PSYCHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CAREER DEVELOPMENT OF FUTURE PSYCHOLOGISTS

Abstract

The relevance of the study is determined by the growing societal demand for qualified psychological assistance, the differentiation of psychologists’ professional roles, and the need for the conscious construction of a career trajectory under martial law and in a changing professional environment. The aim of the article is to theoretically substantiate the psychological characteristics of future psychologists’ career development and to develop a structural and functional model of this process. The relationship between the professional and career development of future psychologists is clarified. Professional development encompasses changes in knowledge, skills, personal qualities, and modes of activity, whereas career development is characterized by setting career goals, determining ways of professional realization, and constructing an individual career trajectory. It is established that career development is determined by the interaction of professional motives, values and meanings, the assessment of professional capabilities, the activation of psychological resources, professional identity, and professional reflection. The structural organization of this process is identified as comprising the meaning-and-value, personal, professional-and-career, and social components. A structural and functional model is developed, the systemforming principle of which is the alignment of professional values and career goals with personal and professional capabilities, the professional role, ways of professional realization, and the requirements of the professional environment. The functional significance of the model’s components is characterized. The meaning-and-value component determines the content of career goals on the basis of professional motives, values, and meanings. The personal component encompasses the assessment of professional capabilities, the activation of psychological resources, and the realization of professional potential. The professional-and-career component encompasses professional choice, career goal setting, and the determination of ways of professional realization. The social component characterizes integration into the professional environment, the acceptance of a professional role and responsibility, and adaptation to changes in the conditions of professional activity. The regulatory function of professional reflection consists in comprehending professional experience, evaluating the results of professional activity, and adjusting career goals and the ways of achieving them. An individual career trajectory of a future psychologist is the result of the functional interrelationship among the model’s components.