INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

11 – 13 OCTOBER 2021
Online Exclusive Event

CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

BOOK 1 | VOLUME 4

EDUCATION AND EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS

SOCIOLOGY AND HEALTHCARE

DISCLAIMER

This book contains abstracts, keywords and full papers, which has gone
under double blind peer-review by NORDSCI Review Committee. Authors
of the articles are responsible for the content and accuracy.

The book covers the scientific sections Education and Educational

Research, Language and Linguistics and Sociology and Healthcare.

Opinions expressed might not necessary affect the position of NORDSCI

Committee Members and Scientific Council.

Information in the NORDSCI 2021 Conference proceedings is subject to

change without any prior notice. No parts of this book can be reproduced
or transmitted in any form or by any mean without the written
confirmation of the Scientific Council of NORDSCI.

Copyright © NORDSCI 2021

All right reserved by the International Conference on Social Sciences
NORDSCI.
Published by SAIMA CONSULT LTD, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Total print 60

ISSN 2603-4107
ISBN 978-619-7495-21-8
DOI 10.32008/NORDSCI2021/B1/V4

NORDSCI CONFERENCE
Contact person: Maria Nikolcheva
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4
SCIENTIFIC PARTNERS OF
NORDSCI CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL SCIENCES

EUROPEAN ACADEMY OF ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF

SCIENCES, ARTS AND LETTERS HUNGARY
SLOVAK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES SERBIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
CZECH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES TURKISH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF
OF UKRAINE MOLDOVA
BULGARIAN ACADEMY OF ISLAMIC WORLD ACADEMY OF
SCIENCES SCIENCES
POLISH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES LATVIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

PROF. DR. ABAY KAIRZHANOV, PROF. PANOS FITSILIS, GREECE

KAZAKHSTAN PROF. DR. NATALIA SHALIMOVA,
ASSOC. PROF. LAURA PRICOP, UKRAINE
ROMANIA PROF. GEROGIANNIS VASILIS,
ASSIST. PROF. DR. MEHMET GREECE
BAŞARAN, RUSSIA DR. HABIL. ROBERT BARTKO,
PROF. DR. ABDEL-BADEEH HUNGARY
MOHAMED SALEM, EGYPT DSC. PAVLOS E. MASOUROS, THE
ASSIST. PROF. STAMATIOS NETHERLANDS
PAPADAKIS, GREECE NIKOS PANNAGIOTIS, GREECE
ASSOC. PROF. CRETU DANIELA- ASSIST. PROF. KATYA HRISTOVA-
MARIA, ROMANIA VALCHEVA, BULGARIA
DR. MONIKA PORWOŁ, POLAND PHD MANUELA GIOBBI, ITALY
ASSOC. PROF. BORIS NAIMUSHIN, PROF. THOMAS HYPHANTIS,
PHD., BULGARIA GREECE
ASSOC. PROF. JANA WALDNEROVA, DR. VIOLETA POPOVICI, ROMANIA
SLOVAKIA PHD CHOLEVAS VASILIOS, GREECE
ASSIST. PROF. LADISLAV MURA, ASSOC. PROF. DOROTA ELŻBIETA
SLOVAKIA ORTENBURGER, POLAND
DR. IVARS GODMANIS, LATVIA ASSOC. PROF. SOLVEIGA
ASSIST. PROF. DUSAN KUCERA, BLUMBERGA, LATVIA
CZECH REPUBLIC ASSOC. PROF. FELIX DIAZ,
PROF. RADA IOAN, ROMANIA BULGARIA
ASSOC. PROF. ABESADZE NINO,
GEORGIA

5
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Section EDUCATION AND EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH |

1. APPLICATION OF TEACHER COMPETENCES IN EDUCATIONAL
PRACTICE Assoc. Prof. Ľubica Predanocyová, PhD., Assoc. Prof.
Gabriela Jonášková, CSc., Assoc. Prof. Melánia Feszterová, PhD.,
Slovakia .....................................................................................................................15
2. BUILDING MOBILITY COMPETENCE OF INTENDING TEACHERS
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ekaterina Kostina, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Svetlana
Khoroshilova, Prof. Dr. Elena Pushkareva, Russia .....................................25
3. COMPETENCE TO DESIGN AND PLAN EDUCATION AND ITS
APPLICATION IN SCHOOL PRACTICE Assoc. Prof. Ľubica
Predanocyová, PhD., Assoc. Prof. Gabriela Jonášková, CSc., Slovakia
......................................................................................................................................35
4. EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGES FOR UNIVERSITIES DURING THE
COVID-19 PANDEMIC Brygida Klemens, PhD, Małgorzata Adamska,
PhD, Poland .............................................................................................................45
5. EXPECTATIONS OF GENERATION Z - A CHALLENGE FOR ACADEMIC
DIDACTIC STAFF Dr. Małgorzata Adamska, Poland ................................55
6. EXPERIENCES OF PARENTS OF FIRST GRADERS IN CZECH REPUBLIC
PERCEIVE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS OF READING AND WRITING
DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC Eva Koželuhová, Lenka Zemanová,
Radka Wildová, Ondřej Koželuh, Czech Republic .....................................69
7. IMAGE AS AN IMPORTANT TOOL IN THE WORK OF MANAGERS OF
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Petr Adamec, Ph.D., Czech Republic
......................................................................................................................................81
8. INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON OF READING PREFERENCES OF
YOUNGER SCHOOL AGE READERS AT PRIMARY SCHOOL Mgr. Lýdia
Simanová, PhD., Doc. PaedDr. Simoneta Babiaková, PhD., Slovakia .91
9. LANGUAGE AND CULTURE INTERFERENCE IN THE PROCESS OF
PURSUING HIGHER PLURILINGUAL EDUCATION Assoc. Prof. Dr.
Maia A. Egorova, Assist. Prof. T. A. Zapata Ruiz, Russia ...................... 101

6
10. PARANORMAL EXPERIENCE RELATED TO IMPROVING ACADEMIC
MOTIVATION OF SLOVAK UNIVERSITY STUDENTS Prof. Dr. Martina
Blašková, Prof. Dr. Hideyuki Kokubo, Czech Republic.......................... 111
11. PROFESSIONAL BURNOUT OF TEACHERS AT HIGHER
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Dr. Ainuru Zholchieva, Eldiiar
Shakirov, Kyrgyzstan .......................................................................................... 123
12. SCHOOL EDUCATION AND SCHOOL TEACHERS` WELL-BEING IN
KYRGYZSTAN Mrs. Aelita A. Zholchieva, Dr. Ainuru A. Zholchieva,
Kyrgyzstan ............................................................................................................. 131
13. STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION AT DIFFERENT PHASES OF GETTING
HIGHER EDUCATION (THE CASE OF RUSSIA) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Maia.A.
Egorova, Assist. Prof. Tamara Z. Ruiz, Russia ........................................... 141
14. THE PROBLEMS OF EDUCATION AND SOCIALIZATION OF
LEARNING YOUTH IN THE CONDITIONS OF THE CORONAVIRUS
PANDEMIC Prof. Dr. Elisaveta Savrutskaya, Prof. Dr. Sergey Ustinkin,
Prof. Dr. Svetlana Bondyreva, Assoc. Prof. Alexander Nikitin, Anna
Goryunova, Russia .............................................................................................. 151
15. TRUST, LEARNING AND ANOMALOUS EXPERIENCE OF JAPAN AND
SLOVAK UNIVERSITY STUDENTS Prof. Dr. Martina Blašková, Dr.
Hideyuki Kokubo, Dominika Tumová, Dr. Rudolf Blaško, Slovakia . 161
Section LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS |
16. ANTICIPATORY LITERARY PLAGIARISM AS PHENOMENON
CHANGING COPYRIGHT PARADIGM Ing. Lydie Tallova, MBA, Ph.D.,
Czech Republic .................................................................................................... 181
17. CORONAVIRUS REPORTING AND FAKE NEWS ABOUT THE
PANDEMIC IN SLOVAK ONLINE MEDIA Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ján
Višňovský, PhD., Bc. Natália Rosinská, Mgr. Juliána Mináriková, PhD.,
Slovakia ................................................................................................................... 197
18. ICONOGRAPHIC DEPICTION AND LITERARY PORTRAYING IN
BERNARD BERENSON'S DIARY AND EPISTOLARY WRITING Dr.
Višnja Bandalo, Croatia ..................................................................................... 207
19. IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON REGIONAL AND LOCAL
MEDIA – CASE STUDY Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ján Višňovský, PhD., Mgr.
Alexandra Mathiasová, Mgr. Juliána Mináriková, PhD., Slovakia ..... 215

7
20. PROPER NAMES AS TERMINOLOGY IN SOCIAL SCIENCE Assoc. Prof.
Dr. Olga Maximova, Dr. Tatiana Maykova, Russia ................................. 225
21. SECOND FOREIGN LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: THE INFLUENCE OF
STUDENTS’ FIRST FOREIGN LANGUAGE ON LEXICAL SKILLS
DEVELOPMENT IN ENGLISH FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES Assoc. Prof. Dr.
Olga Maximova, Dr. Tatiana Maykova, Russia ........................................ 235
22. TO THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE TEACHING IN 3D
MULTI-USER VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT Doc. PhDr. Hana Marešová,
Ph.D., MBA, Mgr. Daniel Ecler, Mgr. Miroslav Menšíková, Ph.D.,
Czech Republic .................................................................................................... 245
Section SOCIOLOGY AND HEALTHCARE |
23. AGE AND GENDER PATTERNS OF SELF-ESTEEM AMONG YOUTH IN
KOSOVO Assoc. Prof. Dr. Naim Fanaj, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Erika
Melonashi, Dr. sci. Sevim Mustafa, Kosovo .............................................. 261
24. AQUAMAN THE MOVIE AS A LATE MODERN FAIRY TALE Mgr.
Zuzana Kvetanová, PhD., Assoc. Prof. PhDr. Jana Radošinská, PhD.,
Slovakia .................................................................................................................. 275
25. CONFIDENCE AS A MODULATOR IN COVID-19 PANDEMIC
BEHAVIORS AND PERSPECTIVES? M.Sc. Afton M. Nelson, Assist.
Prof. Dr. Kristijan Civljak, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Heather Mitchell, Germany
................................................................................................................................... 285
26. INTELLIGENCE, SELF-ESTEEM AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN
KOSOVO YOUTH Assoc. Prof. Dr. Naim Fanaj, Dr. sci. Sevim Mustafa,
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Erika Melonashi, Kosovo .................................................. 301
27. LITHUANIANS‘ PERCEPTION ON TERRORISM: ARE MUSLIMS THE
FOLK DEVILS FOR LITHUANIANS? Gintarė Sereikaitė-Motiejūnė,
Lithuania................................................................................................................. 311
28. NUTRITIONAL THERAPY IN CLINICAL MANAGEMENT OF
ONCOLOGICAL PATIENTS Assist. Prof. Blebea Nicoleta Mirela,
Romania ................................................................................................................. 323
29. PANDEMIC AND PERCEIVED HEALTH STATUS: A CASE STUDY Assist.
Prof. Jacqueline Marques, PhD Student Mónica Teixeira, Portugal 331

8
30. PRIORITIES DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: PERSPECTIVES,
DECISION-MAKING, AND EMPATHY M.Sc. Afton M. Nelson, Assist.
Prof. Dr. Kristijan Civljak, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Heather Mitchell, Germany
................................................................................................................................... 341
31. SOCIAL COUNSELLING CHATBOT - PILOT TESTING Mgr. Jan
Hloušek, Ph.D., PhDr. Martin Smutek, Ph.D., Mgr. Zuzana Hloušková,
Czech Republic .................................................................................................... 357
32. SOCIOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS ON IDENTITY AND SOCIAL
IDENTIFICATION: THE INDIVIDUAL IN AMBIGUOUS MODERNITY
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anna Karnat, Poland .......................................................... 365
33. TEA PARTIES IN RUSSIAN PAINTING IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE
NINETEENTH – BEGINNING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY:
REFLECTIONS OF EVERYDAY LIFE AND SOCIAL HISTORY Prof. Dr.
Irina Rutsinskaya, Assoc Prof. Dr. Galina Smirnova, Russia ................ 375
34. THE PRINCIPLES OF GUIDED EVOLUTION OF SOCIETY – A SYSTEMIC
PERSPECTIVE Damir Marinić, PhD, Ida Marinić, MA, Croatia ............. 385
35. THE PROBLEM OF FOREIGN MIGRANT WORKERS IN THE CONTEXT
OF RUSSIA’S NATIONAL SECURITY Prof. Dr. Svetlana Bondyreva,
Assoc. Prof. Alexander Nikitin, Alexander Prudnik, Prof. Dr. Elisaveta
Savrutskaya, Prof. Dr. Sergey Ustinkin, Russia ......................................... 395
36. THE TRUST OF THE ALBANIAN YOUTH TOWARDS THE EUROPEAN
UNION INSTITUTIONS Adela Danaj, PhD, Prof. Dr. Kornelia Lazanyi,
Heidi Kasa, Albania............................................................................................. 413
37. VISUALIZATION OF EVERYDAY SOCIAL AND CULTURAL PRACTICES:
VICTORIAN PAINTING AS A MIRROR OF THE ENGLISH TEA PARTY
TRADITION Prof. Dr. Irina Rutsinskaya, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Galina
Smirnova, Russia ................................................................................................. 421

9
Section

EDUCATION AND EDUCATIONAL

RESEARCH
This section includes papers which have gone under double
blind peer-review. The section covers full spectrum of
education, including history, sociology and economy of
education, educational policy, strategy and technologies. The
category covers also pedagogy and special education.
 Section EDUCATION AND EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

APPLICATION OF TEACHER COMPETENCES IN

EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE

Assoc. Prof. Ľubica Predanocyová, PhD.1

Assoc. Prof. Gabriela Jonášková, CSc.2
Assoc. Prof. Melánia Feszterová, PhD. 3
1, 2, 3
Constantine the Philosopher University, Nitra, Slovakia

ABSTRACT

The requirements for the quality of the teacher's pedagogical work and its
assessment are constantly increasing. The paper focused on knowledge related to
teacher competence. It resulted from research activities in several scientific
research projects (e.g. the Slovak Research and Development Agency, Evaluation
of Teacher Competencies), implemented at the University of Constantine the
Philosopher in Nitra (Slovakia). The team of Slovak experts and teachers
monitored (researched) the possibilities of identifying a complex of relevant
professional competencies that need to be taken and developed. Overall, the
research work within the national survey in the Slovak Republic was determined
ten essential competencies of a teacher.

The aim of the paper is to introduce the competence of a teacher - the

competence to develop a positive climate in the classroom. The positive climate
in the classroom acts to shape the relationship between teacher and pupils. It
affects the results of the pupil team and uses not only education but also training.
Today (current) school is oriented on the personal and social development of the
pupils. It is reflected not only in good school results, but also in the complexity of
pupil values.

As part of the research process, the participating experts and pedagogues

developed tools and criteria for the evaluation and self-assessment of the teacher's
quality and the teacher's applied competencies in educational practice. These
competencies were presented through case studies and the use of the
implementation of the AAA evaluation methodology model. We consider it
important to point out that the teacher should be a professionally qualified
pedagogue who is always competent to educate and train. The essential condition
for his further qualification growth is, at the same time, focused on attention and
his own self-improvement.
Keywords: teacher, essential competence, a positive climate in the classroom

INTRODUCTION

Key professional competencies currently play an important role in a teacher's

professional work. This area was first addressed by Borich and Fenton (1977) [1],

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NORDSCI Conference

who point out knowledge, performance and consistency competencies. One of the
most comprehensive and up-to-date classifications has been developed by The
National Council of Teachers of English (2014), which identifies contextual,
conceptual, subject-content, transactional, educational, evaluative,
organizational, competence related to the creation of teaching material to work
with parents and to work with the community and other organizations. With the
current social changes, the requirements for the issue of professional
competencies, their identification and evaluation are also changing [2].

An important role in the educational process is the creation of a positive

climate in the classroom. The teacher influences his students with his whole
personality. Participates in the formation of the student's personality, behaviour,
interests, and value orientation. It has an impact on the creation of new knowledge,
skills of students. Cultivated teacher expression, trust, understanding, respect,
tolerance, good behaviour, freedom of speech and one's own opinion are of great
importance for the appropriate (correct) creation of a relationship between teacher
and student. A positive classroom climate is, therefore, an integral part of the
teaching process.

The modern school emphasizes the personal and social development of the
student, which is reflected in good academic results as well as in the whole student
values and their external manifestations. Therefore, it is necessary to approach the
process of teaching and learning as a complex phenomenon, which includes
several factors entering the learning.

TEACHER COMPETENCIES

Based on the results of scientific research on the project Assessment of

Teacher Competencies, carried out at the University of Constantine the
Philosopher in Nitra (Slovakia), we arrived at a complex of ten key competencies:
identification of developmental and individual characteristics of students,
identification of psychological and social factors of student learning, student
development and personality. Competencies, creating a positive climate in the
classroom, planning and implementation of professional growth, mastering the
content and didactics of subjects, planning the teaching process, teaching methods
and organizational forms of teaching, using material resources of the teaching
process, evaluating the course and results of teaching and learning.

The key competencies of a teacher represent a set of requirements that must

be implemented in the teacher's work and, at the same time, represent a starting
point for evaluating the quality of pedagogical work.

The current state of teacher evaluation in Slovakia is the creation of a new

evaluation methodology, structured into three relatively separate tools: 1.
Assessment sheets, aimed at evaluating the work of a teacher by a selected
assessor; 2. A self-assessment sheet that allows the teacher to reflect on the work

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 Section EDUCATION AND EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

itself autonomously; 3. The last tool is the Record of the interview of the evaluator
and the evaluator, which provides a space for mutual penetration of opinions and
attitudes of both participants [3].

A specific feature is a proposal on how to carry out evaluations of the quality

of a teacher's work by evaluators (members of the state school inspection,
methodologists, principals and school representatives, heads of subject
commissions, teachers) through the application of the AAA evaluation
methodology. The implementation of the AAA evaluation methodology
represents the application of annotation, analysis and alteration in the evaluation
of the quality of selected (selected) competencies of the evaluated teacher.

A - annotation. It focuses on the overall context of the teaching

situation/lesson and didactic mastery of the content of the curriculum.

A - analysis. It is the second stage of the application of the AAA evaluation

methodology. The evaluator analyses a specific lesson based on specific
evaluation criteria of individual competencies and related indicators.

A - alteration. It is the last part of the AAA evaluation methodology; it

expresses the relationship between: (a) assessment/evaluation of teaching quality;
and (b) its improvement in the form of evaluator proposals.

Quality assessment means evaluating the degree of mastery of the set goals
of pupils' education. The evaluator should monitor mastery of basic concepts and
skills, analysis and understanding of content, generalization, and especially
application.

We distinguish four levels of quality: 1. Failing quality: teaching does not

benefit students, the required competencies of students are not developed, and the
quality results from didactic shortcomings of the teacher in education; 2.
Undeveloped quality: teaching provides students with the opportunity to acquire
basic knowledge but does not allow for more comprehensive development of their
competencies; 3. Stimulating quality: teaching leads students to an active
understanding of the topic, provides them with stimuli for evaluation, judgment,
derivation; 4. Developing quality: students show the ability to generalize
knowledge, apply it, understand social relationships in the assigned tasks, and
understand the topic in a broader context [4].

The proposal of alterations represents the creation of proposals by the

evaluator to improve the quality of educational activities. The alteration is focused
on the active search for ways to improve the teacher's pedagogical work quality.
In cooperation with the evaluated teacher, the evaluator proposes alternative ways
of working, which will result from the realized lesson.

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NORDSCI Conference

We implemented the practical implementation of the AAA evaluation

methodology through case studies. Case studies are processed based on real
authentic situations during the lessons of experienced teachers. The lectures were
attended by members of the project's scientific team, who assessed the quality of
individual key competencies and actively participated in the preparation of
proposals to improve the quality of teachers' pedagogical work [5].

CLASS CLIMATE

The issue of climate in the classroom is the subject of professional research,

based on which it was found that several factors influence its creation. The
positive climate in the classroom supports the performance of students and
teachers and their motivation for education and learning. "It is a very multifaceted
and complex phenomenon. In the professional literature, it is often mentioned in
connection with other terms such as the environment of the class, the atmosphere
of the class, the character or ethos of the class” [6].

According to Gavora [7], the term classroom climate expresses the degree to
which a pupil in a class is satisfied, whether students understand each other, the
degree of competition and competition between them, and the degree of cohesion
of the pupils in the class as a whole. Pupil satisfaction in the classroom is related
to many factors. A teacher as a personality is one of them who knows or does not
know how to work with a specific student team. His behaviour affects not only
the whole class but also the students who make it up. One teacher may perceive a
student or a team of students as problem-free, i. Positively, but another teacher
may have a completely different (opposite) relationship to the student team. It can
perceive students as unprepared, problematic, undisciplined. We can talk about
harmonic or disharmonic relationships during the teaching process [8].

Lašek [9] states that the climate affects the student personally; the student is
more or less interested in school, school work, positive or negative relationships
in school, etc. In the socio-psychological sense, the student becomes an associate
member of the group, participates in individual activities of the group, the student
can be favoured by teachers or classmates, or is relegated to the background, etc.

Hanuliaková presents the following selected types of climate (environment):

1. Current and preferred classroom climate, it is essential to be able to

recognize these two climates. The current climate is created in the current
situation, but it can be very different from the preferred climate, and it is necessary
to adjust it based on the requirements of parents, schools and teachers.

2. The communication climate is created as a result of the communication

used between the actors. Communication influences the creation of a favourable
climate in the classroom.

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 Section EDUCATION AND EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

3. The creative climate induces productive activity among students and also
has a positive effect on teachers. In such a climate, the creativity of students, their
ideas and observations are emphasized.

4. Organizational climate is an essential aspect of "time management", which

considers the degree of creative management, the expectation of creativity, and
subsequent cooperation.

5. The moral climate, through which the moral personality of students is

created, supports the creation of values such as empathy, prosociality, altruism,
morality and others.

6. The mental climate results from formal and informal classroom

relationships. Positive relationships create a favourable climate function and,
conversely, a tense situation full of conflicts creates negative relationships and an
unfavourable atmosphere [6].

It is essential for students and teachers to work in a climate that will positively
affect them. The teacher must know which elements form and influence the
classroom climate, how to change the negative climate, keep it positive, get
students to actively cooperate, properly motivate them to learn, and effectively
organize their learning activities.

It follows that the teacher should know several factors that affect the creation
of a positive climate in the classroom: social competencies - characteristic
empathic attitudes and behaviours, assertive behaviours and its techniques;
communication competencies - communication with students themselves, t. j.
communication procedures, to be friendly and to communicate kindly;
organizational competencies - construction of the teaching process with the
learning process (teaching) of students and relation to the learning process
(acquisition of knowledge); the personality of the teacher, who must acquire the
required moral and professional competencies; implementation of socio-ethical
skills; use of active learning methods; a number of pupils in the class.

Application of AAA evaluation methodology in the teacher's competence

to create a positive climate in the classroom

During the lesson, the teacher meets with different subjects, so it is essential
that he can communicate adequately and thus create a suitable climate in the
classroom. When creating a classroom climate, the teacher should create a relaxed
atmosphere, eliminate stressful situations, approach pupils individually, motivate
them to work, activity, and help increase students' self-esteem. We present case
studies from realized lessons of civics and chemistry, evaluated by the AAA
methodology.

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NORDSCI Conference

CIVIC LESSONS CLASS - 4TH YEAR OF GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Annotation. The lesson was focused on the Pre-Socratic period and was
realized in the form of written and oral repetition. At the beginning of the class,
the teacher briefly introduced the topic of the lesson. He immediately asked the
students questions about the written word. Pupils worked independently during
the written work. The teacher thus created a relaxed atmosphere, which allowed
the students to work actively, creatively and without stress in class.

In the next part of the lesson, after collecting the written work, the teacher led
the students to open and effective communication with additional oral repetition
of the topic and find the correct answers to the questions from the written word.
It created a positive climate in the classroom, so students were not worried
respectively. Afraid to express their opinion, answer questions and show interest
in the issue. In the dialogue, the teacher tried to lead students to logical thinking,
problem-solving and creative thinking. He emphasized that mutual respect is
essential in every communication, allowing expressing oneself, not trying to have
the last word at all costs, perceiving the other as a partner in finding the correct
answer, and understanding the other.

During the lesson, there were a few disturbing moments and smiling
situations, which the teacher calmly and humorously resolved, calmed the
students, and guided them.

The discussion on the topic took place in a friendly atmosphere, but at the
same time with respect for the teacher. At the end of the lesson, the teacher
evaluated its course and assigned tasks for the next class.

Analysis. Information on the issue was provided suitably. Methods that

created space for the student to express himself without fear of correct or incorrect
answer supported his creativity, activity, independence, and knowledge
acquisition in a non-violent, friendly, and exciting form.

The teacher tried to attract and maintain the student's attention throughout the
lesson and through verbal and non-verbal communication to create a positive
climate in the classroom, motivating students and getting feedback from them.

Alteration. When creating a positive climate in the classroom, the teacher

could pay even more attention to the development of student's communication
skills. To teach them to express their opinion in a cultured way, take responsibility
for their decisions, respect the opinion of others, evaluate themselves and others
positively, and solve everyday situations in interpersonal relationships creatively.

When working with students, the teacher should help internalize prosocial
values and attitudes and acquire social skills - empathy and assertiveness. To lead
students to adhere to agreed rules of conduct, open communication (truthfulness,

20
 Section EDUCATION AND EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

objectivity, accepting the truth about themselves and others), tolerance, and
cultivated behaviour. To guide students on how to defend themselves and their
rights in a non-aggressive way, to express their opinion.

The teacher could also mediate the topic through video or text reading,
working in pairs or groups, didactic games, and thus teach students to cooperate,
solve problems and discuss, and at the same time, more effectively implement a
suitable climate in the classroom.

CHEMISTRY CLASS - 9TH GRADE OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Annotation. The lesson was focused on cosmetics, in which students were to

get acquainted with the distribution, properties, and content of cosmetics in a
discovery way.

The didactic goal of the lesson was to consolidate and expand knowledge and
expertise in the field of chemistry, focused on the topic of Organic Substances in
Everyday Life. The teacher had various teaching aids at his disposal, and
similarly, the students brought multiple cosmetics for the lesson. In the
motivational part of the lesson, the teacher used the method of storytelling and
conversation, during which he ascertained the students' knowledge of the topic. A
stress-free atmosphere was gradually created in the classroom, the pupils' interest
in the issue of cosmetics and daily hygiene was active.

In the exposition part, the teacher devoted himself to information about the
historical development of cosmetic products as a way of protection against
weather conditions and insects; he introduced the role of decorative cosmetics. As
part of the group work, students prepared and presented the composition and
properties of cosmetics.

The fixation part was devoted to summarizing the acquired knowledge and
pointing out several problems caused by chemical substances contained in
cosmetic products. The teacher pointed out the chemical processes related to the
production of selected cosmetics. Subsequently, the students summarized the
properties of cosmetic products using the method of questions and answers. After
evaluating the lesson, the teacher assigned the homework.

Analysis. The chemistry class was conducted in a friendly atmosphere.

During the classroom class, the following situations were disrupted: the teacher
spilled water on the floor, in which case it is important to pay attention to safety;
one pupil sprayed perfumed water on a classmate's hair, the situation resulting in
a disturbance of the working atmosphere in the classroom; when detecting the
smell of hair shampoos, one pupil got the product in the eyes, the teacher had to
deal with the situation promptly; even after the time limit of the lesson, the teacher
answered the pupils with questions that were evoked by the interest in the topic.

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Alteration. The following suggestions emerged from the analysis of the

lesson: the need to increase teacher respect; observance of the principles of safety
in teaching activities; quality organization of the teaching process; focus on
improving classroom communication,; respect for each other.

The teacher demonstrated the pedagogical ability to create and maintain a

positive climate in the classroom, creating a relaxed atmosphere and thus
orienting students' interest in the topic. Pupils were creatively involved in the
activity and were not afraid to express their opinion, the teacher gave them a space
to discuss their discoveries, which he then corrected and presented their general
statements. He led students to independent discovery, created a positive climate
in the classroom, tried to lead students to independent logical thinking and
creative thinking.

In the context of changes in teaching, the teacher should be aware that

creating a positive climate in the classroom is one of his core competencies. This
means implementing the teaching process with the intention of deepening and
strengthening the creative thinking of students, developing and implementing
communication skills in various interactions such as teacher - pupil or pupil -
pupil.

The presented evaluation model considers systematic, it contains all the

components involved in the construction of the competence structure. Within the
model implementing the AAA assessment methodology, we have the ambition to
direct evaluators to the real possibilities of assessing the work of the evaluated
teacher through a relatively comprehensive analytical approach.

CONCLUSION

The result of the project activity is a lot of information obtained, which is

related to the selected key competencies of the teacher. An irreplaceable role in
creating a positive classroom climate is played by the teacher's personality and
ability to diagnose influences that negatively affect the classroom climate. This
means monitoring the factors, resp. Implement activities that are important in
creating a positive climate in the classroom [10]. It represents a positive attitude
of the teacher (patience, interest, smile, emphasis on the student's individuality),
respect for the personality of individual students, mutual acceptance of teachers
and students, time and organizational management.

These requirements are related to changes in the context of school reform in

the Slovak Republic. They reflect current needs, where the school is understood
as a variable educational space in which teachers accompany pupils in their
learning and learning process, developing their competencies and creating them
comprehensively, individual personalities.

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 Section EDUCATION AND EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

The teacher must be a professionally qualified pedagogical worker to create

a positive educational environment, organize and plan the activities of students,
influence them with their personality, be empathetic, creative, and humanistic. He
must be competent enough to be able not only to teach and educate effectively but
also to improve his pedagogical activity. The key competencies should focus not
only on the student and the educational process but also on their professional self-
development, which is never completed and requires increased attention and
commitment.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This work was supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency
under the contract No. APVV-14-0446.

REFERENCES
[1] Borich, G., Fenton, K. The Appraisal of Teaching: Concepts and Process.
Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Longman, 1977, 396 p.
[2] The National Council of Teachers of English, 2014. Teacher´s
Competences As Identified By NCTE. In International Journal of
Multidisciplinary Reseasch and Development. ISSN 239-4182, Volume 1. Issue
6, 2014, pp. 252-253.
[3] Gadušová, Z. a kol. Nástroje hodnotenia kompetencií učiteľa. Praha :
Verbum, 2019. 197 p.
[4] Čeretková, S. a kol. Kompetencie učiteľa, hodnotenie, sebahodnotenie.
Praha : Verbum, 2019, 182 p.
[5] Lomnický, I. a kol. Teoretické východiská a súvislosti hodnotenia
kompetencií učiteľa. Praha : Verbum, 2017, 308 p.
[6] Hanuliaková, J. Aktivizujúce vyučovanie. Bratislava : IRIS, 2015, 127 p.
[7] Gavora, P. Akí sú moji žiaci. Pedagogická diagnostika. Bratislava : Práca,
1999, 233 p.
[8] Petlák, E. Klíma školy a klíma triedy. Bratislava : Iris, 2006, 119 p.
[9] Lašek, J. Sociálne psychologické klima školních tříd a školy. Hradec
Králové : Gaudeamus, 161 p.
[10] Jakubovská, V., Stranovská, E. Developing multicultural attitudes of
students through educational games. In: INTED 2017 : Proceedings from 11th
annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference,
Valencia2017. Valencia : IATED Academy, 2017, pp. 1488-1493.

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 Section EDUCATION AND EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

BUILDING MOBILITY COMPETENCE OF INTENDING

TEACHERS

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ekaterina Kostina1

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Svetlana Khoroshilova 2
Prof. Dr. Elena Pushkareva3
1, 2, 3
Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University, Russia

ABSTRACT

The main idea of modern education is to build competences as a produce of

university educational process. One of the most important competences of
intending teachers to be built is mobility competence, which is a component of
professional pedagogical competence.

We believe, to train a mobile teacher is possible within a purposefully created

cross-cultural educational university environment, where the designed technology
of developing intending teachers’ academic mobility based on the cross-cultural
approach is implemented.

The empirical methods of the research are represented by observation,

interlocution, interview, questioning, testing, expert review, generalization of
independent data, pedagogical experiment, and mathematical statistics.

To estimate the readiness of intending teachers for academic mobility under

the conditions of cross-cultural educational environment, four levels of readiness
are offered: optimal (high), admissible (middle), critical (low), and inadmissible
(not ready). To determine the level, we have developed three criteria (cognitive,
motivational-valuable, acting-reflective) and their indicators.

At the motivating stage of the pedagogical experiment we conducted surveys

of different respondent groups (random sample including online format, 1261
respondents) with the help of the questionnaires we had developed. The received
data were used in the training course “Teaching a foreign language through the
culture of native speakers”, which contributed to the building of mobility
competence of intending teachers.

At the monitoring stage of our experimental education the comparison of the

results of the incoming and outgoing assessment according to the developed
criteria and indicators showed significant growth of the students’ readiness for
academic mobility, which allows us concluding that the designed technology of
developing academic mobility based on the cross-cultural approach is effective in
building mobility competence of intending teachers.

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Keywords: mobility competence, intending teachers, cross-cultural

approach, technology, academic mobility

INTRODUCTION
In accordance with the Bologna Declaration, one of the key criteria of the
quality of a national higher education system is students’ academic mobility [1],
which allows raising a competitive advantage of the national education when
positive experience of native and foreign educational systems is taken into
account [2].
Educational content at a pedagogical university should meet modern
requirements and create favourable conditions for developing a personality
capable for self perfection, self realization, and self development [3].
Inertia of thinking, immunity to criticism, fear of failure, unmotivated
negation of any point of view, which does not coincide with their own opinion,
affect negatively competent performance of professional duties by a teacher [4].
All this can be largely overcome or weakened on the basis of organized
academic mobility, which allows studying and taking over successful experience
of professional pedagogical activity at higher educational institutions in a native
country and abroad [1].
Academic mobility plays a crucial role in the process of professional and
personal growth, as every participant of academic mobility has to (when taking
decisions) analyze life situations from the cultural point of view of the receiving
and native countries [5].
So, one of the objectives of training professional teachers at a university is to
build their mobility competence. We regard mobility competence as an integral
trait characterizing the readiness of a personality to carry out professional
activities under the conditions of academic mobility. Mobility competence is a
complex structure including foreign language communicative, cross-cultural,
adaptive, and media competences.
Foreign language communicative competence is a skill to solve, by means of
a foreign language, topical issues of communication, to reach communicative
goals [6].
Cross-cultural competence is an integral trait including knowledge of the
other culture features, skills to interpret information of the other culture,
experience of communicative activity, and such professionally important traits as
empathy and tolerance [7].
Media competence is an integral professional trait consisting of skills to work
with information including search, gathering, understanding the media language
and subtext of media messages, their critical analysis, interpretation and an ability
to create, receive and transmit media massages by means of multimedia [8].

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Adaptive competence is possessing the knowledge and skills to get into the
other culture by acquiring its norms, values, and patterns of behaviour.
To try and build mobility competence of intending teachers of foreign
languages we have created cross-cultural educational environment at the Faculty
of foreign languages of Novosibirsk state pedagogical university, Russia. We
regard cross-cultural educational environment as a complex of conditions, where
students’ cultural features are taken into account, thus, contacting cultures in the
face of students are compared and enriched, and this contributes to developing
students’ mobility.
The cross-cultural educational environment comprises four elements: spatial
(the building, interior, infrastructure, equipment), cognitive (content of
educational programmes, library and online resources), social (student-student,
professor-professor, professor-student communication style; volunteer service,
adaptive system, cultural and leisure activities), and valuable (values and
traditions at a university, society, family, reference group).
The educational process within this environment is realized by means of the
technology of developing students’ academic mobility based on the cross-cultural
approach. The technology embraces different pedagogical university activities,
such as academic studies, scientific research, international projects, career
guidance, etc., and is consequentially implemented in the following stages:
analytical, prognostic, planning, motivating, acting, monitoring, and resultative.
Being limited by this paper framework, we will dwell only on the monitoring
stage of the designed technology of developing academic mobility of intending
teachers based on the cross-cultural approach.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The research was conducted in the years 2012 – 2017, when the programme
of the events of the technology of developing academic mobility of intending
teachers based on the cross-cultural approach was being implimented at
administrative, organizational and content levels.

The participants of the research were 449 second-year and third-year students
of the Faculty of foreign languages of Novosibirsk state pedagogical university,
Russia. The choice of these years of education is explained by studying, at this
stage, academic courses related to the country studies, culture, geography, and
history of the English-speaking countries. One of the aims of teaching these
courses to the students is building and developing cross-cultural competence (part
of mobility competence) of intending teachers of foreign languages.

The empirical methods used by the researchers were observation,

interlocution, interview, questioning, testing, expert review, generalization of
independent data, pedagogical experiment, and mathematical statistics.

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To estimate the readiness of the students for academic mobility under the
conditions of the cross-cultural educational environment we defined the levels:
optimal (high – ready for the academic mobility: possessing the skill of a mediator
of cultures, the skill to adapt to another culture); admissible (average level of
readiness: knowledge of most social norms; possessing the skills to get orientated
in student sociocultural environment, to choose adequate behaviour, to manage
their own stereotypes, to interpret correctly the context of the message); critical
(low level of readiness: student’s cognitive and moral positions are very weak; a
low level of knowledge of the main social norms, of the skill to define in the
process of communication the behavioral models of the native and foreign
cultures); inadmissible (the absence of readiness: the absence of positive
stereotypes in regard to the main cultural phenomena of the receiving country, of
the skill to realize cultural differences by the keywords).

To see the effectiveness of implementing the technology of developing

academic mobility of intending teachers based on the cross-cultural approach we
defined certain criteria and their descriptors demonstrating the readiness of a
personality to participate in the process of academic mobility (Table 1):
Table 1. Criteria and descriptors of personality’s readiness for academic
mobility
Criteria Descriptors
Cognitive - - a mature idea of the cultural diversity in the world is
shaped;
- - the background knowledge of every culture under
study is posessed
Motivational- - - a need for learning a foreign language and constant
valuable language training;
- - collective with foreign students classes and
extracurricular activities (visiting theatres, museums,
exhibitions, and concerts);
- - values, traditions and norms of the native culture are
mastered;
- - national-cultural specifics of initial and receiving
communities are taken into consideration;
- - respect for other cultures
Acting-reflective - getting effective result in the process of interaction
with the representatives of another culture in a native
or other community;
- analysis and assessment in the process of cross-
cultural interaction of one’s own communicative acts
aiming at effective cross-cultural communication
Source: Own source

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RESULTS

During the period of 6 years (2012 – 2017) we were monitoring (incoming,

intermediate, and final monitoring) the impact of the educational process on the
2nd and 3rd year-students.

The incoming monitoring was represented by questioning, testing, and

interlocution.

When questioning, the students were asked to estimate their own level of
knowledge and skills in the sphere of oral interethnic English language
communication. The maximum possible number of scores being 2, the average
respondent group score in the period of 2012 – 2017 was 0,36 by the motivational-
valuable criterion and 0,38 – by the acting-reflective criterion, which corresponds
to the critical (low) level. This confirms our assumption that interethnic
communication skills of the intending English teachers are practically absent,
which requires purposefully organized work to build and develop these skills, as
the latter are the content component of the cross-cultural competence (an element
of the mobility competence of intending teachers) and the basis of their readiness
for the academic mobility.

The goal of testing was to reveal the level of students’ knowledge of the
culture, geography and history of the foreign country under study. The results of
the incoming testing were the following: the average respondent group score in
the period of 2012 – 2017 was 28,4 (at maximum 100) by the cognitive criterion,
which corresponds to the critical (low) level of the knowledge under revealing.
This confirms our assumption on the necessity to organize purposeful methodical
activity on building and developing the cognitive component of the cross-cultural
competence of intending English teachers.

Working out the questions for the interlocution with the respondents, we
emphasized the motivational-valuable criterion of the formed traits of a
personality prepared for academic mobility. The goal of the interlocution was to
use the received results in the propaedeutic academic course “Teaching a Foreign
Language through the Culture of Native Speakers”. The results of the
interlocution were the following: 30% of the students realize what the universal
values are and can give their examples; 70% of the students know the notions
“national interests”, “homeland”, but have difficulties in differentiating (or
generalizing) interethnic and national interests; 90% of the respondents believe,
that solving interethnic problems is possible through culture, but they could not
give certain examples; 100% of the students consider it necessary to know the
language of the country one lives in and English as the language of international
communication, and they reasonably motivate their opinion.

The intermediate monitoring was represented by observation and interview.

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We were observing the students during their academic classes (interactive

lectures and practical lessons of professional courses) and under the conditions of
extracurricular activities (linguistic and cultural tours abroad, international
student projects in England, Belgium, France, Germany, Croatia, and China).
When observing, taking into account the criteria of personality’s readiness for
academic mobility, we registered the following:
• cognitive criterion: development of cultural and country studies
competence (in-depth knowledge of geography, history and culture
of the language-speaking countries; knowledge of background
vocabulary, of precedent material; comparative studies of mentality,
national features of foreign language speakers and Russians;
analysis of stereotypes of foreigners and Russians, etc.);
• motivational-valuable criterion: increased motivation to learn a
foreign language; development of foreign language communicative
competence (more confident use of vocabulary and foreign language
structures); facts of tolerant behaviour to other culture
representatives, their opinion, appearance and way of life; etc.);
• acting-reflective criterion; development of communicative
competence (barrier-free communication); analysis of one’s own
speech and behaviour in order to effectively communicate).

The observation results let us see the positive tendency in forming and
developing students’ mobility competence due to the organized academic
mobility at the faculty of foreign languages.

We interviewed the teaching staff of the faculty of foreign languages with the
goal in mind to find out the changes, from their point of view, occurring in the
students’ readiness for academic mobility. The opinion of the teaching staff was
based on observing the students in the education process and interpersonal
communication. The interview results certify that by the year of graduation
around 80% of the students;
• realize the world cultural diversity, possess the background
knowledge of their native culture and culture of the language-
speaking countries (cognitive criterion);
• behave in accordance with the norms, values and traditions of their
own culture and culture of the receiving country; realize and take
into account mentality features of the receiving cultural community;
demonstrate an increasing interest in learning foreign languages by
communicating with foreign students at their home faculty and in
receiving countries (motivational-valuable criterion);
• are able to make their own decisions and act appropriately to get the
result; analyze and estimate their own behaviour (including speech
behaviour) from the point of view of achieving effective cross-
cultural communication (acting-reflective criterion).

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 Section EDUCATION AND EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Thus, around 80% of the graduation year students majoring in foreign

languages possess mobility competence and are ready for the process of academic
mobility.

The final monitoring was represented by testing, questioning, expert review,

interview and generalization of independent data.

The testing results (cognitive criterion) demonstrated that during the period
of 2012 – 2017 the average score of the respondent group (83,2) corresponds to
the optimal (high) level of cultural and country studies knowledge. Figure 1 shows
the results of incoming and final testing in comparison.
113

90

68 incoming
45
final
23

0
2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17

Fig. 1. Comparison of the levels of cultural and country studies knowledge.

Source: Own source

The obtained data was analyzed by using Student’s t-test, which showed
significant difference between the results of the experimental groups. Thus, the
fact of increasing the level of cultural and country studies knowledge of the
respondents, hence their levels of cross-cultural competence and readiness for
academic mobility is statistically reliable.

Questioning 300 students, who studied abroad, proved the necessity and
correctness of the international activity, including students’ academic mobility,
organized at the faculty of foreign languages.

Expert review gave the questioning average score 1,5 against 0,36 by
motivational-valuable criterion and 1,4 score against 0,38 by acting-reflective
criterion, which is equal to the admissible (average) level, close enough to the
optimal (high) level (Figures 2, 3).

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1.5

1 incoming
final
0.5

0
2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17

Fig. 2. Motivational-valuable criterion: incoming questioning and final

expert review of students’ readiness for academic mobility.
Source: Own source

1.5

1 incoming
final
0.5

0
2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17

Fig. 3. Acting-reflective criterion: incoming questioning and final expert

review of students’ readiness for academic mobility.
Source: Own source

Being interviewed the administrative staff of the University pointed out

qualitative and quantitative growth of students’ participation in the process of
academic mobility due to the organized cross-cultural training at the faculty of
foreign languages.

The teaching staff independent data received (education, PhD degrees,

rewards, studies abroad, international exams, guiding international projects, Web
of Science and SCOPUS papers, etc.) attest in favour of professionalism, which
allowed the teaching staff to create the cross-cultural educational environment at
the faculty and form students’ readiness for academic mobility.

CONCLUSION

The technology of developing academic mobility based on the cross-cultural

approach was realized in the form of experimental education at the Faculty of
foreign languages of Novosibirsk state pedagogical university, Russia. The goal
of the technology was to build students’ mobility competence. The results were
monitored with the help of such research methods as observation, interlocution,

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 Section EDUCATION AND EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

interview, questioning, testing, expert review, and generalization of independent

data applied in accordance with the developed criteria to estimate the level of
students’ readiness for academic mobility.

The programme activities of the technology, taking place during the period
of 2012 – 2017, covered educational, scientific, international, further training and
other spheres. Methods and technologies, used depending on the activity, became
the following, for example: communicative method, method of projects,
technology of creative thinking, technology of debates, portfolio technology, etc.
(academic studies); planning, experiment, analysis (research); case studies,
integration, creating of polycultural environment, etc. (international).

The monitoring data bring us to the conclusion that the proposed technology
of developing academic mobility of intending teachers based on the cross-cultural
approach is adequate and effective.

REFERENCES
[1] Kostina E.A., Kretova L.N. Kul'turno-stranovedcheskaya kompetentnost'
uchitelya inostrannogo yazyka: uchebnoe posobie. Novosibirsk: NGPU, 2016.
112 s.
[2] Grebenkina L.K., Zhokina N.A. Professional'nye osnovy vospitaniya v
vuze // Pedagogicheskij professionalizm v sovremennom obrazovanii: materialy
V mezhdunarodnoj nauchno-prakticheskoj konferencii (18-21 fevralya 2009 g.).
– Novosibirsk: Izd-vo NGPU, 2009. CH. 2. S. 213–220).
[3] Sverchkov A.V. Formirovanie professional'no-pedagogicheskoj kul'tury
kak prioritetnoe napravlenie podgotovki budushchih sportivnyh pedagogov //
Pedagogicheskij professionalizm v sovremennom obrazovanii: materialy V
mezhdunarodnoj nauchno-prakticheskoj konferencii (18-21 fevralya 2009 g.). –
Novosibirsk: Izd-vo NGPU, 2009. CH. 2. S. 132–139).
[4] Abul'hanova-Slavskaya K.A. Deyatel'nost' i psihologiya lichnosti. M.:
Nauka, 1980. 335 s.
[5] Byram M., Dervin F. Students, Staff and Academic Mobility in Higher
Education. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2008. 312 p.
[6] Bim I.L. Koncepciya obucheniya vtoromu inostrannomu yazyku
(nemeckij na baze anglijskogo): uchebnoe posobie. Obninsk: Titul, 2001. 48 s.
[7] Kolosovskaya T.A. Formirovanie kross-kul'turnoj kompetentnosti
budushchih uchitelej: avtoref. dis. … kand. ped. nauk [Online resource]. URL:
http://nauka-pedagogika.com/pedagogika-13-00-08/dissertaciya-formirovanie-
kross-kulturnoy-kompetentnosti-buduschih-uchiteley#ixzz3EWjlyipj (reference
date: 05.04.2015).
[8] Goncharova T.M. Mediakompetenciya kak neobhodimyj element
professio-nal'noj kompetencii // Elektronnyj zhurnal «Social'nyj komp'yuting».

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2012. № 1. S. 5–12 [Online resource]. URL:

http://mediaeducation.ucoz.ru/_ld/9/935___2012.pdf (reference date: 05.09.2017

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 Section EDUCATION AND EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

COMPETENCE TO DESIGN AND PLAN EDUCATION AND

ITS APPLICATION IN SCHOOL PRACTICE

Assoc. Prof. Ľubica Predanocyová, PhD.1

Assoc. Prof. Gabriela Jonášková, CSc.2
1, 2
Constantine the Philosopher University, Nitra, Slovakia

ABSTRACT

Planning is an essential part of the preparation and implementation of the

teaching process. Designing and planning education is an important part of the
complex professional competencies of teachers, which were the subject of several
years of research carried out at the University of Constantine the Philosopher in
Nitra. Scientific research of Slovak experts focused on the issue of the
professional competencies of teachers. The starting point was to determine the
current state of professional skills of teachers in the Slovak Republic, then a
complex of necessary competencies was identified. The relevance of the teacher's
competency complex was confirmed by their practical implementation, which
was assessed by competent evaluators.

The paper presents the professional competence to plan and design, which we
understand as a basic pillar of quality and effective education. A modern school
requires the personal and social development of the student, good study results,
but also in a complex of student values, which can be ensured by a
methodologically and professionally thought-out organization of the teaching
process.

One of the results of the APVV research project, Evaluation of Teacher

Competencies, was the creation of tools and criteria for evaluating and self-
evaluating the quality of a teacher's professional competencies in educational
practice. Part of the paper is to present the practical implementation of a special
methodology aimed at evaluating the competence to design and plan teaching, in
the form of a case study model.
Keywords: professional competencies of the teacher, designing and planning
of education, evaluation of competencies

INTRODUCTION

Teaching and learning is the professional work of a teacher, aimed at helping

students learn. Thinking about what students should learn, what values to acquire,
what competencies to develop is at the heart of the planning process [1]. Planning
means quality results of students, high efficiency of teaching, built on a
methodologically adequate approach, selection of curriculum content, creation of
educational activities. Good planning enables the implementation of innovative

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approaches, the teacher's ability to respond to new content and requirements from
society.

The analyzed competence is compatible with the current trend in education,

where the focus is on the learner. Some aspects of this trend can be pointed out:
the teacher is in the position of a mentor, a guide; learning is accompanied by
mistakes; teaching is differentiated and adapted to students; learning is a multi-
sensory process, it is authentic, practical; students are given space for activities,
technologies are integrated with the curriculum; education is social-emotional [2].

It is important to note that an important aspect is incorporated in the teacher's

competence to design and plan - self-reflection, thus reassessing the improvement
of educational work, which would respect current trends in education. When
planning, the teacher is expected to respect changes in society and in the education
system. The teacher creates conditions that reflect these changes and are directed
towards the active cognitive activity of students. Designing and planning is the
process of organizing, it is the creative and independent work of a teacher.

EDUCATION DESIGN AND PLANNING

Designing and planning education is one of the key professional

competencies of a teacher, which plays a significant role in creating and
maintaining a positive climate in the classroom. It is one of the basic pedagogical
requirements, requiring one to think in advance about the content aspect of the
work, whether from a long-term or short-term aspect. Didactic-methodical
processing of content, measured to fulfil a pre-clear and comprehensibly
formulated set of goals, is a necessary part of the work of teachers and students.

In the conditions of the Slovak education system, we can identify several

specific competencies that are part of the competence:

1. knowledge: they are a starting point for adequate knowledge of the issue
of competence,

2. skills and attitudes:

a) be able to design and plan education in the context of the state and
school educational program and accordance with the identified and
required key competencies of the student,
b) be able to reflect on the actual learning process of students and
compare it with the projected function,
c) to create an individual educational plan for pupils with special
educational needs in cooperation with experts.

The starting point for design and planning is the teacher's ability to set
teaching and learning goals. The definition of objectives is related to the

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 Section EDUCATION AND EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

requirements of Slovak society, which are currently incorporated in Act no.

245/2008 Coll. On upbringing and education (Act on upbringing and education,
2008). Another group of requirements is related to the psychological processes of
the student; the teacher must correctly differentiate and then meet the goals in the
field of cognitive (intellectual), socio-affective (educational), and psychomotor
(senso-motor skills of the student). The prerequisite for the application of
competence is also the knowledge and fulfilment of key competencies of the
student, which we characterize as a set of demonstrable individual abilities of
active and conscious use of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values. The quality of
upbringing and education is linked to the knowledge of the content aspect of the
pupil's competencies and the methodological possibilities of their fulfilment in a
specific subject [3].

Professional competence to design and plan the teaching process requires the
teacher to apply knowledge and skills to several levels.

The teacher must have knowledge related to long-term design associated with
creating the state educational program, which results from the work of experts.
Active project activity is reflected in the creation and correction of school
curricula, curricula and school curricula.

The core of the analyzed competence is medium-term design, applied mainly

to create a functional thematic educational plan. Its creation is an essential and
demanding project activity of the teacher, covering a relatively long period for
stratification of the curriculum content and forms of its implementation.

The quality of short-term planning is demonstrable in creating

models/scenarios of lessons and representing the teacher's daily pedagogical
activity. It is a complicated individual thought process, the result of which is the
creation of a lesson model, the prerequisite of which is the knowledge of all levels
of design.

APPLICATION OF THE AAA METHODOLOGY IN

EVALUATING THE TEACHER'S COMPETENCE TO DESIGN
AND PLAN EDUCATION

The need for a deeper analysis of the assessed performance of the teacher
requires the evaluator to use the methodological possibilities provided by the
AAA methodology [4].

Annotation (A) focuses on the presentation of the overall context of the

teaching situation, it is a description of a specific educational situation, its content,
methodological and didactic processing, student activities that allow the
perception and reflection of the educational problem.

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Analysis (A) provides space for the evaluator, which allows to communicate
with the teacher and analyze the various components of the teaching process, the
implementation of teaching methods. The analysis focuses on the application of
evaluation criteria that are specific to the specific competencies assessed.

Alteration (A) represents the relationship between the achieved quality of

fulfillment of specific competence and the possibility of its improvement in the
proposals provided to the teacher by his evaluator.

We distinguish three levels of alteration quality:

Failing quality: teaching is not beneficial for students, the required

competencies of students are not developed, the quality is the result of didactic
shortcomings of the teacher in teaching.

Undeveloped quality: teaching provides students with the opportunity to

acquire basic knowledge, but does not allow for a wider development of their
competencies.

Encouraging quality: teaching leads students to an active understanding of

the topic, provides them with stimuli for evaluation, judgment, derivation.

Developing quality: students show the ability to generalize knowledge, apply

it, understand social relationships, in the assigned tasks show understanding of the
topic in a broader context [5].

The mentioned methodology is an optimal model and evaluation tool within

the short-term planning of education. The evaluator has the opportunity to monitor
and assess the performance of the teacher and the work of students in one lesson,
taking into account the specification of the requirements of the competence [6].

We have created a set of specific evaluation criteria and their associated

indicators (criteria and indicators are part of the evaluation sheet), which we
present in tabular form for clarity.

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Table 1. Evaluation criteria and indicators of competence to design and plan

education
EVALUATION INDICATORS
CRITERIA
The planning system in the • The teacher took into account the
school and in the specific requirements set by the school
subject curriculum when planning the teaching
process.
• The teacher relevantly fulfilled the
objectives of the lesson in accordance
with the school curriculum.
• The course of the lesson showed that the
teacher reflected the results of his / her
monitoring from the previous teaching
when planning.

Monitoring the development • The teacher included in the content of

of the subject from a the lesson current knowledge of
theoretical and sciences.
methodological aspect • It was evident from the implementation
of the lesson that the teacher applied the
didactic analysis of the curriculum in the
process of its planning.
• The teacher used teaching methods that
support the active learning of pupils.
Planning reflects • The lesson was planned with the active
interdisciplinarity in application of interdisciplinary contexts.
education and assessment • Part of the lesson planning was the
processes active application of cross-cutting
themes.
• The teacher used a well-thought-out
procedure for assessing and classifying
students.
Lesson construction • The teacher set the central and partial
goals of the individual parts of the
lesson.
• The teacher implemented the planned
content and performance requirements.
• The teacher respected and adhered to the
planned timing of the lesson.

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Content and methodological • The implementation of the lesson

aspect of the lesson respected the planned content
classification.
• The selection and application of
methods and forms of work
corresponded to the fulfillment of the set
goals of the lesson.
• The logical construction of the
curriculum content corresponded to the
requirements of didactic transformation.
• The methodological approach
corresponded to the age of the pupils and
their individual possibilities (specificity
and individuality in the approach to the
specified group of pupils).
• The teacher systematically developed
selected competencies of pupils.
• The teacher used the educational aspect
of the lesson planned in accordance with
A lesson in the context of the the topic.
pupil's needs • The contact and cooperation of the
teacher with the students was
thoughtfully realized.
• The use of material teaching aids was
thoughtful and effective.
Source: Own source

In the next text, we present an example for the practical use of AAA
methodology methods, which takes the form of a case study [7]. It is a record of
the authentic teaching situation in the subject of civics, which was created on the
basis of the evaluator's participation in teaching.

CIVIC LESSONS CLASS - 2ND YEAR OF GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Annotation

The realised lesson was in the 2nd year secondary school, in the compulsory
subject of Civic lesson on the topic The rule of law and its features. The teacher
sets general goals, specific goals, content and performance standards, relevant
competencies of the student, teaching methods and forms of work,
interdisciplinary connections, and material-didactic means.

The structure of the lesson consisted of all parts of a standard task. The
introductory part, which formulated the general goal of the lesson was, was

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followed by the control-diagnostic part. The teacher presented the students with a
caricature showing the totalitarian regime - fascism. The pupil's task was to
identify the totalitarian regime and name the individual features of totalitarianism
based on specific examples from the cartoon.

In the motivational phase, the teacher created a table with two columns on
the board.

In the first pupils, they wrote down the signs of the totalitarian regime; based
on these signs, they subsequently tried to identify the signs of the democratic
government and wrote them down in the second column.

The realised exhibition part was through a combination of methods of

explaining the curriculum and Socratic conversation. The used process of working
with professional texts was in the form of work in pairs; based on working with
texts, the institutes deduced the basic principles of the rule of law.

The fixation part was devoted to confirming the findings. The teacher chose
the method of individual independent work. The assignment of homework was
focused on the cognitive side of the topic; at the end of the lesson, the teacher
evaluated students' work and summarised the topic of the lesson in the form of
key terms, which he recorded on the board.

Analysis

We analysed the lesson based on six evaluation criteria. These criteria

belonged to evaluating the competence to design and plan education (Table
Evaluation criteria and indicators of the competence to design and plan
education).

Alteration

From the analysis of individual evaluation criteria, we came to several

proposals:
• more rigorous use of monitoring to assess the quality of pupils'
knowledge and skills,
• use interdisciplinary relations also with subjects of geography,
informatics,
• set partial aims of individual parts of the lesson structure, as
consistent planning of all parts of the lesson should also include
partial educational and teaching goals; their identification will
support the quality of learning outcomes – pupil competencies,
• the teacher planned to implement the cross-sectional topic of
Multicultural Education, but it did not implement during the lesson.
We suggest that when creating the scenario of the lesson, the

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methodological approaches by which the mentioned

implementation will be realised are also incorporated,
• the teacher, during the lesson, oriented the activity of the pupils also
in terms of supporting its educational aspect. Therefore we suggest
that the teacher include planning the lesson scenario and
methodically specify this potential of the topic.

The presented evaluation model considers a systematic approach to the

competence to design and plan education; it contains all the components involved
in the construction of the competence structure. Within the model implementing
the AAA assessment methodology, we have the ambition to direct evaluators to
the real possibilities of assessing the work of the evaluated teacher through a
relatively comprehensive analytical approach.

CONCLUSION

Professional competence to design and plan education represents one of the

competencies oriented to support professionalism, professional growth and
organizational skills in the context of lifelong learning and career growth of
teachers in the conditions of Slovak education [8].

The quality of the competence to design and plan is reflected in the teacher's
work with students and in specific educational results. The reflection of the
analyzed competence is aimed at a permanent increase in quality in education and
upbringing in the environment of the Slovak school system [9]. The aim of
identifying the essence of competence, its structure and orientation is: positive
contribution to the teacher's work, reflecting current social needs, orientation to
meet educational and teaching goals, meeting the requirements for student
development, revealing strengths and weaknesses in designing and planning
teacher's work.

The presented paper is the result of the scientific research project APVV,
Evaluation of teacher competencies [10]. The paper presented the competence to
design and plan education, evaluation of the quality of competence and was
focused on the application of competence in school practice. The purpose of the
research project was to present the assessment of competencies as a motivating
factor that would direct teachers to perceive the assessment as a starting point for
positive support of their work. We consider motivation to be an important factor
in successful pedagogical work because it leads the teacher to pedagogical success
and supports personal and professional growth.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This work was supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency
under the contract No. APVV-14-0446.

REFERENCES
[1] The National Council of Teachers of English, 2014. Teacher´s
Competences As Identified By NCTE. In International Journal of
Multidisciplinary Reseasch and Development. ISSN 239-4182, Volume 1. Issue
6, 2014, pp. 252-253.
[2] Petlák, E. Klasické a inovatívne v edukácii. In
https://www.direktor.sk/sk/aktuality/klasicke-a-inovativne-v-edukacii.a
12559.html
[3] Lomnický, I. a kol. Teoretické východiská a súvislosti hodnotenia
kompetencií učiteľa. Praha : Verbum, 2017, 308 p.
[4] Gadušová, Z. a kol. Nástroje hodnotenia kompetencií učiteľa. Praha :
Verbum, 2019, 197 p.
[5] Čeretková, S. a kol. Kompetencie učiteľa, hodnotenie, sebahodnotenie.
Praha : Verbum, 2019, 182 p.
[6] Szíjjártóová, K. a kol. Aplikácia nástrojov hodnotenia kompetencií
učiteľa. Praha : Verbum, 2018, 215 p.
[7] Boboňová, I. a kol. Aplikácia metodiky hodnotenia kompetencií učiteľa.
Praha : Verbum, 2017., 197 p.
[8] Gadušová, Z., Jakubovská, V., Markechová D., Tirpáková A. Teacher
Competences Development – a Guarantee of Sustainable High level of Education
and Traning. In TEM Journal, 2019, pp. 1063-1070.
[9] Stranovská, E. a kol. Výskum hodnotenia kompetencií učiteľa. Praha :
Verbum, 2018, 373 p.
[10] Sandanusová A. a kol. Reflexia aktuálnych poznatkov o kompetenciách
učiteľa. . Praha : Verbum, 2018, 272 p.

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EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGES FOR UNIVERSITIES

DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Brygida Klemens, PhD1

Małgorzata Adamska, PhD2
1, 2
Opole University of Technology, Poland

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the article was to present the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic on the didactic process and to start a discussion on what can universities
do at this specific time to meet the requirements of the Polish Qualifications
Framework and also how should the didactic staff communicate with the use of
virtual space to achieve the expected quality of education.

The paper is a concept study based on the results of a literature search query,
experiences derived from cooperation with institutions dealing in the management
of regional development and labour markets, such as the Regional Labour Office,
and the experience gained from holding specific positions at the faculty.

As former vice-deans for didactics, both authors have in-depth knowledge

about the conditions for the education process implementation and the related
challenges. Experience gained from holding a specific position made it possible
to propose a comprehensive look at the challenges for universities related to
education at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The original features of the paper include: discussion on the importance of

universities in the market economy and the education process, presentation of the
current situation of universities at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic and the
opportunity to get acquainted with the activities that were undertaken by
universities in response to the new challenge, i.e. complete transition to distance
learning.
Keywords: didactic process, challenges for universities, higher education

INTRODUCTION

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced the SARS-COV-2

pandemic, caused by a new coronavirus on 11 March 2020, however, the term of
COVID-19 pandemic is used due to the officially confirmed cases of infection in
2019. The first cases of infection emerged in Wuhan, Hubei Province in China
and quickly spread all over the world. In a strongly related and integrated world,
the problem of the Chinese economy affected the global economy. Many
enterprises around the world is associated with agreements or even dependent on
supplies from China, thereby resulting in them being impacted by the COVID-19

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epidemic regardless of their size. The production and transport of goods from
China became substantially limited, thereby limiting the provision of services
based on products exported from China in many economies around the world.
Global financial markets also reacted to these changes and the global stock market
indices declined. This was followed by a health crisis and a healthcare crisis.

A series of often radical solutions were used to battle the virus, including
complete lockdowns, quarantines, prohibition of business activity or movement.
This took a toll on the labour markets and peoples’ awareness. Such a substantial
limitation of business and consumer activity contributed to a weakened economy.
At the start and spread of the pandemic, the world economy entered a path of
recession after earlier turmoil. It is believed that the pandemic became an
additional stimulus which accelerated and intensified the economic crisis.

Beyond a doubt, the COVID-19 pandemic affected all economic aspects,

coercing a series of changes in labour and lifestyle. It seems that it will remain the
main or one of the main challenges for various institutions and social groups for
a relatively long time. The higher education system will also face the effects of
this situation in the long term.

The learning youth also experienced the pandemic’s impact on their lives.
Isolation and online education contributed to increased anxiety, e.g. of infection,
and changed the youth’s individual behaviours. In the document Policy Brief:
Education during COVID-19 and beyond it was stressed that "COVID-19
pandemic has created the largest disruption of education systems in history,
affecting nearly 1.6 billion learners in more than 190 countries and all continents"
[1].

IMPORTANCE OF UNIVERSITIES IN THE MARKET

ECONOMY AND EDUCATION

The role of higher education in the development of an entire country and

regional development is widely known and discussed. Universities shape the
development of the local and regional knowledge-based economy and affect the
labour market and the goods and services market. It was demonstrated that
university presence at a given location contributes positively to regional
development by providing better education for employees, education for
entrepreneurs and through regional external effects [2]. Universities largely
contributed to the political transformation by, among others, engagement in the
creation of modern administrative solutions and by various interactions with
entrepreneurs, which was especially important in Central and Eastern European
states.

Universities have a substantial impact on the economy because they shape

the knowledge, skills and social competencies of the people entering or already
present on the labour market. The higher the candidate’s potential, the greater the

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opportunities for finding an appealing job [3]. This potential is shaped during
studies by the acquisition of relevant knowledge, skills and social competencies,
as well as gaining experience (including experience in an international
environment), knowledge of foreign languages and new technologies. The impact
of tertiary education on the share of the self-employed in the total workforce was
demonstrated. The high quality of human capital translates into innovativeness.
Universities are therefore faced with a great challenge to improve this situation.
Universities are no longer associated solely with shaping human capital, the
catalogue of their functions is broader and this process is dynamic [4].

The changes in the structure and functioning of the education system are a
result of the current social and economic situation, which substantially affect the
functioning of universities.

Previously, the most important factors that affected the education market
included the clear change in the demographic trends and less than optimistic
forecasts, end of education of the so-called secondary boom generation,
substantial changes in social behaviours, i.e. opening the labour market and
consequently labour migration, change in the model of family and its life cycle
[5, p. 28]. Last year, the emergence of the SARS-COV-2 virus substantially
changes the “rules of the game” by necessitating the introduction of the didactic
process’ digitalisation. This produced a new difficulty for the academic teacher to
develop interpersonal relations with students, which in direct contact encourages
them to seek and use various sources of knowledge and develop their skills to
make the studying process effective.

Only 390 thousand people attended studies in the 1990/1991 academic year.
For 15 years, this number was increasing systematically, until peaking in the
2005/2006 academic year, when the number of students increased five-fold to a
staggering number of 1,95 million. Subsequent years featured a systematic decline
in the number of students to approx. 1.67 million in 2013 and slightly over 1.34
million in 2016. According to the ministry’s forecasts, the downward trend will
continue until 2025, when 1.25 million people will attend studies [6]. A total of
436,316 people commenced studied in 2016, which is nearly 10 thousand less
than in the 2015/2016 academic year. This number included 340 thousand
students who commenced education in public universities, featuring 132 (31.8%)
institutions according to the data of Statistics Poland, while the number of non-
public universities amounted to 238 (68.9%) [7].

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Fig. 1. Distribution of the number of students in the period of 2002-2019

divided into public and private universities in Poland

Source: Based on Local Data Bank (https://stat.gov.pl)

Despite the substantial dominance in the number of non-public universities

in Poland, this does not translate into the number of students. Students still mostly
choose to acquire higher education in public universities as accredited institutions
at the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (see Fig. 1). However, it is worth
noting that after a visible decline in interest in education in private schools in
2014, we are currently observing an upward trend in this regard, including a
simultaneous decline in the number of students in public universities (which is
on-going since 2006).

The current market conditions, i.e. the increasing number of science and
research institutions as well as commercial R&D institutions, increasing demand
for knowledge services reported by business entities [8; 4], constantly growing e-
learning education offer, make a modern university adapt to the social and
economic environment.

At the same time, the correct functioning of each university depends on the
existence of an academic community which is a collective identity created by the
academic environment. Identity is understood as a sum of elements that identify
and distinguish an organisation, in this case a university, in a market environment.
One of the important aspects of managing a university’s reputation is building, in
the market environment, a feeling of trust that the education process meets the
qualitative requirements of the university’s key stakeholders.

The Bologna Process ensured that the level of education is comparable and
adequate in all states despite the fact that particular European countries can freely
select their curriculum. This allows for achieving the assumed learning effects.
The Polish Qualifications Framework (PQF) was initially introduced to define

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three categories: knowledge, skills and social competencies. The commencement

of work on the introduction of the Integrated Qualifications System in 2008
resulted in the development and implementation of the Polish Qualifications
Framework (PQF) in 2016 [9]. These measures allowed, among others, for
referring the acquired qualifications to the qualifications in use in other European
countries and pointing out qualifications provided in a traditional education and
higher education system as well as outside of them (e.g. qualifications acquired
on the market).
Table 1. Second-degree characteristics of the Polish Qualifications
Framework on social competencies classified as level 6 (bachelor’s/engineering
studies) and level 7 (master’s studies)
PQF characteristics level PQF characteristics level 7
6
SKILLS using the possessed knowledge
communication using communication on specialist
specialist terminology topics with various recipient
circles
participation in a debate – conducting a debate
presenting and assessing
various opinions and
positions as well as
discussion
using a foreign language using a foreign language at
at level B2 of the level B2+ of the Common
Common European European Framework of
Framework of Reference Reference for Languages and
for Languages higher level in terms of
specialist terminology
planning and organisation team work management
of work – individually and
in a team
independent planning and independent planning and
implementation of lifelong implementation of lifelong
learning learning as well as guiding
others in this scope
SOCIAL critical assessment of the critical assessment of the
COMPETENCIES possessed knowledge contents received
recognition of the importance of knowledge in solving
cognitive and practical problems
meeting social obligations, meeting social obligations,
co-organisation of activity inspiration and organisation of
in favour of a social activity in favour of a social
environment environment
initiating measures in favour of the public interest
thinking and acting in an entrepreneurial manner
responsible fulfilment of responsible fulfilment of
professional roles, professional roles with

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including: a) complying consideration of the ever-

with the principles of changing social needs: a)
professional ethics and developing the profession’s
requiring others to do the achievements, b) maintaining
same, b) taking care of the the profession’s ethos, c)
profession’s achievements complying with and developing
and traditions the principles of professional
ethics and acting with respect
towards those principles

Source: [9].

The higher education qualifications framework in Europe is to be shaped

according to the map of qualifications suitable for levels 5-8 of the EQF. This map
should provide a clear description of the competencies of a person possessing a
relevant diploma, present the relations between qualifications and demonstrate the
ability to shift and continue the education as part of lifelong learning. The
qualifications framework allows for the differentiation of education programmes
in terms of their contents, form, profile and duration, while the specification of
universal requirements (instead of the programme’s contents) allows for
classifying a given diploma or certificate at the relevant level of education [10;
9].

When analysing the entries in Table 1, there is no doubt whether students can
fully achieve the assumed learning effects after months of distance learning. The
universities certify the achievement of these effects on the labour market by
issuing state diplomas. This is one of the many challenges faced by universities
and its future effects cannot be completely predicted.

CHALLENGES FOR UNIVERSITIES IN THE TIME OF THE

COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Universities are facing many challenges today, which include demographic

changes, polarization of regional and urban centres, rapid changes in the socio-
economic environment [11], but in a special way universities were forced to
radically change their functioning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The
challenges they faced covered nearly all aspects of their activity. When analysing
the didactic aspects, it must be noted that basically all universities in Poland
shifted to distance learning, which involved various challenges, such as providing
adequate e-learning platforms to communicate with students, preparing didactic
materials in a manner that enables making them available on such platforms,
training employees and students on using online platforms, etc. This was done
surprisingly quickly to enable the learning process, often without adequate tools
or training on using them.

It must also be noted that the transfer of the didactic activity to a virtual reality
resulted in a loss in contact between the students as well as between the students

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and academics. The phenomenon, which is yet to be fully explored, is the digital
exclusion in distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Not all didactic
process stakeholders possessed adequate computer equipment to establish direct
contact from home (e.g. no webcams). It is known that the differences in the
conditions of functioning of students during the pandemic were substantial. Not
everyone had the adequate space to learn or to actively participate in the classes
(e.g. many people residing in a single apartment due to remote work or
quarantine). The Polish universities mostly decided to close their dorms and make
students leave for the duration of the announced pandemic. Research conducted
in the Netherlands demonstrate that students conducting education at homes
achieved very little progress despite relatively high quality and conditions of
living, including Internet access, among others [12]. It is therefore possible to
assume that universities around the world, including Polish universities, are faced
with reducing the digital exclusion gap, perhaps in cooperation with local,
regional or national authorities. These are only some of the problems faced by
people in the education process.

In the traditional form of functioning, universities broadly recognise the

issues concerning the generally understood well-being of the students and try to
support them at various levels, either by intellectual stimulation (e.g. in scientific
clubs), financial aid (e.g. through scholarships or the possibility of using
dormitories), supporting an active and healthy life style (e.g. sport classes),
internationalisation (e.g. possibility of participation in the Erasmus+ Programme)
or through cultural measures (e.g. popular student springs). The pandemic caused
most of such measures to be suspended and many students reduced their level of
social and economic functioning, while running into problems related to, for
example, stress caused by uncertainty, inability to take up work or lack of
sufficient resources to lead a healthy lifestyle [13, 14]. Authors of many papers
emphasise that universities, aside from teaching, have to provoke the youth to
make social interactions and constitute a forum for the exchange of ideas and
experiences. The COVID-19 pandemic substantially limited and flattened these
functions.

In the current conditions, a university oriented on traditional communication

with its Customers-Students was forced to quickly undergo a demanding
transformation process into e-communication. One of the more difficult
challenges for universities during the COVID-19 pandemic was to carry out a
promotional campaign for supporting the recruitment process without the
possibility of organising meetings and direct contact with potential candidates.
Many universities in Poland were quickly re-deploying their resources and
developing new skills. The universities proposed the following, among others:
• online open days,
• online walk-in selected university departments,
• candidate zone – an online guide on topics most important for
candidates,

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• intensified communication with the use of social media,

• open webinars dedicated to patronage classes,
• educational videos and presentations on YouTube and in regional
television.

In administrative terms, the service of students and university employees also

had to be shifted online, thereby requiring the development and implementation
of online stakeholder service procedures. It was necessary to provide employees
with adequate opportunities to work in a sanitary regime, resulting mainly in the
implementation of remote work or adaptation of workplaces to the imposed
requirements (e.g. installation of glass panes separating the university employees
from stakeholders, installation of disinfectant dispensers, moving part of the
administrative personnel to unused classrooms to reduce the number of people
residing in a single room, etc.).

The scientific dimension also featured a revolution. Most scientific events

(conferences, seminars, defences, etc.) were transferred online, thereby enabling
the continuation of scientific activity but substantially reduced the quality of
interpersonal interactions.

