An example of self-regulation of the body. Open Library - an open library of educational information. Conscious semantic emotional self-regulation

We all know very well and knew more from history or personal experience that man is a rather complex biological mechanism which, for normal life and functioning, needs to satisfy its own needs. To satisfy needs, a person needs to perform actions, plain language he needs to work.

What is self-regulation?

For effective work, and life in general, he a healthy state of the body(physiological, psychological). So, it turns out that this state may not always be adequate, normal, effective. In such situations, we come to such a term as self-control or self-regulation. So what is self-regulation?

Self-regulation is a scientific term that can be found in various scientific articles and books, has a related meaning, refers to psychology, biology and other sciences, and therefore has many interpretations. This article will fully explore its psychological significance.

Self-regulation, first of all, if you read literally, the regulation of oneself from lat. Regulare - to put in order. You can also remember this term from biology lessons at school. Then at the lessons this definition sounded something like this: “Self-regulation is the purposeful work of biological systems of different levels of organization and complexity, aimed at maintaining homeostasis” (homeostasis is the desire of a living organism, under the influence of the environment, to restore the standard state, return to equilibrium). For example, a unicellular living organism, under the influence of the environment, is able to restore its original state.

Levels

In psychology, self-regulation can be divided into the following levels:

• Conscious level - speech, actions, movements, in other words, these types of self-regulation are easily recognized and observed independently and without outside help;
• Subconscious level - emotions, experiences of internal images and other internal mental processes.

Speaking about the subconscious level, it is necessary to indicate what, for successful regulation, developed reflection, the ability to look and study oneself independently is necessary. As shows psychological practice, the subconscious level is not available to everyone, especially without preparation. And this level requires introducing a person into a reduced state of brain activity and relaxation, followed by focusing on the problem. In addition to the above, it should be noted that the most important element of self-control is feedback.

Structure

Despite the large number of interpretations, self-regulation has a common structure:

1. First of all, you need to decide for what and for what activity it is needed.
2. Having chosen an activity, it is necessary to highlight the basic conditions and characteristics of the psyche or physiology necessary for effective activity.
3. Prepare a sequence of actions to form the necessary conditions for activity, for adjustment.
4. Present a reference version of operating conditions to compare actual conditions.
5. Analyze actual results.
6. Compare results with benchmark.
7. Deciding on the need and method of self-regulation of activities.

Different areas of psychology have different attitudes towards self-regulation. For example, school existential psychology believes that self-regulation is a sign of a person's maturity and effective activity, and the inability to regulate and subdue their mental manifestations is considered infantilism, whose behavior is rather based on feelings and drives.

Behaviorism, on the other hand, claims that this is self-deception, fiction, a person is very dependent on the environment in which he is and cannot fully control the influence of the environment on his own. Conflictology claims that the effectiveness of self-regulation methods determines how adequately a person will behave in a conflict situation.

Basic and additional methods of self-regulation

The main methods of self-regulation are:

• muscle relaxation;
• training (autogenic, ideomotor);
• reproduction of images or, in other words, visualization and imagination, which is the creation of images and thoughts in the human mind, through the use of hearing, touch, smell and their combination;
• self-hypnosis;
• neurolinguistic programming.

Additional methods are the following:

• suggestion;
• music therapy (other types of art therapy);
• physical exercise.

Statistical studies conducted by psychologists have indicated that self-regulation causes rejuvenation of the human body. A person receives significant control over his psycho-emotional processes, behavior.

The main results of self-regulation are the calming of the psyche, in other words, emotional stress is relieved, the level of fatigue is reduced - rest, the mental and physiological reaction improves.

The most famous natural methods of self-regulation are, of course, sleep, eating, walking in the air, nature, interacting with animals, movement, dancing, contrast showers, massage and much more. Although these methods are not always available. For example, a person is at work and cannot afford to sleep.

Despite this, it is the timeliness of self-regulation that has the most effective impact on the human psyche. Human health in most cases deteriorates due to overvoltage, and specifically because of ignoring this overvoltage. For example, visual impairment due to uncontrolled time spent reading books, watching TV, computer monitor screen. From a simple type of self-regulation, another hobby can be distinguished. After all, a hobby is needed to restore strength, switch attention, distract from the stress of everyday life..

At any given moment it is necessary specific self-regulation for a specific area and depending on this, we can distinguish: motivational associated with the motivation of a person to action; corrective- aimed at correcting the necessary characteristics; emotional-volitional.

Emotional-volitional:

• suggestion or suggestion to oneself;
• self-confession - awareness of one's results and roles in various situations in life, analysis of mistakes, actions, deep personal experiences;
• Self-persuasion - an approach that focuses on cold logic and reasoning in the analysis of problems and obstacles;
• self-order - the creation of a reflex between words and deeds.

In the general case, psychological self-regulation is a conscious change in the work of the psyche and physiology, behavior, for this you need gain the ability to control consciousness over activity.

So, the inability to manage oneself, one’s emotional states, exposure to uncontrollable moods is an obstacle to normal and productive work and life of a person, all this affects relationships between people, family stability and also prevents the achievement of goals, and as a result, obtaining the results necessary for this. . First of all, it is necessary to localize the problem, and then, with the help of tools and methods, begin to solve it. Help in this process can be specific methods of self-regulation, sharpened specifically for each situation and area of ​​action.

The most important thing is not to bring negative emotions and behavior to a peak, but to start dealing with negative emotions or behavior as early as possible. For this, a psychologist is not always needed, you can even use the most simple methods self-regulation such as: imagining something pleasant, listening to an interesting musical composition or talking to a nice person, looking at yourself from the outside.

Self-regulation is built into every living organism, you just need to learn to listen to it. Breathing techniques, for example, are built on this principle. It just happens that in business a person even forgets how to breathe correctly.

Having read all the above information, you now know exactly what the term "self-regulation" is.

The main property of living systems is the ability to self-regulate, to create optimal conditions for the interaction of all elements of the body and ensure its integrity.

The surrounding world and the situation in which a person is located is changing literally every minute. To maintain health and maintain normal functioning, the body must quickly adapt to them. Self-regulation of the body is scientifically called homeostasis. If some organ or area begins to work incorrectly, a signal is sent to the brain about a malfunction. Having processed the information received, the brain sends a response order to normalize the work, thus the so-called “feedback” is carried out, that is, the body self-regulates. It is possible thanks to the autonomic (autonomous) nervous system.

Scheme of self-regulation of homeostasis with an increase in body temperature. Primary afferent:

Legend: 1 - Spinal cord (segment)
2 - Skin
3 - Blood vessels
4 - Sweat glands
5 - Internal organ (interoreceptors)
6 - Afferent pathways of information (sensitive)
7 - Efferent paths of information (motor)

It is this system that supports self-regulation and is responsible for the proper functioning of the blood vessels of the heart, respiratory organs, the digestive system and urination, and the vegetative system also normalizes the activity of the glands of the endocrine system, in addition, it is responsible for the nutrition of the central nervous system and skeletal muscles. The hypothalamus is responsible for the proper functioning of the autonomic nervous system, it is there that the so-called “control centers” are located, which also obey a higher authority - the cerebral cortex. The autonomic nervous system is divided into 2 parts: sympathetic and parasympathetic.

The first actively works in extreme situations when a very fast response is required. Under stress, dangerous situations, strong irritation, the sympathetic system sharply activates its functions and launches self-regulation mechanisms. The process of its activity can be seen with the naked eye: the heartbeat quickens, the pupils become wider, the pulse increases, at the same time, the activity of the digestive organs is quickly inhibited, the whole body comes into a state of “combat readiness”.

The parasympathetic nervous system, on the contrary, works in conditions of complete calm, rest, activates the digestive tract, dilates blood vessels.

Under optimal conditions, both systems work well in a person, they are in harmony. If the balance of the systems is disturbed, a person feels unpleasant consequences: nausea, headache, spasms, dizziness.

Mental processes take place in the cerebral cortex, they can greatly affect the activity of organs, and disturbances in the functioning of organs can affect mental processes. A prime example is the change in mood after a good meal. Another example is the dependence of the general state of the body on the metabolic rate. If it is high enough, mental reactions proceed instantly, and if it is low, the person feels tired, lethargic and cannot concentrate on work.

The hypothalamus controls the autonomic system, it is in this area that all alarm signals about changes in the activity of body systems or its individual organs come, it is the hypothalamus that sends signals to change work to bring the body back to its usual state, and includes self-regulation mechanisms. For example, during heavy physical exertion, when a person “does not have enough air”, the hypothalamus causes the heart muscle to contract more often, so the body receives the necessary oxygen faster and in full.

Basic principles of self-regulation

1. The principle of non-equilibrium or gradient is the property of living systems to maintain a dynamic non-equilibrium state, asymmetry relative to the environment. For example, the body temperature of warm-blooded animals may be higher or lower than the ambient temperature.

2. The principle of closed control loop. Each organism not only responds to irritation, but also evaluates the correspondence of the response to the acting stimulus. The stronger the stimulus, the greater the response. The principle is carried out due to positive and negative feedback in the nervous and humoral regulation, i.e. the regulation circuit is closed in a ring. For example, a back afferent neuron in motor reflex arcs.

3. The principle of forecasting. Biological systems are able to predict the outcome of a response based on past experience. For example, avoidance of already familiar pain stimuli.

4. The principle of integrity. For the normal functioning of the body, its integrity is necessary.

The doctrine of the relative constancy of the internal environment of the body was created in 1878 by Claude Bernard. In 1929, Cannon showed that the ability to maintain the body's homeostasis is a consequence of the work of its regulatory systems and proposed the term homeostasis.

Homeostasis is the constancy of the internal environment (blood, lymph, tissue fluid). This is the stability of the physiological functions of the body. This is the main property that distinguishes living organisms from non-living. The higher the organization of a living being, the more it is independent of the external environment. The external environment is a complex of factors that determines the ecological and social microclimate that affects a person.

Homeokinesis is a complex of physiological processes that maintain homeostasis. It is carried out by all tissues, organs and systems of the body, including functional systems. Homeostasis parameters are dynamic and change within normal limits under the influence of environmental factors. Example: Fluctuating blood glucose.

Living systems do not just balance external influences, but actively counteract them. Violation of homeostasis leads to the death of the organism.



Self-regulation of vital functions of organisms

The concept of self-regulation. Self-regulation (auto-regulation)- the ability of living organisms to maintain the constancy of their structure, chemical composition and intensity of physiological processes. For example, chloroplasts are capable of independent movement in cells under the influence of light, since they are very sensitive to it. On a sunny bright day with high light intensity, chloroplasts are located along the cell membrane, as if trying to avoid the action of strong light. On cloudy cloudy days, chloroplasts are located on the entire surface of the cytoplasm of the cell in order to absorb more sunlight (Fig.). The transition of chloroplasts from one position to another under the influence of light occurs due to cellular regulation.

Self-regulation is carried out according to the feedback principle, just as, for example, a constant temperature is maintained in a thermostat. In this device, there is the following causal dependence of thermoregulation:

Switch - heating - temperature.

You can adjust the temperature manually by turning it on and off. In a thermostat, this is done automatically, through a temperature-measuring regulator, which turns the heating on or off in accordance with the readings. The temperature affects the switch through the regulator and feedback is established in the system:

Switch - heating - temperature -

regulator

A signal for turning on one or another regulatory system can be a change in the concentration of a substance or the state of a system, the penetration of a foreign substance into the internal environment of the body, etc.

Regulation of metabolic processes. The formation and concentration of any metabolic product in a cell is determined by the following causal relationship:

DNA is an enzyme product.

DNA triggers the synthesis of enzymes in a certain way. Enzymes in turn catalyze the formation and transformation of the product. The resulting product can influence the chain of reactions through nucleic acids (gene regulation) or through enzymes (enzymatic regulation):

DNA - enzyme - product

DNA - enzyme - product.

We have already considered the regulation of transcription and translation processes (see § 33), which is an example of self-regulation.

Or another example. As a result of energy-consuming reactions (synthesis of various various syntheses of substances, absorption of substances from the environment, growth, cell division, etc.), the concentration of ATP in cells decreases, and ADP increases accordingly (ATP - ADP + F). Accumulation of ADP activates the work of respiratory enzymes and respiratory processes in general, and thus, increased energy generation in the cell (Fig.).

regulation of functions in plants. The functions of a plant organism (growth, development, metabolism, etc.) are regulated with the help of biologically active substances - phytohormones (see § 8). In small quantities, they can accelerate or slow down various vital functions of plants (cell division, seed germination, etc.). Phytohormones are formed by certain cells and transported to their site of action through conductive tissues or directly from one cell to another.

Plants are able to perceive changes in the environment and respond to them in a certain way. Such reactions are called tropisms and nastyas.

Tropisms(from Greek. tropos - rotation, change of direction) - these are growth movements of plant organs in response to a stimulus that has a certain direction. These movements can be carried out both in the direction of the stimulus, and in the opposite direction. . Οʜᴎ are the result of uneven cell division on different sides of these organs in response to the action of growth phytohormones.

Nastia(from Greek. infusion - compacted) - these are the movements of plant organs in response to the action of a stimulus that does not have a specific direction (for example, a change in illumination, temperature). An example of nastia is the opening and closing of the corolla of a flower depending on the light, folding the leaves when the temperature changes. . Nastia are caused by stretching of organs due to their uneven growth or a change in pressure in certain groups of cells as a result of changes in the concentration of cell sap.

Regulation of the vital functions of the animal organism. The vital functions of the animal organism as a whole, its individual organs and systems, the consistency of their activities, the maintenance of a certain physiological state and homeostasis are regulated by the nervous and endocrine systems. These systems are functionally interconnected and influence each other's activities.

Nervous system regulates the vital functions of the body with the help of nerve impulses, having electrical nature. Nerve impulses are transmitted from receptors to certain centers of the nervous system, where they are analyzed and synthesized, and appropriate reactions are formed. From these centers, nerve impulses are sent to the working organs, changing their activity in a certain way.

The nervous system is able to quickly perceive changes occurring in the external and internal environment of the body, and quickly respond to them. Recall that the reaction of the body to stimuli of the external and internal environment, carried out with the participation of the nervous system, is called reflex (from lat. reflexus- turned back, reflected). Consequently, the nervous system is characterized by a reflex principle of activity. The complex analytical-synthetic activity of the nerve centers is based on the processes of the emergence of nervous excitation and its inhibition. It is on these processes that the higher nervous activity of man and some animals is based, which ensures perfect adaptation to changes in the environment.

Leading role in humoral regulation vital functions of the body endocrine gland system. These glands are developed in most groups of animals. Οʜᴎ are not connected spatially, their work is coordinated either due to nervous regulation, or the hormones produced by some of them affect the work of others. In turn, the hormones secreted by the endocrine glands affect the activity of the nervous system.

A special place in the regulation of the functions of the animal organism belongs to neurohormones - biologically active substances produced by special cells of the nervous tissue. Such cells have been found in all animals with a nervous system. Neurohormones enter the blood, intercellular or cerebrospinal fluid and are transported by them to those organs whose work they regulate.

In vertebrates and humans, there is a close relationship between the hypothalamus (a part of the diencephalon) and the pituitary gland (an endocrine gland associated with the diencephalon). Together they make hypothalamic-pituitary system. This connection essentially consists in the fact that the neurohormones synthesized by the cells of the hypothalamus enter the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland through the blood vessels. There, neurohormones stimulate or inhibit the production of certain hormones that affect the activity of other endocrine glands. The main biological significance of the hypothalamic-pituitary system is the implementation of a perfect regulation of the vegetative functions of the body and reproduction processes. Thanks to this system, the work of the endocrine glands can quickly change under the influence of environmental stimuli, which are perceived by the senses and processed in the nerve centers.

Humoral regulation can also be carried out with the help of other biologically active substances. For example, a change in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood affects the activity of the respiratory center of the brain of terrestrial vertebrates, and calcium and potassium ions affect the work of the heart.

Regulatory systems continuously monitor the state of the body, automatically maintaining its parameters at an almost constant level, even under adverse external influences. If, under the influence of any factor, the state of a cell or organ changes, then this amazing property helps them return to their normal state again. As an example of the mechanism of operation of such regulatory systems, let us consider the reaction of the human body to physical activity.

response to physical stress. During intense physical activity, the nervous system sends signals to the medulla adrenal glands- endocrine glands lying above the kidneys. These glands secrete the hormone adrenaline into the blood.

