Service to people as a valuable component of the self-image in the structure of social and psychological characteristics of future doctors

Relevance. The study examines how the career orientation “Service” relates to a number of social and psychological personality characteristics of medical university students, helping to reveal value components of their self-image in the structure of their professional self-concept. The aim of the research is to explore the relationship between social and psychological characteristics and the manifestation of the career orientation “Service” among medical university students. Hypothetically, there is a connection between the career orientation “Service” and a set of such social and psychological characteristics as interpersonal interaction management, self-regulation styles, professional value components, and ego actualization in the context of interpersonal interaction. Participants: undergraduate students (from the first to fourth year) of Stavropol State Medical University (Stavropol) (N = 1540, 1,1200 women and 340 men; average age M = 20.36 years, SD = 6.72). Methods (tools): Career Anchors methodology (E. Schein adapted by V. A. Chiker) was used to capture value components of professional activity and to assess the manifestation of the career motivation “Service”; Action Control Scale (J. Kuhl adapted by S. A. Shapkin) was used to identify the peculiarities of volitional self-regulation while planning actions in cases of their implementation and failure; the Questionnaire “Self-Regulation Style” (V. I. Morosanova, N. G. Kondratyuk) was used to identify the styles of self-regulation and to assess its manifestation; Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behavior (FIRO-B) assessment tool (W. Schutz adapted by A. A. Rukavishnikova) was used to diagnose interactional peculiarities of a person; Test “Determination of role positions in interpersonal relationships” (E. Bern) was used to identify an individual’s role positions and the dominant ego state in interpersonal relationships. Results: the career orientation “Service” among medical students is linked to the peculiarities of interpersonal professional interaction, self-regulation, and career motivation. Main conclusions: Among medical students, the career orientation “Service” aligns with such value components of their self-image as compassion for people, empathy for their problems, group involvement, the ability to use multivariate strategies of interpersonal interaction and styles of self-regulation. Practical Significance. Professional socialization in medical education can be strategically directed to cultivate the value components of students’ professional self-image. This research contributes to understanding how value orientations shape career motivations in the medical field, offering insights for educational strategies in professional development.