Such a turbulent environment and extraordinary conditions introduced in a

big hurry resulted in a series of consequences. It can certainly be stated that the
COVID-19 pandemic became one of the most important external stressors [15]
that affected the entire academic and student environment, the quality of
education and the quality of conducting scientific research. This was caused
mainly by factors such as uncertainty, quick pace of the changes in the broadly
understood education process and the need to adapt to the changes, need for quick
acquisition of the skills of using other means of communication, concern for one’s
health and the health of his or her family, uncertainty concerning the economic
situation and the situation on the labour market, often loss of employment (mainly
for students) or forced resignation from a college lifestyle.

CONCLUSIONS

The COVID-19 pandemic substantially affected the functioning of

universities in Poland. On one hand, it accelerated the digitalisation of didactic
materials or library resources. It coerced quick acquisition of knowledge and skills
related to using distance learning platforms (e.g. Zoom, Microsoft Teams,
Moodle) by both teachers and students.

However, such quick decisions on shutting down the universities’ traditional

functioning and commencing full-time distance learning was dictated by the
uncertainty related to the pandemic’s duration and testified to the high managerial
competencies of the universities’ management staff. Nearly three full semesters
were conducted remotely on Polish universities and on the eve of the 2021/2022
academic year many universities decided to introduce hybrid classes (some of

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them, mainly including bigger groups of students, will be remote, while others,
mostly in smaller numbers, will be conducted traditionally). The radical decisions
made at the beginning of the pandemic resulted in the graduation and obtaining a
diploma by the students. It is difficult to imagine the consequences if the youth
was unable to complete its education. The common digitalisation, skills to operate
computer systems and the relatively high availability of computer equipment
helped to overcome some of the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in
the higher education sector.

On the other hand, it halted certain internationalisation processes, for

instance, due to the foreign travel prohibition. Due to the lack of traditional
classes, the bonds between students and university employees either did not form
or loosened. The students of second-degree studies hardly participate in any
traditional classes at the universities because three full semesters took an online
form.

A separate issue are the economic consequences of distance learning for

academic cities. Students contribute to the creation of many jobs, e.g. in services,
catering or in the real properties for lease market. That being said, their effect on
the economy of academic cities is substantially reduced in the conditions of
distance learning.

The purpose of the article was to present the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic on the didactic process and to start a discussion on what can universities
do at this specific time to meet the requirements of the Polish Qualifications
Framework and also how should the didactic staff communicate with the use of
virtual space to achieve the expected quality of education.

REFERENCES
[1] Policy Brief: Education during COVID-19 and Beyond/August 2020,
United Nations Sustainable Development Group. Available online: https://www.
un.org/development/desa/dspd/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2020/08/sg_policy_
brief_covid-19_and_education_august_2020.pdf (accessed on 25 September
2021)
[2] Gennaioli, N., La Porta, R., Lopez-de-Silanes, F., Shleifer, A., Human
Capital and Regional Development. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2013, 128
(1): 105-164.
[3] Kubiciel-Lodzińska, S., Maj, J. High-Skilled vs. Low-Skilled Migrant
Women: the Use of Competencies and Knowledge—Theoretical and Political
Implications: an Example of the Elderly Care Sector in Poland. Int. Migration &
Integration (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-021-00813-5
[4] Rokita-Poskart, D., Higher Education Facilities as Catalysts for Local
and Regional Development [in:] K. Malik, Ł. Dymek (eds.), Effective Transfer of

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Knowledge from Science to Industry in the Opolskie Voivodeship. Requirements

for Effective Cooperation, Difin, Warszawa 2015, pp. 27-39.
[5] Górniak, J., Higher Education Development Programme 2020. Part III
Higher Eduction Assessment. (ed.). Polish Rectors Foundation - Institute of
Knowledge Society and Conference of Polish Academic Schools Rectors,
Warsaw 2015.
[6] Report of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of 22 July 2013:
Higher Education in Poland 2013
[7] http://www.nauka.gov.pl/
[8] Adamska, M., Kucińska-Landwójtowicz, A., Szewczuk-Stępień, M.
Assumptions for accomplishing purposes of development projects: factors
affecting involvement of external participants’. Ekonomikos Vystymasis: procesai
ir tendencijos. University of Applied Sciences. Vilnius 2017, pp. 138-145.
[9] Klemens. B. & Kucińska-Landwójtowicz A., University education
quality management system - procedural approach, [in:] Improvement of
organisational systems, Ł. Sułkowski, K. Wach (eds.), Jagiellonian University
Press, Krakow 2019.
[10] Chmielecka E., The Bologna Process and national qualifications
framework for higher education, Studia BAS, 3 (35) 2013, pp.107-134.
[11] Heffner, K., Klemens, B., Solga, B., Challenges of regional development
in the context of population ageing. Analysis based on the example of Opolskie
voivodeship. Sustainability 2019, 11, 5207. doi:10.3390/su11195207.
[12] Engzell, P., Frey, A., Verhagen, M.D., Learning loss due to school
closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2021, 118,
e2022376118.
[13] Colao, A., Piscitelli, P., Pulimeno, M., Colazzo, S., Miani, A., Giannini,
S., Rethinking the role of the school after COVID-19. Lancet Public Health 2020,
5, 370.
[14] Fila-Witecka, K., Senczyszyn, A., Kołodziejczyk, A., Ciułkowicz, M.,
Maciaszek, J., Misiak, B., Szcześniak, D., Rymaszewska, J., Lifestyle Changes
among Polish University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Int. J.
Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 9571.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18189571.
[15] Navarro-Espinosa, J.A., Vaquero-Abellán M., Perea-Moreno A.-J.,
Pedrós-Pérez G., Aparicio-Martinez P., Martinez-Jiménez M. P., The Influence
of Technology on Mental Well-Being of STEM Teachers at University Level:
COVID-19 as a Stressor, Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(18),
9605. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18189605

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EXPECTATIONS OF GENERATION Z - A CHALLENGE

FOR ACADEMIC DIDACTIC STAFF

Dr. Małgorzata Adamska

Opole University of Technology, Poland

ABSTRACT

The social, cultural, and technological aspects of the environment

significantly affect the generation Z student’s behaviour. Expectations regarding
teachers' work are rising and students' commitment to learning is declining. The
aim of the article is to present challenges posed before the didactic process, based
on the research results regarding the role and significance of the didactic staff in
the opinion of generation Z. The presented issues constitute an introduction to a
discussion regarding the current approach to the educational process, in the light
of technological and social challenges. The methods selected for the purposes of
this study are an analysis based on a profound source literature query, which was
combined with empirical research performed among students at the Opole
University of Technology, using the computer-assisted web interviewing method,
by means of a proprietary survey questionnaire. Research results constitute an
essential source of knowledge regarding factors that, in the opinion of generation
Z students, have the most significance for the efficiency of the educational
process, and for the construction of interpersonal relations between students and
lecturers. On the basis of the achieved results, recommendations for the didactic
staff were developed, regarding the creation of new, engaging didactic forms, and
assuming the role of a mentor both for the career, as well as life path. The key
value achieved in a result of the research is primary data, constituting the basis
for developing a recommendation regarding challenges posed before the academic
didactic staff.
Keywords: educational process, generation Z, academic didactic staff,
interpersonal relations

INTRODUCTION

Changes that have taken place within the employment market, during the last
decades, suggest that better-educated persons possess (and will remain to possess)
an advantage, as the employment market is becoming more and more a
knowledge-based economy. In a result, ensuring access to high-quality higher
education to the large portion of the population, capable of adapting to the swiftly
changing workforce, is among the primary challenges which the institutions of
higher education and educational systems, in general, must face [10].

The purpose of the research was to identify the expectations of the generation
Z to-wards the academic didactic staff and the teaching process. The aim of the

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article is to present the research results regarding the role and significance of the
didactic staff in the opinion of generation Z, within the context of modern
challenges posed before the universities.

In the classical approach, the university defined itself in a manner

independent from the external environment. Based on strict standards of
education, the university formed faculties and educational programs. Similarly,
the direction and the scope of scientific research were formed. Another step was
to introduce them to the market, i.e. complete enrolment and research results’
sales. However, this approach is already a thing of the past. The modern university
is fully directed at the social and economic environment, monitoring the changes
occurring in the environment, and gathering information necessary for swift and
flexible adaptation to the ever-changing market requirements, particularly, within
the context of employment market expectations. The aforementioned become
even more of a challenge, as the declared demand for a particular set: knowledge,
skill, competency; comes from the students on the one side, and from the
employees on the other.

Students, as the university’s customers for educational services require a

feeling of trust, that the process of education is in compliance with the qualitative
requirements of the key stakeholders of the university, and will ensure their
professional success, and the expected quality of life.

Employers, as the university’s customers for a ‘product’ of educational

services, pose a challenge of creating and perfecting the intellectual potential of
future staff regarding employment market expectations.

In a very broad perspective, the key elements of the mission of higher

education were reduced to four aspects [13]:
1. Creating human capital intellectual potential (student education
area).
2. Creating new knowledge (the area of scientific research and the
intensification of cooperation with the economic sector).
3. Promoting knowledge among its potential users (processes of
socialisation of knowledge in result of research results
commercialisation, and collaboration with external stakeholders).
4. Intergenerational knowledge transfer.

The four presented areas should be considered as strategic for every

university which, depending on its own intellectual resources, accomplishes them
in a more or less effective way. A university, intending to manage its image
efficiently, should engage its own resources in active communication with the
market regarding its own identity, in order to: attract attention, attract interest
regarding its offer, strengthening involvement, and building loyalty. The market
environment forces the organisation to undertake diversified marketing actions

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within the aspect of fighting for a competitive position. The specifics of the
university’s operations within this area indicates that the key element of marketing
actions is brand image shaped by the opinion within the environment, particularly,
the students.

INTERGENERATIONAL KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER

Evolutionary changes of recent years have significantly changed the

environment and the way of how young adults function. The key area of a student
includes the academic environment, serving both the higher education and
upbringing purposes. The aforementioned occurs due to social and cultural
aspects of the environment, that significantly affect the student’s behaviour. It is
related to the multi-dimensional nature and the specifics of the academic
environment, which allows acquiring knowledge and skills, as well as, helps
develop personality and attitudes, determining the value system and social
behaviour of young people. Intergenerational projects can provide opportunities
for younger people to develop qualities such as initiative, flexibility, openness,
empathy and creativity and to understand the value of lifelong learning. Greater
participation in positive intergenerational activities results in an increased sense
of worth, self-esteem and self-confidence, and an enhanced sense of social
responsibility. But, according to Rupčić [15], it is important to remember that
‘Intergenerational relations have often been identified as sources of difficulty and
conflict’.

Resources responsible for the adequate realisation of the educational process,

i.e. primarily in compliance with students’ expectations, is the didactic staff of the
university, which, this way, more or less consciously, plays a major role in the
process of brand building. The relation between expectations, and actual value
received, shapes the students’ satisfaction index, therefore, affecting for their
affection towards the brand, which is the university.

Due to the multiplicity of tasks executed, the profession of an academic

teacher is highly demanding. An academic teacher is simultaneous: an educator,
a scientist, and an organiser. In his didactic work, the teacher transfers knowledge,
which is primarily a result of his scientific activity. The teacher establishes an
interpersonal relationship with students, in which he encourages them to use a
varied surplus of knowledge and skills, aiming at the execution of the process of
studying, that is practical application of the mind to the acquisition of valuable
knowledge.

The ‘interpersonal relations’ term is associated with the mutual influence

between persons, with social interaction and collaboration, based on respect
regarding views and opinions. Additionally, the relation must also include trust.
Previous research has shown that interpersonal relationships are an important
predictor of many student outcomes such as: awareness of possessed skills, self-
efficacy and self-confidence [1], [2], [3], [12].

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A healthy teacher-student relationship is argued to be the characteristic of a

productive academic environment [11], because of the association with student
cognitive learning outcomes and motivation [12].

An academic teacher is a person which is adequately prepared for both

didactic and scientific work, meaning, that he should possess a high scholarly
culture and well-grounded knowledge, which he presents skilfully and in an
interesting way to the students, simultaneously encouraging them for the
independent acquisition of knowledge and further learning. Contemporary
universities require the academic teachers to possess highly developed
competencies: communicational, organisational, creative, logic, informational, as
well as, media and marketing-oriented ones [7]. His didactic work should be
characterised by dedication combined with passion, and an open mind, as these
features aid the establishment of inter-personal relations, where the teacher is
taking the role of a mentor of an indisputable authority among students, as well
as, the social environment of the university [4], [8], [14].

In order to tackle the challenges which the academic teachers face currently,
they must redefine themselves within the areas of:
• the complexity of the role of an academic teacher, resulting from
varied roles assumed by them at the university,
• personal brand and self-awareness,
• possessed skills within the scope of conducting classes with students
in accordance with their expectations,
• competencies allowing to be an aware academic teacher, within the
context of the opportunities and limitations in shaping the
development path.

Currently, the academic teacher is primarily expected to introduce innovative

forms of education with an emphasis of encouraging creativity of an individual
who will be well-prepared merit and practice-wise. Simultaneously, he must
display a positive attitude towards novelties and changes, as well as, accept
unconventional methods of work. An academic teacher will be able to develop the
mature personality of students, if he, himself will display an exceptional
personality, and possess the skill of introducing new development perspectives to
the students. Therefore, he must possess high qualifications: spiritual, moral, and
intellectual, as he is to be a model for the other.

METHODOLOGY

The aim of the performed study was to learn the opinion of Students regarding
the role and the significance of the human factor within the context of expectations
regarding the didactic process. Computer Assisted Web Interview research was
conducted among first and second-cycle students of all faculties of the Opole
University of Technology. The author's survey, developed using the online form,

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was placed on the university's websites and on the social media profiles of the
university, student government and the profiles of individual faculties. The
sampling was random. The number of students of Opole University of
Technology at the time of the study was 6,412. With such a population indicated,
the research sample should be 362 people, with a maximum error of 5%. In the
course of collecting primary data, 725 respondents showed their activity, resulting
in a maximum error of 3%. The designed survey questionnaire included 8
research inquiries, i.a. including:
1. What is important in the evaluation of a lecturer?
2. Which aspects, related to the didactic staff, are essential within the
course of cooperation?
3. Are the actions undertaken by the didactic staff an element of
building dedication of the Students to the life of the academic
environment?

Based on the formed opinions, within the scope of a mind map of the issues
and research questions, the following directional research hypotheses were
presented, based on the professional and life experience:

H1. Interpersonal relations are a key factor for building the image of the
university.

H2. Students expect not only the transfer of knowledge, but also, varied forms
of cooperation.

H3. Didactic staff of the university should improve the ability of career
support and counselling.

Research using the Computer Assisted Web Interview method was performed
among the first and second grade students of all faculties of the Opole University
of Technology. The survey sample was random. The general population amounted
to 6412 individuals, whereas the required research sample: 362 individuals.
During gathering of primary data, 725 respondents displayed activity, and so the
maximum margin of error amounted to 3%.

RESULTS

What issues do the Students consider as significant in academic teacher

evaluation?

In order to receive more detailed information regarding the areas, which the
Students consider as essential in academic teacher evaluation, 14 potential areas
were identified, with the possibility of determining the scope of their significance
(Table 1).

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Table 1. Significance of selected areas in the assessment of academic

teacher.
not slightly moderately very
important
important important important important
The way in which he
0.1% 0.7% 3.5% 15.6% 80.1%
carries on classes
Openness and
affordability for 0.1% 1.4% 6.1% 22.4% 70.4%
students
Ability to explain
0.3% 0.8% 7.5% 24.9% 67.2%
complexities
Ease of establishing
0.3% 2.2% 13.1% 32.8% 52.3%
contact with students
Dependability and
transparency of 0.3% 2.9% 15.6% 30.2% 51.3%
evaluation criteria
Illustrating topics of
0.7% 3.3% 13.2% 35.6% 47.4%
classes with examples
Ability to appreciate
0.7% 4.0% 16.8% 36.2% 42.1%
students
High verbal culture 1.4% 3.9% 21.4% 38.9% 34.6%
Professional
6.1% 8.6% 23.9% 31.6% 30.5%
experience
Ability to discipline the
1.9% 6.8% 25.2% 38.2% 28.4%
group
Punctuality and
2.5% 10.7% 23.2% 35.7% 28.4%
conscientiousness
Clothing and general
12.5% 18.9% 33.0% 26.7% 9.3%
aesthetics
Academic
18.2% 19.2% 32.0% 22.0% 9.3%
achievements
Degrees and academic
22.4% 20.6% 30.0% 19.6% 7.9%
titles
Source: Own source

Primarily, the respondents indicated the character of the teacher-student

interpersonal relations character, pointing at the significance of social
competencies, and personal predispositions of the lecturers, that primarily result
from their innate features. Therefore, the challenge posed before the academic
teachers is the development and perfection of the aforementioned features through
training within the scope of: impression management, innovative educational
methods, participation education model, e-technology use within the didactic
process, conflict resolving, team communication, etc. The essential role is played
by the university itself, as, apart from investing ‘in science’, it should also support
this area of the didactic process, which is the care for the development of the
intellectual potential and personal competencies of the academic teacher. The
answers given, confirm hypothesis H1.

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What aspects related to the didactic staff are considered by the Students to
be essential in regard to cooperation?

Respondents were asked to indicate the most essential, in their opinion,

experiences regarding cooperation undertaken by students with the scientific and
didactic staff of the university (Figure 1.)

Fig. 1. Significance of experience from cooperation undertaken by students

with academic teachers.
Source: Own source

The respondents’ answers confirm hypothesis H2. The traditional forms of

education, focus on ‘transferring knowledge’, whereas the modern forms of
education encourage creativity and self-development. Students are more eager to
acknowledge forms of cooperation that provide them with an opportunity for
interaction and learning through ‘experience’.

For testing the Chi-square test of independence was implemented. The Chi-
squared test of independence is one of the most basic and common hypothesis
tests in the statistical analysis and should be followed with a strength statistic. The
Cramer’s V is the most common strength test used to test the data when a
significant Chi-square result has been obtained [9]. Cramers’V statistic ranges
from 0 to 1, with higher values indicating larger strengths of associations.

The hypothesis for the Chi-square test of independence for the significance
of experience from cooperation undertaken by students with academic teachers
and the level of education:

H0: Significance of experience from cooperation undertaken by students with

academic teachers does not depend on the and the level of education - variables
are independent.

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H1: Significance of experience from cooperation undertaken by students with

academic teachers

does not depend on the and the level of education - variables aren’t
independent.

The empirical value of the Chi-Square test statistic is 9.86, less than the
critical value of 18.31, so there are no grounds for rejecting H0. The significance
level for a chosen hypothesis test is α=0.05, the P-vaule is 0.453 and Cramers'V
value (0.171) indicates a weak relationship between variables, not enough
evidence is available to suggest the null is false at the 95% confidence level. The
significance of experience from cooperation undertaken by students with
academic teachers does not depend on the and the level of education (Figure 2).

Fig. 2. Significance of experience from cooperation with academic teachers

by level of education.
Source: Own source

Additionally, answers given by the respondents confirm hypothesis H3. A

university if the last point on the educational path and the awareness of beginning
a professional life, after achieving a university diploma, encourages students to
contemplate their choices and the possibilities provided by these choices.
Lecturers should not only assume the role of a teacher of a particular subject but
of a mentor who supports the process of shaping the career path and further
education.

What actions, undertaken by the didactic staff, are an element of building

involvement of the Students in the life of the academic environment?

It is obvious, that the primary feature identified by the students is, didactic
classes, and it is their quality that essentially affects the evaluation and opinion

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from the students, as well as, the achieved level of involvement in the
commissioned tasks. In the research conducted, it was key to identify activities of
academic teachers different from didactics, that would, in the students’ opinions
be essential and actually impact the shaped relations. Table 2 presents 7 proposals
of activities, directly related to the university or not related to the university, while
recognised by the students.
Table 2. Significance of the activities undertaken by the teaching staff in the
assessment of students.
not slightly moderately very
important
important important important important
Cooperation
0.3% 1.3% 8.6% 27.9% 62.5%
with students
Conducting
research 2.8% 7.5% 21.4% 36.8% 31.2%
projects
Professional
career (outside 4.3% 9.1% 26.7% 32.6% 27.6%
the university)
Social activity 2.4% 7.8% 25.9% 36.6% 27.0%
Science
4.6% 12.8% 29.7% 33.8% 19.1%
publications
Interviews /
columns in the 6.3% 11.3% 31.6% 33.0% 17.5%
media
Hobbies (not
related to the 12.1% 15.5% 30.1% 24.7% 17.4%
profession)
Source: Own source

Cooperation with students is the indubitable leader, which was indicated as

very important by 62.5% of the respondents, and with the important grade, it was
collectively chosen by more than 90% of students; and so the result is a clear
confirmation of the H2 hypothesis that ‘students expect not solely passing
knowledge, but primarily, varied forms of cooperation. The second activity
recognised as very important (36.8%) is conducting a research project, and, along
with the important status, it was collectively chosen by 68% of respondents.
Additionally, students assess their professional (non-academic) career high, as it
was as very important by 27.6%, however, in the joint evaluation (very important
and important), social activity is taking the lead, chosen by 63.6%, amounting to
a little more than 3% of the respondents.

In correlation to the issue, Which aspects related to the didactic staff are
considered as essential in cooperation? a clear trend is emerging, regarding the
students’ expectations. It is a signal to take action in order to modify the shape
and character of cooperation between academic teachers and students.

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DISCUSSION

The aim of the study was to identify the most essential factors impacting the
relation between an academic teacher and a student. During the preparation of the
study, 3 re-search hypotheses were proposed:

H1. Interpersonal relations are a key factor for building the image of the
university.

H2. Students expect not only the transfer of knowledge, but also, varied forms
of cooperation.

H3. Didactic staff of the university should improve the ability of career
support and counselling.

All hypotheses were confirmed in the study, as demonstrated by the statistics

and the result analysis, regarding issues such as:

What issues are considered by Students as significant in the assessment of

academic teachers?

What aspects related to the didactic staff are considered by Students as

essential in cooperation?

What activities undertaken by the didactic staff are an element of building

engagement of the Students in the life of the academic environment?

The analysis of results allowed to propose recommendations within the area

of challenges posed before the didactic staff of the university. The key
recommendation, created based on presented issues, is the necessity of focusing
attention and efforts on offering students, modern and engaging didactic forms. It
is exactly during the personal meetings with a lecturer, when the interpersonal
relations are being built, therefore, not only the current content but primarily the
form of presentation and encouragement of students, are one of the largest
challenges posed before the didactic staff. Conducting case studies should be a
standard, with the consideration of the environment, as it allows to refer to the
market reality, and enable to overcome the barrier of going from theory to
practice. Generation Z (born after 1995), displays particular requirements in this
matter, as a result of the conditions in which they were raised. Virtual space, social
media, artificial intelligence, modern technologies - it is the daily life of
generation Z. Some research has shown [6], that generation Z has an enormous
appetite for new technology in all aspects of life. Traditional lectures and
discussions (auditory learning) are very strongly disliked by this age group. They
prefer interactive games, collaborative projects, advance organizers, challenges,
and anything that they can try and see are appreciated.

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Generation Z is, in essence, a challenge for the didactic staff, as, through the
use of modern technology, they are used to doing numerous things at once. One
may say, that they ‘work on multiple monitors’. They watch a film on a computer,
they do their homework on a tablet, while having a conversation with multiple
persons at once via a smartphone. Simultaneously, the students display little focus
and quickly lose interest, they are better at learning information in form of
infographics, rather than textual content; they require constant stimuli and tasks
or they quickly lose interest in the subject, as well as, focus.

Students appreciate teachers, who have non-academic professional

experience and competencies coming from practice. In the process of acquiring
new intellectual potential, universities should consider professional experience as
one of the key conditions for employment, which, in the case of many Polish
universities, is not a standard yet. Additionally, it is essential to facilitate a proper
environment for the professional development of the didactic staff. The matter at
hand is to allow them to simultaneously work professionally and as academic
teachers at the university. Universities must create work positions consciously,
that will allow acquiring valuable staff, identified by the students as practitioners
from the market.

Another major challenge will be the departure of the ‘preacher’ role in

teaching, for the sake of being a mentor of a career and life path. Contemporary
conditions of the educational market, have transferred it dramatically to the virtual
sphere, where it officially functions in the form of: e-learning courses, webinars,
video workshops, dictionaries, dedicated information websites, etc.
Simultaneously, an alternative, unofficial educational market has developed, as
everyone can post content on the web, using logs, blogs, websites, and social
media portals. A teacher is no longer the sole source of information and
knowledge. Generation Z, and it is the generation to which current students
belong, is using information available online without criticism, and it used to
indirect contact with the use of technology and social media [5]. A
recommendation for the didactic staff is to open to the modern means of
communication and, due to the described features of the students that represent
generation Z - redefining the approach of the academic teachers to the student.
The educational process demands personalisation and a wider overview of the
student as a person, his opinions, expectations, perceptions and fears associated
with life-oriented matters.

Authors should discuss the results and how they can be interpreted from the
perspective of previous studies and of the working hypotheses. The findings and
their implications should be discussed in the broadest context possible. Future
research directions may also be highlighted.

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CONCLUSIONS

The contemporary civilisation changes have a significant impact on the

educational process in its different stages. The final stage - higher education -
proves difficult, as we are dealing with a so-called ‘young adult’, who often
refutes authority and questions the general opinion, while at the same time,
contemplating on various life decisions and requiring support, that he finds
difficult to ask for. In order to be efficient, the educational process must be based
on the behaviourist approach, considering the observed phenomena of mass
access to higher education and the organisation of the educational process, which
does not support recognising the student’s capabilities, or awakening his
intellectual potential, as well as, building appropriate interpersonal relations. The
results of the performed studies are a demonstration, that young person seek
mentors on their career path, and in a world dehumanised by technology, they
begin to appreciate direct relations and the ability to learn to benefit from the
experiences and skills of the other person.

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EXPERIENCES OF PARENTS OF FIRST GRADERS IN

CZECH REPUBLIC PERCEIVE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS
OF READING AND WRITING DURING COVID-19
PANDEMIC

Eva Koželuhová1
Lenka Zemanová2
Radka Wildová3
Ondřej Koželuh4
1, 2, 3, 4
Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

ABSTRACT

The period of the covid pandemic changed day-to-day full-time teaching into
distance learning. Teachers, but also parents without any prior training, had to
react immediately. What has long been theoretically talked about professionally,
namely the use of digitization of teaching in the online environment, has suddenly
become a reality. Long discussions about the innovation of the curriculum for
primary schools in terms of the scope and quality of educational content were
suddenly solved by the teachers themselves using their professional skills and
experience. Most of the surveys show [22], [15] that the teachers handled this
situation very responsibly and that it can be stated that they managed it within the
specific possibilities.

Teachers, parents, and especially first-year primary school pupils had a very
specific role during the pandemic, and thus the transition to distance learning. It
is for this reason that we focused on this group, in our opinion the most affected
by pandemics.

The present study describes the experience of parents with distance learning
reading and writing in the first grades of primary schools at the time of closing
schools in the Czech Republic in the school year 2020/2021. The aim of the survey
was to describe the effects of distance learning on the development of initial
literacy, the differences between day-to-day and online teaching; problems,
challenges, pros and cons that the distance learning period brought. The research
was carried out as a multi-case study, in which interviews were conducted with
six mothers of children - first-class pupils. The results showed that distance
learning did not affect the quality of children's acquisition of reading and writing
techniques, it only slowed it down. However, there was a decline in pupils' interest
in reading and a disruption of their relationship with education in general. It was
difficult for parents to motivate children to learn, to help them in case of
difficulties with reading and writing techniques, and to evaluate their learning
outcomes. On the other hand, distance learning has made it possible to further

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individualize education with regard to the needs of children and has deepened
cooperation between school and family. Distance learning placed increased
demands (physical and mental), especially on mothers, when it was necessary for
their intensive involvement in the teaching process. Based on the evaluation of
the course of distance learning, the paper brings general recommendations
applicable to both distance and full-time teaching reading and writing.
Keywords: Covid-19 pandemic, online education, first grade, reading and
writing, pupils and parents

INTRODUCTION

The Covid-19 pandemic affected the whole world and no branch of human
life remained intact, including education. Pupils and their parents got into
situations in a very short time that no one had to deal with until then. Most such
situations have, of course, been associated with great stress, fear of the unknown,
and uncertainty [5], [9], [12].

The sudden separation from peers and the breaking of all ties affected the
psyche of the pupils, who suddenly had to cope with completely different
conditions for learning [4], [17]. Parents could help their children with the new
situation, as [10], point out, if they set good conditions for education in
households (especially thanks to digital literacy), a positive climate and a
supportive approach [19]

Many challenges also awaited teachers who were thrown into the world of
online teaching overnight, with which they had little or no experience until then
[23], [11]. Primary school teachers consider the availability of facilities, network
and internetwork, planning and evaluation of the educational process, and
cooperation with parents to be the greatest complications that distance education
has brought to teachers [8], [20] mention the positives named by primary school
teachers - teachers appreciate the possibility of flexibility in performing work
tasks, time flexibility, non-existent problems with transport to schools, more free
time. They see the negatives in the loss of motivation to teach students, in
problems with security in the IT-sphere and in increased costs for electricity and
internet connection. [1] examined the success of the nationwide ‚School from
Home‘ program in Indonesia through the views of primary school teachers. The
survey showed that the project equipped teachers with technology and worked
with them effectively, and ensured the cooperation and collaboration of all
stakeholders - government, schools, teachers, parents and the whole community.
Similar results are reported by three Chinese studies of the local project ‚School´s
out, but the class´s on‘ [15], [25], [28]. In his quantitative study, [24] considers
another question - whether teachers, in general, should be prepared to teach in
extreme situations (pandemics, wars, natural disasters) so as not to interrupt the
educational process, and such teaching means online teaching. The study shows

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that many teachers have had problems with online teaching, and therefore this
form of education should be given increased attention.

Parents, their children, and teachers had to adapt to a diametrically different

style of teaching almost overnight, which logically brought with it a number of
problems. Starting with the often missing or poor quality technical equipment, the
need for space in the household and a change in the daily and often biological
rhythm of life. Each family coped differently, but in some regions, the differences
between pupils deepened due to socioeconomic status [14], [24] , [13], [18].

At the same time, materials were created to support families and schools [6],
[21] but it is difficult to respond to rapidly evolving and changing situations, and
so the ways offered to improve and streamline the educational process have not
always been transferred into everyday reality.

The aspect of the transition from pre-primary to primary education is a major

milestone for every child and marks a fundamental change in life. With the arrival
of the first grade of primary school comes much more responsibility, more
targeted work and the acquisition of core competencies, skills and knowledge.
Pupils implement these with increasing time mainly through reading and writing.
These basic skills are essential for functioning in society, and at the same time
mastering them requires a lot of effort, time and help from adults, especially from
parents and teachers. This concept was also significantly disrupted by the
pandemic, making the earlier transition from kindergarten to primary school more
difficult for all individuals, and even before the pandemic, pupils' reading and
writing problems were addressed [7]. Of course, the crisis has exacerbated these
difficulties.

The decline in skills and abilities associated with reading and writing, or with
reading literacy and pre-literacy, manifested itself in pre-primary facilities as early
as spring 2019 [2],[3]. Of course, parents and teachers also saw problems in areas
other than reading literacy [26]

Pupils coming to the first grades of primary schools in September 2020

experienced the closure of kindergartens in the spring of 2019 at an important
time in preparation for school, followed by unstable school year 2020/2021.
Persistence and a regular regime in this critical period for children were
completely lacking, as was contact with classmates. The difficult conditions
certainly had an impact on the quality of the educational process in terms of
teaching reading and writing, which may mean for the whole generation of
children dealing with problems that no other generation had to face before them.

METHODOLOGY

The aim of the survey was to find out what experiences parents of first-class
pupils have with teaching initial reading and writing in the 1st grade of primary

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school during the combined teaching during the school year 2020/2021. The
intention was to describe the challenges, demands, risks and benefits of distance
learning for first graders and to formulate recommendations for future practice in
mainstream education. We also planned to find out whether and how distance
learning can influence parents' access to their children's education and children's
independence when learning in the 1st grade. The answers to the following
research questions were monitored:

Q1: How do parents evaluate the impact of the closure of kindergartens

in spring 2020 on the preparation of children to start learning reading and
writing?

Q2: How was conducted the distance teaching of reading and writing in
the 1st grade and how did it differ from regular full-time teaching?

Q3: How do parents evaluate the impact of combined learning on

educational outcomes in the field of reading and writing in the first grade of
elementary school?

Q4: What demands did distance learning of reading and writing place
on children's parents?

The research was conducted using a qualitative approach. The design of a

descriptive multi-case study was chosen, which allows a better understanding and
description of the issue [27], [22]. The comparison of individual cases brought the
diversity needed to answer the research questions. By case, we mean a first-grade
pupil and his parents. The individual cases were selected sequentially using the
snowball method to contrast with each other within a defined conceptual
framework [22]. It was formed by the socio-economic status of the family, the
education of the parents, the size of the family and the reader's background of the
family. A total of 6 cases were monitored, involving pupils and families from two
different cities, from different primary schools, from different socio-economic
statuses and from a different reader's family background. Data were obtained
during March 2021. Below is a brief description of each case.

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Case Case characteristics

Case A Boy, complete family, parents with a university degree, reader-friendly

environment, older sibling
Case B Girl, complete family, parents with a high school degree, less stimulating
reading environment, older sibling, different mother tongue

Case C Girl, complete family, parents with a university degree, reader-friendly

environment, only child
Case D Boy, complete family, parents with a high school degree, reading-friendly
environment, older sibling - dyslexic
Case E Girl, single mother, parents with a high school education, less stimulating
reading environment, older sibling
Case F Boy, complete family, parents with a high school degree, reading-friendly
environment, older and younger sibling, early reader

Table 1. Characteristics of cases from the research sample

As a research method, semi-structured interviews were conducted with

mothers of children; the interviews were recorded, transcribed according to the
transcription standard [16] and subsequently analyzed using MAXQDA software.
First, open coding was used, the codes were created ad hoc. Subsequently, the
individual codes were grouped into categories and thematically coded, the
individual categories were compared and grouped according to criteria in
compliance with the research questions. The following categories were
monitored: children's readiness for school, teachers' approach to teaching,
demands placed on parents, children's reactions to distance learning, children's
educational results in the field of reading and writing.

RESULTS

The interviews showed that parents of children and children faced similar
challenges, although the initial starting situation of families was very different. It
was possible to trace certain identical features in different stories. Parents differed
in the evaluation of their children's educational results, which is due to the
different dispositions and possibilities of the children. Nevertheless, their
perception of distance education was in great agreement.

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Q1: How do parents evaluate the impact of the closure of kindergartens

in spring 2020 on the preparation of children to start learning reading and
writing?

According to parents, the closure of kindergartens in the spring of 2020, at

the time of preparing children from the research sample for school, did not have
a negative effect on children's readiness, even in cases where kindergartens did
not provide compulsory pre-school education at the time of kindergarten closing.
It didn't even matter if the parents tried to prepare their children at home or if they
left the child to its natural development. The parents agreed that their child was
well prepared for school. According to the parents, the children's readiness was
influenced by their previous long-term attendance at the kindergarten. The effect
of the long-term development of the areas needed for the development of initial
literacy was reflected in the fact that all monitored children before entering school
recognized some letters, were able to distinguish the first vowel in the word, clap
syllables, sign. Two children began to read spontaneously before entering school
as they began to form words from letters.

Q2: How was conducted the distance teaching of reading and writing in the
1st grade and how did it differ from regular full-time teaching?

The answer to this question is related to the way schools approached distance
learning. School approaches differed; some schools have only moved the whole
teaching, including the timetable, to the online environment, while others have
been looking for new ways to effectively teach children to read and write.

Parents greatly appreciated the approach of female teachers (there was no

male teacher in the research sample). They praised the positive attitude towards
children the most - they described the teachers as patient, kind and consistent
("She is mild but consistent"). They also appreciated their approach to teaching,
which they characterized as diligent, honest and caring. Finally, the teacher's
approach to parents was positively evaluated, when the teachers were willing to
help and meet the parents' needs. "Overall, the interest in the children and in us,
and how we work, and if we need anything else, he tries to adapt us, his teaching,
to burden us as little as possible so that it works. He finds out how the children
did, what they enjoyed, they try to react to it.“

Parents' experiences of the quality of distance education varied; some did not
notice a difference compared to full-time teaching, because in the online
environment the teaching took place in the same way, ie for whole classes at once,
using the same teaching materials (spelling books, copybooks, workbooks) and
using the same educational methods. Other parents experienced that online
education took place in smaller groups and that the organization of the whole
education differed from full-time teaching. Some teachers responded operatively
to the needs of children and parents by changing the organization of teaching over
time.

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Satisfaction of parents with distance learning varied, ranging from great

satisfaction, through gratitude that at least "it works like this, that the children are
not completely without any opportunities to learn", to dissatisfaction due to
overwork, excessive school demands and drill. "As an overload of those children
in the sense that I feel that what they get, what they have to process in that week,
I think that if she worked with them at school, she couldn't do it with those
children."

In contrast to regular teaching, educational software was used in the form of

interactive educational games or presentations. Furthermore, in the online lessons,
the teachers explained the new subject matter (eg a new letter) and practiced with
the children in the form of reading from the spelling book, where individual
children were called out, writing on a personal board, dictations and completing
tasks in workbooks. It is a standard content of full-time teaching, but not
everything is suitable for an online environment. Reading from a spelling book is
very problematic: “In that hour, 5, 6, 7 children will be able to try reading. Not
more, because when she asks someone to read a sentence and the child is slower,
the time terribly flies.". As a result, the children do not have time to take turns and
sometimes do not speak at all during the online class. This leads to a loss of
interest, attention and loss of meaning in trying, or disruption by children, and
"it's incredibly wearisome". Furthermore, the deteriorating sound quality may
reduce the ability to hear all of the child's errors when reading that the teacher
does not correct. On the contrary, the organization of teaching in smaller groups,
which alternate, has proved its worth. Thanks to the fact that "it's in a smaller
group, the children got involved more often".

Teaching reading and writing was a priority, most of the time was devoted to
it, even more than compared to the usual schedule. The frequency of schooling
varied; some children had it for one to two hours a day, others learned it three
times a week in blocks, others an hour a day, but only in a small group where
teaching was more intensive. In addition to reading and writing, time was devoted
to mathematics; children did not have other subjects, or only marginally (English
language). One child had a special classroom lesson once a week so that the
children could talk to each other and share their experiences.

Q3: How do parents evaluate the impact of combined learning on

educational outcomes in the field of reading and writing in the first grade of
elementary school?

According to the parents, the teaching of reading and writing was not
significantly marked by distance learning, because the schools were mostly
prepared for it. According to parents, the need for distance learning has slowed
children's learning progress in reading and writing. Of the sample, two-thirds of
children read with difficulty and slowly. There are also difficulties with writing.
On the other hand, parents think that children manage the demands of the first

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grade well and therefore it is not necessary to repeat it or provide summer

schooling.

However, distance learning according to parents also made it possible to more

individualize education according to the needs of children, because education at
home made it possible to respect the different work paces of children. Parents
gained an idea of the course of their children's education and were able to provide
them with support. Some parents stated that they had more time and peace to
practice reading at home, which led to faster development of reading skills.
However, these positive effects could only occur with children whose parents
were willing and able to participate in their children's education. From the
research sample, for example, a single mother who, at the same time as teaching
her daughter, had to manage to fulfill her work duties.

According to parents, the disruption of children's relationship to education is

a more significant consequence of distance learning than slower mastery of
reading and writing techniques. "I would say that the loss of that children's
motivation for education, that it disrupts the relationship to education as such at
all, because there are often unpleasant emotions in it, (…) so I think it can disrupt
the relationship to education as such, that it just bothers those children that they
no longer have such a desire to acquire new things, because they have it connected
with those negative emotions". The loss of interest is also reflected in a lack of
interest in reading, especially in children who are learning to read by the
analytical-synthetic method. These children have not known all the letters of the
alphabet for quite some time and have a limited selection of reading
comprehension texts. With the genetic method, the selection of texts is easier, and,
overall, reading skills develop faster. All parents whose children are learning to
read using the genetic method have stated that their children read with
understanding.

More than the results of children, parents are more concerned about the
disruption of the relationship with education and the decline of the child's social
contacts. Parents reported that children had lost interest in learning, had mental
health problems (sadness, frustration, apathy), were poorly concentrated, and
lacked social relationships.

Q4: What demands did distance learning of reading and writing place
on children's parents?

It must be said at the outset that in our research sample, distance education
concerned only mothers, fathers did not participate. Mothers agreed that high
demands were placed on them and it was often difficult to handle everything ("I
feel that there is much loaded on us parents"). Teaching reading and writing
seemed much more difficult to them than, for example, teaching mathematics,
"one easily teaches basic mathematics, but reading, for me it was hell, then".
Mothers lacked the knowledge and skills to help children read and write.

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Mothers felt helpless not only in the area of teaching but also in the area of
motivating the child to learn and in the area of evaluating the child's performance.
Distance education of children also placed demands on the psyche of parents,
most often they reported a problem with patience and managing their emotions.
Parents themselves often felt frustrated and lost motivation: “I feel that every day
is the same day, and I also have trouble forcing myself to force those children to
learn. It's annoying."

Another significant problem was the organizational provision of teaching.

The difficulties were not the provision of the necessary equipment (families
owned or lent from the school), but the organization of space and time. In order
for everyone to have space for work and peace and not be disturbed. "So now
we're at one dining table, that I occupy one-third of the table, I have to have two
monitors to work, and my daughter is here for the other two-thirds, she needs
space, unpacks her exercise books and she's on the tablet." This is especially
problematic in small apartments or with a larger number of children in the family.
The parents agreed that it was necessary to organize the daytime differently and
establish certain routines; those who did not do it, rated it in the interview as
something they thought was necessary but failed to secure it. From the material
conditions, families often solved problems with an internet connection, which was
not of sufficient quality. This required, among other things, their constant
presence in online teaching so that they could solve technical problems.

Parents, and most mothers, had to solve several tasks - to ensure

organizational conditions (regime, space for learning), material conditions
(technology, internet connection, printing materials or picking them up at school),
motivate children to learn, assist children online ("I'm always with him in that
distance learning, I have to be somewhere nearby because he loses concentration.
When I leave, I see him not concentrating, jumping next to a chair, or lying on a
chair, so I'm always around to tell him to sit down, listen to the teacher, see what
he does, what he says ”). In addition, they work with the children on further home
preparation, elaboration or control of tasks and reading together. Most parents
read even further with their children before going to bed. According to the parents,
these entitlements require the child to be educated for several hours a day.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of a research survey generated a series of interesting

communications, not only for school practice but also for the training of future
teachers. Emphasizing the importance of the role of teachers and the need for
universities of didactic erudition, professionalism, flexibility and creativity in the
organization of teaching and optional educational methods. The research
confirmed the role of parents as an important actor and partner of teachers in
school as well as home teaching. Teachers and parents alike consider distance
learning in the development of the beginnings of reading and writing to be a very
demanding methodological-didactic, but also an organizational problem, in which

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the solution is absolutely necessary for mutual cooperation. Teachers generally

appreciate parents' efforts to motivate their children to learn, to maintain their
interest, and to strengthen reading and writing at home using their
recommendations. Parents especially appreciate the way in which teachers do
distance learning together with pupils involved and methodically guided so that
their joint action is effective, individualized and has a positive motivational effect.
(Similar findings are evident from research conducted with primary school
teachers.

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IMAGE AS AN IMPORTANT TOOL IN THE WORK OF

MANAGERS OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

Petr Adamec, Ph.D.

Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic

ABSTRACT

The aim of the paper is to present the results of a survey focused on the image
of an educational institution - a public university in the Czech Republic, which
provides study programs for future teachers of vocational subjects at secondary
schools. The image of an educational institution is an integral part of the
management of educational institutions and at the same time, it should be a part
of its regular self-evaluation. An image consists of objective and subjective,
correct and incorrect ideas, attitudes and experiences of an individual or a certain
group of people about a certain object or subject. Image affects opinions and
behaviour and significantly influences them [1]. Each educational institution
creates a certain image, through which it can be perceived not only by its
surroundings or social partners, but mainly by current and future students.
Particularly, the students were the respondents to this survey. The method of
semantic differential (polarity profile), which is one of the most frequently used
methods for image measurement, was used for data collection.
Keywords: image, educational institution, evaluation, teacher, management

INTRODUCTION

Teaching is one of the oldest professions, perhaps even a mission, in the

world. The role and position of teachers in society have been accompanied by
many changes in recent years. The prestige of this profession shows a slightly
declining tendency, however, it still appears in the leading positions in the ranking
of the prestige of the profession [2]. It is very important that there are enough
motivated and convinced candidates to join university teaching programs.
However, universities that train future teachers must offer these applicants quality
and attractive study programs. For many people, the idea of the school as a
commercial entity is at least inappropriate, a comparison of a school with a
company is unacceptable. However, in a deeper examination and comparison,
many analogies of the problems of educational institutions with the problems of
companies can be found. In a competitive environment, it is not only a question
of prestige for educational institutions, but mainly a question of existence itself,
so that there is a constant and even rising interest in its quality educational
products. For this reason, it is important to pay attention to coordinated and
systematic marketing, communication with practice, presentation of the
educational offer and also the image of the school. No educational institution lives
in isolation, but in its activities, it is influenced by the environment in which it

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operates [3]. In the literature related to the topic of an image, we may encounter
different conceptual definitions and ways of using this expression. In connection
with its use, it can be stated that it emphasizes the image of reality, but it is also
an empirical term that has measurable dimensions. Image has the nature of a
generalized and simplified symbol based on a set of ideas, attitudes, opinions and
experiences of a person in relation to a certain object [1]. It is usually stated that
the first works dealing with images come from Gardner and Levy [4] or Boulding
[5]. In these works, dealing with public awareness of the company, brand, product,
institution claim that at a certain time they have their personality or image in
public opinion, which is characterized by certain ideas, emotions, ideas or
associations. Image is therefore the result of the interaction of individual elements
of a corporate identity - design, communication, behaviour and product. In
connection with the focus of this paper on the image of an educational institution,
it is possible to mention the publication of Kotler and Andreasen [6], where the
authors define the image as a summary of faith, ideas and impressions that a
person has about a particular object. Bártová [7]) then characterizes the image as
a multi-component concept based on attitudes and divides it into three parts:
cognitive (product knowledge and their intellectual processing), affective
(emotional elements that are related to the brand) and conative (tendency to
behaviour - to purchase, use, etc.).

IMAGE IN THE CONTEXT OF EDUCATIONAL

INSTITUTION

Based on demographic developments, it can be assumed that competition in

the education market will increase in the future. For example, building an image
as a factor that influences the behaviour of "consumers" can help it to ensure that
the university does not have to make significant efforts to attract quality students.
Image is created and maintained by all activities by which the organization
manifests itself internally and externally, for example, it is influenced by the
degree of knowledge of the organization, success, tradition and professionalism,
performance, behaviour, level of service, approach to customers or external
presentation.

It is important for educational institutions to know how the public and the
clients view it, what ideas they have about it and what expectations are associated
with its educational program and other offered services. The positive image of an
educational institution is of great importance and it is also true that it has a
relatively stable character and change is not easy and fast. Especially for
secondary and higher education institutions, it is important to realize that by
analyzing the image of the school, we can also determine the market position of
the school when comparing the image of competing schools or the position the
school occupies in the minds of its potential customers. The prestige of the school
is one of the decisive factors for the decision-making of those interested in
studying. A sufficient number of applicants is then a prerequisite for obtaining
financial resources for the institution [8] [1].

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Depending on the scope or prevalence, we usually divide the image into a

universal one, valid basically all over the world without significant differences in
individual countries or target groups, and specific emphasizing local peculiarities
or specifics of individual target groups. Foret [9] also mentions three other types
of image, namely the internal image, which creates the object about itself or about
its product, the external image, by which the object resp. its producers strive to
act on the public, a real image, shaped in the public consciousness. Image is
affected by a number of factors. Kotler and Armstrong [10] consider the product
(or service) and its features, marketing communication in all its forms, price, etc.
to be the influencing factors. Image is also influenced by customer support,
distribution and service. In addition to behaviour towards customers, the image is
also influenced by the attitude and behaviour of the company (in this case
educational institutions) to the environment - acting towards various partners,
relationship with employees, willingness to participate in public projects (the so-
called third role). There is also a very close relationship between the image and
the strategy of the company (or educational institution). Factors influencing the
company's image are summarized in, for example, Dowling [11]. To sum up,
image is, therefore, an important communication tool with which we address the
surrounding world or our target groups and which tells us who we are or who we
want to be. For this reason, it is important for management to keep their
institutions organized in terms of priorities and values, their sharing across the
company, in understanding the impact of each action, etc.

HOW TO ANALYZE THE IMAGE OF EDUCATIONAL

INSTITUTIONS

The analysis of the opinions and attitudes of the target groups towards the
educational institution is then very important for determining the strategy of the
subsequent communication with the target group or groups. Repeated analysis can
then capture changes in the image of the institution and serves to evaluate the
strategy used and determine any changes [8]. It is clear from the above-mentioned
characteristics of the image as a complex, dynamic and multifaceted concept, its
analysis is not simple. There is not even one standard method for measuring an
image. Overviews of quantitative and qualitative research methods are
sufficiently described in the literature. Typical methods include individual or
group interviews, focus groups, various modifications of psychological methods
and techniques - association procedures, projective tests, colour and shape tests,
or scaling procedures, but most often it is a polarity profile (semantic differential).

We evaluate the image with a polarity profile using various items, using a
bipolar rating scale. At the opposite poles of the scale, there are evaluation items
that create a basic dichotomous profile. The spontaneous evaluation of individual
items by the respondents is quantified and the resulting average of individual
dichotomous pairs is connected for better graphic expression and
comprehensibility by a vertical line. The choice of bipolar adjectives is

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determined by the goal of the survey, and opposing pairs of terms are usually
arranged on a seven-point or five-point scale.

Image is quite a permanent phenomenon and may not correspond to the

current state. It is recommended to perform the analysis at certain predetermined
periods. Stable periods give educational institutions the opportunity to compare
previous analysis results, and to respond to them adequately and in the shortest
possible time and to establish a specific remedy [12]. For large university-type
schools, the image may not be valid for the entire school. In connection with the
term image, for example, only one part of the school or one of the several products
offered by the school can be connected [13].

METHODOLOGY

The aim of the following part of the paper is to present the results of a survey
aimed at finding out the image of an educational institution that provides
programs aimed at training future secondary school teachers. It is a part of a public
university in the Czech Republic, which has a long tradition in this activity of
about 50 years. To collect data in order to determine the current image of the
educational institution, a method of questioning based on the method of polarity
profile was chosen. Prior to the creation of the questionnaire, preliminary research
was carried out in the form of personal interviews with students in order to obtain
the attributes for its compilation. The results of these interviews implied a total of
22 attributes of the educational institution. The questionnaire was generally
divided into two parts, where the first part was based on seven-point bipolar scales
of specified attributes. The second part of the questionnaire consisted of questions
focused on the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents and the
preference for the study focus, resp. future profession. The respondents were
students of all years of the bachelor's study program focused on teaching
vocational subjects for secondary schools. The survey was conducted in May
2018. A total of 79 students out of a total of 153 submitted an electronic
questionnaire. A more detailed structure of the respondents is given in Table 1
below. The data obtained through the questionnaires were processed using
Microsoft Excel and the absolute / relative frequencies and average values of the
answers were calculated. Due to the number of respondents, a nonparametric test
(Mann-Whitney) in the IBM SPPS program was used to calculate statistically
significant differences in average values between the groups (gender, form of
study).

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Table 1. The Respondents´ Structure

male 21 26,6 %
Gender
female 58 73,4 %
full-time 32 40,5 %
Study form
combined 47 59,5 %
19-25 years 44 55,7 %
Age 26-35 years 15 19,0 %
36 and more 20 25,3 %

Source: Own source

RESULTS

Table 2 below shows the average scores achieved. The closer the average
rating is to 1, the more positive the rating is. An increasing average means a
greater tendency of the respondent to a more negative evaluation (7). The data in
Table 2 is sorted according to the average overall score and it also contains the
evaluation according to gender or form of study. Those attributes for which
statistically significant differences were found within the groups are marked in
grey. For example, we can learn that for women and students in the full-time form
of study, the institution is more credible than for men, etc.

The data in Table 3 shows that the image of the educational institution in the
respondents' consciousness is mostly positive. Based on the obtained results, it
can be stated that the highest scores were achieved by the educational institution
(or its specific component) in the area of credibility, activity and reputation. The
assessment of development or stability is also at a high level. Among the attributes
that were not evaluated completely favourably, it is possible to indicate, for
example, size or familiarity. Respondents also believed that the educational
institution is not very well-known and generally known both in the Czech
Republic and abroad. In the area of quality assessment, the inconsistencies of
respondents' opinions and perceptions are evident. The data in Table 3 are
displayed using the relative response rates within a seven-point scale (in %). At
the same time, they are sorted according to the best-rated attributes.

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Table 2. Average values of individual attributes according to the socio-

demographic characteristics of the respondents
full-time combined
total male female
study study
Credibility 2,08 2,33 1,98 1,81 2,26
Quality 2,30 2,19 2,34 2,19 2,38
Reputation 2,32 2,95 2,09 2,00 2,53
Activity 2,35 2,48 2,31 2,34 2,36
Functionality 2,38 2,57 2,31 2,06 2,60
Development 2,47 2,86 2,33 2,25 2,62
Perspective 2,48 2,76 2,38 2,13 2,72
Personnel stability 2,49 2,33 2,55 2,31 2,62
Modernity 2,58 2,57 2,59 2,50 2,64
Organizational stability 2,72 2,52 2,79 2,31 3,00
Fun 2,73 3,05 2,62 2,50 2,89
Competitiveness 2,78 2,43 2,91 2,81 2,77
Attractiveness 2,85 2,95 2,81 2,44 3,13
Ambitiousness 3,03 2,81 3,10 3,16 2,94
Prestige 3,06 3,24 3,00 2,97 3,13
Flexibility 3,13 3,19 3,10 2,94 3,26
Recognition in the Czech
3,48 3,57 3,45 3,56 3,43
Republic
Assertiveness 3,53 3,29 3,62 3,69 3,43
Dynamics 3,75 3,95 3,67 3,56 3,87
Recognition abroad 3,85 3,95 3,81 3,81 3,87
Acquaintance 3,99 4,00 3,98 4,75 3,47
Size 4,27 3,90 4,40 4,91 3,83

Source: Own source

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Table 3. Distribution of the frequency of answers of all respondents in %

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Trustworthy 33 43 13 9 0 3 0 Untrustworthy
Active 23 37 28 9 3 1 0 Passive
Perspective 22 30 32 14 1 0 1 Non-perspective
With a good
30 34 20 6 6 3 0 With a bad reputation
reputation
Well-functioning 27 32 24 15 0 3 0 Malfunctioning
Developing 27 30 25 10 3 5 0 Undeveloped
Personnel stable 22 35 23 16 1 1 1 Personnel unstable
Modern 19 35 25 14 3 3 1 Unfashionable
Funny 18 29 29 14 8 1 1 Boring
Attractive 15 32 25 15 9 1 3 Unattractive
Competitive 20 29 23 13 10 5 0 Non-competitive
Organizationally Organizationally
22 30 18 20 6 3 1
stable unstable
Very ambitions 15 18 30 24 11 0 1 Not very ambitious
Very prestigious 14 25 23 22 13 3 1 Not very prestigious
Flexible 14 14 32 30 6 4 0 Inflexible
Recognized in CZ 8 20 22 28 15 5 3 Not recognized in CZ
Enterprising 9 14 25 28 16 6 1 Not enterprising
Quality 9 14 18 19 16 18 6 Poor quality
Known/recognized 9 14 18 19 16 18 6 Unknown
Dynamic 6 9 23 39 15 4 4 Static
Highly respected Not very recognized
5 19 9 35 16 15 0
abroad abroad
Big 11 4 15 20 20 24 5 Small

Source: Own source

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Fig. 1. Polarity profile image of and educational institution

Source: Own source

Based on the research results, which are graphically represented in Chart 1,

it can be said that the image of the educational institution is desirable with certain
reserves in accordance with the image. The desired image of the educational
institution in accordance with its strategic intention is to be attractive and
prestigious both in the national and international context in the field of initial as
well as further teacher education. The aim is to provide quality study programs
based on a modern curriculum that relies on current results of science and research
and at the same time responds to the requirements of practice. The aim is also to
provide teaching by competent, erudite and positively motivated academic staff.
Based on the values of average scores of perception of the image of our
educational institution by students we can formulate strengths and weaknesses,
while as strengths we can indicate the values with the lowest scores and as
weaknesses the values with the highest scores.

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CONCLUSION

Students are a group for which the image of an educational institution is of

great importance and it is important to continuously address their views in this
area, as it is related not only to their interest in studying at a particular school,
passing on information and references to peers, but also the future and
sustainability of study programs or study fields. An image is therefore a collection
of assumptions, thoughts and impressions that a person has of a certain object or
matter. The researcher, therefore, measures the extent to which the image of the
institution is known and positive and how certain groups evaluate the
corresponding characteristics of the institution. Once it is determined how the
institution is perceived, management must decide whether this image is positive
and appropriate or whether it would be appropriate for the institution to take steps
to correct the negative or erroneous image and implement changes [14]. Priorities
in a marketing-driven school include strategic management of an educational
institution, application of internal personnel marketing, improvement of
interpersonal relationships, motivation of teachers, support of team cooperation,
positive climate, application of relational marketing, systematic evaluation of
educational institutions, analysis of factors influencing results and development.
Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats can be read from the image
evaluation results. It is important to respond to the results of image evaluation and
at the same time compare them with the strategy of the educational institution, its
mission and internal values. It is important to perform image analysis on regular
basis. Therefore, a similar survey implementation is planned for the end of 2021.

REFERENCES
[1] Vysekalová, J., Mikeš, J., Image a firemní identita, Praha, Grada, 2009.
[2] Tuček, M., Prestiž povolání – červen 2019. Centrum pro výzkum
veřejného mínění, Sociologický ústav Akademie věd České republiky, 2019.
[3] Světlík J., Marketingové řízení školy, Praha, ASPI, 2006.
[4] Gardner, B., Levy, S., The Product and the Brand, Harward Business
Review, Vol. 33, 1955.
[5] Boulding, K. E., The image: knowledge in life and society, Ann Arbor,
MI: University of Michigan Press, 1956.
[6] Kotler, P., Andreasen, A. R., Strategic Marketing for Nonprofit
Organisations. New York, McGraw-Hill, 1991.
[7] Bártová, H., Chování spotřebitele a výzkum trhu, Vysoká škola
ekonomická, Praha, 2002.
[8] Elsner, D., Doskonalenie kerowania placówka oświatowa, Mentor,
Chrozów, 1999.
[9] Foret, M., Veřejné mínění a image, MOSPRA, Brno 1992.

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[10] Kotler, P., Armstrong, G., Marketing, Praha, Grada, 2004.

[11] Dowling, G. R., Managing Your Corporate Images, Instustrial
Marketing Management vol. 15/issue 2, pp 109-115, 1986.
[12] Vysekalová, J., Mikeš, J., Binar, J., Image a firemní identita, Praha,
Grada, 2020.
[13] Eger, L. Diagnostika image školy, Pedagogická orientace, vol. 3, pp 12-
24, 2002.
[14] Kotler, P., Keller, K. L., Marketing a management, Praha, Grada, 2013.

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INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON OF READING

PREFERENCES OF YOUNGER SCHOOL AGE READERS
AT PRIMARY SCHOOL

Mgr. Lýdia Simanová, PhD. 1

Doc. PaedDr. Simoneta Babiaková, PhD. 2
1, 2
Faculty of Education, University Matej Bel, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia

ABSTRACT

The study presents the research findings from a comparison of younger

school-aged readers from 3 countries – Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland.
The research used a questionnaire of own design based on an initial exploration
through focused interviews with readers. The research design was quantitative-
qualitative in nature and those questions about preferred literary genres and
literature content were semi-open. The research sample consisted of 693 Slovak,
254 Czech and 248 Polish younger-school readers. Respondents were divided
according to reading levels into four groups. We searched for whether there were
significant differences between the national groups. The research findings showed
some similarities but also specific differences between national groups that were
described in the research results. In the discussion, the authors present the
importance of the research results in the context of pedagogical practice and
undergraduate teacher preparation for students of primary education.
Keywords: reading interest, reading preferences, younger school age reader

INTRODUCTION

Reading as a key phenomenon of intellectual-emotional education has a clear

impact on individuals leading a successful and meaningful life, as well as the
social, economic and cultural level of society. The aim of this study is to present
international research findings in the preferences of literary genres among child
readers aged 9-10 years and their content focus, including the targeted selection
of an author and with a specific focus on book publication. The literary genre with
valuable semantic content is one of the main indicators that contribute to the
stimulation of a child`s reading interest. The current book spectrum (ever-
expanding) of literature available to child readers is extremely broad.
Paradoxically, researches show that child readers read much less than in the past.
“The reading crisis is global and is being watched with considerable attention
around the world” [1]. It is important to prevent ways of influencing interest in
reading, reading experience and reading habits from causing a reader’s appetite
from degrading into a reader’s aversion. Creating a stimulating reading
environment requires knowledge of changes in the current traits of child readers
and their tastes with a focus on preferred topics and literary genres. For younger

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school-aged readers, reading is based on the emotional experience evoked by the

meaning of the content in the text. This presupposes a certain level of reading
literacy as a complex of abilities and skills to decode the text and understand it at
the horizontal and vertical level of meaning. Receptive-experiential processes are
the main stimulus for creating a positive relationship or the internal motivation to
read during free time. In terms of developmental psychology and learning theory,
children repeat in their own lives those activities they associate with a feeling of
pleasure, satisfaction, joy and appreciation. The reader’s appetite is the key to
form the reader’s interest defined in 3 degrees of intensity: 1. neutral reading
interest, 2. reading for pleasure presented 3. reading enthusiasm. Reading success
is dependent upon the reader’s interest [2]. The suitability of the meaning of
content, topics, their artistic processing and the form of the literary genre are
important factors in the structural concept of the reader's interest considering: the
frequency of reading, the effect of reading, the typology of literature, a spectrum
of specific literary genres, literary themes and literary heroes. The reader's interest
reflects the reader's attitude to the reading process and its content-genre focus [3].
According to research findings [4], fiction, entertaining and adventure literature,
as well as literature with elements of the paranormal and horror, dominate in terms
of genre preference among younger and older school-age child readers. Theme
preferences [5] are dominated by fun and funny themes, provoking reading
imagination, mysterious plots and more difficult problems, a fictional story,
instructive discovery, providing an escape from the real world, real stories with
paranormal elements, childhood topics, love topics, and literary heroes depicting
stories that resemble the readers themselves. Researches [6], [7] show that in the
breakthrough age period of 10-11 years, readers (even enthusiastically attuned
ones) show a significant decrease in reading appetite and a weakening of interest
in reading. Research results from 2008 [8] show that if child readers masters
reading skills well, then, at the age of 8-9 years, they enter the phase of
enthusiastic reading. In contrast, the National Kids and Family Reading Report
[9] states that a decline in reading interest occurs earlier, by 15% - 20% on average
around the age of 8 to 9, and continues to decline over every two-year period as
reading development continues towards the pubescent period.

METHODS

The study brings partial findings from the VEGA quantitative-qualitative

empirical research project 1/0455/18 Research and development of readership in
younger school-aged students. This was conducted in three stages:

The 1st stage of initial exploration of the problem was implemented in the
form of focus interviews with primary school-aged students. From the results of
the interviews, we formulated the established theory that readership in children
contains three determinants: a) a personality context, b) a social context and c) the
reading preferences of the individual. Personality traits were then used to identify
four levels of readers, which were designated A, I, G, N. Enthusiastic readers (A)
are those who actively seek out books, knowingly select literature and prefer

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reading in their free time. Interested readers (I) know how to select texts
according to their own interests and can handle compulsory textbooks without
trouble. They need advice, help, and to be motivated to read. Non-readers without
problems (G) they are indifferent, they are not "illiterate", they know how to read,
but they do not read voluntarily or out of interest. Non-readers with problems (N)
have serious difficulty with literacy and reading is a burden and a hassle for them.
They do not read when they are not forced to and, when they are, they struggle
mightily” [10].

The 2nd stage involved designing and implementing a structured research

instrument (a questionnaire and obtaining the research data. Basic testing was
used to divide respondents into the four reading levels: A, I, G, N.

The 3rd stage was focused on: a) a comparison of responses from younger
(9-10 years) and older (12-13 years) Slovak students, and b) an international
comparison of responses from younger (9-10 years) students from the three
countries. A self-designed questionnaire based on qualitative research,
specifically focus interviews, was used as a research instrument. The first group
of items was focused on the data on respondents and schools, while the second
focused on the personality traits of readers. These items distributed respondents
into four groups of readers according to reading levels: A, I, G, N. The third group
monitored the social context of readership in respondents and the fourth their
reading preferences. The focus in this study was on items monitoring the
preferences of Slovak, Czech and Polish younger school-aged readers specifically
for preferred literary genres and thematic content. Phenomena identified in the
initial analysis of the research findings of a descriptive nature concerning the
reading preferences of national groups were then subjected to detailed statistical
testing. Given that these were categorical variables, the hypotheses were tested
using Pearson’s chi-quadrant test for fit. A comparison of all combinations of
national triplets was completed. The statistical findings are reported where
statistical significance was found. Extreme values were used for partial
comparisons.

The research set (N 1195) was created on the basis of available selection
initiated through direct contact with teachers of younger students. The limit was
the willingness of Slovak, Czech and Polish teachers to participate in the research.
We divided all three national groups of respondents according to how they
classified their criteria from the second group of questionnaire items into reading
levels A, I, G, N.

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Table 1. Characteristics of the Slovak, Czech and Polish ensemble

4th A I G N Total
grade enthusiastic interested non-readers non- N %
readers readers without readers
problems with
n % n % problems
n %
n %
SK 309 44.59 268 38.67 110 15.87 6 0.87 693 100
CZ 76 29.97 120 47.24 54 21.26 4 1.58 254 100
PL 46 18.55 114 45.97 82 33.06 6 2.42 248 100
Total 431 502 246 16 1195 100

The aim of the study was to determine how reading preferences vary between
Slovak, Czech and Polish younger school-aged children in terms of literary genre
and content. We focused on specifying preferred literature titles for children that
the children themselves identified in open questions. We evaluated the findings
from two extensive sets of items from the questionnaire in detail. The research
questions were as follows:
• What are the specifics of the national groups in terms of preferred
literary genre?
• How do the national groups vary in terms of preferred thematic
content in literature?
• What are the differences between the national groups in preferences
for specific children’s literature titles?
• What are the specific reading preferences in terms of the students’
gender?

RESULTS

In one of the items included in the questionnaire – “I prefer to read”: we

determined the preferred literary genres among younger school-age children.
Respondents could mark more than one answer or complete an open-ended
answer. We wondered if there were significant differences between the triplets of
national groups. We formulated three hypotheses. Due to the method of
measurement in this item, three hypotheses were tested using Pearson's chi-
squared test of suitability of fit.

H1: We assume that there is a difference between Polish and Slovak

respondents in the selection of literary genres. The biggest difference was
manifested in the overall comparison of the preferences of literary genres among
Polish and Slovak students (χ2=66.95758 df=6 p = 0.000000).

H2: We assume that there is a difference between Polish and Czech

respondents in the selection of literary genres. There was also a significant, but

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slightly smaller, difference between Polish and Czech students (χ2=23.07295 df=6
p=0.000773).

H3: We assume that there is a difference between Slovak and Czech

respondents in preferred literary genres. Comparison of the Slovak and Czech
samples showed differences, but of lower significance (χ 2=20.04246 df=6
p=0.002722).

In the preferred genres, Polish students differed significantly to Czech and

Slovak students. They read fewer fairy tales and significantly more poems, short
stories and novels. Interestingly, Polish and Slovak readers with problems at the
N level prefer to read fairy tales. Polish and Czech enthusiastic readers at the A
level prefer to read short stories. Czech ones chose poetry the least of all groups.
Slovak children preferred encyclopaedias. They read short stories much less than
Czech and Polish children. (Table 2)
Table 2. Genre preferences
Q I prefer to read
write N /% in
fairy short
novels encyclopaedias poetry other their national
genre tales stories
% % % % names groups
% %
%
A 32.88 8.71 6.61 18.02 11.11 13.81 8.86 309
I 33.88 5.75 4.52 19.92 9.45 12.94 13.55 268
G 32.57 7.43 5.14 16.57 8.57 17.71 12.00 110
N 44.44 11.11 11.11 11.11 11.11 11.11 0.00 6
SK 33.28 7.48 5.68 18.47 10.17 13.99 10.92 693/100
A 28.57 18.05 9.77 9.77 5.26 15.79 12.78 76
I 33.16 14.74 6.32 8.42 6.84 18.42 12.11 120
G 32.84 8.96 4.48 5.97 4.48 31.34 11.94 54
N 28.57 0.00 0.00 14.29 14.29 28.57 14.29 4
CZ 31.49 14.61 7.05 8.56 6.05 19.90 12.34 254/100
A 14.81 19.44 15.74 5.56 16.67 17.59 10.19 46
I 20.67 22.60 11.54 4.81 17.79 14.42 8.17 114
G 21.37 15.38 5.13 2.56 22.22 17.95 15.38 82
N 30.00 20.00 10.00 10.00 10.00 20.00 0.00 6
PL 19.64 19.86 10.84 4.51 18.51 16.25 10.38 248/100

A – enthusiastic reader, I – interested reader, G – non-reader without problems,

N – non-reader with problems

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Content categories arose from categorization based on focus interviews.

They were the basis for creating the structure in the item: “What do I like to read
about?”. There were no statistically-significant differences in content preferences
between national groups of respondents. Nevertheless, we can talk about some
differences between Slovak, Czech and Polish students.

The most preferred content is real-life stories, slightly less mentioned by

Polish students. Fantasy and sci-fi literature are most often chosen by Czech
readers. Detective stories and biographies are read mostly by Slovak children.
Czech students read the least biographies and Polish children read the least
articles in magazines. Magazines are preferred by Slovak and Polish non-level N
readers and Czech readers with interest - level I (Table 3).
Table 3. Content preferences
Q What I like to read about
genre real- articles in fantasy detective biographies other write N/% in
life magazines or sci-fi stories their
stories names national
% % % % groups
% % %
A 25.32 9.84 22.10 19.19 11.61 8.39 3.55 309
I 28.79 9.67 19.78 14.95 11.65 9.01 6.15 268
G 25.71 12.00 17.14 13.71 17.71 9.14 4.57 110
N 42.86 14.29 0.00 0.00 28.57 14.29 0.00 6
SK 26.73 10.10 20.45 16.79 12.57 8.75 4.61 693/100
A 28.57 6.72 30.25 18.49 2.52 10.08 3.36 76
I 29.73 12.97 25.41 14.59 7.57 7.57 2.16 120
G 26.23 8.20 36.07 4.92 14.75 4.92 4.92 54
N 20.00 0.00 20.00 0.00 0.00 40.00 20.00 4
CZ 28.65 10.00 28.65 14.05 7.03 8.38 3.24 254/100
A 28.40 2.47 23.46 18.52 7.41 12.35 7.41 46
I 22.78 4.43 30.38 12.03 12.03 12.03 6.33 114
G 17.00 5.00 23.00 14.00 13.00 17.00 11.00 82
N 16.67 16.67 50.00 0.00 16.67 0.00 0.00 6
PL 22.32 4.35 26.96 13.91 11.30 13.33 7.83 248/100

A – enthusiastic reader, I – interested reader, G – non-reader without problems,

N – non-reader with problems

In both items, younger students had the opportunity to add an open-ended

answer - which other genres or content they prefer to read and what are their titles
or book titles. Of the national groups, 27% of Slovak, 22.8% of Czech and 14.9%

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of Polish respondents used the opportunity to freely write down other genres and
content, and 15% of Slovak, 23.6% of Czech and 7.6% of Polish respondents
wrote a specific name of a preferred book. The willingness to answer freely was
shown mostly by Czech students, the least by Polish students (Chart 1 and Chart
2).

Fig. 1. Percentage share of Fig. 2. Percentage share of

respondents respondents
Students were free to add other preferred genres and content. Slovak boys
mainly mentioned war stories, action books, books with a criminal plot,
encyclopedias cars, dinosaurs, and biographies about hockey players and football
players. Polish boys mentioned historical stories, comics, books about the
universe and YouTubers, and Czech boys reported adventure books and comics
in particular. Slovak girls chose especially realistic stories, stories and
encyclopedias about animals, especially horses and dogs. This selection aligns
them closest to Polish girls, who also chose stories about animals, as well as
various fantasy stories. Czech girls often provided responses along the lines of
sad and happy stories. In the open-ended answers, poetry was only mentioned by
Polish students, which is also confirmed by the result mentioned above in the item
"I prefer to read". Legends and fables appeared very little in all three national
groups among the preferred genres. The names of magazines were mentioned
sporadically by Slovak, Czech and Polish students. Slovak students mentioned the
entertaining magazine Fľak and Czech students mentioned the magazine
Čtyřlístek. Czech research in the second half of the 20th and the beginning of the
21st Century showed that the largest number of students read literature intended
for their age category [11], [12] . This is also the case in our research. Further
evidence of this is the fact that the largest percentage of children from all three
national groups prefer to read fairy tales. Polish children also like to read short
stories. Many Slovak, Czech and Polish children reported stories from life and
fantasy literature.

In our research, in contrast to previous research [12], it is surprising that

Slovak, Czech and Polish students preferred books from foreign authors. Among
the Slovak authors, the storyteller Pavol Dobšinský (Slovenské rozprávky) and

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newer authors Branislav Jobus (Muflón Anciáš) and Alena Penzešová (Prešibané
dvojčatá) appeared in the open-ended answers. Andrzej Maleszka (Magioczne
drzewo - several parts) and the title of a series of children's books created by a
Polish girl (2005) (Nela Malá reporterka) appeared among Polish works. Among
Czech authors, children mentioned three: Martina Drijverová (České pověsti pro
malé děti), Tereza Kramerová (Dívka s havraními křídli) and Jaroslav Foglar
(Rychlé šípy). Children's literature from foreign authors dominated the answers of
all children. The most common titles of books by foreign authors in free
testimonies of students of all three national groups: Harry Potter by J. K.
Rowling, Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, the [Tom Gates] series by Liz
Pichon, the Horrid Henry´s Underpants series by Francesca Simon, Tiger Team
by Thomas Brezina, Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, The Complete
Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis, Miss Peregrine´s Home for Peculiar
Children by Ransom Riggs, and Gangsta Granny by David Walliams. There were
also stories with supernatural phenomena, mysteries and terrible secrets: Die
Knickerbocker Bande by Thomas Brezina, Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard,
the Star Friends Series by Linda Chapman, as well as classic children’s stories:
Matilda by Roald Dahl and Mio, min Mio by Astrid Lindgren, as well as The Little
Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

DISCUSSION

The most significant finding is the difference of the Polish sample, which
correlates to the better performance of Polish students in international
measurements. In Poland, the concept of integrated curricular content has been
deployed in primary education, which could also be reflected in the results in
measuring literacy [13]. In Polish primary education, reading is incorporated into
all subjects as a cross-cutting theme. In the new millennium after education
reforms, Polish integrated teaching focuses on thematic integration, often based
on a story close to children, but also on other types of art. The teaching focuses
attention on the emotional experience of children [14]. Polish students chose short
stories much more than their Slovak and Czech cohorts. They focus on artistic and
experiential content. We explain this by the fact that in Poland the emphasis is on
reading contemporary prose for children as well as prose from Polish history.
Younger students have the opportunity to choose from a wide range of literary
production [15]. Polish and Czech boys, unlike Slovak boys, very often preferred
comics. This may be due to the fact that in Poland and the Czech Republic there
is higher production and a broader range of this genre, and children have better
access to it on the book market. Czech students chose fantasy and sci-fi literature,
such as The Chronicles of Narnia, the most out of the three groups. Slovak
children preferred encyclopedias. In our opinion, this is related to the excessive
overemphasis of cognitive goals in Slovak pedagogical practice. In recent
decades, the attention of Slovak teachers has increasingly focused on reading
literacy (with the intention of improving students' performance in international
measurements), which is related to the development of the cognitive side of the
student's personality. They pay less attention to the socio-emotional goals of

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reading, specifically fostering the joy of reading and forming a positive attitude
towards it. We also noticed a preference for reading biographies among Slovak
children. Their open testimonies showed that they were biographies of
contemporary "celebrities" of pop culture, modelling and sports. We think that
this choice is primarily influenced by the media, which are a serious competitor
to students' reading.

