Personal security concepts of students of economic profile: content and connection with identity

Abstract

In contemporary society, the need to reduce victimization and enhance human effectiveness across various aspects of life remains relevant. Addressing this need, the current study explores individuals' personal safety concepts, specifically within the professional sphere, which is considered one of the most vulnerable domains concerning safety. We aimed to identify the distinctive characteristics of personal safety concepts and their relationships with identity among students of economics. Personal concepts of security are operationalized as mental constructions, which integrate subjective representations, value meanings, interests, intentions, and other psychological phenomena, reflecting individuals' subjective positions and influencing their potential activities within the realm of safety. A sample of 103 students from universities in Russia, aged between 17 and 23 years, participated. The study methodology involved an associative experiment and a modified version of the "Who Am I?" technique. The findings revealed that respondents constructed their personal safety concepts using similar categories, including "right/wrong actions," "good/bad people," "positive/negative reality," "negative outcome," and "subjective characteristics." Notably, the construction of personal safety concepts predominantly employed a resource-oriented measurement approach, accompanied by a temporal measurement concept of danger. The specific application of personal safety concepts played a secondary role. Moreover, the structure of personal safety concepts exhibited connections with the formation of distinct groups of personal and social identity categories. Understanding the nuances of constructing personal safety concepts among individuals serves as a foundation for interpreting behavioral violations in the domain of safety and probabilistically forecasting their activities in circumstances pertaining to danger or safety. Furthermore, considering the state of personal and social identity can contribute to the effectiveness of psychologists in promptly diagnosing and mitigating various processes of personality marginalization.