Levels of formation of anti-victim personality in athletes

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Senior Lecturer G.V. Baturkina1
PhD, Associate Professor T.P. Budyakova1
1Bunin Yelets State University, Yelets, Russia

Сorresponding author: protektorius@mail.ru

Abstract

Objective of the study was to identify levels of anti-victim personality formation in athletes.
Methodology and structure of the study. The study used the method of expert assessments. The experts were current and former athletes aged 18 to 55 years in the number of 50 people. The material of the study was specially selected cases, which recorded the facts of victimization of athletes. The study participants had to offer effective means to avoid victimization in such cases.
Results and conclusions. The analysis of the proposed options for resolving victim situations allowed us to prove that by the nature of the methods used to get out of the conflict, we can distinguish five levels of formation of an anti-victim personality: standard, medium-normative, borderline, pre-victim and victim. However, in reality, only 4% of the study participants were able to suggest ways to respond to a conflict situation at the reference level. Basically, options were offered that correspond to the victim and pre-victim levels. Special training is required to form a higher-level anti-victim personality.

Keywords: anti-victim personality, sport, athlete's personality, levels of anti-victim personality, threats to personality.

 Introduction. The stability of the individual to negative environmental factors is important for its stable functioning. An anti-victim personality is a person who copes with threats that stand in his/her way, a person who is able to resist both offenses and violations of moral norms, who is able to overcome other factors and circumstances that threaten the person. In science, attention is paid to the problem of victimological security of the individual [2]. However, the problems of this type of security cannot be solved without studying the internal mechanisms of the individual that ensure victimological security, which has not yet become the subject of scientific study.

We believe that the level of formation of an anti-victim personality reflects the level of its victimological consciousness. The structure of the victimological consciousness of the individual must necessarily include such components as knowledge about threats to the individual, knowledge about ways to overcome these threats, and knowledge of various tools to ensure the security of the individual.

Currently, in the scientific literature there is a fairly simplified understanding of the formation of personal readiness to neutralize threats. A number of researchers believe that the usual experience of responding to threats is sufficient to form a readiness to overcome a similar threat again [5]. Other researchers argue that a simple awareness of the threat is enough to effectively counter it [4]. Studies that consider the negative experience of overcoming the consequences of victimization, in particular in sports, from the point of view of psychological growth and development of athletes are promising [6].

Before we talk about the diagnosis of the level of formation of an anti-victim personality, we need to determine what levels can be formed in principle. Using the paradigms of social-role analysis, we have identified 5 levels of functioning of the anti-victim personality. Level 1 – reference, this is the highest level of formation of an anti-victim personality, which includes elements of creativity in implementing the rules of safe behavior. Level 2 – medium-standard, reflecting the situation of general readiness and discipline in the implementation of the rules of safe interaction, but does not contain the ability to effectively resist threats to the individual in non-standard situations. Level 3 – borderline. And it's like "the upper limit of normal" when the execution of safety rules is openly demonstrative, and "low-normal" when there is a lack of clear implementation rules and regulations on safe behavior. Level 4 – biased, when a person flippantly ignores the rules of safe behavior. Level 5 – victimized, when a person demonstrates openly victimized behavior.

In our empirical study, we made an attempt to identify levels of antimicrobial personality in athletes. Our previous research has shown that sport becomes a tool for forming an anti-victim personality only if it is recognized as such a tool [1]. Awareness and finding ways out of situations that threaten the athlete's personality and their effectiveness were studied in our study.

Research objective. Revealing the levels of anti-victim personality formation in athletes.

Methods and structure of the study.
The method of research was the method of expert assessments. The study participants were offered cases in which the victimization of an athlete occurred in one way or another.
Case 1. The defender of Kiev, unable to cope with the guardianship of the forward of the army, the roughest reception (jump feet on the heel of the opponent) injured V. Bobrov. As a result, V. Bobrov never recovered from the knee injury. He used painkillers. And the opponents deliberately continued to mercilessly beat Vsevolod Bobrov on the sore leg [3].
Case 2. In table tennis competitions, a player defiantly unwraps and puts a piece of gum in his mouth before playing. During the game shows how he gets pleasure from chewing it. His opponent, who is superior to chewing gum in the technique of the game, begins to get nervous and as a result loses (from the observations of G.V. Baturkina).

Instructions to study participants: "Offer as many options as possible for a productive way out of a problematic situation."

Subjects: athletes of different ages (from 18 to 55 years) in the number of 50 people.

Results and discussion. It was found that it is really possible to rank possible ways of reacting to a victim situation in accordance with the levels of anti-victim personality that we have identified.

Using the example of solving case 1, we will show how the responses of the subjects can be correlated with the levels of formation of an anti-victim personality (table 1).

Table 1 
 The 1st level
The 2nd level
The 3rd level
The 4th level
The 5th level
To say in social networks about the issue and find allies in her decision to make the issue public
Use visual control tools to bring the culprit to legal responsibility
The upper limit of the norm is trolling the Harmer, the lower limit of the norm is equanimity in face – to – face meetings
To be patient and constantly be treated
To retire from the sport

 Similarly, the options for solving case 2 were ranked. For example, the creative level was represented by the proposal "to love the opponent and learn from him calmness". In General, only 4% of the study participants formulated options for responding to the situation that correspond to the reference level. 20 % of experts gave answers typical for the average normative level. Basically, all participants in the study easily suggested options for victim or pre-victim level (100 %).

Conclusion. Spontaneously, without special training, athletes form mainly variants of the victim or pre-victim level of the anti-victim personality. In this regard, there is a need to develop special training programs for the formation of higher levels of anti-victim personality.

Acknowledgments

The reported study was funded by RFBR, project number 20-013-00020 А «Physical culture and sport as predictors of the formation of an antivictivistic personality in people with disabilities and with a health standard»
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