Ecology of personal boundaries among youth

Abstract

The article examines the problem of the ecological nature of personal boundaries among youth. It is emphasized that personal boundaries separate the inner world of a person from the outside world, from other people, because life is almost impossible without boundaries. It is noted that the optimal boundaries of the individual give the right to openly express their feelings, to be themselves, ensuring the environmental friendliness of the personal space of young people. The psychological boundary is important in the process of interpersonal communication and people's perception of each other. It is highlighted that without clearly defined comfortable boundaries, people experience significant problems in everyday life, in relationships with relatives and friends, colleagues, environment, etc. The author also draws attention to the fact that a person feels well in the environment with normal and healthy personal boundaries. Such a person is able to communicate, enter into relationships, develop and support them. Healthy boundaries are flexible; a person easily understands and determines at what level they is comfortable communicating, and whether they wants this communication at all. A person is able to get closer or, on the contrary, move away if they understand that something is not working out in the relationship.

The article contains the conducted empirical research. The results of the correlation analysis confirm the relationship between self-esteem and personal boundaries in adolescence. That means that a person with low self-esteem has a high probability of difficulty distancing themself from other people. According to the results of the empirical research, we determined that the ecology of personal boundaries depends on self-esteem of adolescents. The ecology of personal boundaries is a psychological formation that arises as a result of the interaction or establishment of relationships between the desire to preserve spontaneity and authenticity and the need for social adaptation. A person protects their own ecological space from aggressive invasion attempts.