Driven by adrenaline spleens a certain amount of blood deposited in it enters the vessels, as a result of which the volume of peripheral blood increases. Adrenaline also dilates the capillaries of the skin, muscles, and heart, increasing their blood supply. During exercise, the heart must work harder, pumping more blood; muscles should move the limbs; the skin should produce more sweat to remove excess heat generated as a result of intensive muscle work. Adrenaline also causes narrowing of the blood vessels in the abdominal cavity and kidneys, reducing their blood supply. This redistribution of blood allows you to maintain blood pressure at a normal level (with an expanded bloodstream, this is not enough).

Adrenaline also increases the frequency of respiration and contractions of the heart. As a result, oxygen enters the blood and carbon dioxide is removed from it faster, blood moves through the vessels also faster, delivering more oxygen to intensively working muscles and accelerating the removal of metabolic end products.

During exercise, muscles release more carbon dioxide than usual, and this in itself has a regulatory effect. Carbon dioxide increases the acidity of the blood, which entails an increase in the supply of oxygen to the muscles and expansion of the blood vessels of the muscles, and also stimulates the nervous system to increase the release of adrenaline, which in turn increases the frequency of respiration and pulse (Fig.).

At first glance, all these adaptations to physical activity should change the state of the body, but in reality they ensure the preservation of the same composition of the extracellular fluid that bathes all the cells of the body, and especially the brain, as it would be without exercise. In the absence of these adaptations, physical activity would lead to an increase in the temperature of the extracellular fluid, to a decrease in the concentration of oxygen in it, and to an increase in its acidity. With extremely heavy physical exertion, all this happens; acid accumulates in the muscles, causing cramps. The convulsions themselves also have a regulatory function, preventing the possibility of further physical work and allowing the body to return to its normal state.

s 1. What regulatory systems exist in a living organism? 2. How is the regulation of vital functions carried out in body? 3. What is homeostasis and what mechanisms do you know to maintain it? 4. What are the similarities and differences between nervous and humoral regulation? 5. What is the connection between the nervous system and the system of endocrine glands? 6. What changes are taking place in circulatory system the human body during physical exertion? How are these changes managed? 7. Remember from the 9th grade biology course what possible disruptions in the functioning of the human body as a result of a violation of the relationship between the nervous system and the system of endocrine glands?

§ 35. Immune regulation

The immune system plays an important role in the life of the body. As you already know immunity(from lat. immunitas- immunity) - the ability of the body to protect its own integrity, its immunity to pathogens of certain diseases. Specific and non-specific mechanisms are involved in the creation of immunity.

To nonspecific mechanisms of immunity include the barrier function of the skin epithelium and mucous membranes internal organs; bactericidal action of certain enzymes (for example, some enzymes of saliva, lacrimal fluid, hemolymph of arthropods) and acids (excreted with the secretion of sweat and sebaceous glands, glands of the gastric mucosa). This function is also performed by cells of different tissues, capable of neutralizing particles and microorganisms alien to a given organism.

Specific mechanisms of immunity provided by the immune system, which recognizes and neutralizes antigens (from Greek. anti- against and genesis - origin) - chemicals produced by cells or part of their structures, or microorganisms that are perceived by the body as foreign and cause an immune response on its part.

Staying in a negative emotional state has a devastating effect on the body, since ancient times people have been looking for ways to control their mental state. Methods of self-regulation of emotional states are being actively studied, today a number of techniques have been developed to manage stress. Self-regulation is a system of certain actions aimed at managing one's psyche. Regulation techniques make it possible to consciously control one's behavior.

Approaches in psychology

AT domestic psychology the definition of emotional regulation occurs in the following contexts:

• self-regulation of the personality;
• regulation of behavior;
• mental self-regulation;
• self-regulation of states.

The mechanism of self-regulation and regulation of emotional states was considered by F.B. Berezin. In his works, the regulation of the body is associated with mental adaptation. Berezin argues that psychological defenses counteract anxiety and stress. The conducted research led Berezin to the conclusion that there are individual personality characteristics, it is they that help to successfully adapt to stress. This is the level of neuropsychic stability, self-esteem, emotional response in conflicts and others.

The well-known approach of R.M. Granovskaya. She divides all methods of emotional regulation into three groups:

1. Elimination of the problem.
2. Reducing the intensity of the impact of the problem by changing the point of view.
3. Reducing the impact of a negative situation through a number of methods.

Regulate the state of R.M. Granovskaya suggests using a weakening of motivation. For example, it is possible to reduce emotional tension when achieving a goal by concentrating not on the final result, but on tactics.

General principles

A number of mental states lead to disorganization, so they need to be regulated. There are two ways:

1. The use of influence on the psyche from the outside.
2. Self-hypnosis.

The concept of self-regulation refers to the second point, that is, a person helps himself to cope with a tense situation on his own. Methods of psychological self-regulation involve volitional participation, the personality of a person matters.

Mental self-regulation is the management of the emotional state by influencing oneself with the help of words, images, muscle tone, changes in breathing.

Psychological self-regulation allows you to eliminate, weaken the signs of fatigue, increase psychophysiological reactivity.

Modern self-management of the state is a kind of psychohygienic method that increases the resources of the body.

Classification

In psychology, there are several approaches to the classification of state self-government. L.P. Grimak identified the following levels of self-regulation:

• motivational;
• individual-personal;
• information and energy;
• emotional-volitional.

Motivational level

Any mechanisms of self-regulation begin with motivation. Regulation and self-regulation of mental states are closely related to achievement motivation. Motivation is what drives a person, and mental self-regulation is the ability to maintain the desired level of activity.

Individual-personal level

The level is mobilized when it is necessary to "remake" oneself, one's attitudes and personal values.

Regulatory qualities:

• responsibility;
• self-criticism;
• purposefulness;
• strength of will.

Information-energy level

The level provides the necessary degree of energy mobilization for the optimal functioning of the psyche. Types of self-regulation at the level:

1. Catharsis. The shock of viewing works of art frees you from negative thoughts.
2. "reaction" reaction. Strengthening mental and motor activity.
3. ritual actions. The ritual is designed to set a person up for a good outcome of the event, to emotionally reinforce.

Emotional-volitional level

Volitional self-regulation makes it possible to control one's feelings, the ability to consciously maintain one's well-being in extreme situations.

Emotional self-regulation comes in two forms:

• arbitrary (conscious);
• involuntary (unconscious).

Involuntary regulation allows you to remove stress and anxiety intuitively. Conscious regulation is associated with target activity, a person uses special methods to restore emotional strength.

What methods are used

Methods of mental self-regulation have been used since ancient times, for example, the technique of self-hypnosis went down in history as a practice of Indian yogis.

Known ways of self-regulation of the emotional state:

• self-hypnosis;
• autogenic training;
• desensitization;
• meditation;
• reactive relaxation.

Relaxation

The relaxation technique can be arbitrary (relaxation when going to sleep) and arbitrary. The free technique is evoked by taking a relaxed posture, imagining states corresponding to rest. Self-regulation skills with help allow you to perform a number of tasks:

• removal of muscle clamps;
• restoration of the energy balance of the body;
• getting rid of the consequences of negative interpersonal communication, restoring mental strength;
• recovery of the body.

Autogenic training

Methods of emotional self-regulation with the help of auto-training were proposed by the German doctor Schultz. Autogenic training is self-hypnosis, techniques are learned in the course of systematic exercises.

Most people can master the technique, under the influence of training, the emotional sphere normalizes, stress goes away, and volitional capabilities increase.

Examples of self-regulation using autogenous training:

1. The exercise is aimed at mastering the rhythm of breathing. Preliminarily, a feeling of warmth, heaviness is evoked, it is suggested that the heart beats easily and evenly. After preparation, a suggestion occurs: “I breathe quite calmly”, “I am calm.” Phrases are repeated 5-6 times.
2. Relaxation of the muscles is caused by a feeling of heaviness, filling the capillaries of the skin with blood - by a feeling of warmth.

Desensitization

Methods of psychological self-regulation with the help of desensitization can reduce fear and anxiety in frightening situations. This may be a fear of heights, flying, or memories of traumatic experiences.

Habitual methods of regulation are the elimination of anxiety through relaxation. Immersed in a state of complete rest, a person imagines disturbing situations. It is necessary to alternate approaching and moving away from the voltage source.

An effective technique is work with breathing. Holding free breath when faced with an alarming situation, you can regain freedom of action.

The principles of self-regulation using desensitization is the elimination of anxiety through a positive attitude. An example here is when a child sings a cheerful song about how a lion ate a man. The sound and tone of speech eliminates fear. (Song from the movie "Mary Poppins Goodbye"). The general cheerful mood eliminates stress. In this film you can find effective methods self-regulation and removal of psycho-emotional stress in children.

Meditation

The foundations of self-regulation are laid in meditation. The process of meditation allows you to fully relax and relieve fatigue. Enough 15-20 minutes a day. There are two types of meditation:

1. Deep reflection (meditation on something).
2. Meditative state.

The effect of meditation is beneficial to health, it can reduce the symptoms of physical diseases, and it has a beneficial effect on physiology. After practice, metabolism, respiratory rate improves.
Video: webinar "What is self-regulation and why is it needed?".

Methods of natural regulation

Methods of mental self-regulation are not only conscious, but also natural. These include:

• walks in the forest;
• visiting cultural events;
• classical music;
• positive communication with interesting people;
• physical relaxation, for example, intense training;
• writing a diary entry detailing the situation that caused more emotional stress;
• literary evenings.

Natural regulation helps prevent neuro-emotional breakdowns, reduce overwork.

A person uses some basic natural methods of mental regulation intuitively. This is a long sleep, communication with nature, delicious food, a bath, massage, sauna, dancing or your favorite music.

Many of the ways people use unconsciously. Experts advise moving from spontaneous application to conscious control of one's condition.

To avoid nervous breakdowns, it is worth using regulation methods. Self-management of one's condition can become the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and a condition for calm well-being. The main advice is regular use.

Video: webinar by psychologist Nina Rubshtein "Dependence, counter-dependence and self-regulation".

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The human body is a self-regulating system that depends on the environment. Due to constantly changing environmental conditions, as a result of a long evolution, a person has developed mechanisms to adapt to these changes. These mechanisms are called adaptive. Adaptation is a dynamic process, thanks to which the mobile systems of living organisms, despite the variability of conditions, maintain the stability necessary for the existence, development and procreation.

Thanks to the process of adaptation, the preservation of homeostasis is achieved when the organism interacts with the outside world. In this regard, the processes of adaptation include not only the optimization of the functioning of the organism, but also the maintenance of balance in the "organism-environment" system. The adaptation process is implemented whenever significant changes occur in the "organism-environment" system, which ensures the formation of a new homeostatic state, which makes it possible to achieve maximum efficiency physiological functions and behavioral responses. Since the body environment is not in static, but in dynamic equilibrium, their ratios are constantly changing, and therefore, the process of adaptation must also be constantly carried out.

A person has a decisive role in the process of maintaining adequate relations in the “individual-environment” system, during which all parameters of the system can change, is played by mental adaptation. Mental adaptation can be defined as the process of establishing an optimal correspondence between the individual and the environment in the course of carrying out activities characteristic of a person, which allows the individual to satisfy actual needs and realize the significant goals associated with them (while maintaining physical and mental health), while at the same time ensuring compliance with mental human activity, his behavior to the requirements of the environment. Adaptation is the result of a process of changes in social, socio-psychological, moral-psychological, mental, economic and demographic relations between people, adaptation to social environment.

Mental adaptation is a continuous process that includes the following aspects:

• optimization of the constant impact of the individual with the environment;
• establishing an adequate correspondence between mental and physiological characteristics.

The socio-psychological aspect of adaptation ensures an adequate construction of micro-social interaction, including professional interaction, and the achievement of socially significant goals. It is a link between the adaptation of the individual and the population, it is able to act as a level of regulation of adaptive stress.

Psychophysiological adaptation is a combination of various physiological (associated with adaptation) reactions of the body. This type of adaptation cannot be considered separately from the mental and personal components.

All levels of adaptation are simultaneously involved in the regulation process to varying degrees, which is defined in two ways:

• as a state in which the needs of the individual, on the one hand, and the requirements of the environment, on the other, collide;
• as a process by which a state of balance is achieved.

In the process of adaptation, both the person and the environment are actively changing, as a result of which adaptability relations are established between them.

Social adaptation can be described as the absence of maintaining conflict with the environment. Socio-psychological adaptation is the process of overcoming problem situations by a person, during which she uses the socialization skills acquired at previous stages of her development, which allows her to interact with the group without internal or external conflicts, productively perform leading activities, justify role expectations, and at the same time self-affirming, to satisfy their basic needs.

With the activation and use of adaptive mechanisms, the mental state of the individual also changes. At the end of the adaptation process, it has qualitative differences from the state of the psyche to adaptation.

The first component in the personality structure that provides adaptability are instincts. The instinctive behavior of an individual can be characterized as behavior based on the natural needs of the organism. But there are needs that are adaptive in a given social environment, and needs that lead to maladaptation. The adaptability or maladaptation of a need depends on personal values ​​and the object-goal where they are directed.

The maladaptive personality is expressed in the inability of its adaptation to its own needs and claims. A maladapted personality is not able to meet the requirements of society, to fulfill its social role. A sign of emerging maladjustment is the experience of a person with long-term internal and external conflicts. Moreover, the trigger for the adaptive process is not the presence of conflicts, but the fact that the situation becomes problematic.

To understand the features of the adaptive process, one should know the level of maladjustment, starting from which the person begins his adaptive activity.

Adaptive activity is carried out in two types:

• adaptation by transforming and eliminating the problem situation;
• adaptation with the preservation of the situation - adaptation.

Adaptive behavior is characterized by:

• successful decision making
• showing initiative and a clear vision of their future.

The main features of effective adaptation are:

• in the field of social activity - the acquisition by an individual of knowledge, skills, competence and mastery;
• in the sphere of personal relationships - the establishment of intimate, emotionally rich ties with the desired person.

For adaptation to be possible, a person needs self-regulation. Adaptation is adaptation to the external environment. Self-regulation is a person's adjustment of himself, his inner world for the purpose of adaptation. Thus, we can say that adaptation causes self-regulation. Although, apparently, such a statement will not be absolutely correct. Adaptation and self-regulation are not in a causal relationship. They are most likely different sides of such remarkable abilities of living systems to regulate their behavior in response to various circumstances, both external and internal. The division into two concepts occurred, apparently, for the convenience of studying this phenomenon. By the way, protective mechanisms (projection, identification, introjection, isolation, etc.) are referred to as both adaptation and self-regulation.

The concept of self-regulation

The concept of "self-regulation" is interdisciplinary in nature. This concept is widely used in various fields of science to describe living and non-living systems based on the feedback principle. The concept of self-regulation (from Latin regulare - to put in order, to improve), which in the encyclopedic version is defined as the expedient functioning of living systems of different levels of organization and complexity, has been developed both in foreign and domestic psychology. At present, self-regulation is defined as a systemic process that provides adequate variability and plasticity of the subject's life activity at any of its levels.

Self-regulation is a systemic characteristic that reflects the subjective nature of the personality, its ability for stable functioning in various conditions of life, for arbitrary regulation by the personality of the parameters of its functioning (state, behavior, activity, interaction with the environment), which are evaluated by it as desirable.

Self-regulation is a previously conscious and systematically organized influence of an individual on his psyche in order to change its characteristics in the desired direction.

Nature provided man not only with the ability to adapt, adapt the body to changing external conditions, but also endowed him with the ability to regulate the forms and content of his activity. In this regard, there are three levels of self-regulation:

• involuntary adaptation to the environment (maintaining a constant blood pressure, body temperature, release of adrenaline during stress, adaptation of vision to darkness, etc.);
• an attitude that determines the poorly conscious or unconscious readiness of an individual to act in a certain way through skills, habits and experience when he anticipates a particular situation (for example, a person out of habit can use his favorite technique when doing some work, although he is aware of other techniques);
• arbitrary regulation (self-regulation) of their individual-personal characteristics (current mental state, goals, motives, attitudes, behavior, value systems, etc.).

