Readiness for Changes – Proposition to Methodological Workshops

Abstract

Change is „such an evident feature of social reality that any social-scientific theory, whatever its conceptual starting point, must sooner or later address it.” (Haferkamp, Smelser, 1992, from: Sztompka, 2005, p. 13). It should be noted, that studies of readiness for changes, cooping and connection between changes and human behaviour might prove useful in the process of theory construction. What is more, currently, these aspects are one of the basic factors for quality of life researchers. The change is treated as a variable, which involves many components like individual factors (strengths and weaknesses), adaptation- related stress, causes of critical situations or future orientation. Until now, researches have mainly focused on analysing isolated tests to measure all components of life changes. The article shows a different treatment of life changes, which includes intrapersonal and interpersonal aspects. The intrapersonal aspect is related to answer to questions about reactions for changes and individual future orientation. The interpersonal aspect is connected to the question about objective quality of life. The article is an attempt to review current methods and questionnaires examining life changes in social and humanities sciences.