CONCLUSION

We found significant differences between younger Slovak, Czech and Polish

students. The differences identified from the research certainly have a broader
social and cultural context. There are significant differences in the preferences of
literary genres. Polish students are more oriented towards short stories and novels,
while Slovak students prefer encyclopaedias. Czech students gave the lowest level
of preference towards the poetry of all the national groups. Research is
particularly important in the context of international comparisons. The study of
readership among students, include a perspective on the preference of literary
genres and content, is a fundamental topic in innovations to the educational
process along with leisure reading activities among students. Research findings
are particularly important for teachers, who should fundamentally change their
attitudes towards student reading. They should be interested in the reading
preferences of their students and give them more time at school to read literary
genres and content that they enjoy, not just in reading and literature classes.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work was supported by the Project VEGA No. 1/0455/18 titled
"Research and Development of Reading Enthusiasm with Younger School-Age
Learners“, principal investigator doc. PaedDr. Simoneta Babiaková, PhD.

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[1] VRÁBLOVÁ, T. 2017. Čítame, počúvame, vnímame v priestore knihy,
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Bratislava
[2] GUTHRIE, J. T., WIGFIELD, A. et al.(2004), Increasing Reading
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wigfield-etal.pdf
[3] THOMAS, M. M. (2001). Proficient reader characteristics: Relationships
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[4] CLARK, CH., FOSTER, A., 2005 Children’s and Young People’s
Reading Habits and Preferences. The who, what, why, where and when National
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[5] Kids and Family Reading Report. 2016. [online]. [cit. 2019-08-12].
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engagement/strategies-to-engage-students-as-readers/engaging-teens-with-
reading.
[6] NOLEN, B.S., 2007, Young Children’s Motivation to Read and Write:
Development in Social Contexts, Author manuscript; available in PMC 2009 Sep
1. Published in final edited form as: Cogn Instr. 2007 May 1; 25(2-3): 219–270.
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2736063/
[7] CHAVES, Ch. 2017. Book reading among Filipino children wanes. In
Mannila Bulletin. The Nation's Leading Newspaper. [online]. [cit. 2019-12-02].
Available at: https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/07/23/book-reading-among-filipino-
children-wanes/
[8] GARBE, Ch. 2008, German-Czech study. Available at
https://www.skipcr.cz/dokumenty/ctenarstvi.pdf
[9] Kids and family reading report. 2019. Scholastic Available at:
https://www.scholastic.com/content/dam/KFRR/Downloads/KFRReport_Findin
g%20Their%20Story.pdf
[10] BABIAKOVÁ, S., KASÁČOVÁ, B. 2020. Reading Preferences of
Younger Learners in a Slovak-Czech-Polish Comparison In The New Educational
Review 61( 3), 38–50
[11] CHALOUPKA, O. 1971. Horizonty čtenářství. Prague: Albatros, 1971.
[12] ZACHOVÁ, Z. 2013. Čtenářství a čtenářská gramotnost. Vlkov, Czech
Republic: Helena Rezková, 2013. ISNB 978-80-904449-7-3.
[13] PIRLS (2016) International Results in Reading. Retrieved 12/03/2020:
http://pirls2016.org/
[14] GUŚPIEL, M. 2002. Ksztalcenie intelektualne i emocjonalne jako
podstawa integracji na przykladzieedukacji polonistycznej. In Jakóbowsiego, J.
& Jakubowicz-Bryx, A. Integracja w edukacji. Dylematy teorii i praktyki.
Bydgoszcz: Wydawnictwo AB Kazimierza Wielkiego, 2002.
[15] KONOPNICKA, I. 2013. Edukacja czytelnicza dzieci w mlodszym
wiwku szkolnym. Opole: Uniwersytet Opolski. ISBN 978-83-7395-535-6.

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LANGUAGE AND CULTURE INTERFERENCE IN THE

PROCESS OF PURSUING HIGHER PLURILINGUAL
EDUCATION

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Maia A. Egorova1

Assist. Prof. T. A. Zapata Ruiz2
1, 2
Рeoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Moscow,
Russia

ABSTRACT

It is impossible to imagine a modern person with higher education who would

have never studied one or several foreign languages and would not be familiar
with the culture of different countries. Especially in the modern world, in which
knowledge of languages serves not only as a way of cognition, but also as a key
to self-realization both in one's own linguistic environment and beyond. The
borders of countries are in many ways more and more transparent, means of
transportation are available, which makes a modern person mobile and active in
changing their place of residence and work. Knowledge of a foreign language and
understanding of the cultural characteristics of other peoples further erases the
barriers to temporary or long-term migration. Consequently, interest in the study
of foreign languages grows in proportion to the growth of educational, scientific,
commercial, cultural contacts, the desire of peoples and governments of different
countries to develop cooperation and interaction. The study of linguistic and
cultural contacts and the mutual enrichment of languages involves not only the
study of specific socio-historical and cultural conditions of their development, but
also the results of their mutual influence and interpenetration.

In the process of learning one or more foreign languages, the problem of

linguistic and cultural interference arises. The focus of our article is the problem
faced by students of language departments. Students, even with a good command
of a foreign language, often make mistakes, the cause of which is interlanguage
interference - the influence of the native language system on a foreign language
or two or even more studied languages on each other. With prolonged
«immersion» in the language, the languages being studied begin to influence each
other, actively interacting with the native language. Interference can manifest
itself in both oral and written speech, as well as at all linguistic levels. In addition,
issues of cross-cultural interference play a significant role.

This article examines the reasons for the occurrence of language interference,
describes its main characteristics and features, provides illustrative examples from
European (English, Spanish and others), Slavic (Russian, Polish and others), as
well as in the Eastern (Chinese) language. The authors pay special attention to the
problem of linguistic interference of students of higher educational institutions

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emitting two or more foreign languages. They are carriers of the cultural code of
their country, their people, but at the same time their cultural characteristics are
in close contact with the cultural values of the people whose language they are
studying, and their native language enters into a complex interaction with the
languages being studied. Any culture is national, its national character is
expressed in language through a special vision of the world, respectively, these
two phenomena are inextricably linked and it is possible to consider them within
the framework of one study.

In the course of analyzing the above-described scientific linguistic and

culturological problem, the authors come to the conclusion that the study of the
culture of the people of the country of the target language is in many respects
primary and serves as a superstructure over the study of a foreign language. This
methodological approach allows students to avoid both cross-cultural and, in the
future, linguistic interference. Teachers are required to be not only teachers of the
language, who understand its origins of history and its evolution, but also
specialists immersed in the culture and traditions of the country, the language they
teach, who know its historical features, the mentality of the people and those key
moments that influenced the formation of the linguistic features.
Keywords: language interference, culture interference, higher education,
linguistic education, language mistakes, cross-culture, foreign language

INTRODUCTION

The modern tasks of language education within the framework of the theories
of bilingualism put in front of the researchers the problem of studying interference
and transference. Linguocultural interference is an important factor influencing
the formation of the language skills of a person who learns to combine in his
consciousness several linguistic and cultural systems interacting with each other.
The problem of language interference arises in the process of learning one or more
foreign languages. The national character of culture is expressed in language,
which entails the problem of not only linguistic but also cultural interference.

Interlanguage interference is the influence of the native language system on

the foreign one. Students of language departments, even with a good command of
a foreign language, often make mistakes, the cause of which is interlanguage
interference - the influence of the native language system on the foreign language,
and later, with a long «immersion» in the language, the studied language begins
to influence the native one. A person learning a foreign language rarely avoids
encountering the phenomenon of linguistic interference. This phenomenon arises
as a result of the influence of one language on another. Usually, the native
language affects the foreign one, this problem happens at an advanced stage of
learning. Interference can manifest itself in both oral and written speech, as well
as at all linguistic levels.

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Interference, like positive transfer, can cover all levels of the language:
phonetic, grammatical, lexical, spelling and significantly affect the development
of speech activity in a new language. The types of interference are distinguished
according to several criteria. Interference can be communicatively relevant, that
is, it violates the mutual understanding of the interlocutors, and communicatively
irrelevant, does not interfere with mutual understanding. Interference can be
synchronous and dynamic. Synchronous interference is unchanged. It remains
with the learner, for example, his accent. Dynamic interference precedes the first
type chronologically, it reflects the process of the student's progressive movement
in language acquisition and can be overcome.

According to the types associated with the specifics of speech activity, we

can distinguish productive interference (the generation of speech) and receptive
interference (understanding). Interference in productive types of speech activity
is amenable to direct observation and is more pronounced than in receptive types
of speech.

Successful learning of foreign languages requires researchers to analyze the

phenomenon of language interference, and from teachers to understand its causes
and search for approaches to interacting with this problem.

METHODS AND METHODOLOGY

The authors used the following scientific research methods: synthesis,

analysis, deduction, comparative method and observation method.

The synthesis method was applied in the course of generalizing data on the
problem of interference, giving an overview of the elements most characteristic
of the problem. The method of analysis was used to determine certain patterns of
linguistic interference in order to analyze their features and to reflect the essence
of the issue. Further, the authors moved from the method of analysis to a
deduction. This method was used in the process of concretizing examples of
linguistic interference, specific examples were singled out from the general
patterns in this issue. The authors resorted to comparative studies in order to
compare various manifestations of linguistic interference in oral and written
speech, during translation, when changing language styles. A very important for
the authors was the observation method, which allowed them to collect specific
examples of linguistic and cultural interference from their students in real teaching
conditions.

RESULTS

The term interference was first used in the exact sciences, where it means
interaction, mutual influence, the result of which can be both positive and
negative. In linguistics, it was first introduced by the scientists of the Prague
Linguistic Circle, implying by interference the process of deviation from the norm

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of contacting languages. U. Weinreich calls the interference deviations from the

norms of any of the languages, which occur as a result of proficiency in two or
more languages, i.e. due to language contact. According to E. Haugen,
interference is the deviation from the norms of a language that appear in the
speech of bilingual speakers as a result of acquaintance with other languages. A.
Klimov believes that interference is the result of the superposition of two systems
in the process of speech. N.B. Mechkovskaya uses the term «interference» for
errors in a speech in a foreign language, caused by the influence of the native
language system [1]. Another definition proposed by V.A. Vinogradov, is
formulated as follows: «Interference is the interaction of linguistic systems in
conditions of bilingualism, which is formed either during linguistic contact, or
with individual assimilation of a non-native language», deviations from the norm
and systems of a non-native language caused by the influence of the native, he
considers the expression of the process of interference [2].

Interference occurs when the same person regularly uses different languages.
The speaker equates units of one language with units of another because of their
similarity in form, in distribution, or both. The depth and amount of interference
can vary. They depend on many subjective and objective factors. It is believed
that the smaller the typological distance between the mother tongue and the target
languages, the greater the degree of their similarity and the smaller the difference,
the greater the likelihood of interference. If this distance is large, that is, the
languages are not genetically related, then there will be fewer cases of automatic
transfer, and, as a consequence, the mistakes made by the learners. However, there
are some exceptions.

Let's consider examples of different types of interference in different

language families: English, German (West Germanic language group), Spanish,
Italian, French (Romance group), Polish, Ukrainian (Slavic group), Chinese
(Sino-Tibetan language family).

Examples of language interference with English.

Sometimes the speaker incorrectly chooses a word from a number of stylistic

synonyms, in connection with which the style of utterance changes, although the
subject in question may remain the same. For example, the Russian word «talk»
corresponds to two English verbs, differing in style: neutral «speak» and
colloquial «talk». In the case of the wrong choice in relation to a specific speech
situation, the phenomenon of stylistic interference can be observed. The word
«house» is used for the place of residence, and «home» is used to designate the
family and the social concept. One more example: I am fat. (I'm full.) I have no
ideas. (I’ve no idea.)

Let's give some examples of interference with the French language. The
example of lexical interference: fontaine (fr.) «well, source» is mistaken, because
it is similar to the Russian word «the fountain». Lexical interference usually leads

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to literalism. So, for example, the word «journal» (m.) is understood as «journal»
(revue, f.), not «newspaper»; «Magazine» (m.) is «shop» (magasin, m.), not the
«picture magazine».

There are words of Italian and Russian languages, similar in form, but
different in meaning. For example, students try to use the word «per favore»
(«please» - in the meaning of a request) in response to «grazie» («thank you»),
knowing that the answer should be «prego» (please, in the meaning of gratitude)...

One more typical mistake: «Un amico vecchio» (old friend) - «un vecchio
amico» (old friend).

Some examples from Spanish.

Using the verb «ser» (to be). In Russian, the verb is not used in the present
tense, while in Spanish a sentence without a verb cannot exist. But pronouns are
often absent in sentences, since the verb in the correct form gives all the necessary
information.

Incorrect: «Yo arquitecto. Nosotros economistas». Correct: «Yo soy

arquitecto. Nosotros somos economistas». Quite right: «Soy arquitecto. Somos
economistas».

It would seem that if languages are close in origin, such as two languages of
the Slavic language family, Polish and Russian, then language interference is less
likely, but the researchers of this problem show that interference is not only
present, but due to the proximity of the two languages, it lasts longer and it is
more difficult to overcome it. For example, in the use of the prepositions «to»:
«Poszedlem do kina» and «I went to the cinema» in Russian, while in Russian
students say «to» instead of Polish «do» (to). Or, for example, there are mistakes
in vocabulary gender. Often, words that coincide in meaning and partly in form
have a different genus: zamsz (m.) and suede (f.).

Although Russian and Polish languages belong to the Slavic family of

languages, they represent different groups: the East Slavic group (Russian) and
West Slavic (Polish). When studying the Ukrainian language, which is closely
related to Russian, and which, like Russian, belongs to the East Slavic group of
languages, various types of interference are no less frequent. So, Russians
studying the Ukrainian language classify Ukrainian masculine nouns «біль»,
«розпродаж», «посуд», «Сибір», «ярмарок» (pain, sales, dishes, Siberia, fairs)
to the feminine gender in accordance with the norm of the Russian language: pain,
sale, dishes, Siberia, fair (рус. боль, распродажа, посуда, Сибирь, ярмарка).

From our personal teaching practice, we would like to cite a few more
examples related to the Chinese language. In Russian, the preposition «on» is
placed in front of the object, for example: a book is on the table. In Chinese, after

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the object: 书在桌子上 (Shu zai zhuozi shang) . Russian students confuse the
meaning and use of the preposition / verb 在 (zai), giving it the meaning «on»,
forgetting that in this type of sentences, the role of the place indicator «on» is
taken by locative 上 (shang - on). They make a wrong sentence: 书在桌子.

There is, for example, the interference of Chinese and English. For example,
Russian speakers who study these two languages at the same time often confuse
the pronunciation of certain sounds. Thus, the phonetic unit of the Chinese
language «q» / q / (qi) is often pronounced as is customary in English, that is / kju
/. And, for example, instead of the English soft-pronounced «she», they use the
hard-pronounced variant, as is customary in Chinese, sound «shi».

It is interesting that the interference itself can be not only linguistic, but also
intra-linguistic. Here are some examples from Chinese. When studying two
aspects of language at the same time: oral (spoken) and written (business),
students often make the mistake of breaking the required style. So, for example,
in colloquial speech, describing the finding of an object, instead of the verb 在
(zai (located) at; (to be) in; to exist), they use the written verb 位于 (wei yu) with
the same meaning. Another example: instead of the conjunction 和 (he - and, with)
they use the conjunction of the written language 与 (yu). Such examples can
certainly be cited from many languages.

Among the examples of interference, we would like to note an example of

intonational interference, since linguistic interference at the level of intonation
prevents the correct personal and social assessment of the speaker. A speaker who
is fluent in the language at the lexical and grammatical levels, making intonation
mistakes, risks destroying the correct perception of his level of language training.
For example: in Chinese, to the question: 你是大夫吗？(are you a doctor?)
students respond with a neutral intonation 是，我是大夫 (yes, I am a doctor),
emphasizing the word «doctor», but for Chinese language is more typical to make
a semantic emphasis on the verb 是 (shi - to be).

Linguistic and cultural interference is the misunderstanding of background

vocabulary.

Of course, there are many other examples related to various types of

interference, which it is impossible to list all within the framework of this article.

The authors identify several main reasons for the occurrence of language
interference, which can be associated with both the characteristics of the
languages being studied and the immaturity of students, their inexperience in
learning languages, or the fact that they are at the initial stage of learning. The
situation of linguistic contact leads to the emergence of bilingualism, to
possession of two or more languages and their use, depending on the conditions

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of verbal communication. Since the speech of students is not yet perfect, it is noted
to one degree or another «reliance» on the native language in the process of
communication is inevitable, which ultimately leads to violations of the system
and norms of the second language, to the appearance of so-called interference.
The primary system is considered as a source of interference, the secondary - as
an object of interference. The primary system can also be represented by a
previously studied non-native language, when the features of the system of a
previously studied foreign language, in which a person's speech activity was
carried out, is transferred to the newly studied language, thus, a distortion occurs
under the simultaneous influence of the system of the native language and other
previously studied languages.

The linguist N.S. Trubetskoy wrote that when listening to someone else's
speech, when analyzing what we hear, we involuntarily use the «phonological
sieve» of our native language that is familiar to us. And since our «sieve» is not
suitable for a foreign language, numerous errors and misunderstandings arise. The
sounds of a foreign language also receive an incorrect phonological interpretation
from us. N.S. Trubetskoy believed that a foreign accent depends not on the fact
that a foreigner cannot pronounce this or that sound, but on the fact that he «judges
this sound incorrectly|», which is due to the difference between the phonological
systems of a foreign and native language. S.I. Bernstein identified the main reason
for difficulties in mastering foreign language pronunciation by the fact that
students perceive someone else's speech through the prism of the phonetic system
of their native language. Possessing stable skills in listening and pronouncing the
sounds of their native language, they use these templates in the perception and
reproduction of unusual sounds of foreign speech. It is no coincidence that at the
initial stage of training, students imagine the sounds of their native language
instead of foreign language sounds. The nature of the interaction of sound systems
in teaching a non-native language has its own specific features [3].

Interference can also be caused by the divergence of typical grammatical

patterns in different languages. The norms characteristic of their language are
transferred into a foreign language. Lexical interference can be associated with a
mismatch in the amount of meanings of words in different languages. Interference
is observed during the assimilation of linguistic forms of various levels (sounds,
words, sentences) and its degree depends on the degree of similarity of linguistic
forms, if linguistic forms are similar, then the interference is easily overcome.
Interference can be easily overcome even with a complete divergence of linguistic
forms. The greatest difficulties in overcoming interference are observed in those
cases. When they collide, the phenomena are partially similar. In this case, the
oppositions of one language are replaced by the corresponding oppositions of
another language. Such phenomena include the phenomena of the syntactic level,
that is, interference in the construction of a sentence. Interference is especially
difficult to overcome when mastering the rules for the arrangement of words in a
sentence of a foreign language.

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When teaching foreign languages to students, sound interference can be

regarded as «poor» and «mediocre» pronunciation in the target language. In this
case, there is no interaction between the two language systems - the «speech» of
students sounds mainly in the classroom. Achieving good pronunciation in a
foreign language, the teacher primarily pursues general linguistic goals, since
mastering the mechanisms of sounding speech is the key to mastering all the
riches of a foreign language. Under conditions of interference, «poor» speech
quality in a non-native language does not exclude good understanding, and in case
of poor discrimination of sounds of a non-native language, pronunciation errors
are unnecessary. When teaching students languages, the «Russian accent»
especially «betrays» the speaker. Errors in the placement of phrasal stress, in the
choice of the intonation center in a phrase, the appearance of «calque», that is, a
literal translation from the Russian language, are very obvious.

Overcoming or reducing language interference when teaching a foreign

language to students is a very difficult task, but the use of authentic teaching
materials, audio media, newspapers, magazines, etc., as well as the correct
organization of the educational process, contributing to «immersion in the
language», as well as teaching students working on the features of the target
language, leads to its significant decrease.

The creation of a holistic methodology for solving the problem of such errors
would contribute to an increase in the level and intensification of the development
of foreign languages, would help to make it more accessible to study more than
one foreign language and avoid overlaying them on each other, and would solve
the problem of «switching» from one language to another, give new approaches
to understanding bilingualism and polylinguism, when linguistic interference is
an inevitable consequence of the parallel use of two or more languages, especially
among children from an interethnic family or children-immigrants.

The efforts of the teacher should be aimed at more quickly overcoming the
interference of native language systems in the system of a foreign one. It is
necessary to draw the attention of students to the fixed variants of a foreign
language.

Cultural interference is not caused by the language system itself, but by the
culture that the language reflects. Interference can be caused by realities,
phenomena, norms of behavior similar in different cultures, for example, unequal
forms of speech etiquette.

CONCLUSION

The article examines the problem of linguistic and interlanguage interference,

provides examples from different languages, reflecting the fact that this problem
is typical for different languages and does not depend on how close or distant the
languages are. The authors consider a number of reasons leading to linguistic

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interference and speak about the relationship between culture and language. The
condition for the occurrence of linguistic interference is linguistic contact. There
is an influence of the native language system on a foreign one and studied
languages one on another.

The authors come to the conclusion that the solution to the problem of
linguistic and cultural interference lies in the area of one of the main pedagogical
tasks for teachers, and for students, overcoming the manifestations of interference
should be based on a deeper knowledge of the culture of the people of the country
of the language being studied and greater memorization of linguistic elements for
their use there where translation can be dispensed with, thus avoiding interference
errors.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This paper has been supported by the RUDN University Strategic Academic
Leadership Program.

REFERENCES
[1] Terekhova S.A. The Problem of Interference in the Process of Developing
Auditing Skills of Linguist Students Studying English as a Second Foreign
Language //
http://www.vspc34.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=631
05.03.2011;
[2] Vinogradov V.V. Problems of literary languages and patterns of their
education and development / V.V. Vinogradov; Academy of Sciences of the
USSR, Institute of Rus. lang. - M.: Nauka, 1967. - pp. 132 [2];
[3] Gilman D.V., Dmitrieva V.S. The Problem of Interlanguage Interference
in Teaching Foreign Languages at the University 15.07.2013 //
https://www.sgu.ru/sites/default/files/textdocsfiles/2013/07/15/i-
09_dmitrieva_gilman.pdf.

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PARANORMAL EXPERIENCE RELATED TO

IMPROVING ACADEMIC MOTIVATION OF SLOVAK
UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Prof. Dr. Martina Blašková1

Prof. Dr. Hideyuki Kokubo2
1
Police Academy of the Czech Republic in Prague, Czech Republic
2
Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan

ABSTRACT

Currently, at the beginning of the 21st century‘s third decade, scientific

attention must be focused on modern topics. These challenges include also the
paranormal experience of university students. However, many of university
executives either downplay it or even reject it. With this behavior, they fail to
reveal the important potentials that are contained in the intra-motivational system
of each student. In this way, they lose the opportunity to properly target the
university's motivational efforts and programs aimed at strengthening academic
motivation. The aim of paper is to fulfill this gap. It analyzes, compares and
synthesizes theoretical views in the field, and completes them in terms of positive
and negative impacts on intrapsychic balance and motivation of the student. In an
effort to increase the scientific relevance of paper, two hypotheses are set. H1:
There exist relevant relations among searched paranormal phenomena, H2:
Occurrence of paranormal phenomena depends on the gender. The empirical part
presents the results of a unique survey participated by Slovak HE students. With
the use of frequency analysis, χ2 test and Product-Moment Correlation, the most
important findings include that among paranormal events, students experience the
most especially déjà vu, presentiment, and 6th sense belief. The most frequently
un-experienced events are: out of body experience, telepathy, and signs of ghosts.
Almost half of the phenomena show significant relationships. Also, the statistical
significance of gender dependence was approved for 4 of 8 searched phenomena:
déjà vu, telepathy, 6th sense belief, and signs of ghosts. Confirming both
hypotheses, it can be deduced that consider for anomalousness could be a great
inspiration for academic motivation increase. Several ways for improvement of
motivation are suggested, and recommendations for the university management
with regard to master the negative impacts of these phenomena are formulated in
the conclusion.
Keywords: Paranormal experience, higher education, motivation, students,
survey

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INTRODUCTION

The Intra-motivational system of higher education student contains various

drives and phenomena that call up, orientate and sustain an academic effort. In
this view, academic motivation is the complicated system of internal motivational
events and dynamics focused on planning, balancing and achieving the pre-
determined life, academic and career ambition. Currently, many various forces
and elements affect academic motivation. One of the non-traditional, but
inspirational from the viewpoint of scientific research, is the anomalous, i.e.
paranormal experience.

The psychology of the paranormal has always reflected wider themes about
nature [1]. Anomalistic psychologists attempt to understand their subject of matter
by considering the phenomena to be explained from the varying perspectives of
all of the traditional sub-disciplines of psychology [2]. Thus, parapsychology is
concerned with states of consciousness that have traditionally been considered
supernatural or paranormal [3], and as a permanently discussed discipline, deals
with paranormal experiences. It attracts the attention and fascinates people, it
searches “extrasensory perception (ESP) and other phenomena which cannot be
explained by existing scientific principles” [4]. On the other hand, “it is possible
that a scientific explanation might one day be found for these claims” [5]. This
paper tries to contribute partially in such an effort.

Although the paranormal experience is “difficult to operationalize, there has

been a scholarly consensus that it is a multidimensional construct” [6]. The paper
uses the terms paranormal experience rather than paranormal belief. “Having a
belief in the paranormal does not necessarily mean having experienced the
paranormal” [7]. In other words, an experience that might be described as
paranormal or anomalous is one that is in some way ‘out-of-the-ordinary’ [8].

In the paper, the paranormal experience can be defined as the conviction in

the peculiar, non-standard or unusual psycho-physiological experiences of
individuals. Such unusual ‘events’ are often the culmination and transformed
‘message/link’ of their subconscious and/or the result of their unique cerebral
synopsis. It is important to emphasize that the subject itself, i.e. student is sure
that s/he experienced the unusual, and the daily reality distant event. The essence
is the intra-personal certainty of the student that s/he experienced such
unexplained situation.

Although the topic of paranormal experience should be considered absolutely

natural at the beginning of the third decade of the 21st century, many theorists,
but especially university executives, either downplay it or even openly reject it.
The paradox is that many of them often rely on their intuition in their management
decisions. At the same time, intuition is often identified with one of the most
frequently experienced abnormal experiences, i.e. with the sixth sense.
Intuition/sixth sense is usually a reflection of feeling for the situation and the

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ability to connect many rational elements or fragments of experience into

absolutely new, often unexpected solutions. In other words, these unique
experiences in modern higher education deserve their deeper scientific attention.

Based on the aforementioned, the paper’s research goal is defined in this way:
Theoretically and empirically search the higher education students’ anomalous
experience. These characteristics will be examined from the viewpoint of their
matter-of-fact, but also, from the perspective of both positive and negative
relations to academic motivation. With an intention to overcome an existing
knowledge-relation gap in this area, an empirical part will present the results of a
questionnaire survey, attended by n = 443 university students in the Slovak
Republic, Europe. The survey was focused on investigating the existence of
paranormal experiences and disclosing potential dependencies and relations
between them. With respect to basic scientific principles, the empirical effort will
consist in testing relations among paranormal experiences (H1), potential gender
dependencies with regard to paranormal experiences (H2). The conclusive parts
will discuss and generalize the obtained results, and recommend some of the prior
suggestions in the field.

PARANORMAL EXPERIENCE AND EXTRASENSORY

PERCEPTION

Although Swets pointed out in 1990 that Commission for Searching

Extrasensory Perception did not find any scientific evidence for the existence of
the ESP in researches performed over the past 130 years [9], paradoxically,
psychological scientists not only reject certain claims but also construct both their
opponents as unscientific and, in the process, themselves as scientific [1].

With the use of primary psychology classification, it is possible to experience

unusual events through the five basic senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste)
or without these ones (e.g. [2,5]). Based on this, the chosen anomalous categories
could be structured into two groups: a) paranormal experiences, b) extrasensory
perception. Déjà vu, sleep paralysis, out-of-body experience and signs of a ghost
could be ranked into the first group. Further searched phenomena, i.e.
presentiment, telepathy, clairvoyance, 6th sense belief, could be ranked into the
second group.

Paranormal Experience

Accepting presented ideas, the characteristic point of this paper’s survey is

focused on paranormal experience (with 6th-sense belief). Of course, an answer
(yes/no) in the survey means “I remember (or not remember) that I have
experienced.” There is a possibility that many students have forgotten their
experiences although it is difficult to confirm it. Thus, the answer (yes/no) can be
also considered as a kind of expression of occurrence.

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First of anomalous experiences, searched in the paper, i.e. déjà vu, can be
described as an individual’s sureness that s/he has already found him/herself in
the same situation, either as a direct participant or at least as a witness, and s/he
perceived the situation extremely intensely. Based on knowledge of neurology,
functions of the brain, disclosing various cerebral connections, etc., Brown
considers déjà vu as a specific cognitive illusion which may result from: “(a) a
brief change in normal neural transmission speed causing a slightly longer
separation between identical messages received from two separate pathways, (b)
a brief split in a continuous perceptual experience that is caused by distractions
and gives the impression of two separate perceptual events, and (c) the activation
of implicit familiarity for some portion of the present experience without an
accompanying conscious recollection of the prior encounter” [10].

Sleep paralysis represents one of the most unfavourable anomalous events. It

can be characterized as a disabling of movement, as a temporary palsy, numbness
of limbs or whole body during sleep and loss of control over one’s physiological
reactions. It is often associated with great psychological and physiological
discomfort. „People felt paralyzed, could not speak, felt helpless, and were
overwhelmed by extreme fear“ [11]. It is often described as a terror in the night
(e.g. [12]). Worse sleep quality was found in multiple studies to be associated with
increased odds of sleep paralysis occurrence [13]. Sleep insufficiency can have a
negative impact on the physical and mental health of university students and be
detrimental to cognitive skills for learning [14].

Third of searched anomalous is a sign of a ghost. The ghost may have a quasi-
imaginary-optical form, and may soon be lost. However, the ‘existence’ of ghosts
is often documented in graphical form – as repeatedly appearing inscriptions on
the walls and the like. Ghosts consist of a pattern of information residing in a low
energy, high energy, negative energy (or whatever) conformation [15]. Similarly,
as sleep paralysis, the fear of ghosts may be a cause of intense discomfort, poor
sleep, and socio-occupational impairment [16] while hard or intensive types
demand thorough clinical attention and psychiatric help. On the other hand, the
belief in ghosts functions sometimes as a catalyst for spiritual transformation [17],
or gifts individuals a warning [18] pointed out that these ones are a reflection of
conventional wisdom alteration.

The last of the examined paranormal is out-of-body experience (OBE). The

individual feels as if s/he has temporarily left his or her physical body and watched
everything happening from above, ‘through a veil’ of an unrelated, independent
person. It could be explained as depersonalization, “often is associated with
feelings of loss of control over one’s own body, actions, or thoughts” [19]. It is
“coupled with a corresponding relocation of near-personal space and the origin of
the body-centred reference frames” [20]. As all of the mentioned above
anomalous, also the out-of-body experience can be explained by neuro-
psychological science. In such a view, OBE is related to “interference with the
temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) of the brain” [21].

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Extrasensory Perception

The first of examined extrasensory perception is presentiment (PSE). This

can be described as an ability to predict the unpredictable future. [22] suggested
the presentiment “may be one way that the time-symmetries pervading
fundamental physics manifest in human experience”. From the academic
perspective, if student beliefs in his or her presentiment-ability, a positive
precognition (e.g. regarding the result of exam) can lead a student to decrease in
learning effort or, on the contrary, motivate a student to learn more hardly with
the intention to confirm or over-achieve such expected result. In a negative
presentiment, the student can stop any learning effort (because s/he beliefs in
fail).

Telepathy demonstrates that the mind is also transpersonal [23]. Logically it

also may mirror the mutual understanding, an identical view of the world, or a
‘harmony of souls’. The longer and deeper the students know each other and the
greater the trust between them, the greater the resulting ability to understand
without words is. Such reciprocity can underpin mutual cooperation and joint of
individual learning. On the other hand, “telepathic experiences are disturbing
because they threaten the integrity of the self” [23].

Clairvoyance can be described as seeing the distant events or things

simultaneously with their occurrence [24]. This one is usually defined in three
classes: (1) Simple clairvoyance, (2) clairvoyance in space, (3) clairvoyance in
time [25]. It can lead the student to increase his or her ability of imagination. The
student can visualize the curriculum and make it easier to remember.

Sixth sense belief, as the last of searched extrasensory perception, can be

defined as a complex phenomenon. It draws from knowledge stored in the
individual’s subconscious and is rooted in past experience [26]. It refers to the
perception of input through some channel other than the five main senses, where
a person appears to pick up information from other people by some unknown
mechanism or transmission [5]. Because of this, parallel to student motivation and
confidence can be used again.

Supported by a performed theoretical analysis, comparison, and synthesis of

both phenomena groups, i.e. paranormal experience and extrasensory perception
together, it makes it possible to assume that the occurrence of one is associated
with the occurrence of another phenomenon. Therefore, assuming also a potential
correlation of the incidence of anomalous depending on gender, two hypotheses
can be established.

H1: There exist relevant relations among searched paranormal phenomena.

H2: Occurrence of paranormal phenomena depends on the gender.

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METHODOLOGY

Inspired by a research effort done by McClennon (Elizabeth City University,

USA) and later completed by Kohri (Japan) [27], Kokubo (Japan) [28] extended
the content of the questionnaire sheet. In the current version, there are searched
déjà vu, sleep paralysis, presentiment, telepathy, clairvoyance, out-of-body
experience, 6th sense belief, signs of ghost, and other experiences in the
questionnaire.

Japan version of the questionnaire sheet was translated to Slovak. Then, the
quality of translation and semantics were discussed between Japanese and Slovak
researchers. Subsequently, the pilot survey was performed at a sample of 10
Slovak students. All items were explained and small changes were done. After
this, the final version of the questionnaire was distributed to the respondents.

The sample is relevant because it consisted of Slovak students, with 95%

confidence level and 5% error. The respondents were students of the University
of Žilina. Concretely, they attended following study programs: 1) Management,
2) Informatics, 3) Information Management, and 4) Computer Engineering. There
were males and females. The average age of the respondents was 21.

RESULTS

The task of respondents consisted in expressing the opinion of what of listed

9 paranormal phenomena does he or she experience. The list of phenomena
included: déjà vu, sleep paralysis, presentiment, telepathy, clairvoyance, out-of-
body experience, 6th sense belief, signs of ghost, other experiences. In addition
to the simple quantification of frequencies, the interdependencies of paranormal
experience and their dependence on the age of the respondents were also
examined for the possibility of in-depth research.

As it flows from Table 1, the most frequently experienced events were: déjà
vu, presentiment, and 6th sense belief. On the other hand, the most frequently un-
experienced events were: out of body experience, telepathy, and signs of ghost.

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Table 1. Paranormal experience of respondents

Experience (a) Yes (b) No
Freq. [%] Freq. [%]
Déjà vu 389 87.81 54 12.19
Sleep 182 41.08 261 58.92
paralysis
Presentiment 324 73.14 119 26.86
Telepathy 127 28.67 316 71.33
Clairvoyance 191 43.12 252 56.88
OBE 117 26.41 326 73.59
6th sense 305 68.85 138 31.15
belief
Signs of 135 30.47 308 69.53
ghosts
Source: Own source

Data Analysis and Testing Hypotheses

The investigation of the respondents’ responses frequency was followed by

the evaluation of their relations. The analysis focused not only on identifying the
significance of relations between phenomena, but also on relations between the
experience and respondents’ gender. Dependences’ findings were examined
through the χ2 Test, the results of which were subsequently confirmed by the
Product-Moment Correlation (PMC), referring to the option ‘yes’.

χ2 Test: C=1.96, admissible error = 5%, confidence interval = 95%, if: z>C
=> not independent, if: z<C => independent. Product-Moment Correlation:
C=0.093, admissible error = 5%, confidence interval = 95%, if: r>C => not
independent, if: r<C => independent.

A significant correlation was demonstrated in 15 cases (Table 2).

Specifically, there exist links between following issues: déjà vu and presentiment,
sleep paralysis and sign of ghosts, presentiment and telepathy, presentiment and
clairvoyance, presentiment and 6th sense belief, presentiment and sign of ghosts,
telepathy and clairvoyance, clairvoyance and sign of ghosts, out-of-body
experience and sign of ghosts, 6th sense belief and sign of ghosts. Obtained results
are interesting and contribute to the validity of hypothesis H1 (existence of
relevant relations among searched paranormal experiences).

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Table 2. Confirmed correlations between experiences (15 positive

correlations).
Combinations analyzed χ2 Test Product-Moment Correlation
z P-value r P-value

Déjà vu and presentiment 6.715 <0.001 0.319 <0.001

Déjà vu and telepathy 2.723 0.006 0.129 0.006

Déjà vu and clairvoyance 3.308 <0.001 0.157 <0.001

Sleep paralysis and OBE 6.995 <0.001 0.332 <0.001

Sleep paralysis and signs of ghosts 2.001 0.045 0.095 0.046

Presentiment and telepathy 4.057 <0.001 0.193 <0.001

Presentiment and clairvoyance 5.261 <0.001 0.250 <0.001

Presentiment and 6th sense belief 3.224 0.001 0.153 0.001

Presentiment and signs of ghosts 2.157 0.031 0.102 0.031

Telepathy and clairvoyance 5.143 <0.001 0.244 <0.001

Clairvoyance and OBE 6.214 <0.001 0.295 <0.001

Clairvoyance and 6th sense belief 2.175 0.030 0.103 0.030

Clairvoyance and signs of ghosts 3.084 0.002 0.147 0.002

OBE and sings of ghosts 3.125 0.002 0.148 0.002

6th sense belief and signs of ghosts 5.584 <0.001 0.265 <0.001

Source: Own source

As aforementioned, the interrelations were also examined between

phenomena and gender of respondents (Table 3). χ 2 Test: C = 1.96, admissible
error = 5%, confidence interval = 95%, if: z>C => not independent, if: z<C =>
independent. The statistical significance of dependence was approved for 4 of 8
searched phenomena: déjà vu, telepathy, 6th sense belief and signs of ghosts. For
example, statistically significantly more women (93.71%) when compared to men
(85%) claim to have experienced déjà vu. Up to 85.31% of the interviewed Slovak
female say they believe in the sixth sense.

In the case of telepathy and signs of ghosts, more than half of the male
surveyed (telepathy = 76.67%, signs of ghosts = 72.67%) and female (telepathy =
60.14%, signs of ghosts = 62.94%) expressed a negative answer. Thus, most of
the respondents did not feel either of these phenomena. However, there was a
statistically significant difference in the area of telepathy and sings of ghosts
between males and females. Negative answers in both questions were mostly cited
by a male. This means the validity of hypothesis H2 can be partially confirmed.

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Table 3. Correlations of paranormal experience and gender

Phenomena χ2 Test for gender dependence Significance
z P-value:
Déjà vu 2.619 0.009 yes
Sleep paralysis 0.361 0.718 no
Presentiment 0.324 0.746 no
Telepathy 3.596 <0.001 yes
Clairvoyance 1.302 0.193 no
OBE 0.054 0.957 no
6th sense belief 5.167 <0.001 yes
Signs of ghosts 2.080 0.038 yes

Source: Own source

DISCUSSION

According to [5], recent surveys in Britain have reported that about 50% of
the population believes in extra-sensory perception. It is in accordance with the
results obtained in the survey presented in this paper (Table 1).

Results in Table 2 are consistent with results by [7], done on the sample of
361 respondents, which confirmed that the telepathy belief and clairvoyance
belief were highly correlated. “Many beliefs were moderately correlated with
experiences” [7]. A study of [29], participated by 720 Spanish university students,
related sustainable behaviour to various beliefs, spirituality, transpersonal and
transcendental experiences. There was confirmed an independence of sustainable
behaviour from paranormal [29].

Therefore, when respecting the results presented in Table 3 (confirmed

gender-dependence in 4 of 8 paranormal phenomena) and is supported by studies
mentioned above, the hypothesis H1 and H2 can be considered relevant. This
complexly leads to an important conclusion: paranormal phenomena should be
viewed as a great inspiration for improving academic motivation. It is needed to
remove negative forms of behaviour because these ones could call-up distrust,
unfair and unhelping behaviour of students. Thereto, to achieve the state in which
students will attract their study and will be motivated, and with regard to
providing quantitative and qualitative characteristics of human potential, the
relevance of searching the modern problems in education is increasing [30].

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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Presented above results, comments and opinions lead to the conclusion that
the experience or belief of students in their paranormal abilities should not be
dismissed. On the contrary, modern universities should consider such phenomena
and use them to improve and sustain motivation for science and learning. It is
because of some paranormal experiences are caused by disturbance of
psychological balance or sociological imperfections. Dis-balance can be caused
by a long-term sense of self-inadequacy, a deep fear of self-failure, too high
demands of university studies, allowed freedom versus the perceived family
separation in campus, taking responsibility for own studies and personality
cultivation, etc. It may adversely affect the functionality of the student’s own self-
regulation system. For this reason, when new students start their studies, it is
necessary to thoroughly explain them the expected course of the studies, their
duties, rights, differences from secondary education, and below. Particular
attention should be paid to the question of trust and readiness of the university,
faculty and all teaching and administrative staff to help students solve any
problem.

Despite the fact that de facto and de jure university students are adults and
require full respect, they also need a unique mixture of expressed trust, accepted
autonomy and, at the same time, belonging together. In terms of psychological as
well as sociological development, students are undergoing the hyper-specific
intrapersonal and interpersonal changes. They increasingly assume influence and
personal consequential responsibility for the selection of factors and influences
shaping their personal development and their societal and professionally
orientated profile. It is therefore important to alert students to possible feelings of
failure, disappointment, deceptive euphoria, the danger of establishing
untrustworthy relationships and contacts, succumbing to various ‘releasing’
substances. Such feelings are natural and are also part of university studies. It is
useful to warn in advance of possible dangers and traps. And that is why it is also
important to remind students that they can seek not only administrative but also
psychological aid if necessary. It is imperative that faculty officials explain these
questions to the students in an absolutely correct way, with full seriousness, while
emphasizing the normality of such problems. Guaranteeing anonymity must be
plausible.

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PROFESSIONAL BURNOUT OF TEACHERS AT HIGHER

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

Dr. Ainuru Zholchieva1

Eldiiar Shakirov2
1, 2
International Ala-Too University, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

ABSTRACT

The study deals with the problems of emotional burnout, concerning the work
of teachers in the field of education. In psychological studies, the phenomenon of
emotional burnout was first mentioned at the end of the twentieth century. In
1974, Herbert J. Freudenberger first used this term. He used it to describe the
negative psychological state of any psychosocial occupation - a state of
demoralization, exhaustion, frustration that occurs in a healthy person, who has
close contact with patients in psychological clinics and crisis centers. The
methodology of «Psychological burnout questionnaire for teachers» created by
V.C. Rukavishnikov and the methodology of C. D. Spielberg «Determination of
level of anxiety» (adaptation of Y.L. Hanin), «Scale of psych diagnostics stress
PSM-25» were applied during an investigation.
Keywords: burnout, stress, emotional, psychology, professional

INTRODUCTION

The response of our psyche and body to intensive, constantly acting work
stress is called “burnout syndrome”. The phenomenon of burnout is a set of
negative psychological experiences that affect a person's mental and physical
condition, health, well-being and performance [8]. Such experiences lead to the
same behavior. This step was taken by Herbert J. Freudenberger (1926-1999), a
Jewish psychoanalyst of German origin. Immediately after the definition of such
a state, scientists began to investigate the content of this phenomenon. In the
1980s, the first experimental research on emotional burnout appeared in the
United States.

Firstly, it was interesting for the researchers: the study of the causes and
structure underlying burnout, its symptoms and manifestations, as well as the
dependence of employee well-being and activity on burnout syndrome. Several
works by psychologist C. Maslach and his colleagues, released in 1981, were
interesting. These studies became the basis for further research into the
phenomenon of emotional burnout. The burnout model built by his team made it
possible to interpret the data. These studies consider “emotional burnout as a
three-component symptom complex consisting of emotional exhaustion,
depersonalization, and reduction of personal achievements” [1]. Work stress has

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become correlated with the concept of emotional burnout, which can be associated
with work satisfaction.

In studying the problem of emotional burnout, R. Schwab (1984) argued that

burnout syndrome occurs in professionals who are involved in prolonged, close,
and emotionally intense contact with other people Emotional burnout syndrome
develops in working life, as Pines. A (1982) noticed. It refers to a wide range of
professionals experiencing burnout syndrome - counselors, psychologists,
psychiatrists, social workers, police, prison staff, teachers, medical workers, etc.
[2].

In the mid-90s, the study of such a phenomenon as burnout has reached a new
level in the world of Western psychology. The status of the independent syndrome
appeared at burnout, it is no longer reduced to the states in professional activity
such as stress, fatigue and depression. Such notions as stress and burnout are
similar, but they are independent phenomena that differ in that burnout is the
result of long-term stress experienced by employees working with people. In
Ananyev's works he discusses negative phenomena that appear in professional life
related to interpersonal relationships among professionals working in human-
people occupations. Only in the late 90's burnout became an independent object
of scientific research. [3]

It is possible to note several approaches in understanding of the phenomenon

of emotional burnout conducting the analysis of works. An interactive approach
to the essence of emotional burnout was suggested by C. Maslach together with
his colleagues. This team of psychologists draws attention to the importance of
interpersonal contacts in the emergence of burnout. In 1981, a pair of
psychologists, K. Maslach and S. Jackson defined the concept of burnout as a
syndrome associated with emotional exhaustion, feelings of inefficiency in the
professional sphere, acting as the body's response to chronic and interpersonal
stress in the work [1]. They proposed to consider emotional burnout as a syndrome
consisting of three components, which includes three types of symptoms:
emotional or physical exhaustion, depersonalization and reduction of personal
achievements. In order to reveal the content of these symptoms, researchers define
emotional exhaustion as a feeling associated with emotional stress and emptiness,
the end of their emotional resources, which appears when an employee can no
longer devote himself to work with the same diligence as before. Communication
with them becomes formal, faceless. The emergence of negative feelings may be
latent and manifest itself in the form of restrained aggression, which over time
leads to conflicts and tensions in relationships.

THE DEFINITION OF EMOTIONAL BURNOUT

SYNDROME.

A division of burnout into two groups was suggested by V.E. Oryol - it is a

process approach and a result approach. [7]. The first one means burnout as a

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process that unfolds in time, takes place during a person's professional

development and proceeds in the form of phases. [6].

According to the stages, the procession character of burnout is clearly

described in the concept of M. Burish [9] who singled out 6 phases of burnout
formation. The stage-procedural character of a burnout is well described and
singles out 6 phases of a burnout formation:
1. A preliminary phase, by which he meant an excessive involvement
of a subject in professional activity.
2. The phase of decrease in the level of own participation in the work
activity, when a specialist exhausts his resources and cannot work
with the same dedication.
3. The phase of emotional reactions, when there is a loss of interest in
the work performed and negative emotional feelings about work
begin to emerge.
4. The destructive behavior phase, when the professional begins to
protect him or herself from negative emotional experiences by
walking away, avoiding the activity, distancing him or herself from
clients, etc.
5. The phase of psychosomatic reactions - the peak of psych emotional
and physical exhaustion.
6. The last phase - complete disappointment in the performed activity.

Peculiarities of emotional burnout syndrome manifestation in teachers

of higher educational institutions.

Emotional burnout syndrome is a professional phenomenon that occurs in

representatives of social professions, connected with necessary intensive
communication. This phenomenon is most typical for workers of such professions
as teachers, kindergarten teachers, doctors, medical personnel, service workers,
managers, executives, sellers. Modern scientific literature presents a sufficient
number of studies showing burnout syndrome prevalence in education employees.

Borisova M. V. identifies 3 main groups of burnout factors: individual

psychological: high level of neuroticism, lack of self-regulation skills, a
discrepancy between significant values and activity values; social-psychological
factor: emotional component; organizational factor: lack of opportunities for
professional growth [4]. The professional activity of such employees is described
by a high level of communicative tension. In the work of specialists of
pedagogical professions, there is a large number of emotion-genic factors that
contribute to constant tension and lead to burnout syndrome development.
Situations of stress in the work of pedagogical workers are diverse, working
conditions impose higher requirements for professional and personal qualities of
people who have decided to devote themselves to this profession.

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The unfavorable factors of teacher's work include: the necessary constant

involvement in the process and, accordingly, a high load on the cognitive
processes. We study such a group of pedagogical employees as teachers of higher
educational institutions from the point of view of emotional burnout expression.
The professional category is united by the specificity of professional activity,
namely work with people, communicative tension, the activity of subjects of
activity, multifaceted tasks and many other things. The activity of the teacher as
a whole is aimed at working with people of different ages, it is manifested in the
work with the personality of the person [10].

METHODOLOGY

Due to the fact that burnout syndrome causes such negative consequences for
a professional's life activity, the question of developing measures of prevention
and correction of this syndrome arises sharply. A signal function in the
development of burnout syndrome is played by symptoms that draw a worker's
attention to the fact that there is a so-called failure in work relations and activity.
Thus, D.G. Trunov writes that "To some extent, they are the professional's friends,
helping him to know what is going on with him. The perception of these signals
as enemies means the rejection of the imagined possibility of a deeper
understanding of oneself and one's activity" [5]. These signals give the
professional an opportunity to understand what is going on with him/her and
based on the symptoms to decide what to do next, possibly to retrain or to start
correcting the syndrome and its manifestations. Trunov D.G. suggests four
different courses of action to fight burnout syndrome. [5]

As an example, he cites the work with psychologists-consultants:

1. To adapt oneself to work. By this action, it means the process of
professional adaptation, which is expressed in the development of
professional qualities of the psychologist-consultant's personality.
These are the qualities as empathy, understanding of another person,
empathy and improvement of one's abilities to perceive and analyze
information related to another person.
2. The adaption work. This direction consists of change and
reorganization of professional and organizational conditions of
activity, as well as adaptation to one's own features. These changes
are usually expressed externally - the place, time and conditions of
work, and practically do not concern the content of the work
performed.

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Analysis of empirical data on emotional burnout of teachers in higher

educational institutions.

The research base was Ala-Too International University, Bishkek,

Kyrgyzstan. The aim of the research: to reveal features of emotional burnout of
teachers of higher educational institutions. The objectives of research:
1. To carry out the analysis of theoretical data on the problem of
emotional burnout.
2. To investigate the features of emotional burnout of teachers of
higher educational institutions and give qualitative and quantitative
analysis of empirical data on studying teachers' emotional burnout.
The hypothesis of the research: the teachers of higher educational
institutions susceptible to emotional burnout may have a high level
of anxiety and low level of stress resistance.

The sample: the teachers with more than three years of work experience at
the age from 22 to 65 years old participated in the research. The number of
respondents was 32 people. The study consisted of three stages.

METHODS

In the course of the experiment, the methodology of V. Rukavishnikov

«Questionnaire of psychological burn-out for teachers» was applied; the
methodology of C. D. Spielberg «Determination of level of anxiety» (adaptation
of Y.L. Hanin), «Scale of psychodiagnostics stress PSM-25» was used.

In the first stage, we set goals and objectives for the study. We conducted a
theoretical analysis of the literature on the problem of research, selected the
methodological apparatus and selected research methods. We also chose the
subjects for the empirical research of the problem of emotional burnout in
teachers.

At the second stage of the research, the diagnostics of the level of emotional
burnout, anxiety and stress expression in the teachers of comprehensive higher
educational institutions was carried out with the help of the research methods
chosen by us. The third stage was devoted to the analysis and interpretation of the
data we obtained, mathematical processing of the data using the Spearman rank
correlation method. Also, at the third stage we developed a number of
recommendations for correction of the emotional burnout level.

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Comparative analysis of the data obtained using “Spearman rank

correlation method”.

At the third stage of our study, we also conducted a correlation analysis of

the dependence of the variables using the "Spearman rank correlation method".
This method is designed to identify the existence of a relationship between 2 or
more random variables, as well as its strength. The empirical value was calculated
using the formula:

where d2 is the squares of the differences between the ranks; N is the number
of traits involved in the ranking.

From our analysis of two techniques, we can say, that the connection between
a trait Y (situational anxiety) and a factor X (burnout) is weak and direct. That is
the higher the anxiety, the higher the level of teachers' burnout.

In order to test the null hypothesis at significance level α the Spearman

general correlation rank correlation coefficient is equal to zero under the
competing hypothesis Hi. p ≠ 0, we calculated the critical point:

where n is the sample size; p is the sample Spearman rank correlation

coefficient: t(α, k) is the critical point of the two-sided critical region, which is
found from the Student's distribution critical points table, by the significance level
α and the number of degrees of freedom k = n-2. There is a significant rank
correlation between qualitative traits.

Using Student's table we found t(α/2, k) = (0.05/2;30) = 2.042

Since Tkp > p, we accepted the hypothesis that Spearman's rank correlation
coefficient is 0. We can say that the rank correlation coefficient is statistically -
insignificant and the rank correlation relationship between the scores of the two
tests is insignificant. From this we conclude that our hypothesis that teachers of
higher educational institutions have a high level of anxiety was partially
confirmed. Teachers do have anxiety, but in our sample, this factor does not
depend on the degree of burnout of particular teachers.

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Next, in the third stage of our study, we identified a correlation between the
level of teachers' burnout and their level of stress. The data obtained by Spearman
correlation analysis in relation to two techniques: "Mental Burnout Questionnaire
for Teachers" and "Psychological Stress Scale PSM-25".

From our analysis of the two techniques, we can say that the relationship
between feature Y (stress level) and factor X (burnout) is weak and inverse. That
is the lower the stress level, the higher the level of teachers' burnout.

In order to test the null hypothesis at the significance level α the Spearman's
general correlation rank correlation coefficient is equal to zero under the
competing hypothesis Hi. p ≠ 0, we calculated the critical point:

where n is the sample size; p is the sample Spearman rank correlation

coefficient: t(α, k) is the critical point of the two-sided critical region, which is
found from the Student's distribution critical points table, by the significance level
α and the number of degrees of freedom k = n-2.

Using Student's table we found t(α/2, k) = (0.05/2;30) = 2.042

Since Tkp > p, we accept the hypothesis that the Spearman rank correlation
coefficient is 0. In other words, the rank correlation coefficient is statistically
insignificant and the rank correlation relationship between the scores of the two
tests is insignificant.

CONCLUSION

Emotional burnout is directly connected with the health preservation, mental

stability, reliability and professional longevity of the specialists involved in long-
term interpersonal communications. Emotional burnout is an acquired stereotype
of emotional, most often professional behavior. As a result of diagnostics of a
level of professional burnout among teachers, the following was revealed:

In the group of teachers, the average level of emotional burnout symptoms

expression was revealed. These are such symptoms as: psycho-emotional
exhaustion, depersonalization and self-assessment of professional efficiency. The
absence of a high level of burnout showed that in teachers the influence of stress
genic factors is lower than in other social professions, but in spite of this high
level of stress was detected in teachers from rapidly changing demands at
work. We got an average level of anxiety and a high level of stress, depending on
many factors such as extensive experience, inability to change the situation,
humility and detachment from the work situation.

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Thus, the hypothesis that: the teachers of higher educational institutions are
subjected to emotional burnout syndrome has a high level of anxiety and elevated
stress level was partially confirmed. The received data can also depend on the
chosen research base: specific teachers and administration.

REFERENCES
[1] Maslach, C. Burn-Out. Human Behavior, 1976, pp 5, 16-22.
https://www.scirp.org/(S(czeh2tfqyw2orz553k1w0r45))/reference/ReferencesPa
pers.aspx?ReferenceID=1535947
[2] Vodopyanova N.E., Starchenkova E.S. Burnout syndrome: diagnostics
and prevention. 2nd ed. - Saint-Petersburg: Peter, 2009. p 336.
[3] Ananyev B.G. Man as a subject of cognition. - SPb: Peter, 2001. p 288.
[4] Borisova M.V. Diagnostics and prevention of emotional burnout. -
Training manual. Yaroslavl: Publishing house of the Yaroslavl State Pedagogical
University, 2005 p.43.
[5] Trunov D. G. «Consciousness steps» of mental experience in
phenomenological paradigm. Vestn. Perm. un-ta. Filosofiya. Psikhologiya.
Sotsiologiya [Perm Univ. Her. Philos. Psychol. Sociol.]. 2011. No. 3 (7). p. 43–
48. URL: http://www.psu.ru/files/docs/ob-universitete/smi/nauchnyj-
zhurnal/philosophy-psychology-sociology/2011_1.pdf
[6] Ronginskaya T. I. Bulletin of St. Petersburg University Specific burn-out
syndrome in professions with a high level of stress. 2016. ser. 16 no. 2.
[7] Oryol V.E., Rukavishnikov A.A. Adaptation of the methodology for
diagnosing the phenomenon of mental burnout // Society, education, people.
Yaroslavl: YaGPU, 1999.S. 164-166.
[8] Herbert J. Freudenberger and the making of burnout as a
psychopathological syndrome. p 2. file:///C:/Users/user/Downloads/19144-
Texto%20do%20artigo-80357-2-10-20201203.pdf
[9] Burisch, M. (1993). In search of theory: Some ruminations on the nature
and etiology of burnout. In W. B. Schaufeli, C. Maslach, & T. Marek
(Eds.), Professional burnout: Recent developments in theory and research (pp.
75–93). Taylor & Francis.
[10] Sergii V.Tukaev Tetiana V. Vasheka Olena M. Dolgova. The
Relationships Between Emotional Burnout and Motivational, Semantic and
Communicative Features of Psychology Students. Procedia-
Social and Behavioral Sciences. 2013. p. 555 – 556

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SCHOOL EDUCATION AND SCHOOL TEACHERS` WELL-

BEING IN KYRGYZSTAN

Mrs. Aelita A. Zholchieva 1

Dr. Ainuru A. Zholchieva 2
1
American University in Central Asia, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
2
Ala-Too International University, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

ABSTRACT

Teachers’ motivation and encouragement are considered as one of the priority

areas in the Education Development Strategy of Kyrgyz Republic Ministry of
Education and Science. At the same time, teachers claim that the specified salary
structure, benefits, and working conditions do not meet their basic needs. In this
study, we`ve tried to determine the extent to which teachers' expectations and
needs correspond to their constructive, organizational, and communicative
components of professional activity and their implementation.

The results of the study revealed that the teachers in schools are not happy
with the distribution of responsibilities among them. Apart from these facts, the
teachers express overall satisfaction with their work. For instance, they are
satisfied with the working conditions, teaching load, and professional
development opportunities proposed by the administration. Moreover, many
teachers expressed their respect for the profession itself. The insights of the study
can be further researched in detail.
Keywords: teacher well-being, teacher job satisfaction, school teachers,
scheduling program

INTRODUCTION

Each part of the educational system is greatly influenced by economic and

social changes [3] and has a direct impact on the overall trajectory of a country's
socio-historical development [2]. The school teachers’ quality work results are in
well-educated graduates who contribute to the development of the country and
plays an important role in ensuring a high level of education in the country. Many
researchers note that one of the factors influencing the professional performance
of teachers is their professional well-being.

The Education Development Strategy of Kyrgyzstan for 2012-2020 of the

Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic shows that teachers
have increasingly become objects of managerial approaches brought about by
international donors. The language “what must be done with and for teachers” is
used rather than “what teachers can do for education reform based on their
practical experience” [10]. However, there are very few articles by Kyrgyz

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researchers identifying factors affecting the well-being of school teachers. And

there is an urgent need for research in this area of education in Kyrgyzstan. The
work is conducted directly with school teachers to find out their emotional state,
well-being, and how satisfied they are with their work. And this would help us
reveal how effectively the state-created working conditions contribute to their
work.

Literature Review

A variety of factors can influence teachers' well–being and job satisfaction:

the quality of the relationship with their supervisors, the quality of the physical
environment in which they work, and the degree of fulfillment in their work [1].
Teacher`s job satisfaction is a very important issue as it greatly affects a number
of important workplace behaviors such as productivity and efficiency, systematic
absenteeism, long-term mobility, and job rotation [13]. Job rotation is the
administrative control of employee engagement to minimize employee exposure
to hazards (D. Baker, 2020), which can reduce feelings of inequality among
employees.

Shafer (2019) considers the main factors of teachers' satisfaction with their
activities are working conditions (wages, the nature of relationships with the
administration and colleagues, the possibility of professional growth, the prestige
of the profession, etc.), the content of work (the creative nature of work,
interaction with all participants in the education process, etc.), work results
(positive dynamics of the student, gaining of pedagogical experience, etc.).
Russian professor Zinchenko (2016) substantiates the degree of teachers job
satisfaction and their well–being as an important influencing factor on the
educational process in general. It is also interesting that researchers (Davydova,
Mitina, Danzanov) propose to consider well-being with professional performance
as one of the significant criteria for the professional development of a teacher. For
example, Danzanov (2010) notes that job satisfaction and well–being are the
necessary factors in the effectiveness of a teacher’s work and an important
qualitative characteristic of the subject of his / her professional performance.
According to the researcher, satisfaction with professional performance is one of
the conditions for a teacher to fulfill his/her professional duties in educational
institutions. A better performance from a teacher can only be expected if they are
satisfied with their job (Ali, 2011). Along with other factors influencing teacher
satisfaction, the researchers also consider administrative support, since
administrative support plays an important role in the efficiency of any kind of
organization with an administrative structure (Ali, 2011) be it governmental or
non-governmental institution, or a commercial private sector organization. The
researcher S. Anastasiou (2014) states that the teachers` performance is influenced
by several factors including the creation and maintenance of a healthy and creative
work environment. Such an environment for the teachers should be the aim of
educational managers all over the world.

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It appears that school organizational climate may be one of the key factors in
making the teachers feel satisfied and, accordingly, make their job performance
more productive, functional, and desirable. Afshin (2019) suggests taking steps to
assess the climate of schools and identify the dimensions which are critical for the
health of schools, proving the findings of Zahoor (2011) where it was stated that
in order to help teachers feel satisfied with their job it should be constructed in a
favorable organizational climate at schools. Parlar et al. (2017) indicated in their
research that professional cooperation, school administrator's support and the
level of having a supportive working environment at schools and teacher
leadership give positive and significant relationships. In addition to this, the
results of the study show that professional cooperation and supportive working
environments at schools are important variables explaining teacher
professionalism.

A good level of life satisfaction could bring out good work performances.
The teachers with a high level of life satisfaction could be better educational
agents and their work could be more useful for child development [8]. Matyash
& Pavlova (2015), conducting a survey among teachers, found that material
security continues to be a serious problem, which was also revealed by Komarova
(2001). These researchers stated that one of the most important factors in the
unsatisfactory performance of teachers from a practical point of view is the low
level of material remuneration. The findings of Marinette (2018) revealed that low
salary, poor working environment, lack of job satisfaction and bad principal
leadership style contribute greatly to teacher attrition. Having studied the impact
of working conditions on teachers` attrition in secondary schools in the South
West Region of Cameroon the researcher found that teacher’s attrition has an
impact on the quality of education. The researcher`s findings revealed that
teachers low salaries influence their attrition to a high degree. Secondary school
teachers are one of the occupational groups presenting the highest levels of sick
leave due to stress in the workplace. This form of stress can cause burnout
syndrome, which is characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization,
and low levels of personal accomplishment [9]. Work-related stress and emotional
distress among schoolteachers are considered a serious concern in the educational
context. According to Vincenza Capone`s research (2019) the planning
development programs to reduce teachers’ malaise and improve their evaluation
methods involves taking into account the buffering effect of efficacy beliefs,
school climate, and organizational justice against burnout and depression. Also,
she points that the fairness in the distribution of incentives (material and moral)
among colleagues also affects teacher job satisfaction. The next thing she points
out as one of the main factors in a teacher's satisfaction is the status in the society
the teacher, he/she has earned throughout his /her own career. Nyarko et al.,
(2014) found that when a teacher feels that he or she is earning a reasonable
amount of money or he or she is making use of skills and abilities then that teacher
will be satisfied. These researchers also consider that on the other hand, when a
teacher feels that he/she is not earning enough or is not making use of abilities,
then that teacher will not be satisfied. They came to the conclusion that the

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provision of the internal and external needs of employees serves as a catalyst that
triggers their satisfaction with their jobs. Khora (2008) examined the role of social
support in teachers’ careers, and it was found that motivated teachers differ from
unmotivated teachers in two respects - their value orientation - educational beliefs
or curricular ideologies that appear to influence programmatic decisions (Ennis,
C. D., & Chen, A. 1995) and the social support they receive. Research by Bentea
et.al. (2012) recommends that school leaders focus on the social environment of
their organization and encourage teamwork and positive interpersonal
relationships, explaining that a teaching degree should become a professional
position that teachers in the education system can pursue as their teaching career
progresses. The professional position means promoting, and recognizing their
teaching ability, as well as raising salaries after promotion. The research found
the salary and good relationship between the employees as one of the most
important factors influencing well – being of a person.

Kyrgyz Republic Governmental Measures to support the school

teachers

The Law "The Status of Teachers" was adopted in 2001, 10 years after the
country received independence status. The Law provides a legal basis in the
regulation of relations to the labour activity and social status of teachers, as well
as their social status. [11]

This law provides guarantees for the allocation of land to teachers without
housing, an annual free medical examination of each teacher, the issuance of an
interest-free loan for housing construction, and an additional payment from the
local budget. But in reality, teachers do not have such social benefits (Bulan inst.
Report, 2018).

On June 22, 2019, at an international conference in Bishkek, the Ministry of

Education and Science announced that Kyrgyzstan had achieved the result which
shows 73% of graduates from pedagogical institutes go to school to work,
although earlier only about 40-50% of them worked in schools
(www.akipress.org. 2019). But a UNESCO study in 2012 “General Basic
Secondary Education by 2015” [7] showed that only 14% of graduates from
pedagogy faculties go to work in schools. In their study, the authors noted a
serious shortage of teachers, and that many teachers should leave for retirement
and be replaced by young teachers. Also, they noted that in addition to low
salaries, there are other factors that lead to a shortage of teaching staff - these are
meager social packages, poor conditions, and low prestige of the teaching
profession (kg.akipress.org. 2012). According to the statistical data by UNESCO
“Education Sector Analysis 2007-2017” the overall unemployment rate in
Kyrgyzstan was 7.6% in 2015. The low level of teacher salaries, which remain
below the national average, remains a serious disincentive for recruiting high-
quality candidates into the profession. In recent years, teacher salaries have
increased but they are still low and many teachers have to take additional hours

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to earn more money [4]. This discrepancy in numbers is a very interesting fact
for research. It is also interesting what the success of teachers in schools is if they
go to work in the hope of being realized as a professional because the decline in
the quality of education since the independence of the country is a widely debated
topic in civil society and government. Out-dated curricula, lack of linkages
between the labour market and the education system, low teacher salaries and high
levels of plagiarism are cited as the causes of this phenomenon [5].

The Education Development Strategy of the Ministry of Education and

Science of the Kyrgyz Republic [12] considers the motivation and encouragement
of teachers who systematically improve students` achievement as one of the
priority areas. At the same time, the teacher community in Kyrgyzstan sees a
problem in the government's position regarding the effectiveness of teachers'
work; they accuse teachers of the low quality of education, even if they do not
claim, then by their attitude, they show their position which almost says that the
level of efficiency and effectiveness of teachers does not require a constant
request for higher wages, encouragement and improvement of working
conditions. For their part, teachers argue (unofficially) that the specified wage
structure, benefits, and working conditions do not satisfy their basic needs, since
in other sectors of the economy the wage structure is higher, motivation and
working conditions are higher. It is most likely that public school teachers cannot
provide quality education when there is a gap between the Government and
teachers. Having studied all sorts of factors that affect the attitude of teachers to
their work and how satisfied they are with this or the services provided by the
state, it will be possible to draw conclusions.

This study aimed to examine various factors that affect teachers ' self-esteem
in secondary schools in Kyrgyzstan. It includes the identification of factors that
affect the self-esteem of teachers with more than 5 years of experience and the
teachers with less than 5 years of experience and their attitude to their professional
activities. This will probably help us to determine the extent to which teachers '
expectations and needs do not correspond to their constructive, organizational,
and communicative components of professional activity and their
implementation.

METHODS AND METHODOLOGY

This is a descriptive survey-based study. A mixed research approach was

used to obtain quantitative and qualitative information and the 5-point Likert -
type - scale was used to analyze data using descriptive and logical statistics.
Descriptive statistics were used to describe the overall results of the responses.
The purpose of using the mixed method was mainly to get more detailed
information from respondents. A simple random sample was used to select the
respondents.

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Table 1. Responses of teachers on working conditions [14]. Own source.

According to the results in table 1 which is with the responses on working

conditions the statement “I would like to see clearer rules and procedures for all
activities at our school’ (Q3) gets 68% of agreement. This result means that the
rules and procedures for organized activities at schools are not clear for many
teachers. We also see that the majority of teachers agree with the statement about
a convenient workload (Q1), once again it asserts that the teaching load in schools
is distributed correctly. The overall picture for statements about working
conditions shows more positive responses. 12% of teachers were undecided with
the statements but more “Strongly agree” answers were given than “Strongly
disagree” scales to the statement “The work of a teacher consists of routine
activities (Q2). This result proves the statements by Budi Utomo [6] and
Zinchenko (2016) who discussed much the factors influencing teacher’s
motivation and personal expectations, and proved that teachers may lose their
motivation to work because of the monotony of work. The hesitation to the
statement “The large number of students in the classroom has a negative impact
on my methodology” (Q6) may be caused by the fact that the teachers do not (or
are not able to) monitor the overall level of their student`s achievements and the
results of their own teaching methods.
Table 2. Responses of teachers on professional development [14]. Own
source

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This part includes items on teachers’ attitude towards the teaching profession
itself: “Teaching encourages me to be creative; “Teaching turned out to be more
interesting than I expected, and all these items are given in the positive form. As
we see most of the responses are positive; the statement ‘I am pleased with the
opportunities for professional development offered by my work’ (Q7) gets 74%
of “Agree” and in comparison, with other statements this is the least percentage.
This result shows that the professional development policy at schools needs some
improvement. Teachers show their positive attitude towards their profession
giving mostly positive answers to the statements
Table 3. Responses of teachers on school financial renumeration [14]. Own
source

Looking at the ratio of the responses to the statement on teacher remuneration

we see that the most “Strongly disagree” answers (49%) get the statement “The
teacher's income is sufficient for ordinary expenses” (Q19). 19% of the
respondents were undecided with this statement and 32% (which is the least
percentage) of them agreed with the statement. 64% of the respondents pointed
out that they need to constantly take out a loan due to lack of salary, 11% of them
were undecided with the statement though we can assume that they would agree
with it too, just hesitated to say “yes”. 59 percentage of the respondents do not
strongly agree with the statement (Q20) that they are well paid in proportion to
their efforts, 30% of them think that their effort is appreciated appropriately. 45%
of the respondents do not know what the calculation of their salary is (Q22- I
understand what the calculation of my salary consists of) so, we find that not all
teachers are informed about the calculation of their salary. Thus, there is a need
to inform teachers about their salary calculation so that they would be able to stick
up for their own rights. An interesting fact that 22% of the respondents were
undecided with the statement “Insufficient income prevents me from living the
way I want” (Q 21), and 36% of the respondents disagreed with the
statement. Thus, we can assume that the teachers' life is not as bad as it is
discussed by society (unofficial) and they do not consider their income level
preventing things from living the way they want. At worst they might not imagine
the way of better living or they get used to their current way of living and don't
want to change it. We also see that 55% of the respondents need to work part-time
elsewhere to cover all their expenses (Q24). Taking into consideration this fact,
we can assume that teachers work hard trying to earn more to provide themselves

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with a comfortable life. Overall results on remuneration statements show that the
public-school teachers of Bishkek city are not satisfied with their income, and
they need more information about the calculation of their salary.

RESULTS

The teaching profession is one of the most important ones in society. A

teacher is the only person who, most of his or her time, is professionally engaged
in the upbringing and education of children. We see they adapt to the conditions
created for them.

Most of the respondents have shown positive attitudes towards their work.
They are satisfied with the conditions created for work, teaching load, and the
proposed by the administration the professional development opportunities (to a
certain degree). Also, many teachers expressed their respect for the profession
itself. They reacted positively to the statement that teaching children turned out
more interesting than they expected. They believe that they have a lot in common
with their colleagues out of their work.

Regarding finances and remuneration, it seems that teachers in Kyrgyzstan

have come to terms with the fact that they almost always have low salaries that
only a few teachers with extensive work experience expressed their dissatisfaction
and mostly these are the teachers with long experience. But we do not exclude the
fact that most of the teachers work part - timely in other places and try to cover
their daily expenses, also they regularly need to take loans because of insufficient
salary. We do not blame school administrations for not giving due attention to
their teachers, but we encourage them to be open to them, to study and develop
programs taking into account the government's capabilities that support teachers
morally and financially. The research results can become the main object of future
research and a topic for further detailed study.