Self-regulation is based on a set of regularities in the functioning of the psyche and their numerous consequences, known as psychological effects. This may include:

• the activating role of the motivational sphere, which generates the activity (in the broad sense of the word) of the individual, aimed at changing their characteristics;
• the control effect of a mental image, arbitrarily or involuntarily arising in the mind of an individual;
• structural and functional unity (systemic) of all mental cognitive processes that provide the effect of an individual's influence on his own psyche;
• the unity and interdependence of the spheres of consciousness and the unconscious as objects through which the individual implements regulatory influences on himself;
• functional relationship of the emotional-volitional sphere of the personality and its bodily experience, speech and thought processes.

Self-regulation allows a person to change in accordance with the changing circumstances of the external world and the conditions of his life, supports the mental activity necessary for human activity, provides conscious organization and correction of his actions.

Self-regulation is the disclosure of a person's reserve capabilities, and, consequently, the development of the creative potential of the individual. The use of self-regulation techniques involves active volitional participation and, as a result, is a condition for the formation of a strong, responsible personality.

There are such levels of self-regulation according to the mechanism of its implementation: 1) information-energetic - regulation of the level of mental activity of the body due to information-energy inflow (this level includes the reaction of "reacting", catharsis, a change in the influx of nervous impulses, ritual actions); 2) emotional-volitional - self-confession, self-persuasion, self-order, self-hypnosis, self-reinforcement); 3) motivational - self-regulation of the motivational components of the life of the individual (non-mediated and mediated); 4) personal - self-correction of the personality (self-organization, self-affirmation, self-determination, self-actualization, self-improvement of "mystical consciousness".

Classifying the methods of emotional self-regulation according to the mechanisms of their implementation, there are several groups: 1) physical and physiological (anti-stress nutrition, phytoregulation, physical training); 2) psychophysiological (adaptive biofeedback, progressive muscle relaxation, autogenic training, systematic desensitization, various breathing techniques, body-oriented techniques, meditation); 3) cognitive (neuro-linguistic programming, cognitive and rational-emotive techniques of A. Beck and A. Ellis, methods of sanogenic and positive thinking, paradoxical intention); 4) personal (method of psychosynthesis of subpersonalities by R. Asagioli, Gestalt techniques of awareness of needs, personal self-organization of life time; methods of optimizing sleep and dream analysis (Gestalt techniques, ontopsychological techniques, techniques of conscious visions).

These two classifications are quite complete, cover a large number of different mechanisms and methods, and, in practical terms, are convenient for presenting technologies and psychotechnics of self-regulation. But they are not theoretically correct enough, since they do not adhere to the principle of the unity of the criterion for the entire classification, as a result of which, when subgroups are distinguished, there is a confusion of concepts that belong to different psychological registers. In particular, concepts are equated that denote certain types of mental and somatic processes (information-energy, physical, physiological, psychophysiological), individual mental spheres (emotional, volitional, motivational, cognitive) and the integrative concept of personality, which in modern psychology does not have a single generally accepted definition and is represented by a large set of concepts of various kinds. Therefore, the above classifications do not have internal integrity and categorical-conceptual clarity. Let's consider another classification.

Self-regulation is divided into mental and personal levels.

There are two main levels of self-regulation:

1. unconscious
2. conscious.

Mental self-regulation is a set of techniques and methods for correcting the psychophysiological state, thanks to which the optimization of mental and somatic functions is achieved. At the same time, the level of emotional tension decreases, working capacity and the degree of psychological comfort increase. Mental self-regulation contributes to the maintenance of optimal mental activity necessary for human activity.

To optimize the mental state in self-regulation, there are a variety of methods - gymnastics, self-massage, neuromuscular relaxation, auto-training, breathing exercises, meditation, aromatherapy, art therapy, color therapy and others.

Emotional self-regulation is a special case of mental self-regulation. It provides emotional regulation of activity and its correction, taking into account the current emotional state.

There are three successive stages in the formation of self-regulation of behavior in the system of personality integration:

1. basal emotional self-regulation
2. volitional self-regulation
3. semantic, value self-regulation.

Basal emotional self-regulation It is provided by unconscious mechanisms that work regardless of the desire of a person, and the meaning of their work is to ensure a psychologically comfortable and stable state of the inner world.

Volitional and semantic self-regulation belong to the conscious level. Volitional self-regulation is based on an effort of will, which directs behavioral activity in the right direction, but does not remove the internal confrontation of motives and does not provide a state of psychological comfort. Semantic self-regulation is based on the mechanism of semantic linking, which consists in comprehending and rethinking existing values ​​and generating new life meanings. Thanks to such a conscious restructuring of the personality's own value sphere, the internal motivational conflict is resolved, mental tension is removed, and the inner world of the personality is harmonized. This mechanism can exist only in an integrated, mature personality.

Conscious volitional self-regulation is based on a rational-effective basis and has a directive character, while semantic self-regulation is based on an empathic-understanding basis and has a non-directive character.

In structure personal self-regulation distinguish motives, feelings, will, considering them as determinants of the regulation of human behavior and activity. Personal regulation, overcoming external and internal obstacles, acts as a volitional line of activity. At this level, regulation is carried out not as the action of one motive, but as a complex personal decision, which takes into account the desirable and undesirable and their specifically changing attitude in the course of activity.

There are two forms of personal regulation: incentive and performance. An incentive reaction is associated with the formation of aspiration, the choice of direction, activity; performing - with ensuring compliance of activity with objective conditions.

They talk about three levels of development of personal self-regulation, which are the ratio of external (requirements for the performance of activities) and internal (personality properties). If at the first stage a person coordinates his characteristics with the norms of activity, at the second stage he improves the quality of activity by optimizing his capabilities, then at the third level a person as a subject of activity develops an optimal strategy and tactics, showing the creative nature of his activity. At this level, a person can go beyond the limits of activity, increasing the degree of difficulty, implementing such forms of personal regulation as initiative, responsibility, etc. This is the psychological mechanism of the "author's position of the individual" in professional and any other activity.

Personal self-regulation can conditionally be subdivided into regulation of activity, personal volitional regulation, personal-semantic self-regulation.

Activity regulation. The system of conscious self-regulation of activity has a structure that is common for all types of activity. It includes:

• the purpose of the activity accepted by the subject
• subjective model of significant conditions
• implementation program
• a system of subjective criteria for achieving the goal (criteria for success)
• control and evaluation of real results
• decisions on the correction of the self-regulation system

Personal volitional regulation characterized by the management of the following volitional qualities: purposefulness, patience, perseverance, perseverance, endurance, courage, determination, independence and initiative, discipline and organization, diligence (diligence) and vigor, heroism and courage, dedication, adherence to principles, etc.

Personal-semantic self-regulation provides awareness of the motives of one's own activity, management of the motivational-required sphere based on the processes of meaning formation.

Thanks to the functioning of the semantic level of self-regulation, the internal reserves of a person are revealed, giving him freedom from circumstances, providing even in the most difficult conditions the possibility of self-actualization. There are attempts to differentiate this kind of self-regulation and volitional behavior. Volitional behavior arises in conditions of a motivational conflict, and is not focused on harmonizing the motivational sphere, but is aimed only at eliminating this conflict. Effective self-regulation ensures the achievement of harmony in the sphere of motives. Volitional regulation is singled out as a purposeful, conscious and personally controlled form of regulation. As mechanisms of the personal-semantic level of self-regulation, semantic binding and reflection are considered.

Semantic linking is the process of forming a new meaning in the course of a special internal conscious work of the content, by linking some initially neutral content with the motivational-semantic sphere of the personality.

Reflection is a universal mechanism of the process of personal self-regulation. It fixes, stops the process of activity, alienates and objectifies it and makes possible a conscious impact on this process.

Reflection gives a person the opportunity to look at himself "from the outside", it is aimed at understanding the meaning of his own life and activity. It allows a person to embrace own life in a broad time perspective, thus creating "integrity, continuity of life", allowing the subject to rebuild his inner world in the necessary way and not be completely at the mercy of the situation. Reflection, as a mechanism of the personal-semantic level of self-regulation, is a powerful source of stability, freedom and self-development of the individual. The reflexive level of regulation is specially distinguished.

The processes of personal-semantic self-regulation can take place both on the conscious and unconscious levels. Conscious self-regulation is a mechanism for mastering one's own behavior and one's own mental processes. On the basis of awareness, a person gets the opportunity to arbitrarily change the semantic orientation of his activity, change the ratio between motives, introduce additional stimuli of behavior, i.e. maximize their ability to self-regulate. At an unconscious level, personal-semantic regulation is carried out due to the functioning of various psychological defense mechanisms.

Psychological defense is understood as a consistent distortion of the cognitive (cognitive) and affective (emotional) components of the image of a real situation in order to reduce the emotional stress that threatens a person if the situation were reflected as fully as possible in accordance with reality. The main object of psychological defense is the positive components of the self-image. Defenses are formed to cope with intense emotions, the spontaneous, open expression of which is dangerous for a person. Defense strategies are indirect ways of experiencing and overcoming emotional conflict.

The following types of psychological defenses are distinguished: substitution, projection, compensation, identification, fantasy, regression, motor activity, suppression, introjection, repression, isolation, denial, reactive formation, intellectualization, rationalization, sublimation, annulment.

The psychodynamically oriented model completes the list of psychological defenses, including in it also: hypochondria, acting out, passive aggression, omnipotence, splitting, destruction, projective identification, devaluation, idealization, neurotic denial, autistic fantasizing, dissociation, active formation, displacement, destruction, attachment , altruism, anticipation, self-affirmation, humor and even self-observation.

The action of defense mechanisms is manifested in the discrepancy between directly experienced meanings that determine real behavior and perceived meanings. The mechanisms of psychological defense hinder the process of reflection and lead to a distorted, inadequate awareness of the really acting semantic formations, resulting in a violation of self-control and behavior correction. Protective processes are aimed at eliminating intrapsychic conflicts from consciousness, but conflicts are by no means resolved: the meanings eliminated from consciousness continue to have a pathogenic effect, while as soon as their awareness opens the way to constructive self-regulation and restructuring of meanings.

Within the framework of personal self-regulation, one can also define social self-regulation. Both in the individual and in society, a huge layer of social regulation and regulation arises and constantly develops, each of its members is prescribed norms of behavior and certain social roles. A kind of social framework is being formed, often acting more rigidly than the actual natural constraints. Self-regulation arises as a process of mutual adaptation, the interaction of freedom and necessity. A person is already bound not only by natural restrictions, which become less severe as a result of his activity, but also more and more by the necessity created by him - the whole complex of conditions of life in society. Simultaneously with this process and in parallel with it, the processes of self-regulation aimed at its reproduction as an integrity are constantly becoming more complicated in society.

Emotional self-regulation

There are three levels of emotional self-regulation of a person:

1. unconscious emotional self-regulation
2. conscious volitional emotional self-regulation
3. conscious semantic emotional self-regulation.

These levels are ontogenetic stages of formation of the system of mechanisms of emotional self-regulation of the personality. The dominance of one or another level can be considered as an indicator of the development of the emotional-integrative functions of human consciousness.

The first level of emotional self-regulation is provided by psychological defense mechanisms that operate at the subconscious level and are aimed at protecting the consciousness from unpleasant, traumatic experiences associated with internal and external conflicts, states of anxiety and discomfort. This is a special form of processing traumatic information, a system for stabilizing the personality, which manifests itself in the elimination or minimization of negative emotions (anxiety, remorse). The following mechanisms are distinguished here: denial, repression, suppression, isolation, projection, regression, depreciation, intellectualization, rationalization, sublimation, etc.

The second level is conscious volitional emotional self-regulation. It is aimed at achieving a comfortable emotional state with the help of willpower. This also includes volitional control. external manifestations emotional experiences (psychomotor and vegetative).

Most of the methods and techniques of emotional self-regulation described in the literature refer to this level, for example: suggestive methods (auto-training and other types of self-hypnosis and self-hypnosis), Jacobson's progressive muscle relaxation, biofeedback-based relaxation, breathing exercises, attention switching and distraction from unpleasant experiences, activation of pleasant memories, psychotechnics based on visualization, emotional discharge through physical activity, labor, volitional influence directly on feelings - suppression or activation, response of emotions through screaming, laughter, crying (catharsis), etc.

At this level of emotional self-regulation, the conscious will is not aimed at resolving the need-motivational conflict underlying emotional discomfort, but at transforming its subjective and objective manifestations. Therefore, in essence, the mechanisms of this level are symptomatic, and not etiological, since as a result of their action, the causes of emotional discomfort are not eliminated. This feature is common to conscious volitional and unconscious emotional self-regulation. The essential difference between them is only that one is carried out on a conscious level, and the other on a subconscious level. But, there is no rigid boundary between these two levels, since volitional regulatory actions, which are initially carried out with the participation of consciousness, being automated, can move to the subconscious level of implementation.

The third level - conscious semantic (value) emotional self-regulation - is a qualitatively new way to solve the problem of emotional discomfort. It is aimed at eliminating its underlying causes - at solving the internal need-motivational conflict, which is achieved by comprehending and rethinking one's own needs and values ​​and generating new life meanings. The highest aspect of semantic self-regulation is self-regulation at the level of existential needs and meanings. This is the deepest and, at the same time, the highest level of self-regulation available to a person on present stage its development.

For the implementation of emotional self-regulation at the semantic level, it is necessary to be able to think clearly, recognize and describe with the help of words the most subtle shades of one’s emotional experiences, realize one’s own needs behind feelings and emotions, find meaning even in unpleasant experiences and difficult life circumstances. These listed skills belong to the competence of a special integrative mental activity, which has been intensively studied in science over the past decades and has been called "emotional intelligence (emotional intelligence)". The main functions of emotional intelligence include: emotional awareness, voluntary control of one's own emotions, the ability to self-motivate, empathy and understanding of the emotional experiences of other people and managing the emotional state of other people.

Basal system of emotional regulation

As is known, in humans, the morphological substrate of emotional regulation is the ancient (subcortical) and the latest (frontal) formations of the brain. In evolutionary terms, the system of emotional regulation can be compared to geological strata, each of which has its own structure and function. These formations are in close interaction with each other, forming a hierarchically complicating system of levels.

In their basal (basic) foundations, emotions are associated with instincts and drives, and in the most primitive forms they even function according to the mechanism of unconditioned reflexes.

This primitive character of emotional reaction in normal development does not always come out clearly enough. Pathological cases provide many examples of the influence of elementary emotions on behavior. In the course of normal ontogenesis, early forms of affective response are included in more complex ones.

A special role in this process belongs to memory and speech. Memory creates the conditions for preserving traces of emotional experiences. As a result, not only current events, but also the past (and based on them, the future) begin to evoke emotional resonance. Speech, in turn, denotes, differentiates and generalizes emotional experiences. Due to the inclusion of emotions in speech processes, the former lose in their brightness, immediacy, but gain in awareness, in the possibility of their intellectualization.

The emotional system is one of the main regulatory systems that provide active forms of the body's vital activity.

Like any system of regulation, emotional regulation consists of afferent and efferent links (afferent and efferent nerves, i.e., nerves that bring and carry irritation). Its afferent link on one side is turned to the processes occurring in the internal environment of the organism, on the other - to the external one.

From the internal environment, she receives information about the general state of the body (which is globally regarded as comfortable or uncomfortable), about physiological needs. Along with this constant information, in extreme, often pathological cases, there are reactions to signals that usually do not reach the level of emotional evaluation. These signals, often associated with the vital dysfunction of individual organs, cause states of anxiety, anxiety, fear, etc.

As for information coming from the external environment, the afferent link of the emotional system is sensitive to those of its parameters that directly signal the possibility of satisfying current needs in the present or future, and also responds to any changes in the external environment that pose a threat or its possibility in the future. The range of phenomena fraught with danger also takes into account information synthesized by cognitive systems: the possibility of shifting the environment towards instability, uncertainty, information deficit.

Thus, the cognitive and emotional systems jointly provide orientation in the environment.

Moreover, each of them makes its own special contribution to the solution of this problem.

Compared to cognitive, emotional information is less structured. Emotions are a kind of stimulator of associations from different, sometimes unrelated areas of experience, which contributes to the rapid enrichment of the initial information. This is a system of “quick response” to any changes in the external environment that are important from the point of view of the need sphere.

The parameters on which the cognitive and emotional systems rely when constructing an image of the environment often do not coincide. So, for example, intonation, an unfriendly expression of the eyes, from the point of view of the affective code, are of greater importance than statements that contradict this unfriendly expression. Intonation, facial expressions, gestures and other paralinguistic factors can act as more significant information for decision making.

