The Phenomenon of Psychological Boundaries in Older Preschool Children

Abstract

The psychological boundary, considered as a convenient descriptive metaphor, allows us to designate the process of separating the personal space of one person from another. By the older preschool age, this phenomenon acquires special significance: the child is preparing to enter a new social development situation, which implies the need to restructure the existing relationships with the environment. The study of the phenomenon of psychological boundaries in older preschool children. A qualitative approach provides the opportunity to obtain finely nuanced information, to delve deeply into each individual case. The stimulus material is addressed to the understandable, meaningful, valuable for the child construct “home”. This stimulus acts as a metonymy, which needs to be filled with its own psychological content. In the process of drawing, a semi-structured conversation is held with the child, during which the features of the drawing are clarified. The plausibility, portability and confirmability of the results obtained are ensured by clear instructions, the presence of a response registration form and observation data, and interviewing parents. Qualitative interpretation of the results allows you to “hear a child's voice”, proceed to the analysis of an individual case, create “order out of chaos” by combining the child's interactions with the environment into a single phenomenon — psychological boundaries. The study showed that the psychological boundaries of older preschoolers are a complex construct, including an assessment of the friendliness of the environment, the role of adults and peers, and the presence of various states of psychological boundaries (at rest, in interaction, and in a threatening situation).