THE AUTHORED SELF AS A RESOURCE OF HARDINESS
Hardiness is a concept of existential psychology first introduced by S. Maddi and S. Kobasa and supported by earlier philosophical categories of courage (P. Tillich) and theological faith (S. Kierkegaard). According to S. Maddi, hardiness is regarded as 1) one of the possible ways to overcome ontological anxiety related to making a decision in favor of the future; 2) a core of the system which alleviates the effects of stressful circumstances, ontological anxiety, and helps preserve health; 3) hardiness draws upon the three interrelated attitudes which predetermine the interaction between an individual and the world - involvement, control and challenge. These attitudes complement each other and together form hardiness as a disposition helping to reduce the impact of stressful factors. In existential personal analysis, processing of existential problems (threat, tension, resentment, hopelessness) occurs “through assuming a personal position” (A. Langle). Pre-personal layer is characterized by experiencing and is permeated with coping reactions aimed at survival. In this layer of experiencing, an individual can only react but not act; his or her fundamental motivations are threatened. Through assuming a personal position in regard to one’s own experiences, an individual feels like coming back to self. Submodalities of self, according to L. Ya. Dorfman, are positions which an individual assumes in the world, the states that are alike to an attitude. They are determined as an overall inner readiness to perceive, regulate, respond to certain stimuli in a similar way. Plural self consists of four submodalities: authored self - autonomy, independence of self; embodied self - possessing the “Other”; mutated self - tolerance, acceptance of the “Other”; related self - dependence on the “Other”. Authored self submodality determines the capacity of an individual to assume a personal position and, consequently, can become a resource for overcoming existential threats and developing hardiness. The paper describes a study of interrelations between submodalities of self, parameters of hardiness and psychological well-being.