Discrepancies in cognitive and emotional assessments of the environment, the greater subjectivity of the latter create conditions for various transformations, attributing new meanings to the environment, shifts into the realm of the unreal. Due to this, in case of excessive environmental pressure, the emotional system also performs protective functions.

The efferent link of emotional regulation has a small set of external forms of activity: these are various types of expressive movements (facial expressions, expressive movements of the limbs and body), timbre and loudness of the voice.

The main contribution of the efferent link is participation in the regulation of the tonic side of mental activity. Positive emotions increase mental activity, provide "attitude" to solve a particular problem. Negative emotions, most often reducing mental tone, determine mainly passive methods of protection. But a number of negative emotions, such as anger, rage, actively enhance the protective capabilities of the body, including at the physiological level (increase in muscle tone, blood pressure, increase in blood viscosity, etc.).

It is very important that, simultaneously with the regulation of the tone of other mental processes, there is a toning of individual links of the emotional system itself. This ensures the stable activity of those emotions that in this moment dominate in the affective state.

The activation of some emotions can facilitate the flow of others that are not currently amenable to direct influence. Conversely, some emotions can have an inhibitory effect on others. This phenomenon is widely used in the practice of psychotherapy. When emotions of different signs collide (“emotional contrast”), the brightness of positive emotional experiences increases. Thus, a combination of a little fear with a sense of security is used in many children's games (tossing a child up by an adult, riding from mountains, jumping from a height, etc.). Such "swings", apparently, not only activate the emotional sphere, but also are a kind of method of "hardening" it.

The body's need to maintain active (sthenic) states is provided by constant emotional toning. Therefore, in the process mental development various psychotechnical means are created and improved, aimed at the prevalence of sthenic emotions over asthenic ones.

Normally, there is a balance of toning by the external environment and autostimulation. In conditions when the external environment is poor, monotonous, the role of autostimulation increases and, conversely, its share decreases under conditions of a variety of external emotional stimuli. One of the most difficult issues of psychotherapy is the choice of the optimal level of toning, at which emotional reactions would proceed in a given direction. Weak stimulation may turn out to be ineffective, and superstrong stimulation can negatively change the entire course of the emotional process.

This moment is especially important in pathology, where primary disorders of neurodynamics are observed. The phenomena of hypo- and hyperdynamia disorganize emotional regulation, deprive it of stability and selectivity. Violations of neurodynamics primarily affect the mood, which is the background for the flow of individual emotions. Decreased mood is characterized by asthenic emotions, pathologically elevated - sthenic.

The level of impairment, which determines the quality of the pathological process, is also important.

So, with the phenomena of hyperdynamia, pathological emotions have a sthenic character (manifestations of violent joy, or anger, rage, aggression, etc.).

In the extreme variants of hyperdynamia, one can assume, as it were, a “taking away” of energy from other mental systems. This phenomenon takes place during short-term super-strong emotions, accompanied by a narrowing of consciousness, a violation of orientation in the environment. In pathology, such violations can be of a more prolonged nature.

Weakness (hypodynamia) of the neurodynamic process will first of all manifest itself at the cortical (most energy-intensive) level in the form of emotional lability, rapid satiety. In more severe cases, the center of gravity of violations moves from higher to basal centers, which are no longer able to maintain their own energy at the desired level. In these cases, the emotional system responds to the threat to the vital constants of the organism with anxiety and fear.

The occurrence of such crisis phenomena is observed in various pathologies, especially often with prolonged psychogenic traumatization.

The reaction to a protracted psychogenic situation unfolds according to a well-known stress mechanism: initially, there is an increase in tension, stimulating the usual schemes for solving the problem, in case of their low efficiency, all internal and external sources are mobilized; Failure leads to anxiety and depression. The phenomena of severe emotional exhaustion can have catastrophic consequences for the life of the organism.

In this regard, in the process of evolution, a special mechanism could not but be created that protects the body from energy expenditure that exceeds its capabilities.

One might think that such a genetically early form of defense observed in animals is a behavior called "biased activity". In conflict conditions, when certain required behavior cannot be implemented, another type of response is switched on, situationally unrelated to the first one. So, for example, according to the observations of ethologists, a seagull that has just demonstrated aggressive behavior when threatened with failure suddenly stops aggression and turns to cleaning its own feathers, pecking, etc. The tension that has arisen finds a workaround, pours into other forms of activity.

Among researchers, there are different points of view on the nature of this mechanism. Some consider "displaced activity" as the result of the action of a special central mechanism under conditions of conflict, switching excitation to other motor pathways. Others believe that in this case there is a mutual inhibition of opposite states (for example, fear and aggression). This leads to the disinhibition of other stereotypes of behavior.

However, no matter how the specific mechanism of “displaced behavior” is built, its task is to prevent the degree of tension that is dangerous for the life of the organism.

It seems that in the phenomenon of "satiation" described by K. Levin, there is a similar mechanism of protection against emotional overstrain. Signs of “satiation” are: first, the appearance of variations that change the meaning of the action, and then its disintegration. In a situation where it is impossible to stop the action that caused satiety, negative emotions and aggression easily arise.

As experiments have shown, satiety grows the faster the situation was initially more affectively charged (regardless of the sign of the emotion: + or -). The rate of increase in satiety is determined not only by the nature of the emotion, but also by the strength of affective excitation. At the same time, if under conditions of saturation, the change of one action by another is still possible (which has been repeatedly confirmed experimentally), then under conditions of exhaustion, an attempt to change the action no longer has an effect.

Thus, the most significant is the boundary that separates the physiological tension inherent in the normal process from the pathological one, leading to irreplaceable energy expenditure. Strong pathological stress is a danger to the whole organism, the energy capabilities of which are limited. It can be thought that the emotional regulation system "keeps a finger" on the pulse of the body's energy balance and, in case of danger, it sends alarm signals, the intensity of which increases as the threat to the body increases.

Levels of the basal system of emotional regulation

Interaction with the outside world, the realization of human needs can occur at different levels of activity and depth of affective (emotionally colored) contact with the environment. These levels, in accordance with the complexity of the behavioral task facing the subject, require varying degrees of differentiation of affective orientation and the development of mechanisms for regulating behavior.

Attempts to trace the patterns of deepening and intensifying contact with the environment led to the identification of four main levels of its organization, which make up a single, complexly coordinated structure of the basic affective organization:

• Field reactivity level
• Level of stereotypes
• Expansion level

These levels solve qualitatively different adaptation tasks. They cannot replace each other, and the weakening or damage of one of the levels leads to a general affective maladjustment. At the same time, the excessive strengthening of the mechanisms of one of them, its dropping out of the general system, can also become the cause of affective deficiency.

Next, we will consider these levels, determining the semantic tasks solved by them, the mechanisms of behavior regulation, the nature of orientation, the type of behavioral reactions, the contribution of the level to the implementation of tonic regulation. We will also try to trace how interlevel interactions are built and how a single system of basic affective organization is formed.

Field reactivity level
The first level of affective organization, apparently, is originally associated with the most primitive, passive forms of mental adaptation. It can act on its own only in conditions of severe mental pathology, but its significance as a background level is great even under normal conditions.

In line with the implementation of affective-semantic adaptation to the environment, this level is involved in solving the most basic tasks of protecting the body from the destructive influences of the external environment. Its adaptive meaning is the organization of an affective pre-adjustment to active contact with the environment: a preliminary primitive assessment of the very possibility, the admissibility of contact with an object of the outside world even before direct contact with it. This level provides a continuous process of choosing the position of greatest comfort and safety.

Affective orientation at this lowest level is aimed at assessing the quantitative characteristics of the impact of the external environment. The most important affective result here is a change in the intensity of the impact, in connection with which a special affective meaning for the subject acquires the movement of objects relative to him. The affective assessment of the spatial proportions of objects, their location relative to each other and the subject is also essential here. One might think that it is these data that contain affective information about the potential possibility of their movement. Spatial proportions signal the degree of stability, balance of objects, the possibility of free movement between them and, at the same time, guarantees that the subject is protected by nearby objects from unexpected effects of distant ones.

The affective orientation of this level is characterized, firstly, by the fact that it occurs outside of active selective contact with the environment, in the passive imprinting of distant influences, and secondly, by the fact that the information in it is perceived not as a series of separate affective signals, but rather , as a holistic simultaneous reflection of the intensity of the impact of the entire mental field as a whole. Here, a certain map of the "lines of force" of the mental field is evaluated affectively.

Affective experience at this level does not yet contain an explicit positive or negative assessment of the impression received. It is associated only with a general feeling of comfort or discomfort in the mental field. The feeling of discomfort is very fleeting, unstable, because it instantly causes a motor reaction that moves the individual in space, and is vaguely experienced only as the very moment of its initiation.

Interestingly, when trying to comprehend vague affective impressions of this level, it turns out that it is almost impossible to express them verbally. The maximum that can be done in this case is to say “Something made me turn around”, or “Something I didn’t like this place right away”, or “Here you feel surprisingly easy”. It must also be emphasized that this form of primitive affective evaluation is limited immediate situation, its present moment and has almost no active influence on the subsequent behavior of the subject. (Apparently, this is the very vague "first impression" for not following which we so often reproach ourselves later.)

The type of adaptive affective behavior characteristic of this level is the least energy-intensive, extremely simple, but adequate for solving the range of its tasks. The choice of a spatial position that is optimal for mental comfort is carried out unconsciously, automatically, in passive movement along the "lines of force" of the field - approaching objects that act in comfort mode and moving away from uncomfortable influences. Evaluation of the impact as uncomfortable may not occur immediately, but as it accumulates over time.

Passive, externally determined movement can be compared with primitive mental tropisms. The only affective mechanism of this level, which protects a person from the influence of a destructive force, leading him to a position of safety and comfort, is affective satiety. As you know, it is it that prevents the occurrence of physiological exhaustion, which is a real danger to the body.

This is still a very primitive mechanism for regulating interaction with the environment. It is the least selective - reacting only to intensity, does not evaluate the quality of the impact and organizes the most passive forms of behavior. The reactions of the subject here are determined only by external influences. Passively avoiding super-strong irritations, he takes the most comfortable position.

At the same time, this affective mechanism, despite all its primitiveness, necessarily participates in broken forms of emotional regulation. This is understandable, since experiencing any degree of complexity includes an intensity parameter. This level largely determines human behavior in a residential environment, the habitation of a yard, street, and the choice of a place to rest. One can trace the background contribution of the first level to the regulation of the communication process, where it, by determining the affective distance of contact, provides the individual with security and emotional comfort.

This level of affective regulation probably makes an important contribution to the organization of the process of creative problem solving. The perception of new holistic structural relations in the environment is apparently connected in many respects with the involvement of this basic level of orientation in the search for a solution. Such a close connection creative processes with the basic levels of affective organization will probably explain the presence in them of elements of unpredictability, unconsciousness, the weakness of an active arbitrary organization, the feeling of a decision as an influx. The feeling of beauty, harmony is the first signal of the correctness of the emerging decision.

Like more complex levels of affective organizations, the first level makes its specific contribution to maintaining mental activity, regulating the tone of affective processes. As the lowest level, it provides organizations with the least energy-intensive passive reactions and carries out the least selective regulation of affective tone. Since it is the most sensitive to satiety, it is responsible for relieving superstrong tension, both positive and negative, maintaining a state of affective comfort. The maintenance of such a state of rest is ensured by stimulation of a person with specific, vitally (vitally) significant impressions for this level. As noted above, they are associated with the experience of affective comfort in space, which gives the subject a sense of balance in the environment.

In addition, affectively significant at this level are the impressions of the dynamics of the intensity of external influences, movements, changes in lighting, spatial relationships in the environment. This dynamics of "breathing" of the external world, within certain limits of intensity, is not perceived by the subject as an impulse to a direct motor reaction, but, on the contrary, plunges him into a state of "fascination", delivering the same feeling of deep affective peace, peace.

Probably, he can remember his fascination in childhood with the movement of dust particles in a sunbeam, the flickering shadows from the fence, contemplating the ornament on the wallpaper, moving along the pattern of tiles on the sidewalk. Everyone knows the pacifying role of contemplation of the reflections of water and fire, the movement of leaves and clouds, the street outside the window, a harmonious landscape. A person receives these vitally necessary impressions both in connection with the dynamics of the external world, independent of him, and in connection with his own movement in it. However, in both cases, they are associated with a detached contemplation of what is happening around, as if immersion and dissolution in it.

In the process of mental development, the complication of emotional life, the subject begins to feel an increasing need to maintain mental balance, relieve stress. In this regard, on the basis of elementary impressions of the first level, active psychotechnical methods for stabilizing affective life begin to form.

An example of the development of techniques for the direct active influence of such impressions can serve as some traditional oriental ways of gaining peace of mind. Stimulation of a person by elementary “pure” impressions of this level, focusing, for example, on the fluctuation of a candle flame, conscious active alternation of perception of a “figure and background in the visual field give him the opportunity to arbitrarily achieve a state of deep rest, dissolution in the environment. Such techniques are currently part of the generally accepted systems of psychotherapy and auto-training.

They are also used in cases of emergency intervention in the regulation of emotional processes, in medical practice, in the adaptation of an individual to extreme conditions.

In ordinary life, we also experience the constant, actively guarding influence of this level, but it is carried out more indirectly, by the spatial organization of the entire environment. The harmonious organization of the interior of the dwelling, the proportions of clothing, household items, the very house of a person, the surrounding landscape bring peace, harmony to his inner emotional life. The techniques of such an aesthetic organization of the environment are accumulated in family, national, and cultural traditions. The traditional cultural way of life focuses the subject on these impressions necessary for him, helps him to appropriate the psychotechnical methods of the aesthetic organization of the environment.

Aesthetic organization is necessary for any way of human life. We know what importance was attached to it in traditional peasant life, what forces, despite the severity of living conditions, were spent, for example, on ornamental decoration of dwellings, clothes, tools, household items. We also know what a refined development these techniques achieve with the development of civilization, how refined the aesthetics of architectural proportions, the planning of garden and park ensembles with their cultures of a regular or landscape style, a rock garden, fountains. Not a single tonic and affectively stabilizing impression from art, architecture, of course, can do without the contribution of a sense of proportion, harmony, provided by the first level.

It can be said that, performing background functions in the implementation of emotional and semantic adaptation to the environment, providing tonic regulation of affective processes, this level also carries out its cultural development.

Level of stereotypes
The second level of affective organization is the next step in deepening affective contact with the environment and masters a new layer of affective reactions. It plays an important role in regulating the behavior of a child in the first months of life, in developing its adaptive reactions - food, defensive, establishing physical contact with the mother, then it develops as a necessary background component of complex forms of adaptation, determining the completeness, originality of a person's sensory life.

The main adaptive task of this level is the regulation of the process of satisfying somatic needs. The second level establishes affective control over the functions of the organism itself, streamlines psychosomatic sensations and connects them affectively with external signals about the possibility of fulfilling a need, fixes ways of satisfaction. We can say that the main task of this level is the adaptation of the subject to the environment, the development of affective stereotypes of sensory contact with him.

This step in the transition to active selectivity in adapting to the environment is due to the complication of the affective mechanism of behavior regulation. We observe that at the first level the behavior of the subject is entirely determined by the mechanism of affective satiety. Under its dominance, the subject evaluates the impression only by the parameter of intensity and passively submits to external influences. At the same time, his own activity is minimal. The second level limits the uniform action of the mechanism of saturation and thereby overcomes the dictates of the external field, provides the possibility of active selection and reproduction of certain impressions. This happens due to the introduction of the second parameter of affective evaluation. The affective structure of the mental field becomes more complicated: the assessment of the impact by intensity begins to correct the assessment of its quality - compliance or non-compliance with the vital needs of the body. Positive experiences become more resistant to satiety, which provides the subject with the possibility of active sensory contact with the environment at all times while satisfying the need. At the same time, the subject acquires an increased sensitivity to any violations of the process of meeting the need. Such impressions are rated as uncomfortable, regardless of the intensity of the impact. This is how a primitive affective selectivity arises in contact with the environment.

At this level, signals from the surrounding and internal environment of the body are qualitatively evaluated. Here sensations of all modalities are assimilated affectively: gustatory, olfactory, auditory, visual, tactile and difficult to differentiate complex sensations of somatic well-being and trouble. The most affectively significant are the elementary signals of the internal environment of the organism. It is they, connecting with the initially neutral external impressions, that affectively arrange them. So, in the affective spread "from oneself" there is a transformation of neutral sensations into significant ones, the saturation of the external field with an internal individual meaning.

