Life satisfaction and psychological well-being of rescue operations participants in a prolonged emergency situation

Abstract

This paper reports on study which investigated specificity of life satisfaction and psychological well-being of rescue operations participants in emergency situation. Participants of the study were military servants and emergency workers (44 males, aged 19-26) who were compared to the men not taking part in the rescue operations (44 males, aged 17-26). Data were collected with Personal Wellbeing Index and the Ryff’s Scale of Psychological Well-Being. Emergency situation is considered as a challenge for personal growth. The study proved that an emergency (in this case, flooding of large areas where people lived) creates a “challenge” for a person (rescuer or participant). As a result, there is a mobilization of physical and spiritual resources of an individual. Participants of the rescue operations are characterized by activity in the situation management; they have the ability of effective use of the life circumstances. The result is rising of the subjective and psychological well-being level.