Educational activity as a stress factor among students

Statement of the problem. Higher education for many students is stressful. There are many reasons for this: the discrepancy between the requirements of the university and the students’ capabilities (psychophysical, intellectual, volitional), the low adaptive potential of a student, the high level of the academic load, etc. This issue is considered due to the increase in the number of students with various psycho-emotional problems, which is confirmed by the statistics of appeals to universities psychological services. Awareness of the problem of the impact of educational stress on the inclusion of students in the educational process will allow university teachers to change the strategy for conducting classes, adopting reporting forms. This will help psychological departments of universities to carry out focused work aimed at creating conditions for the development of adaptive capabilities of students. The purpose of the study is to clarify the impact of learning activities on the occurrence of stress among students. The research methodology includes the provisions of the subject-activity approach, revealing educational stress as a result of the emotional tension of the subject determined by educational activity; analysis of Russian works (V.A. Bodrov, T.G. Bokhan, A.R. Luria, A.A. Baranov, O.A. Zhuchenko et al.) and in particular foreign ones (G. Selye et al.) considering educational stress in both methodological and applied aspects, as well as the use of survey methods for measuring educational stress, motivation of students and methods of quantitative and qualitative analysis to clarify the impact of educational activities on the occurrence of educational stress among students. Research results. Based on the study, the definition of educational stress is formulated, the components of educational activity that influence the development of educational stress are empirically determined. Based on the comparison of mean values and association coefficient φ, it is shown that in the current isolation situation, the level of exam stress is significantly increased. Conclusion. The need for considering this issue is due to the requirements of an effective organization of the educational process. It is hard to imagine our life as stress-free. It simultaneously creates a “taste for life”, has a stimulating effect on various aspects of life. It is important that the conditions are met: the level of optimal stressor exposure is not exceeded; the adaptive capabilities of a person are not exceeded. If the conditions are violated, a threat to somatic human health arises. For university students, educational stress is quite common. As part of the study, it was shown that more than 50 % of respondents are characterized by experiencing educational stress. It was shown that the most significant impact on the occurrence of educational stress is exerted by such components of educational activity as a large academic load, strict teachers, fear of the future, inability to properly organize one’s day regimen, quarantine and selfisolation, and an excessively serious attitude to study. Constant presence in a state of stress violates the psychological boundaries of the subject of activity, leads to nervous tension, a sense of uncertainty due to the aimlessness of existence, to a sense of psychological insecurity. From the perspective of the subject’s psychology, N.E. Kharlamenkova shows that Man’s attitude to the World (according to S.L. Rubinstein) is largely determined by how he/she perceives this world: peaceful or destructive [Kharlamenkova, 2019]. The main strategies for overcoming educational stress should be associated with awareness of its destructive effect, a personified attitude towards students, and timely delivery of systemic psychological assistance based on understanding of its structure.