In connection with the concentration of this level on the affective regulation of rhythmically organized somatic processes and on the development of stereotypes for satisfying needs based on the repetition of external conditions, this level is particularly sensitive to various rhythmic influences. If the first level of affective orientation was characterized by a focus on a passive simultaneous reflection of the impact of the mental field as a whole, then here the simplest temporary, successful organization of impressions is already distinguished.

As an example of the first successes of this level of affective orientation, one can single out the child's assimilation of the feeding regimen, the establishment of an affective connection between the type of bottle and the pleasure of eating, the appearance of an anticipatory posture before picking up, etc.

Emotional experience at the second level is brightly colored by pleasure and displeasure. How pleasant at this level are experienced impressions associated with the satisfaction of needs, the preservation of the constancy of the conditions of existence, the usual temporal rhythm of influences. Unpleasant, painful here are the impressions associated with interference in the satisfaction of desire, indicating a change in living conditions and the inadequacy of the existing affective stereotype of behavior. It is characteristic that here the very tension of the need, of unsatisfied desire, is also negatively experienced. The situation of disruption of the habitual affective connection and the delay of the already “declared” pleasant sensation are almost unbearable here. This level of "doesn't like", can't wait. Intolerance to sensory discomfort, violations of the regimen are typical for young children, when the second level plays a crucial role in adaptation. In severe cases of early disruption of affective development, when the second level remains the leading one in adapting to the environment for a long time, a child of older age perceives changes in the environment with fear, a violation of the usual regimen, evaluates the delay in the fulfillment of desire as a catastrophe.

Experience at this level is closely related to sensory sensation. As discussed above, affective orientation is carried out by projecting internal states outward, linking complex distant impressions with more elementary taste, contact, and olfactory ones. Affective experience is therefore here also a complex combination of the simple and the complex. It is to this level that we owe the experiences of synesthesia. Each of us knows that the color can be poisonous green, causing a setback, the sound can be scraping or velvety, light-cutting or soft, and the look is sticky or sharp, the voice is rich, the face is crumpled, thoughts are dirty, etc. P. Let us recall the experiences of the hero of the Chekhov story: “While she was singing, it seemed to me that I was eating a ripe, sweet, fragrant melon” (“My Life”).

The second level has a vivid and persistent affective memory. Random sensory sensation can even restore in a person the impressions of the distant past. This is of great importance for the affective adaptation of a person. The second level fixes a stable affective connection between impressions and creates an affective experience of a person's sensory interaction with the environment, determining his individual tastes. It can be said that this level of affective organization to a large extent lays the foundations for the formation of a person's individuality, and a young child does a great job of revealing his own predilections in sensory contacts with the environment. An affective image of the world at this level of its organization acquires certainty, stability, individual coloring, but at the same time it is still a complex of associative, sensually brightly colored impressions.

The type of behavior characteristic of this level of affective adaptation is stereotyped reactions. Of course, this is still a very primitive level of behavioral adaptation. Initially, it probably relies on a small set of innate standard reactions that ensure the adaptation of the newborn to the mother and the satisfaction of his organic needs. However, in the process of mental ontogenesis, an arsenal of individual stereotypes of sensory contact with the environment, habits that a person strives to follow, is developed and accumulated. These habits determine our special way of contact with the world: "I'm used to drinking hot strong tea", "I don't eat meat", "I like to swim in cold water", "I can't stand the heat", "I can't stand noisy places", "I prefer shoes without heels". ”, “I like to get up early”, “I can’t live without sweets”, “I’m drawn to huddle in the festive crowd”.

Affective stereotypes are a necessary background for the most complex forms of human behavior. The lack of a familiar paper type or the loss of a favorite pen can interfere with the creative process of a scientist or writer. According to the memoirs of O. L. Knipper-Chekhova, the absence of her usual spirits interfered so much with her performance of the role of Ranevskaya that sometimes the theater management had to cancel the play The Cherry Orchard.

Affective fixation by the subject of ways of contact with the environment gives him the opportunity to develop an optimal manner of interaction with the environment. On the other hand, however, this special affective selectivity can also make the subject painfully vulnerable to breaking the habitual stereotype. Perfectly adapting us to habitual conditions, this level turns out to be untenable in unstable conditions. The above example can serve as an example of such insolvency.

In the process of affective semantic adaptation, the first and second levels enter into a complexly organized interaction. Both of them are aimed at resolving a single problem of affective adaptation of a person to the environment, but the specific tasks of one are polar to the tasks of the other. If the first level provides passive affective adaptation to the dynamics of the external world, then the second one carries out the adaptation of the environment to itself, establishing stable relations with it. The methods of solving these problems are also polar: the first one tunes in to the affective perception of changes in the environment; the second - for stable signs; the first focuses on the assessment of the integral correlation of the influencing forces, the second - on the selective selection of affectively significant signals from the background; the first organizes passive movement along the field lines of force, the second organizes its own stereotypical reactions.

The second level, being more active and complexly organized, to a greater extent sets the affective meaning of behavior and is leading in relation to the first. For example, he can, within certain limits, correct and even suppress the assessment of the first, and the affective signal "too much" begins to be ignored with a positive qualitative assessment of the impression. So, a person can swallow spicy, burning food with pleasure, drink ice-cold, tooth-breaking water, etc. Here, in joint action, the affective mechanisms of the second level control the decisions of the first.

Let us now consider the contribution of the second level of affective organization to the implementation of the tonic function of the affective sphere - maintaining the activity and stability of affective processes.

The focus on active interaction with the environment is supported at this level by a feeling of pleasure from the favorable flow of internal somatic processes and a qualitatively pleasant sensory contact with the environment. Strengthening, fixing, diversifying this pleasure, we maintain our activity, stability in contacts with the world, drown out unpleasant sensations.

Thus, a feature of this level is that it no longer provides a general balance, but selectively enhances sthenic conditions and counteracts the development of asthenic ones. On the basis of toning the somatic sphere, numerous methods of autostimulation are developed that support the joy of feeling the entire sensual texture of the surrounding world and the well-being of one’s own manifestations in it: health, strength, colors, smells, sounds, taste, touch. Pleasure at this level, as already emphasized above, is enhanced by the rhythmic organization of the impact.

This necessary auto-stimulation occurs not only in the process of natural everyday and utilitarian contacts with the environment, very early on a person develops a special attraction to pleasant sensory impressions as such. Already the baby can start sucking on a pacifier or finger, additionally getting a pleasant oral experience. He demands his favorite bright rattle, jumps with pleasure in the bed babbling, enjoys playing with sounds. Later, this need finds expression in the child's desire for movement for the sake of feeling the joy of movement itself, in games with sensory vivid sensations - fussing with water, sand, paints, luminous and sounding toys, in love for the rhythmization and rhyming of words. In adulthood, we struggle with satiety by rhythmically tapping our feet, and in order to gain vigor, we "prescribe" ourselves walking and running, swimming, feeling grass and sand with our bare feet, smelling poplar buds, etc.

Affective mechanisms of toning the somatic sphere in the process of human cultural development turn into complex psychotechnical methods of maintaining positive emotional states. Cultural traditions impose prohibitions on primitive ways of self-irritation (thumb sucking, masturbation) and offer acceptable models, give direction to their development. The subject appropriates them (as well as psychotechnical techniques of the first level) under the influence of the cultural way of life. The family, national way of life can attract the subject's special attention to the simplest positive sensory impressions: to educate, for example, the ability to enjoy a sip of cold spring water, the rhythm of the movement of ordinary peasant work, but it can also develop an ever greater differentiation of sensory contact with the environment. Refinement of tastes can cause and develop gourmandism, sybaritism. These divergent trends are reflected, for example, in various national culinary traditions.

Techniques for actively stimulating a person with rhythmically organized sensory impressions underlie development. Folk songs, dances, singing with their tendency to rhythmic. Repeat, spinning, swinging, jumping. Ritual actions, religious rites, etc. are affectively saturated with them. Moreover, psychotechnical techniques of this level largely feed the development of such high cultural forms as the art of music, painting and even literature (especially poetry), since their affective effect on a person is organized rhythmically and is inseparable from direct sensory experience, appeal to affective memory. person.

Considering above the interaction of the first and second levels in the affective semantic organization of human behavior, we talked about the emergence of hierarchical relations between them, that the second level, as a more active one, begins to determine the affective meaning of behavior.

The interaction of the first and second levels in the implementation of tonic regulation of affective processes is built differently. It is difficult to find a cultural psychotechnical way of affective regulation, in which the techniques of only the first or second levels would be used. As a rule, they work together. The question “who is in charge” here often sounds meaningless. What affectively dominates the picture - its impeccable composition, expression, form or color? Perhaps both. What has the most impact in a skillfully selected bouquet - its spatial, color organization or smell. It may be different. Level relations here are characterized by a greater degree of freedom, both of them can both dominate and create an affective background for each other. Psychotechnical techniques develop in parallel and support each other in solving a single problem of stabilizing the affective life of a person.

Under unfavorable conditions, dysfunction of this level may occur. In a long-term psychotraumatic situation, if it is impossible to get out of it, hypercompensatory actions may develop, subjectively drowning out unpleasant threatening impressions. This upsets the balance between the semantic and dynamic function of affective regulation, and the level loses its adaptive meaning.

An example of such a dysfunction is given by B. Betelheim's personal observations in a concentration camp, where some of the prisoners (others called them "Muslims") developed a tendency to sway and other stereotypical movements. Focusing on these sensations, they stopped responding to their surroundings. Similar disorders are also observed during hospitalization in young children who have been deprived of contact with loved ones for a long time. Here it is not so much acute injuries as a really irreparable lack of positive impressions that causes the development in children of hypercompensatory auto-stimulating actions that create subjective comfort, but hinder the development of active interaction with the environment. Basically, these affective auto-stimulating actions are associated with rocking, other motor stereotypes, and self-irritation.

Expansion level
The third level of affective organization of behavior represents the next stage in the development of emotional contact with the environment. Its mechanisms begin to be gradually mastered by the child in the second half of the year of life, and this allows him to move on to active examination and development of the world around him. Later, this level retains its significance and provides us with active adaptation to an unstable situation, when the affective stereotype of behavior becomes untenable.

Active adaptation to new conditions implies the possibility of solving a special class of affective-semantic tasks: ensuring the achievement of an affectively significant goal in overcoming unexpected obstacles on the way to it. Overcoming an obstacle, mastering an unknown, dangerous situation - affective expansion to the outside world is the adaptive meaning of this level of affective regulation.

Let us consider how the affective mechanism of this level developed. At the first level, the field influenced the individual with its physical characteristics of the "I", and its task was to "fit" into these influences, finding the optimal position. The second level has already introduced an assessment of the field not only in terms of intensity, but also in terms of quality, in the coordinates of one's somatic "I".

At the third level there is a further complication of the structure of the field. It highlights not only objects of desire, but also barriers.

This becomes possible due to the fact that positive and negative impacts are not evaluated here in themselves, but in the overall structure. At the same time, however, the structure itself is organized according to the law of force: its positive charge must significantly exceed negative impressions.

A holistic positive assessment of the entire field makes it possible to focus on the initially unpleasant impressions of unexpected influences. Thus, the third level “wins back” some of the negative impressions from satiety. The very appearance of a new influence, obstacles becomes here the reason for launching exploratory behavior, the search for ways to overcome difficulties.

Moreover, an obstacle can be assessed here not only as a negative value, but also become a necessary positive impression for the subject, i.e., the barrier can change the “–” sign to “+”.

Active interaction with the environment makes it vitally necessary for the individual to assess his own strengths, gives rise to the need for him to collide with the barrier8. Only in this way can he get information about the limits of his capabilities. Thus, orientation in the possibility of mastering the situation here turns into an orientation of the subject in his own strength. We can say that if the first level assessed the intensity of the impact of the environment on the subject, then the third level assesses the strength of the impact of the subject on the environment.

However, the affective orientation of this level is still very limited. The subject evaluates here only the conditions for achieving the affective goal, without taking into account the consequences of satisfying the drive. This limitation becomes more pronounced with increased attraction, it can also manifest itself in an inadequate assessment of the possibility of overcoming an obstacle. The rigidity of the power structure that has arisen can cause the illusion of the availability of what is desired, with the most obvious evidence of the impossibility of satisfying it.

Affective experiences of the third level are not associated with the very satisfaction of the need, as it was at the second level, but with the achievement of the desired. They are distinguished by great strength and polarity. Here we have to talk not so much about positive and negative, but about sthenic and asthenic experiences. If at the second level the instability of the situation, uncertainty, danger, unsatisfied desire always cause anxiety, fear, then at the third level these same impressions mobilize the subject to overcome difficulties. At the same time, he can experience curiosity for an unexpected impression, excitement in overcoming danger, anger in striving to destroy an obstacle. Threatening and uncomfortable impressions, however, mobilize and invigorate the subject only under the condition of anticipation of victory, his confidence in the possibility of mastering the situation. The experience of helplessness, the impossibility of struggle, and despair cause the regression of affective relations with the environment, the development of asthenic affective states of anxiety and fear, characteristic of the second level. The chances of success are assessed with a high degree of individual differences due to the different levels of physical capabilities, mental activity of the subject, his various vulnerability in contacts with the environment.

Affective experience at the third level loses its specific sensory coloring, loses in diversity, but gains in strength and tension. It is more complex than the second-level sensory-rich experience. If at the second level both external influence and one’s own reaction to it are experienced together in a single affective impression, then here the experience of the tension of desire (I want - I don’t want) and the possibility of its implementation (I can - I can’t) can be differentiated to a greater extent. In the awareness of the conflict of desire and possibility, for the first time, the prerequisites for separating oneself from the situation as a subject of affective behavior arise.

Let us compare, for example, the experience of a person on a walk, absorbing a stream of sensory sensations: the freshness of the air and dew, colors, smells of the environment, the pleasant cheerfulness of his movement, etc. and his own experiences during competitions at a sports distance, when he is captured by one experience of excitement, the desire to win.

Affective memory of this level becomes the accumulator of new knowledge about oneself. If the second level developed knowledge about the somatic "I", its selectivity in sensory contacts with the world, then the third one creates an affective experience of successes and failures and develops the basis for the development of the level of claims of the subject, his affective self-perception "I can" and "I can not".

The detachment at this level of affective experience from the direct sensory basis gives it the possibility of life in the imagination, independent dynamics outside the sensory impression. Achieving an affective goal can be carried out in a symbolic way (fantasy, drawing, game). This becomes one of the prerequisites for the development of internal affective life - the creation of dynamic constellations of affective images, their mutual development, conflict.

The type of behavior characteristic of the third level is qualitatively different from the stereotypical behavioral reactions of the second. It is actively expanding into the environment. An unexpected impression here does not frighten, but arouses curiosity; an obstacle on the way to an affective goal, a threat to existence, does not cause fear, but anger and aggression. The subject actively goes where it is dangerous and incomprehensible. This type of behavior is especially typical for children and adolescents, when the tasks of affective exploration of the world are the most relevant and are solved visually, like the conquest of darkness, depth, height, cliff, open space, etc.

Let us now consider how the interaction of the first three levels is built in affective semantic adaptation to the environment. The task of the third level is to master the changing, dynamic environment. In this, he is in solidarity with the first one, which protects against unexpected super-strong influences, and is opposite to the second, whose task is to develop affective behavioral stereotypes that adapt to specific stable conditions. Building directly above the second level, the third builds on it, overcoming its limitations in adapting to the environment. Indeed, in order to organize an active, flexible adaptation to the external environment, the third level must block the tendency to respond stereotypically to its influence, and in this it can rely on the responsiveness of the first level to changes in the environment. Thus, the methods for solving adaptation problems of the third level are friendly to the first and reciprocal in relation to the second level.

In the interaction of these levels of affective organization, the third level, being the most energetically strong, plays a leading role. Its affective assessment is of dominant importance, so even negative affective assessments of the situation of the first and second levels can be suppressed or not taken into account to a certain extent if the third level itself does not imply the implementation of what is desired under the given conditions. Quite common, for example, is the situation when a person, in order to achieve an affectively important goal for him, willingly endures pain, cold, hunger, etc.

