Postawy życiowe młodzieży licealnej i ich wybrane osobowościowe korelaty
Life Attitudes Among Secondary School Youth and Their Personal Correlates

Summary/Abstract: The paper presents the analysis of life attitudes/attachment styles among secondary school teenagers, in terms of selected personal factors that determine their development. The authors draw on the fundamental assumptions of E. Berne’s theory of transactional analysis as well as on the model of attachment styles, created by K. Bartholomew and L.M. Horowitz, describing the individual’s attitudes towards self and others, and emphasizing the fact that the attitudes are determined by such personal factors as the level of stress experienced by an individual, aggressiveness, emotional intelligence and hope of success. The research data indicate that secondary school teenagers tend to have positive views of self; however, they exhibit negative attitudes towards others. This points to a dismissive-avoidant model of attachment (I am OK, You are not OK), characterized by a drive for self-reliance and a tendency to avoid emotional intimacy in interpersonal relations. The study revealed that the most significant correlates of life attitudes (having taken into consideration the strength of the correlation) included such factors as hope of success, experiencing stress, emotional intelligence, and aggressiveness. A strong correlation was discovered between the aforementioned variables and attitudes towards self, which were found to be determined primarily by hope of success (willpower and the ability to find solutions); experiencing stress, predominantly in trapsychic stress and, to a lesser extent, external stress; and emotional intelligence (in particular, the ability to use emotions in the process of thinking and acting). No significant correlations were detected between attitudes towards self and aggressive behaviour and its dimensions (except a weak correlation with emotional sensitivity). It was revealed that attitudes towards other people were primarily predicted by such factors as aggressive behaviour and all its dimensions; external stress; and emotional intelligence (particularly the ability to recognize emotions). A weak, albeit significant, correlation was observed between attitudes towards others and hope of success (in particular, willpower).

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