REFERENCES
[1] Akhtara S. N., Hasmib M. A. & Naqvic S. I. A comparative study of job
satisfaction in public and private school teachers at secondary level.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/238384695, Pakistan, 2010;
[2] Kursheva G.A. (2007) Society, power and education in the context of
modernization in the USSR: late 1920s - 1930s. Russian version.
http://www.niign.ru/knigi/kursheva-vlast-i-obrazovanie.pdf.
[3] OECD Reviews of School Resources Responsive School Systems (2018)
Connecting facilities, sectors and programs for student success.
[4] Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic Education
Development Strategy 2012-2020 https://planipolis.iiep.unesco.org/en/2014,
2012;

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[5] Mambetaliev A. A Comparative Study of the Gap Between De-Jure and

De-Facto Language Policies: The Case of Kyrgyzstan and Hungary Published, p.
48 – 69, 2019.
[6] Utomo H.B. Teacher Motivation Behavior: The Importance of Personal
Expectations, Need Satisfaction, And Work Climate. International Journal of
Pedagogy and Teacher Education (IJPTE), 2.
https://doi.org/10.20961/ijpte.v2i2.24036, 2018.
[7] Education for All 2000-2015: Only a third of countries reached global
education goals. UNESCO Report. https://en.unesco.org/news/education-all-
2000-2015-only-third-countries-reached-global-education-goals
[8] Ignat A.A. & Clipa O. Teachers’ satisfaction with life, job satisfaction
and their emotional intelligence Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences
Volume 33, 2012, Pages 498-502 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.01.171
[9] Carmona M. G., Marín M. D.& Aguayo R. Burnout syndrome in
secondary school teachers: a systematic review and meta-analysis Social
Psychology of Education, 9., 2018;
[10] Teleshaliev N. “Leave Me Alone—Simply Let Me Teach”. An
Exploration of Teacher Professionalism in Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyzstan, 2013;
[11] The Law of the Kyrgyz Republic "On the Status of Teachers" (2001)
http://cbd.minjust.gov.kg/act/view/ru-ru/391f
[12] UNICEF, Kyrgyz Republic: Education Sector Analysis 2007-2017.
Strategic Choices for the Government to Improve Education, 2019;
[13] Tsivgiouras S., Belias D., Efstathios V. & Chris M. (2019) A Study of
Teacher Job Satisfaction, Job satisfaction in the field of Education
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330970223
[14] Own source. https://www.kaggle.com/iliassuvanov/aelita-zholchieva

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STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION AT DIFFERENT PHASES OF

GETTING HIGHER EDUCATION (THE CASE OF RUSSIA)

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Maia.A. Egorova1

Assist. Prof. Tamara Z. Ruiz2
1, 2
Рeoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Moscow,
Russia

ABSTRACT

The problem of motivation is one of the most important in determining the

driving mechanisms that force a person to learn, work, master something new.
Motivation to work is one of the key elements of challenging yourself on the way
to self-development. Motivation has deep psychological and moral roots and is a
complex multifaceted phenomenon that often defies logical comprehension. In
addition, it is an ephemeral, elusive thing; it is not a permanent feature of a person
in one or another area of his activity. Accordingly, it is the problem of origin,
retention, and in a good scenario of strengthening the motivation that is in one of
the first place among the tasks that modern teachers face.

Rapid scientific and technological development and progress in various fields

of knowledge, new scientific and technical discoveries and the need for new high-
tech developments require specialists with a high level of education and high-
quality professional training. This applies not only to scientific and technical
spheres, but also to natural-applied and humanitarian areas. All this makes higher
education today a prestigious and extremely attractive goal for most young
people, making young people use their studies at a university as a social lift for
further personal development and career development. At the same time, a
situation is observed when entering universities, many young people are faced
with a serious problem of lack of motivation to learn, or they are demotivated in
the learning process, which often leads to a very low level of quality of their
studies, and sometimes makes them interrupt study for academic leave or give it
up completely.

Pedagogical science has accumulated a wealth of experience in studying this

problem, however, the modern challenges of a changing world require pedagogy
to constantly monitor changes and search for new approaches to solving the
problems that students have in the course of obtaining higher education.

The authors study this problem, taking as an example Russia, which is a

country at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, where features of European and
Eastern culture are combined in people. The authors approached the issue from
several important angles. The article analyzes the socio-economic and political
characteristics that affect the motivation for learning among young people.
Particular attention is paid to the state of the current Russian society, spiritual and

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moral guidelines of young people, their goals and views on life and their own
future. The authors emphasize the importance of family, religion and spiritual and
moral development in the issue of motivation to work and study.

The authors come to the conclusion that the problem of lack of motivation is
based on a combination of reasons, but its root is primarily in the family
upbringing of the student, as well as in his moral component and emotional and
psychological maturity of the individual. The article provides an overview and
some of the changes in student motivation associated with the COVID-19
pandemic and online learning.

It is important to note that in the course of their research, the authors relied
on their many years of experience in teaching at higher educational institutions in
Russia.
Keywords: motivation for learning, psychological and pedagogical
problems, pedagogical process, higher education, modern youth, problems of
education in Russia

INTRODUCTION

Motivation is an engine for human action and an integral part of any

professional and personal growth. This impulse is especially important in the
process of obtaining education, which is inseparable from many difficulties and
constant overcoming. Overcoming lies in the development and formation of the
personality, however, despite the euphony of this postulate, not every personality
is able to develop in the course of receiving education.

In this article, the authors primarily talk about higher education as a process
of voluntary conscious intellectual labor of an adult (mature) person.

Obtaining higher education is a complex, difficult, time-consuming, financial

and energy-consuming activity, through which mainly young people who want to
acquire professional skills and receive a higher education diploma are forced to
go.

For a young person, the decision on the need for higher education is often
born under the influence of parents, family, close circle and school. It is good if
this decision coincides with the young person's very need for self-development
and obtaining new professional knowledge. However, often such a decision
comes from the outside and is imposed, and for young people 17-18 years old -
the age of admission to universities, it is quite difficult to figure out whether he
really wants to get a higher education and what profession to choose.

In addition, modern world trends, characterized by rapid scientific and

technological development and progress in various fields of knowledge, also have

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a great influence. The latest scientific and technical discoveries and the need for
new high-tech developments require specialists with a high level of education and
high-quality professional training. This applies not only to scientific and technical
spheres, but also to natural-applied and humanitarian areas. It is these areas that
attract young professionals and serve as an incentive for obtaining high-quality
higher education. Prestigious areas of work are an attractive target for students
and graduates, providing a social lift for further career development.

However, finding themselves within the walls of the university, young people
realize that they still have a long way to a successful career, and in the coming
years they have to work hard, gaining knowledge, and not receiving a salary.
When entering universities, many young people face a serious problem of lack of
motivation to learn, or are demotivated in the process of study, which often leads
to a very low level of quality of their studies, and sometimes makes them interrupt
their studies.

METHODS AND METHODOLOGY

The authors applied the following methods: synthesis, analysis, abstraction,

observation, case study.

With the help of such general scientific methods as synthesis and analysis,
the general state of the issue is studied, and its main features are also highlighted.

The abstraction method helped the authors to consider the subject, during
which they identified the essential sides and properties (while abstraction of other
signs) of the problem raised. The observation method was used for a retrospective
study of the general situation in Russian society and education, which in turn led
to the fact that the authors, using the case-study method appropriate in this case,
considered the issue of motivation to study in universities in relation to a particular
country.

RESULTS

The problem of motivation has more than a century-long of history. The

works of such scientists as A. Pfender (Pfänder A. «Motive und Motivation»,
1911), P.T. Young («Motivation and Behavior», 1936) and others are devoted to
this problem. There are different approaches, theories and methods of studying it,
though, the problem is still very actual at it comes along with new challenges and
modern questions.

Among the main approaches to the problem of motivation, the following

three main approaches can be distinguished: the first approach is based on the
theory of instinct. The founder of this trend are considered W. McDougall and his
followers - Konrad Lorenz and Niko Tinbergen. According to this theory, human
behavior is based on instincts and impulses [1].

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The second area of study of motivation is based on a theoretical and personal

approach. Here we can trace the line of personality psychology (motivation is the
key to describing and understanding personality and individual differences), or
the line of the psychology of motivation (motivation is a process that explains
actual behavior). The founders of this trend are considered W. Wundt, A.Maslow,
C. Darwin, S. Freud, who argued that a person's ability to draw conclusions from
acquired experience allows him to quickly adapt to changing conditions and
thereby preserve his appearance [1].

The third direction is associated with an interest in changing the associations

between stimulus and response, i.e. based on an associative-theoretic approach.
Here we should highlight such scientists as J. Watson, E. Thorndike, I.Pavlov,
who believed that human consciousness is the result of the development of the
nervous system. According to this theory, the main role in human behavior is
played by situational factors, a person's control of external and internal stimuli,
for example, attraction [1].

Motivation can be divided into two types: external and internal. However, the
second type cannot be formed without the first: an internal need can appear only
due to external influences. The question is how much this «need» becomes really
the student’s one. It depends both on the personality of the student and on the way
of teaching [2].

The problem of motivation acquires an important role when we talk about

motivation in a learning activities. The educational activity of students is
characterized by a combination of different motivations and depends on: the
choice of the educational institution by the educational system, on the basis of
which educational activity is implemented; organization of the educational
process; the subjective characteristics of the student (age, gender, intellectual
development, abilities, level of aspirations, self-esteem, etc.); the subjective
characteristics of the teacher and, first of all, the system of his relationship to the
student and his professional activities; the specifics of the subject, student
motivation, etc. The motivation of students is an important structural component
of learning activities. A disdainful attitude towards taking into account the age
and psychological characteristics of students, the inability to combine the
principles of teaching and upbringing in teaching - these are the factors that play
a negative role in building effective teaching in universities.

The current situation in the system of higher education in Russia shows that
its restructuring primarily means a more differentiated, purposeful impact on each
student as a subject of educational activity, a partner of pedagogical
communication. This formulation of the question presupposes the need for a
deeper understanding of the student's psychology, knowledge of his age and
personality characteristics.

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The current system, formed in the industrial era, has long been out of tune
with the present. Today it is not enough to have a certain set of knowledge and
competencies - a person needs to be able to learn, find the necessary information
and use it for his own purposes. There are many sources of knowledge now:
school and institute are just a few of them, not even the most important ones. At
the same time, reading books is no longer perceived as one of the ways to form a
full-fledged personality. The priorities are shifting towards obtaining information
of a different kind and type, first of all - entertaining. The stream of TV programs,
Internet sites has firmly conquered modern man. It is easier to find the information
you need on the Internet than to pick up a good book and set yourself up for a
long thought process, which should become a starting point in the formation of a
personality. A natural question arises: do we need a reading or well-informed
graduate of an educational institution now? [2]

The state of the education system in modern Russia bears the imprint of a
general spiritual crisis caused by the systemic reforms of the late twentieth
century. The transition to market principles of the functioning of the economy
caused the commercialization of educational activities as well, which manifested
itself in the discrepancy between teaching and upbringing of young people.

The Covid 19 pandemic has created new challenges for educators and
students, as well as everyone involved in the education process. It is in the context
of a pandemic and ubiquitous distance learning, when the fragile connection
between the teacher and the student is tested by the remote form of work and the
remoteness of two actors from each other, that the question arises of how much
the teacher is able to maintain and develop the involvement of students in the
educational process, even in correspondence form, and how much the student is
interested in his own studies, how deep is his motivation to stay in the learning
process in a distance format. On the one hand, online and distance learning opened
additional loopholes for students, led to an increase in poor-quality work, on the
other hand, this situation reflected the existing problem of lack of motivation.
Most of the students have shown their inadequacy to overcome new difficulties
or use the current situation for good. The Russian people have a wonderful
opposite example. Russian poet A.S. Pushkin in 1830 went to his estate in the
village of Boldino to solve some financial issues. He was not going to stay there
for long, but the outbreak of a cholera epidemic forced him to stay in the village
for three months. During this time, about 30 poems were created, the novel in
verse «Eugene Onegin» was completed, the cycles «Little Tragedies» and «The
Tales of Belkin» were written, as well as two cycles of critical articles. During
Boldinskaya autumn (Autumn in Boldino), the poet mastered English on his own.

Learning activities do not bring satisfaction to modern students. Even

successful students go to classes reluctantly, because they receive educational
services, and do not learn to live. The younger generation remains the «generation
of viewers». Students view learning outside of spiritual guidelines and
interconnections - as a process of passing the formal institutions necessary for

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success in life, and not as a path to spiritual and professional self-realization.

Thus, the relationship «teacher - student» has ceased to be a cultural model, highly
significant and valued by society in the past. The decline in the rank of creative
professional labor as a value was reflected in the massive unwillingness to learn
and the resulting general decline in the quality of education at all levels. The
curtailment of the spiritual and educational component in educational activities
largely contributes to the fact that the traditional for domestic culture ideas about
the unity and close relationship of knowledge and spirituality are becoming a
thing of the past. As a result, a significant part of today's youth turned out to be
incapable of self-determination in life in the new harsh modern conditions of
society, without rejecting universal human values.

In the Russian Empire, education, and especially higher education, was the
highest gift of people of wealthy, noble origin, access to it was also available to
the poor, who distinguished themselves with a special talent and had the support
of respected persons. At the same time, higher education was a blessing of the
elite and was valued on a par with nobility and social status. It would seem that
after the Revolution of 1917 and during the Soviet period, access to higher
education was provided to all Soviet citizens without exception. However, it is
necessary to take into account the fact that with the change of the political and
socio-political system, the most basic values have not changed. The desire for
education, especially higher education, has increased. The Soviet republic needed
new educated specialists to solve the problems of industrialization and
modernization. Against this background, the formation of the Soviet education
system was observed, inheriting the best from the education system of the Russian
Empire, and bringing a lot of new things into this system, which strengthened it
and made it very interesting and original. At the same time, the formation of the
so-called «Soviet man» was going on, it was a type of personality that included
the moral and ethical norms of the communist code. Reading scientific and
fictional literature, drama theater, creative meetings with persons of science,
culture and art have become an integral part of the life of Soviet people. Poets and
writers became the voice of society and set spiritual guidelines. Famous people of
art, science and education laid the foundation of the social environment in which
a person was formed from childhood. The teacher was a guide to the world of
professional qualifications, and most importantly, he introduced students to the
best examples of spiritual culture. His authority, on an equal footing with the
authority of the older generation of the family, was indisputable. The teacher was
more than a knowledge holder. He was a patron, a mentor, a model of behavior.
The educational institution was actually a second home, where the student was
constantly surrounded by educated people who devoted themselves to
pedagogical activities, the atmosphere was filled with intellectual exchange,
creativity and mutual assistance. Due to the Pioneer and Komsomol organizations,
any student was a part of a large social project to create a Soviet society, a
participant in the improvement of the country and a creator in his area. And most
importantly, education was free, and only those who passed the most difficult

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exams and were able to take the maximum from education were worthy of higher
education.

We see that over the course of Russian history, a cultural tradition of the unity
of spirituality and education has developed.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the thoughtless imposition of
capitalist values, the ideal of an educated person's service to his people was
devalued. The teacher has lost his high social status. It is extremely important that
each teacher is aware of himself not as a downtrodden personality, but as a holder
of one of the world's greatest pedagogical cultures and is worthy of this culture.
And for this he needs to rise to the ideals inherent in Russian education, to see and
accept the origins of his humanism in the traditions and rules of folklife. Can this
be done by a teacher who is himself a product of modern society?

And here we come to the main point. A teacher deprived of the highest status,
transformed by a modern education system borrowed from the West into a service
staff who provides educational services to all who paid is not able to become the
example that would motivate students. The system itself, devoid of elitism,
selectivity, and the elimination of those who do not want and cannot study, is not
capable of making higher education a significant human achievement. Modern
Russian society, where people of education and science receive less pay than
people of business and commerce, cannot serve as an example for their students.
Looking around, students see that the lack of education is not an obstacle to
finding a job, and education itself has little effect on their personality and only
teaches them how to get out and cope with tasks in the course of the educational
process according to the principle «it’ll do» in order to get the coveted diploma
and forget about studying as a wasted time.

The role of the family cannot be underestimated either. If back in Soviet

times, parents were most often the first or second generation with higher education
and it served them as the highest value, which was instilled in children, then after
the reforms of the 1990s, a whole generation of people was formed who are used
to living by material values, which they are in turn instill in their children. People
whose values lie only in the material plane, accustomed to the quick acquisition,
quick consumption, spiritual fast food are not able to appreciate the spiritual and
moral values, are not able to accumulate knowledge step by step, are not inclined
to deep thinking and analytical activity. They want to snatch, but real knowledge
accumulates slowly, requires comprehension and a deep serious approach, it does
not tolerate fuss. But can a modern student work like that? As soon as he realizes
the difficulty and slowness of the process, he sees that he needs to put in a lot of
effort and he is not used to work, since he gets everything ready-made, he loses
motivation to study, to obtain a professional university degree.

It should be noted that since Russia is both a European and Asian country,
the Russian people have absorbed the features of both European and Eastern

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characters. European traits are manifested in Russian students in their desire to

have their own opinion, independence, liberal views, and a certain pragmatism in
their work. At the same time, certain oriental (Asian or traditional Russian)
features are also inherent in the Russian person. This is mainly laziness and the
hope that everything will somehow be resolved by itself, without making any
efforts of its own.

So, the main directions of the reform of Russian education should be a turn
to the person, an appeal to his spirituality, the revival of the prestige of education.
It is impossible to remake people and turn the family into a place where the child's
most important moral guidelines are laid, value attitudes are formed without the
formation of a certain moral and ethical code, which would be based on Christian
views, humanism, respect for elders, mutual respect and freedom from material
shackles...

Russia and Russian education today, first of all, need a state policy to revive
spirituality in its true sense. The authors would like to propose such methods as
reading classical literature (the idea that a modern young person is too far from
reading the classics and from its content is pernicious), such subjects as the history
of Christianity (without taking into account the ethnic composition classes),
ethics, art history are needed in schools. The continuity of generations also plays
an important role, therefore, emphasis should be placed on national history. It is
necessary to create youth volunteer organizations engaged in charitable and social
projects, where schoolchildren would be accustomed to work and responsibility
to themselves and others. All these steps should be carried out flexibly,
unobtrusively, generating interest, and not generating rejection.

A student who is accustomed to comprehending knowledge and working on

himself is able to continue his studies at the university. Such a student will be
aware of the importance and necessity of higher education, which leads him to
obtain a profession, and will in itself become the main motivation for learning.
Not money, not a potential salary, but an interest in learning and the excitement
of overcoming oneself should be motivated to study.

CONCLUSION

The article deals with the problem of motivation in learning, mainly in

universities. Since motivation is one of the most important impulses for self-
development through study, the authors believe that it is necessary to look for
ways to solve this problem. The authors focused on the consideration of the
psychological and moral reasons for the lack of motivation, which are a
consequence of the manifestation of the crisis in Russian education, which is
directly dependent on the crisis phenomena in society.

The problem of motivation was studied using the example of Russian

university students. The article mentions the socio-economic and political

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transformations that have influenced the motivation for learning among young
people. The authors came to the conclusion that the state of the current Russian
society has led to the loss of the spiritual and moral guidelines of young people,
the erosion of their goals and the distortion of their views on life and their own
future. The authors see that certain elements of solving the problem lie in the plane
of improving the moral foundations of the Russian family, increasing interest in
the Christian religion and moral development, which would have a beneficial
effect on motivation to work and study. Pandemic Covid 19 and online learning
have played an important role in uncovering existing problems.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This paper has been supported by the RUDN University Strategic Academic
Leadership Program.

REFERENCES
[1] Lazareva O.P. The problem of motivating university students to study /
Pedagogical sciences, 2016 // https://research-journal.org/pedagogy/problema-
motivacii-studentov-vuza-k-obucheniyu/;
[2] Smerechuk V.B. The crisis of education is the impoverishment of the soul
while enriching information // http://yamal-obr.ru/articles/pravoslavie-i-
obrazovanie-krizis-obrazov/.

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THE PROBLEMS OF EDUCATION AND SOCIALIZATION

OF LEARNING YOUTH IN THE CONDITIONS OF THE
CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

Prof. Dr. Elisaveta Savrutskaya1

Prof. Dr. Sergey Ustinkin2
Prof. Dr. Svetlana Bondyreva3
Assoc. Prof. Alexander Nikitin4
Anna Goryunova5
1, 2, 4, 5
Linguistics University of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
3
Moscow Psychological and Social University, Russia
4
Russian State University of Justice (RSUJ), Russia

ABSTRACT

The article discusses the issue of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on
the choice of methods and forms of educational activities and socialization of
young people in the current difficult situation of society development, the issue
of the peculiarities of the formation in these conditions of a new type of culture -
digital culture and the need to develop new scientifically based approaches to
modernizing the education system in accordance with the risks and challenges of
our time, as well as the implementation of communication practices in the context
of the requirements of the epidemiological situation in the world. When carrying
out the research, the following scientific methods of cognition were used: the
method of comparative analysis, which made it possible to identify the advantages
and disadvantages of the distant form of education in the context of the
coronavirus pandemic; the method of quantitative analysis, allowed the authors
of the article to better orient themselves in the general pile of facts, as well as to
model the existing social processes in the field of education and society as a whole
during the coronavirus pandemic; the use of the systemic method in the study of
the subject of research made it possible to single out the determining factors
influencing the reproduction of social experience in order to streamline and
stabilize the spiritual and moral foundations, communication processes as the
most important condition for the socialization of the individual; the formal legal
method was used in the study of various legal documents; content analysis was
used to study a set of statements on a specific topic.
Keywords: coronavirus pandemic, education, socialization, digital culture,
distance learning, language, cultural codes, communication

INTRODUCTION

The problems of education and socialization of young people have acquired

particular relevance in modern conditions. The processes of the formation of a

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new world order, the aggravation of international relations and the difficulties and
contradictions associated with their implementation are aggravated by the
epidemiological situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Analysing the
consequences of the latter, the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin, in
a speech at the Economic Forum in Davos in January 2021, outlined the problems
arising in this regard, influencing the processes that are directly related to the
education and socialization of student youth. First of all, the President of the
Russian Federation noted the aggravation of the imbalances in the socio-economic
development of society caused by the coronavirus pandemic. In this regard, he
notes that in the past, that is, in 2020, "the decline in the global economy became
the maximum since the Second World War." By July 2020 alone, the labour
market losses were equal to almost 500 million jobs. And although by the end of
the year, half of them were restored, but almost 250 million jobs were lost. In
terms of loss of labour income, "in the first nine months of last year in the world,
they amounted to $ 3.5 trillion," which is the most important reason for the
growing social tension. As for the cost of education and healthcare services, over
the past 30 years, as noted by the President of the Russian Federation, in a number
of developed countries they have tripled [1]. Moreover, the epidemiological
situation in the country and the world as a whole, in the context of a significant
civilizational shift associated with the formation of a new digital world, has made
significant adjustments to the organization of the activities of educational
institutions, had a significant impact on the processes of socialization of youth.

The coronavirus pandemic, which was the reason for the fastest possible
transition to the online mode of operation of both educational systems and a
number of various industries, significantly accelerated the formation of a new type
of culture - digital culture, as well as the widespread use of "artificial
intelligence", automated and robotic solutions [2]. These phenomena caused the
interest of the group of authors of the article to study their influence on the
modernization of the mechanisms of socialization of the growing generations, as
well as on the formation of new priorities in the education system, determined by
such features of digital (electronic) culture as the mediation of communication
processes by technical means, as well as the replacement of the diversity of natural
social links by links technologically programmable, artificial [3].

The purpose of the work is to develop a new model of education and

socialization of the individual, focused on high professionalism, business
qualities, on the preservation of historical memory, the foundations of civil and
ethnocultural identity.

RESULTS

The transformation caused by the pandemic of the communicative space,

«objectively expanded virtual reality» [4], set before modern science and
education the task of developing a new model of education and socialization of
the individual, focused both on high professionalism and business qualities, and

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on the preservation of historical memory, as well as the foundations of civil and

ethnocultural identity [5].

In the course of the study, it was found that mastering the possibilities of
using various digital resources in education turned out to be associated with the
forced processes of widespread use of distance learning techniques (in the online
learning system), based on a variety of modern information and communication
technologies, primarily new media.

A noticeable influence on the transformation of modern communication

processes, including in the education system, is also exerted by the processes of
changing the linguistic picture of the world that has been formed for centuries,
which absorbs new forms of speech culture, displacing traditional symbolic codes
of national languages with template messengers and emoji language units -
emoticons, nickname -names, etc. [6], minimizing the socio-cultural significance
and historical and cultural meanings of real human relations [7].

The destruction of the traditional forms of collectivity and cultural and moral
regulation of relations between people brought by the hard-to-control processes
of the spread of the pandemic, creating in the new world order a situation of
uncertainty in ordering and ensuring the stability of communication processes,
fixing in them the necessary moral normativeness and historical and cultural
continuity. In ensuring the connection between times and generations in the
process of social development, language plays a special role. As a special sign
system, language reveals meanings that preserve the spiritual content that
provides links between the present with the past and the future, affects the past on
the present, creating the foundations, that is, the matrix of the contours of the
development of cultural processes in the future. As a special form of sociality and
the preservation of historical and cultural meanings, speech culture is the most
important means of ensuring the connection between times and generations.

The historicism of speech culture as a mechanism for preserving historical

memory explains the reason for the monstrous struggle against the Russian
language that is being waged in Ukraine. As a cultural code and a mechanism for
preserving the uniqueness of the historical and cultural traditions of the Russian
super-ethnos, the Russian language is an indispensable condition for the
possibility of preserving and reproducing the defining features of Russian
civilization, Russian national culture [8], a multinational Russian state bordering
between the West and the East, which has a millennium of existence.

In the context of studying the features of the processes of destruction of

traditional forms of collectivity and cultural and moral regulation that have united
people for centuries, we consider language as a means and condition for ordering
and ensuring the stability of communication processes, fixing the necessary moral
normativeness in them. Obviously, language as a symbolic system incorporates
all varieties of social experience that is formed under the influence of the changing

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circumstances of everyday life. The degree of stability of linguistic norms and

habits determines the possibility of preserving ethnocultural individuality, which
is locked primarily in family and group relations, in which communication is
ideally focused on understanding, dialogue and cultural factors.

The meanings and meanings expressed in language, introduced into everyday

communication, are fixed in memory, in life assessments and landmarks, in the
value orientations of generations. New meanings and meanings arising under the
influence of new civilizational and cultural-communicative processes are fixed in
the linguistic picture of the world, the preservation and reproduction of which is
ensured by the richness of the speech culture of the interacting subjects of
communication. Pronouncing the meanings and meanings of problems expressed
in linguistic forms, people strive to achieve mutual understanding and agreement,
to minimize emotional stress and aggression. In other words, the establishment of
a dialogue between the interacting subjects of communication is a prerequisite for
the social organization of the communicative space and the reproduction of social
experience to streamline and stabilize the spiritual and moral foundations of
communicative processes as the most important factor in the socialization of the
individual.

Thus, the linguistic aspect of the problem of distance learning is of great

theoretical and practical importance. The fact is that the implementation of
training in the format of online communication, in general, in conditions of
uncertainty (minimization of direct dialogue communication, a decrease in the
level of the student's desire and interest in the problem under discussion, his focus
on self-development and professional interest, etc.) makes it difficult for the
student to integrate in the process of socialization and reduces the effectiveness
of his vocational training. In this regard, it becomes more and more obvious that
the problem of distance learning (online learning) under consideration in modern
conditions of the modern stage of civilizational development of society, multiplies
the load on educational institutions in their complex impact on spiritual processes
in the life of society, on the spiritual and moral formation of the individual, to
obtain and practical use of knowledge. The processes of socialization of the
younger generations in the context of the formation of a new digital culture and
the development of a set of measures to overcome the consequences of the
coronavirus pandemic are aimed at creating a model for the sustainable
development of the education system and upbringing of the younger generations.
In the context of the acceleration of the pace of social development [5], as well as
the transformation of the system of cultural codes and communication processes
in connection with the virtualization of the cultural and communicative space and
the complex epidemiological situation in the world, the creation of such a model
needs a clear definition of the ultimate goal and the corresponding mechanisms of
socialization of the emerging personality, taking into account all age groups.
stages of its development.

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The strength of the impact and the socio-cultural significance of educational

institutions in the proposed context is explained by the fact that, firstly, the
phenomenon under consideration is the most important factor in the development
of civilization, the preservation and reproduction of cultural values throughout the
centuries-old history of mankind. The processes of knowledge accumulation and
its transmission to new generations have always been of paramount importance in
the upbringing and education of young people, the preservation of ethnocultural
codes and the foundations of ethnocultural and civic identity, which ensured the
stability of the defining characteristics of national cultures, contributed to
spiritual, moral and political continuity in a number of generations. The
accumulation of knowledge in the course of the historical and cultural
development of society thanks to educational institutions expanded the
possibilities and prospects for the development of science as a process of
comprehending the surrounding reality, creating a scientific picture of the world
and improving technologies for the practical use and reproduction of accumulated
knowledge [9]. The success of social development was largely determined and
determined by the level of development of education, its inclusion in the socio-
cultural and production processes of society, its civilizational and humanistic
characteristics.

The relevance of developing new theoretical and practical approaches to the

problems of education and socialization of young students in modern conditions
is dictated not only by the peculiarities of mastering new digital technologies, but
also by the need to minimize the spiritual, moral and socio-cultural consequences
of the coronavirus pandemic. Natural disasters, the crisis of traditional family
values that broke out in many EU countries, coinciding in time with the processes
of the stable spread of the coronavirus pandemic, made it necessary to search for
such a form of institutionalization of the social organization of social processes,
which, due to its historically formed characteristics, is able to achieve the desired
result without the use of violent measures. ... The social mechanisms of soft power
used for this purpose by the special services of the United States and some
European countries, and the numerous practically tested concepts of ways to form
protest moods in the youth environment, which are being developed in practice,
create a fairly stable foundation for the socialization of certain youth groups of
the population of certain countries, against which a purposeful ideological
struggle is being waged. The latter clearly manifested itself on the example of the
ideological attitudes of the political ruling elite of Ukrainian politicians who
passed the school of training according to the methods of D. Sharp and other
representatives of the American special services [10].

The transformation of the value attitudes of the mass, primarily youth

consciousness, due to a number of circumstances that determine the specific
features of the modern stage of civilizational development of society, multiply
increases the load on educational institutions in their complex impact on spiritual
processes in the life of society and the spiritual and moral formation of the
individual. The education system as the most important social institution has the

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greatest impact on the formation of collective value consciousness and the

motivation of the behavior of masses of people, especially young people. It is
obvious that the processes of socialization of the younger generations in the
context of the formation of a new digital culture and the development of a set of
measures to overcome the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic are aimed
at creating a model for the sustainable development of the education system and
upbringing of the younger generations. In the context of the acceleration of the
pace of social development [5], as well as the transformation of the system of
cultural codes and communication processes in connection with the virtualization
of the cultural and communicative space and the complex epidemiological
situation in the world, the creation of such a model needs a clear definition of the
ultimate goal and the corresponding mechanisms of socialization of the emerging
personality, taking into account all age groups. stages of its development.

The strength of the impact and the socio-cultural significance of educational

institutions in the proposed context is explained by the fact that, firstly, the
phenomenon under consideration is the most important factor in the development
of civilization, the preservation and reproduction of cultural values throughout the
centuries-old history of mankind. The processes of knowledge accumulation and
its transmission to new generations have always been of paramount importance in
the upbringing and education of young people, the preservation of ethnocultural
codes and the foundations of ethnocultural and civic identity, which ensured the
stability of the defining characteristics of national cultures, contributed to
spiritual, moral and political continuity in a number of generations. The
accumulation of knowledge in the course of the historical and cultural
development of society thanks to educational institutions expanded the
possibilities and prospects for the development of science as a process of
comprehending the surrounding reality, creating a scientific picture of the world
and improving technologies for the practical use and reproduction of accumulated
knowledge [9]. The success of social development was largely determined and
determined by the level of development of education, its inclusion in the socio-
cultural and production processes of society, its civilizational and humanistic
characteristics, which is of paramount importance in terms of the country's
national security [11].

Secondly, the functioning of educational institutions ensured and ensures the

systematization, structuring and contextualization of the acquired knowledge.
These processes provide opportunities for the effective use of the system of
existing knowledge in relation not only to the specific conditions of natural, social
and virtual reality, but also on their basis to predict the further development of
science, put forward hypotheses, and develop new technologies for the practical
use of the knowledge gained as mechanisms of socialization of the younger
generations. In the problematic field of the education system, however, there is
always the problem of the influence of the existing in the education system
contradictions between the established, customary traditional forms of obtaining
and using intellectual knowledge capital, on the one hand, and, on the other,

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innovative processes associated with new forms of cognitive and practical

activities, the formation of new forms of culture, the emergence of new
knowledge and new directions in science.

For example, in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, the transfer of the
educational process to distance learning coincided in time with the need to master
new knowledge related to the development of new digital technologies, the
formation of a new digital culture, a new digital world [12]. In other words, the
development of new knowledge and the possibilities of their practical use is
completely dependent on the artificially created virtual communicative situation,
which minimizes the possibilities of direct spiritual, moral and emotional impact-
interaction of the subjects of the educational process. Obviously, in these
conditions, the subjectivity of the communication process is lost, giving way to
an artificially created communicative situation, due to which the possibilities of
emotional and psychological interaction are minimized. In other words, a new
form of social loneliness is being formed, in its socio-psychological and moral
consequences, akin to the traditional models of the phenomenon under
consideration [13]. The peculiarity of the new type of social loneliness is
determined by the lack of direct interaction of subjects in the communicative
space (teacher - student, student A - student B), and therefore the effectiveness of
communicative action falls [14].

CONCLUSION

Summing up the above, it should be noted that in the modern conditions of

the globalization crisis caused not only by civilization processes but also by the
consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, it is necessary to develop a new
education model, maximally focused on the features of the new digital culture and
global epidemiological conditions, considered in the context of the Russian
Federation national security [15].

The proposed model of organizing educational activities focused on the

technologies of the new digital world revealed the advantages and disadvantages
of the online education system. The practice of implementing distance education
has shown that the remote format of organizing educational and educational
activities has a sufficient number of advantages that contribute to an increase in
the level of involvement of young people in socially significant processes related
both to their professional interests and competencies, and focused on civic
engagement. The remote format of the organization of educational and
educational activities concretizes the goal and tasks of the work performed in the
process of virtual communication, allows you to clearly define the boundaries and
contours of knowledge indicators of mastery of the studied material, as well as
the level of the student's proficiency in new technologies. The format under
consideration contributes to the development of creative, professionally oriented
thinking, offering to analyse the proposed problem on the basis of a competence-
based approach. Moreover, by offering the student a situation for analysis, both

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in professional and spiritual and moral terms, the teacher not only assesses the
level of knowledge of the student, but also contributes to the formation of a
humanitarian culture and an increase in the level of moral responsibility in a
young person.

However, in our opinion, the distance learning format has a number of

significant drawbacks, the presence of which indicates that this format is
acceptable only in limited doses, interspersed with the programs of the studied
subjects. In this regard, in our opinion, a number of points should be kept in mind
that reduce the effect of distance learning. What do we mean? First, a decrease in
the level of the teacher's direct spiritual impact on the student. Secondly, the
possibilities of speaking out the issues under discussion, establishing dialogue
communication are minimized, and therefore, the threshold for achieving
understanding and agreement of interaction and mutual understanding of the
participants in the educational process is reduced. Thirdly, the effectiveness of
socialization, achieved, first of all, in acts of combustion, is ensured by the
simultaneous coexistence of behavioural norms and language models, which
contributes to the sustainable preservation of the images of the world that have
developed in the course of historical development, which keep the experience of
previous generations in an active state, synchronizing it in joint activities native
speakers of this language and representatives of other linguistic communities who
understand codes and meanings specific to subjects of speech activity [16]. In this
regard, as E. Sapir notes, the real world is largely unconsciously “built on the basis
of the language habits” of certain social groups [17]. Fourthly, distance learning
minimizes the opportunities for the formation of skills in project activities, the
ability to work in a team.

In connection with the problems under consideration, which have arisen in

the context of the current epidemiological situation that unfolded in the formation
of a new digital world, the study of the peculiarities of the mutual influence of the
new digital culture, the pandemic and the need to preserve the values of Russian
education as the most important basis for the socialization of the individual
acquires special socio-cultural significance.

REFERENCES
[1] Transcript of Russian Federation President V. Putin's speech at the Davos
Agenda 2021 online forum on January 27, 2021. Retrieved from:
http://prezident.org/tekst/stenogramma-vystuplenija-putina-na-onlain-forume-
davosskaja-povestka-dnja-2021-27-01-2021.html
[2] Strokov, A.A. (2021). Digital culture and values of Russian education
(Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from:
https://www.dissercat.com/content/tsifrovaya-kultura-i-tsennosti-rossiiskogo-
obrazovaniya.

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[3] Broadbent S. Approaches to Personal Communication. – In: Horst Н.A.,

Miller D. (eds.) Digital Anthropology. – London: Berg, 2012.
[4] Makeev, S. N. (2017). The phenomenon of social communication in the
space of extended objective-virtual reality (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from
https://diss.unn.ru/files/2017/706/autoref-706.pdf
[5] Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of 1 December 2016
No. 642. On the Strategy of Scientific and Technological Development of the
Russian Federation (as amended on 03/15/2021 No. 143), Russian Federation,
2021. Retrieved from: http://www.kremlin.ru/acts/bank/41449.
[6] Strelchuk, A.R. (2021). Cultural projections of the communicative space
in the context of globalization (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from:
https://www.dissercat.com/content/kulturnye-proektsii-kommunikativnogo-
prostranstva-v-usloviyakh-globalizatsii.
[7] Savrutskaya Е.P., Zhigalev B.А., Dorozhkin А.M., Ustinkin S.V.
Education, culture and language: Monograph. Nizhny Novgorod, Linguistics
University of Nizhny Novgorod Publ., Russian Federation, p 232, 2014.
[8] Nikonov, V.A. (2014). The Russian matrix. Moscow, LTD «Russian
word-textbook», Russian Federation, p 992, 2014.
[9] Educational institutions and youth: towards sustainable development of
society: Monograph. Edited by Professor Savrutskaya Е.P. Nizhny Novgorod,
Russian Federation, p 183, 2017.
[10] Sharp, D. (2013). From dictatorship to democracy. Conceptual
framework for liberation. Retrieved from: https://www.aeinstein.org/wp-
content/uploads/2013/10/FDTD_Russian.pdf.
[11] Rybalkin, N.N. (2006). Philosophy of security: Tutorial. Moscow,
Moscow Psychological and Social University Publ., Russian Federation, p 293,
2006.
[12] Schmidt, E., Koen, J. (2013). New digital world. How technology is
changing people's lives, business models and the concept of the state. Moscow,
Mann, Ivanov and Ferber Publ., p 368, 2013.
[13] Riesman, D. (1950). The Lonely Crowd: a study of the changing
American character. New Haven and London, Yale University Press, p 386.
[14] Habermas, J. (2001). Moral consciousness and communicative action.
Saint Petersburg, Science Publ., p 382.
[15] Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of 2 July 2021 No.
400. On the Strategy of National Security of the Russian Federation, Russian
Federation, 2021. Retrieved from: http://ivo.garant.ru/#/document/401425792.
[16] Bonvillain, N. (1993). Language, Culture and Communication. London.
Prentice Hall, 1993, Chapter 3, pp. 52-84.

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[17] Sapir, E. (2003). The status of linguistics as a science. Languages as an

image of the world. Moscow. LTD «AST Publ.», pp 127-139.

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TRUST, LEARNING AND ANOMALOUS EXPERIENCE OF

JAPAN AND SLOVAK UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Prof. Dr. Martina Blašková1

Dr. Hideyuki Kokubo2
Dominika Tumová3
Dr. Rudolf Blaško4
1, 3, 4
University of Žilina, Slovakia
2
Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan

ABSTRACT

Trust is an important element of the learning processes and overall academic

achievement of university students. It represents the highly sensitive domain of
the intrapsychic life of each student. The paper states the original premise that
trust or distrust respectively can be specifically related to anomalous psychical
experience. As some paranormal experiences can be evoked by physical or
chemical stimuli such as electric pulse to the brain and mental drags, for example,
DMT (N, N-dimethyltryptamine), paranormal experiences are based on people’s
physiological system chiefly, not only psychological factors such as belief. In this
view, trust can be considered as one of the most important impulses as well as a
consequence of the perceived anomalous experience of the student. But trust as
one of the crucial sub-elements of higher education is not related to paranormal
phenomena. Trying to face this challenge, the paper has the ambition to enrich the
scientific basis of higher education through performing research supported by
relevant hypotheses and an empirical survey. Based on the analysis, synthesis,
comparison, generalization, induction and deduction of theory, completed by
results of the quantitative survey, the aim of the paper is to search and confirm
potential relations between the trust and unusual psychic experience of higher
education students. Targeted experiences are specifically examined in two
geographically different countries: Japan as a representative of specific Asian
countries, and Slovakia as a representative of specific (Slavic) Central Europe
countries. For the paper, two hypotheses are formulated: H1: Paranormal
experiences have not relevant influence on the student distrust; H2: There exist
only small differences between Japan and Slovak respondents’ expressions in the
field. The survey, participated by 405 Japan and 443 Slovak university students,
confirms that the most frequent experience in both countries is déjà vu (76.79%
of Japan and 87.84% of Slovak respondents). Applied Chi-Square Test and
Product-Moment Correlation reveal that the searched forms of paranormal
experiences do not call-up the negative form of trust, i.e. distrust. Also, only
unimportant differences in perceived anomalousness exist between university
students of chosen two countries. In this way, both hypotheses are considered to
be confirmed. From the perspective of recommendations, assistance and
belonging, providing anonymous psychological consulting, applying motivational

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educational methods and techniques can encouragingly act on student trust and
learning.
Keywords: Trust, distrust, anomalous/paranormal experience, learning,
students

INTRODUCTION

University as the brightest representative of higher education, must

adequately respond to the needs of society, and at the same time form the scientific
and cultural potential of the regional and national elites independently [1].
Processes, intended to sustainably keep all serious opportunities and challenges
arise in higher education and development of science, demand new and deeper
knowledge of various aspects of the university. Especially, such knowledge is
important which could be viewed as socially sensitive or even sophisticated and
which describe “students’ current characteristics, traits, changed expectations, i.e.
their motivation, satisfaction, and trust” [2].

Trust can be considered as the confidence that one party has in another
because of the honesty and reliability of his or her partner [3]. It is the individual’s
general belief in the honesty and cooperative intentions of others [4] while it
increases the speed at which the individuals are able to accomplish tasks [5]. Trust
is the personal tendency that applies across various circumstances; it is the
behavior determined by certain conditions; and simultaneously, it is the process
that goes through stages and evolves over time [6]. Recently, trust is often
discussed and explained in the relation to distrust. “Trust and distrust as paired
notions exist in a dynamic interim zone between the deal clear cases of trust and
ideal clear cases of distrust” [7]. Discussions comparing trust versus distrust are
important in creating conditions that are necessary for the qualification of trust.
In such view, it is needed to differ between a ‘bad’ or ‘paranoid’ distrust and a
‘good’ or ‘prudent’ distrust [8] because when realizing sensitive nuances between
them, the cooperation and higher level of self-acceptation and acceptance of
others can be developed easier. Because the “trust is cognitive, that it is de facto
an assessment of the trustworthiness of the potentially trusted person or group or
institution” [9], it can be assumed there exist a lot of various elements,
circumstances, and experiences that affect the trust, both in a positive or negative
way. These influences flow out and can act on all decisions taken by the
individuals; they can be conscious as well unconscious in nature. They may spring
from absolutely real and objective facts confirmed by other individuals or groups.
However, they can also arise on the basis of a purely subjective nature, and
although they cannot be testified by others, the individual him/herself is
completely self-certain about their existence. This creates an opportunity to
consider the impact of abnormal experiences too [10].

There are many scientific works and sociological studies dealing with the
trust of university students. But trust as one of the crucial sub-elements of higher

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education is not related to paranormal phenomena. Trying to face this challenge,

the paper has the ambition to enrich the scientific basis of higher education
through performing research supported by relevant hypotheses and an empirical
survey.

As some paranormal experiences can be evoked by physical or chemical

stimuli such as electric pulse to the brain and mental drags, for example, DMT
(N, N-dimethyltryptamine), paranormal experiences are based on people’s
physiological system chiefly, not only psychological factors such as belief. In this
view, trust can be considered as one of the most important impulses as well as a
consequence of the perceived anomalous experience of the student. This
untraditional approach enables to link of the psychological perceptions and mental
anomalous (i.e. psychological phenomena) with the recognized and re-evaluated
relationship and/or attitude towards other social beings (i.e. sociological
phenomena). The specific situation is a connection of anomalous experience with
a unique form of psycho-sociological un/acceptance of oneself, i.e. self-trust and
self-distrust respectively.

However, as mentioned above, studies which search the student trust to other
individuals in relation to the students’ anomalous experience, are still rare in the
literature. Also, there is a lack of studies that are focused on links between
academic trust, anomalous experience, motivation and learning. Within this
perspective, investigation of trust, when compared to some forms of imaginative
psychical experiences of university students (e.g. déjà vu, sixth sense belief,
presentiment, etc.), and mutually related to learning motivation, might be
considered contributive.

Based on the aforementioned, the paper’s research goal is defined in this way:
Theoretically and empirically relate the higher education students’ trust, learning
motivation, and anomalous experience. With use of theoretical and empirical
analysis and synthesis, survey results will be statistically investigated, compared
and deduced, with an intention to disclose potential links between trust, learning
motivation, and unusual psychic experience. The empirical part will present
questionnaire surveys performed in two different countries: Japan ( university
students; Asia) and Slovakia ( university students; Europe). To achieve the
paper’s research goal, two hypotheses will be tested: links of dis/trust and
paranormal experiences (H1); results comparison in both participated countries
(H2).

TRUST, MOTIVATION, LEARNING AND ANOMALOUS

EXPERIENCE

In higher education institutions, it is not intellect that makes a great teacher,

but rather, a character which includes trust and openness [11], [12] consider as the
most important personality traits especially repressive defensiveness, trust,
emotional stability, desire for control, hardiness, positive affectivity, etc.

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Therefore, the search for finding the optimal level of the student’s trust in oneself
and/or in others is really important; if the idealization of trust or distrust occurs in
the individual’s intra-psychical processes, this can lead to choosing ineffective
strategies as well as applying negative destructive behavior [13]. The importance
of mentioned warning is emphasized especially by the existence of all forms of
university students’ trust, i.e. trust towards the study subjects, trust towards
oneself, trust towards the peers and friends, trust towards the teachers, trust
towards the university, and trust towards the society [2]. Unfortunately, under the
specific (mainly negative) circumstances and pressures, these forms of trust could
be potentially transformed in distrust.

Trust and Setting the Hypotheses

Academic trust significantly influences the sustainable academic motivation

and performance of students [14], [15], [16]. Sustainable academic motivation can
be defined as a proactive interconnection of basic ideas of sustainability and basic
characteristics of academic motivation. In this view, students’ trust and
motivation can be consistently increased and sustained through many of modern
educational methods and approaches, or their harmonized combination. For
example, through an integrative learning [17], in-service training [18], flipped
learning [19], meta-learning [20], learning from mistakes [21], student coaching
[22], etc.

As it flows from the previous section, trust is the highly sensitive domain of
each student’s intrapsychic life. There are many different and time-varying
elements that affect it. At the same time, trust affects conscious decision-making,
learning and “providing help or manifesting fair behavior to others” [2]. It acts on
the human subconscious, and vice versa, the subconscious is induced, corrected,
attenuated, etc. through it. It can be reflected in unusual ‘dreamy’ experiences, of
both positive and negative nature. Full trust gives inner energy and personality-
analytical-cognitive certainty to the individual. It can potentially lead to a strong
intuition or can support a sixth sense which is considered very important in the
academic effort.

Confused trust can cause the subconscious signs leading to a reminder of the
importance and consequences of different situations, and the possible
‘replenishment’ of confidence lack (e.g. déjà vu or clairvoyance). An unsatisfied
level of trust can evoke subconscious fear of perceived loneliness, feared failure
and the like. Such subconscious psychological processes can be reflected in
negative feelings, e.g. sleep paralysis or nightmares of the students. However, the
paper does not agree with the opposite effect in this field. On the contrary, it
supposes that occurred paranormal experiences do not increase the distrust. Based
on the aforementioned, two hypotheses of the paper can be defined:

H1: Paranormal experiences have no relevant influence on student distrust.

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H2: There exist only small differences between Japanese and Slovak
respondents in the field.

It is assumed that in most of the studied anomalous experiences (déjà vu,

sleep paralysis, out-of-body experience, a sign of ghost, presentiment, telepathy,
clairvoyance and 6th sense belief) it will be refused their significant negative
impact on trust. It is also expected that, despite different cultural, social, political
and continental conditions, there will be shown only small differences between
Japanese and Slovak respondents in existing links of trust and paranormal
experience.

Anomalous Experience and ESP versus Trust and Motivation

Déjà vu alerts the individual to a discrepancy between his or her feeling of

familiarity and knowledge of novelty [23]. This means déjà vu can inspire
students to fulfill their need or desire for disclose a matter-of-fact of such
‘questionably re-repeated situation’ and find a satisfactory answer in the science;
learning process and found correct answer can move students to other challenges,
relying on their high inner certainty.

When experiencing sleep paralysis, the student can feel oneself tired and with
decreased energy/motivation for any action, not only for learning, but for trusting
too. [24] used the third of searched phenomena, i.e. signs of ghost in the education
process, with intention the students could understand these signs as “clues to
memory and the past”. However, if ghost takes a negative, fear-evoking form, it
can adversely affect the psychological balance of students and impair the ability
to focus on learning. In such a situation, “question-based learning methods instead
of collecting information” [25] could strengthen both the student's self-trust and
self-motivation, and remove his or her doubts about own mental health.

Although out-of-body experience (OBE) can bring uplifting, discovering and

joyful feelings, positively affecting motivation and trust, they may also induce
some distress and concern. I.e., they may rather hinder full concentration on the
learning process. Furtherly, from the viewpoint of self-trust and learning
motivation, if the student is sure of his or her presentiment-ability, with an
intention to overcome his own fate, the student can find a strong motivation inside
him/herself for responsible learning. However, if s/he beliefs in own ‘attractive
vision of future success, this can decrease his or her learning enthusiasm.

Telepathy demonstrates that the mind is also transpersonal [26]. I.e., a student
can rely on others to a much greater extent than is appropriate and then dampen
his or her conscious behavior. On a positive note, clairvoyance can strengthen
student’s self-confidence and self-motivation. On the other hand, if a student
overestimates his or her ‘clairvoyance’, its failure at a critical moment can cause
the student’s inconvenience e.g. on the exam, project presentation, etc.

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If a student believes that s/he has the sixth sense (s/he has repeatedly
confirmed this fact in previous situations), he or she may relieve the learning
process and caution in the area of trust, hoping that the situation itself will tell him
or her the ‘optimal answer‘. In the case of a student with the opposite motivation,
‘learning sixth sense‘ can lead to an even stronger academic enthusiasm –
believing that an honest study is the most proper way in study.

METHODOLOGY

The intention to focus research attention on the underlying anomalous

experience was inspired by a questionnaire sheet of McClennon (Elizabeth City
University, USA) that [27] later completed by additional questions for medical
staff and transformed to a Japanese questionnaire sheet. Kokubo [10] substantially
modified the original Japanese questionnaire and extended the attention on nine
areas of paranormal beliefs: déjà vu; sleep paralysis; presentiment; telepathy;
clairvoyance; out-of-body experience; 6th sense belief; signs of a ghost; other
experiences.

Kokubo’s most important decision was to conduct a survey on university

students and add an entirely new research domain to the questionnaire: trust. Thus,
in the current version, the questionnaire examines, on the one hand, the students’
views on trust, and on the other hand, examines the occurrence of student
paranormal experiences. This allows to focus the research in this paper on
acquiring unique knowledge about the thinking and preferences of contemporary
university students and, in addition, link them to potential anomalous phenomena.
Moreover, the paper’s authors decided to carry out the survey in two absolutely
different countries: Japan (an Asian country, with unique history and culture) and
Slovakia (A central European country, belonging to Slavic countries, also with
unique historical and cultural specifics).

The sample of respondents consisted of n = 405 Japanese students and n =

443 Slovak students can be considered relevant (95% confidence level). The
Japanese respondents were students from three universities, namely: 1. Atomi
University, 2. Meiji University, and 3. Wako University. There were n = 144
males and n = 261 females, with an average age of 19 years. The Slovak
respondents were students of the University of Žilina, Faculty of Management
Science and Informatics. Concretely, they attended the following study programs:
1. Management, 2. Informatics, 3. Information management, and 4. Computer
engineering. There were n = 300 males and n = 143 females, with an average age
of 21. In contrast between the countries, there was a higher number of females in
the group of Japanese respondents.

RESULTS

The primary role of respondents was to select the subjectively correct

dichotomous response (yes/no) to all the selected paranormal experiences: déjà

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vu; sleep paralysis; presentiment; telepathy; clairvoyance; out-of-body

experience; 6th sense belief; signs of a ghost; other experiences. The data
collected were primarily examined on the basis of quantification of frequency.

Data Analysis and Testing Hypotheses

As flows from Table 1, most respondents in both countries experience déjà

vu (76.79% of Japan and up to 87.81% of Slovak respondents) and sixth sense
(57.78% of Japanese and 68.85% of Slovak students). The basic mismatch was
revealed in the third item, where the Slovak respondents, unlike the Japanese, in
the absolute majority (73.14%) indicated that they are experiencing presentiment.
For questions about sleep paralysis, telepathy, clairvoyance, OBE and signs of
ghosts, most respondents in both countries tended not to meet (they chose answer
‘no’). Japanese respondents have the least belief of clairvoyance (95.80%) and
telepathy (93.33%). The least experience among Slovak students was OBE
(73.59%) and telepathy (71.33%).
Table 1. Anomalous experience and belief of Japan and Slovak respondents.
Experience Option Japan Slovakia
(n=405) (n=443)
Freq. [%] Freq. [%]
1. Déjà vu (a) yes 311 76.79 389 87.81
(b) no 94 23.21 54 12.19
2. Sleep paralysis (a) yes 134 33.09 182 41.08
(b) no 271 66.91 261 58.92
3. Presentiment (a) yes 142 35.06 324 73.14
(b) no 263 64.94 119 26.86
4. Telepathy (a) yes 27 6.67 127 28.67
(b) no 378 93.33 316 71.33
5. Clairvoyance (a) yes 17 4.20 191 43.12
(b) no 388 95.80 252 56.88
6. OBE (a) yes 33 8.15 117 26.41
(b) no 372 91.85 326 73.59
7. 6th sense (a) yes 234 57.78 305 68.85
belief (b) no 171 42.22 138 31.15
8. Signs of (a) yes 67 16.54 135 30.47
ghosts (b) no 338 83.46 308 69.53
Source: Own source

The frequencies shown in Table 1 were also illustrated by Figures 1a and 1b

which show the similarity of the responses in both countries (blue curves). The
red curve in Figure 1a represents the quantified difference in respondent responses
between the countries.

These results indicate that hypothesis H2 (there exist only small differences
between Japan and Slovak respondents in the field) can be considered as

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confirmed (first time). The results in several of the following subsections will also
support the validity of this hypothesis.

(a) (b)

Fig. 1. (a) Paranormal experience – Japan; (b) Paranormal experience –

Slovakia
Source: Own source

Subsequently, the analysis was focused on searching possible links between

students’ opinions on their trust and paranormal. The independent variable can
change itself, regardless of other factors; the dependent variable depends on the
investigated situation [14]. In this survey, trust is put as the dependent variable
and anomalous phenomena as an independent. Hypothesis H1 excludes the
negative impact of paranormal experience on perceived trust, i.e. presumes that
paranormal experience has not relevant influence on the students’ distrust. Table
2 shows the results of the dependence testing between examined items. The first
relationship concerned the option of ‘cannot be trusted’ and all eight items on
paranormal experiences. The statistical significance of none of the relationships
was confirmed in the data of Japanese respondents. Only one result was an
exception in Slovakia: dependence was confirmed between opinions on distrust
and clairvoyance. Of the 297 Slovak respondents who think that people cannot be
trusted, 46.46% said they have experienced clairvoyance. On the other hand, only
36.30% of 146, who think people can be trusted, experienced clairvoyance.
Therefore, in addition to hypothesis H1, also hypothesis H2 can be accepted.

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Table 2. Correlations of trust (cannot be trusted) and paranormal

experiences – Japan and Slovakia.
Combinations Japan Slovakia
analyzed
Chi-Square Product- Chi-Square Product-Moment
Test Moment Test Correlation
Correlation
z P- r P- z P- r P-
value value value value
Cannot be 1.718 0.086 0.850 0.86 0.555 0.579 - 0.580
trusted 0.026
and déjà vu
Cannot be 0.157 0.875 0.008 0.876 0.818 0.413 0.039 0.414
trusted
and sleep
paralysis
Cannot be 0.185 0.853 - 0.854 0.734 0.463 - 0.464
trusted 0.009 0.035
and
presentiment
Cannot be 0.688 0.491 - 0.492 0.191 0.848 0.009 0.849
trusted 0.034
and telepathy
Cannot be 1.452 0.147 - 0.147 2.03 0.042* 0.096 0.042*
trusted 0.072
and
clairvoyance
Cannot be 0.105 0.917 0.005 0.917 1.045 0.296 0.050 0.297
trusted
and OBE
Cannot be 0.391 0.696 0.019 0.697 0.113 0.910 0.005 0.910
trusted
and 6th sense
belief
Cannot be 0.244 0.807 0.012 0.808 1.429 0.153 - 0.154
trusted 0.068
and signs of
ghosts

Source: Own source

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DISCUSSION

An examination of the latter area of paranormal phenomena also pointed to

the considerable similarity of relatively different countries. Many colleagues from
European partner universities (e.g. in Poland, Czech Republic, Lithuania)
expected diametric differences when mentioning such a focus of this study (Japan
as an advanced Asian country versus Slovakia as a country long stopped by
Russian influence). However, the authors of this study hoped that the
parapsychological elements were ‘regionally independent’ and rather influenced
by the current dynamism of economic processes and ever-increasing demands for
future careers and performance. With considerable scientific satisfaction, the
results confirmed this assumption and supported the validity of the H2 hypothesis
several times.

A study of [28] performed on 286 respondents, analysed the effect of various

external and internal factors on student trust: “There is a positive and significant
effect on the quality of service on student trust; there is a positive and significant
effect on the image of the institution on student trust, and there is a positive and
significant quality of service to student trust through the image of the institution”.
In line with this, results confirming the relevance of hypothesis H1 that was shown
in Table 2 confirmed the interdependence only between the negative form of trust,
i.e. distrust and clairvoyance. This leads to the conclusion that, if these external-
internal university elements are positive, they can foster student confidence and,
to some extent, ‘mitigate’ the impact of negative paranormal student experiences.
Respectively, a reversed impact can also be considered: if students’ paranormal
experiences stimulate their sophistication, zeal, and the effort to uncover the
essence of phenomena and things, they promote student trust, both student trust
in themselves and trust in the university. Dissemination of the prevailing student
satisfaction and trust will consequently positively influence the image of the
university and thus promote the trust of other students and the public.

With the use of the above deductive ideas, the opinion of [29], flowing from
the survey performed on 451 people, can be agreed: illusory beliefs have an
important role in the behavioural choices of individuals. In a similar perspective,
the study of [30] searched relations of perceived stress, thinking style (rational
and experiential), and paranormal belief. Results collected from 82 participants
revealed that “perceived stress alone was not a prominent predictor of belief, but
the combination of stress and thinking style, significantly predicted greater global
paranormal belief” [30].

From the participated sample, 76.79% of Japan and 87.81% of Slovak

respondents express their experience with déjà vu; 57.78% and 68.85% express
their belief in the sixth sense. Altogether, listed above studies and results support
the relevance of hypothesis H2 about only small differences in university
students’ anomalous between countries.

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All presented discussion complexly leads to an important conclusion:

paranormal phenomena should be viewed either as a great inspiration.

CONCLUSIONS

Although the study addressed a relatively unconventional topic and even

included a comparison of two countries that had never been compared in the area
under study, all four hypotheses were valid. Specifically, paranormal experiences
have not relevant influence on student distrust (H1); there exist only small
differences between university students of examined Asian country (Japan) and
Central European country (Slovakia) (H2). The most important contributions,
findings and recommendations of the paper include mainly following:

1. Theoretical disputation was opened on paranormal experiences of

university students in relation to academic motivation and learning.

2.mIn general, it can be summarized that although Japanese culture and

Slovak culture have diametrically different roots, the participated university
students show relatively similar results due to their anomalous experience. The
difference was shown in presentiment and clairvoyance.

3. Moreover, the interdependences among all of the searched anomalous

prevail in both of searched countries. In detail, from 28 potential dependences, 16
were documented in the group of Japanese respondents and 15 in Slovak
respondents. From the viewpoint of gender, the correlations were positive in 4
from 8 beliefs of Slovak participants and in 2 from 8 beliefs of Japanese
participants (i.e. clairvoyance and sixth sense belief).

4. When relating trust to paranormal experience, identical features between

countries have not been achieved numerically. However, except the opinions on
trust versus anomalous experience in of Japan respondents, some of the
dependences were proven partially for each country.

It is necessary to encourage students conscientiously, strengthen their self-

trust and trust in others, positively influence their motivation, and inspire them for
academic life. The joy and possibilities of progress should balance and inevitably
exceed all potential discomfort. In this way, anomalous experience (i.e. déjà vu,
presentiment, clairvoyance, sixth sense, and telepathy) can be exploited at least
partially positively. At the same time, appropriate and encouraging learning
methods can alleviate the burdensome aspects of sleep paralysis, a sign of ghosts
and an out-of-body experience.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This publication was realized with support of the Grant System of University
of Žilina No. 7940/2020.

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Section

LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS

This section includes papers which have gone under double
blind peer-review. It covers papers related to theoretical,
literary and historical linguistics as well as stylistics and
philology.
 Section LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS

ANTICIPATORY LITERARY PLAGIARISM AS

PHENOMENON CHANGING COPYRIGHT PARADIGM

Academic Researcher Ing. Lydie Tallova, MBA, Ph.D.

Metropolitan University Prague, Czech Republic

ABSTRACT

The contribution introduces the theory of anticipatory or foreseen plagiarism

which should prompt us to reexamine the existing copyright paradigm. The
literary anticipation theory creates a hypothesis that some authors to outlive their
time due to their literary style or thematic vision and in the process, allegedly
“robbing the literary treasury” of authors living and writing centuries later. The
foreseen plagiarism theory transcends time and space which allows for an
understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the overflow of the literary gene
among authors living in different centuries. This article contrasts anticipatory
plagiarism with the plagiarism concept of unauthorized and deliberate copying of
a work in the past. The article morally assesses different types of plagiarism,
therefore explaining the nature of copyright consequences. The legal definition of
the concept of plagiarism and its depiction as a social offense the legal
consequences of which may affect various areas of the private law, have, in the
context of this work, a platform function providing space for developing the
hypothesis on the possible existence of another literary phenomenon defined as
anticipatory plagiarism. The anticipatory plagiarism theory destroys the inflexible
conception of temporal impact which serves as a symbolic key to decoding the
context of the development of a number of important but controversial (in terms
of authorship) works of world literary heritage. This contribution focuses on
clarifying the possible nature of the phenomenon in question while demonstrating
the need for reexamination of the existing concept of literary history and the
plagiarism phenomenon (in terms of copyright) through the introduction of
circumstances discovered. The topic of literary plagiarism is presented in a
historical, legal, psychological and economic contexts. The author further
develops the anticipatory plagiarism theory described by the French literature
professor Pierre Bayard and adds an additional attribute, thus constructing a new
legal doctrine with the potential to confirm the nature of the investigated
phenomenon. Anticipatory plagiarism in described as a phenomenon on the edge
of paranormal phenomena while providing empirical evidence of its existence.
The text takes into account the critical approach to the issue in question offering
ideal conditions for factual debate and approaching the topic at hand as objective
and comprehensively incorporated.
Keywords: anticipatory plagiarism, authorship, literary work, copyright law,
unfair competition

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INTRODUCTION

For centuries, the literary world has been afflicted by a “disease of

civilization,” the symptoms of which involve appropriating copyright work of
other people. Due to its historical rootedness and topicality, literary plagiarism is
a controversial issue that evokes more questions than answers. Moreover,
researchers are occupied with a new psychological phenomenon discussed in this
article, which changes the existing concept of plagiarism. A new theory has been
introduced in the scientific world which postulates the existence of anticipatory
plagiarism created unwittingly by anticipating a future work. Theories
acknowledging the existence of anticipatory plagiarism destroy the existing
paradigm of negatively defined plagiarism, which is based on the intentional
plundering of literary texts written in the past. By contrast, anticipatory plagiarism
draws upon works which have not been created yet at a given time, therefore the
immoral aspect characteristic of classic plagiarism is eliminated, and such a work
is divested of copyright liability for stealing a work that does not exist in a
formalized form, written or verbal, at that time.

The concept of anticipatory plagiarism proceeds from the assumption that

works are created on the basis of blending of the literary energy outside of time
and space. Biographical data of authors or the time when their works were created
are of no importance in terms of their potential copying. According to this theory,
writers draw upon literary vibrations, and as a result of that, many of them can be
on the same literary wave regardless of the era in which individual authors lived.
Unlike classic plagiarism, when authors appropriately formally express the works
of other authors without their authorization, there is no unauthorized drawing
upon existing works in the case of anticipatory plagiarism, only linking literary
threads among authors from various eras and parts of the world. The writing style
of linked authors is then weaved with the same literary thread, even though the
authors have no idea of the literary activities of others.

The “black and white” concept of plagiarism is intentionally “blurred” in the

theory of anticipatory plagiarism, which encourages the possibility to reassess the
existing concept of the literary history describing literature in terms of the
formation of literary works on the timeline, from antiquity towards the present
time. In fact, according to the theory presented, the history of literature takes place
in an environment where no rules of chronology apply. The existence of
anticipatory plagiarism in the world’s literature is illustrated with examples of
works anticipating writing styles of authors living centuries later, while earlier
works include facts and techniques uncharacteristic of the period, which indirectly
confirms the theory since the criterion confirming anticipation of literary texts
from the future is met. There is still no methodology to provide direct evidence.
Another obstacle to direct confirmation of the anticipated mechanism is the
society that is insufficiently philosophically sophisticated and unable to accept the
principles of the theory, which they do not understand due to the lack of their
knowledge.

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ESSENCE OF NEGATIVELY DEFINED PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism can be defined as a copy of an artistic or literary work the

authorship of which is attributed to the plagiarist instead of the original author.
Plagiarism activities mean copying or paraphrasing a copyrighted work or part
thereof without the express consent of the copyright holder. In the formation of
plagiarism, another author’s name is used while the original work’s author is
intentionally, in some cases unintentionally, concealed. It is often difficult to
determine and prove to what extent the work is plagiarism. In practice, this is
addressed via the interpretation of copyright. To prove the authorship of a work
is very complicated. When proving the authorship, expert opinions from the field
of literary science, including comparative analyses of existing works of the author
and the plagiarist, are of great importance. [1] Plagiarism is perceived as an
activity consisting in the appropriation of the outcome of mental work which is
presented as an original work. Considering that the liability for plagiarism of
another author’s work is a strict liability under copyright, which does not require
any fault, in addition to intentional stealing of another author’s work, also
negligent quoting or inadvertent omission of references or unprofessional
working with the original text, whether in the form of inadequate paraphrasing or
compilation of the original text, are considered plagiarism. Plagiarism can be
described as copying content (whether in part or full) while concealing its original
author. Passing ideas of another author as one’s own means stealing of intellectual
property and a number of sanctions will be imposed against the plagiarist, which
is further discussed below.

HISTORY OF LITERARY PLAGIARISM

The history of literary plagiarism in the context of the mass expansion of this
ancient phenomenon started to be written with printing ink already in the early
modern period. The Guttenberg’s invention of the printing press is a milestone in
the evolution of mankind which laid the foundations of global literary plagiarism
and generally the issue of literary property, which is a narrower definition of
intellectual property. As already indicated, the origins of literary plagiarism in its
genuine form date back to remote history. Literature has been afflicted by
plagiarism from its very beginning. Considerable evidence of this vice can be
found already in the literature of the Roman civilization (even though not on a
mass scale). The foregoing shall apply both to the negatively defined plagiarism,
the nature of which consists in copying historically older works and the
unauthorized appropriation thereof by a younger plagiarist, and to anticipatory
plagiarism, which is characterized by drawing upon works written in the future.
According to many academics researching this phenomenon, the history of
anticipatory plagiarism dates back to the very beginning of the world’s literature.
In this context, the professor of French literature and psychoanalyst, Pierre
Bayard, points out the relationship between the Sophocles’ work Oedipus Rex and
Freud’s psychoanalysis in terms of composition and thematic anchoring. Bayard
points to the fact that the ancient Greek Athenian playwright apparently

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“borrowed” the topic and the structure of the fictional story from the famous
European psychoanalyst living about two millennia later. With regard to the fact
that the ancient dramatist lived and created a half millennium BC, once his
plagiarism is proved, it can be stated that it is a phenomenon which dates back to
the origins of mankind. In the context of the topic hereof, it is necessary to address
the question of what the relationship between copyright and plagiarism is from
the historical perspective. If the relationship is examined in terms of originality
and derivativeness, two characteristic concepts of copyright, we come to the
conclusion that the originality agrees with plagiarism practices, although it sounds
immoral, and it is immoral from today’s point of view without any doubt.
However, the past cannot be perceived from the present perspective, so there is
nothing else to do but to try to understand the phenomenon of plagiarism in its
historical context. We should be particularly cautious when passing moral
judgments over plagiarism practices used in times of absence of authorship law
and almost zero public awareness of copyright potentiality. Behavior standards
reflect the state of the society and law development at that time and this premise
should be built on when trying to understand and explain the conduct of
plagiarism in the context of a given time. The issue of plagiarism cannot be
viewed only from the perspective of the 21st century. When examining this
phenomenon, it is necessary to consider the social environment and legal
framework of individual eras. Probing this issue shows that due to its multi-layer
nature, plagiarism cannot be defined only negatively. This opinion is based on the
fact that literary works were initially very often published anonymously. They
were legally rewritten and the authors were honored that their works spread. It
was perceived as evidence of success of the works and therefore the success of
their creative abilities. The viability of works was more important to authors than
indicating the author of the work. It is important to mention that plagiarism cannot
be regarded as a separate phenomenon. Lawyers and legislators agree that it is a
derived phenomenon, since literary piracy reflects the expansion of the concept
of intellectual property. [2] Plagiarism activities are simply responses to
possibilities that can be very easily, although illegally, drawn upon in the ever-
expanding market of copyright works. This idea answers the question why
plagiarism is such a prominent issue in the early 21st century. Only a small
percentage of people are morally at such a high level that they would resist such
temptation. There are only a few commodities in the world which are so attractive
and at the same time readily available due to the development of information
technology such as literary works. Therefore, the economic factor is of some
significance in the case of plagiarism activities.

THEORY OF ANTICIPATORY PLAGIARISM

In terms of the spiritual development of mankind, the history of literature

parallels the history of plagiarism. If this statement seems to be bold to the readers,
they may be surprised by the elaboration of this thesis, which results in the
elucidation of the phenomenon of anticipatory plagiarism. Although literary
plagiarism is a priori labeled as a morally despicable phenomenon by society, one

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component should be pointed out which makes this phenomenon more attractive.
The formula which has been triggering plagiarism activities for millennia is the
inspiration in its purest form. If inspiration is seen as an incentive to creation, then
it can be inferred that such an incentive instigates more creative ideas, which is
very closely related to the development and enrichment of society. Works created
by plagiarism may be often of greater value than the original works, which also
confirms the hypothesis of a positive impact of plagiarism practices on the overall
social progress. At this point, the author would like to mention that this passage
talks about plagiarism activities that are not performed to cause harm to the
original author and benefit from the simple copying of the work. In fact, there are
motives for plagiarism that arise unwittingly and the plagiarist is unaware of them.
To intentionally appropriate another author’s work and pass it off as one’s own
work is a completely different situation.

This article presents the phenomenon of plagiarism from another perspective.

The mentioned literary phenomenon should be analyzed and subsequently put into
a broader context, particularly because it is currently very often “lynched” by
academics. Actually, literature offers numerous examples when plagiarism of
works of a mediocre artistic value resulted in literary gems holding a place of
honor in the chronicle of mankind. Using the modern rhetoric, these plagiarism
techniques can be described as a transformation of the original work into a literary
work of a higher artistic level. Such an argument would probably stand up to
defending plagiarism in the context of following the current trend of social
pardoning of those practices of unfair competition and plagiarism which result in
social progress. [3] When formulating this idea, the author hereof relies on the
belief that inspiration provided by the original work is a trigger for further creation
in literature and generally a completely natural and desirable phenomenon from
the social point of view. To understand the paradigm, it is necessary to free from
the negatively defined perspective on plagiarism. If one is able to do so, he/she
witnesses an unexpected finding. The detachment gained from leaving old
dogmas behind enables him/her to see literary plagiarism in its plasticity.

When looking more deeply into the issue of plagiarism, one cannot fail to
notice a phenomenon which could be a subject of extensive research in the field
of parapsychology. It is a phenomenon which destroys the existing simplified
notions about the nature of plagiarism and opens the door to an unexplored and
for many unsuspected chambers called “anticipatory plagiarism”. In its imaginary
bookcase, there are valuable literary works, the content and literary form of which
seem to be few centuries ahead of the plagiarized work. Even though this
phenomenon appears to fall under science-fiction, there is evidence of its
existence. This phenomenon which is difficult to understand is already explained
by the literary theory. Anticipatory plagiarism arises within a circular process
which rediscovers certain themes and literary forms, which have already been
discovered and just seem innovatory, in certain cycles. The original work seems
to be copying a work created tens or hundreds of years later. The original work is
therefore ahead of its time. How is it possible? To find the answer, it is necessary

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to free from the linear perception of time. In fact, the history of literature takes
place in an environment where no rules of chronology apply. It is formed in
certain cycles. As fashion trends recur, the literature also rediscovers long-
forgotten themes and forms in certain waves, which thanks to their innovation
overshadow similar works created chronologically much earlier. In comparison
with common plagiarism, when a historically older work is copied, anticipatory
plagiarism is able to “plunder” works before they are created. Anticipatory
plagiarism can be therefore recognized only with the benefit of hindsight. Writers
who created such anticipatory works can be regarded as visionaries.

The fascinating world of anticipatory plagiarism is revealed to readers by

Pierre Bayard, the French psychoanalyst and university literature professor, in his
Le Plagiat par anticipation (Plagiat by anticipation). [4] The author, who is
respected by both readership and the professional community, describes the
theory of anticipatory plagiarism which, as premised, had been discovered by
many literary theorists before him. However, the Bayard’s study cuts much deeper
and puts the topic into a broader context. The author destroys the existing ways
of studying literary theory. In his work, he draws the attention to the big mistake
consisting in interpreting literature using a timeline directed from the past to the
future. On the contrary, according to his theory, it is necessary to disregard the
chronology when examining literary phenomena. Bayard’s provocative
propositions are directed at an extraordinary idea, namely to examine and interpret
literature not only via the usual method, i.e. from the emergence of literature up
to its presence, but to assess and classify works regardless of the chronology of
their creation and authors irrespective of their biographical data. [5] His work
leads to a reassessment of the perspective on literature and, in this context, on the
essence and importance of plagiarism.

