Systemic factors determining volunteers’ personal identity

Introduction. The article studies personality characteristics of volunteers. The purpose of the research is to reveal the dominant factors determining personality characteristics of students engaged in volunteering. Materials and Methods. The research is based on the systemic and psychosemantic approaches to personality studies and involves the following steps: identifying specific personal characteristics of volunteers by means of verbal self-descriptions; using a range of standardized methods aimed at identifying generalized psychological characteristics peculiar to volunteers; and revealing the systemic factors determining personality of volunteers. The target group included 500 students of Altai State Pedagogical University aged between 19 and 21. Results. The study identifies personality characteristics of volunteers and four systemic factors determining personality of volunteers: “Emotional readiness for problem-solving”, “Integration of loyalty and care”, “Personality strength”, and “Orientation and decentration”. Such psychological features as empathy, moral and ethical qualities, decentralization in communication, as well as coping strategies, components of emotional intelligence and optimism are considered as components of the systemic factors of volunteer personality. Conclusions. In conclusion, the dominant systemic factors determining personality of students engaged in volunteering are summarized.