Dresviannikova I.V. Stereotype-Based Helplessness in the Structure of an Adult's Lifestyle

The life activity of an adult is largely determined by their chosen lifestyle, which serves as an integral indicator of their physical, personal, and social functioning. Lifestyle is manifested in social activity, concern for one's own health, and planning for the future.

By integrating behavioral, emotional, and cognitive components, lifestyle can promote higher levels of well-being, self-actualization, and self-realization in adults or, conversely, act as a factor in resource depletion. This negative effect can be associated with stereotype-based helplessness – the refusal to attempt an action due to an age-related stereotype that describes this action as inappropriate for a person of a certain age.

The aim of the study is to investigate the influence of stereotype-based helplessness on the components of adult lifestyle.

The study sample consisted of 128 individuals aged 20 to 69 (M = 34.4; SD = 12.3), residing in St. Petersburg, the Leningrad Region, and Moscow, of whom 27.3% were men and 72.7% were women. The following instruments were used: the Author's Questionnaire of Stereotype-based Helplessness (Strizhitskaya, Petrash); the «Social Inclusion» Questionnaire (Strizhitskaya, 2018); the «Daily Stressors» Questionnaire; the Author's Questionnaire of Daily Positive Events; the «Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile» Questionnaire; the «Scale of perceived stress–10» Questionnaire; a socio-demographic questionnaire. Mathematical statistics methods included descriptive statistics, cluster analysis (k-means method), one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and structural equation modeling (SEM).

The results of structural equation modeling revealed a destructive influence of stereotype-based helplessness on the components of adult lifestyle. In the emotional domain, an increase in the level of perceived stress was observed, leading to heightened intensity of experiencing negative work-related events and reduced joy from professional achievements. In the behavioral domain, a significant reduction in social inclusion was found, which mediates changes in the cognitive domain: a decrease in the striving for developing internal resources, self-realization, and setting life goals.

Key words: stereotype-based helplessness, lifestyle, adulthood, ageism, social inclusion, daily events, stress, structural equation modeling

For citation: Dresviannikova, I.V. (2026). Stereotype-based helplessness in the structure of an adult's lifestyle. New Psychological Research, No. 3, 217–231. DOI: 10.51217/npsyresearch_2026_06_03_11