The author hereof presumes to expand Bayard’s theory with a component that
may help to clarify the essence of anticipatory plagiarism. The component, which
brings yet another dimension of the issue, is the inspiration in the design phase of
the work. A literary work matures in the minds of “literary architects”, often at
different times and in different places, and once the work, which is usually marked
by a “flash of genius”, comes to light, it is so literary mature that it is ahead of its
time. These writers are able to use their writing skills to reach a higher level than
their contemporaries and intuitively anticipate the literary style and form for the
adaptation of a story published in the future. The “trick” is that only a limited
number of genius writers. That is why it does not matter when and where their
works were created. What matters is the authors’ ability to tune, even accidentally,
the same intellectual and literary-artistic wave. This hypothesis could explain the
fact that the literary giant has predecessors in different time periods scattered
around the world, whose literary style seems to be copied from the author’s brain,
even though these predecessors obviously have not had the possibility to get
acquainted with or draw on each other’s work. Basically, it is a spillover of literary
energy outside of time and space. The secret of this phenomenon gives a signal to
human thinking that it is inevitable to change the view on the issue examined.

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A literary work arises from the author’s creative activities the essential
element of which is originality. With regard to the fact that the author put his/her
creativity into his/her work, each copyrighted work shows signs of uniqueness.
The current theory of the originality of a copyrighted work is based on the idea
that for the above-mentioned reason, it is not possible for two authors to create an
identical work independently of each other. The essence of plagiarism is founded
on the assumption that if there are two quite similar works of two different
“authors”, then the newer work is most likely plagiarism of the older one, which
has the status of an original copyright work. In the literary history “archive”, there
are a number of conspicuously similar works of authors who created in different
eras, whose works uses the same literary language, while they are not plagiarism
according to the above-described copyright approach. On the basis of this finding,
literary historians came up with a revolutionary idea which is based on an
assumption that literary works are formed in a creative workshop outside time and
space. This could explain the fact that authors, whose works were created
hundreds or even thousands of years apart, have produced literary works of the
same literary substance.

As already mentioned, to understand the theory of anticipation of future

literary themes, it is necessary to free from the common perception of time impact.
The concept implied works in an environment disregarding the time and space,
which allows authors from different eras to communicate with each other through
literary waves in the eternal presence. Josef Piaček, the Slovak philosopher and
founder of the first original Slovak philosophical concept called syncriticism,
offers an explanation to the world that transcends the passage of time through the
concept of perichronosophy, a philosophical theory of timelessness. [6] Piaček
uses the term perichronosophy, referring to timelessness, eternity, infinity or
timeless experience, to describe the basic ontology layer of syncriticism as a
philosophical theory. In fact, it is based on the Heidegger’s idea that time passes
in a timeless manner. Piaček’s thoughts related to perichronosophy are directed at
timeless characteristics of the historical correlation between a human and the
world. Piaček’s implied the ability of the human mind to step out of the time
frame, which could help to clarify the principles of experience transmitting across
eras causing the effects of anticipatory plagiarism.

The theory of anticipatory plagiarism is based on nonconformist hypotheses

which are difficult to prove. First scientific attempts to verify these hypotheses,
however, use a relatively sophisticated methodology. Bayard is very consistent in
proving the functionality of the theory of anticipatory plagiarism. Anticipated
plagiarism is subject to a four-criteria test. He claims that to constitute anticipatory
plagiarism, the compared works must have these features: resemblance,
dissimulation, reversed temporal order meaning that the earlier author copies the
later one, and dissonance indicating the transfer of the work within the meaning
of plagiarism. The extent of resemblance is determined by a comparative text
analysis of works of the plagiarist and the original work’s author. The
dissimulation factor points to concealing the fact that the plagiarist has used the

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theme from other people’s resources. To prove the opposite chronological order
of the copied and original texts (as opposed to common plagiarism, when the
plagiarist copies a work created in the past) is quite a challenging process, which
requires a profound knowledge of facts from eras in which individual works were
formed. Anticipatory plagiarism is detected when it is discovered that the earlier
literary text uses methods and knowledge which were unknown at the time of the
work. The aforementioned dissonance, referred to as the fourth feature of
anticipatory plagiarism, is an essential element which can be easily revealed by
literary theorists. The earlier author who “borrows” the literary material from the
later author works with the text tentatively, whether in terms of its form, style or
thematic anchoring, since he/she only “pulls the captured literary thread” without
knowing exactly how to weave a magnificent work from it. In fact, the author has
gained (stolen) the literary material but does not know the instructions for its
forming, which mostly results in unskillful improvising. In some cases, however,
the anticipating plagiarist may qualitatively surpass the original work. This may
happen thanks to the mentioned inspiration or a flash of the author’s literary
genius. When comparing the works, vigilant literary historians mostly know that
there is “something going on”, since the plagiarism (even though it is historically
older than the original) shows a contextual disparateness.

According to Bayard, a prime example of anticipatory plagiarism is

Voltaire’s novel Zadig predicting the deduction method, which was introduced by
Conan Doyle through his private detective Sherlock Holmes more than a century
later. In one of his detective stories, Voltaire used an investigative method which
was not known at that time. Bayard brings further evidence of plagiarism of future
works by proving that Sophocles copied the Oedipus complex from Sigmund
Freud about two millennia before the renowned psychoanalyst described this
phenomenon. The plagiarism of one of the most important ancient playwrights is
demonstrated by the fact that the psychological phenomenon related to sexual
relations between a son and his mother was not recognized at the time of
Sophocles’ life. Bayard is an expert in the field of world’s literature and draws
lines on an imaginary canvas leading to the paradoxical finding that historically
older works plagiarize later works. He claims that the surprising line connects
famous predecessors with even more famous successors. For example, Bayard
claims that Voltaire plagiarized from Conan, Racine copied from Victor Hugo,
and Maupassant drew upon the Proust’s work so convincingly that his work
presents the Proust’s literary world better than works of the French novelist
himself. After the existence of all the above-mentioned components is proved, the
transfer of work as plagiarism from the future to the author’s or plagiarist’s
presence is evident.

TOWARDS LIABILITY FOR PLAGIARISM

A plagiarist violates the copyright of the original work’s author. At the same
time, the person makes a personal or financial profit from plagiarism activities to
which he/she is not entitled. There is a risk of penalty for the illegal action

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pursuant to a number or laws and regulations. The liability for plagiarism may
result in legal consequences in the civil, criminal and administrative sphere. Under
copyright, the liability for plagiarism is a strict liability which does not require
any fault. The issue of liability for plagiarism should be viewed from the
perspective of published and unpublished plagiarism. While the liability for
unpublished plagiarism is held only by the plagiarist, in the case of published
plagiarism, the publisher and other entities that were involved in the publication
of the plagiarism may be also liable for the plagiarism apart from the author.

Plagiarist’s Liability for Appropriation of Another Author’s Work

The liability for an unauthorized appropriation of another author’s work is in

the case of an unpublished work held by the person who appropriated the
authorship. The plagiarist may be sanctioned on the basis of civil liability under
Section 40 of the Czech Copyright Act through exercising the right for
compensation and surrender of unjust enrichment under the Czech Civil Code.
Under the new administrative sanctions of the Copyright Act, the plagiarist is
imposed with offense liability for committing an offense or an administrative
offense under Sections 105a and 105b of the Czech Copyright Act, and may be
also imposed with administrative liability under Section 32 of the Czech act on
offenses. In particularly serious cases, the plagiarist may be imposed with criminal
liability under Section 152 of the Czech Criminal Code. According to this blanket
norm, any unauthorized interference into legally protected copyright is considered
an intentional crime.

In this context, it should be noted that these criminal sanctions for copyright
infringement in the form of plagiarism may also apply to persons who were
knowingly and thus willfully involved in the crime. Such a person may be a
publisher carrying on business as a natural person if it published plagiarism and
was aware that the person passing himself/herself off as the author is not the
author. In addition to Section 152 of the Criminal Code above, the plagiarist may
be prosecuted under other provisions of this legal regulation, depending on the
nature of damage incurred. If the damage inflicted on the author of the plagiarized
text is only of a non-material nature, the plagiarist may be prosecuted under
Section 209 of the Czech Criminal Code (infringement on other people’s rights).
However, if the plagiarist inflicts material damage to the author, which is
classified as fraud, the plagiarist may be also prosecuted under Section 250 of the
Czech Criminal Code.

Publisher’s Liability for Publishing Plagiarism

If plagiarism is published, not only the plagiarist is liable for the unauthorized
interference in copyright but also the publisher and other entities involved in the
plagiarism publication. In the Czech Republic, the publishing of periodicals, its
distribution and the publishers’ position is regulated by the Press Act. [7] Under
Section 4 of the Press Act, the publisher is responsible for the content of

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periodicals. The liability for the content of periodicals is a strict liability, i.e. it
does not require the fault on the part of the publisher. The publisher is responsible
for its content not only in the journalistic articles representing the opinions of the
medium and its editor but also in the articles that do not represent such opinions.
[8] The publisher’s strict liability has also an impact on the false attribution of
authorship or co-authorship. In the event of a false indication of authorship, a
publisher’s liability for publishing the plagiarism arises and the fact that the
publisher did not know about the plagiarist’s dishonest conduct is of no legal
significance. Any publisher’s objections that it was not obliged to verify whether
the person claiming his/her exclusive authorship is really the exclusive author and
that it did not know about the co-authorship of such person with another person is
legally insignificant. [9] This author thus concludes that on account of strict
liability, the primary liability for the published work shall be borne by the
publisher who may subsequently sue the plagiarism’s author, while exercising a
whole range of claims and cumulating individual suits.

COPYRIGHT AND UNFAIR COMPETITION ASPECTS OF

PLAGIARISM

In the context of the reflection on legal liability for anticipatory plagiarism,

it should be mentioned that from the perspective of the current law, the plagiarist’s
liability has consequences in terms of both authorship and unfair competition. The
Copyright Act provides a number of claims which a person who has the standing
to bring an action may demand to protect his/her rights to a literary work. The
author or another authorized person may choose any of the below claims or
cumulate individual claims in the action. It is also possible to assert claims on the
basis of copyright and unfair competition through actions applicable by virtue of
the two legal areas. In this context, the second sentence of Section 105 is material,
which reads as follows: “Protection of works under copyright shall not exclude
the protection stipulated by special legislation.”

CLAIMS ARISING FROM UNAUTHORIZED

INTERFERENCE IN COPYRIGHT

Statutory legal means of authorship protection are based on strict liability in

the Czech Republic. It follows that the liability does not require any fault. The
general clause of copyright is contained in Section 40 of the Czech Copyright Act.
However, this section does not contain special merits as they are known from
unfair competition. Unauthorized interference in authorship may have the
character of a threat to or violation of this right. The author whose rights are
interfered with without authorization can defend themselves against already
incurred offenses and also against imminent actions. They can demand a whole
range of claims under this provision. The Czech Copyright Act provides a
demonstrative list of claims against the violation of and threat to this right. In
addition to traditional claims, such as claims seeking a prohibitory injunction, the
removal of consequences and satisfaction, the Copyright Act stipulates

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particularly the claims for determining the authorship, for disclosure and for the
publication of the judgment.

The literary work, which is often a subject of disputes in the matter of

plagiarism, is negotiable. Claims arising from the law against unfair competition
may be asserted to protect the market aspects of the literary work. Legal means of
protection against unfair competition include all legal means which may be used
by entities affected by unfair competition to defend themselves. The Civil Code,
under which unfair competition is defined in the Czech Republic, is private law
and for this reason, its provisions can regulate only civil sanctions. However,
unfair competition is also addressed in some public law regulations, under which
a person engaged in unfair competition may be punished with sanctions of a
criminal nature (pursuant the Criminal Code) or administrative sanctions (e.g.
pursuant the Consumer Protection Act or the Advertising Regulation Act etc.).
Also, non-legal means of protection, i.e. self-regulation measures, may be used
against the potential unfair competition. [10] Sanctions related to unfair
competition are regulated in Section 2988 of the new Civil Code. The scope of
claims is adopted from the Commercial Code. Persons affected by a violation of
or a threat to their rights as a result of unfair competition may ask the infringer to
abstain from such conduct or remove the irregular situation. They can also
demand reasonable compensation, either in monetary or non-monetary form.
Moreover, they can claim damages and surrender of unjust enrichment. For the
purposes of claiming damages by virtue of protection against unfair competition,
the fact that the claim for damages is newly based on a subjective principle is
particularly essential. It is grounded in the fact that the liability to compensate for
any damage caused by unfair competition is subject to the infringer’s fault. In the
antecedent legislation, the compensation was based on an objective principle.
With regard to the fact that it was difficult to assert the claim for compensation in
the field of unfair competition, it can be assumed that the principle of subjective
liability in respect of the claim for compensation in connection with unfair
competition will be in practice even more problematic than asserting this claim
under the previous legislation. The principle of subjective liability is to be applied
only to the claim for compensation and for surrender of unjust enrichment, and
therefore cannot be generally applied to legal liability for unfair competition. As
with copyright lawsuits, the court may also confer the right to disclose the
judgment at the losing party’s expense and determine the extent and scope of its
disclosure when it comes to actions applied under the law against unfair
competition. Individual sanctions may be applied simultaneously.

CONCURRENCE OF THE COPYRIGHT AND UNFAIR

COMPETITION PROTECTION OF A LITERARY WORK

It is clear from the previous chapters that legal means of protection against
copyright infringement are largely identical with legal means of protection against
unfair competition. With respect to the fact that the authorship protection and
protection against unfair competition of literary work overlap, the person who has

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the standing to bring an action is entitled to assert the claims under both legal
areas. If and to what extent the injured person uses legal possibilities under his/her
rights falls fully within his/her authority. Civil proceedings are actually based on
the disposition principle, when it is the parties (plaintiff, defendant) that dispose
of the proceedings and its subject, not the court. “It means that it depends on the
acts of the party (plaintiff) whether the proceedings will be initiated and whether
it will continue (disposition of proceedings), and on what issues the court will
decide (what rights and to what extent – disposition of the subject).”(The citation
was translated from Czech to English by author.) [11] It should be reminded that
the court is obliged to act only within the scope of the demand for relief.

MORAL AND LEGAL ASPECTS OF ANTICIPATORY

PLAGIARISM

Many questions arise in connection with the above-defined theory. Is

anticipatory plagiarism intentional in the sense of willful stealing of a literary
technique, style, theme and formulation method? And if so, can be the plagiarist
stealing a work which does not exist at a given time legally responsible for such
conduct? The answer to the first question is not entirely definite. Even writers
themselves do not know the exact source of the plagiarized material, although
they suspect that the work they create does not proceed only from their own
literary sources. Many authors agree that in the course of creating a significant
and literary valuable work, they were driven by an intensive creative power and
felt to be mere intermediaries of a literary statement. [12] As if somebody
whispered the text in their ears. The above-mentioned fact implies that these
authors knew that their works were nor created solely thanks to their literary
creativity, but could not identify the source of their inspiration. They could not
copy an already written text, as is typical for common plagiarism, because the
anticipated work did not exist at that time. They were mere intermediaries of the
anticipated, yet not existing, literary text to readers. This gives rise to a theory that
anticipating plagiarists had been creating under the influence of creative
inspiration or vision, which became real in the future. Another fact aggravating
the examination of the case of plagiarism is the complicated provability of the
intention to steal a non-existing work, since it is a very non-standard and currently
unknown phenomenon.

With regard to the nature of the issue, the answer to the question concerning
the legal liability of the plagiarist stealing a work created in the future should be
perceived from two perspectives – timelessness and time designation. If the time
impact is disregarded and the literature is perceived from the perspective of
eternal presence, when all works are created in a certain universe, then the writer
anticipating another author’s work may be theoretically legally liable for the act
because he/she stole an already existing work (since there is no future in
timelessness), even though the work will be physically created in the future.

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However, the situation is complicated by the fact that while literature takes
place outside of time and space according to the theory of anticipatory plagiarism,
the authors live in the world where the law of time applies and its linearity
prevents the author of the historically older work from being legally responsible
for plagiarizing a later work which does not exist at the time of plagiarizing and
therefore is not protected by copyright. In the majority of cases, parties to a
notional legal relationship do not live in the same time period, that is why the legal
relationship cannot be really established. It follows that no claims arising from the
unauthorized use of the anticipated work can be asserted. The situation is
complicated due to the gap between the time of the creation of the plagiarism and
the original work, hence due to different eras in which parties to the dispute lived
and created. The legal liability of the author arises already in the initial stage of
the formation of a plagiarized work, however, the liability ceases to exist upon the
author’s death. However, in most cases, the original work which served as the
plagiarist’s inspiration is yet not created at the time of the plagiarist’s life, i.e. in
the period of the author’s potential liability for unauthorized interference in the
original work. That is why we cannot talk about stealing the work because of the
chronological flow of time, since the work does not exist at that time. In fact, it
would be impossible to prove the theft at the time of anticipatory plagiarism. It is
possible with hindsight, but no sooner than at the time of creation of the
plagiarized work.

One of the reasons why it is not easy to determine the time definition of
anticipatory plagiarism in terms legal liability is that we perceive the issue from
the perspective of the 21st century, even though the plagiarism practices were
performed several hundred years ago. Under the applicable law, the legal
regulation may not be applied retroactively because the genuine retroactivity is
considered an inadmissible legislative technique on the ground that it is contrary
to the requirement of legitimate expectations and legal certainty. The principle lex
retro non agit (law is not retroactive) means that only law which is codified at the
time, i.e. effective law, is applicable at the time. [13] Legal standards which come
into existence in the future are therefore excluded from the applicable law.
Moreover, reflections on the legal liability of plagiarism practices which are
hundreds of years old may be entirely theoretical because the persons involved
have deceased and therefore cannot be judged. Additionally, the status of the
copyright at the time of the plagiarized work should be taken into account. It is
known that in antiquity, copyright was not regulated by legislation, that is why
anticipatory plagiarism created in this period cannot have any legal consequences
and the plagiarist of the anticipated text cannot be legally liable for this conduct.
Plagiarism activities mean copying or paraphrasing a copyrighted work or part
thereof without the express consent of the copyright holder. The author who
anticipates a work that does not yet exist at the time does not commit plagiarism
under the current conception of copyright in the sense of copyright infringement
(related to a historically younger work), because the work has not been created
yet, so it is not protected by copyright.

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If many literary historians point to the fact that there is a literary connection
between a number of authors writing in various eras and in different parts of the
world, without being able to influence each other, but their works are almost
identical, an organized technique of anticipatory plagiarism may be then
considered. In this case, the moral and legal liability for the plagiarism practices
is even more difficult to prove and clarify. The fact confirms the Bayard’s
proposition that the course of the literary world is cyclic and one literary
phenomenon or motive may be reflected in works of various authors in certain
cycles. The specific reason is unknown. The author hereof believes that it happens
under the influence of unwritten laws with the aim to reinstate and restore themes
which are fundamental for the society. The subjects of anticipatory plagiarism are
usually high-quality literary works, which may serve as a confirmation of the
hypothesis. A detailed literary-historical research has to be performed to prove
the hypothesis, which may be the subject of a separate scientific research project.

ANTICIPATORY PLAGIARISM AS A CONTROVERSIAL

PHENOMENON

The concept of anticipatory plagiarism has both supporters and opponents.

The supporters perform a thorough analysis in the scope of their professional
orientation in the fields of literary theory, literary history, literary interpretation,
psychoanalysis, philosophy and cultural studies, while Bayard transforms the
concept into a better definable form and creates an umbrella concept. However, it
is still not sufficient to reach a common consensus within the scientific
community. The opponents of this extraordinary concept criticize that the theory
cannot be supported by empirical evidence. Many of them consider it mistaken.
Vernay, for example, described the Bayard’s book Le plagiat par anticipation as
absurd and very funny. [14] By contrast, psychoanalytic philosopher Slavoj Žižek
considers the work wonderful. Žižek provides an equally interesting insight into
the issue of anticipatory plagiarism, which is also perceived from an
unconventional perspective. Žižek also concludes that the existence of
anticipatory plagiarism is possible, but he examines the concept using a stricter
methodology. Žižek follows the Bayard’s dissonance line and develops it into a
more sophisticated context. What is scientifically beneficial are the Žižek’s
objections to insufficiently practiced methodology in the Bayard’s work, which
may lead to a re-evaluation of certain hypotheses. [15] Žižek’s insights, however,
points to a number of other related literary works which show signs of anticipatory
plagiarism, which may also be perceived as an indirect confirmation of its
existence. Žižek sends a peaceful message to the opponents that they should not
dismiss the concept only for its provocative tone because it at least contains a
certain hidden teleology in which the presence refers to the anticipated future. On
the other hand, he believes that the idea is deeply anti-teleological and
materialistic and the only thing missing is the key to the concept of retroactivity.
[16]

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CONCLUSION

Literary plagiarism is a phenomenon that has been accompanying mankind

from time immemorial. The issue of literary plagiarism is very controversial in its
nature. On one hand, the imitation of already existing works triggers further
creativity, on the other hand, this activity often balances on the edge of the law
since it involves unauthorized interference in copyright. The idea of the complete
elimination of piracy is utopian. Plagiarism has been rooted deeply in society for
centuries. The phenomenon of plagiarism is even more controversial due to the
fact that it is possible to plagiarize a historically newer work which does not exist
at the given time under the influence of literary vibrations. The plagiarist
anticipates the work and draws from the future. The fact that literary works which
have been created centuries apart could be unwittingly linked with the same
writing style, without the possibility to be influenced by a later author who has
not been born yet at the time, leads to a re-evaluation of the concept of literary
history and the phenomenon of plagiarism. Examining the world of literature from
the chronological historical perspective seems to be obsolete. What makes the
complexity even greater is the multidimensional nature of the phenomenon which
proves the immortality of this conduct. The phenomenon of plagiarism is kept
alive by two independent forces – immoral practices of plagiarists are
symbolically sanctified by the silent consent of the users (readers) who are
indifferent to the origin of the work. The attractiveness of a literary work is more
important to readers than the fact whether it is attributed to the real author or a
plagiarist. In such situations, the applicability of the standards of copyright and
unfair competition in the environment of a social movement against the moral
standing of copyright is rather problematic. This proves that plagiarism a serious
societal problem and the path to its solution is very complex.

REFERENCES
[1] Tuláček, J.: Porušení autorského práva a plagiát (Copyright Infringement
and Plagiarism). Bulletin advokacie, 2004, no. 11-12, pp. 28;
[2] Johns, A.: Pirátství / Boje o duševní vlastnictví od Gutenberga po Gatese
(Piracy / The Intellectual Property Wars from Guttenberg to Gates). 1st edition.
Brno: Host. 2013. pp. 19;
[3] Consolidated versions of the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty
on the Functioning of the European Union - Consolidated version of the Treaty
on the Functioning of the European Union - Protocols - Annexes - Declarations
annexed to the Final Act of the Intergovernmental Conference which adopted the
Treaty of Lisbon, signed on 13 December 2007 - Tables of equivalences, Article
101 (3). Available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/CS/TXT/?uri=CELEX:12012E/TXT, [from 05-29-2017];
[4] Bayard Pierre, Le plagiat par anticipation, France, 2009, pp. 558;

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[5] Šotolová, J.: Nebáli se a kradli? Review / Literary science. Pierre Bayard:
Le plagiat par anticipation, Les Editions de Minuit, 2009, 160 p. iLiteratura
[online]. Praha, 2009. [Accessed 2017-18-05]. Available at:
http://www.iliteratura.cz/Clanek/25041/bayard-pierre-le-plagiat-par-
anticipation;
[6] Piaček Jozef, Synkriticizmus – Filozofia konkordancie (Syncriticism –
Philosophy of Concordance), Slovakia, 2014, pp. 60–61;
[7] Act. No 46/2000 Sb. on Rights and Duties Related to Publishing
Periodical Press and on Amendment to Several Other Acts (Press Act), as
amended.
[8] E.g. MS Praha, Z C 138/89 (Intelekt. Vlast. Hospod. Sout.1996/1);
[9] Chaloupková, H., Svobodová, H., Holý, P.: Zákon o právu autorském, o
právech souvisejících s právem autorským a o změně některých zákonů (autorský
zákon) a předpisy související. (Law on Copyright, Rights Related to Copyright
and on the Amendment of Certain Laws (Copyright Act) and Related
Regulations), Commentary. 2nd Edition, Praha: C. H. Beck, 2004. pp. 117-118;
[10] Team of authors: Obchodní právo (Commercial Law). Praha: ASPI,
2005. 1345 pp. 157;
[11] Čermák, J.: Internet a autorské právo (The Internet and Copyright).
Praha: Linde, 2001. pp. 113;
[12] See Plato, Phaedrus , Indianapolis: Hackett, 1995, 241e, 249e, 253a,
263d; See also Cicero, Marcus Tullius, and, and M. van den Bruwaene. De Natura
Deorum. Bruxelles: Latomus, 1970; See also The Iliad of Homer, Tr. By Richard
Lattiomore. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951; Hésiodos, Zrození bohů
(The Birth of the Gods), Praha: SNKLHU, 1959, pp 7; See also Nietzsche, F.,
Zrození tragédie z ducha hudby (The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music),
překlad Otokar Fischer, Praha, Karel Stibral: Studentské nakladatelství Gryf,
1993, pp. 22;
[13] Decision Ref. No. Pl. ÚS 215/14 (Sb.n.s.u. US Volume 3, Finding 30,
pp. 227);
[14] Vernay, Jean-François, The Seduction of Fiction: A plea for Putting
Emotions Back into Literary Interpretation, Australia, 2016, pp .19;
[15] Žižek Slavoj, Less Than Nothing: Hegel And The Shadow Of Dialectical
Materialism, USA, 2013, pp. 559;
[16] Žižek Slavoj, Less Than Nothing: Hegel And The Shadow Of Dialectical
Materialism, USA, 2013, pp. 558.

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CORONAVIRUS REPORTING AND FAKE NEWS ABOUT

THE PANDEMIC IN SLOVAK ONLINE MEDIA

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ján Višňovský, PhD.1

Bc. Natália Rosinská2
Mgr. Juliána Mináriková, PhD.3
1, 2, 3
Faculty of Mass Media Communication, University of SS. Cyril and
Methodius, Trnava, Slovakia

ABSTRACT

Many people use the digital space as a primary source of information, which
has undoubtedly been reinforced by the global pandemic caused by the
coronavirus COVID-19. Restrictive measures to prevent the spread of the
coronavirus and the subsequent lockdown have caused people to limit their social
contacts and to work and learn from their homes. News disseminated in the online
space, on the web, social media or social networks, became their primary sources
of information, not only about the coronavirus, but also about social events at
home and abroad. The online media and social networks have been flooded with
information on the subject of the coronavirus, which has also been exploited by
the spreaders of fake news. During the pandemic, we witnessed a massive wave
of disinformation, and the identification of fake news and hoaxes by recipients
became a serious problem. The aim of this paper is to use the theoretical
background and research results to identify differences in reporting on the topic
of coronavirus in the typologically different online media Denník N and Zem &
Vek. We focused on the form in which the selected websites report on the topic
of coronavirus and whether there is a suspicion of the presence of false
information and hoaxes in the published journalistic speeches.
Keywords: fake news, hoax, COVID-19 pandemic, online news, online portal

INTRODUCTION

We live in an era of a digital revolution, characterized by easy access to both

the acquisition and dissemination of information in a global context. In addition
to the large media houses, alternative or opposition media are trying to gain the
attention of the audience. While, on the one hand, there is constitutionally
guaranteed freedom of expression and the right to information in developed
democracies, in today's primarily online media and social networks, we are faced
with a phenomenon that threatens fundamental human rights and freedoms [1].
This is the dissemination of fake news, disinformation, hoaxes and hate speech,
particularly in the environment of the Internet and social networks. The
emergence of the global digital space is shaping the world of information and
bringing with it numerous challenges, but also risks. In September 2019, twenty
countries around the world endorsed an initiative by Reporters Without Borders

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to stop the spread of fake news and to make internet providers more accountable
in terms of content credibility and information plurality, with the aim of avoiding
information chaos. In the fight against fake news, the spread of disinformation
and propaganda on social networks, Twitter and Facebook have also joined the
fight by shutting down thousands of fake accounts in China, Egypt and the United
Arab Emirates. The authorities of the European Union and its Member States,
non-governmental organisations and other actors are also taking their own
initiatives and actions.

Whereas in the past the world was influenced by the industrial revolution, we
are now witnessing an information revolution. A specific feature of today's times
is the ubiquitous information overload [2]. This makes it easy for the recipients of
news to obtain information, but difficult for them to filter it, interpret it and draw
conclusions from it. This phenomenon is reinforced by the use of multimedia
devices, especially smartphones and tablets with internet connection, which allow
the previously passive recipient to engage in the creation and publication of media
content. The passive recipient has thus become an active recipient.

FAKE NEWS, HOAXES AND JOURNALISM

When the phrase 'fake news' was declared the word of the year in 2017 by the
Collins English Dictionary, it referred primarily to the public statements and
statuses of the US ex-president Donald Trump, who used the term with particular
popularity and very frequently in his tweets [3]. Although we were already
familiar with the term fake news, due to Trump's efforts to label unfavourable,
usually critical reactions to his statuses with fake news, as well as the very
presence of fake news and half-truths in his presidential campaign, the phrase was
particularly resonant in the media space and in the public sphere. According to
the Collins English Dictionary, use of the phrase fake news in the media has
increased by more than 365% since 2016. However, it cannot be said to have
disappeared from contemporary public discourse. It is no less frequently heard
from the lips of politicians and is also heard in statements by national and
supranational institutions or non-profit organisations.

According to T. Škarba, fake news is published information that mimics news

and other journalistic formats. Fake news is deliberately and demonstrably untrue
and is intended to manipulate, mislead, gain financial profit or entertain the
recipient. Fake news does not include unintentional reporting errors that have
been published as a result of human error [4]. Fake news, like hoaxes, also focuses
extensively on health topics. Their aim is usually to sell alternative medicine
products or to gain advertising revenue. In order to reduce the income of the end-
users of the benefits of the disinformation scene, an initiative www.konspiratori.sk
was set up in Slovakia, which has created a list of websites with disinformation
and questionable content. It warns advertisers to be careful where their advertising
is displayed, not to support the creation of misinformation with their funding and
not to associate their brand with questionable content.

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When the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic hit the world in 2020, society
and media discourse also began to talk about a pandemic of misinformation,
hoaxes, half-truths and propaganda. The Dutch media theorist M. Deuze stated:
“It is perhaps also not surprising, from this point of view, that most of the debates
and discussions about the pandemic do not just concern the virus and its impact,
but focus especially on the roles of expert information provision, news coverage,
government communications, and social media. It is clear that the coronavirus
pandemic is a mediatized event as much as it is a virus that infects millions of
people around the world.” [5] On the other hand, as J. Višňovský and J.
Radošinská stated, “the moment when the COVID-19 pandemic became a global
problem can be seen as a breaking point – suddenly, journalists and other media
professionals realised it was necessary to seek new heroes and create new types
of stories; all that while trying to process what was happening in a comprehensible
manner. Of course, their not-so-professional counterparts, while still making their
profit by spreading fake news and disinformation, started to explore the quickly
worsening situation in accordance with their own agendas. As a result, a COVID-
19 'infodemic' was born.” [6].

One of the first fake news stories regarding the coronavirus that spread on
social media was that wearing protective gear such as face shields and respirators
slowed reflexes and dulled the senses due to inhaling carbon dioxide. Another
unconfirmed piece of information was that the virus was artificially created in
laboratories. The United States blamed China for its escape from the laboratories,
while Russian and Iranian officials in turn blamed the Americans. Other hoaxes
have claimed that the coronavirus is spread by 5G networks and killed by alcohol,
or that testing is a covert method of creating a gateway of infection to the brain,
or that the coronavirus does not exist at all. There are hundreds of misinformation
and hoaxes about the coronavirus. Similarly, the development of the coronavirus
vaccine and its application has triggered another wave of misinformation, spread
primarily through social networks, which has resulted in a lower uptake of
vaccination in some countries. Back in January 2021, the Ministry of Health of
the Slovak Republic set up a web portal www.slovenskoproticovidu.sk to provide
information on vaccination, vaccines, their benefits, but also possible side effects.
The website also features personalities who have decided to support the
information campaign with the central theme “vaccine is freedom” [7]. Publicly
known authorities, including the President of the Slovak Republic, Zuzana
Čaputová, are taking part in the campaign. The Ministry of Health of the Slovak
Republic has also joined the fight against vaccination-related hoaxes through its
Facebook account, which has more than 185 000 followers to date.

Social media, especially social networks, are an extremely effective means of

spreading disinformation and hoaxes and a prerequisite for their further spread
[8]. There are several reasons for this. Social networks are an extremely popular
medium for the young and middle generation, who use them not only as a tool for
disseminating information, but also as an information source. The level of critical
thinking and the willingness to verify information from multiple sources are

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relatively low, which makes the recipient prone to trust misinformation and
conspiracies and spread them – either consciously or unconsciously further. In his
research, P. Krajčovič focused on whether Slovak Internet users had encountered
hoaxes related to COVID-19, whether they were able to identify these messages
and how they affected them. The results showed that almost 80% of the 429
respondents had encountered fake news about the coronavirus. According to the
survey, only half of the respondents (52%) were able to detect the hoaxes, 38% of
the respondents did not know that they were reading a fake news report and 10%
of the respondents did not know that they were reading a hoax at all. They only
found out later. The survey also showed that almost half of the respondents (47%)
were concerned after reading the hoax. Based on the results of the survey, we can
assess that Internet users have a problem deciphering fake news in the digital
space, and we expect this situation to get worse [9].

During the pandemic, interest in online and television news increased; on the
other hand, the weaknesses of media organizations were revealed during this time.
For example, incompetence and unpreparedness in reporting on medical issues
due to the absence of specialised reporters, as well as the publication of
misinformation and hoaxes, which have contributed to a decline in the credibility
of the news media as a whole. According to the Reuters Institute – Digital News
Report 2020 survey, 28% of respondents in Slovakia trust the news, with trust
falling by 5% year-on-year. This was not only the case in Slovakia, but also in
other European countries [10].

GOALS AND METHODOLOGY

Based on theoretical background and empirical findings, the aim of the

research was to investigate differences in reporting on coronavirus in selected
online media. We were interested in the extent to which and in what way the topic
of COVID-19 was reported in the online media www.dennikn.sk compared to the
website www.zemavek.sk in the selected time period.

The daily Denník N was established in 2014. Its establishment was preceded
by the departure of disgruntled journalists from the daily SME following the entry
of the financial group Penta into the ownership structure of the publishing house
Petit Press, a. s., which also publishes the national daily SME. and of which the
portal www.dennikn.sk was visited by 1,763,131 real users in March 2021 [11].

Zem & Vek is a Slovak magazine published at monthly intervals. It was

founded in 2013 under the publishing house Sofian s. r. o. and the editor-in-chief
is Tibor Rostás. Both the magazine and the portal, together with its editor-in-chief,
have been repeatedly criticised for spreading conspiracy theories, Russian
propaganda, factual misrepresentation, unfair use of sources, as well as subliminal
incitement to hatred against minorities. The portal www.konspiratori.sk included
the online version of the Zem & Vek magazine in the ranking of sites with
questionable content, with www.zemavek.sk ranking thirteenth [12]. It is therefore

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not a traditional news portal, but we dare to assume that there is an awareness of
it in society and that it has a spectrum of readers.

We have chosen the time period of February 1, 2021 to February 28, 2021
for our research. This is an available purposive sample. The two media outlets
studied published 363 journalistic speeches related to the topic of COVID-19
during this interval. The portal www.dennikn.sk published 218 journalistic reports
during this period, while the online media outlet www.zemavek.sk published 145
journalistic reports related to the topic of coronavirus.

We analyzed the published journalistic reports of the selected media in the

specified time period through quantitative-qualitative content analysis. We
recorded the following analytical categories:
• coronavirus-related press coverage and numbers,
• authorship of the journalistic report,
• the length of the headline (number of words) and the length of the
journalistic report (number of words),
• the tone of the journalist's report - positive, negative, neutral,
• the presence of information graphics and audiovisual material on the
websites studied,
• and the presence of fake news, misinformation or hoaxes.

We subjected all articles published during the period understudy to the

C.R.A.A.P test We focused on five categories – timeliness, reliability, authority,
intention and accuracy. The Czech portal for verifying facts and detecting fake
news considers the “C.R.A.A.P test” as one of the simplest tools for verifying the
objectivity of information [13].

RESULTS

Based on the results of our research, we can conclude that the news website
www.dennikn.sk takes a more objective approach to information about the
coronavirus pandemic and provides a greater amount of sources and information
than the digital website www.zemavek.sk. The Denník N portal published more
stories than www.zemavek.sk in the period under study. The outputs of
www.dennikn.sk were also more credible because of the fact that, out of 218
published articles, only 22 outputs were recorded in which the author of the
journalist's report was not mentioned. Of these 22 reports, 21 were published in
the Minute by Minute section of the website, where the portal publishes short
agency reports (TASR, SITA, CTK, AP). One report cited the US portal
www.washingtonpost.com as the source. A considerably bigger problem
regarding the attribution of journalistic reports was observed in the case of the
digital website www.zemavek.sk. Out of 145 journalistic speeches, as many as 77
had no attribution, which is almost 50%.

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Regarding the length of headlines, www.dennikn.sk had headlines with an

average length of 14.5 words and www.zemavek.sk published headlines with an
average length of 10.4 words in the period under review. Thus, Denník N
published longer headlines. The same was the case for the total length of the
published journalistic reports. The average length of all published reports from
the news website www.dennikn.sk was 1,753 words, while the average length of
the journalistic reports from the digital website www.zemavek.sk was 672 words.
Thus, the daily Denník N published more journalistic reports in terms of scope
than the www.zemavek.sk website.

In the research, we also focused on whether the author of the journalistic

report focused on publishing positive, neutral, or negative information (the
perception of the journalistic output) in relation to the topic of coronavirus. After
evaluating the results, we found that the news website www.dennikn.sk published
100 journalistic reports with negative information related to the coronavirus, 79
with neutral information, and in 39 cases, the journalistic report was an attempt to
deliver a positive message related to the topic of the coronavirus. The proportion
of negative news out of the total was 46%. In the case of the website
www.zemavek.sk, we found that out of a total of 145 journalistic reports, 99 were
negative, 38 had neutral information, and only 8 were news stories that aimed to
bring positive information on the topic of COVID-19. The proportion of negative
news stories out of the total number of published stories was 68%.

Web publishing is characterised by the visualisation of information, in

various forms. Whether it is photographs, illustrations, statistics or interactive
information graphics. Audiovisual material and podcasts are no exception. In the
case of www.dennikn.sk, one of the above-mentioned forms of graphical
representation of information appeared in almost all the outputs examined. Only
one journalistic report was published without any visual or audiovisual material.
210 journalistic outputs included a photograph, 65 included a graph and 6 pieces
in the period under review included a table or statistics. Audiovisual material was
included in 48 journalistic reports out of a total of 218, with 47 of the reports
accompanied by a video and in one case the journalistic report was accompanied
by a podcast. The digital website www.zemavek.sk published all the journalistic
reports in the period under review, together with visual material, while out of 145
contributions, 143 included a photograph, in 6 cases a graph and only in one case
did they use visual material in the form of a table. 15 journalistic reports were
accompanied by a video. The podcast was not in any of the journalistic reports.

We subjected journalistic reports in the time period under study to the

C.R.A.A.P test, which is one of the tools for identifying fake news. Based on the
results, we found that the news website www.dennikn.sk erred in 74 cases out of
a total of 218. These were journalistic reports where we found a problem in at
least one of the five categories examined, which were timeliness, reliability,
authority, intent, and accuracy. We did not find any doubt in the category of
timeliness, as the media published up-to-date information regarding the

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coronavirus pandemic in Slovakia and abroad. In 22 cases, there was a fault in the
reliability category, with a lack of balance and plurality of opinion in the
journalistic statements. In 22 cases, the stories did not mention the author. In 34
cases, we noted a problem in the category of intention, with the publication of a
subjective opinion in the news report. In 10 journalistic reports we found doubt in
the category of accuracy, when emotions appeared in the stories. We also
subjected the digital website www.zemavek.sk to the same C.R.A.A.P test.
According to the results, we can conclude that we found flaws in the different
categories examined in a total of 140 journalistic reports out of a total of 145. In
one case, up-to-date information was not published (it should be noted, however,
that www.zemavek.sk is not a standard news website), in 82 journalistic reports
we found doubts in the reliability category, while the articles lacked balance and
plurality of opinion. In 77 cases, the posts did not include the name of the author.
We found the highest level of misconduct in the category of intention, with 94
journalistic reports containing subjective opinions. In 90 cases, in the case of the
www.zemavek.sk website, we registered a problem in the attribute of accuracy,
when the contributions contained emotional lexis and grammatical errors. During
the period under study, the digital website www.zemavek.sk published 11
journalistic reports in the Czech language.

CONCLUSION

The results of the research showed that the media studied approached
reporting on the topic of coronavirus differently. The portal www.dennikn.sk
published a larger number of journalistic reports with a larger scope and longer
headlines than the website www.zemavek.sk. At the same time, Denník N's
outputs included more photographs, information graphics and audiovisual
material than the texts published on www.zemavek.sk. As regards the evaluation
of the C.R.A.A.P test, it can be concluded that the threat of fake news and
misinformation is significantly higher in the outputs of the www.zemavek.sk portal
than those of the www.dennikn.sk website. The news website Denník N, as one of
many digital media outlets, reported on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on a
daily basis. It provided its recipients with news and journalism through agency
reports, extended reports, commentaries, interviews and reports related to the
coronavirus pandemic, while making longer journalistic reports available to
readers only upon payment of a subscription fee. At the end of the day, a
comprehensive journalistic speech emerged from the Minute by Minute service.

The topic of the coronavirus is also covered by the typologically different

digital website www.zemavek.sk, which published significantly fewer journalistic
reports compared to the news website Denník N. Based on the results of our
research, we have to conclude that in most cases the digital site listed Zem & Vek
as the author and we do not know the author’s exact identity. Our analysis also
revealed that there is a suspicion of fake information in the case of published
articles during the period under study. Doubts about the veracity of the
information in the case of this digital website are also held by the portal

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www.konspiratori.sk, other media, institutions, civil society associations and

NGOs.

After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, we were forced to isolate

ourselves in our own homes and limit our contacts, while education, work and
communication with loved ones moved online. Many people use social networks
and digital media as their main source of information, where the threat of false
information spreading is increasing. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we
encountered a massive wave of misinformation, which in some cases can be very
dangerous. With the increasing number of fake news and the more sophisticated
methods used by those spreading disinformation, the average recipient has
difficulty navigating the information and discerning whether it is fake news or not
[14].

It is essential that Internet users are aware of the risk of fake news in the
digital space and seek out verified sources of information for important topics. As
stated by A. Kačincová Predmerská, in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, we
can consider the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic, the Office of Public
Health of the Slovak Republic, the portal www.corona.gov.sk as relevant sources,
or we can trust scientists, doctors and state institutions [15]. Additionally, we
should obtain information from reputable media that we believe are drawing on
relevant sources. At the same time, it is essential that Internet users develop
critical thinking skills and are able to detect fake news, or at least to assess where
fake news, disinformation or hoaxes are suspected.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The study was elaborated within a national research project supported by the
Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the
Slovak Republic and the Slovak Academy of Sciences (VEGA) No. 1/0283/20,
titled ‘Synergy of the Media Industry Segments in the Context of Critical Political
Economy of Media’.

REFERENCES
[1] Panasenko, N. I. at al., COVID-19 as a media-cum-language event:
cognitive, communicative, and cross-cultural aspects, Lege Artis: Language
yesterday, today, tomorrow, Slovak Republic, vol. 5/issue 2, pp 122-210, 2020.
[2] Gálik, S., Gáliková Tolnaiová, S., Influence of the internet on the
cognitive abilities of man. Phenomenological and hermeneutical approach,
Communication Today, Slovak Republic, 2015, vol. 6/issue 1, pp 5-15, 2015.
[3] Hunt, J., 'Fake news' named Collins Dictionary's official Word of the Year
for 2017. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-
news/fake-news-word-year-2017-collins-dictionary-donald-trump-kellyanne-
conway-antifa-corbynmania-gender-fluidity-fidget-spinner-a8032751.html

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[4] Škarba, T., Falošné správy, Slovník vybraných pojmov z masmediálnej a

marketingovej komunikácie, Slovak Republic, 2021, pp 25-27.
[5] Deuze, M., The Role of Media and Mass Communication Theory in the
Global Pandemic, Communication Today, Slovak Republic, vol. 11/issue 2, pp 4-
16, 2020.
[6] Višňovský, J., Radošinská, J., Introductory Chapter: Journalism Facing
Both Pandemic and 'Infodemic', Fake News Is Bad News – Hoaxes, Half-Truths
and the Nature of Today’s Journalism, Great Britain, 2021, pp 1-9.
[7] Slovensko proti covidu. Available at:
https://www.slovenskoproticovidu.sk/sk/
[8] Sámelová, A., Online človek v postpravdivom univerze sociálnych médií,
Media Journal, Slovak Republic, vol. 6/issue 2, pp 5-19, 2018.
[9] Krajčovič, P., Dezinformácie a médiá v čase pandémie, Slovak Republic,
2020, pp 56-57.
[10] Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2020. Available at:
https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2020-
06/DNR_2020_FINAL.pdf
[11] Dáta IABmonitor online. Available at: https://monitor.iabslovakia.sk/
[12] Zoznam stránok so sporným obsahom. Available at:
https://konspiratori.sk/zoznam-stranok
[13] Rechtík, M., Fact-checking 101 aneb jak si ověrovat informace.
Available at: https://zvolsi.info/2019/12/27/fact-checking-101-aneb-jak-si-
overovat-informace/
[14] Kvetanová, Z., Kačincová Predmerská, A., Švecová, M., Debunking as
a Method of Uncovering Disinformation and Fake News, Fake News Is Bad News
– Hoaxes, Half-Truths and the Nature of Today’s Journalism, Great Britain, 2021,
pp. 59-78.
[15] Kačincová Predmerská, A., Koronahoaxy, Slovak Republic, 2020, pp.
46-55.

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ICONOGRAPHIC DEPICTION AND LITERARY

PORTRAYING IN BERNARD BERENSON'S DIARY AND
EPISTOLARY WRITING

Dr. Višnja Bandalo, Research Associate

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Croatia

ABSTRACT

The paper focuses on the interlacement of literary and iconographic elements

by displaying an innovatory philological and stylistic approach, from a
comparative perspective, in thematizing multilingual translational and adaptive
aspects, ranging across Bernard Berenson's diaristic and epistolary corpus, in
conjunction with his works on Italian visual culture. This interweaving gives
occasion to the elaboration of multilinguistic textual influences and their verbo-
visual artistic representations deduced from his innovative interpretative readings
in the domain of world literature in modern times. Such analysis of the discourse
of theoretical and literary nature, and of the pictoricity, refers to Bernard
Berenson's multilingual considerations about canonical authors in English, Italian,
French, German language, belonging to the Neoclassical and Romantic period, as
well as to the contemporary era, as conceptualized in his autobiographical works,
in correlation with his writings on Italian figurative art. The scope of this
presentation is to discern and articulate Berenson's aesthetic ideas evoking literary
and artistic modernity, that are infused with crucial notions of translational theory
and conveyed through the methodology of close reading and comprising at the
same time, in an omnicomprehensive manner, a plurality of tendencies intrinsic
to social paradigms of cultural studies. Unexplored premises reflecting Berenson's
vision of Italian culture, most notably of a visual stamp, will be analyzed through
author's understandings of such adaptive translations or volumes to be
subsequently translated in Italian, and through their intertwined intertextual
applications, significantly contributing to further critical and hermeneutic
reception thereof. Particular attention is drawn to its instancing in the field of
Romantic literary production (Emerson, Byron), originally underscoring the
specificities of each literary genre and expressive mode, of the narrative, lyric or
theatrical nature, as well as concomitantly involving parallel notions as adapted
variants within visual arts, and in such a way expressing theoretical views
pertainable to Italian artworks too. Other analogous elements relevant to literary
expression in the most varied cultural sectors such as philosophy, music,
civilisational history (Goethe, Hegel, Kant, Wagner, Chateaubriand, Rousseau,
Mme de Staël, Taine) are furnished, as well as the examples of the resonances of
non-western cultures, with the objective of exploring the effect among readership
bringing also to the renewal of Italian tradition.
Keywords: Bernard Berenson, visual figurativity, diaries, epistolary writing,
interdisciplinarity

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INTRODUCTION

Throughout Bernard Berenson's personal writings of a diaristic and epistolary

stamp, of thematically arborescent, interdisciplinary nature, emerges his
perception and understanding of literary and interartistic modernity, in correlation
with his practice of contemplation of the paintings and other artworks, as well as
his consecutive writings on Italian figurative art, made a topic of this paper. So it
will also be shown how his artistic critique is reminiscent of his literary and
cultural readings emerging from his personal writings, parallel to art criticism, in
a double movement.

The purpose of the present paper is therefore to furnish a critical

argumentation and develop a theoretical articulation thereof, showing the
modalities according to which the two arts, figurative and literary, remain
intimately correlated in Berenson's interpretation of modernity. It is through the
visual arts that he seeks to reach the essence of literature since he considers poetry
to be the initial, underlying motivation for his studies in iconography [15].

Introductorily, let me observe that iconographic phenomena and authorial

impressions are thus narrated with internal poeticity and such speculative and
emotional resonance. Berenson's poetical instinct is maintained even when his
style is predominantly expository, like in his artistic narrative texts wherein he
recreates the atmosphere in which the artist moves and operates, by interlacing
art-historical aspects with psychological elements, and establishing an essayistical
verve.

RESULT

Universal cognition of things becomes associated with conversational

tendency and the writing aptitude [15]. To write for Berenson is an exercise
similar to that of the trampoline, organizing and coordinating movements of
individual thought [15], like can be read in Colloqui con Berenson (Talks with
Berenson), that I am presenting you in my translation, "writing has this
importance, that it makes ideas clear, ordinates them into words, into
propositions" [15]. This is even more so for journal entries [5] [6] [11], and
epistolary writing, allowing him to highlight his inner necessities, beliefs, and
understandings that are correlated with artistry.

Berenson, whose writing is occasionally anecdotal, for the immediacy of the

discourse, arrives to an orchestrated sound of his voice also in his personal
writings, as a result of cultural considerations, and that involves the surrounding
atmosphere. As an epistolographer, by giving attention to his interlocutors, he
creates copious collections of letters, as documented for instance in the volumes
The Berenson Archive. An Inventory of Correspondence [13], and The Selected
Letters of Bernard Berenson [14].

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Taking the word as a form of life, explicating emotionality, makes his own
understanding of the role of the critic as such as to illuminate [15]. The study of
epistolary production is conducted in the present research with the methodology
and aims similar to those set up for a series of his diary manuscripts, the latter
texts ranging from 1881 to 1958, with the aim of elucidating their contenutistic
and formal characteristics, also analyzing the typical schemes and common traits,
as well as the procedures that lead to the assumption of the literary tone. In such
a light, my detailed study of Berenson's non-fiction which directly has literature
as its object, highlighting and elaborating the parallels with the domain of
figurative arts drawn by the author, has the aim to considerably deepen the
knowledge about it.

The multiple facets and aspects will be addressed by referring immediately

not only to the materials of the Berenson Library but also to the documentation
available in the archive of the Fund "Bernard and Mary Berenson. The Writings",
which can be found at I Tatti, Florence, Italy – Harvard University Center for
Italian Renaissance Studies.

Concomitantly, in the present paper, the attention is placed on a multitude of

Berenson's publicistic texts, applying a methodological approach similar to that
used for diaristic and epistolary literature, in order to also draw generalizing
conclusions valid for all of his writings on literature, besides arriving to
philological insights specific to a particular genre, as well as to express views
concerning the intertextual interpretations of others of his work. In those genres
of literature directly intrinsic to the aspects of reality, Berenson further comments
in a literary vein on artistic creations. He deliberately undertakes therein interart
studies of literature and visuality, because certain pieces of literature are
considered most idoneous for explications of descriptive characteristics of
artworks, as well as aesthetic and spiritual emotionality implied by them, but also
his own intentionality in that regard.

Symbolic tropology of poetry, predilected by the author among literary

genres, is therefore particularly significant [15]. It is through a suggestion of the
written word, with the means of poetic transfiguration and comparativism, that
visual arts can be most thoroughly explained, according to Berenson. Since it is
most complexly articulated, literary expression can be of utmost help in
understanding intelligibly, as well as emotionally, the phenomenal universe, in
connection with works of art, also because the sensitive aspect is for Berenson
connected with knowledge. Exemplarily, such intent is displayed in the title of his
book Seeing and Knowing [7].

In Berenson's optics, artcritical assertions find therefore their completeness

in the literary field. While commenting on painters' artistic genius and attitudes
implied therein, especially in figure-painting, instead of formal characteristics he
uses the expression 'feeling for tactile values': "I prefer to the word 'form' to use
the expression 'tactile values', for form in the figure arts gives us pleasure because

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it has extracted and presented to us the corporeal and structural significance of

objects more quickly and more completely than we – unless, indeed, we also be
great artists, or see as they see – could have grasped them by ourselves" [4].

At the same time, tactile values, considered essential qualities in the

figurative arts, are conveyed through stories, which is to say that they are rendered
in such a way because they consist in narrative patterns, just like literary values
of stylistic, but also speculative nature, include a worldview: "[…] and no figure-
painting is real, – has a value of its own apart from the story it has to tell, the ideal
it has to present, – unless it conveys ideated sensations of touch and movement"
[4]. And that is also a reason through which can be explained Berenson's
predilection for representational visual arts. In an analogue spirit he notes in the
same volume: "Instead of painting indiscriminately everything that appeals to
him, the great artist, as if with deliberate intention, selects from among the mass
of visual impressions only those elements that combine to produce a picture in
which each part of the design conveys tactile values, communicates movement,
and uplifts with space composition. Not every figure is suited for conveying tactile
values, not every attitude is fitted for communicating movement, and not every
space is uplifting" [3].

Berenson, who in his connoisseurship also dealt with the arts of drawing and
sculpture, expanding areas of his interest in a global perspective to resonances of
non-western cultures such as the oriental context [15], takes as a theoretical
premise, connecting two artistic fields of visuality and literature, the fact that they
contain within their syntax an idea of narrativity, which is due to their
representational nature. Such representations, respectively of iconographic and
literary nature, can be interpreted as a narrative because they are based on the
figural aspect.

The aesthetic principle is laid as a foundation in Berenson's account. His

depiction in artistic manner reflects at times modernistic epistemological
standpoints also due to the fact that he expresses aestheticized views governing
his approach [12], wherein he remains more romantically oriented. Noticeable
aestheticism can therefore also be perceived as a modernist view.

Besides Berenson's theoretical articulation and critical-publicistic discourse

nowadays associable with modernist studies and ascribable to such ideational
aesthetic aura, emerges his strong penchant for Romanticism. Berenson holds a
particular interest towards the horizon of Romantic poeticity, admiring the great
British and American poets of the early nineteenth century in a series of his
writings, such as John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, William Wordsworth, George
Gordon Byron, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Among them he considers the authors of
German provenance to be anticipatory in regard to English Romanticism, as
interpreted in a diary remark [10]. Displaying a knowledgeable attitude on these
topics, he comments on interartistic climate of Neoclassicism and Pre-
Romanticism: "the glorious galaxy of poets, philosophers, musicians, men of

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learning, men of science, men of creative enterprise that Germany has produced"
(Schiller, Hölderlin, Hegel, Mozart, Haydn, Wagner etc.) [6].

In such a sense, he considers Keats' ode To Autumn (1820) to be maybe the

most beautiful poem of all time, and a marvelous example of 'significant detail'.
In more general terms, the latter poetical tool makes part most recurrently of his
critical usage too. It is a value that is no longer auditory and semantic, but linear,
chromatic in the sense of tactile, and speculative-emotional [15]. While analyzing
the poetic language of Romantic lyricism and its figurative reverberations, he
finds that these reflections are rarely asynchronously transmitted in time. Keats'
poems and atmosphere of the Romanticism are considered synecdochal
particularly to the figurative painting of Jacopo Tintoretto from the previous
Renaissance-Mannerist period [15].

Berenson here alludes to intervisual and intertextual polysemic context

instaured by Tintoretto's allegorical artistic cycle dedicated to four meteorological
Seasons (ca. 1575-1585), and more specifically to the artwork in which the motif
of Autumn is personified, on the traces of Giorgio Vasari who depicted alike, at
such intersection. In such a way Berenson re-elaborates also in the literary light
his preference for Venetian painters, considering Tintoretto's inventiveness and
pictorial ingeniosity to be "poetically interpretative", and adding about him to be,
again in his own words, "not only as the most pictural but as the most classical"
in the article published under the title From "A Venetian Diary" [8].

From Berenson’s perspective, the literature serves as a mediator consecrating

values. On this resemblance he further writes, for example, the following: "It
happens that the English poets afford striking parallels to the Italian painters. […]
But centuries had to elapse before emotions so intense as those Correggio felt
found expression in literature – in Shelley when he is at his best, and in Keats
when he is perfect" [2].

Concomitantly, hermeneutic ontological element permeates Berenson’s

aesthetic considerations. A reader of Kant and Nietzsche in his autobiographical
writings, Berenson however not rarely remains personal, subjective in his
thoughts, considering there is an additional, supplementary element in knowledge
or interpretation with respect to objectivity, like can be noted in his reflections in
the text From "A Roman Diary" [9].

Berenson is guided by the aim to better understand as well, as the epitome of

French Pre-Romanticist and Romanticist spirit but also of its dichotomous
Positivist current, the works of François-René de Chateaubriand, Jean Jacques
Rousseau, Mme de Staël, Hippolyte Taine and others.

Constant cross-cultural comparison is present within Berenson's reflection on

the arts of visual representation. From a theoretical-critical perspective, he also

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expresses himself on the translations that, according to his belief, can sometimes
manage to surpass the original [6].

CONCLUSION

Two types of artistic expression, that of visual and that of literary nature are
initially united at the structural level by the evocative power of mythical elements
as understood by Berenson. Literature instaures mythical components since the
figures transcend into myth, whereas these mythical structures are narratively
represented more plastically in the realm of visual arts, with figurations
transformed into images, which might have constituted originally the reason of
his interest. He also goes on to claim on the analogue premises that literary and
humanistic studies can therefore prepare for an understanding of painting. And
through the study of mythical in the paintings can also be perceived the essence
of the poetry, the first aim he aspired to. Mythology understood in an aesthetic
and historical sense constitute as well a commonplace of English Romanticism.

To conclude, Berenson's interest to thematize art is a civilization making and

producing act. According to the author, the vital value of the art consists in its
life-enhancing character, in an intellectual pursuit that prior to him occupied,
exemplarily, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe [1]. He thus considers his own
methodology to be also psychological and empirical, as thematized in a diary note
of his volume Rumor and Reflection [6]. Through autobiographical diaristic
stance, guided by his narrative instinct and stylistic know-how, Berenson
frequently expresses transtemporal ideas. Diaristic production and collections of
letters as a form of experimental literature that allows, due to the factional
component, openness, and major permeability to reality, is, therefore, a
fundamental literary aspect constituting modernity of Berenson's writings and
viewpoints.

REFERENCES
[1] Barolsky, P., Berenson Among the Poets, Notes in the History of Art,
University of Chicago Press, United States of America, vol. 34/issue 4, 2015, p.
59.
[2] Berenson B., The Study and Criticism of Italian Art, G. Bell and Sons,
London, United Kingdom, 1901, p. 45.
[3] Berenson B., The North Italian Painters of the Renaissance, G. P.
Putnam's Sons, New York-London, United States of America-United Kingdom,
1907, pp. 20, 22, 33.
[4] Berenson B., The Central Italian Painters of the Renaissance, G. P.
Putnam's Sons, New York-London, United States of America-United Kingdom,
1908, pp. 33, 34.

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[5] Berenson B., Sketch for a Self-Portrait, Pantheon Books, New York,
United States of America, 1949.
[6] Berenson B., Rumor and Reflection, Constable, London, United
Kingdom, 1952; Simon and Schuster, New York, United States of America, 1952,
pp. 73, 149, 155.
[7] Berenson B., Seeing and Knowing, Chapman and Hall, London, United
Kingdom, 1953; Macmillan, New York, United States of America, 1953.
[8] Berenson B., From "A Venetian Diary", Chicago Review, United States
of America, vol. 9/issue 3, 1955, p. 27.
[9] Berenson B., From "A Roman Diary", Chicago Review, United States of
America, vol. 10/issue 2, 1956, p. 7.
[10] Berenson B., Pagine di diario. Letteratura, storia, politica, 1942-1956,
translated by A. Anrep, A. Loria and G. Alberti, Electa, Milan, Italy, 1959, p. 88.
[11] Berenson B., Sunset and Twilight. From the Diaries, edited by N.
Mariano, Harcourt, Brace and World, New York, United States of America, 1963.
[12] Coste B., Delyfer C., Reynier C., eds., Reconnecting Aestheticism and
Modernism. Continuities, Revisions, Speculations, Routledge, Taylor & Francis
Group, New York-London, United States of America-United Kingdom, 2017.
[13] Mariano N., ed., The Berenson Archive. An Inventory of
Correspondence, Villa I Tatti, Florence – Harvard University Center for Italian
Renaissance Studies, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts,
United States of America, 1965.
[14] McComb A. K., ed., The Selected Letters of Bernard Berenson,
Houghton Mifflin, Boston, United States of America, 1964.
[15] Morra U., Colloqui con Berenson, Garzanti, Milan, Italy, 1963, pp. 22,
68, 71, 78, 113, 202.

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IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON REGIONAL

AND LOCAL MEDIA – CASE STUDY

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ján Višňovský, PhD.1

Mgr. Alexandra Mathiasová2
Mgr. Juliána Mináriková, PhD.3
1, 2, 3
Faculty of Mass Media Communication, University of SS. Cyril and
Methodius in Trnava, Slovakia

ABSTRACT

COVID-19 pandemic, and its several waves with different intensity, and also
stronger or weaker restrictions, has influenced the everyday life of people all
around the world. Pandemic hitted media indeed. People needed the newest
information about the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is the virus that
causes COVID-19. Organisations, events and businesses were stopped or closed,
so media content was directed to outbreak info. And if organisations, events and
businesses were stopped, creators, event managers and business makers didn‘t
even need advertising or other propagation of their activities. It wasn‘t happening
on a global scale only, but also in the local. So the local and regional media,
financially dependent on advertising, was hardly hitted by the outage of this type
of income. This paper explores how COVID-19 pandemic impacted the
functioning of smaller local and regional media. The paper looks at the content of
regional media, impacted by the pandemic, at the amount of advertising and
covers the other changes, which the coronavirus outbreak made.
Keywords: advertising, business model, COVID-19 pandemic, local and
regional media

INTRODUCTION

When in January 2020 the first information about the outbreak of a new
coronavirus in China began to reach Slovakia, at that time official institutions
reported only a few hundred cases of infection. Initial information was initially
briefly reported by the Slovak national media, which, however, devoted more and
more space to the topic day by day. The reasons for this were the increasing
number of infected people and the spread of the virus beyond the borders of both
China and Asia. February 2020 was the month when all Slovak national media
were already reporting on the epidemic, later reclassified by the World Health
Organisation as a pandemic. Regional media gradually began to cover the new
coronavirus at a time when the first suspicions were being raised in the Slovak
regions and laboratories were testing potentially infected people. Intensive
coverage of the coronavirus began in early March 2020, due to the nationwide
anti-pandemic measures, which, logically, affected the population of each region.

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It is as if the world stopped and, from one day to the next, the topics that originally
formed the content of the local periodical press or broadcasts simply disappeared.

The coronavirus pandemic has affected different media in different ways.

While the recipients noticed it primarily on the thematic level, when it began to
fill the front pages of newspapers and dominate radio and television coverage, not
excluding online, as early as the end of March 2020, F. Struhárik, in his article,
drew attention to other impacts of the pandemic on the print media and the print
journalism industry. He reported that Penta Publishing would lay off roughly a
quarter of the editorial staff of the weekly Trend, which switched to a bi-weekly
frequency. The coronavirus also caused problems with the distribution of print
titles. Hospodárske noviny had to change its format and move its printing from
Olomouc, Czech Republic, to Bratislava in a short time. Similar, perhaps even
more radical, interventions in the functioning of editorial offices came from
abroad. In Ukraine, national daily newspapers temporarily ceased publication, and
journalists in the US and the UK warned that many local media outlets would not
survive, of these especially the free ones that depend on advertising [1]. On the
other hand, television viewership and web traffic increased radically at the time
of the pandemic, both nationally and globally, as declared by several studies [2].

REGIONAL AND LOCAL MEDIA, THEIR POSITION AND

THEIR FUNCTIONS IN THE MEDIA SYSTEM

The role of the periodical press and other news formats is primarily to report
on current events in the context of the focus of the product. In particular, the
periodical press is conceived in the form of a certain coexistence of journalistic
and non-journalistic expressions, of which the journalistic ones make up the bulk
of the content of a given medium. This is also true for the regional and local press,
which, however, works with certain specificities. By default, the regional or local
press covers all topics, i.e. it reports on all areas that are wholly or partially
relevant to a given region, which is why the concept of such press is very diverse
and varied. A. Tušer divides regional and local press in terms of the proximity of
the event being reported. By local media he means municipal or city media, by
regional media he means those that report on a district, region or specific area. He
also says that the local media in particular, and only after that the regional media,
has the ability to integrate, orient and specifically inform the recipient. With
regional and local media, the integrative function of the media is strongly
manifested, which is due to the philosophy of the regional and local area. This is
because everyday life is felt by the citizen primarily on the regional and local area,
while on the national level he can judge the results rather virtually [3]. The media,
and thus also the periodical press in the Slovak Republic, is legally covered by the
Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic, which also maintains a publicly
accessible register of the periodical press. According to its territorial jurisdiction,
the Ministry divides the press into national, regional and outside the territory of
the Slovak Republic. There are 642 titles registered in Slovakia, of which 561 are
published in the Slovak language. Two regional daily newspapers are registered

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in the Slovak language – Prešovský večerník and Korzár. There are 24 regional
weekly newspapers, but these include privately-owned newspapers as well as
newspapers published by local authorities and advertising newspapers. There are
19 bi-weeklies and 97 monthly magazines, but only 16 of these are either
advertising titles or privately owned newspapers. Regional newspapers with a
lower frequency are usually published by local governments, which do not sell
the resulting periodicals but distribute them free of charge to the population. There
are 42 bi-monthly newspapers under the territorial jurisdiction of the regional
authorities, 120 quarterly newspapers, 56 titles published twice a year, and 201
titles registered as being published with a so-called other periodicity. There are
30 regional television broadcasters registered in the Slovak Republic that
broadcast digitally. There are 83 registered local digital broadcasters. Four multi-
regional broadcasters broadcast via satellite, 5 broadcast regionally via cable
distribution systems and 22 broadcasts locally.

The regional press and broadcasters report on municipal politics, municipal

issues, as well as local culture, social events and sport, which form an integral part
of the resulting media products. The anti-pandemic measures, which radically
reduced the functioning of most regional and local activities, closed schools,
institutions, and sports venues, can also be seen as limiting the source of topics
for local periodicals. H. Bakičová and S. Ruß-Mohl in their publication
Journalism also outline the principle of functioning of regional editors and
reporters, who do not just sit in a newsroom or office, but regularly go out among
the people [4]. The reality is that, despite the age of social networking and the
expansion of electronic media, the best source of local issues is interpersonal
contact with the local people concerned, which is why many issues are outlined
at receptions - the relaxed part of formal gatherings, or in cafes, pubs or other
events. In this context, it is clear that if the population stays at home from one day
to the next, there is not enough communication about the problems, which have
not disappeared by depopulating the streets - they have just gone quiet for a while.

IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC ON LOCAL MEDIA – A CASE

STUDY OF SELECTED SLOVAK LOCAL NEWSPAPERS

The impact of the pandemic was felt in all areas of the world, not excluding
the journalistic community. While large daily newspapers, which have a stable
market position and also work with payment gateways and subscriptions for
readers, have seen significant growth in subscription interest since the beginning
of the pandemic, other media have rather faced problems of lack of funding. The
director of Petit Press, a.s., which publishes Slovakia's most widely read opinion
daily and dozens of other titles, says that the first spring wave of the 2020
pandemic threatened to wipe out up to 30% of sales and advertising revenues. But
that trend lasted only a few weeks, he says, and then there was a reversal. The
publisher's print and digital subscription sales grew, but newsstand sales were
down 4%. He added, however, that revenues at SME, the largest opinion daily,
were performing better than other parts of the publishing business, with SME

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down only 5% year-on-year in print advertising revenues, but the regional part of
the publishing business approached the 20% decline threshold. Petit Press
publishes regional weeklies and in the east the daily Korzár [5]. On this basis, we
can conclude that it is the smaller media, regional and local periodicals, which,
although they have an established readership, have been much more affected by
the pandemic, but they are dependent on advertising from smaller businesses,
shops, restaurants, etc., which themselves struggled to survive during the
pandemic. The national media are attractive to advertisers such as large
supermarket chains, operators, etc., which did not have to cease operations after
the onset of the coronavirus but, on the contrary, supermarket chains, for example,
saw record sales.

The most affected media segment was, therefore, the smaller media, which,
however, as we have already mentioned, play an irreplaceable role in the market,
as they inform the population about activities, news and other important events
that directly affect them and come into contact with them on a daily basis.
However, various types of these smaller media entities have reacted in their own
ways to the reduction in the amount of advertising, the reduction in 'non-
controversial' content. If we look at municipal newspapers published by local
governments, the reduction in the frequency of newspaper publication is evident.
An example is the municipal bi-weekly Hlas Vrbového (Voice of Vrbove), which
in normal years was published regularly every two weeks, but as a bi-weekly it
was only published during the summer holiday months or during the Easter and
Christmas holidays. Since the beginning of the pandemic, however, the periodical
has been published only in the form of double issues, i.e. the frequency of
publication is monthly in 2020 and monthly in 2021. In terms of content, the
periodical has, from the beginning, provided information on regulations and
recommendations concerning the coronavirus, but it has also alerted the
population to the closure of establishments and institutions and, where
appropriate, indicated the form of contact that is currently preferred. In the Hlas
Vrbového, logically, there was no substantial information about the events that
took place, and so the town hall publishes a double issue with the original number
of pages for a single issue, i.e. on eight pages [6].

A similar situation can be observed with the periodical Novinky spod Bradla
(News from under Bradlo). This monthly newsletter of the town of Brezová pod
Bradlom is published by the local town hall on eight or twelve pages. Since the
beginning of the coronary crisis, however, the newspaper has been published as a
bi-monthly issue, i.e. once every two months, mostly on twelve pages, rarely on
eight. In the case of Novinky spod Bradla, however, it was not the case that all the
previous content was replaced by information about the coronavirus and the
measures taken, but even though the pandemic situation was referred to several
times in the texts, the periodical continued to stick to the line of reporting on other
activities related to life in the city. The content of the newspaper did not consist
of information about closed institutions or other restrictions, but continued to

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cover municipal issues of all kinds, and the social section and other sections were
also part of the content [7].

The weekly newspaper published by the municipal government, Banská

Štiavnica, which bore the name Štiavnické noviny, reacted to the coronacrisis by
increasing the price of the issue. The previous 40 cents was changed to 50 cents
from April 2020, while the number of pages was maintained. The content of the
Štiavnické noviny has also changed, because since the pandemic, the editorial
board has tried to inform via the newspaper about the latest measures, restrictions,
as well as the disease itself and the possible consequences with the content of the
newspaper. Such content was the main focus of the newspaper, especially in the
first weeks after the pandemic, but after some time the editorial board returned to
reporting on all topics, not least coronavirus. The weekly continues to be
published regularly, once a week, on 12 pages. However, the changed price of the
periodical has become established and has remained at the now increased 50 cents
[8].

In the Slovak Republic, not only municipalities and towns are publishers of
periodicals, but also private individuals can be owners of publishing houses. In
the regional sphere, there are fewer periodicals published by private owners
because, especially due to the emergence of new media, the spread of the internet
and internet news, regional print periodicals have become a product that does not
make a profit or makes only a minimal profit, but on the contrary, it is often
necessary to subsidise such an entity. Therefore, not many entrepreneurs are
interested in owning smaller media outlets, which bring with them a number of
problems, such as accountability, direct confrontation with the objects of
journalistic output, and others. One of the regional weeklies that have emerged
since the fall of the socialist regime back in the former Czechoslovak Republic,
and after the possibility of private ownership of the media emerged, is the weekly
Piešťanský týždeň (Piešt'anský Weekly). Published since 1991, it has changed
format several times and is currently published in A3 format. While before March
2020 this privately owned regional weekly Piešťanský týždeň was published on
24 pages at a price of 80 cents, the pandemic changed this. As of February 2021,
in an effort to reduce printing costs and staffing, the publishing house reduced the
number of pages by 4. The size of the periodical dropped to twenty newspaper
pages, while its price remained the same. Shortly thereafter, just one month later,
the publishing house also proceeded to change the price, with the amount per
copy, 80 cents, remaining the same for subscribers, but the on-sale price
increasing to 99 cents. Another reason is the content of the newspaper, as social
events and the activities of many local authorities have ceased due to the
pandemic, filling the periodical with quality content every week and not slipping
into repetition or the use of more non-newspeak seems to be a difficult task in this
case. The volume of advertising and publicity has also been considerably reduced
[9]. Whereas in April 2019, on average, display advertising took up three pages
plus one or two small ads on the front page of the edition, in April 2020, after the
onset of the pandemic, it was only two pages and rarely one small ad on the front

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page. However, of those two pages, one and a half pages were just cross-
advertising for the publisher's other products, which meant that the standard
advertisement only averaged half a page. Nor did the big increase come year-on-
year, i.e., as of April 2021. At that time, flat advertising covered an average of
two-and-a-half newspaper pages, but still one-and-a-half newspaper pages were
taken up by cross-page advertising. At this time, Slovakia was experiencing the
second wave of the pandemic.

Other publishers describe a similar situation, including Reed Anfinson, a

publisher and actively writing editor. “While there's more news to fill the pages
of Anfinson's papers this year, his publications have had to shrink to survive as
cash-strapped businesses have pulled ads, forcing the papers to shed pages and
cut staff positions and hours.” [10]

Local and regional newspapers have also changed in terms of content, as they
have mostly reported on pandemic-related issues. The first edition of the
newspaper Piešťanský týždeň, which was published after the declaration of the
state of emergency, already reflected society-wide events. Not only the cover
photo, but also the introductory text and almost the entire front pages were
concerned with the coronavirus outbreak and the impact on local institutions. The
pages devoted to social events were still processing the latest cultural and social
events, but they were already talking about the possibilities of visitors planning to
return tickets and dealing with missed events. What developed over the following
weeks of the pandemic was the reduced participation of the region's residents in
content creation. While during the open editorial period recipients would come to
the editorial office with suggestions, small advertisements, memories of deceased
relatives and congratulations to jubilarians, also mothers after giving birth at the
local hospital would have their photographs taken for the periodical, the measures
have radically reduced or altered altogether.

However, there has also been a change in social media traffic. Several
hundred percent increases in reach and recipient interactions spoke to a strong
interest in the freshest information, but because of the low need for businesses to
advertise new products or event invitations, social traffic numbers did not
translate into financial revenue. Piešťanský Týždeň's Facebook page recorded a
reach of 318 thousand users in March 2020, which represented a 100% increase
from February 2020. The increase in traffic or readership of media is also
confirmed by Rachael Jolley at The Conversation. “Hundreds of thousands of
people have turned to their local newspaper websites during the pandemic for a
clearer understanding of the local implications of this national crisis,” the author
reports, adding that, for example, the Bishop's Stortford Independent, a weekly
newspaper in Hertfordshire, has seen an increase in readership from 260,000 in
January to 360,000 in October (2020) [11]. He explains this by the fact that
people who stayed at home from one day to the next needed information about
changes, precautions, where they could get tested for COVID-19, or where they
could still buy toilet paper, which was one of the scarce commodities of the first

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wave of the pandemic. The Welsh Parliament reports, for example, talk about the
huge interest of recipients in journalistic content, but also mentions the issue of
keeping the periodical financially fit, due to the challenging business environment
during the pandemic [12].

