Personal potential and self-assessment of subject-specific academic avoidance among pedagogical university students

Abstract

The article examines the relationship between personal potential and subject-specific academic avoidance among pedagogical university students. The relevance of the study is driven by increasing academic underachievement associated with this phenomenon conceptualized as a state in which students, despite possessing the required ability, perceive mastering certain subjects as impossible and consequently cease active efforts to improve their performance. The research aims to identify the role of specific components of personal potential — namely, hardiness, optimistic attributional style, and tolerance for uncertainty — in the development and potential overcoming of subject-specific academic avoidance. The methodological framework integrates M. Seligman’s theory of learned helplessness, D. A. Leontiev’s concept of personal potential, interpretative phenomenological analysis (J. Smith) and causometry (A. A. Kronik, E. I. Golovakha). The study involved 32 pedagogical university students. The methods included the Hardiness Test (the Personal Views Survey by S. Maddi, adapted by D. A. Leontiev); the Brief Optimistic Attributional Style Questionnaire (T. O. Gordeeva, O. A. Sychev, E. N. Osin); the Tolerance for Uncertainty Questionnaire (MSTAT-II by D. McClain, adapted by D. A. Leontiev); and narrative interviews. Data were analyzed using content analysis, factor analysis (principal component method, Varimax rotation), and correlation analysis. The results confirm the association between parameters of personal potential (resilience, optimism, and tolerance for uncertainty) and the subjective assessment of subject-specific helplessness among students of pedagogical universities. The most effective mechanisms preventing its development are active coping strategies and the ability to disseminate successful experiences. The most maladaptive factor is cognitive-emotional dissonance accompanied by pronounced emotional discomfort. Developing students' personal potential can serve as a foundation for creating preventive and corrective programs to overcome subject-specific helplessness in the educational environment. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying learning motivation and can inform the development of tools for preventing subject-specific academic avoidance.