Contents
The concept of «fear» refers to the strongest negative emotional reaction that occurs in a situation of real or imagined danger. Fear is based on the instinct of self-preservation, has a protective character and is accompanied by certain physiological changes in higher nervous activity, characterized by depressive mental states, anxiety, nervousness, and the desire to get out of an unpleasant situation. The problem of fear was dealt with by such well-known scientists and researchers as C. Spielberger, E. Fromm, F. Riemann, K. E. Izard, A. P. Zakharov and others.
Theoretically, all fears are divided into three main groups (Shishova T.L. Fears are serious. — St. Petersburg: Speech, 2007. — 254 p.). The fears of the first group are addressed to a person as a biological being, they pose a threat to the body. This fear can be called «to be nothing», that is, not to live, not to exist, to be dead. The starting point for the development of the fear of “being nothing” is the fear of death. This also includes fears of attack, elements, war, pain, depth, height, animals. The second group of fears reflects the threat of relationships — the deprivation of society of people. This fear can be called “being with no one” (fear of darkness, loneliness, punishment, open space, fear of falling asleep, fear of getting lost). The fears of the third group characterize a person as a social being and are associated with damage to the social or psychological status of the individual. These fears can be conditionally called fears of “being nobody” or “being not the one”, that is, it is the fear of not matching the I-ideal (fear of being late, not meeting expectations, not answering a question, getting a bad grade, fear of strangers, fear of disappointing parents, fear of the control).
The purpose of this work was to study the types of fears in children of older preschool age. The subject of the study is fears, the object is the types of fears of six-year-old children.
To achieve this goal, we used the anxiety test by R. Temple, V. Amen, M. Dorki and A. I. Zakharov’s questionnaire “Identification of fears” (Zakharov A. I. Day and night fears in children. — St. Petersburg: Izd- in SOYUZ, 2004. — 252 p.). The study involved 30 children of six years of age.
The use of the Temple-Amen-Dorkey test showed that in the majority of children (87%) anxiety is expressed at an average level, and in 13% — at a high level. The results of diagnostics according to the method of A. I. Zakharov are shown in Table 1.
The leading fear in older preschool children is the fear of death, both of their parents (86,6%) and their own (83,3%). Moreover, in girls, the fear of death is more common than in boys (64% and 36%, respectively), which can be explained by the fact that girls have a more developed instinct for life and self-preservation. A small number of children (6,6%) experience fear before falling asleep and fear of big streets. Mostly girls experience this fear. In girls of 6 years, the fears of the first group (fears of blood, injections, pain, war, attacks, water, doctors, heights, diseases, fires, animals) are also most clearly represented in comparison with boys of the same age. Of the fears of the second group, girls are most characterized by fears of loneliness, darkness, and of the fears of the third group — the fear of parents, being late for school, punishment. Compared to girls, boys have the following fears more pronounced: fear of depth (50%), certain people (46,7%), fire (42,9%), enclosed space (40%). Thus, the fears of 6-year-old children are peculiar and have gender differences.
Table 1. Distribution of children of the 6th year of life by types of fears (in %)
Published:
- Brunner E. Yu., Filippova E. Yu. Diagnosis of fears in children of senior preschool age // Almanac of KSU: Sat. scientific works of prof.-teacher staff and students: Ser. Psychology. Physical education. Materials of scientific and practical. conf. Crimean Humanitarian University “X Week of Science” March 23, 26, 2009: Issue. 10. — Yalta: RIO KGU, 2009.