From this perspective, the most important observation is that although the
first and second waves of the pandemic have passed and the republic has almost
returned to normal, the changes it caused in the segment of small regional and
local media still remain in force and have not returned to their original form. Just
as the Štiavnické noviny remains with its new price of 0.80 cents, the Piešťanský
týždeň is still published in twenty pages. The Hlas Vrbového and Novinky spod
Bradla are still published as double issues at a lower frequency.

CONCLUSION

It is clear that while some business areas benefited during the coronavirus
pandemic, the payment gateway systems of the large media outlets were more
widely accepted by people and subscriptions were bought much more readily,
smaller media outlets, due to the lack of need for small businesses to advertise,
suffered significant losses. Even after more than a year and a half, they have not
been able to recover from these losses, but it is evident that most media still see
their mission to inform as important and are not giving up the fight. Regional
journalism is important and forms an essential part not only of the mass media
world, but is also an indispensable source of information for the people who
inhabit a given locality [13]. Despite the wide range of media products available,
it continues to be popular with recipients, precisely because of its concreteness
and high degree of specificity. With central media and central themes, recipients
often cope with abstraction - they have never seen the people described, they have
never been to the places, and they have never visited the institutions. In contrast,
regional or local press and broadcasting contain content that recipients know well
and can thus more easily identify with, understand and possibly identify with the
issue. It is therefore in the interest of the recipients themselves that regional
journalism is preserved and 'survives' the coronavirus crisis. In particular, those
that are privately run and do more than just PR for the local authority that
publishes them are important for maintaining objectivity in the local area. This is
because it can create a control mechanism for the activities of local government,
it helps to solve civic problems, and it uses the power of the media to speed up
the resolution of long-standing problems.

On the other hand, the pandemic has also highlighted the shortcomings of the
journalistic profession when it comes to covering the issue of the coronavirus,
both globally and at a regional and local level. Increasingly, not only the pandemic
but also the infodemic of fake news, half-news and hoaxes [14] are being
discussed, but they have a rather large impact on society and individuals.
Examples include the proliferation of myths about the coronavirus and its cure or
the strong anti-vaxxer campaign spread primarily through social media [15]. It is

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therefore important for media and content creators to be aware of their influence
and to be guided by the principles of professional journalism and journalistic
ethics.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The study was elaborated within a research project supported by the Research
Support Fund of the University of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava titled ‘Types
of Using Paywalls in Slovak Online Media’.

REFERENCES
[1] Struhárik, F., MediaBrífing: Ako pandémia ovplyvnila predaj novín a
časopisov na Slovensku. Available at:
https://e.dennikn.sk/2150977/mediabrifing-ako-pandemia-ovplyvnila-predaj-
novin-a-casopisov-na-slovensku/
[2] Gracová, S., Bôtošová, Ľ., Graca, M., Brník, A.: Comparison Of
Television Broadcasting For Children And Youth In A Public Broadcaster In The
Slovak And Czech Republic During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Media Literacy and
Academic Research, Slovak Republic, vol. 3/issue 2, pp 48-61, 2020.
[3] Tušer, A., Ako sa robia noviny, Slovak Republic, 2010, pp. 47-48.
[4] Ruß-Mohl, S., Bakičová, H.. Žurnalistika. Komplexní průvodce
praktickou žurnalistikou, Czech Republic, 2005, pp. 181.
[5] Struhárik, F., MediaBrífing: Ako pandémia ovplyvnila predaj novín a
časopisov na Slovensku. Available at:
https://e.dennikn.sk/2150977/mediabrifing-ako-pandemia-ovplyvnila-predaj-
novin-a-casopisov-na-slovensku/
[6] Hlas Vrbového, vol. XXIX.-XXXI. Available at:
https://www.vrbove.sk/hlas-vrboveho-2021/
[7] Novinky spod Bradla, vol. XXVII.-XXIX. Available at:
https://www.brezova.sk/mesto/mestske-noviny/
[8] Štiavnické noviny, vol. XXX.-XXXII. Available at:
http://www.banskastiavnica.sk/obcan/stiavnicke-noviny.html
[9] Piešťanský týždeň, vol. XXIX.-XXXI.
[10] Law, T., COVID-19 Is Ravaging Local Newspapers, Making it Easier
for Misinformation to Spread. Available at: https://time.com/5932520/covid-19-
local-news/
[11] Jolley, R., Coronavirus: people turn to their local news sites in record
numbers during pandemic. Available at:
https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-people-turn-to-their-local-news-sites-
in-record-numbers-during-pandemic-151448

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[12] Impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on journalism and local media. pp. 1.
Available at: https://senedd.wales/laid%20documents/cr-ld13457/cr-ld13457-
e.pdf
[13] Višňovský, J., Obertová, E., Baláž, M., Significance of regional media
in political communication of municipality´ representatives with the public. Case
study, Political Preferences, Poland, issue 13, pp. 139-152, 2016.
[14] Kvetanová, Z., Kačincová Predmerská, A., Švecová, M., Debunking as
a Method of Uncovering Disinformation and Fake News, Fake News Is Bad News
– Hoaxes, Half-Truths and the Nature of Today’s Journalism, Great Britain, 2021,
pp. 59-78.
[15] Škarba, T., Hoax, Slovník vybraných pojmov z masmediálnej a
marketingovej komunikácie, Slovak Republic, 2021, pp 31-33.

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PROPER NAMES AS TERMINOLOGY IN SOCIAL

SCIENCE

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Olga Maximova1

Dr. Tatiana Maykova2
1. 2
Рeoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Moscow,
Russia

ABSTRACT

Proper names reflect the interaction between society and language. They
identify unique entities and are used to refer to them. At the same time, it is not
uncommon of proper names to serve as a source for word-formation. It should be
noted, however, that while in a natural language (notably English) proper names
mostly give rise to denominal verbs or adjectives, terminologies are different.
Most units that count as terms are nouns, which makes their semantics somewhat
special. The paper originates as one of a series towards a typology of sociological
terminology and endeavors to analyze the terms whose etymology refers to a
proper name (that is, eponymic terms). The research poses the following
questions: whether this type of terms is common in Social Science, what are their
structural and semantic distinctions as well as mechanisms behind their
motivation, whether they are culture specific. The terms were manually retrieved
from a set of data of 2500 terminological units extracted from a number of
dictionaries and other sources. They were further grouped by structural criteria
and the nature of eponymous components and made subject to morphological and
semantic analyses. The research shows that structurally eponymic terms are
morphological derivatives or two-(or more)-word compounds, with their
prevalence estimated at 2%. The authors come to conclusion that terms of this
type feature substantial diversity with regard to their eponymous components;
they are motivated through the combination of encyclopedic knowledge of the
entity, represented by the eponym, and the semantics of derivational morphemes
or appellative components. Mythology-based eponymous terminology is
represented by two groups, the first tracing back to Antiquity or biblical tradition,
and the second of later origin, which requires a specific cultural experience for
the meaning to be retrieved. Further analysis shows that the latter type along with
toponym-based terminology is culture-specific in relation to American culture.
Keywords: Proper names, sociological terminology, eponymic terms,
terminological transparency, motivation, cultural specificity

INTRODUCTION

Proper names reflect the interaction between society and language. They
identify unique entities and are used to refer to them, as distinct from common
nouns that refer to a class of entities. According to the lexicographer Peter Hanks,

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they constitute a special type of words and are governed by special rules in their
role as conventional units of a language. [2]. Proper names regularly come in the
focus of research within the framework of the theory of reference, due to their
complex nature. The Russian linguist A. Superanskaya for one sees them as
counter-intuitive elements whose study may contribute to the development of new
comprehensive linguistic concepts.

The central problem about proper names is that of their meaning. Theoretical
background will be discussed below, in the Theory section. This paper builds on
the assumption that the mere ability of proper names to form meaningful
derivatives evidences the existence of some kind of meaning, in line with
Stekauer’s opinion [13]. The potential of proper names to form derivatives varies
across languages with different word-classes coming into play. In the English
language of special interest are denominal converted verbs and proper nouns.
With the former, the meaning is based on a cooperative principle and determined
by regular semantic patterns involving metonymy [4]. Proper adjectives, i.e. those
formed from proper nouns, may also have direct (e.g. of a particular place, period
or style) and transferred meaning (like Dickensian – poverty-stricken) [6].
Moreover, it is statistically common of proper names themselves to be used
metaphorically [1].

Quite another case of proper name usage with more emphasis on their
individuative capacity is found in terminologies – groups of specialized words or
meanings relating to a particular field inextricably linked with specialist
knowledge. Eponym-based terminology of such subject areas as medicine,
mathematics, natural sciences, sports, as well as some other applied fields is quite
well studied, while that of social sciences and humanities has not yet received
sufficient coverage, not least due to the fact that this type of word-formation in
creating new terms across various fields of knowledge and technology is
employed unevenly, which leads to a higher or lesser occurrence of such terms
within a particular subject area. The paper endeavors to analyze eponym-based
terms in the domain of sociology with regard to their semantics and morphology.
Note that the research is confined to English sociological terminology in
recognition of the fact that most sociological terms originate from works of
English-speaking authors.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The paper originates as one of a series towards typology of sociological

terminology, terminological consistency and standardization and centers upon
eponym-based terms, their occurrence, structural and semantic distinctions,
cultural specificity, and mechanisms behind their motivation.

The terms were manually retrieved from a set of data of 2500 terminological
units extracted from a number of dictionaries and other sources. (The Penguin
Dictionary of Sociology by N. Abercrombie, S. Hill and B S. Turner, A Critical

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Dictionary of Sociology by R. Boudon and F. Bourricaud, Dictionary of the Social

Science by C. Calhoun, Glossary of the Social Sciences by F.W Elwell, Concise
Encyclopaedia of Sociology by G. Ritzer and J. Ryanhe, The Cambridge
Dictionary of Sociology B.S Turner) They were further grouped by structural
criteria and the nature of eponymous component and made subject to
morphological and semantic analyses. Judgments on their transparency were
made after their entries were carefully studied and, in some cases, a semantic
analysis was carried out.

THEORY

As stated before, the central question about proper names is that of their
meaning. Researchers distinguish between two main opposite theses: the
‘meaninglessness thesis’ and the “maximum meaningfulness thesis’. The
‘meaninglessness thesis’ goes back to the works of John Stuart John Mill, who
maintained that proper names connote nothing, i.e. imply no characteristics of the
object they refer to and hence are meaningless. The ‘maximum meaningfulness
thesis’ was first developed by Otto Jespersen. According to him, while a proper
name is used in a sentence to designate a unique referent, its content provides for
it to intrinsically convey some of the referent’s characteristics. This paper builds
on Stekauer’s assumption that “existence of converted proper names … is the best
evidence of the existence of a meaning of proper names” and that “knowledge of
a language is always conditioned by the knowledge of facts [13].” Following A.
Heois’ ideas [4], proper names are seen here as both linguistic and cultural units
that refer to a unique referent and convey a meaning that refers to some
idiosyncratic characteristics of the referent.

Another problem relevant to this study is that of metaphor in Sociology. As

Swedberg [14] asserts, metaphor as an instrument of cognition plays an important
role in social thought but as part of research design is used unevenly at different
stages of the study. At the creative stage of research, metaphors might become an
important heuristic tool, suggesting different hypotheses and ideas to work with,
while at the stage when the results are finally formulated, metaphors should play
much less of a role, since the hypotheses and ideas that evolved from the metaphor
are already tested and, if possible, reformulated in non-metaphorical language.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Unlike other social disciplines (e.g. Economics), sociology features relatively

few eponym-based terms within its terminology. According to the data analyzed,
their occurrence is 52 in 2,500, i.e. slightly more than two percent. Nevertheless,
they feature vivid distinctions, which make them interesting to study.

In general, eponym-based terms within sociological terminology designate a

broad variety of concepts and feature considerable heterogeneity with regard to
their basic components of nomination. Primarily, these are terms based on the

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names of people – prominent figures in sociology and other disciplines who first
discovered a principle, described a phenomenon or suggested a research design
(Gini coefficient, Guttman scale, Fordism, Halevy Thesis, social Keynesianism).
Less common are those based on geographical names (the Hawthorne Effect, after
the Hawthorne Works, where the study was conducted; the Abilene paradox, after
the city) or general cultural and culture-specific knowledge (the Mathew Effect,
the John Henry Effect). Terms eponymously formed in honor or memory of a
person other than the author (e.g. Fabianism) are uncommon in sociological
terminology in general. As for their occurrence, the main body of eponymous
sociological terminology is represented by terms derived from personal names
(84.5%), much less common are those based on myths (11%) or geographical
names (4.5%).

Structural Distinctions. As it is commonly understood, terms are

nominative units that designate specific concepts in science or technology and are
associated with particular areas of specialist knowledge. New terminology
accompanies progress in science and is as a rule coined by researchers and
practitioners on the basis of their natural language along its word-building models,
with eponym-based terminology being no exception. Structurally, eponymous
terms can be divided into single-word terms and terminological compounds.
Single-word terminology is commonly formed through semantic derivation, or
through morphological change that takes the form of affixation or blending. [5].
The semantic derivation is a phenomenon when the word comes to designate a
new concept without any change in its form (like hertz or ampere). The research
showed that semantic derivation is quite uncommon of sociological terminology,
with zero occurrences of this type of derivation in the dataset under study. A more
promising result was obtained for affixation, when an affix is added to a proper
name. In this case affixation employs suffixes -ism (9), -tion (4), -ite (1), and
prefixes post- (1) and neo- (1) in combination with the above-mentioned suffixes.
Note that the –ism suffix was in some cases preceded by the suffix –an (e.g.
Malthusianism), i.e. formed via eponymous adjectives. A singular occurrence of
blends in the dataset under study is represented by the term Cocacolonization,
formed of two partially overlapping words Coca-Cola and colonization. Such a
way of word-formation makes the term particularly conspicuous.

A much larger proportion of eponymous terminology in the dataset under

study (37 units) is represented by terminological compounds, The units of this
type of are made up of two structural elements – a common noun and a proper
name (eponym). Various terminological elements might serve as common-noun
components, the most frequent in Sociology being effect (8), experiment (4), law
(2), paradox (2), theory (2), goods (2), less frequent – space (1), theorem (1),
slope (1), grid (1). As it might be observed, these are general scientific or
interdisciplinary terms, whose meaning in the case under study is only specified
by eponymous adjuncts (adjective or noun). The heuristic potential of affixation,
blending as well as of terminological compounds will be further discussed below.

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As for their syntactic structure, most eponymous terminological compounds

follow the model Npr. + Ncom. (Chayanov slope, Bogardus scale) or Npr.-Npr.+
Ncom. (+ Ncom.) (Davis-Moore theory of stratification), with the genitive case
being explicitly rare. Its singular usage (Arrow's paradox, Gibrat's law, Engel's
Law) might be justified, in our opinion, by euphony or pragmatic reasons. Thus,
the term Arrow's paradox, if used as non-possessive, can be accidentally taken for
Zeno's arrow paradox, a philosophical and mathematical term where arrow is not
at all a proper name. Apart from the above-mentioned two, there is a third rather
unproductive model Adpr + Ncom. (+ Ncom.), where the adjective is a
morphological derivative of the eponym (Keynesian welfare state, Malthusian
theory). Another model for two-word eponymous terms is social+
Npr.(derivative) (social Darwinism, social Keynesianism).

Transparency. Whether eponym-based terms are motivated (transparent)

i.e. exhibit interdependence of meaning and form is still a matter of debate.
According to Sonneveld and Loenning [12] “a term is motivated when a language
user is able to deduce, at least partly, the meaning of the term from the analysis of
its components”. Lejchik [9] regards eponymic terms as non-motivated, arguing
that the term is motivated if its meaning might be inferred from the meaning of
the natural language sign underlying the term and from the concept within the
conceptual system of the theory where the term belongs.

N. Novinskaya refers to various forms of semantic motivation of eponym-

based terms, such as encyclopedic meaning of its eponymous component, the fact
of inclusion of a particular nominative unit within the scope of a strictly defined
category of concepts, etc. [11].

Novinskaya further assumes that in case of morphologically formed terms

their meaning is a composite of semantically specialized derivational morphemes
and encyclopedic information about the entity represented by the proper name.
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the –ism suffix is that of a noun,
its presence may signify one of the following: act, practice or process; manner of
action or behavior characteristic of a specified person or thing; prejudice or
discrimination on the basis of a specified attribute; state, condition or property;
abnormal state or condition resulting from excess of a specified thing or marked
by resemblance to such a person or thing; doctrine, theory or religion; adherence
to a system or a class of principles; characteristic or peculiar feature or trait. The
ones that come into play in the dataset under study are doctrine (e.g.
Malthusianism) and practice (e.g. Fordism). Note that the examples illustrate two
ways of eponymous word-formation common of sociological terminology: when
the suffix is attached directly to the proper name (70% of occurrences), and when
it is added to the proper name derivative through the suffix –an (30%).

Of interest is also the group-suffix -tion (Disneyfication, Cocacolonization,

McDonaldization). It forms nouns out of verbs and has the meaning of process,
state, or action. The terms are formed on the basis of either a verb (disneyfy,

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Dysney+fy) or through the verbal suffix –ize (McDonald+iz(e)+ation). The case

of Cocacolonization is somewhat different. It is a morphological blend in which
the constituents partially overlap (Coca-cola+colonization). The resulting terms,
based on metaphorical transposition, take on the meaning of the process by which
an entity acquires the features commonly attributed to the object represented by
the eponym.

The above-mentioned terms may also be regarded as an example of ‘tertiary

nomination” – a term coined by A. Kunin [8] – since they are based on the name
of a company that includes a personal name. This can be represented as a chain:
Walt Disney (personal name) – Walt Disney World (entertainment complex) –
Disneyfication (transformation of something, usually society at large, to resemble
a theme parks, where the environment is basically designed to stimulate
consumption). That is, the meaning of tertiary nomination is not inferred from
whatever is known about Walt Disney as a person or professional, but through a
reference to the image evoked by the secondary nomination. Another example of
tertiary nomination is the chain: McDonald (personal name) – McDonald's (fast-
food restaurant) – McDonaldization (adaptation of society and its institutions to
have such characteristics of fast-food chains as efficiency, calculability,
predictability, standardization, and control).

Broadly, it might be assumed that single-word eponymous terms are

motivated by a combination of encyclopedic knowledge of the phenomenon
represented by the onym and the semantic meaning of the derivational morpheme.
Eponym-based terminological compounds are motivated in a similar way, with
the categorical information expressed by the appellative component and
differentiation related to the encyclopedic meaning of the eponym.

Cultural Specificity. It should be noted that the encyclopedic meaning of a

proper name includes diverse information, which makes it possible to regard
eponym-based terminology as a reflection of national and cultural component of
terminological representation of the world, i.e. a complex system of images that
reflects reality in the public consciousness. Science-based worldview operates
with terms and is based on practical and theoretical knowledge of a given nation,
while the naive worldview is more dialectical and allows for contradictory
definitions of things. O.A. Kornilov defines scientific worldview as "an idea of
reality, which exists outside any separate scientific discipline (but on their basis
in aggregate) and is characterized by a universal character and global coverage of
all areas of knowledge concerning the world, man and society." Kornilov further
regards it as a synergy of culture-specific (or national) scientific worldviews, i.e.
invariants of scientific knowledge in the linguistic shell of a particular natural
language and national culture [7]. Since proper names are both linguistic and
cultural items, eponym-based terms are expressly influenced by the culture in
which they are coined.

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Thus, further look at mythology-based terms in the dataset under study

reveals that they are represented by both universal cultural and culture-specific
terminology. It should be noted that those of a universal cultural nature are derived
from myths and ideas going back to the Bible or Antiquity, while those underlying
culture-specific terms are of relatively recent origin. The authors count the latter
among mythology due to the fact that they are names of persons and entities that
never existed in reality or refer to events that never took place. The use of names
of fictitious persons in terminology is not uncommon. Such cases are described,
for example, for mathematical discourse.

In sociological terminology mythology-based eponymous components or

mythonims are quite rare. The meaning of those based on a universal cultural
mythonym is to a certain degree transparent, since they represent the elements of
culturally shared knowledge (e.g. the term Janus Effect, based on the name of the
Roman two-faced deity Janus, that refers to the ability to interact with people both
in a powerful and dependent role).

On the contrary, the meaning of those formed on the basis of culture-specific

mythonyms cannot be retrieved without resorting to background knowledge
peculiar of those who belong to the generating culture, which may be illustrated
by the following examples. The term Abilene Paradox refers to a common
breakdown of group communication and is based on an anecdote about a family
trip to the US city of Abilene, which no one desired but raised no objections to,
in order not to disappoint the others. Another example of such kind is the term
John Henry Effect that refers to a bias in social experiment brought about by
responsive behavior of the control group. The term is based on the name of a
legendary road construction worker who, when told that his output was being
compared to that of a steam engine, made every effort to win, and dropped dead
of overexertion. The term might be perceived as quite transparent by those
familiar with US popular culture, the others may need further reference.

Metaphorical Use. Metaphor is understood here as a mechanism that helps

understand and experience one thing in terms of another, as deep-seated ways of
thinking about one domain through another. While metaphor as a cognitive tool
does play an important role in sociological thought, the research shows that
metaphoric use of eponyms in terminology is relatively rare, though not totally
uncommon of the domain of sociology.

When used metaphorically, a proper name brings into play a certain subset of
properties associated with its referent. The authors assume that such use includes
mythology-based terms (see above), those formed under the model
social+Npr+ism, and the cases of ‘tertiary nomination”. Added social, for one
thing, represents a productive way of term-formation in sociology and in case of
eponym-based terminology rests upon an application to society of concepts and
doctrines that emerged across various scientific domains (notably Biology, like
the largely discredited Social Darwinism).

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Of interest is also a metaphoric use of proper nouns as opposed to proper

names. Huddleston and Payne refer to proper nouns as word-level units that
belong to the category noun while “proper names are expressions which have been
conventionally adopted as the name of a particular entity” [3]. In other words
proper nouns have but a potential to designate a specific entity. Mishkevich
describes them as poly-referential names that “presuppose a variety of referents
sharing the same name, with a specific reference only possible in a specific act of
speech” [10]. One example of this is the term average Joe in which the eponym
has no specific referent with the inferred meaning ‘average resident’.

CONCLUSION

In the English-language terminology of sociology, eponym-based terms are

quite rare and account for approximately 2% of the total terminological domain
and feature considerable diversity with regard to their proprietary components.
Morphologically eponym-based terms are represented by single-word derivatives
as well as by terminological compounds. The former are motivated through a
combination of encyclopedic knowledge about the entity referred to by the
eponym and the semantics of the derivational morpheme; the latter are motivated
in a similar way, with the categorical information expressed by the appellative
component and differentiation related to the encyclopedic information associated
with the eponym.

Mythology-based eponymous terminology feature an uneven level of

transparency – while those originating from ancient or biblical tradition are
comparatively transparent, those of later origin require specific cultural
knowledge for the meaning to be retrieved. Further linguocultural analysis reveals
that most eponym-based terms of sociology are culture-bound elements in relation
to American culture.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This paper has been supported by the RUDN University Strategic Academic
Leadership Program.

REFERENCES
[1] Corazza E., Genovesi C., On the metaphoric use of (fictional) proper
names, Objects of Inquiry in Philosophy of Language and Linguistics ed. by P.
Stalmaszczyk, Oxford, 230 p, 2018.
[2] Hanks P., Lexical analysis: Norms and Exploitations, Cambridge, UK:
MIT Press, 2013, p 64.
[3] Huddleston R.D., Payne J, Nouns and Noun Phrases, The Cambridge
Grammar of the English Language, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2002, pp 323-523.

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[4] Heois A., When Proper Names Become Verbs: A Semantic Perspective,
Lexis. Journal in English Lexicology, France, issue 16, 2020, pp 1-35.
[5] Kakzanova E.M. Imja sobstvennoe v termine [Proper Names in
Terminology], Russia, M: Galleya-print, 2015. 292 p.
[6] Khakimova I.F., Osobennosti otantroponimicheskih prilagatel'nyh v
anglijskom yazyke [Specific Features of Proper Adjectives in English],
Filologicheskie nauki. Voprosy teorii i praktiki [Philology. Problems of theory
and Practice], Russia, issue 2, pp 163-165, 2017.
[7] Kornilov O.A. Jazykovye kartiny mira kak proizvodnye nacional'nyh
mentalitetov [Linguistic Worldviews as Derivatives of National Mentalities],
Russia, M.: CheRo, 2003. 349 p.
[8] Kunin A., Mekhanizm okkazional'noj frazeologicheskoj nominacii i
problema ocenki [Mechanisms behind Occasional Phraseological Nomination],
Problems of Phraseology: collected research papers, issue 168, Russia, M., 1980.
p. 159.
[9] Lejchik V.M. Obosnovanie struktury termina kak jazykovogo znaka
ponjatija [Underlying Rationale of the Structure of Terms as Linguistic Symbols
of Concepts], Terminovedenie [Terminology Studies], Russia, M.: Moskovsky
Liceum, 1994. № 2. pp. 5-16.
[10] Mishkevich M. Semantika imeni sobstvennogo [Proper Names
Semantics] // Methods of Foreign Languages Teaching. Romance-Germanic
Linguistics. Minsk: BGU Publishers, 1988. issue 2. pp. 110-114.
[11] Novinskaya N.V., Terminy-eponimy v jazyke nauki [Eponymic Terms
in the Language of Science], RUDN Bulletin Russian and Foreign Languages
Teaching and Methodology Series, issue 4, 2013, pp. 34-38.
[12] Sonneveld H., Loenning K., Terminology: Application in
Interdisciplinary Communication, John Benjamin Publishing, 1993.
[13] Stekauer P., On the Semiotics of Proper Names and Their Conversion,
AAA, Arbeiten Aus Anglistik Und Amerikanistik, Germany, vol. 22/ issue 1, pp.
27-36, 1997.
[14] Swedberg R., Using metaphors in sociology: Pitfalls and potentials, The
American Sociologist, issue 51, pp 240–257, 2020.
[15] Zabotkina V.I., O vzaimosvjazi kartiny mira i kul'turonosnyh smyslov v
slove [On Interrelated Worldview and Cultural Implications in a Word], Jazyk.
Soznanie. Kommunikacija [Language, Mind, Communication], Russia, M: Max
Press, issue 50, pp. 101-108, 2014.

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SECOND FOREIGN LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: THE

INFLUENCE OF STUDENTS’ FIRST FOREIGN
LANGUAGE ON LEXICAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT IN
ENGLISH FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Olga Maximova1

Dr. Tatiana Maykova2
1, 2
Рeoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Moscow,
Russia

ABSTRACT

Globalization and intercultural communication are stepping up the demands

for modern specialists’ linguistic competencies. To provide successful
professional communication, competitiveness and mobility, the graduates of
higher education are to master two or more foreign languages. In this regard, it
seems important to study the features of multilingual education, identify the
difficulties that arise in multilingual teaching and outline the ways to overcome
them. Although, there is a number of studies devoted to the impact of the native
language on foreign language acquisition, the issue of learners’ first and second
foreign language interaction seems to be inadequately treated and there is a lack
of research on factors that increase learners’ second foreign language proficiency
in three-language contact (i.e., their native, first and second foreign language). In
particular, little attention is paid to cross-linguistic skills transfer or to lexical
interference patterns that arise among students mastering their second foreign
language.

This paper is devoted to lexical interference that occurs when English for
Special Purposes (ESP) is taught as the second foreign language to university
students studying French or Spanish as their first foreign language. The purpose
of the work is to identify which language(-s) are the source of interference through
analyzing students’ errors. The hypotheses of the study are as follows: in case of
receptive activity (reading) the language which is closely related to the target
language will serve as the source of positive transfer. In productive activity
(writing and speaking) lexical interference will arise and play a significant role.
The source of interference will be learners’ first foreign language. To test the
hypotheses, a pilot study was conducted, during which typical lexical errors of
Russian-speaking students studying ESP as their second foreign language and
French or Spanish as their first foreign language were identified. The control
group were students with native Russian language and English as their first
foreign language. The research methodology included questionnaires, testing and
interviews. The research participants were RUDN University students. The results
of the study confirm the presence of positive transfer and lexical interference in

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ESP terminology acquisition, the source of which is learners’ first foreign

language. Learners’ typical mistakes are associated with the use of articles,
prepositions, adjective order, fully and partially assimilated cognates, depend on
their language experience and are due to their first foreign language interference.
Keywords: multilingualism, lexical interference, foreign language, English
for Special Purposes, error analysis

INTRODUCTION

Globalization, the growth of intercultural communication and the expansion

of international contacts set out the demands for modern specialists’ linguistic
skills development. The growing multilingualism of the modern society puts the
issues of foreign language learning as a part of polylingual education on the global
agenda. To provide successful professional communication, competitiveness and
mobility, higher education graduates are to master two or more foreign languages.
In this regard, it seems important to study foreign language teaching in a
multilingual classroom, to identify the difficulties that arise in a multilingual
environment and to outline the ways to overcome them.

One of the challenges to language learning is language transfer (also known

as interference or cross-language influence). As T. Odlin puts it, “Transfer is the
impact caused by the similarities and differences between the target language and
any other language which has been acquired” [1]. Such transfer can be positive
and negative, it can benefit teachers and learners or be an obstacle for them.

Language transfer is not limited to the influence of the native language (L1),
it refers to the impact of any language that the learner of the target language has
acquired (or is acquiring) in the course of multilingual acquisition, i.e., “the
acquisition of languages other than the first or the second” [2].

Current research indicates that, apart from the impact of L1, an intricate set
of interactions between multiple languages should be considered due to the great
diversity and complexity in multilingual acquisition [3]. On the one hand, such
multilingual dynamics might create certain difficulties in case of negative
language transfer which occurs when learners’ previously learned language
patterns complicate the performance of the learning task. On the other hand, it can
contribute to efficient language learning through positive transfer if learners’ prior
knowledge supports the performance of learning activities. Thus, in case of
second foreign language acquisition (FL2) a positive transfer of skills and
competencies obtained in the first foreign language (FL1) learning might be
observed. In addition, students’ proficiency increases as their speech and
cognitive skills (memory, perception, and speech production) necessary to learn
FL2 have been already formed in the process of FL1 acquisition.

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Although, there have been numerous studies devoted to the role of L1 in FL1
learning and the follow-up language transfer (both negative and positive) [4], [5],
several questions regarding language transfer in the context of multilingual
contact (L1, FL1 and FL2) and factors (linguistic and extralinguistic) contributing
to the efficiency of FL2 learning remain to be addressed. In particular, the research
on lexical and grammatical transfer in learning English for Special Purposes
(ESP) as FL2 in multilingual environments where learners study two or more
foreign languages remains limited.

As a rule, two methodological approaches are applied to study cross-

linguistic influence in the context of FL2 learning: contrastive analysis and error
analysis. The contrastive analysis hypothesis [6], [7] postulates positive transfer
between FL1 and FL2 in case of their similarity and negative transfer (language
interference) caused by language differences. Despite several limitations, this
theory can be conveniently applied to predict learners’ potential errors in
multilingual context. Error analysis theory [8], [9], [10] is used to find out how
errors are made by learners and to reveal the sources of errors to correct and
prevent them.

A pivotal issue in learning English in the sphere of professional

communication (ESP) is subject-specific vocabulary and professional
terminology acquisition [11]. Lexical skills development in ESP implies learners’
mastering general, interdisciplinary, and special vocabulary as well as their ability
to apply it into speech practice. The general requirements of the Common
European Framework of Reference for Languages in the sphere of subject-
specific vocabulary and terminology for ESP learners provide the following
criteria for foreign language vocabulary skills: vocabulary size, vocabulary range,
vocabulary control and the delimitation between language learning for receptive
and productive use [12].

MATERIAL AND METHOD

The study focuses on language transfer in a multilingual environment, where

students (with the Russian language as L1), learn two foreign languages: English
as the language for professional communication (ESP) as FL2 and French (or
Spanish) as FL1.

An important issue to be considered in multiple language learning is the

factors determining the source language of transfer in multilingual environment.
The main factors mentioned by the scholars are the order of language acquisition,
the age of acquisition, speaker’s level of proficiency, the degree of typological
similarity between the languages and language distance [3]. The research is
inconclusive, but most scholars agree that linguistic transfer is more likely to
occur when the circumstances of learning two languages are similar and they are
closely related [13], [14]. This is certainly the case when the English language is
learned as FL2 alongside the French (or Spanish) language as FL1, which are

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quite far from learners’ mother tongue, Russian, in terms of a writing system and
pronunciation.

The content analysis of “A Dictionary of Diplomacy” [11], [15] shows that

more than 80 percent of English diplomatic terminology is of French and Latin
origin. Typologically, English is a German language but historically it has
acquired many loan words from Latin and the French language [3]. That is why
learners of English for professional communication in International Relations as
FL2 whose FL1 belongs to the Romance language group can benefit from the low
linguistic distance between the languages. We do not differentiate here between
the Spanish language and French as both languages are abundant in words of Latin
origin as far as diplomatic terminology is concerned and are closely related. The
native language of students is Russian, which is linguistically distant from the
English language and can hardly be a source of negative interference.

The purpose of the study is to show that there is lexical interference and
positive transfer in multilingual environment in case of teaching ESP as the
language of professional communication (in International Relations) as FL2 to
students with French or the Spanish language as their FL1 and the Russian
language as L1 and to reveal the sources of lexical and lexical-grammatical
interference.

Based on the above considerations we put forward the following

expectations:

Hypothesis 1 (H1): in the case of receptive activity (reading) the language

which is closely related to the target language (English) will serve as the source
of positive transfer in a multilingual environment.

Hypothesis 2 (H2): in productive activity (writing and speaking) negative

transfer (lexical interference) will arise and play a significant role. The source of
negative interference will be learners’ FL1.

To test the hypotheses, a pilot study was carried out during which typical
lexical errors of Russian-speaking students studying ESP as their FL2 and French
or the Spanish language as their FL1 were identified.

We collected the data using a mixed-method approach: quantitative research

methods (reading comprehension and vocabulary tests, questionnaires) and
qualitative research (observation, interviews).

The participants of the study were 40 Russian-speaking students who enrolled

at Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia in Master’s Program in International
Relations (IR), which envisages studying ESP for International Relations and
offers elective module of FL2 studies.

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The ESP language course prerequisite is B1/B2 level in English, that is,
learners have obtained necessary fluency in main language skills and
competencies (phonetical, grammar, word-building and communicative). The
language course is aimed at using language flexibly and effectively for academic
and professional purposes, mastering professional vocabulary and word-
formation patterns, developing grammar and vocabulary skills for academic
literacy.

Two groups of participants were chosen: the experimental one and the control
one. The experimental group were students with the native Russian language, who
studied the French (or Spanish) language as their FL1 and ESP in the sphere of
IR as FL2. The control group were students with the native Russian language
who studied the English language as their FL1 and did not have experience in
studying a Romance language. The participants, all of them 19 to 22 years old,
were selected based on their skills in the English language (B2). Each group
included 20 students.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Firstly, to test Hypothesis 1, both groups were offered reading comprehension

test designed by the authors, which comprised a subject-specific text and multiple-
choice questions. Mean grade points (out of 100) and mean time required to
complete the tasks for both groups are shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Reading comprehension test: mean grade points and mean time.
Groups N Mean Std. DF T
Deviation observed
Mean grade Group 20 72,90 9,84 19 Т=1,728
points А1
Group 20 67,55 9,74 19 F=1,020
А2
Mean time Group 20 31,4 4,03 19 T=4,514
А1 min.
Group 20 38,0 5,18 19 F=1,656
А2 min.

Table 1 shows T-statistics for mean grade points earned by students of Group
A1 and A2 and the mean time to complete the test. It is worth mentioning that the
Student's t-test is relevant here because the variances in all cases are equal
considering the F-statistic for standard deviations at a standard significance level
α = 0.05.

The mean time required to complete the tasks for Group А1 (multilinguals
with French or Spanish as FL1) was 31,4 minutes, the mean time for Group А2
was 38 minutes, T observed = 4,514. As Т observed is above Т critical (2,024),
there is statistically significant difference between the two groups.

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The mean grade point in reading comprehension test for Group A1 is 72,9
(out of 100), which is higher than the mean grade point of Group A2 (67,55).
Since Т observed (1,728) is less than its critical value (2,024), no statistically
significant difference is observed between the two groups.

Thus, the results obtained clearly show statistically significant differences in

mean time spent by students of A1 and A2 to complete reading comprehension
tasks, but no differences altogether are observed in mean grade points.

Hypothesis 1, which states that in case of receptive activity (reading) in

multilingual environment the language which is closely related to the target
language will serve as the source of positive transfer, is proved. There is a positive
transfer, and the source of transfer is FL1 (French or Spanish).

The results obtained indicate that there is positive interference in multilingual

environment and its source is learners’ FL1. Multilingual students of the
experimental group understand academic texts on IR abundant with the
terminology of Latin and Greek origin better than their counterparts from the
control group and they have developed cognitive abilities for language learning
from their FL1 course. That is why they need less time to answer the questions
and to complete the tasks. Their grade points are also somewhat higher while no
statistical difference is observed. One possible explanation is that the students of
the control group might take their time and fulfil the test correctly being
industrious and motivated learners of ESP. The other possible interpretation is
that multilingual students are more effective in FL2 learning as they successfully
apply cognitive strategies previously acquired in the course of FL1 to master FL2
grammar and vocabulary.

Next, to test Hypothesis 2 (ESP productive skills of multilinguals studying

French or Spanish as FL1 are influenced by negative transfer, the source of which
is FL1) both groups of participants were offered a test on subject-specific
diplomatic vocabulary and lexical skills in IR designed by the authors, which
comprised two parts.

A qualitative analysis of potential errors of multilinguals with the French (or

Spanish) language as FL1 was carried out before testing. The analysis revealed
that the sources of potential errors could be cognate terms, words of Latin origin,
“false friends” (words similar in form but different in meaning) and
multicomponent compound terms derived according to the models “Adjective
plus Noun”, “Noun plus Noun”. In the first part of the test students were presented
cards with English definitions of partly or fully assimilated cognate diplomatic
terms and they were expected to pronounce the required term in English. The
second part of the text comprised compound terms which might cause difficulties
with word order. Students were presented cards with definitions of international
organizations, and they were to provide the correct name or acronym of the
organization.

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The test results of Group A1 and Group A2 and mean grade points (out of
100) for each part of the test are listed in Table 2. As shown in Table 2, mean
grade points of the experimental group for both parts of the test are less than those
of the control group.
Table 2. Diplomatic vocabulary test: mean grade points.
Groups N Mean Std. DF T
grade Deviation observed
points
Part 1 (cognates, false Group 20 56,70 10,21 19 T=4,794
friends, etc.) А1
Group 20 70,30 7,53 19 F=1,842
А2
Part 2 (word order, Group 20 62,30 10,95 19 T=1,823
“N+A”, “N+N” А1
combinations) Group 20 67,95 8,51 19 F=1,655
А2

Table 2 shows the T-statistics for mean grade points gained by students of
Group A1 and A2 for two parts of the test. The Student's t-test is feasible because
the variances in all cases are equal considering the F-statistic for standard
deviations at a standard significance level of 0.05. Here, the results clearly show
statistically significant differences in grade points gained by students in Part 1 of
the test. The mean value for Group A1 in Part 1 is 56.7 points (of 100 possible)
with the mean-square deviation of 10.21. The mean value for Group A2 in Part 1
is 70.3 points (of 100 possible), with the mean-square deviation of 7.53.

The results of Т-statistics application (T observed 4,794 is higher than Т

critical 2,024) show that there is statistically significant difference between mean
grade points of the two groups in Part 1 (fully or partly assimilated cognates)
which indicates negative transfer in learners’ productive activity
(speaking). Hypothesis 2 is proved. There is negative lexical interference, the
source of which is FL1. One of the main “soft targets” of negative lexical transfer
in ESP is fully or partially assimilated cognates.

In Part 2 of the test (multicomponent terms and international organizations)

no statistically significant differences were observed in mean grade points. Т1
observed = 1,728 is less than Т critical =2,024. A possible explanation for this is
that the phenomenon of “Noun plus Noun” word combination typical for English
language is quite rare both in the French (or Spanish) language and in Russian and
the word order (i.e., adjective placement before or after noun) is different for the
three languages: in the Russian language the word order is rather flexible, in
English an adjective is usually in preposition, while the pattern typical for both
French and Spanish is “an adjective in postposition”). There are also some
exceptions from typical word order in diplomatic terminology of ESP derived
from French (e.g., ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary with an

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adjective in postposition uncommon for the English language but typical for
French) which may be a source or intralingual transfer or overgeneralization.

CONCLUSION

In our study we analysed positive and negative transfer that occurs in case of
multilingual education when learners study two foreign languages and provided
the application of language transfer theory to pedagogical practice.

The results of the study confirm the presence and significance of positive
transfer and negative lexical interference in ESP subject-specific vocabulary and
terminology acquisition, the source of which is learners’ FL1 (French or
Spanish).

The first hypothesis which states that in case of receptive activity (reading)
the language which is closely related to learners’ target language will serve as the
source of positive transfer is proved. There is positive transfer, and the source of
transfer is FL1 (French or Spanish).

The second hypothesis which states that there is negative transfer in ESP
productive skills (speaking) of multilinguals studying the French (or Spanish)
language as FL1 and ESP as FL2 is proved. There is negative lexical transfer, and
the source of interference is FL1. Learners’ typical lexical mistakes are associated
with the use of articles, prepositions, adjective order, fully and partially
assimilated cognates, “false friends”, depend on language experience and are due
to FL1 interference. One of the main sources of lexical errors in ESP is fully or
partially assimilated cognates.

During the study, the authors concluded that a special set of learning activities
combined with intensive reading practice and innovated pedagogical techniques
should be developed to improve the lexical skills of multilingual students
considering their language experience.

The results obtained can be applied in further research of lexical transfer in a

multilingual environments, to improve pedagogical techniques for lexical skills
development in ESP classrooms, textbooks, teaching aids and manuals in FL2
learning.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This paper has been supported by the RUDN University Strategic Academic
Leadership Program.

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REFERENCES
[1] Lado R., Language Teaching a Scientific Approach, New York: McGraw-
Hill, 1994, p.125.
[2] Cenoz J., The influence of bilingualism on multilingual acquisition: Some
data from the Basque country, I Simposio Internacional sobre o Bilinguismo:
Comunidades e individuos bilingues, Spain: Universidad de Vigo, pp. 278-287,
1997.
[3] Cenoz J., Hufeisen B., Jessner U., Towards Trilingual Education,
International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, vol.4/issue1,
pp.1-10, 2001.
[4] Kuhn S., Interference of L1 English in L2 French Lexical Processing,
Syracuse University Honors Program Capstone Projects, Paper 562, 2007, 33 p.
[5] Sunderman G., Kroll J. F., First Language Activation During Second
Language Lexical Processing: An Investigation of Lexical Form, Meaning, and
Grammatical Class. In: Studies in Second Language Acquisition. Vol. 28. Issue 3
(September). pp. 387-422, 2006.
[6] Lado R., Linguistics Across Cultures: Applied Linguistics and Language
Teachers, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 1957, 142 p.
[7] Ellis R., Understanding Second Language Acquisition, Oxford: Oxford
Univ. Press, 2nd, improved edition, 1986, 327 p.
[8] Corder S.P., Introducing Applied Linguistics, Baltimore: Penguin
Education, 1973, 392 p.
[9] Richards, J. C., Error Analysis: Perspectives on Second Language
Acquisition, London: Longman, 1974, 240 p.
[10] Choroleeva K., Language Transfer Types of Linguistic Errors
Committed by Francophones Learning English as a Second Foreign Language.
In: Humanizing Language Teaching Magazine, 2009, pp. 90-102.
[11] Maximova O. B., Spynu L. M., Ensignement de l'ESP aux etudiants
universitaires des relations internationales avec le francais comme premiere
langue etrangere compte tenu des interferences lexicales, /Xlinguae European
Scientific Language Journal, №1XL, p.p 170-184, 2019.
[12] Council of Europe, Common European Framework of Reference for
Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment – Companion volume, Council of
Europe Publishing, Strasbourg, 2020.
[13] Rothman J., L3 Syntactic Transfer and Typological Determinancy: The
typological primacy Model, Second Language Research, vol. 27, pp.107-127,
2011.

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[14] Pfenninger S.E., Quadrilingual Advantages: Do-support in Bilingual vs.

Multilingual Learners. International Journal of Multilingualism 11(2), pp. 143–
163, 2013.
[15] Berridge G. R., James A., A Dictionary of Diplomacy, Palgrave
MacMillan, 2nd edition, 2003, 296 p.

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 Section LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS

TO THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE

TEACHING IN 3D MULTI-USER VIRTUAL
ENVIRONMENT

Doc. PhDr. Hana Marešová, Ph.D., MBA1

Mgr. Daniel Ecler2
Mgr. Miroslav Menšíková, Ph.D.3
1, 2
Faculty of Education, Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic
3
Elementary School, Bedihost, Czech Republic

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on the use of a 3D multi-user virtual environment in

language teaching and presents the results of four-year research at the Palacky
University Olomouc Faculty of Education (Czech Republic). Language teaching
was conducted in an experimental form in the 3D virtual worlds of Second Life
and Kitely (experimental group) and, in parallel to this, there was also traditional
teaching conducted on identical topics in the form of lectures using a textbook
(control group). The didactic test, which was presented to both of the groups in
an identical form before the start of teaching and after its implementation, verified
the effect of teaching in the experimental group by comparing the achieved results
of both groups. Out of the three components of mother tongue teaching (grammar,
literature, style and communication education) students achieved partial better
results (in the case of points focused on the visualization of the subject matter,
these were statistically significant) in literature. Students from the control group
performed better in grammar and style and communication education. Based on
the achieved results, we discuss the selected psychological implications of these
results and can state the most appropriate use of MUVE in teaching those topics
that have the possibility of role playing, dramatization and group cooperation.
Keywords: 3D virtual reality, multi user virtual environments, online
education, language education, psychological aspects

INTRODUCTION

As a result of the global Covid-19 pandemic, the education sector is currently

facing the challenge of rapidly implementing online educational tools into
teaching, often in the form of a complete transition to purely online teaching due
to imposed hygiene restrictions. Educational institutions at all levels of schooling
as well as lifelong learning institutions were not sufficiently prepared for such a
quick organisational shift – some of them face problems of insufficient digital
competencies of teachers or the lack of knowledge of specific online educational
tools that could benefit their pupils and students. In addition to a number of online

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communication tools (such as ZOOM, MS Teams, Skype, etc.), there are also
various Learning Management Systems and 3D virtual reality environments.

Despite the fact that much has been written about 3D virtual reality, there
have been significantly fewer research studies mapping the effect of education
through MUVEs – which in addition to three-dimensional simulation of reality
also allow for direct social contact with teachers and classmates. Nevertheless,
such research is necessary to ensure that these environments are not included in
the learning process without knowing what effects (whether positive or negative)
teaching in this environment can have on the learning outcomes of students as
well as on psychosocial aspects of educational reality.

A literary review of studies mapping the effect of virtual reality learning

between 2004 and 2019 (before coronavirus appearance) was conducted by
Mistakidis et al. [1] who focused on e-learning effectiveness along with the factors
and conditions leading to deep and meaningful learning when using social virtual
reality environments in distance mode of higher education. They searched for the
cognitive, social, and affective aspects. The findings suggest that the use of
MUVE can provide authentic, simulated, cognitively challenging experiences in
engaging, motivating environments for open-ended social and collaborative
interactions and intentional, personalized learning. Their findings also indicate
that educators need to place more emphasis on the socio-cultural semiotics and
emotional aspects of e-learning and ethical issues such as privacy and security.
Improvement recommendations include meaningful contexts, purposeful
activation, learner agency, intrinsic emotional engagement, holistic social
integration, and meticulous user obstacle removal.

From the other authors, we can mention the results of Heaney and Arroll's
study [2], which explored, in a qualitative investigation of Second Life educators,
their attitudes towards MUVE, e.g. the practicalities of dealing with a student who
is unable to attend a class for various reasons, whether due to illness, transport
problems or bad weather. On the other hand, the positives mentioned in this study
were decreased by the disadvantages that the educators saw in particular in the
lack of real physical contact with the students or in the fear of unpredictable
situations in the virtual environment and the related possible embarrassment in
front of the students when they would not be able to resolve these situations. S.
Hornik [3] conducted a longitudinal study based on data analysis and interview
feedback from students between 2007 and 2010 as part of the implementation of
a financial management course at the University of Central Florida. He worked
with different sized groups (200 to 800 students) and found that only 1/3 of the
students work in Second Life because they enjoy learning in this environment,
while the remaining 2/3 have a negative attitude towards Second Life or work in
it only because it is part of the assignment given to them in the course. However,
his analysis of the data showed that the longer students worked in Second Life,
the more they grew to feel that this MUVE was an effective learning tool for them.
In 2007, when Hornik started using Second Life for teaching, only 17.3% of the

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students reported that Second Life helped them to understand basic concepts in
financial accounting, whereas in 2009, after 3 years of systematic teaching, the
figure was already 40.7%. behavioural, affective and cognitive engagement and
achievement.

METHODOLOGY

In our research, we focused on the use of MUVEs in language teaching. At

the Palacky University Olomouc Faculty of Education, we have been teaching
through MUVEs for over 10 years and have gradually moved from using the
Second Life environment to building our own virtual faculty building in the
OpenSim environment Kitely, in which we gradually create our own 3D objects
for language teaching [4]. We use this environment both for teaching the mother
tongue and its individual components (grammar, literature, style and
communication education) and for teaching Czech as a foreign language
(environments simulating various conversational environments).

Our research focuses on examining the impact of teaching in MUVEs on

learning outcomes in language teaching. As part of our inquiry, we posed the
following research questions:

1. Does teaching in MUVEs lead to better results in memorising

concepts when compared to traditional teaching?

2. Is there a significant difference in learning outcomes when

comparing MUVE teaching with traditional teaching?

3. Is there a difference between the results of men and women when

comparing teaching through MUVEs and traditional teaching?

To answer these questions, we have produced several environments in

MUVE that can be used for teaching individual components of the mother tongue
(grammar, literature, style and communication education) and for teaching Czech
as a foreign language.

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Fig. 1. Virtual building of the Palacky University Faculty of Education in

Kitely.

The research survey was carried out over a period of 4 years using the method
of mixed research design based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative
approaches. From the point of view of quantitative research, there was the
comparative analysis of the input and output didactic test in the experimental
group taught through MUVE and the control group taught in the traditional way
(teacher's lecture supplemented by a textbook). In terms the qualitative approach,
there was a semi-structured written survey to determine the views of students of
the experimental group on teaching through MUVE, processed via the method of
grounded theory [5]. By dividing the answers according to certain criteria, the
views of students were easier to sort through, determine where the strengths and
weaknesses of teaching in a virtual environment were, and identify what could be
the biggest issues with its use in practice. Semi-structured questioning was always
carried following the completion all the teaching units (i.e., after teaching all
components of the mother tongue).

Teaching through MUVE was implemented for 3 basic components of

mother tongue teaching – grammar, literature and style and communication
education. For each of these components, 3D virtual objects for the various taught
topics were created and as well as an input and output didactic test, which was
identical for the experimental and control groups. The didactic test was evaluated
statistically according to predetermined criteria, the validity and reliability of
individual tests were verified. Validity was determined by the assessment of a
relevant expert, reliability was verified via the Kuder-Richardson reliability

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coefficient and the halving method using the Spearman-Brown formula [6]. The
reliability of the didactic test was calculated using the Kuder-Richardson
reliability coefficient after the first grammar test. The reliability coefficient can
take values from 0 (= complete inaccuracy and unreliability of the test) to 1 (=
maximum accuracy and reliability of the test). For the purposes of pedagogical
research, it is necessary to reach a value of at least 0.8 [6]. After substituting the
values, we obtained a reliability coefficient of 0.803, so the test could be
considered sufficiently reliable for testing students. To compare the effectiveness
of both teaching approaches, we also used Student's t-test, which verified whether
the differences in the results are statistically significant [6]. Sensitivity was
assessed based on the results of calculating the ULI coefficient.

The test results for each area were described using mean, standard deviation
(SD), and median values. In addition to the point score, we also calculated the
percentage of success in the test, where the total gross score was compared to the
maximum achievable gross score for the given area of testing. The overall success
in the test was calculated as the sum of the results in the test before and after the
course. IBM SPSS Statistics version 22 was used to validate the hypotheses. Test
results achieved in the control and experimental group as well as the results
obtained in the group of men and women were compared using the Mann-Whitney
U test. A non-parametric test was chosen due to the non-normal distribution of
score values. Normal distribution was verified using the Shapir-Wilk test. All tests
were conducted at a significance level of 0.05.

The research group consisted of a total of 303 respondents – 160 of them

participated in virtual teaching, 143 in theoretical teaching. The group of
respondents consisted of students of the Czech language and literature at the
Department of Czech Language and Literature of Palacký University Olomouc.
The average age of the survey respondents was 21.6 (± 0.3) years. All respondents
participated in a quantitative survey through didactic tests before and after
teaching. Students included in the experimental group – who were taught through
MUVE – were also included in the qualitative research through semi-structured
questioning.

In all teaching units, respondents received the same information, all

participated in teaching in all three components of their mother tongue, all were
assigned on the basis of predefined and described categories to a specific user
level for working with information technologies – the criteria for this were
determined through the international concept of standardised computer skills by
the ECDL (http://www.ecdl.cz). A total of 48.1% of students reached the basic
level according to ECDL and 51.9% were intermediate according to the ECDL.
The advanced user category was not represented in the research, as it could
represent a contamination of better results due to the greater ability of these
respondents to manage the virtual reality environment. As a result, one respondent
who was determined as an advanced user was excluded from the group. At the

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same time, we maintained the homogeneity of the experimental and control

groups.

RESULTS

In the overall performance in the implementation of teaching units in the

experiment, the overall average performance was better in the control group,
which achieved an 8.3% better result (the total average performance of the
experimental group was 43.8%, for the control group it was 48.1%, p = 0.006),
the following table summarises the details:
Table 1. Overall performance in the test.
Components of the mother Experimental Control Statistically
tongue teaching group group significant difference
Grammar 27.8% 33.9% +
Literature 60% 54.5% YES
Style and communication
42.6% 51.5% YES
education
Source: Own source

The differences in the results between the experimental and control groups in
the individual components of the mother tongue teaching were statistically
significant, an overview is provided in the following table:
Table 2. Performance in individual components of mother tongue teaching.
Control
Experimental Control
Experimental group
group average
group median average
group P
+ SD median
+ SD
Grammar 1 29.7 ±
24.5 ± 8.2 24.0 28.0
(before) points 10.1
0,0001
Grammar 2 (after) 33.9 ±
27.8 ± 9.3 27.3 31.8
% of success 11.3
Literature 1 19.6 ±
26.1 ± 6.0 21.0 20.0
(before) points 4.8
Literature 2 0,01
54.5 ±
(after) % of 60.0 ± 16.7 58.3 55.6
13.4
success
Style and
communication 16.5 ±
13.6 ± 4.7 11.5 16.0
education 1 3.9
(before) points
0,002
Style and
communication 51.5 ±
42.6 ± 14.6 40.6 53.1
education 2 (after) 12.3
% of success

Source: Own source

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Prior to teaching, the results in the area of a grammar of the experimental and
control groups were comparable. After teaching, there was a more significant
improvement compared to the results before teaching in the control group –
improvement by 18.7%. The experimental group improved by 7.8% after
teaching. This difference was statistically significant (p <0.0001). In the field of
literature, there was the same average improvement after teaching in both groups
– in the experimental group it was an improvement of 28.5%, in the control group
there was an improvement of 29.5%. The difference in improvement results after
teaching between the two groups was not significant (p = 0.551). In the area of
style and communication education, the results of both groups prior teaching were
comparable, after teaching there was a greater improvement in the control group.
The improvement in the control group was 39.5%, in the experimental group there
was an improvement of 16.4% after teaching. This difference was statistically
significant (p <0.0001).

DISCUSSION

The results of our research did not show a significantly higher success rate of
students in the experimental group. However, one reason for this could be the
novelty of the MUVE environment in which they moved, so part of their attention
was focused mainly on the ability to control their avatar, move in the environment
and also explore individual details of the environment. For the control group,
which was taught through a traditional method to which they have been
accustomed to for years, there was no such mental distraction. Therefore, future
research is needed that would be focused on longer-term (e.g., one-year) teaching
through MUVE, during which students would already be able to move in the
environment with confidence.

Firstly, we can conclude that if teaching takes place in this environment, it is

more appropriate to employ the method of mutual cooperation – in the case
where the manipulation of 3D objects was controlled by the teacher and students
had to agree on where the objects will go and how, they subsequently achieved
better results than if they were left to their own devices and their work could lead
to partial problems that teachers or other students were not even aware of. We,
therefore, recommend that teaching through MUVE be based mainly on guided
teaching and a collaborative approach, leaving the student alone in solving tasks
seems to not be very effective.

However, there may have been other variables that affected the end results.
The respondent set itself represents a certain limitation, as it was composed only
of students of humanities – it is likely that students from technical fields (or IT
fields specifically) would have achieved different results. The level of the
students' computer skills therefore played a role here, which is why we
recommend that sufficient training time be devoted to learning how to work in a
MUVE – potentially even performing simple tasks – and only start the course
once students are sufficiently confident in navigating the environment.

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In interpreting the above results, we are working from the assumption that
the involvement of multiple sensory perceptions and the emotional component
leads to a better memorisation of knowledge. According to Dale's [7] cone of
experience, individuals should remember up to 90% of what they do (that is, they
learn from experience). This section of the experience cone also includes
participation in virtual teaching in the form of a virtual reality simulation.
Similarly, Kalhous et al. [8] state that the more senses are involved in cognition,
the more knowledge the learner should remember. We saw this reflected in the
teaching of literature, but not in the teaching of grammar and style and
communication education.

From a psychological point of view, it is necessary to take into account that

a person's personality differs significantly in real and virtual space. O´Driscoll [9]
defined several characteristics of 3D MUVE that influence the behaviour of an
individual in a 3D virtual environment – it is mainly the sense of self in the other
space, identification with the avatar. When creating a virtual avatar, the user
can create a persona into whose appearance or behaviour he/she can project
his/her desires or, on the contrary, suppress negative aspects of his/her personality
that bring complications in real situations. This can lead to more open
communication with others, as those appearance or personality characteristics that
make a person feel an inferiority complex or a certain handicap in the real world
disappear in the virtual world.

Regarding the method of problem-based learning, which we used for style

and communication education when teaching how to write a news report, we
found that this method was not entirely suitable for MUVEs, because students
were distracted by many side activities and elements, which were described
mainly in the analysis and description of the results of a qualitative research
survey (the need to control the avatar, complex control of the camera, etc.).
MUVE is also not a suitable tool for topics where the focus is more on
memorisation, because the need to divide one's mental attention between the topic
itself and controlling one's avatar in the environment reduces the overall
concentration of the students and, by extension, their ability to commit things to
memory. This was also confirmed by the results of the qualitative part of our
research, where the semi-structured questioning of the respondents of the
experimental group showed that they felt overwhelmed by the programme's
controls.

CONCLUSION

MUVE is currently one of the most important online tools used worldwide,
especially for language teaching, as it enables synchronous online communication
in real-time independent of physical space and, unlike other online tools (ZOOM,
Skype, etc.). It virtually simulates the non-verbal components of communication
(e.g., proximity, facial expressions, gestures, etc.), which are as essential to

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language communication as verbal communication. However, it is not always

entirely suitable for language teaching.

Based on our results, we can say that the most appropriate use of MUVE can
be seen in teaching topics that have the potential for role playing, dramatization,
experiential learning, involvement and mutual cooperation of the group. In
contrast, due to the need to divide one's attention between the subject matter and
controlling one's virtual reality avatar, it is less suitable for teaching topics the
lean more heavily on learning through memorisation or terminology (e.g.,
vocabulary, categorisation of grammatical phenomena, etc.). MUVE, therefore,
seems to be the most suitable for the use of simulation of conversational situations
(foreign language teaching through role-playing), literary topics (role-playing,
dramatisation) and for group teaching that requires participants to work together.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This article is supported by IGA project No. IGA_PdF_2021_037, Online

educational tools and language teaching.

REFERENCES
[1] Mystakidis S., Berki E., Vltanen J.P. Deep and Meaningful E-Learning
with Social Virtual Reality Environments in Higher Education: A Systematic
Literature Review. Appl. Sci., 11(5), 2412, 2021.
https://doi.org/10.3390/app11052412.
[2] Heaney R., Arroll M. A. A Qualitative Evaluation of Academic Staff´s
Perceptions of Second Life as a Teaching Tool. Proceedings of the 10th European
Conference on E-learning, 1(2) 311–318, 2011. ISSN 978-1-908272-22-5.
[3] Hornik S., Hermano R. Really Engaging Accounting: Second Life as a
Learning Platform. Issues in Accounting Education, 25(3), 361–318, 2010.
https://doi.org/10.2308/iace.2010.25.3.361.
[4] Marešová H. Vzdělávání v multiuživatelském virtuálním prostředí. 1.
vyd. Olomouc: Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci, 2012. 203 s. ISBN 978-80-244-
3101-7.
[5] Strauss A., Corbin J. Základy kvalitativního výzkumu. Postupy a techniky
metody zakotvené teorie. Albert, 1999. ISBN 80-85834-60-X.
[6] Chráska M. Metody pedagogického výzkumu. Základy kvantitativního
výzkumu. Praha: Grada Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978-80-247-1369-4.
[7] Dale E. Audio-visual methods in teaching, 1946. The Dryden Press.
[8] Kalhous Z., Obst O. et al. Školní didaktika. Portál, 2009. ISBN 978-80-
7367-571-4.

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[9] O'Driscoll T. Virtual Social Worlds and the Future of Learning,

2007. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2jY4UkPbAc&ab_channel=WadaT
ripp.

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Section

SOCIOLOGY AND HEALTHCARE

This section includes papers which have gone under double
blind peer-review. The section covers papers related to
human society, social structures, and social change,
healthcare systems and healthcare services.
 Section SOCIOLOGY AND HEALTHCARE

AGE AND GENDER PATTERNS OF SELF-ESTEEM

AMONG YOUTH IN KOSOVO

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Naim Fanaj1

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Erika Melonashi2
Dr. sci. Sevim Mustafa3
1
College of Medical Sciences Rezonanca, Prishtina, Kosovo
2
Wisdom University College, Tirana, Albania
3
College AAB, Prishtina, Kosovo

ABSTRACT

Self-esteem is a widely investigated variable, across different countries and

cultures. Levels of self-esteem seem to vary across cultures, and also cultural
similarities and differences have been reported in several studies. Some aspects
of age and gender differences seem to be universal across cultures. The aim of the
present study was to assess age and gender patterns of self-esteem among Kosovo
youth. The study sample included 4303 participants (four subsamples), 45.5%
male and 54% female. The mean age of participants was 16.57 years (SD=2.99).
The measuring instrument was the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale Albanian
translation. Results indicated a slightly but not significantly higher level of self-
esteem for men. The gender difference reached significance only for the age
groups 18 to 22 years old and 23-29-years old. The study revealed developmental
trajectories of self-esteem and gender patterns which are comparable to findings
from other countries, although with some slight differences. Findings requires
further investigation, particularly as regards the presence of any cohort effects in
the findings. The study represents an important contribution to the investigation
of self-esteem in Kosovo, and provides several directions for further research
particularly as regards gender or developmental studies.
Keywords: self-esteem, age, gender, youth, Kosovo

INTRODUCTION

Tracing of the literature shows that self-esteem is a widely investigated

variable, across different countries and cultures. A recent Google scholar search
with the key-word “self-esteem” brought up over 2,160,000 results. Despite the
extensive scientific research involving this variable, several scholars have argued
on the need for further research especially due to inconsistencies in terms of
operational definitions, measurement, demographic patterns, socio-cultural
differences, or developmental trends [1], [2].

Self-esteem researchers consider this construct as a basic human need with

different levels including global, and situational self-esteem. Also, self-esteem is
considered as an indicator of how valued and accepted people feel or as an

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indicator of the state of our relationships with others. One of the most widely
accepted definitions of self-esteem refers to the way individuals feel about
themselves, as well as their overall value or attitude toward themselves [1]. In
recent years, the emphasis has shifted to various aspects of self-esteem, as several
efforts have been made to further break down and categorize this variable [2]. For
instance, contingent self-esteem [3] refers to feelings about the self as related to
external sources of perceived standards and expectations.

Tafarodi and colleagues (2002) have proposed a self-esteem model including

self-competence and self-liking; self-competence is mainly cognitive and refers
to self-efficacy beliefs of the individual (beliefs of being good at certain tasks)
while self-liking refers to the emotional pathway, i.e., internal feelings, mostly
affected by social relevance [4], [5]. Tafarodi and colleagues reported cultural
differences in the two dimensions; self-competence was higher in individualistic
cultures while self-liking was higher in collectivistic cultures [5]. From a quick
review of the literature for the needs of this paper we find that levels of self-esteem
seem to vary across cultures, and also cultural similarities and differences have
been reported in several studies. A well-known international study by Schmit &
Allik (2005) reported that although positive self-esteem is culturally universal,
self-esteem scores seem to be generally higher in Western cultures
(individualistic) as compared to Eastern cultures (collectivistic) [5].

As regards measuring instruments, probably the most widely used across

different countries and cultures is the Rosenberg's (1965) Self-Esteem Scale. The
scale has been used in comparative studies and meta-analyses. The Rosenberg
Self-Esteem Scale [6] allows for positive versus negative classification within the
global score [4], [5]. This two-factor model has been supported by Kaplan and
Pokorny (1969) who classified negatively worded items as self-derogation and
positively worded items as self-enhancement [7]. The two-factor model has been
largely criticized and several researchers claim that positive and negative self-
esteem are merely an artifact of item wording and therefore the classification is
artificial. Even so, the scale has been widely used for describing age or gender
patterns from a developmental approach across different cultures; findings have
not always been coherent and some contradictory results have been also reported
[8].

Research investigating patterns of self-esteem by age, has produced

developmental trajectories which show higher levels of self-esteem in early
adolescence, and the trend significantly changing after age 15. The drop in self-
esteem after age 15 reaches the lowest scores between 18-22 years old particularly
for girls (see [9], [10]). Similarly, Bleidorn et al (2016) have reported that self-
esteem is relatively high in childhood, before dropping during adolescence and
increasing once more during young adulthood before declining in old age [11].

As regards gender, research studies generally agree on self-esteem levels

being higher among men as compared to women, but the trend varies with age.

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The meta-analysis of Kling and colleagues (1999) found that the gender gap was
more pronounced in adolescence, and gradually seemed to fade away with age
[12]. Similar findings have been reported by Bleidorn et al. (2016) who reported
that the trajectories emerging in adolescence persist throughout early and middle
adulthood before narrowing down and even disappearing in old age [11]. Helwig
and Ruprecht (2017) reported a small gender gap in self-esteem in young
adulthood which completely disappeared by old age [8]. Other studies have
reported on a relatively small gender gap in self-esteem from the end of
adolescence to middle adulthood [11] or even no significant gender differences at
all [13]. A more recent study (Ogihara,2020) concluded that that developmental
gender differences in self-esteem appear to be small or absent but clearly more
important among women than men [14].

Some aspects of age and gender differences seem to be universal across

cultures (e.g., the universal gender gap in adolescence has been found in all 171
countries investigated by Helwig & Ruprecht (2017) [8]. Nonetheless, there are
also cultural specificities such as baselines, typical levels of self-esteem, or life
span trajectories which seem to differ across countries [8]. Explanations were
provided in terms of socio-economic, socio-demographic factors, gender equality
issues, cultural values etc.

To summarize together with eminent experts in the field, it might be argued

that although self-esteem has been widely investigated there is still a need for a
better understanding of factors that explain individual differences in self-esteem
during the life span.

A systematic literature review on self-esteem and well-being in Kosovo

(Fanaj & Melonashi,2014) concluded that self-esteem values were comparable to
other Balkan countries [15]. As regards gender differences, only one of the
reviewed studies reported higher self-esteem for boys as compared to girls; other
studies have reported no gender differences. Nonetheless, research focusing on
developmental trends of self-esteem in Kosovo is missing. Therefore, the aim of
the present study was to assess age and gender patterns of self-esteem among
Kosovo youth, Research questions included: 1. What are self-esteem levels
among youth, 10-29 years old in Kosovo? 2. What are the age and gender patterns
across the different dimensions of self-esteem among youth in Kosovo?3. What
is the developmental trajectory of self-esteem and what gender patterns can be
identified? 4. How do the findings on self-esteem compare to other countries (are
there any cultural differences)?

METHODOLOGY

Sample

The study sample included 4303 participants, 45.5% male and 54% female.
The mean age of participants was 16.57 years (SD=2.99). Composition by age

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group was as follows:3.7% 10-12 years old, 66.4 % 13-17 years old, 25.8 % 18-
22 years old and 2.8 % 23-29 years old (1.3 % information on age was missing).
The division into age groups is done based on the division proposed in the study
by Helvig & Ruprecht (2017). The sample includes four different subsamples
including: 41 participants from a youth center in Lipjan, 3436 participants from
middle and high schools, 641 participants from public and private universities
and, 185 participants from the Mental Healthcare unit for children and adolescents
in Prizren.

Measuring instrument

The measuring instrument was the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale [6]. This is
the most widely used scale in self-esteem studies, across different countries and
cultures. The scale includes 10 items assessing self-respect and self-acceptance
and all items are rated on a Likert Scale [1- strongly agree; 2- agree;3-disagree;
4- strongly disagree] [6]. Five items are reversely scored and the sum score for
global self-esteem ranges from 10 to 40. A higher total score indicates higher
global self-esteem. Scores below 25 indicate low self-esteem [6].

Procedure

In the 3 subsamples involving children and adolescents informed consent was

asked from their parents prior to the administration of the questionnaire. In the
subsample involving schools, approval was asked from the school directors too,
who held subsequent briefings with teachers. In the subsample involving
university students, participants provided informed consent themselves. The
paper and pencil questionnaire were administered to participants in the classrooms
and sufficient time was allowed for answering. Research assistants were present
during the whole process, in order to answer any questions, provide clarification
and finally collect the questionnaires.

RESULTS

Results showed that the mean value for self-esteem in the study samples was
26.72 (SD=4.53). 28.3 % of the sample (29.3 % of men and 27.5 % of women)
were classified with low self-esteem. In terms of age groups, only 16.3% of 10-
12-year-old had low self-esteem, as compared to 28.2% of 13-17-year-olds,
29.9% of 18-22-year-olds and 33.3% of 23-29-year-olds (see Table.1).

Despite findings that men report slightly higher scores as compared to

women, Mann-Whitney test revealed no significant gender differences in self-
esteem scores (Mdfemales=27, N=2303; Mdmales=27, N=1957; Z=-1.393, p<.16).

Kruskal-Wallis analysis revealed significant differences by age groups X2 (3,

n=4243) =42.226, p<.00; whereas scores were higher in the early adolescence

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group (Md=29) as compared to the middle adolescence group (Md=27), late

adolescence group (Md=26) and youth group (Md=27).

Mann-Whitney test revealed significant gender differences in self-esteem

scores in the age group 18-22 years old (Mdfemales=26, N=612; Mdmales=27,
N=484; Z=-2.057, p<.04) and 23- 29 years old (Mdfemales=45, N=2303;
Mdmales=27, N=75; Z=-2.900, p<.00; whereas males scored significantly higher.
Table 1. Sample characteristics - number, percentages, total self-esteem and
dimensions mean (author survey, own source)
No. % SRES Positive Negative Self- Self –
Mean competence liking
Gender
Male 1960 45.5 26.82 14.69 12.13 13.69 13.13
Female 2304 53.5 26.63 14.86 11.77 13.56 13.06
Age-groups
10 -12 160 3.7 29.01 15.64 13.37 14.94 14.07
13-17 2858 66.4 26.59 15.03 11.56 13.57 13.00
18-22 1109 25.8 26.72 14.17 12.56 13.58 13.14

23-29 120 2.8 26.65 14.04 12.61 13.53 13.11

Cut-off self-esteem level

Low self- 1218 28.3 21.38 10.34 11.04 10.79 10.59
esteem
Normal 3081 71.6 28.84 16.55 12.29 14.75 14.09
self-
esteem

Positive-negative dimensionality of self-esteem among youth

As regards the positive-negative dimensions, results showed that the mean

value for the positive dimension was 14.79 (SD=4.23) while the mean value for
the negative dimension 11.93 (SD=3.52) (see Table.2). There was a significant
negative correlation between the two dimensions (r=-.314, p<.00) which did not
differ depending on gender. However, some differences were found in terms of
age groups. More specifically, a significant positive correlation was found
between the two dimensions in the 10-12-year-old group (r=.239, p<.00).
However, the correlation was negative in the 13-17-year-old group, and non-
significant in the 23-29-year-old group.

Mann-Whitney test revealed significant gender differences in negative

dimension scores (Mdfemales=27, N=2304; Mdmales=27, N=1958; Z=-3.049, p<.00)
with males having higher mean ranks but no significant gender differences in
positive dimension scores. Kruskal-Wallis analysis revealed significant
differences in positive scores by age group X2 (3, n=4245) =52.960, p<.00; as the

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early adolescence group scored higher (Md=16) than all other groups. Kruskal-
Wallis analysis also revealed significant differences in negativity by age groups
X2 (3, n=4245) =108.992, p<.00; as the age group of early adolescence scored
higher (Md=14) than middle adolescence group (Md=11), late adolescence group
(Md=12) and youth group (Md=13).

Mann-Whitney test revealed significant gender differences in positivity

scores in a) age group 10 to 12 year old (Md females=16, N=87; Mdmales=15, N=73;
Z=-2.339, p<.01), whereas females scored significantly higher; b) age-group 13
to 17 year old (Mdfemales=16, N=1534; Mdmales=16, N=1299; Z=-2.247, p<.02)
whereas females scored significantly higher and c) age group 23 to 30 year old
(Mdfemales=12, N=45; Mdmales=16, N=75; Z=-2.517, p<.01; whereas males scored
significantly higher. Mann-Whitney test revealed significant gender differences
in negativity scores by age group 13 to 17 years (Md females=11, N=1534;
Mdmales=12, N=1299; Z=-2.819, p<.00) whereas males scored significantly
higher.
Table 2. Positive-Negative dimensionality of self-esteem among youth based
on gender and age group (author survey, own source)
Positive Negative
Age-groups Male Female Male Female
10-12 yr 14.95 16.23 13.29 13.44
13-17 yr 14.84 15.18 11.75 11.40
18-22 yr 14.32 14.00 12.74 12.42
23-29 yr 14.68 12.98 13.00 11.96

Fig. 1. Graphical display of Positive-Negative dimensionality of self-esteem

among youth based on gender and age group (author survey, own source)

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Self-competence/self-liking dimensionality of self-esteem among youth

As regards the self-competence/self-liking dimensions results showed that

the mean value for self-competence was M=13.62 (SD=2.64) while that for self-
liking was M=13.09 (SD=2.63) (see Table.3). The two dimensions correlate
positively (r=.47, p<.00) and correlations were found for both genders and across
all age-groups. Mann-Whitney test revealed no significant gender differences in
self-competence and self-liking dimensions. Kruskal-Wallis analysis revealed
significant differences by age group in self-competence, X2 (3, n=4244) =39.293,
p<.00; whereas 10–12-year-old (Md=15) had the highest scores). Kruskal-Wallis
analysis revealed significant differences by age group in self-liking, X2 (3,
n=4246) =29.924, p<.00; whereas 10–12-year-old (Md=14) had the highest scores
as compared to the other age groups.