Let us turn to the consideration of the contribution of the third level to the implementation of the tonic function of the affective sphere.

The ability to overcome fear, to enter into a struggle arises at this level only if the subject is sufficiently confident in his success. These impressions acquire an independent tonic significance for him. This method of affective toning reflects a new step in the complication of the mechanisms of regulation of affective processes. If the second level simply stimulates positive sensations to enhance sthenic conditions, then the third level makes it possible to actively transform some of the unpleasant impressions into pleasant ones. After all, experiences of success, victory, of course, are associated with experiences of getting rid of danger, overcoming obstacles, and with the dynamics of transforming a negative impression into a positive one.

This affective stimulation, necessary for the subject, is carried out both in the course of direct resolution of semantic tasks and in special autostimulatory actions. An affective need for impressions of risk is formed. The desire to overcome danger, especially pronounced in children and adolescents, is reflected in the love of games with the chase, the battle, the real desire for adventure - testing oneself in dangerous situations. But even in adulthood, this attraction often pushes a person to actions that are inexplicable from the point of view of common sense.

In the process of mental development, a person appropriates cultural psychotechnical methods of affective stimulation of this level. They underlie many traditional cultures of games, both for children and adults, giving their participants a direct real feeling of excitement, determine the passion for circus and sports spectacles, action films. A person’s need for the development of verbal methods of affective stimulation of this level is reflected in the natural development of the heroic epos in all cultures, in the desire of children for “terrible” fairy tales, in the popularity of detective and adventure literature among adults. Affective visual and verbal images of this level are one of the main nutrient mediums. art.

Both simple and complex cultural techniques of autostimulation are based on a mechanism called "swing". With a general positive assessment of their adaptation capabilities, the subject begins to look for a sense of danger. Overlapping the dominant danger of this common a positive assessment, its discharge gives an additional powerful affective charge of experiencing success, victory. In its smoothest form, this mechanism operates, for example, when we, sitting in a comfortable armchair, listen with pleasure to the sound of rain and wind outside the window; and the worse the weather, the stronger our affective satisfaction. But we can swing these “swings” even more by taking up mountain climbing, skiing or speleology.

In ensuring the affective stability of a person, his active position in interaction with the environment, the third level acts together with the lower levels, and the mechanisms of the three levels do not come into such an obvious contradiction here as in solving problems of affective-semantic adaptation. They can consistently influence the affective sphere, for example, in a work of art: as its harmonic form, sensual content and intensely developing plot.

Level of emotional control
The fourth level of basal regulation provides a new step in deepening and enhancing interaction with the outside world. He is responsible for solving complex ethological problems of organizing the life of an individual in a community. This is especially clearly and directly observed in the organization of behavior associated with the nursing, upbringing and education of children.

The specific adaptive meaning of this level is the establishment of emotional interaction with other people - the development of ways to orientate in their experiences, the formation of rules, norms of interaction with them. In a broad sense, this level, building on the lower ones, ensures the control of the community over the individual affective life, bringing it into line with the requirements and needs of others. With the advent of emotional control over affective experience, one can speak of the emergence of a person's own emotional life.

At this level, a new complication of the affective field takes place. As discussed above, at the third level, a structure is formed from "+" and "-", but it is organized according to the law of force with the obligatory predominance of "+" and is characterized by rigidity, difficulty of transformation. The fourth level builds a more flexible field structure. This is achieved through the introduction of a new quality assessment. Now it is set not by the parameters of the physical "I", but by the emotional assessment of another person.

Being the ethologically most significant factor, the “other” begins to dominate in the affective field of the subject, and under the influence of this dominant, all other impressions are rebuilt and ordered. ; makes neutral impressions meaningful.

The ability to arbitrarily change the perception of the intensity of the sensory quality of the impact allows you to maximize and deepen the contact of the subject with the world, push the satiety as far as you like. It is known how, after satiety, human activity is restored by introducing new meanings, stimuli, praise, marks, etc. into it. The fourth level is able to create practically insatiable systems that allow a person to spend himself indefinitely. The subject begins to evaluate positively and negatively the phenomena of the environment, causing appropriate reactions of people , even if it diverges, to a certain extent, from his subjective assessment. It is known, for example, how sincerely we find charm in many sensations, unusual and even unpleasant for us, if they clearly cause pleasure in others.

The orientation of this level is aimed at highlighting the affective manifestations of another person as signals that are most significant for adaptation to the environment. It is carried out by the direct empathy of the experiences of another person that appears at this level. A person's face, facial expressions, gaze, voice, touch, gesture become vitally significant signals. The emotionally mediated nature of the orientation allows it to overcome limitations at this level and go beyond the situation of achieving an affective goal, to assess the possible emotional consequences of an act.

People's approval is positively evaluated here, their negative reactions are negatively evaluated. This is not at all as banal as it might seem at first glance. For example, at the third level of affective adaptation, when the subject relies only on his own strengths and experience in analyzing what is happening, he does not single out the affective reactions of other people as signals necessary for orientation. They matter to him only as a possible source of affective toning. Irritation of others, as well as other unpleasant impressions, can serve as a reason for launching the affective “swing” mechanism and become a source of pleasure for the child. In this case, he will tease the adult, strive to act in spite of him. Only the fourth level, which actually relies in adaptation on the affective experience of other people, consistently provides an adequate response to their assessment, and this is the basis for the emergence of a person's emotional control over his behavior - joy from praise and grief from rejection.

So, along with the complication of orientation in the environment at the fourth level, the improvement of affective orientation in oneself is already taking place. If the second level establishes affective control over internal somatic processes, the third one lays the affective basis for the level of claims, evaluates the possibility of actively influencing the environment, then the fourth one forms a sense of self, colored by the emotional assessments of other people, and thereby creates the preconditions for the development of self-esteem.

Affective experience at this level is associated with empathy for another person, is mediated by the experience of this other person, and is also already an actual emotional experience. At this level, the feelings of "pleasant - unpleasant", "I want - I don't want", "I can - I can't" begin to be dominated by empathy of approval or disapproval of other people. So, in the affective life of a person, along with emotional control, there is an emotional experience of “good” or “bad”, “I dare - I don’t dare”, “I must - I must not”, a feeling of shame, guilt, pleasure from praise. Here, as on the second level, the richness, the qualitative originality of experiences again increases, but if at the second level it is associated with a variety of sensory impressions, then here it is due to the variety of forms of human-to-human contacts.

Emotional memory here, just as at the second level, streamlines, stereotypes the perception of the environment. But if the second level fixes the affective habits of the subject, accumulating the fund of his individual sensory addictions, here the individual emotional experience fixes prohibitions and preferred forms of contact with the outside world, reflecting the experience of other people.

The fourth level creates an image of a reliable, stable environment, protected from surprises and vicissitudes.

Such protection is provided by emotional confidence in the strength of others, in their knowledge, in the existence of emotional rules of behavior that guarantee adaptation without sudden breakdowns. At this level, the subject receives a sense of security, comfort of the surrounding world.

Adaptive affective behavior at this level also rises to the next level of complexity. The behavioral act of the subject is already becoming an act - an action built taking into account the attitude of another person towards him.

At this level, the affective basis for the arbitrary organization of human behavior is laid. This allows you to include the subject in the interaction process. The requirements of interaction at a new level stabilize and stereotype the behavior of the subject. Here, behavior is organized according to a complex code of ethological rules of contact, enabling a stable life of the community. The assimilation of forms of communication and interaction is ensured by the desire to imitate actions that appears already at an early age. loved one. The appropriation of his strength, the ability to control the situation occurs through assimilation to him. In case of failure in adaptation, the subject at this level no longer reacts either with withdrawal, or with a motor storm, or with directed aggression - he turns to other people for help.

Let us trace how the fourth level enters into the general process of regulation of affective semantic adaptation. If the first and third levels are aimed at organizing behavior that adapts to an unexpectedly changing external world and do not rigidly fix the ways of responding to an individual, then the second and fourth are adapted to stable living conditions, fixing a set of stereotypical reactions adequate for them (second level); ethological rules of communication, interaction (fourth level), i.e. adaptation tasks of the second-fourth levels are opposite to the tasks of the first-third ones. Building on the affective organization of the third level, emotions of the fourth level limit the freedom to choose means to achieve an affective goal, and suppress the drives themselves, which are affectively unacceptable by other people. At the same time, emotions of the fourth level are reinforced by sensory affective stimulation of the second (rewards and punishments) and are based on its stereotyped reactions. At the same time, the fourth level can also "re-educate" the second, expanding the set of individual habits with collective affective experience. "Natural" preferences become socialized.

At the same time, the lower affective levels, of course, are not suppressed, they are not turned off “from the game” at all. They continue to live and signal about the vitally significant impressions of their series, desires, threat, which gives multidimensionality, conflict to the affective experiences of a person. In the case of the superstrength of the signals of the lower level with their especially important vital meaning, it can temporarily come to the fore, get out of control. However, in general, in the overwhelming majority of cases, a person's affective behavior is under the emotional control of the fourth level, which is proved by the very possibility of building one's life in a community of other people. Normally, the emotional evaluation of the fourth level dominates the affect of all three lower levels. And for the sake of approval, praise, affection of other people, we are ready, often even with joy, to endure sensory discomfort, fear, suffering, to refuse to fulfill our own desires.

Let us now consider what the fourth level contributes to the tonic regulation of a person's affective life, to the stabilization of the dynamics of his affective processes. This contribution seems to be extremely significant. The behavior of the subject is organized at the fourth level by the direct emotional reactions of other people and the emotional rules of behavior set by them. Following them provides the subject with a sense of self-confidence, security, and reliability of the surrounding world. The experience of an emotional connection with people, with their emotional laws, is a powerful means of maintaining his own active sthenic position.

The impact on the dynamics of affective processes is carried out here not by the transformation of unpleasant, frightening impressions into positive ones, as it was at the third level, but by the emotional ordering of impressions, their organization of the emotional evaluation of other people.

Stimulation at the fourth level occurs in the process of natural contact, the interaction of people. It is associated with infection with sthenic affective states. People infect each other with the joy of contact, interest in a common cause, confidence in success, a sense of security, the correctness of the behavior being carried out, the reliability of the means used. This is where a special human need for emotional contact arises, a keen pleasure in the joy of others and compassion for their deprivations. Thus, the pleasure from feeding another can be sharper than from one's own saturation. Here there is a need for encouragement, praise, emotional contact. It is these impressions that provide the subject with the necessary rise in activity, stabilize and streamline his internal affective processes.

In the process of mental development, the appropriation of cultural psychotechnical methods for stabilizing affective life takes place, using the means of the fourth level. They are already found in the most ancient ways of influencing the affective life of a person. Thus, it is known that, according to ancient customs, in order to strengthen faith in the success of an upcoming enterprise (agricultural work, hunting, war, etc.), it was preceded by playing a ritual of actions that ensured this success. At the heart of the most ancient forms of folklore, the inevitability of the triumph of good over evil, good over bad, the possibility of empathy with joy and compassion, pity, which guarantee the victory of the small and good over the big and evil, are affirmed affectively. From here, these tendencies spread to classical and contemporary art, initially determining its humanistic orientation. On the other hand, the psychotechnical methods of this level of stabilizing affective life, maintaining the active position of the subject are also seen in the basis of building religious forms of contact with the world. In its most ancient forms, belief in the existence of a higher, animated master stimulates confidence in the stability of relations with the outside world, which can be maintained by observing the affective rules of contact with it. In essence, the same psychotechnical functions are performed by belief in the omnipotence of man, civilization, technical progress, etc.

Considering the joint work of all basal effective levels in solving the problems of regulating the dynamics of affective life, it can again be noted that there is no such strict hierarchization of level relationships, the reciprocity of their mechanisms, as in the implementation of the affective-semantic function. The fourth level, seeking to establish its own censorship, suppressing manifestations of the third in real semantic interactions with the environment and people, here does not enter into such obvious opposing relations with it. In particular, the main psychotechnical method of energization of the third level. The experience of risk, danger is easily consistent with the energizing mechanism of emotional experience of the fourth level. Together they give, for example, an affectively saturated image of a heroic deed, a feat that brings happiness, salvation to a person, people, humanity, characteristic of all human cultures.

In energization, stabilization of a person's affective life, all the basal levels are in solidarity and their mechanisms work in concert in one direction. In particular, for example, both a religious ceremony and secular holidays, which, as is known, are aimed at achieving an affective upsurge by a person, as a rule, are held in a harmoniously organized space (affective impact of the first level with the impact of vivid sensory sensations, smell, lighting, music, rhythmic movements with special attention to the rhythmic organization of all influences (second level); with a sharp experience of moments of danger, aggressiveness, religious epic or historical event(third level); with a focus on emotional empathy (fourth level).

Impressions of any of the levels can affectively dominate. The contribution of psychotechnical mechanisms of each level may be different at any given moment. Psychotechnical methods of affective energization of each level develop in parallel, interchangeably, mutually reinforcing each other. The cultural development of psychotechnical mechanisms of all levels, thanks to this type of their interaction, can be unlimited.

Thus, already at the lower, basal levels, the affective sphere develops as a complex self-regulating system that provides flexible adaptation to the environment. Depending on the level of affectivity, regulation solves various adaptive tasks that are equally vitally important for the subject, but vary in degree of complexity. In resolving their tasks, the levels are grouped according to their focus on adapting the subject to stable and unstable ones.

The environment has both positive and negative effects on the individual. The emotional system, as well as the cognitive one, tends to establish stable and regular connections with "plus" and "minus".

Stable connections cannot, however, exhaust all the collisions of the subject with the environment. This is especially true for interaction with “minus” influences. With regard to the latter, at the lower levels of affective regulation of behavior, the tactics of "avoidance" are used. However, such tactics limit the depth and activity of the interaction of the individual with the environment. Therefore, the progressive direction of development is the development of such an interaction of the subject with the “minus”, which allows him to overcome negative influences. This is due to the development of a mechanism for converting "minus" into "plus". Only as a result of this does it become possible to deepen the contact of the subject with the environment, to expand into new spheres.

The emergence of two systems of affective adaptation of the subject to stable and unstable environmental conditions is due to evolution, and their development is carried out differently in time and space.

Naturally developing into a single system of regulation, the basal levels in each individual case place different accents of their contribution to emotional adaptation, creating a typical, for each person his own, manner of emotional relationships with the outside world. This characteristically evolving constellation of basal levels seems to largely determine what we call the Emotional Personality of a person. So, for example, a tendency to strengthen the first level of affective regulation can manifest itself in pronounced abilities to perceive an integral structure, harmonious proportions. People with an accentuated second level are deeply sensually connected with the outside world, have a strong affective memory, and are stable in their habits. A powerful third level makes people easy-going, courageous, uninhibited, easily taking responsibility in resolving a tense situation. People with a particularly strong fourth level are over-focused on human relationships. Compassionate, sociable, at the same time they are especially directed to the observance of established rules and may experience discomfort in those unstable, tense situations that are more often enjoyable for people with a highly developed third level.

The individuality of the basal affective structure of a person is especially manifested in the predominant development of various mechanisms of self-regulation of affective processes. Here, outside the rigid hierarchical organization of levels, individual preferences for psychotechnical methods of certain levels are most freely formed: love for contemplation, lonely walks, a developing instinct for a perfect landscape, proportions artwork; or love for rhythmic movement, bright sensual contact with the environment, or an indomitable passion for the game, excitement, risk; or the need for emotional communication, empathy.

Of course, the nature of the relations of the basal levels is also influenced by age features person. These relationships also require special study. But in general terms, we can say that here, within the already established general hierarchy of levels and their individually developed manner of interaction, the accents can shift from the levels of “stabilizing” - in childhood to “dynamic” - in adolescence and youth, and again to “stabilizing "- in mature. Probably, the affective peace of the baby and the wise old man can also be associated with the predominant importance of the first level of affective organization; children's sensory joy of life - with an increase in the second level, adolescent and youthful activity, instability - with an increase in the third, worldly "maturity" - the fourth.

It seems that the study of the laws of the basal emotional organization can be of great importance for the development of a person's individuality, the development of a method for correcting his affective maladjustment.

The influence of the levels of the basal system of emotional regulation on various subsystems of the personality structure

When considering the personal characteristics of emotional response, it is advisable to adhere to a level approach to the structure of the personality, including the personal-semantic subsystem of the personality structure, individual psychological and psychophysiological.

