Нарративы о независимости и волевом функционировании: от подросткового возраста к «становящейся взрослости»

Мониторинг общественного мнения: Экономические и социальные перемены. 2023. № 4(176). С. 239–261.

Yerofeyeva V., Bochaver A. A., Tsyganova E.

Based on the psychological theories of separation­individuation and self­determination, the article proposes a conceptualization of “autonomy” as in­dependence and volitional functioning. While independence is the ability to act without help of other people, the volition­al functioning is behavior in accordance with one's own values and interests. This theoretical framework is new for the Rus­sian context and can be used to study growing up, age transitions, and build­ing a life trajectory in the social sciences.To study the ideas of autonomy and the practice of its implementation, the au­thors conducted 30 interviews with in­formants aged 11 to 24 from megacities, million­plus cities, large and small cities of Russia. Adolescence and emerging adulthood were chosen because there are many opportunities for developing autonomy at this time, but simultane­ously there are many limitations. The in­terviews were processed within the nar­rative analysis approach by David Hiles, Ivo Čermák, and Vladimír Chrz in its “cat­egory­content” coding version.The study did not reveal any difference in the informants’ ideas about auton­omy. Both adolescents and emerging adults pay more attention to independ­ence (behavioral autonomy) at the lev­els of ideas and actions. At the same time, they discuss volitional function­ing less often, that indicates the social conditioning of independence. The vo­litional functioning increases with age, although the tasks aimed at develop­ing independence remain relevant. For most adolescents, independence plays a leading role, and volitional functioning is just beginning to emerge. For emerg­ing adults, socio­demographic factors play a significant role in the develop­ment of autonomy; independence and volitional functioning of those who live separately from their parents, moved to another city and/or got married are higher and more interconnected. Voli­tional functioning prevails among those who live with their parents, and their so­cialization occurs more gradually in the conditions of family assistance in solv­ing various problems.The results show the relevance of the framework for distinguishing autonomy as independence and volitional function­ing for the indicated ages and allow to deepen understanding of the autonomy formation highlighting their interconnect­ed or isolated development in different socio­psychological situations.

 

Keywords: autonomy, независимость, independence, самостоятельность, подростковый возраст, adolescence, emerging adulthood, становящаяся взрослость, volitional functioning, волевое функционирование