EMOTIONAL NEEDS AND COPING STRATEGIES OF ADULT UKRAINIANS DURING WARTIME

Abstract

People's needs change during wartime across all spheres – from personal to societal. Psychological and psycho-emotional support becomes crucial, as war leaves deep psychological and emotional scars. The drive to satisfy one's needs motivates behavior, shaping a person’s interests and actions. Defining these needs and finding effective ways to meet them is complicated by the unique psychoemotional state during war and the impact of related stress factors. The study aimed to examine coping strategies and apply an innovative approach to identifying the emotional needs of adult Ukrainians during wartime. The research was based on the methodology of the integrative model of stress coping and the search for inner stability, BASIC Ph (Mooli Lahad, Israel), along with the evaluation of emotional needs and motivation using AgileBrain (Leading Indicator Systems, USA). The findings revealed that, under stress, 60.0% of Ukrainians primarily choose actions related to cognitive coping strategies to seek inner stability and recovery, while one-third (33.3%) rely on faith and personal moral values. The least frequent choices (the last in the order of preference) are directed toward expressing emotions and feelings and seeking social support (61.7% and 65.0%, respectively). Women prefer coping strategies like faith and moral values, emotional expression, social support and connections, and physical activity more than men. The hierarchical structure of the emotional needs of modern Ukrainians during wartime, in order of decreasing emotional intensity, appears as follows: the need for self-development and self-actualization, care, safety, autonomy, and the recognition of one’s self and actions. Men show a higher activation of needs for recognition, spirituality, and the rule of law (justice) and a lower activation of the need for security compared to women. Women focus more on achieving the satisfaction of needs, while men aim to avoid obstacles that hinder their satisfaction.