In modern society young people are constantly under the influence of information flows, which have a continuous psychological impact on them. On the one hand, the information field is a necessary component of their socialization in modern society, but, on the other hand, the excess of information, the need for its analysis and processing is often the cause of information stress.
It is also necessary to note the great influence of the content of the broadcast information coming through the mass media in order to create a certain information space that defines the goals, views, social positions, emotional mood of young people, i.e. forming a certain mass consciousness.
A wide range of media products has a huge impact on the consciousness of the masses: television programs, press, information network portals, advertising products, ranging from consumer goods to the influence of political advertising. Information is received by the consumer through certain media channels, each of which has its own communication space to communicate with the audience and provide it with the necessary information impact.
The main task of mass communication media is to reach a large number of audiences in order to influence them. The first task of the media is to attract people's attention. In this regard, each media outlet has its own image to distinguish it from others. At the same time, the image of information channels is formed on the basis of the features necessary to create attractiveness to a selected segment of the audience. At the same time, great importance is attached to adjusting to the emotional and value-semantic peculiarities of information consumers.
Thus, due to the saturation of the information field, which carries a huge amount of information, often unstructured, the question of perception, analysis and assimilation of media information by students arises.
The questionnaire of emotional intelligence
The scales of the questionnaire are designed in such a way as to determine the ability of subjects to understand and manage their own and others' emotions. On the basis of this, the author distinguishes between intrapersonal and interpersonal emotional intelligence.
The method is a personal questionnaire aimed at measuring the existential fullness of a person.
Consists of 43 questions and includes 4 main sub-scales:
- Self-modification (SD);
- Self-centeredness (ST);
- Freedom (F);
- Responsibility (V)
Statistical analysis of the results obtained in the course of the diagnostics was carried out with the help of SPSS software and enabled to determine the correlation relations. The scale Willful control of media consumption (VCM) has negative correlations with the scales method:
- understanding of other people's emotions r = - 0.549 at p = 0.05;
- control of other people's emotions r = - 0.558 at p = 0.05;
- Understanding one's own emotions r = - 0.729 at p = 0.007;
- Control of one's emotions r = - 0,592 at p = 0,04$
- As well as the negative correlation with the Responsibility (V) scale according to the Scale of existence: r = - 0.557 at p = 0.05
The scale of emotional and cognitive involvement (EPI) according to the method individual style of media consumption has a negative correlation with the scale of Responsibility (V): r = - 0.583 with p = 0.04.
Correlating scales according to belong, first of all, to the field of understanding one's own and others' emotions. Therefore, we can assume that in the process of consuming media products, students with a pronounced emotional intelligence, well recognize the emotional coloring of the broadcast information, as well as their emotions arising in response to it, tend to understand the reasons for it and the consequences to which the emotion may lead.
Secondly, the scales directed on definition of process of management of emotions both own, and received from outside have allocated. These scales reflect the ability of students to control the intensity of emotions, their external manifestation, the possibility, if necessary, to cause the desired emotion arbitrarily.
The scale of volitional control of media consumption determines the level of volitional self-control, the ability to set goals at the moment of searching and processing information, as well as determines the time and material costs in the selection and analysis of necessary information.
The obtained negative correlations reflect the feedback between the emotional and volitional spheres of students' personality and give the opportunity to determine the ways of students' psychological interaction with information flows.
At low levels of willful self-control, control over information flows coming from mass media is carried out with the help of emotional intelligence (understanding and control of emotions). Its characteristic features are emotional involvement, emotional saturation, emotional analysis. However it is possible to assume that emotional aspect of perception and processing of the information increases time expenses for its intellectual processing, worsening systematization and generalization.
It is also necessary to note the negative correlation between the scales of volitional control of media consumption and emotional and cognitive involvement and the degree of responsibility of students for their lives and the opportunity to realize their plans in life. Students who are less involved in the process of media consumption, i.e. those who receive information from the media, TV, and the Internet, are becoming more responsible.
As the authors of the methodology (IMS) note, most of the cognitive activity of such students is associated with books and magazines, while such sources of information are more suitable for lovers of a calm and measured life, secluded relaxation and reflection.