Mann-Whitney test revealed significant gender differences in self-

competence scores in the age group 18 to 22 years (Md females=14, N=612;
Mdmales=14, N=484; Z=-2.032, p<.01) and 23 to 30 year old (Mdfemales=13, N=45;
Mdmales=14, N=75; Z=-2.417, p<.04; whereas males scored significantly higher.

Mann-Whitney test revealed significant gender differences in self-liking

scores in the age group 23 to 30 year old (Md females=13, N=45; Mdmales=14, N=75;
Z=-2.189, p<.02; whereas males scored significantly higher.
Table. 3. Self-competence/self-liking dimensionality of self-esteem among
youth based on gender and age group (author survey, own source)
Self-competence Self-liking
Age groups
Male Female Male Female
10-12 yr 14.53 15.29 13.70 14.38
13-17 yr 13.59 13.55 13.00 13.00
18-22 yr 13.77 13.41 13.29 13.01
23-29 yr 14.11 12.58 13.56 12.36

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Fig. 2. Graphical display of self-competence/self-liking dimensionality of

self-esteem among youth based on gender and age group (author survey, own
source)

Developmental patterns of self-esteem

Results showed that the mean value for self-esteem in early adolescence (10-
12 year olds) is 27.64 (SD=4.39), that is higher than middle adolescence (13-17
years) 26.28 (SD=4.46), late adolescence (18-22 years) 26.68 (SD=4.74) and
young adults (23-29 years) 27.37 (SD=4.77) (see Table.4 and 5). Kruskal-Wallis
analysis confirmed significant differences by age groups X2 (3, n=4243) =42.226,
p<.00; as early adolescence group scored higher (Md=29) than middle
adolescence group (Md=27), late adolescence group (Md=26) and youth group
(Md=27) (see Table.4). Therefore, self-esteem tends to decrease from early to
mid-adolescence, and then increase again from late adolescence towards young
adulthood. This developmental pattern was present even when the analysis was
performed separately by gender. However, gender comparisons revealed
significant differences in self-esteem only in the age group 18-22 years old and
23-29 years old, as men had significantly higher scores than women Md=27 while
females Md=26 (18-22 yrs.) and Md=24 (23-29 yrs.). As might be noted, the self-
esteem decrease is more pronounced among women even in late adolescence and
early adulthood, where men are clearly in advantage.
Table 4. Self-esteem among youth based on gender and age group (author
survey, own source)
Age -groups Male Female Sig.
10-12 yr 28.23 29.67 .060
13-17 yr 26.59 26.57 .795
18-22 yr 27.05 26.42 .040
23-29 yr 27.68 24.93 .004

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Fig. 3. Graphical display of self-esteem among youth based on gender and

age group (author survey, own source)
Table 5. Total self-esteem and positivity/negativity dimensions based on
gender, age groups (author survey, own source)

RSES SD Positivity Negativity Pos-Neg rPosNeg

Total sample 26.72 4.58 14.79 11.93 2.86 -.31*
Male 26.81 4.76 14.68 12.13 2.55 -.24*
Female 26.62 4.41 14.85 11.77 3.08 -.35*
10-12 yrs 29.01 4.96 15.64 13.36 2.28 .23*
13-17 yrs 26.59 4.42 15.03 11.56 3.47 -.36*
18 - 22 yrs 26.72 4.75 14.17 12.56 1.61 -.21*
23 -29 yrs 26.65 4.97 14.04 12.61 1.43 .09

Sig.=significance (p)
Pos-Neg= difference between two dimensions
rPosNeg=Correlations

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Table 6. Total self-esteem and self-competence/self-liking dimensions based

on gender, age groups (author survey, own source)
Self-Competence Self- Self-liking Self- r
means Competence SD means Liking SD
Total 13.62 2.64 13.09 2.63 .47*
sample
Male 13.68 2.73 13.13 2.7 .51*
Female 13.56 2.56 13.05 2.57 .43*
10-12 yrs 14.94 2.79 14.07 2.77 .58*
13-17 yrs 13.57 2.55 13.00 2.56 .46*
18 - 22 13.58 2.74 13.14 2.74 .46*
yrs
23 -29 13.53 3.09 13.11 2.79 .42*
yrs
Sig.
r=coeficient

Cross country comparisons of self-esteem

The findings of the present study were compared with those reported by
Schmitt & Allik, (2005) and are provided in tables 7 and 8. Mean values for self-
esteem in the present sample are lower as compared to other countries, except for
Japan. In terms of comparisons by age group, mean values for self-esteem were
higher in the present sample for almost all age groups, except for 18-22-year-old
men and 23-29-year-old women for Europe/Central Asia (see Table. 9).

Regarding dimensionality, the positive-negative difference index in the

present sample is the highest as compared to other countries and also the
correlation between the dimensions is negative, while all other countries had
positive correlations (see Table.7). As regards self-competence and self-liking
scores, as can be noted in table 8 only Japan revealed slightly lower scores than
Kosovo. However, correlations between dimensions were moderate, and
comparable to other countries, apart from Turkey (weak correlation) (see Table.
8).

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Table 7. Total self-esteem and positivity/negativity dimensions / cross

country comparisons Source: own source & Schmitt & Allik, (2005) [5]
Country RSES SD Pos Neg Pos-Neg rPosNeg
Kosovo 26.72 4.58 14.79 11.93 2.86 -.31
Austria 31.78 4.68 16 15.8 0.3 .63
Croatia 31.94 4.12 16.6 15.4 1.2 .61
Greece 31.29 4.76 16.4 14.9 1.6 .65
Serbia 33.59 4.99 17.4 16.2 1.3 .57
Slovenia 31.74 4.72 16.8 14.9 1.9 .59
Turkey 32.14 4.97 17 15.2 1.8 .65
Japan 25.5 4.37 13.1 12.4 0.8 .60

Table 8. Self-competence/self-liking self-esteem dimensions / cross-country

comparisons Source: own source & Schmitt & Allik, (2005) [5] & Bleidorn et al
(2016) [11]
Country Self-Competence Self- Self-liking Self- r IND
means Competence SD means Liking SD
Kosovo 13.62 2.64 13.09 2.63 .47
Austria 16.04 2.55 15.76 2.67 .61 55
Croatia 16.93 2.02 15.07 2.62 .57 33
Greece 16.81 2.24 14.34 3.06 .61 35
Serbia 17.6 2.18 16.05 3.32 .63 25
Slovenia 17.13 2.37 14.6 2.88 .62 27
Turkey 17.09 2.58 14.4 2.19 .37 37
Japan 13.33 2.51 12.3 2.36 .61 46
Albania 20

Table 9. Total self-esteem by age-group:Kosovo vs.Europa/Central Asia.

Source: own source & Helvig & Ruprecht (2017) [8]
Age groups 10-12 year 13-17 year 18-22 year 23-29 year
Gender Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male
Europa/Central 29.2 NA 22.82 25.69 25.31 27.26 26.91 26.89
Asia
Kosovo 29.66 28.23 26.57 26.59 26.42 27.05 24.93 27.68

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

The aim of the present study was to assess age and gender patterns of self-
esteem in adolescents and young adults in Kosovo. The study revealed
developmental trajectories of self-esteem and gender patterns which are
comparable to findings from other countries, although with some slight
differences.

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As regards gender patterns, results indicated a slightly but not significantly

higher level of self-esteem for men. Although these findings are not in line with
most existing research in the field [12] there have been some studies also reporting
no significant differences [13]. The gender difference reached significance only
for the age groups 18 to 22 years old and 23-29-years old. Indeed, one of the most
important findings of the present study is the pattern of decreasing self-esteem
with increasing age (highest rates in the category 10-12-year old's and dropping
with age). This finding is in line with existing research (see Chung et al, 2017;
Robins & Trzesniewski, 2005) [9], [10]. However, there is a clear gender pattern
for this result, appearing very differently for men and women. Men and women
in the age group 13-17 years old both report lower self-esteem as compared to the
10-12-year-old group. However, among men there is no further drop in self-
esteem beyond this age; indeed, both age groups 18-22-year old's and 23-29-year
old's report higher self-esteem as compared to 13-17-year olds. Conversely among
females, the drop-in self-esteem starting in 13-17-year-old group, continues
further, as 18-22-year old's and 23-29-year old's report lower levels of self-
esteem. These findings indicate a very different trajectory from that reported in
robust studies such as that by Bleidorn et al (2016) [11]. Helvig & Ruprecht
(2017) explain such ‘unconventional findings’ through cultural elements, which
influence lifespan trajectories [8]. However, it should be mentioned that even in
the Helvig & Ruprecht (2017) study self-esteem scores for women increase before
age 20, while in the present study there is no such evidence at least until age 29
[8]. This finding might be explained in terms of the gender specific developmental
pressure and tasks in late adolescence and early adulthood, e.g., it is not
uncommon that women leave high school before graduation, or get married and
start a family at this age. It might be speculated that cultural pressure might
negatively influence both self-competence and self-liking components of self-
esteem, as women struggle to meet social expectations for their gender role.
Nonetheless, this interpretation requires further investigation, through qualitative
studies which might focus on women’s perceptions of their identities within the
specific cultural context.

As regards cross-country comparisons, the study showed that mean values

for self-esteem in the present sample were lower as compared to other countries,
except for Japan. However, this comparison should be carefully considered,
because of the methodological differences between the studies (i.e., Schmitt &
Allik,2005) [5]. Even so the mean reported value for self-esteem, might be
considered above the theoretical average, i.e., positive self-esteem value which
has been replicated across cultures (Schmitt & Allik, 2005) [5].

In terms of country comparisons by age group, results of the present study

are slightly higher across all categories as compared to a similar study with the
same age groups by Helwig & Ruprecht (2017) [8]. An interesting finding is that
mean values for self-esteem were higher in the present sample for almost all age
groups (except for 18-22-year-old men and 23-29-year-old women for
Europe/Central Asia). Regarding dimensionality, the positive-negative difference

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index in the present sample is the highest as compared to other countries and also
the correlation between the dimensions is negative (all other countries reported
positive correlations). Schmitt and Allik (2005) explain such contradictory
findings by cautioning against direct cross-cultural comparisons, particularly
because negatively word items might be interpreted differently across nations [5].

Although Kosovo mostly holds collectivistic values, self-competence scores

are higher than self-liking scores and only Japan revealed slightly lower scores
than Kosovo. This finding requires further investigation, particularly as regards
the presence of any cohort effects in the findings. Indeed, authors caution the
interpretation of findings strictly in developmental terms due to the cross-
sectional and not longitudinal character of the study. Moreover, other limitations
include sample selection procedures, and subsampling diversity due to context.
Despite these limitations, the present study represents an important contribution
to the investigation of self-esteem in Kosovo and provides several directions for
further research particularly as regards gender or developmental studies.

REFERENCES
[1] Brown J.D., Marshall, M.A. The three faces of self-esteem. Self-esteem:
Issues and answers. 2006 Apr 25:4-9.
[2] Guindon M.H., editor. Self-esteem across the lifespan: Issues and
interventions. Taylor & Francis; 2009 Oct 27.
[3] Crocker J.E. What is optimal self-esteem. Self-esteem issues and answers:
A sourcebook of current perspectives. 2006:119-24.
[4] Tafarodi R.W., Milne A.B. Decomposing global self‐esteem. Journal of
personality. 2002 Aug;70(4):443-84.
[5] Schmitt D.P., Allik J. Simultaneous administration of the Rosenberg Self-
Esteem Scale in 53 nations: exploring the universal and culture-specific features
of global self-esteem. Journal of personality and social psychology. 2005
Oct;89(4):623.
[6] Rosenberg, M. Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton
university press; 1965.
[7] Kaplan H.B, Pokorny A.D. Self-derogation and psychosocial adjustment.
Journal of nervous and Mental Disease. 1969.
[8] Helwig N.E., Ruprecht M.R. Age, gender, and self-esteem: A
sociocultural look through a nonparametric lens. Archives of Scientific
Psychology. 2017 Jul 31;5(1):19.
[9] Chung J.M., Hutteman R., van Aken M.A., Denissen J.J. High, low, and
in between: Self-esteem development from middle childhood to young adulthood.
Journal of Research in Personality. 2017 Oct 1;70:122-33.

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[10] Robins R.W., Trzesniewski K.H. Self-esteem development across the

lifespan. Current directions in psychological science. 2005 Jun;14(3):158-62.
[11] Bleidorn W., Arslan R.C., Denissen J.J., Rentfrow P.J., Gebauer J.E.,
Potter J., Gosling S.D. Age and gender differences in self-esteem—A cross-
cultural window. Journal of personality and social psychology. 2016
Sep;111(3):396.
[12] Kling K.C., Hyde J.S., Showers C.J., Buswell B.N. Gender differences
in self-esteem: a meta-analysis. Psychological bulletin. 1999 Jul;125(4):470.
[13] Orth U., Maes J., Schmitt M. Self-esteem development across the life
span: a longitudinal study with a large sample from Germany. Developmental
psychology. 2015 Feb;51(2):248.
[14] Ogihara Y. The pattern of age differences in self-esteem is similar
between males and females in Japan: Gender differences in developmental
trajectories of self-esteem from childhood to old age. Cogent Psychology. 2020
Jan 1;7(1):1756147.
[15] Fanaj N., Melonashi E. A systematic literature review on self-esteem
and psychological well-being in Kosovo. InHuman and Social Sciences at the
Common Conference 2014 (pp. 103-108).

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AQUAMAN THE MOVIE AS A LATE MODERN FAIRY

TALE

Mgr. Zuzana Kvetanová, PhD.1

Assoc. Prof. PhDr. Jana Radošinská, PhD. 2
1, 2
Faculty of Mass Media Communication, University of Ss. Cyril and
Methodius, Trnava, Slovakia

ABSTRACT

The feature film Aquaman (2018, directed by James Wan) is the most
commercially successful superhero movie belonging to the DC Extended
Universe. Produced by DC Films and Warner Bros. Pictures, the motion picture
portrays a rebellious superhero with an extraordinary physical presence. The
paper aims to reflect on the movie Aquaman and its ability to function as a late
modern fairy tale. Aquaman’s genre structure includes elements of fantasy,
science-fiction and action film. However, the authors work with the assumption
that the story is, in its nature, a fairy tale involving late modern means of
expression. The first part of the text is largely theoretical, outlining the movie’s
importance and defining the genre of a fairy tale in the context of late modern
culture. Following the given line of thought, the second part of the paper presents
a narrative analysis of the film in question, which is based on Propp’s morphology
of fairy tales.
Keywords: Aquaman, DC Extended Universe, fairy tale, late modern culture,
Propp’s morphology of the folktale

INTRODUCTION

Aquaman, also known as Arthur Curry or “the King of the Seven Seas”, has
been an important character in the DC Comics’ portfolio since his debut
appearance in 1941. R. Duncan and M. J. Smith emphasize that probably no other
major comic book character created by DC has appeared in so many comic book
titles or undergone so many revisions and reinterpretations. Aquaman’s ability to
survive both on the surface and underwater allows him to battle dangerous
enemies who walk the Earth, as well as those who reside within our planet’s vast
oceanic expanses. The character was originally created by the writer Mort
Weisinger and the artist Paul Norris.[1] As a comic book character, Aquaman has
existed and thrived for more than seven decades. This unconventional superhero
may have appeared in a number of audiovisual media products (most of which
were animated and some even direct-to-DVD), but his live-action breakthrough
came along much later, with the media franchise known as the DC Extended
Universe, alongside Superman (or Man of Steel), Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash
and other DC superheroes. Mainstream Hollywood cinema has changed this fair-

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haired superhero into a tall, exotic and overly masculine man with the instantly
recognizable face of the American actor Jason Momoa.

The movie Aquaman was released in 2018. Inspired by the commercial

success of their competitors – producers of the Marvel Cinematic Universe
(MCU), media professionals responsible for establishing the DC Extended
Universe (DCEU) loosely based Arthur Curry’s live-action adventure on a range
of comic book narratives, transforming them in a manner that defines 21 st century
blockbusters with superheroic protagonists. We might say that the feature film is
a spin-off associated with the previous DCEU movies Batman v Superman: Dawn
of Justice and Justice League (2016, 2017, both directed by Zack Snyder).
Aquaman’s presence in these movies was not too prominent, as he was only
a supporting character. However, his brief appearances in the above-mentioned
film projects can also be seen as starting points for the consequent production of
Aquaman’s origin story. Aquaman is the most commercially successful product
of the DCEU, as the motion picture’s worldwide box office grosses exceeded 1.1
billion USD. Surprisingly enough, the movie’s remarkable profit was achieved
mostly thanks to non-American cinemagoers, who generated more than 70% of
its worldwide revenues.[2] It is necessary to note that in 2018, no other feature
film produced by Warner Bros. Pictures was able to accomplish box office
performance like this.

The paper’s objective is to discuss Aquaman the movie in terms of its ability
to convey both late modern cultural elements and components found in traditional
fairy tales. The basic assumption is that even though Aquaman’s story should
primarily be perceived as a science-fiction movie, given that its main protagonist
is a comic book superhero, the film’s genre determination is, in fact, much more
complex. Since our ambition is to point out that Aquaman the movie is rather a
result of extensive genre hybridization involving elements of science-fiction,
fantasy (especially fairy tale) and action movies, we apply the principles of
narrative analysis in order to identify the different genre components. The analysis
is largely based on V. Propp’s Morphology of the Folk Tale [3] and
complemented by procedures typical for discourse analysis. The main research
question leads towards identifying which genre elements can be identified within
the movie’s narrative structure. According to L. Rusňáková, narrative analysis is
closely related to genre studies. Each media product has obvious genre indicators
that guide us, letting us know how we should approach its story. We understand
“genre” as a set of formal and content elements of a specific work. It also
determines the communication’s target audiences. While talking about genres, we
refer to stable, recurring types or categories of media products characterized by
their common features (thematic, compositional, formal elements).[4] Following
this line of thought, we pose three research questions:

RQ1: Which genres can be identified in Aquaman?

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RQ2: To what extent the film corresponds with Propp’s morphology of the
folk tale?

RQ3: Which aspects of late modern culture are communicated via the
movie’s storyline?

AQUAMAN: HOLLYWOOD’S MOST SUCCESSFUL

“METAHUMAN”

As noted above, Aquaman’s main protagonist is, predictably enough, Arthur

Curry, a young man nicknamed “Aquaman” by social media. Curry is thought to
be a so-called metahuman, in other words, a superhero (“metahumans” are present
in all movies comprising the DC Extended Universe). The hero is a hyper-
individualist. As the audience can see, he often helps people in distress, especially
if the threats they are facing are related to the aquatic element. He grew up with
his father Tom in the coastal area of Maine, the easternmost state of the USA.
Curry bears strong Polynesian facial features of his father and he sometimes uses
expressions corresponding to the Maori language. The tattoos that cover large
parts of his chest and arms are also Maori. Although his father’s Maori ancestry
is obvious, both men act as regular Americans stereotyped by decades of
Hollywood production, driving a pick-up truck and spending their free time in a
local pub. The main character’s parents named their son Arthur with an explicit
reference to King Arthur, the legendary figure of Anglo-Saxon culture, which
only underlines Aquaman’s strong mythological framework. In addition, at the
time of his birth, local television reported on the Tropical Storm “Arthur”. The
hero differs significantly from the numerous comic book versions of himself,
especially due to his exotic appearance. Curry is not blond with pale skin (these
features, paradoxically, fully apply to Orm, his half-brother and main opponent),
but rather a heavily muscled, dark-haired man.

It is reasonable to presume that the movie’s international success is partly

associated with the “global” nature of the depicted events. The prologue portrays
the past, mainly the circumstances preceding Arthur Curry’s birth. These events
occurred in 1985, in a fictitious coastal town called Amnesty Bay, Maine. This is
an important location associated with the superhero’s personal history, as the
narrative repeatedly goes back in time, highlighting key moments of Aquaman’s
childhood and adolescence. A romantic subplot involving his parents is located
within the premises of the local lighthouse. Arthur Curry’s parents have been
separated for a long time, although not voluntarily. Now an adult, Curry
irregularly returns to Amnesty Bay to visit his father. However, the visually and
narratively dominant environment is represented by the fictitious underwater
empire of Atlantis, which is an important part of ancient mythology.
The spectacular portrayal of the Atlantis is, in many ways, inspired by similar
locations included in blockbuster films produced by different companies. As it
seems, the Atlantis can be accessed only via a rainbow-like bridge (a similar
visual interpretation of a bridge is also present in the film trilogy centering on the

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superhero Thor, released by Marvel Studios), and some districts of the underwater
city have similar design of lighting and flora as the planet Pandora (depicted in
the feature film Avatar released by 20th Century Fox in 2009). The moment the
protagonist (as a child) reveals a part of his superhuman abilities takes place in
Boston’s “water world” called the New England Aquarium. Much later, while
searching for a magical object (Atlan’s Sacred Trident), Aquaman travels across
the Sahara Desert and then visits architectural monuments in Sicily. Some action
elements of the story (the battle with a sea monster, the rescue of a Russian
submarine) occur in unspecified places below the ocean’s surface. The individual
locations are mostly fictitious (the exceptions being the Sahara Desert, the Boston
Aquarium and the island of Sicily).

BORN TO RULE THE ATLANTIS: AQUAMAN AS A FAIRY

TALE

The basic assumption we work with is that Aquaman the movie functions as
a late modern fairy tale. “Fairy tale” is often defined as a subgenre of fantasy. C.
Baldick explains that “fantasy” is most often seen as a general term for any kind
of fictional work, which is not devoted to realistic representation of the known
world; at least not primarily. Fantasy tends to portray imagined worlds, in which
magical powers and other impossibilities are accepted or rather expected to
appear. When talking about “fairy tale”, the author argues that it is a traditional
folktale adapted and written down for the entertainment of (mostly) children. It
features marvelous events and characters – e.g., princesses, talking animals or
witches.[5] Our aim is to interpret Aquaman’s narrative with emphasis on the
movie’s genre structure, which is, as we believe, dominated by fantasy (fairy tale).
However, other genres are included as well. We might even point out that the film
in question is based on science fantasy. According to T. Mirrlees, science fantasy
is probably the most effective genre hybrid of today. This specific combination of
science-fiction and fantasy is so successful thanks to its ability to fulfil the
expectations of young viewers, visual formability (such a genre hybrid can be
effortlessly transformed into a digital game or a toy collection) and tendency to
arouse fan interest in “esoteric knowledge” about the work itself (the audience is
interested to learn more about this engaging, fascinating fictional world, to get to
know it better).[6] The mentioned combination of genres allows producers to use
the means of expression of the individual film types (the magical aspect of fantasy,
the tendency of science-fiction to depict the future or other planets, and the
spectacular scenes of destruction typical for action films).[7]

E. Branigan comments on V. Propp’s approach to the developmental logic of

narrative organization by saying that its point lies in identifying various actions
that are present in storylines. Although they might differ, they fulfill the same
functions. Propp actually found that in a hundred Russian folktales, there were
only thirty-one functions. Some of them might have been omitted in particular
cases, but they mostly occurred in the same order in all the stories.[8] Aquaman’s
movie story is, of course, made in Hollywood, on basis of American cultural

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values and universally entertaining topics suitable for international distribution.

And yet we can observe that the analyzed motion picture’s narrative structure
largely corresponds with Propp’s morphology of a fairy tale.[3] The following
analysis thus merges Propp’s approach towards fairy tales and their narrative
structure with discourse elements that establish connections between traditional
fantastic stories and late modern cultural phenomena.

Aquaman’s story begins with the phase of absence. Most of his later actions
are driven by the need to cope with the moment when his mother decided to leave
her husband and son to keep them safe. This forced division of his family provides
the storyline with certain tension. As an adult, Arthur Curry expresses his anger
due to the fact that Atlanna, former Queen of the Atlantis and his mother, is now
missing and presumably dead just because she left her realm, loved Arthur’s father
and bore him a son. Interdiction, i.e., the moment Curry’s story complicates
occurs when he rescues a Russian submarine under a pirate attack, leaving the two
ruthless mercenaries who planned the attack, a father and his adult son, to die
inside the sinking vessel. However, David Kane, younger of the two, survives and
he will later become Black Manta, one of Aquaman’s most dangerous enemies.
Aquaman thus violates the interdiction, which means that Jesse Kane dies. The
viewer then finds out that the Kanes work for Orm, Arthur Curry’s stepbrother,
the current emperor of the Atlantis. Orm plans to openly attack the “surface-
dwellers”, meaning people who live on the Earth’s surface. The Kanes were not
able to defeat Aquaman, but David Kane still delivers Orm the submarine. During
the phase of reconnaissance, Orm stages a triumphant arrival to the underwater
kingdom of Xebel, seeking allies who would support his war efforts. Xebel’s king,
Nereus, reminds Orm that he has an older half-brother Arthur that may make a
claim to the throne (delivery; the villain now focuses on eliminating his intended
victim). Following this moment, Orm earns Nereus’ trust through arranging and
seemingly stopping an attack of the dysfunctional Russian submarine against
Xebel. This means that he uses trickery to acquire something he values – Nereus’
loyalty and army.

The above-mentioned military alliance allows Orm to inflict a massive

tsunami wave, i.e., to directly endanger Arthur Curry’s remaining family and all
people living in coastal areas, which are now flooded by toxic waste (complicity).
By doing so, the villain harms Tom Curry – Aquaman’s father barely survives the
tsunami, almost drowning after his car is hit by the water and debris (villainy).
The phase of mediation closely introduces another important character –
an Atlantean Princess named Mera, Nereus’ daughter. Mera saves Tom Curry’s
life and warns Aquaman that Orm is assembling a huge army to attack and
eventually exterminate the “surface-dwellers”. Considering this information and
the previous events, Arthur decides to act (counteraction). The hero agrees to
join Mera, which also means that he is reminded of his royal heritage. They leave
together and the main protagonist prepares for his first visit of the Atlantis
(departure). The first function of the donor is depicted via a flashback
uncovering crucial moments of Arthur’s teenage defiance. His helper is Vulko,

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Atlanna’s trusted ally who tries to teach him how to live, fight and think like a
true Atlantean, although with no success. This moment is used to better explain
Arthur’s ability to “understand” all sea animals and extraordinary invulnerability
when it comes to conventional weapons such as guns or knives.

Secretly entering the Atlantis, Aquaman meets Vulko again and acquires
information on Orm’s skills and powers. He also learns about the mythical Trident
of Atlan, an ultimate weapon made of Poseidon’s steel that would allow the one
who wields it to rule the Atlantis (hero’s reaction). The map leading to the lost
Trident should be acquired thanks to an ancient recording provided by Vulko
(receipt of a magical agent). However, the hero’s presence in this hostile
environment is uncovered and he is transferred against his will – to face Orm for
the first time (guidance). Captured and chained, the main protagonist expresses
his stubbornness and self-confidence by challenging Orm, demanding the Combat
of the Kings (struggle). Arthur is also insulted because of his lineage – Orm calls
him a “half-breed”, since his father is just a “surface-dweller”. While waiting for
the Combat to begin, Aquaman refuses Vulko’s reasonable arguments. He is
branded (marked) by wearing Atlantean armor. The phase of victory is replaced
by defeat, because Arthur is not strong enough to prevail. However, Mera’s
intervention allows him to escape from captivity (liquidation). Both of them are
presumed dead.

Aquaman is now supposed to return (go back home). He does return, in a

sense; however, it is still necessary to find the Trident, because without it, Arthur
will not be able to face Orm again. However, Orm soon finds out that both Arthur
and Mera are alive and looking for the Trident. Orm contacts David Kane,
providing him with Atlantean armor and technology. Kane now becomes Black
Manta and seeks to kill Aquaman and his associate (pursuit). Arthur is once again
rescued by Mera – even though he defeats Black Manta, his wounds are quite
severe and he would not be able to travel without her help. The couple’s
unrecognized arrival to the Trench (where Arthur’s mother was executed for
high treason and where the Trident should be) transfers Aquaman and Mera to
a mythical world. The hero finds out that his mother Atlanna is actually alive and
strives to obtain the Trident so all of them can have a chance to return. No clear
unfounded claims occur.

The hero faces a difficult task once again. In order to acquire the Trident, he
has to defeat a mythical creature called Karathen, the guardian of Atlan’s body
and the weapon itself. Arthur proves that he is worthy of wielding the Trident not
by using his physical strength, but rather by his ability to understand the creature
and communicate with it (as the first man since Atlan, the original owner of the
artifact). Since the hero is deemed worthy, he succeeds and rips the Trident from
Atlan’s hand (solution). Based on these actions, Aquaman becomes “the one true
King of the Atlantis” (recognition). Arthur thus saves both Mera and Atlanna,
returning back to the Atlantis to challenge Orm. He does so at the moment when
Orm is trying to gain another important alliance by attacking the Brine Kingdom.

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Arthur’s interference leads to Orm’s defeat (exposure). Wielding the Trident,

Aquaman not only eliminates the attacking military force, but also uses this
opportunity to demonstrate his true power – the ability to command all creatures
living in the ocean. Aquaman’s transfiguration actually happened before, when
he obtained the Trident – he now wears golden armor fit for a King. The story arc
closes by two essential concluding aspects – Orm’s punishment (he is defeated
and imprisoned) and “wedding”. Arthur neither marries Mera nor he proposes to
her, but he does become the King of the Atlantis.

CONCLUSION

Answering the first research question (RQ1), we may conclude that Aquaman
the movie is primarily a fantasy feature film. Its narrative structure suggests that
the work is not too different from classic fairy tales. The motion picture’s main
plot is obviously dominated by late modern fantasy centered on the past. Elements
of fantasy can be identified within the circumstances leading to the hero’s birth
(Queen Atlanna refused a forced marriage and escaped the Atlantis, eventually
falling in love with a lighthouse keeper). Another point worth mentioning is the
Atlantis itself – the mythical “lost” underwater realm filled with knowledge,
riches and technologies that are inaccessible and unknown to those who live on
the solid ground. Arthur Curry or rather Aquaman finds its feminine counterpart
in the stubborn Atlantean Princess Mera. Personalizing distinctively late modern
character traits, Mera is no damsel in distress; on the contrary, her role is assertive,
because she saves Arthur’s life more than once, provides him with the necessary
knowledge and stands by his side while facing their common enemies.

The previous analysis shows that Aquaman the movie does not follow
Propp’s morphology to the smallest detail (RQ2), but it does function as a late
modern fantasy story inspired by classic fairy tales. For example, the phase of
interdiction (someone trying to warn the hero against some action) is outlined
only implicitly. Arthur’s father does not try to stop him, he only suggests that the
hero’s tendency to interfere and help is a logical consequence of his mother’s
temperament and character. Moreover, when trying to defeat the villain (victory),
Aquaman does not prevail and has to accept Mera’s help to escape and survive.
Furthermore, there are no unfounded claims and Arthur’s transfiguration
occurs prior to defeating Orm (exposure and punishment) – at the moment when
he obtains the Trident.

The massive military conflict between hostile underwater kingdoms is largely

fantastic as well. The presence of magical artifacts is evident and important,
especially in the case of Atlan’s Trident, allegedly the creation of the Greek God
Poseidon. However, the movie’s visual elements are dynamic thanks to the used
genre conventions of action films. We may mention the moments when the main
protagonist rescues a submarine attacked by modern-day pirates, escapes a
tsunami in his car or fights against a mercenary dressed in a futuristic battle suit.
Later he faces a mythical monster and finally defeats his half-brother, the King of

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the Atlantis. All these scenes are action-based and spectacular. On the other hand,
the included science-fiction elements are only complementary and their
significance is thus limited. Their visible manifestations are tied to vessels with
futuristic design and technologically advanced combat suits, which allow the
ordinary people living in the underwater world (the Atlantis) to breathe on the
Earth’s surface – it is clear that only the highborn like Arthur, Mera or Orm are
able to breathe in any environment.

The movie in question involves many different social meanings typical for
late modern cultural framework. They are represented and embodied by its
characters. As noted by A. Plencner, D. Kraľovičová and M. Stropko, visual and
narrative functions of feature films include much more than their aesthetic
frameworks. Any movie narrative – even Aquaman’s storyline that is largely
driven by fantasy tropes – thus has to refer to elements of everyday life and depict
“ordinary” struggles the audiences are able to sympathize with. These aspects
might be defined as “social meanings” and filmmakers use them to emphasize
the authenticity of their motion pictures.[9] The film is dominated by man’s
struggle against nature (although Aquaman is a metahuman, a superhero).
Arthur Curry can spend any amount of time underwater and talk while swimming
in the ocean. The motive is also present in the scene when the tsunami hits the
coast of Maine and the main protagonist tries to save his drowning father. The
binary opposition of good against evil is closely linked to encountering irrational
forces. Aquaman stops the impending military conflict between the inhabitants of
the Earth and the people living in the Atlantis. The conflict is personalized by his
half-brother Orm, along with the motive of conspiracy, as Orm tries to control all
the underwater kingdoms through various lies and intrigues. However, Arthur
reaches his goal and along the way he finds his (allegedly dead) mother. Trying
to help her and at the same time acquire the ultimate magical object (Atlan’s
Trident), he challenges a mythical sea monster (irrational force). Aquaman’s
mother, Atlanna, portrays “Promethean revolt” (she left her underwater
kingdom and chose a simple life alongside an ordinary man). The desire for love
is tied to all her actions – the hero’s parents meet again at the end of the story,
despite many years of separation. Aquaman also fulfills his role of a savior. He
becomes the King of the Atlantis, prevents war and millions of casualties and, as
a representative of both worlds, maintains a delicate balance between the
“surface-dwellers” and the inhabitants of the underwater empire.

Regarding key elements of late modern culture included in the story (RQ3),
the analyzed movie is marked by infantilization. According to B. Barber, this is a
necessary outcome of the imperatives of late modern global economy, which
maintains its growth thanks to producing more goods and services than we need
(and can consume). This strengthens the economic importance of children and
adolescents.[10] Although Arthur Curry is a grown-up man, his reactions are
often comically immature (e.g., while escaping Orm, he mentions that his
intention to travel “in the belly of a whale” is inspired by Pinocchio. Mera later
finds out that “Pinocchio” is not a military strategist, but a character from

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a children’s book which Arthur has never read). The movie’s narrative also
reflects on contemporary discussions on climate change and global warming.
Pollution of the oceans provides Orm with a cause – in his words, it is legitimate
to wage war against the “surface-dwellers”, because they pollute waters and
poison the children of the sea, making the skies burn and the oceans boil. The
most obvious manifestation is associated with the aftermath of the massive
tsunami. These tidal waves cast tons of toxic waste, which is currently disrupting
the oceanic ecosystem, ashore; in front of everyone’s eyes. However, the tsunami
is a clear act of aggression too, as it causes widespread destruction of humanity’s
defensive and offensive naval forces stationed across the high seas. Today’s
media culture is portrayed through the phenomenon of “selfie photograph”
(holding an absurdly pink smartphone, Arthur’s compatriots from Amnesty Bay
insist on taking a picture with him, because they are his fans). The film openly
acknowledges its fantasy roots by placing H. P. Lovecraft’s novella The Dunwich
Horror inside Tom Curry’s home. Jules Verne’s work is mentioned as well; the
movie’s prologue refers to one of his fantasy stories. The quote comments on
Aquaman’s parents and their love, claiming that when two ships are put together
in the open sea without wind or tide, they will eventually come together. Other
pop culture references include using a remix of Depeche Mode’s song It’s No
Good at the moment when Black Manta experiments with his battle suit. The same
intradiegetic principle is applied when Arthur and Mera visit Sahara – the initial
part of their rather awkward desert adventure is acoustically accompanied by a
remixed version of Toto’s Africa.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The paper was elaborated within a national research project supported by the
Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the
Slovak Republic and the Slovak Academy of Sciences (VEGA) No. 1/0283/20,
titled ‘Synergy of the Media Industry Segments in the Context of Critical Political
Economy of Media’.

REFERENCES
[1] Duncan, R., Smith, M. J., Icons of the American Comic Book: From
Captain America to Wonder Woman, United States of America, 2013, pp. 17-20.
[2] Aquaman. Available at: https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1477
834/?ref_=bo_se_r_1
[3] Propp, V., Morfológia rozprávky, Slovak Republic, 1969, pp. 35-67.
[4] Rusňáková, L., Naratívna analýza a jej miesto vo vedeckom diskurze
mediálnych štúdií, Slovak Republic, 2019, p. 59.
[5] Baldick, C., Dictionary of Literary Terms, United Kingdom, 2015, pp.
132-137.

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[6] Mirrlees, T., Global Entertainment Media: Between Cultural Imperialism

and Cultural Globalization, United States of America, 2013, p. 187.
[7] Radošinská, J., Kvetanová, Z., Rusňáková, L., Globalizovaný filmový
priemysel, Czech Republic, 2020, pp. 177-178.
[8] Branigan, E., Narrative Comprehension and Film, United Kingdom, 1992,
pp. 118-119.
[9] Plencner, A., Kraľovičová, D., Stropko, M.: Hero Transformations in
Contemporary Mainstream Film, European Journal of Science and Theology,
Romania, vol. 10/issue 1, pp. 81-83, 2014.
[10] Barber, B.: Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize
Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole, United States of America, 2007, pp. 5-8.

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CONFIDENCE AS A MODULATOR IN COVID-19

PANDEMIC BEHAVIORS AND PERSPECTIVES?

M.Sc. Afton M. Nelson1

Assist. Prof. Dr. Kristijan Civljak2
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Heather Mitchell3
1
Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
2
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, United States
3
Webster University, United States

ABSTRACT

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals have been divided
about the best course of action. The media has continued to highlight aspects of
the uncertainty and discontent of individuals around the globe. Although
fundamental, general confidence in oneself and in others may largely contribute
to such behaviors and perspectives. The present study investigated an array of
variables pertaining to pandemic-specific confidence, decision-making, and
subjective perspectives. This article addresses the findings concerning confidence
in the pandemic within and across cultures. 622 complete questionnaires were
collected through an online survey, of which 561 were divided into three cultural
groups (United States, Other Western countries, Non-Western countries) and
analyzed across confidence contexts. Cultural groups were based on geography,
response frequency, and general cultural tendencies. The findings indicate greater
confidence in self-relevant contexts, such as own actions and decision-making,
compared to other-relevant contexts, in others’ actions and decision-making.
Confidence further differentiated across cultural groups, demonstrating minute
but notable differences in reported confidence across contexts. These findings
provide preliminary evidence that confidence is an underlying modulator in
pandemic behaviors and decision-making. Such findings also suggest potential
differences across cultures, which should be further expounded on in future
research.
Keywords: COVID-19, confidence, pandemic perspectives, behaviors,
decision-making

INTRODUCTION

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced new degrees of uncertainty across

the globe. In early 2020, the implementation of restrictions resulted in numerous
protests against regulations, masks, and testing. While the media typically depicts
the most captivating stories, an entirely different perspective urged individuals to
abide by governmental regulations and health organizations’
recommendations. The two polarizing perspectives seemingly share a common
denominator: confidence.

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Confidence is arguably a silent, key factor driving our actions and choices.
Numerous studies have linked confidence and decision-making, even identifying
the neural networks related to confidence [1]. The effects of confidence are
typically documented with respect to areas of expertise, such as clinical decision-
making [2] or group decision-making [3]. Research has demonstrated that
subjective confidence is predictive of information seeking in decision-making [4].
Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the uncertainty through
confidence in governmental decision-making and misinformation [5][6] and even
our ability to “win” against the virus [7]. However, the contextual nature of
confidence concerning self and other and how this is represented across cultures
has yet to be investigated. More specifically, the timely and unprecedented nature
of the COVID-19 pandemic calls for further exploration as to how confidence
might modulate behaviors and decision-making during a crisis within and across
cultures. Therefore, the study aimed to investigate confidence and decision-
making within the pandemic, as well as exploring cross-cultural differences. We
explored the role of confidence as a possible, modulating factor in pandemic
behaviors in the present article.

METHODS

Supplementary materials, including the full questionnaire, translations, raw

data, and preprocessed data are available on OSF: https://osf.io/sjhdy/.

Participants

Six hundred and fifty-five respondents voluntarily filled out the complete
survey. Exclusion criteria consisted of individuals under the age of 18 years,
failure to complete the survey in full, and failure to coherently respond to the
questions. Eleven respondents were omitted due to the minimum age criterion,
and an additional 22 respondents were omitted for obscure or non-sensical
answers. Six hundred and twenty-two respondents were included in the following
analyses. Respondents were organized into three groups during the time of survey
completion: United States (N = 224), Other Western countries (N = 211), and
Non-Western countries (N = 187). Nationality was initially the grouping variable
of interest, but geographical location was substituted due to a high number of
responses that confused nationality with race. Note, a mix of nationalities could
be responding from countries other than their home country. For meaningful
group comparisons, 187 responses from the United States and from the Other
Western countries groups were selected at random and used for the final analyses.
Thus, the total sample analyzed included 561 participants.

The three cultural groups were characterized by their geographic position,

response frequency, and the ideological construct of tradition. The concept of
“Western vs. Non-Western” is an ideological construct based on the cultural
heritage and traditions of a nation’s practices. Although no finite definition exists
for westernization, it is rooted in colonialism, modernization, and globalization

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by philosophical conceptualization [8]. Geographic commonalities also exist

amongst the “Western vs. Non-Western” distinction [9]. We utilized both
ideologic traditions and geographic location to sparse the respondents into cultural
groups. Respondents from the United States (US) were sorted into a separate
category from other western countries, given the high response frequency. Other
Western countries (OW) were defined as those with European-American ties and
includes respondents located in North America, Europe, or Australia. Non-
Western countries (NW) included respondents located in South America, Africa,
Middle East, and Asia.

In total, participants responded from 58 countries, most of which included

ten or less respondents (n = 49 countries). Table 1 includes a demographic report
of the final data. A full list of the countries and their associated geographic group,
as well as a full breakdown of all demographic data are reported in the
supplementary materials.
Table 1. Mean age and standard deviation are provided. Gender is reported
as M (male), F (female), NB (non-binary), and O (other). Education is reported
as JH (junior high/middle school), HS (high school), B (Bachelor’s degree), PG
(postgraduate work). The risk group is reported as a yes or no (y, n).
Source: Own source
n per group = 187 US OW NW Total (N = 561)
Age 42.20 (15.03) 29.11 (9.72) 28.81 (10.28) 33.37 (13.43)
Gender: 50, 137, 0, 0 40, 146, 1, 0 58, 128, 0, 1 148, 411, 1, 1
M,F, NB, O
Edu: 0, 18, 64, 105 5, 42, 76, 64 1, 36, 88, 62 6, 96, 228, 231
JH, HS, B, PG
Risk group: y, n 53, 134 21, 166 21, 166 95, 466

Study Design

Various social media outlets and university channels distributed the online
survey for five months during the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic and
accompanying restrictions (May 26, 2020 through October 26, 2020). The present
study’s survey was designed in English and implemented through Qualtrics.
Given the international nature of the study, the survey was translated into 18
languages with the help of translators and Qualtrics’ translation function. These
translations allowed for greater distribution to non-English speakers. The survey
consisted of five parts: 1) demographic questions, 2) personal-pandemic opinions,
3) confidence surrounding the pandemic, 4) a pandemic-phrased decision-making
task, and 5) two standardized questionnaires. We will discuss confidence
surrounding the pandemic.

Given the scope of the present article, further details concerning the decision-
making, empathy, and qualitative perspectives will be written in a coinciding
article. Notably, culture was initially assessed through Hofstede’s cultural

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dimensions on the Value Survey Module 2013 [VSM; 10]. However, an

insufficient number of samples was obtained from each country to compute a
meaningful cultural index. Therefore, cultural groups were categorized as
previously described.

The demographic and personal opinion questions concerned participants’

experiences with COVID-19 (e.g., Have you or a family member been infected?)
and their opinions concerning the pandemic (e.g., What is your stance on the
current restrictions in your country?). Participants were additionally asked to rate
(%) their confidence on a series of eight questions concerning self and others’
actions or decisions during the pandemic (e.g., How confident are you in your
own social distancing practices?).

Statistical Analysis

The present analysis focused on various confidence contexts within and

across cultures. To explore confidence contexts with regards to the pandemic,
visual inspection, Kendall’s tau correlation, and a paired Wilcoxon t-test were
used in R Studio [11]. Quasi-binomial regressions were further conducted for the
confidence contexts to assess confidence across cultures.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

As previously mentioned, we divided the results into multiple papers to better

communicate our findings [see 12]. The study included an array of variables, such
as demographics, personal-pandemic opinions, confidence contexts (8 items),
decision-making scenarios (9 items), and an empathy (IRI-B) index. Descriptive
statistics are noted in Table 2 for insight into the pandemic-specific opinions of
the present sample. The results below focus on the confidence contexts,
pertaining to the pandemic, within and across cultures.

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Table 2. Descriptive data pertaining to participants’ personal-pandemic

opinions and behaviors.
Source: Own source
Restriction Stance n (out of 561)
Return to normal daily activities 47
Return to normal daily activities, but self- 190
regulate
Remain under restrictions, but loosened 189
Remain under the same restrictions 96
Implement tighter restrictions 39
Infection Likelihood
very unlikely 77
somewhat unlikely 150
neither likely nor unlikely 178
somewhat likely 116
very likely 40
Health Consciousness
Not at all 23
Seldom 40
Sometimes 93
Usually 217
Very much 188
Media Factchecking
No, never 5
No, seldom 19
Sometimes 97
Yes, usually 242
Yes, always 198

Assumption Tests

Given the inherently non-normal nature of public opinion data, particularly

for capped range dependent variables (e.g., 0-100), a quasi-binomial regression
was used. Additional correlation analyses utilized the Kendall’s tau method,
considering the large sample size. A posteriori observation led to classification of
the confidence contexts as self-relevant and other-relevant. When classified as
such, the data violated normality, W = 0.952, p < .001, as expected. Therefore, a
paired Wilcoxon test was adopted.

Confidence in Context

During the survey development, confidence was included to focus on various

individual aspects of behaviors and decision-making concerning the pandemic.
Visual inspection during data analysis demonstrated a notable pattern across
contexts when assessing the frequency of reported confidence (i.e., the number of
people who reported 0-10% or 10-20% confidence; see Figure 1). The first, third,
and fifth confidence contexts show a general left skewness, wherein the second,

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fourth, sixth, and eighth contexts demonstrate a common trend toward a normal
distribution. The seventh confidence context shows no specific spike in frequency
distribution. Actions or judgements pertaining to the self are assessed in the first,
third, fifth, and seventh concern (e.g., How confident are you in your own
decision-making?). Despite the relatively flat curve in the seventh context, the
wording of the context arguably qualifies the context as self. Further, actions and
judgments of others are assessed in the second, fourth, sixth, and eighth
confidence contexts (e.g., How confident are you in the social distancing practices
of others?). These examples are the simplest and most evident form of this
categorization (self vs. other), and the trend exists across each confidence context
(see Table 3).
Fig. 1. The plot demonstrates the response frequency (in terms of density) of
reported confidence for each confidence context. A trend is evident across the
question types. Further inspection of the question phrasal revealed a trend of self-
relevant (C1, 3, 5, 7) and other-relevant (C2, 4, 6, 8) questions.
Source: Own source

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Table 3. The categorization (self vs. other) of the confidence contexts used in
the present study is shown. Contexts that are centered around one’s own actions
or judgements qualify as self, whereby contexts that are centered around the
actions or judgments of others qualify as other. Clarification of each contexts’
grouping is bolded.
Source: Own source
Self
C1 How confident are you in your own decision-making?
C3 How confident are you in your own social distancing practices?
How confident are you that your beliefs are the best course of action for your
C5 country?
How confident are you in the actions taken by your country concerning the
C7 pandemic?
Other
C2 How confident are you in the media you observe?
C4 How confident are you in others’ social distancing practices?
C6 How confident are you that your beliefs are representative of other’s beliefs?
How confident are you in the actions taken by other countries concerning the
C8 pandemic?

A correlation analysis further minimally supported this trend in which the

self/other categorization remained, except for the seventh confidence context.
Furthermore, some contexts also correlated across the classification groups, such
as the second confidence context coinciding with each confidence context. To
further understand the association and possible self/other classification between
contexts, a paired Wilcoxon t-test revealed a statistical difference of reported
confidence between the context’s categorizations, V = 1626191, p < .0001. From
the contexts centered around the self, participants were significantly more likely
to report higher confidence in their own actions, beliefs, or judgments (median =
80%) than questions centered around others’ actions, beliefs, or judgments
(median = 50%).

Confidence across cultural groups

Culture largely modulates how one perceives the world, so we aimed to

investigate cross-cultural differences of the confidence contexts. The present
analysis investigated the reported confidence concerning self and others’
behaviors and decision-making across the three groups, United States (US), Other
Western countries (OW), and Non-Western countries (NW). Generally, the results
yielded differences in reported confidence across cultures and contexts. Figure 2
depicts the group differences across all confidence contexts.

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Fig. 2. The plot demonstrates the mean reported confidence for each
confidence context across the groups.
Source: Own source

A quasi-binomial regression was conducted on each of the eight confidence

contexts to assess cultural group differences. Percentage ratings (of confidence)
were treated as proportions for the analysis, in which responses that were 0 or 1
were adjusted to fall within the proportional range using the following equation:
x′= (x(N−1) + s) / N [13]. This equation corrects for values on the proportional
bounds, where x’ is the corrected value, x is the raw value, N is the sample size,
and s is a constant between 0 and 1 [13]. The present study used a constant of 0.5.
The US group was treated as the baseline comparison group for the regression
interpretation. Some respondents did not provide an appropriate answer type (e.g.,
missing words or words such as ‘completely’ that needed clarification). Because
this was not the case across all confidence contexts, those with unfitting response
types were treated as missing values and kept in the overall sample for analysis.
Those with missing values for the given confidence context were excluded from
only that regression. This method was to ensure the strength of the sample by
maintaining responses from across cultures. The n used for each regression is
reported.

“How confident are you in your own decision-making?”

This first confidence context yielded statistical differences between US

respondents (M = 0.862 [86.2%], SD = 0.12) and OW respondents (M = 0.791
[79.1%], SD = 0.15), as well as between US respondents and NW respondents (M
= 0.81 [81.0%], SD = 0.16). Upon group differences, a follow-up model
controlled for age and political position across cultural groups (Table 4). Age and
political position were selected as demographic variables of interest upon
inspection from a correlation matrix of the demographic variables. The reported
confidence of US and NW respondents were no longer statistically different when
controlling for these demographic variables. However, age elicited a notable

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influence on the regression, suggesting that it might be an underlying predictor

for the context and within the NW group. Thus, the most prominent difference,
even when controlling for influential demographic variables, is nested between
US and OW respondents, with US respondents reporting greater confidence in
their own decision-making than OW respondents. While reported confidence was
also greater for US respondents compared to NW respondents, the difference was
not statistically considerable once the demographic predictors were included.

“How confident are you in the media you consume?”

The second confidence context demonstrated no notable difference across

cultural groups (US: M = 0.525 [52.5%], SD = 0.24; OW: M = 0.544 [54.4%];
SD = 0.21; NW: M = 0.557 [55.7%], SD = 0.24; Table X). Interestingly, this
suggests media perspectives do not differ by cultural groups in the present sample.
No follow-up regression was necessary to control for demographic variables,
given no difference between cultural groups.

“How confident are you in your own social-distancing practices?”

The third confidence context statistically differed between cultural groups.

The US respondents (M = 0.844 [84.4%], SD = 0.15) reported greater confidence
than OW respondents (M = 0.760 [76.0%], SD = 0.19) and NW respondents (M
= 0.796 [79.6%], SD = 0.19). The follow-up regression demonstrated a driving
effect of age, in which the effect of group difference statistically reduced for both
the OW and NW levels in comparison to the US level. A statistical difference was
still present between US and OW respondents. The effect of age suggests that
confidence in our own social distancing, at least in the present study, increases
with age. Older participants may take more responsibility to practice safe social
distancing, and thus, their confidence in their own actions is increased.
Additionally, this finding could be reflective of the toll the virus has taken on the
elderly population.

“How confident are you in others’ social distancing practices?”

The fourth confidence context demonstrated a similar outcome as the second

confidence context. Neither OW (M = 0.480 [48.0%], SD = 0.20) nor NW (M =
0.492 [49.2%], SD = 0.25) respondents statistically differed in reported
confidence from US respondents (M = 0.451 [45.1%], SD = 0.22). Despite the
lack of statistically notable differences between OW and US respondents, NW
respondents trended toward greater reported confidence in other’s social
distancing practices. A follow-up regression was conducted to investigate the
extent to which age and political position influenced cultural group differences.
The follow-up regression yielded differences between cultural groups and the US
base level, in which age was marginally influential, and conservative respondents
were more likely to report greater confidence compared to liberal respondents.

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This demonstrates that the demographic data is largely influential within the
cultural groups, given the notable change in statistical outputs.

“How confident are you that your beliefs are the best course of action for
your country?”

In the fifth confidence context, OW respondents (M = 0.689 [68.9%], SD =

0.23) and NW respondents (M = 0.701 [70.1%], SD = 0.24) reported greater
confidence compared to US respondents (M = 0.634 [63.4%], SD = 0.25). This
suggests both OW and NW respondents were more confident that their beliefs
were the best course of action for their countries, compared to US respondents
who reported lesser confidence in that same belief. Further analysis indicated that
group differences were greater when age mediated reported confidence,
suggesting that confidence in one’s own decisions and ego-centric beliefs about
those decisions is mediated across the lifespan. Furthermore, the difference
between the cultural groups was surprising, given that US respondents indicated
less confidence that their beliefs represented the best course of action for the
United States. This contradicts the previous results (i.e., C1: How confident are
you in your own decision-making) where US respondents displayed greater
confidence in their own decision-making. Such conflicting findings may
demonstrate uncertainty.

“How confident are you that your beliefs are representative of other’s
beliefs?”

In the sixth confidence context, OW (M = 0.553 [55.3%], SD = 0.23) and

NW (M = 0.543 [54.3%], SD = 0.25) respondents were, on average, significantly
more confident than US respondents (M = 0.489 [48.9%], SD = 0.23), indicating
that US respondents reported less confidence that their own beliefs were
representative of others than the other cultural groups. Further analysis indicated
that cultural differences in reported confidence remained, despite age being a
mediating factor of reported confidence.

“How confident are you in the actions taken by your country concerning
the pandemic?”

In the seventh confidence context, a considerable difference in reported

confidence existed between the US and the other cultural groups. US respondents
(M = 0.362 [36.2%], SD = 0.23) reported markedly lower confidence in the
actions taken by their country compared to OW (M = 0.601 [60.1%], SD = 0.27)
and NW (M = 0.573 [57.3%], SD = 0.27) respondents. The follow-up regression
indicated an influential effect of political position, while cultural group
differences remained. Specifically, conservative respondents were more likely to
report greater confidence in their country’s actions than liberal respondents.

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“How confident are you in the actions taken by other countries

concerning the pandemic?”

The eighth confidence context revealed reported confidence was notably

average, given the confidence reported in their own countries. Reported
confidence was similar across cultural groups, with a statistical difference
between US (M = 0.586 [58.6%], SD = 0.21) and OW (M = 0.523 [52.3%], SD =
0.24) respondents. No statistical difference in confidence existed between US and
NW (M = 0.549 [54.9%], SD = 0.24) respondents. A follow-up regression was
conducted to assess possible covariates acting on the relationship between the US
and OW cultural groups. This regression yielded an effect of age and political
position, in which accounting for demographic variables elicited an underlying
statistical difference between the US and NW cultural groups. Importantly, the
results from this regression are not reflective of the previous confidence context
concerning the actions taken by one’s own country. This finding suggests that
while respondents felt somewhat confident (or somewhat not confident in the case
of US respondents) in the actions taken by their own country to combat the
pandemic, all groups were not necessarily confident or lacking confidence
concerning the actions taken by other countries. Such findings emphasize the
degree of uncertainty present in the pandemic, which is seemingly evident through
our own confidence judgements and beliefs.
Table 4. The table reports the coefficient estimate, p-value, odds ratio, and
confidence interval for all regression models. Bolded p-values are significant. The
US group and politically liberal are base levels for categorical comparisons.
Rows shaded grey indicate the initial model comparing groups. Rows shaded
white indicate the follow-up model comparing groups while accounting for age
and political position.
Source: Own source
Coefficient p- Odds
C1 n = 557 95% CI
Estimate value Ratio
Other Western countries -0.502 < .0001 0.605 [0.492, 0.745]
Non-Western countries -0.381 < .001 0.682 [0.552, 0.842]
Other Western countries -0.315 .006 0.730 [0.584, 0.912]
Non-Western countries -0.193 0.108 0.824 [0.652, 1.043]
Age 0.014 < .001 1.014 [1.006, 1.022]
Politically neutral 0.033 .732 1.033 [0.856, 1.247]
Politically conservative 0.187 .137 1.206 [0.942, 1.542]
C2 n = 557
Other Western countries 0.077 .424 1.080 [0.894, 1.306]
Non-Western countries 0.128 .188 1.136 [0.940, 1.374]
C3 n = 557
Other Western countries -0.532 < .0001 0.587 [0.467, 0.737]
Non-Western countries -0.325 < .01 0.722 [0.571, 0.913]
Other Western countries -0.314 .011 0.730 [0.573, 0.934]
Non-Western countries -0.101 0.446 0.904 [0.573, 0.932]
Age 0.019 < .001 1.019 [1.010, 1.027]

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Politically neutral -0.008 .937 0.992 [0.804, 1.223]

Politically conservative -0.086 .514 0.917 [0.708, 1.189]
C4 n = 556
Other Western countries 0.117 .214 1.124 [0.935, 1.352]
Non-Western countries 0.164 .081 1.179 [0.980, 1.417]
Other Western countries 0.222 .032 1.249 [1.020, 1.529]
Non-Western countries 0.281 .009 1.325 [1.073, 1.636]
Age 0.006 .089 1.006 [0.999, 1.012]
Politically neutral 0.012 .891 1.012 [0.849, 1.208]
Politically conservative 0.316 .004 1.372 [1.108, 1.699]
C5 n = 555
Other Western countries 0.249 .029 1.283 [1.027, 1.602]
Non-Western countries 0.305 < .01 1.357 [1.084, 1.698]
Other Western countries 0.385 < .01 1.470 [1.151, 1.878]
Non-Western countries 0.490 < .001 1.633 [1.262, 2.113]
Age 0.009 .032 1.009 [1.001, 1.016]
Politically neutral -0.165 .132 0.848 [0.684, 1.051]
Politically conservative 0.065 .632 1.067 [0.819, 1.388]
C6 n = 557
Other Western countries 0.258 < .01 1.294 [1.066, 1.572]
Non-Western countries 0.219 .028 1.245 [1.024, 1.512]
Other Western countries 0.370 < .001 1.448 [1.169, 1.795]
Non-Western countries 0.344 < .01 1.409 [1.126, 1.762]
Age 0.007 .031 1.007 [1.001, 1.014]
Politically neutral -0.017 .856 0.983 [0.815, 1.185]
Politically conservative 0.117 .314 1.124 [0.895, 1.411]
C7 n = 557
Other Western countries 0.978 < .0001 2.653 [2.129, 3.306]
Non-Western countries 0.863 < .0001 2.369 [1.902, 2.951]
Other Western countries 1.050 < .0001 2.858 [2.239, 3.648]
Non-Western countries 0.964 < .0001 2.622 [2.035, 3.379]
Age 0.003 .515 1.003 [0.995, 1.010]
Politically neutral -0.055 .610 0.947 [0.767, 1.168]
Politically conservative 0.296 .025 1.345 [1.039, 1.740]
C8 n = 557
Other Western countries -0.252 .010 0.777 [0.641, 0.941]
Non-Western countries -0.151 .124 0.860 [0.709, 1.042]
Other Western countries -0.361 < .001 0.697 [0.564, 0.860]
Non-Western countries -0.255 .024 0.775 [0.622, 0.966]
Age -0.007 .054 0.994 [0.987, 1.000]
Politically neutral -0.073 .437 0.930 [0.774, 1.117]
Politically conservative -0.282 .013 0.754 [0.604, 0.941]

GENERAL DISCUSSION

Considerable differences in reported confidence in the scope of the pandemic

exist with respect to self and others’ thinking and behavior. The data revealed that

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participants reported increased confidence when asked about their own behaviors
compared to others’ behaviors. When participants were asked about confidence
in their own decision-making (C1) and social distancing (C3) this finding was
particularly evident. Further, when asked about their own beliefs with respect to
their country, this finding was to a lesser effect though still present (C5).
However, when asked about confidence in the actions taken by their own country,
this was not the case (C7). This may partially be explained under the cross-cultural
investigation. The visual inspection and regression model indicate a large
difference in reported confidence with US respondents reporting significantly
lower confidence than OW or NW respondents. Such a finding is plausible
considering the political climate during the presidential election of the United
States in mid to late 2020, paired with the demographic evidence indicating that
over half of our US sample identified as politically liberal (57%). Self-confidence
in decision-making and social distancing also differed across cultural groups.
While all cultural groups reported relatively increased confidence in their own
decision-making and social distancing, US respondents reported particularly
increased confidence. Such increased confidence reported by the US sample
demonstrates a sense of superiority often displayed by the United States
[14]. This finding may be linked to the unique sense of pride and freedom
associated with the American identity [15]. Future research also should further
investigate whether this increased confidence is related to American’s sense of
nationalism.

Conversely, reported confidence for others’ actions and decision-making was

rather average across confidence contexts. However, some differentiation,
although minute, was still present when assessed across cultures. Most
interestingly, media confidence (C2) was the only context that did not differ
across cultures. This result suggests a general hesitancy across the globe when
considering information from the media. We were unable, however, to address
the intertwined nature of media censorship and governmental persuasion over the
media that is actively present in many countries.

We do not intend to draw conclusions due to the lack of existing literature on

confidence in behaviors and decision-making and the unprecedented nature of the
pandemic. Rather, the present study emphasizes the relevance of confidence as it
underlies pandemic behaviors. Particularly, confidence appears to be an important
modulator that drives individuals’ thinking and actions during the pandemic. Such
confidence seemingly differs across cultures. Future research should investigate
the confidence in self and others across broader settings. Research could also
investigate the extent of the cultural differentiation by narrowing the definition of
culture by selecting specific countries that differ on cultural scales, such as
individualism. Such additional investigations will allow future researchers to
begin drawing sound conclusions, given these preliminary findings.

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CONCLUSION

The present study aimed to explore confidence as a modulating factor on

pandemic behaviors and decision-making. Our findings demonstrate distinct
differences in reported confidence, particularly with regards to self-relevant
thinking and actions, as compared to others-relevant thinking and actions. This
study also revealed the intertwined relationship that politics and governmental
influence have on confidence, such as through the media and executive decision-
making. Evidence also exists for cross-cultural differences in confidence
concerning pandemic actions. Further, these cultural differences should be
explored outside of the pandemic context to develop a comprehensive
understanding of the influence of confidence in behavioral decision-making.
Additionally, US respondents reported greater self-confidence, which may be
linked to the identity and cultural perception some Americans hold. To allow for
proper inferences, these findings should be further investigated with stringent
cultural groups. Taken together, the evidence suggests that confidence is a
relevant component driving our behaviors and decision-making, specifically
regarding the pandemic. Such findings provide preliminary evidence to be
expounded upon in future work.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to thank our colleagues, Marko Bierlich, Katja Bierlich,

Daniele Bovo, Dalal A. Ghanim, Marta Robles, Milvia Rodriguez, Sophia Sander,
Ebru Ecem Tavacioglu, and Gizem Vural, who assisted in translating the surveys,
as well as The Chicago School of Professional Psychology for their financial
support.

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[5] Pickles K., Cvejic E., Nickel B., Copp T., Bonner C., Leask J., Ayre J.,
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INTELLIGENCE, SELF-ESTEEM AND ACADEMIC

ACHIEVEMENT IN KOSOVO YOUTH

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Naim Fanaj1

Dr. sci. Sevim Mustafa2
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Erika Melonashi3
1
College of Medical Sciences Rezonanca, Prishtina, Kosovo
2
College AAB, Prishtina, Kosovo
3
Wisdom University College, Tirana, Albania

ABSTRACT

Numerous studies have investigated the impact of self-esteem and

intelligence on academic achievement. The findings are generally inconsistent.
The aim of this study was to understand the relationship between intelligence,
self-esteem and academic achievement among young people in Kosovo. It was a
quantitative cross-sectional study. The sample consisted of 1856 participants,
aged 10-18 years old (Mage = 15.29, SD = 1.76). Participants completed the
Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and The Raven Standard Progressive Matrices.
Grade Point Average (GPA) was used to measure academic achievement. Data
processing was done with SPSS 21.0 and Microsoft Excel 2013. Participants
according to self-reported academic achievement were classified as follows: fail
(0.1%), sufficient (2%), good (15.6%), very good (26.7%) and excellent (55.7%).
As regards self-esteem participants were classified as follows: low self-esteem
(26.9%), and normal self-esteem (73.1%). A significant positive correlation was
found between academic achievement and intelligence (r = .31; p = .00) but not
between achievement and self-esteem. This significant correlation resulted for
both genders separately. The Mann-Whitney test found significant differences in
academic achievement between genders and between groups with high
intelligence and those with normal intelligence. Intelligence, but not self-esteem
revealed a significant relationship with academic achievement. Future studies on
the topic might focus on explanatory factors or the possibility of interaction of
other variables related to academic achievement.
Keywords: Intelligence, Self-esteem, school, achievement, Kosovo

INTRODUCTION

Multidisciplinary research involving the fields of psychology, education, and

social studies has shown great interest in understanding links between youth
academic achievement, intelligence, and self - esteem. These studies have
explored these variables separately but also together.

Intelligence and academic achievement. Research studies have shown that

intelligence might indeed be a strong predictor of academic achievement.

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However, there are also studies that report weak, or insignificant associations or
just a mediating effect. Jencks et al.'s (1979) in eight samples from six longitudinal
studies reported correlations ranging from 0.40 to 0.63 between cognitive test
scores and the amount of education obtained [1]. Mackintosh's (1998) survey
reported a relationship between IQ scores and school performance, which ranges
between 0.4 and 0.7 [2]. In a 5-year prospective longitudinal study of 70,000+
English children aged 11 years old intelligence has been found to predict
academic achievement five years later, at age 16 [3]. Various studies have found
that correlations between psychometric intelligence and achievement are usually
moderate to strong (e.g., Deary et al., 2007; Mackintosh, 2006; McGrew &
Knopik, 1993; cited by Kornilova et al, 2009) [4]. A more recent study found that
intelligence contributed to predicting academic achievement [5].

However, these studies have been criticized due to the low amount of
variance they explain, e.g., conventional IQ measures typically explain only about
25% of the variance in academic achievement (MacKinnon, 1962; Grigorenko &
Kornilov, 2007; Sternberg et al., 2001; cited by Kornilova et al, 2009) [4].

Intelligence, self-esteem and academic achievement. In a pioneer study of

the field, half a century ago, which investigated fifth grade and eighth grade
students randomly selected, authors reported that IQ but not self-esteem correlated
significantly with achievement for the fifth graders [6]. However, more recent
studies have found significant relationships for both intelligence and self-esteem.
In a sample of 1353 Austrian pupils (mean age 13.74 years), Intelligence and self-
esteem were the strongest predictors of GPA independent of [7]. Kaya & Oğurlu
(2015) found a statistically significant relationship between intelligence and
academic achievement, but the relationship between self-esteem and academic
achievement was not statistically significant [8]. Guszkowska et al (2016) in the
study with 385 first-year undergraduates aged 18-26 years studying physical
education and sports at the University of Physical Education in Warsaw, found
that global self-esteem had nonsignificant correlations with fluid intelligence and
academic performance [9].

Self-esteem and academic achievement. Self-esteem is also a well-studied

variable especially in relation to academic achievement. In an early meta-analysis
across more than two hundred studies a positive effect of self-esteem on
achievement was reported, explaining 4–7% of the variance [10]. The correlation
range reported was 77 to .96 with an “average” correlation of .21. This study [10]
included a total sample of 202,823 participants and produced a database of 1,136
correlations between self-ratings and performance measures. Another study found
that, self-esteem was associated with academic achievement [11] but, general self-
esteem did not exert any significant influence on later academic achievement. In
other more recent studies, correlations between academic and global self-esteem
and achievement range from .21 to .53 (cited on Roskam & Nils (2007) [12]. In a
longitudinal study conducted with 1130 adolescents (557 males and 573 female)
from 1st-6th grades from Belgian secondary schools (Roskam & Nils (2007) using

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hierarchical linear models, authors reported a bidirectional relationship between

self-esteem and academic achievement [12]. Pullmann & Allik, 2008) reported a
more specific relationship, between academic self-esteem rather than overall self-
esteem and academic achievement [13]. Moreover, self-esteem in this study was
not considered as an indicator of academic low performance.

Kosovo context. Kosovo is the youngest country in Europe — both as

regards its acknowledgment as an independent state and the average age of its
population. Kosovo’s population of about 1.8 million is the youngest in Europe,
with an average age of 26 years. Despite significant progress across several
dimensions during the recent years, Kosovo still is one of the poorest countries in
Europe, with almost a third of the population living below the national poverty
line in 2017 (24.4%). Overall, unemployment rates were still high at 25 percent
of the labor force (46.9 percent of youth) in 2020. As regards research studies
examining correlations between intelligence, self-esteem and academic
achievement of youth from Kosovo, so far no studies have been published.

The aim of this study was to understand the relationship between intelligence,
self-esteem and academic achievement among young people in Kosovo.

METHODOLOGY

Sample and procedure

The sample consisted of 1856 students, aged between 10-19 years old (Mage
= 15.29, SD = 1.76). In terms of gender composition, there were 762 males (41.1
%) and 1094 (58.9 %) females. Participants were randomly selected from schools
in Prizren. The questionnaires were distributed to students in their classrooms
after issuing of relevant permissions. Informed consent was asked from their
parents prior to the administration of the questionnaire. No incentives for youth
participation were given.

Instruments

Measuring instruments used in the present study included the: Standard

Progressive Matrices (Raven,1938), and Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale. Scales
were translated into the Albanian language by using the translation back
translation method to ensure correct translation.

1. Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM; Raven, 1938) is a measuring

instrument of nonverbal reasoning ability and general intelligence that has the
advantage of minimizing possible cultural biases. The RPM is a well-established
instrument and most widely used among the non-verbal intelligence tests. It can
be given individually or as a group test and is easy to score. Students provided
their answers on a separate answer sheet, which was then scored by hand.

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2. Rosenberg self-esteem scale [14]: includes 10 items which measure self-

respect and self-acceptance. It is a Likert type scale with options ranging from (1)
strongly agree to (4) Strongly Disagree. During analysis several items were
reversely scored according to the authors’ instructions.

3. Self-reported Grade Point Average (GPA) was used to measure academic

achievement. In Kosovo, grades in pre-university education range from one (fail)
to five (excellent). The classification was made based on the average grade self-
reported by students at the time of conducting the research. On the other hand, it
should be mentioned that there is empirical evidence (meta-analysis) that suggests
that the self-reporting of the grade point average is a good indicator of current
performance (eg, Kuncel et al., 2005) [15].

Study design

The study was a cross-sectional correlational study. Data handling and

statistical analysis was carried out by using SPSS software version 21 and
Microsoft Excel 2013. These descriptive data were further analysed according to
age, gender and other variables investigated. Normality is assessed with
Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistic. In this case, the Sig. value is .000, suggesting
violation of the assumption of normality for all variables, suggesting the use of
nonparametric tests. For differences across groups, Mann–Whitney U test was
used. To examine relationships between variables correlational analysis –
Spearman-Rho test was used. The method of multiple standard regression analysis
was used to predict the dependent variable academic achievement.

RESULTS

Descriptive analyses

Participants according to self-reported academic achievement were classified

as follows: fail (0.1%), sufficient (2%), good (15.6%), very good (26.7%) and
excellent (55.7%) (Table 1). Results showed that the mean value for self-esteem
in the study samples was 27.76 (SD=3.47). 26.9 % of the sample were classified
with low self-esteem. The mean value for intelligence in the study samples was
47.74 (SD=9.91) in a range from 0-60.

Comparative analysis for variables investigated

Despite findings that boys report slightly higher scores as compared to girls,
Mann-Whitney test revealed no significant gender differences in self-esteem
scores and in intelligence scores but there were significant gender differences in
academic achievement (Mdfemales=5, N=1094; Mdmales=4, N=762; Z=-6.785, p<.00).

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Mann-Whitney test revealed no significant gender differences in intelligence

scores and in academic achievement between groups with normal self-esteem vs.
low self-esteem.

Table 1. Demographic characteristics of the participants in the survey and

mean of intelligence/self-esteem (author survey, own source)
Participants N % Intelligence Mean Self-esteem
(n=1856) Mean
Gender
Male 762 41.1 47.34 27.82
Female 1094 58.9 48.02 27.72
Age group (years)
10 to 12 84 4.5 46 30.58
13 to 17 1567 84.4 47.78 27.64
> 18 205 11 48.16 27.56
Grade Point Average (GPA)
Fail 1 .1 27 24
Insufficient 38 2.0 37.52 28.13
Good 289 15.6 42.65 27.95
Very good 495 26.7 46.27 27.53
Excellent 1033 55.7 50.26 27.82
Cut-off self-esteem level
Low self-esteem 499 26.9 47.68 23.91
Normal self-esteem 1357 73.1 47.76 29.18

Kruskal-Wallis analysis revealed significant differences in self-esteem scores

by age groups X2 (2, n=1856) =47.854, p<.00; whereas scores were higher in the
early adolescence group (Md=29) as compared to the middle adolescence group
(Md=27) and late adolescence group (Md=27). Kruskal-Wallis analysis revealed
significant differences in academic achievement scores by age groups X2 (2,
n=1856) =47.854, p<.00; whereas scores were higher in the early adolescence
group (Md=5) and middle adolescence group (Md=5) and as compared to the late
adolescence group (Md=4).

Correlations between variables

Correlational analyses indicated significant positive correlations between

intelligence and academic achievement scores (r = .31, p <.00), but not between
self-esteem and academic achievement (Table 2). These correlations resulted the
same even when we looked separately at the groups of participants with low self-
esteem and normal self-esteem.

