Mental regulation of negative psychological states in the dynamics of students' educational activities
DOI: 10.23951/2307-6127-2026-4-147-158
This article presents the results of a study examining the involvement of mental structures (reflective, semantic, and self-attitude) in the regulation of students' negative psychological states during learning activities. The paper analyzes contemporary Russian and international approaches to the problem of selfregulation of human states. This study is based on the structural and functional model of mental regulation of a subject's psychological states developed by the authors. Demonstrated that the most important condition for effective self-regulation is a person's awareness of the need to change their own state, as inadequate to an event or situation, which actualizes the structures of consciousness and regulatory processes of the personality. The study conducted on a sample of 99 students in three learning activities with different levels of stress: lecture, seminar, and exam. Psychological states and methods of self-regulation assessed at the beginning, middle, and at the end of each lesson. Separately examined the severity of mental structures. Statistical data processing performed using frequency and multiple regression analysis. The research revealed specific patterns in the involvement of mental structures in the regulatory process depending on the forms and stages of students' learning activities. Discovered that semantic structures are primarily involved in selfregulation of states at the end of an exam, while reflective structures are involved at the beginning of lectures and seminars, as well as mid-exam. Found that for all forms of student learning, mental regulation of negative states is most active mid-class. Established that the indicators of “locus of control” and “self-direction” make the greatest contribution to the mental regulation of states in students' learning activities. The obtained results have practical significance, since knowledge of the mental mechanisms regulating a subject's psychological states will enable the development of new methods for self-regulation of states in human life, which will contribute to their psychological health and resilience.
Keywords: mental regulation, negative psychological state, structures of consciousness, method of self-regulation, dynamics, learning activities
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Issue: 4, 2026
Series of issue: Issue 4
Rubric: PSYCHOLOGY
Pages: 147 — 158
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