Let us consider the dependence of the emergence of an emotional state on the characteristics of the functioning of a certain subsystem in the personality structure.

Psychophysiological subsystem determines the features of the internal, neurophysiological organization. AT experimental studies differences in the emotional thresholds of people have been established, which affects the frequency of a certain experience and expression of a particular emotion, and, in turn, affects the socialization of a person, leads to the formation of special personality traits. Psychophysiological processes ensure the work of the mental apparatus, causing inertia or mobility, balance or imbalance, strength or weakness of the nervous system, create assumptions for predicting the child's experience and behavior under stress and tension. So over sensitive people suffer from overstimulation, energetic - from immobility, slow to adapt - from the unexpected.

Thus, the physiological characteristics of a person can play the role of factors affecting the severity and frequency of negative emotions.

Individually - psychological subsystem reflects a person's activity, behavior stereotypes, thinking style, motivational orientation, character traits. The duration and intensity of certain mental states of a person is largely determined by his individual characteristics. Attracting attention to the individual characteristics of a person is due to the fact that, according to V.N. Myasishchev, "vulnerable parties are sources of psychogeny, and strong ones are sources of health preservation and compensation."

A special role in the emergence of a particular emotional state is played by personal-semantic subsystem, which determines the hierarchy of values, the system of relations to oneself and to others. The pathogenic influence is not exerted by an external influence in itself, whether it be acute or chronic, but by its significance for a person. It is the personal-semantic subsystem that most often determines the relativity of negative emotions.

Thus, based on the analysis of the personality structure, we can say that the factors of emotional discomfort may be biological, individual and semantic structures of the personality with the undoubted priority of the latter.

The realization of human needs when interacting with the outside world can occur at different levels of activity and depth of emotional contact with the environment. There are four main levels that make up a single, complexly coordinated structure of the basic affective organization. At these levels, qualitatively different tasks of organizing behavior are resolved, and they cannot replace each other. Weakening or damage to one of the levels leads to general affective symptoms.

Let us trace the influence of the levels of the basal system of emotional regulation on various subsystems of the personality structure in the process of the emergence of emotional discomfort and its overcoming. The following is a diagram that reflects the participation of the basal system of emotional regulation in overcoming emotional discomfort on various substructures of the personality - psychophysiological, individual and semantic.

Table. Participation of the basal system of emotional regulation in the functioning of various subsystems of the personality structure - psychophysiological, individual-psychological and personal-semantic.

Subsystems/ personality structures	Psycho-physiological	Individual psychological	Personal and semantic
Field reactivity level - the choice of the greatest comfort and safety	The action of the mechanism of "affective satiety" and etc.	Formation of individual psychotechnical techniques	Stimulation of impressions associated with the experience of comfort
The level of stereotypes, establishing stable relations with the world	affective sensory selectivity	Development of individual habitual actions	Turning neutral experiences into meaningful ones
Expansion level - adaptation to an unstable situation	Innately Oriented Response	Development of the foundation level of claims	Value-Based Desire for Difficulties
Emotional control level - emotional interaction with other people.	Change in perception impact intensity	Formation of the originality of emotional experiences	The value of the emotional evaluation of another person

The first level of the basal system of emotional regulation is the level of field reactivity- passive adaptation to the environment - provides a constant process of choosing the position of the greatest comfort and safety. Affective experience at this level is associated with a general feeling of comfort or discomfort in the psychic field (“I don’t like something here”, “It feels amazingly easy here”). The level of field reactivity can regulate emotional state on the psycho-physiological, individual-psychological and personal-semantic substructures of the personality.

An example of the participation of this level in the regulation of the emotional state on the psychophysiological dimension can be a behavior called "displaced activity" and associated with the phenomenon of "satiation" and the phenomenon of "unmotivated" actions. For example, before a test, a child searches for something in a briefcase for a long time, then lays things out on a desk, drops them, lays them out again, without realizing his actions.

In this regard, it is important to emphasize that all vegetative reactions during the manifestation of emotions are “designed” for biological, and not for social expediency.

Under the influence of the level of field reactivity of the basal system of emotional regulation in individual psychological subsystem the structure of the personality, certain individual reactions are developed in response to the intensity of the influence of the external environment (a certain distance of communication, the duration of a direct look, etc.).

AT personal-meaning dimension structure of the personality, there is an enjoyment of meaningful impressions from interactions with environment associated with the experience of comfort, there are techniques of aesthetic organization of the environment. A person is already consciously taking certain actions to calm down, to get a positive emotional charge.

The second level of emotional regulation is the level of stereotypes- solves the problem of regulating the process of satisfying somatic needs.

Emotional experiences at the level of stereotypes in are brightly colored by pleasure and displeasure, and emotional regulation is associated with the choice of the most pleasant sensations of various modalities.

Under this level in the individual psychological subsystem pleasant impressions are experienced in connection with the satisfaction of a need, the preservation of the constancy of the conditions of existence, the usual temporal rhythm of influences. Situations associated with interference in the satisfaction of desire, a violation of the habitual mode of action, a change in living conditions cause discomfort. As an example, we can name the stereotype of an excellent student, the difficult addiction to the school of "home" children. Both the student and the teacher need a certain stability of the world around them in order to feel comfortable. Researchers pay attention to the significance for the student of his place in the class, which forms a component of his personal space. If a student sits on a subjectively bad desk, which he perceives as "alien", then his attention is often disturbed, he becomes passive, non-initiative.

Thus, in individual psychological subsystem in the structure of the personality, habitual actions, individual tastes are developed, helping to develop an optimal manner for interacting with the outside world, to relieve emotional stress.

In the personal-semantic subsystem The structure of the personality at the level of stereotypes can regulate the emotional state by enhancing and fixing pleasure, turning neutral stimuli into personally significant ones, and this maintains activity and muffles unpleasant sensations.

The third level of affective organization of behavior is the level of expansion- provides active adaptation to an unstable situation, when an affective stereotype of behavior becomes untenable. At this level, uncertainty, instability mobilizes the subject to overcome difficulties. The manifestation by a person of outwardly unjustified actions towards danger and the enjoyment of the feeling of overcoming danger - these facts have been noticed and repeatedly described in fiction and psychological literature. Analyzing the desire of a person to face danger, V.A. Petrovsky identifies three types of motives: an innate orienting reaction, a thirst for thrills, and a value-conditioned desire for danger, which can be correlated with the manifestation of emotional self-regulation in the psychophysiological, individual psychological, and personal-semantic subsystems of the personality structure.

So in psychophysiological subsystem structure of the personality, the regulation of the emotional state at the level of expansion can occur precisely due to the action of an innate orienting reaction, when a person strives for a potentially dangerous object or situation in order to relieve anxiety, anxiety.

In the individual psychological subsystem personality structure, each person develops his own level of need for thrills - "thirst thrills", which he can use to regulate his emotional state. In the absence of emotionally charged events in the child, "thrill-seeking" may contribute to dangerous or antisocial behaviors. At the same time, too much passivity and "obedience" of the child can often act as a signal of a violation of normal affective development.

The value-conditioned desire for danger can be attributed to the manifestation of self-regulation at the level of expansion. in the personal-semantic subsystem. A person consciously strives for situations that are dangerous for him, because such behavior is connected with his goals, life guidelines, and only by realizing it, a person achieves emotional well-being. According to F. Dolto, “one must learn to live with anxiety, but in such a way that it is tolerable; it can even inspire creativity.”

At the level of expansion, human behavior is influenced by emotional memory. Mobilization takes place only under the condition of anticipation of victory, confidence in one's success.

The fourth level of the basal system of emotional regulation - the level of emotional control provides for the establishment of emotional interaction with other people: the development of ways of orientation in their experiences, the formation of rules, norms of interaction with them.

A sense of security and stability is achieved through emotional confidence in the strength of others, in their knowledge, in the existence of emotional rules of behavior. The activity of this level is manifested in the fact that in case of failure, the child no longer reacts either with leaving, or with a motor storm, or with directed aggression - he turns to other people for help. Of great importance for self-regulation at this level is infection with sthenic emotional states of other people: joy from communication, interest in a common cause, confidence in success, a sense of security.

The regulation of the emotional state in psychophysiological subsystem structure of the personality with the participation of this level of the basal system of emotional regulation may be associated with a change in the perception of the intensity of the impact of others. This protective mechanism in this case acts as a psycho-hygienic factor that prevents the occurrence of emotional disorders.

Regulation in individual psychological subsystem in personality structure in this case is associated with the formation of the originality of emotional experiences due to contacts with people.

AT personal-semantic subsystem regulation is due to the restoration of emotional balance with the help of new meanings, incentives, praises, marks, etc. As an example of emotional regulation of this type, one can cite the statement of L.S. Vygotsky about the possibility of influencing "affect from above, changing the meaning of the situation". “Even if the situation loses its attractiveness for the child, he can continue his activity (drawing, writing, etc.) if an adult brings a new meaning to the situation, for example, show another student how it is done. For the child, the situation has changed, as his role in this situation has changed.

Using the results of the analysis, which show the relationship between the functioning of the levels of the basal system of emotional regulation and various subsystems of the personality structure, it is possible to develop diagnostic and corrective programs related to the processes of occurrence, course and overcoming of negative emotional states of a person.

Various ways of overcoming negative emotions are observed depending on the activity of the levels of the basal system of human emotional regulation - from contemplation and dissolution in the environment to the search for support. Psychotechnical methods of affective energization of each level develop in parallel, interchangeably, mutually reinforcing each other. At the same time, the basal levels create a typical, for each person his own, manner of emotional relationships with the outside world. For example, with a tendency to strengthen the first level of affective regulation, the ability to perceive an integral structure, the harmony of the environment may manifest itself. People with an accentuated second level are deeply sensually connected with the outside world, stable in their habits. A powerful third level makes people relaxed, courageous, taking responsibility for difficult situations. People with a particularly strong fourth level are over-focused on human relationships.

The need for optimal social adaptation in society leads a person to develop individual ways of self-regulation of his emotional state, which depend not only on the personality characteristics of a person, but also on his age.

The study revealed the following most frequent and effective strategies for coping with negative emotions of students aged 7-11: “sleep”, “draw, write, read”, “I’m sorry, I tell the truth”, “I hug, stroke”, “walk, run, I ride my bike”, “try to relax, stay calm”, “watch TV, listen to music”, “stay on my own”, “dream, imagine”, “pray”. The following ways of overcoming unpleasant situations by schoolchildren are noted: to ask for forgiveness, to forget, to quarrel, to fight, to leave, not to talk, to ask for help from an adult, to explain their actions, to cry.

When studying self-regulation of negative mental states by schoolchildren, four main methods were identified:

1. communication as an empirically found method of group self-regulation;
2. strong-willed regulation - self-orders;
3. regulation attention functions– shutdown, switching;
4. motor(muscular) release.

These empirically identified methods of emotional self-regulation can be correlated with the work of the basal levels of emotional regulation in the process of normalizing a person's emotional state (Table).

Table. Comparison of the ways children self-regulate negative emotional states with the activity of different levels of the basal system of emotional regulation.

Levels of the basal system of emotional regulation	Ways to overcome emotional discomfort
1. The level of field reactivity - passive forms of mental adaptation	Self-hypnosis, passive discharge; “I stay on my own”, “I try to relax, stay calm”, etc.
2. The second level is the development of affective stereotypes of sensory contact with the world	Physical activity; “I hug, stroke”, “walk, run, ride a bike”, “watch TV, listen to music”
3. Level of expansion - active adaptation to an unstable situation	Volitional actions; creation of affective images: “I draw”, “I dream, I imagine”; “fight”, “intervene in the actions of those who cause unpleasant experiences”
4. The level of emotional control - emotional interaction with other people	Communication; “I'm sorry or I'm telling the truth”, “I'm talking to someone”, “I'm asking for help from an adult”

Conscious volitional emotional self-regulation

In domestic psychology, the concepts of "will" and "volitional regulation" (self-regulation) are often used as synonyms, since the vast majority of scientists recognize the regulatory function as the main function of the will. The concept of will and volitional regulation basically coincide, volitional regulation (self-regulation) is a type of mental regulation of activity and behavior, when a person needs to consciously overcome the difficulties of setting a goal, planning and executing actions.

Volitional self-regulation can be considered as a certain kind of arbitrary control of a person by his behavior and activities. The concept of "will" corresponds to arbitrary control, therefore, volitional self-regulation and will are in a relationship as part and whole.

Emotions and will are indispensable components of control (and regulation as a special case of control) by a person with his behavior, communication and activity. Traditionally, emotional-volitional regulation is the object of consideration general psychology. When people talk about the “emotional-volitional sphere”, “emotional-volitional qualities”, this emphasizes only the connection between will and emotions, but not their relationship, and even less identity. These two spheres of the psyche often manifest themselves in everyday life as antagonists, in particular, when the will suppresses a surge of emotions, and sometimes, on the contrary, it becomes obvious that a strong emotion (for example, affect) has suppressed the will.

It is impossible to explain volitional processes only by feelings. Feelings are one of the stimuli of the will, but it is completely wrong to reduce a person's volitional activity only to experienced feelings. However, the intellect alone, without the involvement of the senses, does not always affect the will.

In the process of regulating behavior and activity, emotions and will can act in various proportions. In some cases, emerging emotions have a disorganizing and demobilizing effect on behavior and activity, and then the will (or rather willpower) acts as a regulator, compensating for the negative consequences of the emotion that has arisen. This is clearly manifested in the development of so-called unfavorable psychophysiological conditions in a person. The feeling of fatigue arising from fatigue and the desire to reduce the intensity of work or stop it altogether is compensated by the volitional quality of patience. The same volitional quality is also manifested in other states, for example, in monotony, if the situation requires continued work. States of anxiety and doubt, what is called "confusion of the soul", are overcome with the help of the volitional quality of determination, the state of fear - with the help of the volitional quality of courage, the state of frustration - with the help of perseverance and perseverance, the state of emotional excitement (anger, joy) - with the help of excerpts.

In other cases, emotions, on the contrary, stimulate activity (enthusiasm, joy, in some cases - anger), and then the manifestation of volitional effort is not required. In this case, high efficiency is achieved due to hypercompensatory mobilization of energy resources. However, such regulation is uneconomical, wasteful, and always contains the danger of overwork. But volitional regulation also has its "Achilles' heel" - excessive volitional tension can lead to a breakdown in higher nervous activity. Therefore, a person must optimally combine a strong will with a certain level of emotionality.

Often the absence of emotional manifestations is attributed to the strong will of a person. So, for example, equanimity is taken for endurance, self-control, courage. In reality, obviously, equanimity may reflect low emotional reactivity or be the result of a person's adaptation to a given situation.

Emotional-volitional self-regulation (EVS) is a system of methods of consistent self-influence in order to increase emotional-volitional stability in tense and dangerous situations. EVS develops and improves a number of important psychological qualities: self-control, self-confidence, attention, imaginative thinking, memorization skills. At the same time, EVS prevents mental and physical fatigue, strengthens the nervous system and increases the resistance of the psyche to negative influences, and increases efficiency.

The essence of EVS is to develop in a person the ability to independently influence their regulatory psychological and nervous mechanisms by certain exercises and techniques.

Great importance is currently attached to the development of methods for voluntary regulation of emotional states, since they are not suppressed by simple desire, but require the removal of a special regulation technique for them. Moreover, these techniques can be used both to eliminate conditions that hinder the success of an activity, and to excite states that contribute to success.

The technique in which these two directions are used is called psychoregulatory training (PRT). OA Chernikova (1962) showed that the arbitrary control of emotions differs from the control of cognitive processes (thinking, memorization, etc.). However, it should be noted that these techniques are not associated with the use of volitional efforts and overcoming the consequences of adverse conditions, but are based on the invocation of certain ideas, images. Therefore, they cannot be considered methods of volitional regulation. At the same time, the development of the aforementioned direction contributes to a clearer understanding of the will (arbitrariness) as control, mastery of oneself.

Psychoregulatory training is a variant of autogenic training adapted to the conditions of sports. It is addressed to people who are well versed in muscle relaxation, practically healthy, who pay great attention to the development of coordination of movements. In this regard, ORT does not use formulas that cause a feeling of heaviness in the limbs. Sometimes, on the contrary, formulas for overcoming this feeling (if it does arise) are included. The main task of the PRT is to manage the level of mental stress.

