Conflicts

Long voyages: behaviour dynamics

The longer the voyage lasts behaviour dynamics of the personality and the group as a whole gains more and more negative character:

• psychological tension increases,

• intensity of interpersonal contacts weakens, the person more and more feels a need for privacy.

By the end of a voyage the majority of crew members refuses from collective forms of leisure, strengthening of intrapsychic potential (усиление интрапсихического потенциала) of the personality takes place. Impossibility to satisfy the need for privacy becomes the reason of psychogenic* neurosis ([njuə'rəusɪs] психогенный невроз).

*Psychogenic - having a psychological origin or cause rather than a physical one.

Negative dynamics of social perception (перцепция, восприятие)

Negative dynamics of social perception of an image of other people is observed: crew members don't notice any more a number of traits of character or emotions — especially positive - of their colleagues which were fixed by them earlier (for example, sociability (общительность), talkativeness (разговорчивость), good nature (добродушие), etc.)

Toward the end of the voyage many crew members suffer from depression, melancholy (['melənk(ə)lɪ]), apathy, the increased anxiety.

Some crewmembers have phobic reactions (фобические реакции), constant doubts in the ship’s safety, fear of storms, others have negative attitude towards the profession, loss of width of interests and needs. A special place is taken by ideas of jealousy (особое место занимают идеи ревности).

The interpersonal relations in the crew are characterized by instability, they complicate, microgroups appear.

In the extreme situation of group isolation under the influence of psychological fatigue there are problems in communication of people. Friendly relations between people can be replaced sometimes by hostility (враждебность)leading to open conflicts.

Restraint and compliance (уступчивость) of people disappear, they become irritable and harsh (грубый) with other members. Frequency of conflicts, often unmotivated (Частота конфликтов, часто немотивированных), increases.

Usually the reason of insignificant conflicts are household trifles (бытовые мелочи), serious – problems at work. But often conflicts at work regenerate (перерождаться) into personal ones. If conflicts don't get constructive settlement (конструктивное разрешение), they also promote violation of integrity (целостность) of the group structure.

By the end of a long voyage two types of typical reactions are observed in the behavior of crew members:

1. either rough - (бурные), aggressively offensive (агресcивно-наступательные), emotionally protesting in the form of irritability, conflict, quarrels (ссоры), or

2.passively-defensive (пассивно-оборонительные), indifferent, displayed in the form of isolation, detachment (отстраненность), self-restraint (сдержанность).