Dependences between the scales of deficient fear and actual self-perception at the stage of self-isolation

Aim: to reveal the nature of the causal relationship between the characteristics of Deficient fear and indicators of actual self-perception. As part of an empirical study of students in self-isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, an analysis was made using the author’s method of Deficient fear dependencies on the components of actual self-perception for linearity-nonlinearity, and a conclusion was made about the nonlinear nature of these dependencies. All linear correlations between indicators of deficient fear and components of actual self-perception do not exceed 0.25 in modulus, i.e. they are extremely weak, and it is unacceptable to speak about the problem posed from the standpoint of linear models. For two indicators of deficient fear and 26 indicators of actual self-perception, within the framework of the model for quarts of an independent variable, five strong simplest non-linear dependencies were identified, demonstrating a type 1 error, when the correlation is extremely small, even less than the threshold of “significant” values (0.17), and therefore there is no connection within the framework of the linear model of correlation analysis. One dependence demonstrates a type 2 error, when a strong non-linear dependence in the framework of a linear model will be considered by supporters of a “significant” correlation as a “significant” linear relationship (a very weak correlation coefficient of –0.18 exceeds the threshold (0.17) of “significance” in absolute value). Going beyond linear models gives fundamentally new information about the phenomenon of deficient fear under study. The article provides detailed descriptions and interpretations of two of the six found strong dependencies (the rest are presented in the tables), visual graphical representations are considered, as well as their most probable estimates in the traditional approach.

actual self-perception, deficient fear, linear, non-linear, psychological research, statistical dependence