Features of volitional self-regulation and motivation in students participating in beauty and talent competitions

Abstract

Talent contests in modern society occupy a certain niche, they cause a diverse attitude in various social strata and have overgrown with a huge number of stereotypes. These stereotypes do not always correspond to reality. We wondered if the girls contestants could have any personality traits, in contrast to girls who had never participated and would not like to participate in such events and began to study the characteristics from the motivational and volitional sphere. We assumed that female contestants should be motivated to achieve success, due to their confidence in their external data and good volitional qualities. We consider these personality traits to be the most important for participation in a competitive event, because successful overcoming of obstacles, perseverance in achieving goals, striving for victory depend on the level of their development. The results of the study showed that the studied group has high volitional self-regulation. However, we cannot talk about the motivation for achieving success, since the subjects are inclined to motivate the avoidance of failures. In addition, we found that female students generally prefer interiorized success, i.e. one that is achieved through inner work, and not outside influence. Interestingly, beauty and talent contestants, more than their peers, prefer success as recognition, which may be due to their desire to win a prize, approval or title. The results of the study can be used as a justification for educational work at the university in the format of beauty and talent contests, as well as the characteristics of personal development and self-realization within the framework of these contests. It is possible to develop psychological techniques and methods for psychological support of girls participating in various competitions of a similar format.