Regulation of internal activity as the factor of coping with difficult life situations

Introduction. One of the indices of a modern man’s success is effective coping with difficult life situations. The study considers the factors which influence the process of coping behaviour, and this facilitates the expansion of psychological visions of origins of psychological adaptation to external circumstances. The author raises the problem of revealing the factors which determine the strategies of coping behaviour. Маterials and Methods. Psychological literature was analyzed basing on the regulative approach as the most effective methodological foundation to reveal and describe the tendencies of regulating internal activity which is one of the factors of coping behaviour in a difficult situation. Theoretical basis of the research included the domestic approach to understanding stress (a difficult life situation) and coping with it, the structural functional conception of the conscious mental self-regulation, differential approach to studying protective and coping behaviour. Nomothetic and idiographic research methods were employed. Results and Discussion. The research of the problem enabled the author to reveal essential characteristics of regulating human internal activity. The formed system of regulating internal activity is considered as reflexive playing and experiencing the situations connected with the arisen difficult conditions and focuses on formation of meaning derived from the dominant personal values, which determines adequacy of human behaviour in certain life conditions. The degree of intensity of regulative subsystems and their interrelation influences the effectiveness of human behaviour in a difficult life situation. Conclusions. The idea that choosing the strategies of coping behaviour is primarily determined by the specifics of regulation of human internal activity can be used in the development of programmes focused on practical work with people in a difficult life situation.