Safety Awareness as a New Construct in Educational Psychology: Theoretical Rationale for a Three-Component Model

Aim. To substantiate the introduction and operationalisation of the concept “awareness of safety” as an independent psychological and pedagogical construct that is distinct from objective safety indicators and generalised anxiety.

Methodology. The research is based on the methodology of theoretical analysis and synthesis of scientific approaches developed in educational psychology, psychology of safety, and related disciplines. A critical analysis of the evolution of the concept of “life safety” from the technocratic paradigm to the humanistic one is carried out. The conceptualisation of “awareness of safety” is carried out through the integration of Protection Motivation Theory (R. Rogers), Attachment Theory (J. Bowlby), the hierarchical theory of needs (A. Maslow), as well as risk-resource methodology (I. A. Baeva) and the concept of personal adaptive potential (A. G. Maklakov). The structuring of the phenomenon is performed using systemic and component analysis.

Results. The insufficiency of the technocratic approach to understanding safety, which ignores subjective experience and leads to the paradox of perceiving an objectively safe environment as threatening, is substantiated. The construct “awareness of safety” is introduced into scientific discourse and operationalised, revealed through a three-component structure including cognitive (assessment of threats and resources), emotional (feeling of security / anxiety), and behavioural (readiness for action) components. The concept “psychological optimum of safety” is substantiated as a zone of balance between constructive anxiety, which ensures vigilance, and psychological relaxation, which ensures comfort and activity. The mediating role of this construct, linking objective environmental conditions with the psychological health of the subject of the educational process, is conceptualized.

Research implications lie in the development of the conceptual apparatus of educational psychology and psychology of safety through the introduction of a new substantiated construct that clarifies the mechanisms of formation of subjective feeling of security. The proposed three-component model provides a basis for overcoming the reductionism of existing approaches, and the introduction of the concept “psychological optimum of safety” contributes to the development of the theory of psychological health in the educational environment, setting a vector for subsequent empirical research and the development of diagnostic tools.

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