) r2 t P

257.40 28.22

6.90 2.55 0.80 0.64 10.15 0.0003

The analysis shows that with increasing level of the sense of general wellbeing, the level of satisfaction from being useful to other people, the country / region is increased.

Summary

In general, the women who continue their education have a higher level of wellbeing than those who decided to end their education at a certain level. The group of women engaged in continuing education also have greater satisfaction from being useful. Results collected from two groups of women have also proved a positive correlation between the sense of wellbeing and the level of satisfaction from being useful.

As follows from the data collected, continuation of education and combining it with professional and family duties make conditions leading to higher level of wellbeing than

concentration on the family and work. Although taking up learning by adult women who are already wives and mothers requires greater efforts, it brings a stronger sense of wellbeing and increased sense of being useful. In terms of the concept relating health and wellbeing, the decision of engagement in learning gives a better health condition. According to the results, a change in the woman's life caused by the decision of continuing education leads to enrichment of life tasks in the period of early adulthood, gives a chance of better psychological, emotional and social conditions than those of women concentrated on being mothers, wives and workers. However the engagement in education can be a source of many difficult dilemmas (Liberska, Farnicka, 2013). Also other consequences more distant in time should be considered. Continued education can protect women against the appearance of developmental crises that could take place in the

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period of middle and late adulthood, or at least usefulness is not dependent only on the physical

reduce their gravity. One of such crises is that of attractiveness and realisation of family roles.

an empty nest caused by the fact that children However, formulation of a reliable conclusion

have left home (Olejnik, 2011). Another crisis is about the protective function of engagement in

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related to the loss of procreation abilities and education needs further study on a larger number

often with decrease in physical attractiveness (at of women, including those living in large

least in self-evaluation of women). These crises agglomerations and in the country.

can be lighter as the sense of wellbeing and

REFERENCES

Diener E., Lucas R.E., Oishi S. (2004). Dobrostan psychiczny. Nauka o szcz^sciu i zadowoleniu z zycia. W: J.Czapinski (red.), Psychologiapozytywna (s.35-50). Warszawa: PWN.

Erikson E. H. (1982). The life cycle completed. New York - London: W.W.Norton.

Havighurst R.J. (1972). Developmental task and education. New York: David McKay.

Liberska H. (2011). Teorie rozwoju psychicznego. W: J.Trempala (red.). Psychologia rozwoju czlowieka (71-126). Warszawa: PWN.

Liberska H., Farnicka M. (2013). The educational activity and personal development of woman: an exploration of success and threat areas. In: N.A.Lobanov, V.N.Skvortsov (Ed.), Lifelong learning, vol 11, p.I (102 - 105). Saint-Petersburg: Pushkin State University.

Luczynski J. (2011). Zarz^dzanie edukaj wspieraj^c^ rozwoj indywidualny uczniow. W: J.Trempala (red.). Psychologia rozwoju czlowieka (379-392). Warszawa: PWN.

Olejnik (2011). Srednia doroslosc. W: J.Trempala (red.). Psychologia rozwoju czlowieka (312-325). Warszawa: PWN.

S^k H. (2003). Wstqp do psychologii klinicznej. Warszawa: Scholar. Wygotski L.S. (1971). Wybrane prace psychologiczne. Warszawa: PWN.

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ISSN 2226-3365

UDC 612.66 + 371.7

THE SENSE OF WELL-BEING OF WOMEN INVOLVED IN LIFELONG EDUCATION

Hanna Liberska (Bydgoszcz, Poland), Marzanna Farnicka (Zielona Gora, Poland)

In the article authors consider importance of continuous education in a life adult, in particular, women. In the era of intense development of civilisation and technology, education of adults is not just a chance of realisation ofprofessional carrier, but also brings a chance of meeting the expectations as to the socio-economic status, family life, forms of leisure activity. political activity and others. In the time of economical crisis, the worth of education increase because of the possibility of getting the ability to adapt to the actual conditions on the job market. educational activity of adults can be a factor favouring maintenance or improving the state of psychological wellbeing. Increasing knowledge improves and offers opportunities for social and professional advancement.

Further, the authors note that for many centuries the sphere of education and professional career were the domain of men, while women were supposed to take care of home and children. The access to education and professional development that has been saved up by women over the last few decades was a great breakthrough in social evolution. The question is if this access to education and professional life has contributed to the wellbeing of women. Perhaps the access to new spheres of development (long time education and professional activity) has reduced the sense of wellbeing by limiting the women engagement in the activities related to taking care of the family.

Authors put forward the working hypotheses connected with the general well-being, mental, social and emotional well-being of the women who are engaged in self-education and those women which are not engaged in it.

To check up aforementioned hypotheses, the comparative research of two groups of women, on 30 people in each group, has been carried out everyone at the age from 21 till 35 years. One group included women who were continued life-long education and other group of women which did not continue education. All women worked, and all had families (the husband, the child or children). They lived in cities or suburbs with the population approximately 60000 inhabitants. As tools of research authors used questionnaire for an estimation of mental well-being (L. Wojciechowska, 2008). Authors come to conclusions, that the women continuing life-long education, had the best mental, social, emotional and physical condition in comparison with those who were not educated.

Keywords: lifelong education, well-being, mental, social, emotional and physical condition, professional development, self-education.

Diener E., Lucas R.E., Oishi S. (2004). Dobrostan psychiczny. Nauka o szcz^sciu i zadowoleniu z zycia. W: J.Czapinski (red.), Psychologiapozytywna (s.35-50). Warszawa: PWN.

Erikson E. H. (1982). The life cycle completed. New York - London: W.W.Norton.

Havighurst R.J. (1972). Developmental task and education. New York: David McKay.

Liberska H. (2011). Teorie rozwoju psychicznego. W: J.Trempala (red.). Psychologia rozwoju czlowieka (71-126). Warszawa: PWN.

REFERENCES

Вестник Новосибирского государственного педагогического университета Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University Bulletin

1(17) 2014 www.vestnik.nspu.ru ISSN 2226-3365

Liberska H., Farnicka M. (2013). The educational activity and personal development of woman: an exploration of success and threat areas. In: N.A.Lobanov, V.N.Skvortsov (Ed.), Lifelong learning, vol 11, p.I (102 - 105). Saint-Petersburg: Pushkin State University.

Luczynski J. (2011). Zarz^dzanie edukaj wspieraj^c^ rozwoj indywidualny uczniow. W: J.Trempala (red.). Psychologia rozwoju czlowieka (379-392). Warszawa: PWN.

Olejnik (2011). Srednia doroslosc. W: J.Trempala (red.). Psychologia rozwoju czlowieka (312-325). Warszawa: PWN.

S^k H. (2003). Wstqp do psychologii klinicznej. Warszawa: Scholar. Wygotski L.S. (1971). Wybrane prace psychologiczne. Warszawa: PWN.

Hanna Liberska, the Doctor of Psychology Sciences, Professor, Director of the Department of Social Psychology and Youth Research [Zaklad Psychologii Spolecznej i Badan nad Mlodziez^], the Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology, Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz.

E-mail: hanna.liberska@op.pl

Marzanna Farnicka, PhD, Department of Pedagogy, Sociology and Health Sciences, University of Zielona Gora.

E-mail: marzanna@farnicka.pl

Психическое здоровье женщин, вовлеченных в процесс непрерывного образования Текст научной статьи по специальности «Науки об образовании»

Аннотация научной статьи по наукам об образовании, автор научной работы — Liberska Hanna, Farnicka Marzanna

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