Conscious semantic emotional self-regulation

Conscious semantic emotional self-regulation is commonly called emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence (EI, EI, EQ) is a group of mental abilities that are involved in awareness and understanding of one's own emotions and the emotions of others. Emotional intelligence is the skill of understanding your feelings and emotions. People with high level emotional intelligence well understand their emotions and feelings of other people, they can control their emotional sphere, and therefore in society their behavior is more adaptive and they more easily achieve their goals in interaction with others.

Unlike IQ, the level of which is largely determined by genes, the level of emotional intelligence (EQ) develops throughout a person's life. The development of emotional intelligence is a difficult job that people have met, but it is this work that gives great results, it is it that increases personal effectiveness.

The first publications on the problem of EI belong to J. Meyer and P. Salovey. D. Goleman's book, very popular in the West, was published only in 1995. The main stages of the formation of EI:

• 1937 - Robert Thorndike wrote about social intelligence
• 1940 - David Wechsler wrote about intellectual and non-intellectual components (affective, personal and social factors)
• 1983 - Horvard Gardner wrote about multiple intelligences (intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligences)
• 1990 - John Mayer and Peter Salovey coined the term EI, started a research program to measure EI.
• 1995 - Daniel Goleman publishes Emotional Intelligence

The very idea of ​​emotional intelligence, in the form in which this term exists now, grew out of the concept of social intelligence. In the development of cognitive science in a certain period of time, too much attention was paid to informational, “computer-like” models of intelligence, and the affective component of thinking, at least in Western psychology, receded into the background.

The concept of social intelligence was just the link that links together the affective and cognitive aspects of the process of cognition. In the field of social intelligence, an approach was developed that understood human cognition not as a "computer", but as a cognitive-emotional process.

Another prerequisite for increased attention to emotional intelligence was humanistic psychology. After Abraham Maslow introduced the concept of self-actualization in the 1950s, a “humanistic boom” occurred in Western psychology, which gave rise to serious integral studies of personality, combining the cognitive and affective aspects of human nature.

One of the researchers of the humanistic wave, Peter Salovey, published an article in 1990 called "Emotional Intelligence", which, according to most in the professional community, was the first publication on this topic. He wrote that over the past few decades, ideas about both intelligence and emotions have changed radically. The mind has ceased to be perceived as some kind of ideal substance, emotions as the main enemy of the intellect, and both phenomena have acquired real significance in everyday human life.

Salovey and his co-author John Mayer define emotional intelligence as "the ability to perceive and understand manifestations of personality expressed in emotions, to manage emotions based on intellectual processes." In other words, emotional intelligence, in their opinion, includes 4 parts: 1) the ability to perceive or feel emotions (both one's own and another person); 2) the ability to direct their emotions to help the mind; 3) the ability to understand what this or that emotion expresses; 4) the ability to manage emotions.

As Salovey's colleague David Caruso later wrote, "It is very important to understand that emotional intelligence is not the opposite of intelligence, not a triumph of reason over feelings, but a unique intersection of both processes."

Reven Bar-On offers a similar model. Emotional intelligence in the interpretation of Bar-On is all non-cognitive abilities, knowledge and competence that enable a person to successfully cope with various life situations.

The development of emotional intelligence models can be thought of as a continuum between affect and intelligence. Historically, the first was the work of Saloway and Mayer, and it included only the cognitive abilities associated with the processing of information about emotions. Then a shift was determined in the interpretation of the strengthening of the role of personal characteristics. The extreme expression of this trend was the model of Bar-On, who generally refused to attribute cognitive abilities to emotional intelligence. True, in this case, “emotional intelligence” turns into a beautiful artistic metaphor, since, after all, the word “intelligence” directs the interpretation of the phenomenon into the mainstream of cognitive processes. If “emotional intelligence” is interpreted as an exclusively personal characteristic, then the very use of the term “intelligence” becomes unreasonable.

In the early nineties, Daniel Goleman became familiar with the work of Salovey and Mayer, which ultimately led to the creation of the book Emotional Intelligence. Goleman wrote scientific articles for " NY Times", its section was devoted to research on behavior and the brain. He trained as a psychologist at Harvard, where he worked with, among others, David McClelland. McClelland in 1973 was one of a group of researchers who were investigating the following problem: why the classic tests of cognitive intelligence IQ tell us little about how to become successful in life. IQ is not very good at predicting the quality of work. Hunter and Hunter in 1984 suggested that there is a discrepancy of the order of 25% between different IQ tests.

Initially, Daniel Goleman identified five components of emotional intelligence, which were later reduced to four: self-awareness, self-control, social sensitivity and relationship management, in addition, from 25 skills associated with emotional intelligence, he moved to 18 in his concept.

self-awareness

• emotional self-awareness
• accurate self-assessment
• self-confidence

self-control

• curbing emotions
• openness
• adaptability
• The will to win
• initiative
• optimism

social sensitivity

• empathy
• business awareness
• courtesy

relationship management

• inspiration
• influence
• help in self-improvement
• promoting change
• conflict resolution
• teamwork and collaboration

Goleman does not consider emotional intelligence skills to be innate, which in practice means that they can be developed.

A Hay/McBer study identified six leadership styles based on a particular level of emotional intelligence development. The best results are achieved by those leaders who master several management styles at the same time.

Emotional intelligence in the concept of Manfred Ca de Vries. It makes sense in a few words to talk about who Manfred Ca de Vries is. He combines in his approach the knowledge accumulated by at least three disciplines - economics, management and psychoanalysis, being a specialist in each of these areas. This is significant, since emotional thinking, and emotion in general, play a significant role, both in management practice and in psychoanalytic practice.

One of the most difficult tasks, which has not yet found its truly adequate solution, is that where it comes to the junction of various scientific fields, a space arises that is not covered by any of these areas, or is covered, but partially, without taking into account the role of the other.

Usually, one of the ways to solve such a problem is seen as an expert commission, consisting of specialists from all related specialties for a given area, but this does not always help, since it is rather difficult for specialists from different areas to find a common language. In this case, one person owns several specialties, which makes it possible to formulate ideas in the most adequate and accessible way for people who belong to different scientific communities.

“A unique mixture of motivations defines the character of each of us and forms a change in our mental life - a close relationship of cognition, affect and behavior. None of the components of this triangle can be considered separately from the rest. It is the holistic form that matters.”

Cognition and affect determine behavior and action.

Emotional potential - understanding the motivations - one's own and other people. According to Ca de Vries, it is the most important factor in the study of leadership. The acquisition of emotional sensitivity is an experiential process.

Manfred Ca de Vries uses the clinical paradigm in his work, describing it as follows:

1. What you see does not necessarily correspond to reality.
2. Any human behavior, no matter how irrational it may seem, has a logical justification.
3. We are all the result of our past.

“Character is a form of memory. This is the crystallization of the inner theater of man, the outlines of the main points of personality.

• verbal-linguistic intelligence: good verbal memory, likes to read, rich vocabulary,
• logical and mathematical intelligence: likes working with numbers, solving logic problems and puzzles, chess, more developed abstract thinking has a good understanding of cause and effect relationships,
• visual-spatial intelligence: imaginative thinking, loves art, gets more information when reading from illustrations, not from words,
• motor-motor intelligence: high sports results, copies gestures and facial expressions well, likes to disassemble and collect objects,
• musical-rhythmic intelligence: good voice, memorizes melodies easily,
• - interpersonal intelligence: likes to communicate, leader, likes to play with other children, others prefer his company, able to cooperate in a team,
• intrapersonal intelligence: independence, willpower, realistic self-esteem, verbalizes own feelings well, self-awareness is developed,
• naturalistic intelligence: interest in nature, flora and fauna.

Ca de Vries mentions that Gardner's classification of emotional intelligence corresponds to the combined interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences.

In contrast to Daniel Goleman, Manfred Ca de Vries distinguishes not four, but three components of emotional intelligence: “The three most important support skills that form emotional potential are the ability to actively listen, understand non-verbal communication and adapt to a wide range of emotions.”

Referring to his experience, Manfred Ca de Vries gives the following main characteristics of people with high emotional potential. Such people build more sustainable interpersonal relationships, are better able to motivate themselves and others, are more active, innovators and creators, are more effective in leadership, work better under stress, better cope with change, are more in harmony with themselves.

So, if we summarize all of the above, it turns out that people with a high level of emotional intelligence are well aware of their emotions and the feelings of other people, they can control their emotional sphere, and therefore in society their behavior is more adaptive and they more easily achieve their goals in interaction with others.

The following hierarchically organized abilities that make up emotional intelligence are distinguished:

• perception and expression of emotions
• increasing the efficiency of thinking with the help of emotions
• understanding one's own and others' emotions
• emotion management

This hierarchy is based on the following principles: The ability to recognize and express emotions is the basis for generating emotions for solving specific problems that are procedural in nature. These two classes of ability (recognize and express emotions and use them in problem solving) are the basis for the externally manifested ability to understand events that precede and follow emotions. All the above abilities are necessary for the internal regulation of one's own emotional states and for successful influences on the external environment, leading to the regulation of not only one's own, but also other people's emotions.

Five main components of EI:

• self-awareness
• self-control
• empathy
• relationship skills
• motivation

The structure of emotional intelligence can be represented as follows:

• Conscious regulation of emotions
• Understanding (understanding) emotions
• Discrimination (recognition) and expression of emotions
• Using emotions in mental activity

There are two different opinions about the possibility of developing emotional intelligence in psychology. A number of scientists adhere to the position that it is impossible to increase the level of emotional intelligence, since this is a relatively stable ability. However, it is quite possible to increase emotional competence through training. Their opponents believe that emotional intelligence can be developed. An argument in favor of this position is the fact that the neural pathways of the brain continue to develop up to the middle of human life.

EQ and negative emotions. One of the wonderful results of developing emotional intelligence is the reduction of negative emotions. Any negative emotion is a mistake in the picture of the human world. Worldview (an NLP term) refers to a person's many beliefs about what our world is like. As soon as any two beliefs begin to contradict each other, this causes a negative emotion. Let's take an example. A person has a deep conviction “deceiving is bad”, and at the same time another conviction “now I have to deceive”. By themselves, these beliefs do not carry any negative, but if they start spinning in the head at the same time ... then a sea of ​​​​negative emotions appears: fear of making a decision and making a mistake, guilt for any of the two decisions, depression, anger at oneself, anger at people, who are involved in the situation, etc.

A developed emotional intelligence allows you to see their cause behind the sea of ​​negative emotions (a conflict of several beliefs), the cause of this cause, etc., after which you can soberly assess the situation and respond to it reasonably, and not under the influence of “internal springs”. In other words, emotional intelligence allows you to quickly deal with the causes of negative emotions, instead of experiencing them for a long, long time.

EQ and leadership. Most books on emotional intelligence deal with leadership in one way or another. The idea is that leaders are emotionally intelligent people. And that's why. Firstly, the development of emotional intelligence allows you to get rid of many fears and doubts, to start acting and communicating with people to achieve your goals. Secondly, emotional intelligence allows you to understand the motives of other people, "read them like a book." And that means finding the right people and effectively interacting with them.

The power of leadership is used in different ways: either to manipulate people, or to do one big thing together. Regardless of their intentions, a leader can achieve results with the help of many people, which increases the likelihood of a leader's success compared to a loner. This is why it is not necessary for a leader to have a high IQ. His EQ allows him to surround himself with smart people and use their genius.

EQ and business. Developing emotional intelligence helps a lot when building your business. Moving towards any goal makes a person come face to face with many fears and doubts. A person with low emotional intelligence is likely to swerve under their pressure. A person with a developed emotional intelligence will come face to face with his fears and, perhaps, will understand: not everything is so scary, which means he will continue to slowly move forward. A person with high emotional intelligence simply will not have internal brakes, he will deal with fears on the fly and will happily move towards his goals. Thus, the skill of understanding one's emotions is directly related to the effectiveness of achieving one's goals.

EQ and materialization of thoughts. For the average person, thoughts run like cockroaches in their head, and behind every thought there is an army of “unprocessed” emotions. In this state, it is difficult to concentrate on one idea for a long time: opposite thoughts immediately begin to attack it (what if, and if, maybe, what they think). With the development of emotional intelligence, negative emotions weaken their influence, it becomes possible to think clearly and clearly, which means paying attention to the main things. Thus, with the development of emotional intelligence, a person's dreams become reality faster and faster.

EQ and personal effectiveness. Personal effectiveness is a direct consequence of the development of emotional intelligence. Personal effectiveness can be viewed from different points of view: time management, discipline, motivation, plans and goals. The development of emotional intelligence means the transition from zombies to conscious living, moving from reactive to proactive behavior, from aimlessly wandering in the dark to effective implementation of one's intentions. And it all boils down to one idea that is simple to hear, but incredibly difficult to practice: understanding your feelings and emotions.

Development of emotional intelligence
From the point of view of working with the subconscious, there are two groups of techniques for developing emotional intelligence. Conventionally, they can be called:

• reprogramming
• deprogramming.

“Reprogramming” includes, for example, Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and hypnosis. NLP as a science studies many different techniques that allow you to "program" the subconscious to work more harmoniously.

The second group of techniques can be conditionally called "deprogramming" - getting rid of unnecessary beliefs from the subconscious. Deprogramming allows you to realize hidden emotions and thus weaken the effect of beliefs ("cockroaches") on the will of a person.

Methods of "deprogramming" the subconscious:

Intuitive writing (a special case is keeping a diary). The essence of this technique is simple: sit down and write whatever comes to mind. After about 15 minutes, complete delirium begins to be replaced by a pure stream of consciousness. And the solutions to many problems that caused stress and negative emotions become simple and obvious. However, it was previously mentioned that “cockroaches” from the subconscious have powerful protection, so not all people are able to sit and write out all their thoughts for half an hour - it becomes boring, painful and uncomfortable. On the other hand, it is worth trying once to understand the disadvantages and advantages of this method.

Meditation is the passive observation of one's thoughts. There are many types of meditation. One of them is awareness of your inner monologue (and this is very difficult). Such meditation allows you to “catch by the tail” any negative emotions, understand their causes and understand their ridiculousness. Programmers will understand that meditation can be compared to debugging a program. True, unlike computer programs, the object of debugging is negative emotions, and its result is getting rid of unnecessary instructions that cause stress.

Be Set Free Fast (BSFF) is a popular technique developed by psychologist Larry Nimes. The idea of ​​the method is simple: if the subconscious mind readily executes the commands embedded in it, then it can also execute the command to get rid of unnecessary commands. The essence of the method is to write down and see the beliefs associated with the problem, and with the help of a special command for the subconscious, remove the emotional charge from them. BSFF can be used purposefully to increase emotional intelligence, or simply to get rid of any psychological discomfort.

The Sedona Method, letting go of emotions, was developed by Lester Levenson. In a bedridden state, he realized that all problems have their key on an emotional level. Of course, the author of this method soon recovered. The essence of the Sedona method is to identify the main emotion associated with the problem, feel it and release it with the help of a simple procedure.

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is an emotional release technique. The main postulate of EFT: "The cause of all negative emotions is a violation of the normal functioning of the body's energy system." EFT uses the impact on acupuncture points on the human body to relieve emotional stress and release negative emotions.

PEAT - method of Zhivorad Slavinsky. The technique uses the principles of EFT and BSFF, and its essence lies in the transition from the dual perception of the world (me - not me), which creates problems and stress, to a single perception (there is only the world, and I am just its manifestation). This allows you to achieve harmony with the world and with yourself.

There are three stages in the development of emotional intelligence.

The first is self-knowledge. The next step in developing emotional intelligence is the ability to manage your feelings and emotions. The third stage in the development of emotional intelligence can be a step towards mastering the following skills:

Listen actively. Listening is much more than just silently waiting for your turn to speak, nodding your head from time to time. Active listeners have only one thing to do—they are fully involved in what is being said.

Listen with your eyes. The second skill - the perception of gestures - in general, also refers to the ability to listen. But he still helps to convey his own thoughts.

Adapt to emotions. Every emotional state has a positive and a negative side. Take, for example, anger. Although it alienates others, interferes with critical self-esteem, and paralyzes the body, it also serves as a defense against self-love: it creates a sense of justice and encourages action.

Emotional intelligence allows you to quickly deal with the causes of negative emotions, instead of experiencing them for a long time.

The development of emotional intelligence allows you to get rid of many fears and doubts, to start acting and communicating with people to achieve your goals.