Koncepcje sytuacji trudnych: krok naprzód czy krok w tył?

Wiesław Łukaszewski

Abstract

Fifty years ago, as part of his theory of action, Tadeusz Tomaszewski outlined the concept of normal situations and difficult situations. In this concept, a situation’s normalcy or difficulty is defined by the task quality, the characteristics of existing conditions and an individual’s capabilities. The present paper juxtaposes Tomaszewski’s theories with Stevan Hobfoll and Roy Baumeister’s concept of resources. The most important weakness of the latter concept is that it locates the causes of difficulty almost exclusively among the qualities of the self. Another weakness stems from ignoring the role of anticipation in regulating relations between human beings and their environment.