PSYCHOLOGICAL READINESS OF FUTURE BORDER GUARD OFFICERS FOR COMMAND DECISION-MAKING IN EXTREME CONDITIONS OF OPERATIONAL AND SERVICE ACTIVITIES: A STRUCTURAL-COMPONENT ANALYSIS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17721/1728-2217.2026.66.89-96Keywords:
psychological readiness; command decision-making; border guard officer; structural-component model; extreme conditions; operational and service activities; State Border Guard Service of Ukraine; cognitive strategies; situational awarenessAbstract
Background. The full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation and the transformation of the security environment have significantly increased the requirements for the psychological readiness of officers of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBGSU) to make command decisions in extreme conditions of operational and service activities. The phenomenon of command decision-making by a border guard officer is multicontextual: according to the Law of Ukraine “On the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine” (2003), five functionally distinct types of command decisions are identified, each imposing specific psychological requirements. The aim of the study is to conduct a theoretical analysis of the phenomenon of psychological readiness of future border guard officers for command decision-making and to develop an original structural-component model of this psychological construct.
Methods. A set of theoretical methods was employed, including analysis and systematization of scientific sources in the fields of decision-making psychology and psychology of readiness; comparative analysis of rational, naturalistic, and cognitive-activity approaches; conceptual modelling of the structural-component model; and theoretical generalization to substantiate the level-based differentiation of readiness and the tools for its psychodiagnostics.
Results. Based on a comparative analysis of rational, naturalistic, and cognitive-activity approaches to decision-making, as well as concepts of psychological readiness in the context of the operational and service activities of officers of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, the authors developed a five-component structural-component model encompassing cognitive, motivational-value, emotional-volitional, operational, and reflexive components. The cyclical and dynamic nature of the model and the defining role of the reflexive component as a mechanism for transforming operational experience into a resource for enhancing readiness were substantiated. Three levels of readiness (high, medium, and low) with corresponding behavioral characteristics in crisis situations were described. The role of situational awareness and thinking strategies in the process of command decision-making was revealed. It was established that the existing psychodiagnostic tools do not allow for the assessment of a border guard officer's readiness directly in the context of command decision-making, which led to the development of the author's concept of a situational psychodiagnostic instrument.
Conclusions. A theoretically substantiated concept of an original psychodiagnostic instrument for situational assessment of a border guard officer's psychological readiness for command decision-making was proposed, the approbation of which constitutes the subject of further research. The scientific novelty lies in the first identification, within the context of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, of a specific structure of psychological readiness precisely for command decision-making as an independent psychological phenomenon, as well as in the theoretical substantiation of the reflexive component as a systemic integrator of readiness.
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