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Table 2. Correlations between intelligence, self-esteem and academic

achievement scores (author survey, own source)
Spearman's rho Academic achievement
Intelligence Correlation Coefficient .311**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 1856
Self-esteem Correlation Coefficient -.003
Sig. (2-tailed) .901
N 1856

As regards correlational analysis performed separately by age (Table 3),

results showed lack of significance of the relationship only at the ages of 11 and
12; whereas in all other age categories correlations with academic achievement
are significant., Self-esteem with academic achievement turns out to have positive
significant relationship at the age of 13 and a negative significant relationship at
the age of 16, but no significant results in other age groups (Table 3).
Table 3. Correlations between intelligence, self-esteem and academic
achievement scores by age (author survey, own source)
Age (Years) N Intelligence Self-esteem
11 40 0.035 0.035
12 43 0.183 0.103
13 201 .457** .152*
14 380 .388** 0.001
15 341 .350** -0.051
16 306 .278** -.146*
17 339 .323** 0.029
18 179 .174* -0.005
19 26 .513** -0.309

In the case of correlation analysis by age group we found that the significant
positive correlation between intelligence and academic achievement scores was
not found in the age group 10-12 years, but only in the age groups 13-17 years (r
= .34, p <.00) and over 18 years (r = .21, p <.00).

A multiple standard regression analysis was run to predict academic

achievement from gender, age, intelligence and self-esteem. All the independent
(or predictor) variables were entered into the equation simultaneously. The model
as whole reaches significance F (4, 1855) = 88.724, p< .000, R 2 = .161; and the
total variance explained by the model as a whole was 16.1%. Apart from self-
esteem all other variables added statistically significance to the prediction, p< .05
(Table 4).

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Table 4. Multiple Regression Analysis Summary for variables and Academic

achievement (author survey, own source)
Variable B SEB Beta Sig.
Age -.080 .010 -.172 .000
Gender .269 .035 .162 .000
Intelligence .028 .002 .339 .000
Self-esteem -.001 .005 -.005 .819
Constant 3.850 .236 .000

a
Dependent variable= Grade Point Average (GPA)

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

The aim of the present study was to understand the relationship between
intelligence, self-esteem and academic achievement among young people in
Kosovo. Our goal in exploring the correlations between intelligence and self-
esteem with academic achievement is the first research of its kind in our country,
and this fact adds great relevance to the findings. Results showed significant
positive correlations between academic achievement and intelligence, but not
self-esteem.

The resulting relationship between intelligence and academic achievement is

in line with existing studies. However, the correlation found in the present
research was of a low to moderate effect size (.31), but comparable although lower
than results reported in the studies of Jencks et al (1979) and Mackintosh (1998)
reporting an effect size over 0.4. The relationship strength varied with age and
was found to be highest in 19-year-olds (.51) and lowest in 18-year-olds (.17).
Most important, intelligence seemed to have even a predictive power for academic
achievement in this sample along with age and gender, explaining up to 16.1% of
the variance in academic achievement. A possible explanation is that the
education system in Kosovo, which is still undergoing important reforms, favors
and reinforces intelligence, in the sense that this ability is sufficient for ensuring
good results. Other factors that are demonstrated to affect academic achievement
are not yet considered relevant in the assessments of students, for example, regular
studying, punctuality in class, self-motivation, availability of teaching and
learning materials, and competency of teachers. Nonetheless, this explanation is
tentative and further research is needed to examine this proposition.

The finding that intelligence had significant correlations with academic

achievement whereas self-esteem did not, are similar to existing studies providing
evidence from other countries, e.g., [6], [8] and [9]. However, these results were
not in line with findings from other four studies which found significant
correlation ratios [10], [11] and [12]. Moreover, when considered separately by
age, the two significant correlations were one was positive (13-year-olds) and the
other negative (16-year-olds). This finding goes in line with many existing

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theoretical approaches so far that describe self-esteem as a construct that is

distinguished by age-based instability which then reflects to relationships with
other variables. Yet another explanation might be related to the consideration of
self-esteem as a culturally based construct, which fluctuates based on specific
cultural values and influencing factors. Nonetheless, this explanation is also
tentative since there is no research so far investigating cultural factors involved in
the relationship between self-esteem and academic achievement.

Finally, it should be mentioned that the present findings should be also

considered in the context of their limitations, the most important one being sample
composition. Indeed, the sample of the study was dominated by females
(approximately 69%), age group 13–17 years (85%), and excellent grades
(approximately 60%). Therefore, care should be taken in generalizing these
findings to populations with characteristics other than these. However, despite
these limitations the present study provides an important contribution especially
because it is the first one investigating the relationships between these variables
in Kosovo. Future research might consider other factors such as the socio-
economic or cultural contextual variables in population representative samples in
Kosovo.

REFERENCES
[1] Jencks C. Who gets ahead?: The determinants of economic success in
America. New York, NY: Basic Books, 1979.
[2] Mackintosh N. J. IQ and Human Intelligence. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1998.
[3] Deary IJ, Strand S, Smith P, Fernandes C. Intelligence and educational
achievement. Intelligence. 2007 Jan 1;35(1):13-21.
[4] Kornilova T.V., Kornilov S.A., Chumakova M.A. Subjective evaluations
of intelligence and academic self-concept predict academic achievement:
Evidence from a selective student population. Learning and Individual
Differences. 2009 Dec 1;19(4):596-608.
[5] Zuffianò A, Alessandri G, Gerbino M, Kanacri B.P., Di Giunta L., Milioni
M., Caprara G.V. Academic achievement: The unique contribution of self-
efficacy beliefs in self-regulated learning beyond intelligence, personality traits,
and self-esteem. Learning and individual differences. 2013 Feb 1;23:158-62.
[6] Schnee R. G.Relationships Between Self-Esteem, Achievement, and IQ
Measures of Elementary and Secondary Students.1972.
[7] Freudenthaler H.H., Spinath B, Neubauer A.C. Predicting school
achievement in boys and girls. European journal of personality. 2008
May;22(3):231-45.

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[8] Kaya F, Oğurlu Ü. The relationship among self-esteem, intelligence, and

academic achievement Benlik saygısı, zekâ ve akademik başarı ilişkisi. Journal of
Human Sciences. 2015 Mar 13;12(1):951-65.
[9] Guszkowska M, Kuk A, Zagórska A, Skwarek K. Self-esteem of physical
education students: sex differences and relationships with intelligence. Current
issues in personality psychology. 2016 Jan 1;4(1):50-7.
[10] Hansford B.C., Hattie J.A. The relationship between self and
achievement/performance measures. Review of Educational research. 1982
Mar;52(1):123-42.
[11] Baumeister R.F., Campbell J.D., Krueger J.I., Vohs K.D. Does high self-
esteem cause better performance, interpersonal success, happiness, or healthier
lifestyles?. Psychological science in the public interest. 2003 May;4(1):1-44.
[12] Roskam I, Nils F. Predicting intra-individual academic achievement
trajectories of adolescents nested in class environment: Influence of motivation,
implicit theory of intelligence, self-esteem and parenting. Psychologica Belgica.
2007 May 1;47(1).
[13] Pullmann H, Allik J. Relations of academic and general self-esteem to
school achievement. Personality and Individual Differences. 2008 Oct
1;45(6):559-64.
[14] Rosenberg M. Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton
university press; 1965.
[15] Kuncel N.R., Credé M, Thomas L.L. The validity of self-reported grade
point averages, class ranks, and test scores: A meta-analysis and review of the
literature. Review of educational research. 2005 Mar;75(1):63-82.

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LITHUANIANS‘ PERCEPTION ON TERRORISM: ARE

MUSLIMS THE FOLK DEVILS FOR LITHUANIANS?

PhD student Gintarė Sereikaitė-Motiejūnė

Vilnius University, Lithuania

ABSTRACT

A considerable amount of research in the West countries during the past 30

years has found a strong tendency to associate Muslims with violent acts. This has
resulted in an increase of Islamophobia. I have examined Lithuania’s media,
politicians and public perceptions on Muslims-terrorism in order to understand
the correlation between Lithuanian media and political discourse on Muslims and
their connection with public discourses. I propose that the weaker the linkage
between media and political portrayals of terrorism as associated with Muslims,
is with public perceptions of terrorism and Muslims, the less likely the latter will
see Muslims as folk devils. My analysis of the data supports this hypothesis and
conclusively shows that media and political discourse do not have a hegemonic
power to control the portrayal of Muslims and to create a sense of moral panic
among Lithuanians.
Keywords: Moral panic, Muslims, Lithuania, intolerance

INTRODUCTION

Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims – I heard this
phrase during an interview I conducted regarding the connection between
terrorism and Muslims.

During the past 30 years, a strong tendency among people in Europe as well
as North America to link Islam with violent acts, especially terrorism has been
found [1], [2]. The terrorist attack of September 11 acted as a catalyst for media
in European countries and the United States to represent Muslims as others and
prompted links between the Islamic religion, Muslims and terrorism [3]. The
medias’ tendency to link terrorism issues with Islam has not decreased and the
tendency to link Muslims with terrorism resulted in an increase in Islamophobia,
with different forms of expression – from hostile attitudes and intolerance to
exaggerated fear and panic of Muslims [4], [5].

Exaggerated and excessive attention by the media, political stances, and

popular discourse regarding terrorism and its linkage with Muslims can lead to a
chronic form of fear referred to as moral panic.’ One of the first and most
influential moral panic theorists is Stanley Cohen. According to Cohen a core
feature of moral panic is its reification in some anthropomorphic form. Cohen
refers to the object of moral panic by the generic terms “folk devils.” Folk devils

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are a socio-psychological phenomenon that reifies and gives a focus to those

collective fears. (e.g. in this case Muslims are the folk devil).

The aim of this research is to examine if Muslims are the folk devil for
Lithuanians in terrorism discourse and if so, does it produce moral panic in
society. I will seek to answer this question by analyzing Lithuanian perceptions
of terrorism and, if and how they link them to Muslims. I intend to use an
ethnographic/emic approach to construct a normative, collective representation of
how Lithuanians perceive terrorism in relation to Muslims and to answer the
question of whether there is a strong, weak, or no correlation at all between
Muslims as folk devils and moral panic. I propose that the weaker terrorism is
linked with Muslims, the less likely Muslims will be seen as folk devils and, as a
result, the more unfavorable the cultural environment will be for moral panic
toward Muslims to establish roots. While not central to this research, it is
important to note that such findings can contribute to national policies regarding
how to treat and integrate Muslim immigrants to Lithuania as well as Muslim
citizens.

Moral panic theory (1972) by Stanley Cohen

Press and other media coverage of current events serve as one of the most
powerful tools for framing peoples‘ perception of high profile events. Studies [4],
[5] show that the media’s framing of particular terrorist events leads to excessive
fear of Muslims and Islamophobia.

A kind of excessively exaggerated perception that some cultural behavior or

group of people is deviant and poses a threat to society's values is called moral
panic. The most widely accepted, used and most cited definition of moral panic is
by Cohen: “A condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become
defined as a threat to societal values and interests; its nature is presented in a
stylized and stereotypical fashion by the mass media; the moral barricades are
manned by editors, bishops, politicians and other right-thinking people.” [6].

For a successful moral panic to exist there must be a common, homogenous,

widespread understanding in society about who are folk devils and why they are
a threat to our society. Cohen has singled out four crucial agents that help to form
an image of the folk devil and to rise and maintain moral panic about them: mass
media, moral entrepreneurs, the control culture, and the public. When describing
the elements of moral panic, Cohen pays notable attention to media’s influence,
especially in the first and second stages of moral panic. Mass media is described
as the most influential when disturbing events are presented in detail exaggerating
grossly the seriousness of the events.

In the symbolization stage, it is important to define who is our “folk devils”

– a group of people who engage in a common deviant behavior as perceived from
the outside by the general public. This is the basis on which moral panic revolves.

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Firstly, when a word, for example, “immigrant” or “terrorism” becomes symbolic

of a certain status (delinquent or deviant); secondly, when there are objects or
observable indicators that symbolize the word— for example, it could be dark
skin color or Islamic clothes; the third stage is when the objects themselves
become symbolic of the status (and the emotions attached to the status) [6]. For
example, when someone sees a person dressed in Islamic clothes, s/he
immediately relate that person with Islam and terrorism.

In seeking to answer the question of whether moral panic of Muslims exists

in Lithuania and whether we can call Muslims “folk devils”, I will examine the
main agents – Lithuanian mass media and the moral entrepreneurs, that is,
politicians; and lastly the Lithuanian public.

The construction of folk devils by Lithuania’s media

Research on Lithuanian media coverage of Muslims is sparse; research by

Kumpikaitė-Valiūnienė et al. [7] on Lithuanians‘ perceptions of refugees
(from Islamic countries) revealed that Lithuanians see refugees as a prominent
threat in large part because they associate them with terrorism. Fear of terrorism
increases fear and intolerance toward Muslims. This fear is part of the initial
symbolization stage Cohen views as necessary for the collective construction of a
folk devil. Terrorism itself is perceived as an extreme form of deviant behavior
and is then linked to an observable indicator – Muslims. This results in a holistic
construction of the category of a folk devil, in this case as Muslims.

European Islamophobia reports in 2017, 2019 revealed, that Islamophobic

media content in Lithuania is quite insignificant. The report of Repečkaitė [8]
concluded, that “Mainstream media continued providing a platform for
Islamophobic speakers and statements with little editing and no disclaimers”.
Blažytė [9] reported that Islamophobic statements in the Lithuanian media are
usually contextualized as related to public discussions on the so-called global
refugee crisis and the challenges of refugee integration on a national level,
however due to the decline of refugee flows in Europe, the attention to this issue
was decreasing in national media as well.

According to a 2019 report of Lithuanian media monitoring by the

Media4change.lt [14], “The majority of journalists' work concerning Muslims is
neutral (87%), 8%. negative, 5 % positive”. However, among negative reports on
Muslims, a theme of terrorism remains high – Lithuanian media reporting most
part of terrorism content and in that way contributes to and maintains Muslim –
terrorist image. To conclude I would agree with Repečkaitė [8], that Lithuanian
media is only a platform and tool to spread various information which is mostly
influenced by global tendencies and events such as terrorist attacks or the refugee
crisis.

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The construction of folk devils by Lithuania’s moral entrepreneurs -

politicians

Along with the media, politicians are noticeable agents in shaping

perceptions of Muslims. During 2015, individual Lithuanian journalists and
politicians expressed their opinions on Muslims and refugees as “folk devils” and
potential threats using “them” versus “us” images, however, the highest tendency
was seen among the latter.

In 2016, right before the elections to the Lithuanian Seimas [i.e., Parliament],
a series of political commercials by the Labor Party concerning the immigrant
crisis appeared. The participants in the commercials were talking about refugees
as a potential threat, linking past and present-day problems allegedly caused by
refugees and Muslims and then asserting the likelihood that more refugees and
immigrants will cause still more future problems [10]. Most concerns were related
to deviant behavior (e.g. bus explosion, women abduction, terrorist attacks).

In 2019 the Lithuanian politician Arvydas Juozaitis was portraying refugees

as a coming threat. In a video Refugees push Europe to destruction of his political
campaigns Juozaitis speaks about refugees - mostly Islamic states residents - as
an upcoming threat destroying European culture, identity, soul, that will “kill us”.
From the 9 candidates who ran for President, Juozaitis was in fifth place, far
behind the leaders. He received 4,69% of the vote and didn’t get to the second
round of elections.

From the discussion above, it is clear that in Lithuania there are media and
political attempts to portray Muslims and refugees as “folk devils,” and to raise a
collective moral panic that also could increase readership and political vote banks
for parties promoting such advertisements. However, despite the volatile political
commentaries about Muslims, it can be concluded that the discourse around
Muslims, refugees and its relation with terrorism or other deviant behavior exists
and is prevalent in the media as well as politics.

METHODS AND METHODOLOGY

In order to answer the question if Muslims are folk devils to Lithuanians on

the basis of terrorism, I intend to analyze if images on Muslims’ relation with
terrorism, promoted by the media and moral entrepreneurs reflected in public
opinions and attitudes on terrorism.

I am using the anthropological method of free lists. I have chosen to use free
list technique because, it provides a potent emic snapshot of the cultural domain,
indicates things salient within the culture, should show what symbols are shared
by members of the culture and how these symbols vary in relative saliency within
the culture [11], [12].

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The data was collected between January and February of 2019 via the online
platform Apklausa.lt. I selected a convenience sample by sharing 5 free lists and
1 survey question to various online groups of students and non-students, and pages
of communities of different cities. 41 Lithuanian citizens (age 17-84) participated
and answered all 5 free lists; thus all questions were answered by the same
participants. Most respondents were from the four largest cities of Lithuania –
Vilnius, Kaunas, Panevėžys, Klaipėda.

It is important, that this emic ethnographic sample lets us grasp the range of
cultural phenomena, but not the frequency distribution of those phenomena.
Comparatively small ethnographic samples (usually less than forty and often as
few as ten) are enough to comprehend what are main symbols or items common
among members of a culture that constitute a cultural domain and to collect valid
data for analysis [13]. The data saturation procedure showed that the sample of
this research was ecologically valid.

Data Analysis

The free list started with a general question List all the things that come to
your mind when you hear the word terrorism. Answers provide a cluster of
concepts by which to grasp an overall understanding of Lithuanian perceptions of
terrorism phenomena. Table 1 (as well as all free-list tables) presents the
frequencies and saliency indices of the top terrorism terms. In the table that
follows I only represent the first top terrorism terms, in terms of frequency, since
they capture the main patterns of Lithuanians’ approach towards the terrorism
phenomena.
Table 1. Top terms about terrorism. Source: own source
Name Occurrence Frequency Average Smith
Rank Index
Killing 12 28,57% 3,833 0,135
Unstable psychological 12 28,57% 2,917 0,157
state
Muslims 10 23,81% 2,400 0,172
Guns 9 21,43% 3,444 0,128
Coercion 9 21,43% 2,444 0,169
Bombs 8 19,05% 2,125 0,131
Armed conflicts 8 19,05% 2,125 0,125
Death 7 16,67% 2,143 0,123
Fear 5 11,90% 2,000 0,086
Explosion 5 11,90% 2,200 0,079
Victims 5 11,90% 2,800 0,079
Islam 4 9,52% 4,250 0,050

Two terms on the top of the list have the same numbers of occurrence and
frequency, however, the second term unstable psychological condition has higher
salience. First, ranking term murdering shows that terrorism is comprehensible in

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peoples’ minds as a physical act. The following term unstable psychological

condition primarily refers to an emotional state of a person than an act that could
be described as a reason for terrorism itself. According to salience, it indicates
that the informants, describing terrorism, primarily draw attention to the reasons
which influence the terrorism phenomena and see murdering, a physical act, as
an expression of the unstable psychological condition.

The third term, Muslims, has a lower number of occurrences, but the highest
salience rating of all the terms. This suggests that any terrorist act is conducted by
the agents of that act, in this case implying terrorism is mostly conducted by
Muslims. The narrative around the Muslims as highly associated with terrorism
is further supported by linking the term ‘Islam’ With terrorism, though it does
have a lower salience than do the top terms. It is however, hard to ignore the
triadic relationship of Islam, terrorism, and Muslims within this cultural domain.

The intent of the question was to change the focus from a respondents’
personal opinion on terrorism to public opinion. The question also provides a way
to test if the first free-list, based on personal beliefs, was biased toward more
politically correct responses.
Table 2. Top terms respondents‘ peers supposedly relate with terrorism.
Source: own source
Name Occurrence Frequency Average Rank Smith Index
Muslims 9 22,50% 1,111 0,213
I don’t know 7 17,50% 1,000 0,175
Guns 5 12,50% 1,600 0,088
Bombs 3 7,50% 2,000 0,048
Islam 3 7,50% 1,000 0,075
War 3 7,50% 2,333 0,046
Terror 2 5,00% 1,000 0,050
Middle East 2 5,00% 2,000 0,038

As the first table showed, personally respondents relate terrorism with the
agent (i.e. Muslims) who is responsible for the act. Data from the second table
agrees with the data of the first table by linking terrorism with an agent – Muslims.
The term Muslims (in the Table 1 and 2) demonstrates the highest salience rating.
This strongly implies that the belief in a linkage between Muslims and terrorism
is culturally shared.

In the second free-list, the term Islam appeared with a low frequency just as
was the case in Table 1. However, the saliency was significantly higher in the
second free list. These data suggest that terrorism is closely linked with Muslims
but not so closely with Islam for individuals but the link is perceived to be strong
among peers.

This inference should be taken with a grain of salt because it is likely based
on personal bias as explained above. The gap between saliency indices for Muslim

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and Islam in the free list asking for personal beliefs, implies that Muslims and
Islam can be seen as referring to distinct concepts that are not necessarily causally
related. Much further research needs to be conducted to examine this
relationship. On the other hand, Table 2 confirmed that the agency of Muslims
could be based on Islamic beliefs.

This sample is important for understanding how Lithuanians portray a typical

terrorist. Regarding data from the Table 1 and 2 it was expected, that a potential
terrorist has certain religious features, indicating Muslims.

Surprisingly, most of the respondents stated, that it is not possible to

recognize a potential terrorist – term impossible to recognize was the most
common one. It can be assumed, that some people, who are eager to commit a
crime want to remain unrecognized and do not stand out from the crowd to
accomplish it successfully.
Table 3. Top features of a potential terrorist. Source: own source.
Name Occurrence Frequency Average Smith
Rank Index
Cannot recognize 8 24,24% 1,250 0,217
Dark skin color 6 18,18% 2,000 0,111
Angry 5 15,15% 1,400 0,126
Beard 5 15,15% 2,000 0,096
Clothing 4 12,12% 1,500 0,101
Muslim 4 12,12% 1,250 0,106
Unstable psychological 4 12,12% 1,750 0,091
state
Man 4 12,12% 1,750 0,091
Fanatic 3 9,09% 1,333 0,076

Three patterns to symbolize a typical terrorist can be traced. The first is based
on race, relating a terrorist with symbols of darkness, such as dark skin and beard.
The second is religious ethnicity as reflected in the term “Muslims and Islam; the
third is through psychological features: angry, unstable psychological condition,
fanatic.

It could be concluded, that culturally, terrorism is understood as a

consequence of three features race, religion, and the psychological features
mentioned above. It can be concluded that the prototypical image of a terrorist in
Lithuania is comprised of these three “pillars” and that attempts to reduce
Lithuanian biases toward Muslims should attend to all three factors.

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Table 4. Causes leading people to radicalize. Source: own source

Name Occurrence Frequency Average Smith
Rank Index
Environmental impact 10 25,00% 2,000 0,169
Personal lack 7 17,50% 2,286 0,119
Lack of money 7 17,50% 1,143 0,167
Psychological 6 15,00% 1,833 0,115
illness/traumas
Anger 4 10,00% 1,500 0,088
Religious influence 4 10,00% 1,500 0,079
Lack of education 4 10,00% 1,500 0,081
Revenge 3 7,50% 2,667 0,043
Believing in something 3 7,50% 2,000 0,052
blindly
Influence of the authorities 3 7,50% 2,333 0,046
Influence of the ideology 3 7,50% 2,667 0,029
Faith 3 7,50% 1,667 0,065
Family influence 3 7,50% 1,333 0,067
Personal tendency towards 2 5,00% 2,000 0,025
cruelty

A pattern of external factors causing people to join a terrorist organisation is

seen here. For example, the highest salience has a term Environmental impact; a
considerable variety of other terms, related to external influences – religion
influence, influence of authorities, ideology, family – complement the pattern.
This demonstrates that a radical person, due to the influences, could be less
personally responsible for his actions (see also Strauss 2007, discussed below).

Only two respondents mentioned personal tendency to cruelty, a term which

has the lowest salience. The term describes a point of view seeing radicalization
and joining terrorist organizations as arising from the personal agency – an
agented feature that leads you to take actions without a clear motive.

From Tables 1, 2, 3 a cultural pattern to relate Muslims with terrorism could

be observed. Tables 1 and 2 relate terrorism with an agent, who is very accurately
described through his religion as being a Muslim. Despite a clear link between
terrorism and Muslims in Tables 1, 2, 3, 4 revealed, that being a Muslim is not the
cause of radicalism. This could be aptly illustrated by the phrase which one
respondent wrote in his free-list answer – not all Muslims are terrorists, but all
terrorists are Muslims.

The data could lead to a further question – could these external influences be
related to Muslims particularly? The data doesn’t provide the answer to this
question, so it could be only surmised, that specific external influences affect
Muslims more than non-Muslims. For example, religious influence could be
related to Islam (as Islam is the only religion mentioned among all the data

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examined). Yet, the limitation of this question is that only supposed interfaces can
be made.

DISCUSSION

In this discussion I will cover two questions: What are Lithuanians’

perceptions about terrorism; and is the linkage between Muslims and terrorists (or
terrorism) weak, moderate, or strong? Regarding the question about Lithuanians’
perceptions about terrorism, three patterns could be observed from the data
collected which are presented below.

The first pattern is related to race and ethnicity. A race pattern is described
mostly through symbols of darkness (e.g., dark skin color in Table 3). Such a
symbol lacks clarity, as, e.g., Spanish people have darker skin color too. I would
state, that dark skin color is related with Muslims and Middle Easterners firstly as
terrorism and terrorists were related exclusively to Muslims and Middle
Easterners (mentioned in Tables 1, 2, 3, 4) and not with other ethnicity and/or
religion (as we already have seen from the data presented).

The second relatable pattern is religion, particularly using Islamic symbols

through the terms mentioned like Muslims, Islamic clothes. The data has shown
that indeed there are linkages between Islam and terrorism in the minds of
Lithuanians. According to Tables 1, 2 and 3, the frequency-count linking Muslims
with terrorism/terrorists is average and varies between 12 – 23%. However, the
salience rating for this link was significantly high. Surprisingly, confessors of the
religion (i.e. Muslims) but not the religion itself were most frequently cited and
with the higher saliency when Lithuanians were asked to list terms related to
terrorism. To conclude, Lithuanians perceive terrorism through the actors –
Muslims, but being a Muslim is not the cause of radicalism.

The third pattern demonstrates that cultural radicalization and becoming a

terrorist is seen as an outcome of various negative environmental influences, e.g.,
personal lack, environmental impact, lack of money, resulting in particular
psychological well-being, such as unstable psychological condition, angry,
fanatic. Only a few respondents saw the personal agency as leading a person to
become a terrorist. This is quite interesting, having in mind that most western
cultures, as well as Lithuanians, are individualistic and emphasize a person’s
agency – free will to act according to their own understanding and make choices.

Claudia Strauss [15] in her article puts this question to light. She wrote that
agency for most modern western societies is a highly valued virtue, however, she
expands this idea claiming, that agency is just one of various cultural models to
explain human actions. Strauss researched public commentaries in the United
States about the Columbine school shootings in order to find out the place of
agency versus social causes for this terrorist act. She showed, that agency was not

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perceived by Americans to be a hegemonic discourse explaining the behavior of

the two boys Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.

CONCLUSION

From the examined data, a weak-to-moderate Muslim – terrorist linkage can

be traced as terms linking Muslims to terrorism appeared in all four tables in a
direct, explicit or indirect, implicit way. It reflects a successful symbolization
process, according to Cohen, since a group (i.e., Muslims) becomes perceptually
attached to a deviant act or behavior (i.e., terrorism). Thus, Muslims could be
called “the folk devils”, however, could moral panic around them be apparent in
Lithuania?

As examined in the theory section, Lithuanian media cannot be blamed for

disproportionately portraying Muslims as terrorists as no systematic intention to
create or publish Islamophobic content could be observed. There were attempts
by some Lithuanian politicians to apply the “the folk devils” discourse to Muslims
and/or refugees in order to gain political prominence and power. However,
political campaigns target Muslims and try to create a sense of moral panic ended
with limited success. Despite neither Lithuania’s media nor politicians had no
hegemonic power to raise the moral panic of Muslims, yet, Lithuanians may well
be primed by public narratives and images of Muslims as a deviant group,
spreading by media and politicians.

After examining public perceptions on terrorism, as long with Lithuanian

politicians’ and media’s discourse around Muslims, it could be concluded, that
the efforts by the Lithuanian media and politicians to deliberately or
unconsciously develop the Muslim/refugee – terrorist discourse helped to create
a Muslims as folk devils cultural script. However, according to my hypothesis, the
failure to raise moral panic and direct it towards Muslims using a terrorism
discourse by the Lithuanian media and entrepreneur is clearly reflected in the
weak to the moderate linkage between terrorism and Muslims in Lithuanians’
perceptions.

REFERENCES
[1] Van Dijk, Teun A., Racism and the Press. London: Routledge, 1991.
[2] Powell, Kimberly, Framing Islam/Creating Fear: An Analysis of U.S.
Media Coverage of Terrorism from 2011–2016, Religions, vol. 9, issue 9, pp 257,
2018.
[3] Ahmed, Saifuddin, Jorg Matthes, Media representation of Muslims and
Islam from 2000 to 2015: A meta-analysis, the International Communication
Gazette, vol. 79, issue 3, pp 219–244, 2016.
[4] Morgan, George, Scott Poynting, Global Islamophobia. Muslims and
Moral Panic in the West, London: Routledge, 2012.

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[5] Freis-Beattie, Reinmar Cristobal, Fear and Loathing in Post 9/11

America: Public Perceptions of Terrorism as Shaped by News Media and the
Politics of Fear, PhD diss., University of New Hampshire, 2020.
[6] Cohen, Stanley, Folk devils and Moral Panics: The Creation of the Mods
and Rockets, reprint, 1th ed., UK: Routledge, 2011.
[7] Kumpikaitė-Valiūnienė, Vilmantė, Eugene T. Agoh, Ineta Žičkutė,
Refugees as a security threat: case of Lithuania, Visuomenės saugumas ir viešoji
tvarka, issue 18, pp 46–58, 2017.
[8] Repečkaitė, Daiva, Islamophobia in Lithuania. National Report 2017, in
European Islamophobia Report 2017, edited by Enes Bayrakli, Farid Hafez,
Istanbul: SETA, pp 375–388, 2018.
[9] Blažytė, Giedrė, Islamophobia in Lithuania. National Report 2019, in
European Islamophobia Report 2019, edited by Enes Bayrakli, Farid Hafez,
Istanbul: SETA, pp 481–495, 2020.
[10] Garland, David, On the concept of moral panic, Crime, Media and
Culture: An International Journal, vol. 4, issue 1, pp 9–30, 2008.
[11] De Munck, Victor C., Research Design and Field Methods, New York:
Altamira, 2009.
[12] Bernard, Russell H., Research methods in anthropology, 4th ed. Walnut
Creek, Calif.: AltaMira Press, 2006.
[13] Weller, Susan C. & A. Kimball Romney, Systematic Data Collection,
Newbury Park (CA): Sage, 1988.
[14] Media4change.lt, Lithuanian Media monitoring: Review of 2019. 30
December 2019, in https://www.media4change.co/lt/reports/ziniasklaidos-
monitoringas-2019-metu-apzvalga/
[15] Strauss, Claudia, Blaming for Columbine: Conceptions of Agency in the
Contemporary United States, Current Anthropology, vol. 48, issue 6, pp 807–832,
2007.

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NUTRITIONAL THERAPY IN CLINICAL MANAGEMENT

OF ONCOLOGICAL PATIENTS

Assist. Prof. PhD Student Blebea Nicoleta Mirela 1

1
Faculty of Pharmacy, Ovidius University of Constanța, Romania
1
Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Carol Davila,
Romania

ABSTRACT

Nutritional therapy helps patients with cancer to maintain their weight within
normal limits, maintain tissue integrity and reduce the side effects of cancer
therapies. Nutritional oncology deals with both prevention and patient support
during treatment, in convalescence and in palliative situations. Cancer patients
need full support from the team of health professionals (oncologists, nurses and
dietitians). The following basic elements should not be missing from the cancer
patient's diet: water, protein intake, animal and vegetable fats, as well as vitamins
and minerals. The diet of cancer patients should be closely monitored, as body
weight should be kept within normal limits, ie a body mass index (BMI) between
19 and 24 (the calculation is made by dividing the weight by the square of the
height). The oncologist should therefore be aware of the adverse effects of
malnutrition on patient outcomes and view nutritional support as an essential
component of the clinical management, chemotherapy, radiation therapy,
antiemetic treatment, and treatment for pain.
Keywords: cachexia, cancer-related malnutrition, clinical management,
nutritional therapy, oncological patients

INTRODUCTION

Oncological diseases, as well as their treatment, can cause changes in the diet
by affecting the taste, smell, appetite, without being satiated and the body's ability
to absorb nutrients from food. Affecting the taste can make patients want more
sweet foods, no longer tolerate strong flavors, increased sensitivity to bitter taste
and aversion to meat. Tumors can partially block the digestive system or make
swallowing food painful or difficult. Other factors, such as chronic pain,
painkillers, fatigue, depression, fear, and anxiety associated with cancer, can lead
to decreased appetite. All forms of treatment have certain side effects, including
loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting or decreased immunity [1].

Nutrition is the process by which food is used by the body for growth, for
maintaining health, and tissue repair. Consuming the right foods before, during
and after cancer treatment helps the patient feel better and stronger. Progressive
deterioration of nutritional status is a common feature of cancer patients.
Consequently, it is estimated that> 50% of hospitalized cancer patients are

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malnourished. Cancer-related malnutrition (CRM) is universal and occurs in 50%

-80% of patients with cancer [2], [3], [4]. CRM is estimated to be the immediate
cause of death in 20% -40% of cancer patients. Moreover, CRM is not just
synonymous with weight loss; it is a process with a complex etiology and involves
weight loss as a highly visible component that results in progressive muscle
exhaustion [4], [5], [6], [7].

Currently, according to studies, in the practice of cancer, nutritional support

is provided only for 30% -60% of cancer patients already at risk of malnutrition
[8], [9], [10]. In this context, a correct and early diagnosis of CRM through
screening and assessment of nutritional status and a multimodal therapeutic
approach targeting nutrition along with other factors involved in the
pathophysiology of CRM is of utmost importance in the management of cancer
patients [8], [11].

In a survey based on a questionnaire addressed to oncologists in Turkey, on

the planning of nutritional therapy at the same time as the initial diagnosis of
cancer, 46.0% of oncologists identified patients with visible weight loss (28.0%).
The authors concluded that diagnosis and practices need to be improved in terms
of the use of evidence-based malnutrition screening tools, consultation of clinical
nutritionists on the provision and monitoring of nutritional support, and
appropriate advice on oral nutritional supplements (ONS) [12]. As a result, current
clinical management of CRM remains limited and complex [7], [12] despite the
association of CRM with higher rates of hospitalized cancer patients, long hospital
stays, poor tolerance to cancer treatment, poor quality of life and decreased
survival of cancer patients [11], [12].

Currently, most oncologists believe that weight loss and muscle mass are an
inevitable consequence of progressive tumor growth and therefore focus on better
control of tumor growth [13].

The terms "malnutrition", "weight loss" and "cachexia" have been used
frequently in recent years, the term "cancer-related malnutrition" is considered
more appropriate for cancer patients because cachexia suggests that the patient is
in the terminal stage of the disease. Due to poor nutrient intake and metabolic
changes underlying CRM, optimized nutritional support can prevent further
deterioration of nutritional status only if not combined at an early stage with
anabolic / anticatabolic agents [11].

Consequently, CRM is defined as a complex multifactorial process

characterized by weight loss and changes in body composition, a key feature it is
a severe and specific loss of muscle mass with relative preservation of the viscera,
a protein mass that cannot be completely reversed by conventional nutritional
support that will lead to progressive functional impairment [7], [11], [12]. Major
signs of CRM include anorexia, inflammatory, metabolic and endocrine changes,
increased tissue protein volume and loss of muscle mass [11], [12].

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Identifying the special needs of each patient and providing nutritional support
in accordance with an individualized nutritional plan developed with the help of
teams of health professionals (oncologists, nurses and dieticians) is crucial for
improving the nutritional status of cancer patients. Counseling is an effective and
inexpensive method in combination with other nutritional interventions, which
leads to improved nutritional intake in patients undergoing chemotherapy and
improved quality of life in patients undergoing radiotherapy [12] .

Nutritional support for cancer patients

To detect nutritional disorders at an early stage, the European Society for

Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) recommends nutritional intake,
weight assessment and BMI should be assessed regularly, starting from the initial
diagnosis of cancer [12].

Total energy, costs of cancer patients, if not measured individually, can be

assumed to be similar to that of healthy subjects, generally ranging from 25 to 30
kcal / kg per day, and protein intake should be> 1 g / kg per day and, if possible,
up to 1,5 g / kg per day [8].

Individualized nutritional intervention is recommended based on nutritional

status a patients and should include dietary advice, treatment of symptoms and
disorders affecting food intake (symptoms of impact on nutrition) and nutritional
support is provided as ONS, enteral nutrition feeding through the gastric or jejunal
tube. From a practical point of view, if malnutrition already exists or if food intake
is significantly reduced for> 7-10 days, the nutritional approach should be based
on the integrity of the gastrointestinal tract and gastrointestinal function. Intact
gastrointestinal and parenteral nutrition should be used in patients with impaired
gastrointestinal function [5], [12] . Enteral nutrition is always preferred for cancer
patients who have an intact digestive tract due to a lower risk of complications,
improved quality of life and lower costs compared to the administration of
parenteral nutrition [5], [12].

Arginine supplementation is thought to increase specific and nonspecific

antitumor mechanisms, as well as delay tumor growth and prolong survival, as
arginine is essential for the normal functioning of T lymphocytes. has been shown
to increase the long-term survival of patients with head and neck cancer
undergoing surgery and chemotherapy. The use of arginine supplements in the
treatment of CRM in cancer patients reported an increase in BMI and albumin
levels [, as well as improved overall survival, in patients with head and neck
cancer and a shorter hospital stay in cancer patients [12].

Vitamin D plays a role in reducing the cachexia of cancer patients because it

has been shown to suppress IL-6, a proinflammatory cytokine that is a key
mediator of muscle loss seen in cancer cachexia [12]. Vitamin D (2000 IU daily
for 12 weeks following the 4-week placebo study has been reported to improve

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muscle weakness in prostate cancer patients; also low plasma concentrations and
combined scores for proinflammatory markers (C-reactive protein, tumor necrosis
factor, IL-6, IL-1b and IL-8) in sporadic colorectal adenoma when used over a 6-
month period at a dose of 800 IU / day [12].

The basics that should be part of a patient's diet oncological

Fluids

The volume of fluid is generally recommended not to exceed 30-35 ml / kg

body weight per day; the interval may change depending on the patient's
hemodynamic status, the presence of fever or loss of body fluid [5], [12].

Water is needed for all the cells in the body to function. If the patient does
not drink enough fluids or loses them through vomiting or diarrhea, dehydration
may occur, with adverse consequences for the body. Signs of dehydration are: dry
mouth, dark and little urine, dizziness, inattention, persistent skin crease when
tightening the skin on the chest or between the fingers.

Energy

It is suggested that adequate energy targets for bedridden and outpatient

cancer patients are 20-25 kcal / kg per day and 25-30 kcal / kg per day,
respectively, to improve lean body mass and increase the production of anabolic
proteins in the liver [12].

Macronutrients

According to recent recommendations, protein intake should be> 1 g / kg per

day and, if possible, up to 1.5 g / kg per day in cancer patients. In patients with
normal renal function, protein intake at doses up to and greater than 2 g / kg per
day is safe; in patients with acute or chronic renal failure, the protein intake should
not exceed 1 or 1.2 g / kg per day, respectively [2], [12].

Consistent with the oxidative rate of glucose, the recommended carbohydrate

intake (glucose) is <5 g / kg per day [2], [12]. Current guidelines suggest that
optimal carbohydrate intake in cancer patients should not exceed 40% -50% of
non-protein energy requirements. Lipids are efficiently mobilized and
metabolized by cancer patients and are therefore a valid source of energy in this
context. Providing up to 50% of non-protein calories from fat is feasible and safe
in cancer patients.

Adequate protein intake is essential during all stages of the cancer patient's
treatment and long-term survival.

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Carbohydrates are found in vegetables, fruits, whole grains (foods rich in

fiber, vitamins, minerals), potatoes, rice, corn, peas, beans, dried grains (foods
rich in B vitamins and fiber).

Animal and vegetable fats are an important source of energy because they
provide twice as many calories / gram as carbohydrates and are used to store
energy, repair tissues and carry some vitamins in the blood.

Unsaturated fats (mono- and poly-) are healthier than saturated fats (fatty fish
- salmon, trout, tuna, vegetable oils, oilseeds, seeds). Monounsaturated fats are
olive, peanut vegetable oils. Polyunsaturated fats are vegetable oils of sunflower,
saffron, corn, flaxseed, seafood.

Micronutrients

Nutritional supplement formulas usually contain electrolytes. Blood

electrolyte levels should be closely monitored and supplementation should be
adjusted according to the needs of each patient [5], [12]. Vitamins and minerals
are necessary for the proper functioning of the body.

Common side effects of treatment (nausea, vomiting, mucus or mouth sores)

can lead to a hydroelectrolytic and vitamin imbalance. As a result, multivitamin
and mineral supplements are allowed, but should not replace dietary intake.
Vitamins should be administered only with the recommendation of a specialist or
nutritionist, with special attention to products rich in vitamin B12, which has an
important role in cell proliferation.

Vitamins and minerals are recommended in physiological doses, while the

use of high-dose micronutrients is discouraged in the absence of specific
deficiencies. Vitamin D deficiency is commonly seen in cancer patients and is
associated with the incidence and prognosis of cancer [8].

CONCLUSION

In the case of patients diagnosed with neoplastic diseases, malnutrition

syndromes frequently occur. They negatively affect the prognosis of the disease
through the appearance of related diseases, delayed treatment, prolonged
hospitalization of patients. For this reason, adequate nutritional support is very
important to provide the body with the necessary energy, the optimal amount of
micro and macro-nutrients, so that curative or palliative treatment can be
performed in optimal conditions.

The purpose of this article was to provide a practical nutritional approach to

aspects of changing the diet of oncological diseases patients. The paper contains
preventive measures for CRM as well as non-pharmacological (nutritional
support) and pharmacological (pharmaconutrient) measures.

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Vitamins and minerals are recommended in physiological doses, while the

use of high-dose micronutrients is discouraged in the absence of specific
deficiencies.

REFERENCES
[1] Blebea N.M., Bucur L. A., Pharmacotherapeutic options in neoplastic
diseases, Farmacist.ro, Romania, no198/Issue 5, pp18-20, 2021.
[2] Fearon K. C., Cancer cachexia: developing multimodal therapy for a
multidimensional problem, European journal of cancer, U.K., vol.44/issue 6,
pp.1124–1132, 2008.
[3] Sánchez-Lara K., Turcott J. G., Juárez-Hernández E., Nuñez-Valencia C.,
Villanueva G., Guevara P., De la Torre-Vallejo M., Mohar A., & Arrieta O.,
Effects of an oral nutritional supplement containing eicosapentaenoic acid on
nutritional and clinical outcomes in patients with advanced non-small cell lung
cancer: randomised trial, Clinical nutrition, Scotland, vol.33/issue 6, pp.1017–
1023, 2014.
[4] Fearon K. C., Glass D. J., & Guttridge D. C., Cancer cachexia: mediators,
signaling, and metabolic pathways. Cell metabolism, U.K., vol.16/issue 2,
pp.153–166, 2012.
[5] Muscaritoli M., Molfino A., Laviano A., Rasio D., & Rossi Fanelli F.,
Parenteral nutrition in advanced cancer patients, Critical reviews in
oncology/hematology, Italy, vol.84/issue 1, pp.26–36, 2012.
[6] Muscaritoli M., Anker S. D., Argilés J., Aversa Z., Bauer J. M., Biolo G.,
Boirie Y., Bosaeus I., Cederholm T., Costelli P., Fearon K. C., Laviano A.,
Maggio M., Rossi Fanelli F., Schneider S. M., Schols A., & Sieber, C. C. ,
Consensus definition of sarcopenia, cachexia and pre-cachexia: joint document
elaborated by Special Interest Groups (SIG) "cachexia-anorexia in chronic
wasting diseases" and "nutrition in geriatrics", Clinical nutrition ,
Scotland, vol.29/issue 2, pp.154–159, 2010.
[7] Fearon K., Strasser F., Anker S. D., Bosaeus I., Bruera E., Fainsinger R.
L., Jatoi A., Loprinzi C., MacDonald N., Mantovani G., Davis M., Muscaritoli
M., Ottery F., Radbruch L., Ravasco P., Walsh D., Wilcock A., Kaasa S., &
Baracos V. E., Definition and classification of cancer cachexia: an international
consensus, The Lancet, Oncology, U.K., vol.12/issue5, 489–495, 2011.
[8] Arends J., Baracos V., Bertz H., Bozzetti F., Calder P. C., Deutz N.,
Erickson N., Laviano A., Lisanti M. P., Lobo D. N., McMillan D. C., Muscaritoli
M., Ockenga J., Pirlich, M., Strasser F., de van der Schueren M., Van Gossum A.,
Vaupel P., & Weimann, A., ESPEN expert group recommendations for action
against cancer-related malnutrition, Clinical nutrition, Scotland, vol.36/issue 5,
pp.1187–1196, 2017.

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[9] Hébuterne X., Lemarié E., Michallet M., de Montreuil C. B., Schneider
S. M., & Goldwasser F., Prevalence of malnutrition and current use of nutrition
support in patients with cancer, JPEN, Journal of parenteral and enteral nutrition,
U.S. vol.38/issue2, pp.196–204, 2014.
[10] Planas M., Álvarez-Hernández J., León-Sanz M., Celaya-Pérez S.,
Araujo K., García de Lorenzo A., & PREDyCES® researchers, Prevalence of
hospital malnutrition in cancer patients: a sub-analysis of the PREDyCES®
study. Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association
of Supportive Care in Cancer, Spain, vol. 24/issue1, pp.429–435, 2016.
[11] Tuca A., Jimenez-Fonseca P., & Gascón P., Clinical evaluation and
optimal management of cancer cachexia, Critical reviews in
oncology/hematology, U.S., vol.88/issue3, pp.625–636, 2013.
[12] Yalcin S., Gumus M., Oksuzoglu B., Ozdemir F., Evrensel T., Sarioglu
A. A., Sahin B., Mandel N. M., Goker E., & Turkey Medical Oncology Active
Nutrition Platform, Nutritional Aspect of Cancer Care in Medical Oncology
Patients, Clinical therapeutics, U.S., vol.41/issue11, pp.2382–2396, 2019.
[13] Bruggeman A. R., Kamal A. H., LeBlanc T. W., Ma J. D., Baracos V.
E., & Roeland E. J., Cancer Cachexia: Beyond Weight Loss, Journal of oncology
practice, U.S.,vol.12/issue 11, 1163–1171, 2016.

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PANDEMIC AND PERCEIVED HEALTH STATUS: A CASE

STUDY

Assist. Prof. Jacqueline Marques1

PhD Student Mónica Teixeira2
1
Lusófona University, Lisbon, Portugal
2
FPCE of Coimbra University, Coimbra, Portugal

ABSTRACT

Each older person's perception of their health status is a fundamental factor

in understanding quality of life and should be considered in social interventions.
Health is one of the main concerns of the elderly, since at this stage of life there
is a change in functional capacity and, consequently, a greater sense of fragility
and dependence. The aim of this study was to analyze the perceived health of a
group of elderly people attending the Day Care Centre (DC) and Home Support
Service (HSS), as well as its comparison with the previous year, with the peer
group and with the impact of the Pandemic. We conducted a questionnaire survey.
We found that there is a relationship between gender and self-assessment of health
status, with women being the ones who mostly make a negative assessment. Most
of the older people had an "acceptable" value for self-assessment of health,
followed by older people with a negative view of their health and only a very
small number considered it to be positive. When health status was compared with
the previous year the majority consider it to be "more or less the same" showing
an adaptive process to ageing, followed by those who consider that their health
status had worsened compared to the previous year. 38.1% of the elderly
respondents considered that the pandemic had an impact on their health. All of
them were female and belonged to the DC, a social response which suffered major
impacts from the pandemic. Most of these elderly women consider that the
greatest impact of this pandemic was at the psychological level.
Keywords: aging, perceived health, quality of life, pandemic

INTRODUCTION

The 21st century began with various challenges, some of which had never
been experienced before. One of the challenges faced by developed countries
refers to ageing, the way we want and should care for and face this phase of life
which, in countries like Portugal, constitutes a substantial slice of the population.
According to data from INE/PORDATA the resident population in Portugal aged
over 65 years at the end of 2019 was 2,280,424 individuals, i.e., around 22.2% of
the resident population in Portugal. We know that we are an ageing country where
we have long since passed the balance point in the ratio between the young
population (under 15 years of age) and the population over 65 years of age, with
the ageing index in 2019 standing at 161.3. Obviously, the fact that we live more

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years is a positive indicator, only possible due to the improvement in the quality
of life of the Portuguese population in the recent decades. However, we know that
many of these elderly people, for objective or subjective reasons, do not age with
quality and present a set of diseases and in many cases dependency.

Ageing involves a set of biological, morphological, psychological and social

changes, which occur in a continuous and, as a rule, irreversible way. These
changes, according to Santos (2010, p. 1036) [1], are varied: "the biological
modifications are the morphological, revealed by the appearance of wrinkles,
white hair and others; the physiological, related to the alterations of the organic
functions; the biochemical, which are directly linked to the transformations of the
chemical reactions that are processed in the organism (...) the psychological [that]
occur when, when aging, the human being needs to adapt to each new situation of
his daily life (...) the social ones are verified when the social relations become
altered".

All these changes cause, as a rule, a decline of organic functions in general.

This decline does not occur in the same way in all people and varies from
individual to individual with the influence of several factors, such as the
environment in which one lives, the socio-economic situation, the habits and
lifestyles, among others. Each particular context and life history influences
lifestyles, the way of growing older, the way one views and the meaning attributed
to this process. This complexity implies that old age should be understood in its
globality, which includes the biological, social, cultural and, as Queiroz and Sousa
(2010, p.408) [2] state, an "existential dimension, which modifies the person's
relationship with time, generating changes in their relationships with the world
and with their own history".

The subjectivity in the way of facing aging interferes with the way the subject
faces his/her health condition. Several studies demonstrate the relationship
between objective and subjective conditions in the quality of life of the elderly
(Neri, 1993) [3]. As objective factors, we can refer to health conditions, level of
education, economic situation, among others. Fundamental factors, but they do
not clarify the subject's perception of his/her life and the impact of these factors
on his/her life. Subjective factors seek to understand this understanding and may
include factors such as life history, psychological state, affective reactions, life
satisfaction, perceived health, among others.

Perceived health is one of the commonly used ways to understand the

perceived quality of life of the elderly. The concept of perceived health refers to
the subjective assessment that each person makes regarding the quality of their
health and can be analysed considering the past, present and future. It is a concept
that according to Ferreira, Izzo and Jacob (2007, p.155) [4] presents "an individual
integration of many aspects of health, among them behavioural competence
(social dimension) and the sense of self-efficacy (psychic dimension), i.e. with

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the person's sense that he/she is able to perform the necessary behaviours to
produce the results he/she desires".

It is, therefore, a subjective assessment that each subject makes about the
quality of his/her physical and mental health and may include a comparative
assessment of the current and past functional capacity and an assessment
(individual and subjective) of aspects such as the ability to perform certain tasks,
the functional status and the health status (Teixeira; Neri, 2008) [5]. As a rule, the
most common ways in which each person integrates their "perceived health" is
through factors such as the existence of illnesses, the volume of medicine taken,
the presence of pain and discomfort, changes in cognitive state, a decrease in
physical capacity. It should be noted that age does not imply homogeneity in the
perception of health status, since the same age group may have different ways of
perceiving it, which is related, as already mentioned, to the complexity and
heterogeneity of the ageing process.

We may consider that the perceived health status of each elderly person may
be a way to understand their functional capacity/ disability. According to Pitanga
(2010) [6], there are two ways of looking at health: on the one hand, the positive
one, which is related to each person's ability to develop the functions and respond
to daily challenges, as well as the positive attitude towards life; on the other hand,
the negative one, which, on the contrary, is associated with morbidity and,
ultimately, mortality.

The aim of this study was to analyse the perceived health of a group of older
people, to understand their self-assessment of their current health status, as well
as its comparison with the previous year and with their peer group. In addition,
we sought to understand how the concept of perceived health was modified with
the current Pandemic scenario. The consequence, on the one hand of the imposed
isolation and, on the other hand, of the cancellation of occupational activities
(leisure, play, physical, motor, etc.) may have contributed to the deterioration of
the functional status of many older people and, therefore, to the increase of their
negative perception of their health.

METHODOLOGY

The results of the work presented here were developed from descriptive
research. To this end, we opted for the questionnaire survey as a data collection
tool. The survey was divided into three dimensions: the 1st dimension refers to
the respondents' sociodemographic information; the 2nd dimension integrates the
self-assessment of health status. For this purpose, an adapted version of the Self-
assessment of Health questionnaire was used. The questionnaire on health self-
assessment used was taken from "The European Survey on Aging Protocol -
Portuguese version (Paúl et al., 1999) [7]. It aims to evaluate the indices of
perceived health in groups of individuals with advanced age, with competence
associated with the aging process; The 3rd dimension refers to the relationship

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between health and the pandemic, where the respondent is asked to identify the
influence of the pandemic on his/her health status and how this influence occurs.

The surveyed population was made up of Day Centre (DC) and Home
Support Service (HSS) users from a Private Social Solidarity Institution in the
centre region of the country. The total number of users of these social responses
was 25 and 23, respectively, from which 30 were selected according to the
following inclusion criteria: no diagnosis of dementia, ability to self-complete the
questionnaire or support in completing it, and express willingness to participate
(with a declaration of informed consent). Thus, 13 Day Care Centre users and 17
Home Support Service users were selected. The questionnaires were personally
delivered to the participants.

Initially we performed a statistical analysis of the data to then interpret the

results based on the existing literature review.

PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS

Of the 30 questionnaires sent out, 25 were completed, of which 4 were

eliminated, leaving the sample with a final number of 21 participants. The main
reasons for their elimination were their incomplete completion and failure to
complete the informed consent. Thus, the sample includes 10 users of the DC and
11 of the HSS, for a total of 21 elderly people.

Regarding gender, 61.9% (13) of the sample are women and 38.1% (8) are
men. Women were distributed in 8 in the DC and 5 in the HSS. The men were
integrated 2 in DC and 6 in HSS. This may be related to the phenomenon of the
feminisation of old age, explained by the differences in the physical and metabolic
decline between men and women, which leads to greater longevity of women,
which has also been related to other risk factors, such as occupational accidents,
smoking and alcohol use, as well as differences in the way of facing diseases and
disabilities.

In relation to gender, we highlight a difference between the two social

responses, with men being more present in the HSS (6) and women in the DC (8).
Although no data were collected to justify this difference, we can assume, based
on the existing literature, that men have greater difficulty in participating in group
activities (Ferreira; Izzo, Jacob, 2007) [4].

Most of the sample was widowed, of the 12 elderly people corresponding to

57.1%, 5 were married (23.8%) and 4 were single (19.1%). The distribution of the
elderly by marital status and social response is very similar, since we have 2
singles in each social response, 3 married in DC and 2 in HSS and equal number
(6) of widowers in DC and HSS.

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Regarding cohabitation, a large proportion, 10 older people (47.6%), live

alone. Of these, most (7 elderly people) are integrated in a HSS response which
currently represents one of the alternatives for the elderly not having to leave their
homes and their belongings, since this service can meet their basic needs at home.
It presents itself, therefore, as an important response that, in many cases, is
articulated with the informal solidarity that in our country emerges as an important
support for the care of the elderly (Pimentel, 2005)[8].

The predominant schooling in the sample has complete primary education,

with a percentage of 47.6%, which corresponds to 10 elderly people. Of the
respondents, 5 (23.8%) had never attended school and the same number (5,
23.8%) had incomplete primary education. Only 1 elderly person (4.8%) has
completed the 2nd cycle. The low level of education of our sample is visible, since
approximately half of them (10 older people) do not have completed the 1st cycle
and the same number only have primary education. This situation is related to the
age of our sample, since compulsory education did not exist when they were
young and the opportunity to attend school for several years was scarce, especially
in rural areas, as is the case in the geographical context of our respondents.

About the question on self-assessment of health, we put 5 hypotheses of

choice for the qualitative self-assessment of the state of health: very good, good,
acceptable, weak and very weak. Most respondents (11 elderly, corresponding to
52.4%) consider their health to be "acceptable". According to the data, none of
the elderly respondents considers their health to be "very good" and only two
(9.5%) consider it to be "good" (both attending the CD). In the evaluation of health
as "weak", there are 4 seniors (19.05%), divided equally between the DC and the
HSS (with 2 seniors in each), and as "very weak", there are another 4 seniors
(19.05%), 1 corresponding to the HSS and 3 to the DC. Thus - and considering
the "acceptable" as an intermediate qualitative evaluation, the "very good" and
"good" as a positive evaluation and the "weak" and "very weak" as a negative
evaluation - we can say that only 9.5% of our sample (2 elderly people) has a
positive evaluation of their own health status and 38.1% (8 elderly people) has a
negative evaluation of their health status. Thus, in the HSS, the perception of the
health condition by the elderly themselves was acceptable (8), weak (2) and very
weak (1); in the DC, this gradation was good (2), acceptable (3), weak (2) and
very weak (3).

We found a relationship between perceived health status and gender. Thus,

the only respondents who made a positive assessment of their health status (as
"good") were males. On the other hand, the answers "weak" and "very weak",
corresponding to a negative self-assessment of their health, belonged mostly to
female respondents (7 women and only 1 man).

When asked to compare with last year their current health situation, the items
that presented the highest number of answers were: "More or less the same"
answered by 12 participants (57.1%) and "A little worse than a year ago"

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answered by 9 individuals (42.9%). The answers "much better than a year ago",
"a little better than a year ago", and "much worse than a year ago" did not receive
any answer from the respondents. It is thus visible that the feeling that all older
people have about their state of health is in line with the known process of ageing,
in which the functional deterioration and the state of health is progressive and
occurs over time. A curious fact was that for the majority of HSS users (8 against
4 from the DC) their health is perceived as stable when compared to the previous
year, but on the contrary most users who consider it to be worse belong to the DC
response (6 elderly against 3 from the HSS).

When we asked the respondents to make a comparison with most people of

their age and gender, we found that a large part of the elderly (10, corresponding
to 47.6%) consider it to be "more or less the same", and that of these the majority
who responded were from HSS (7 against 3 in DC). A high number of older people
(7, corresponding to 33.3%) consider that their state of health is "a little worse"
when compared to their peers, with the answers from HSS and DC being very
close (with 3 and 4 older people, respectively). Two older adults (9.5%), both
from DC, were more positively considering their health to be "much better" than
their peers and, at the other extreme, one older person (4.8%) in a HSS was "much
worse". One (4.8%) of the interviewees does not know/does not answer.

Following the same logic of the previous answer, most of the older people
(10) assessed their health as stable when compared to their peers. The positive
assessment of their health when compared to their peers only emerged in two older
people, both attending the DC, which may indicate that they are autonomous older
people. The negative evaluation of their health condition in comparison with their
peers appears in 8 older adults (38.1%), with the one who makes the worst
evaluation ("much worse") being integrated into HSS.

When questioned whether the pandemic had an influence on their health

status, we found that the majority, 13 elderly people, consider it had not (61.9%)
and 8 answered yes (38.1%), all females. This answer can be easily explained as
most older people who answered no (10 out of 13) are integrated in a HSS
response, which with the pandemic continued to operate in an identical way to
what already existed (with the obvious introduction of personal protective
equipment). Most of the older people who answered yes belong to the DC (7 out
of 8), a response that was discontinued which led, despite all the effort of the
institutions to maintain contact with these older people, to a change in the daily
lives of these older people, with a substantial reduction in the activities they
developed and, above all, the social contacts, and gatherings they had.

The way in which the 8 older women consider that the pandemic influenced
their lives is mostly (7) at the psychological/ emotional level, namely with an
increased feeling of isolation (2), feeling of immobility (2), sadness (1) anxiety
(1) and fear (1). One of the elderly women mentioned the difficulty in accessing
health care/treatment.

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CONCLUSION

In this study, we verified a relationship between gender and self-assessment

of health status, where most respondents who made a negative assessment of
perceived health were women and only men made a positive assessment of it.
These data contradict the study prepared by French, Gekoski and Knox (1995)[9]
in which they found that there was a difference between genders in the evaluation
of their physical and psychological well-being, where women appeared to have
higher levels of perceived health which they related to differences in coping
strategies between men and women. However, the data from the present study is
in line with the studies where older women, due to having more comorbidities and
a higher risk of disability and chronic pain, are the ones who assess their health
status the worst. In the same vein, in a prospective study by Wilcox, Kasl and
Idler [10] on the relationship between physical disabilities and perceived health
with 254 hospitalised older people, the female gender recorded lower rates of
perceived health.

We can also conclude that the majority of the older people in our sample (11
older people, 52.4%) have the value "acceptable" in the self-assessment of their
health, which may be an indicator that they accept the inevitable biological,
psychological and social changes that occur over time; whereas the 8 older people
(38.1%) who consider their perceived health to be negative have a pathological
view which, as a rule, is related to the onset of illness and the consequent
functional decline and onset of discomfort and pain; only two older people (9.5%)
have a positive view of their perceived health, which may correspond to a
perspective of successful ageing (Baltes & Baltes, 1990, cited in Gonçalves et al,
2006)[11]. It should be noted that the only ones with a positive assessment
belonged to the DC which may be explained, according to Almeida [12], by the
existing relationship between functional capacity (and the respective reflection of
autonomy and independence) and perceived (good) health.

When any comparison criterion was used, the data shows that women have a
negative perception of their state of health when compared to the previous year
and to men. These results are in line with the studies that show a greater existence
of morbidities in women than in men with age. As Pinheiro et al. remind us (2002,
p. 688)[13] "although they live longer than men, women report more morbidity
and psychological problems and use more health services".

The fact that in the evaluation of health status in comparison with the previous
year much of the elderly (12, 57.1%) consider it to be "more or less the same"
may indicate an adaptive process, throughout the life course, in relation to
physical and functional health. These results were in line with the study presented
by Fernandes [14], where a large part of the elderly in the study considered their
health to be the same as in the last year. The remaining older people (9, 42.9%)
considered that their health status had worsened in relation to the previous year,
which may be related, according to Ebly, Hogan and Fung [15], to the tendency

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for health problems (visual, hearing, cardiac and musculoskeletal) to worsen and
the consequent functional limitations for the performance of basic and
instrumental activities of daily living.

Since the WHO defined the outbreak as a pandemic on March 11, everyone's
life has changed, especially the lives of the elderly: those who were in the
Residential Structures for the Elderly have stopped receiving visits and
developing a set of activities, those in Day Centres have been forbidden to
continue attending them, many no longer see their relatives at home, on the streets
there are no daily meetings and gatherings and, in the moments of hardest
confinement, they no longer have any social contact. If we consider that the
functional capacity of the elderly is negatively impacted and consequently
deteriorates when they stop walking, exercising, developing motor skills, playing
games, talking and socialising, then it is easy to imagine that the impact that the
current Pandemic is having on their lives will be enormous.

Of the elderly respondents, 8 (38.1%) considered that the pandemic had an

impact on their health. All of them were female and integrated the DC, a social
response that suffered major impacts with the pandemic, namely with its closure.
The activities developed with the frequenters of the DCs were replaced by more
individualised activities, the quantity of which was reduced and, obviously, the
activities that implied social interaction no longer existed.

Most of these older women consider that the greatest impact of this pandemic
was on a psychological/ emotional level, because of the decrease in social
encounters and the increase in anxiety, fear and isolation. It is still too early to
analyse the impact of the pandemic, but we know that it will certainly have
impacts on the mental health of the Portuguese. In a study being developed, with
adults over 50 years old, by a team of researchers from the University of Coimbra,
to assess the "impact of social isolation imposed by the covid-19 pandemic on the
physical and psychological well-being of adults and elderly people", after a first
data analysis, the researcher Sandra Freitas states that "the period of mandatory
confinement significantly favoured the development of higher levels of depressive
symptoms and, consequently, worse quality of life in the Portuguese" [16 ]

REFERENCES
[1] Santos, S. S. C., Concepções teórico-filosóficas sobre gerontogeriátrica
envelhecimento, velhice, idoso e enfermagem gerontogeriátrico. Rev. Bras.
Enfermagem, v. 63, n. 6, pp. 1035-1039, 2010.
[2] Queiroz, M. C. F. T. A; Sousa, J.A.V., O significado da velhice e da
experiência de envelhecer para os idosos. Rev. Esc. Enferm., vol.44, n.2, pp.407-
412, 2010.
[3] Neri, A. L., Qualidade de vida na velhice, 1993.

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[4] Ferreira, F. F. P.; Izzo, H.; Jacob Filho, W., Impacto da capacidade física
na saúde percebida entre idosos em velhice avançada. Revista Saúde Colectiva,
v. 4, n.17, PP. 154-157, 2007.
[5] Teixeira, I.N.D.O.; Neri, A.L., Envelhecimento bem-sucedido: uma meta
no curso da vida. Psicol USP, 19(1), pp.81-94, 2008.
[6] Pitanga, F. J. G., Epidemiologia: da Atividade Física, do Exercício Físico
e da Saúde. 3 ed, 2010.
[7] Paúl, C., Fonseca, A.M., Cruz, F., Cerejo, A., & Valença, A., Protocolo
Europeu de Avaliação do Envelhecimento – Manual – Versão Portuguesa (“The
European Survey on Aging Protocol” – ESAP). Porto: ICBAS/UP, 1999.
[8] Pimentel, L., O Lugar do Idoso na Família. 2ª Edição, 2005.
[9] French, S. L.; Gekoski, W. L.; Knoxv, J., Gender differences in relating
life events and well-being in elderly individual. Social Indicators Research, v. 35,
pp. 1-25, 1995.
[10] Wilcox, V. L.; Kasl, S. V.; Idler, E. L. Self-rated health and physical
disability in elderly survivors of a major medical event. J. Gerontol: Soc. Sci., v.
51B, n. 2, pp. S96-S104, 1996.
[11] Gonçalves, D; Martín, I.; Guedes, J; Cabral-Pinto, F.; Fonseca, A.M.,
Promoção da Qualidade de Vida dos Idosos Portugueses através da Continuidade
de Tarefas Produtivas. Psicologia, Saúde & Doenças, 17 (1), pp. 28-47, 2006.
[12] Almeida, M.H.M; Batista M.P.P; Campos A.C.V., Autonomia e
independência como indicadores de saúde para idosos. In Campos, M.C.V.;
Correa, A.H.M.; Berlezi, E.M. (eds.). Autonomia e independência como
indicadores de saúde para idosos, 2014, pp.149-172.
[13] Pinheiro, SR.S.; Viacava, F.; Travassos, C.; Brito, A.S., Gênero,
morbidade, acesso e utilização de serviços de saúde no Brasil. Ciência & Saúde
Coletiva, 7(4), pp. 687-707, 2002.
[14] Fernandes, A. J. F.; Pires, C. G.; Ribeiro, S. L.; Maagh, S. B.;
Mirapalheta, P.; Lange, C., Autopercepção de saúde de idosos vítimas de causas
externas atendidos no Pronto Socorro de Pelotas. Anais II do Congresso de
Iniciação Científica da Universidade Federal de Pelotas, 2010.
[15] Ebly E.M; Hogan D.B; Fung T.S., Correlates of self-rated health in
persons aged 85 and over: results from the Canadian Study of Health and Aging.
Can J Public Health, 87(1), pp. 28-31, 1996.
[16] newspaper “Público”, 12/10/2020,
https://www.publico.pt/2020/10/12/ciencia/noticia/covid19-estudo-avalia-
impacto-isolamento-social-adultos-idosos-1934884

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PRIORITIES DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC:

PERSPECTIVES, DECISION-MAKING, AND EMPATHY

M.Sc. Afton M. Nelson1

Assist. Prof. Dr. Kristijan Civljak2
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Heather Mitchell3
1
Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
2
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, United States
3
Webster University, United States

ABSTRACT

The rapid and ongoing evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in
reactionary decision-making and emphasized discord arising from uncertainty.
Given that countries have dealt with the pandemic quite differently thus far, it was
relevant to explore the undertones of decision-making, as well as the perspectives
of the individuals who are affected. The study aimed to investigate the role of
confidence and decision-making in pandemic behaviors as well as related
pandemic perspectives. The present article discusses findings concerning
pandemic-specific decision-making, the influence of empathy on decision-
making, and qualitative reports from respondents. The analyzed sample included
561 respondents divided into three cultural groups based on response distribution,
geography, and general cultural categorizations (e.g., Western vs. non-Western).
The findings revealed insights into the decision-making of pandemic
consequences, as well as a lack of cross-cultural differences within the sample.
Subjective reports highlighted key themes including trust in science, prevention
and preparedness, and suggested next steps from the respondents’ perspectives.
These findings from across the globe call for further investigation into cross-
cultural decision-making in the pandemic.
Keywords: pandemic, COVID-19, decision-making, perspectives, empathy

INTRODUCTION

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vulnerability of humankind

accompanied by hesitancy in adapting to change in times of crisis. Despite this
shared commonality, the pandemic has also drawn attention to the group and
social representation divisions that has lent to the perception that individuals are
facing the pandemic alone [1]. This mentality stifles decision-making and
combative efforts against the invisible virus. However, such defensive mentalities
only partially account for approaches taken in the pandemic. Pandemic
perspectives even extend beyond those responsible for developing rules and
regulations. Nearly everyone is affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and, as a
result, has some perspective and accompanying approaches. Therefore, it was
important to acknowledge what these global perspectives were to better

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understand the extent to which such perspectives might differ across cultures and
whether this translated to decision-making.

Pandemic decision-making (e.g., lockdown restrictions, vaccination rollouts)

continues to be a hot topic throughout the pandemic. Policymakers have been
responsible for the decisions and actions taken to address the pandemic for their
nations. While such decisions have often been mediated by sound scientific
advice, political undertones and personal beliefs have notably dictated the
decision-making process. Such decisions have been scrutinized by the public in
all regards. Often, personal beliefs or experiences drive opinions and bolster
confidence in those opinions. Such motivating factors lend to polarized opinions
and likely prime whether one agrees with (or not) the actions being taken to
address the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aside from the influence of intrapersonal consideration in decision-making,

interpersonal consideration, or empathy, also modulates the decision-making
process. Affective empathy largely motivates our behaviors. Cross-cultural
evidence demonstrates differentiation in affective empathy [2], [3], [4].
Butovskaya and colleagues [4] specifically found cross-cultural differences in
perspective-taking, empathetic concern, and personal distress during the first
wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that empathy inherently affects
decision-making, the cross-cultural impact of the current pandemic paired with
empathy may underly pandemic-specific decision-making.

To better understand one’s pandemic preferences and decision-making

process, the present study aimed to address individuals’ beliefs and what factors
motivate those beliefs. In addition, decision-making was explored through
humanitarian and economic lenses, through which the impact of COVID-19 on
behavioral modulators, such as empathy, is cross-culturally investigated.

METHODS

A more comprehensive description of the methods can be found in the

coinciding article [5].

Participants

Of the 655 respondents that voluntarily completed the survey, only 622 met
the inclusion criteria. Additionally, the analyzed sample is comprised of 561
respondents to achieve a balanced distribution across cultural groups. The three
cultural groups are: United States, Other Western countries, and Non-Western
countries. They were characterized by their geographic position, response
frequency, and the ideological construct of tradition (i.e., Western vs. Non-
Western; see [6] for more details). Therefore, the final sample was comprised of
148 males, 411 females, and one non-binary individual with a majority of
participants having completed an undergraduate (n=228) or post-graduate

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education (n=231). A large majority (n=466) also reported that they were not in a
COVID-19 risk group.

Study Design

The survey was live via Qualtrics for data collection from May 26, 2020
through October 26, 2020. The survey was designed in English but was translated
into 18 languages with the help of volunteer translators and Qualtrics’ translation
function, which allowed for more inclusive data collection. The survey consisted
of five parts: 1) demographic questions, 2) personal-pandemic opinions, 3)
confidence surrounding the pandemic, 4) a pandemic-phrased decision-making
task, and 5) two standardized questionnaires. This article will address pandemic-
phrased decision-making, empathy, and qualitative opinions.

Decision-making was assessed through a binary choice task. Participants

were told: “The following section asks a series of binary questions related to the
pandemic restrictions and potential consequences. For this task, consider that your
country is under stay-at-home orders with approximately 35,000 new cases per
day and 1,000 Corona-related deaths per day. Please choose one of the scenarios.”
Participants were then provided 9 binary scenarios with two choices: 1) an
immediate and greater impact choice (e.g., return to normal daily activities now
and 60,000 people are infected with the Coronavirus) or 2) a delayed and lesser
impact choice (e.g., return to normal daily activities in two weeks and 20,000
people are infected with the Coronavirus). The values selected for the decision-
making questions were determined based on the daily cases in the United States
during the time of survey conception. The same case statistics were not equivalent
to other countries. Four of the nine questions included person-based content (see
example above), four other questions included business-related content (e.g.,
return to normal daily activities now and 85% of businesses survive vs. return to
normal daily activities in two months and the 65% of businesses survive). The
final question posited a choice between person or business. The first eight
questions were positively and negatively phrased (e.g., positive-person: infected,
negative-person: die), and the final question was positively phrased.

Two questionnaires evaluated interpersonal consideration and cultural

values. The brief version of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index [B-IRI; 7] assessed
empathy, or interpersonal consideration. The B-IRI is comprised of sixteen items,
in which participants chose how well each item best describes them via a 5-point
Likert scale from 1 (does not describe me at all) to 5 (describes me very well).
The B-IRI can be condensed to a single score ranging from 16 to 80 or divided
into four subscales (i.e., empathetic concern, personal distress, fantasy,
perspective-taking). We opted for and used the single score.

Cultural values were assessed through Hofstede’s cultural dimensions on the

Value Survey Module 2013 [VSM; 8]). Due to an insufficient number of samples
obtained from each country, it was not possible to obtain a meaningful cultural

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index. Only three countries (United States, United Kingdom, and Germany)
possessed at least fifty responses to compute reliable cultural indices, which is in
line with Hofstede’s original study [9]. Therefore, the cultural indices were not
included in the analyses, given that no meaningful inferences could be reliably
drawn. For further information concerning how the VSM-13 was scored, see the
Supplementary Materials on OSF: https://osf.io/sjhdy/.

Statistical Analysis

The analysis first assessed the differentiation of the decision-making

scenarios (humanitarian vs. economic) through a McNemar’s chi-squared test in
R Studio [10]. Further analysis deconstructed decision-making patterns across
cultures through binomial regressions. A Kendall’s correlation was also
conducted to investigate the relationship between decision-making and empathy.

Qualitative Analysis

Four optional qualitative questions were asked within the survey to allow
participants the opportunity to clarify factors that may or may not influence their
opinions about the pandemic, as well as their thoughts on future actions
concerning this and other crises. 431 participants provided responses, which were
analyzed through Dedoose [11], a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis
software (CAQDAS). One question about the current restrictions in the
respondent’s state or country was included as a potential control question but was
not qualitatively analyzed for the present report. The remaining three questions
were coded separately by trained coders. Codes were assigned based on common
themes in the data, and one excerpt could receive multiple codes. The developed
codes were later compared across question types extracting five common themes
underlying the data. Codes were first developed for each question to maintain the
value of the code’s context. Then, responses were re-analyzed regardless of the
question to identify common themes across questions. Notably, the qualitative
questions were asked after the personal-pandemic questions; thus, priming could
have occurred.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The present results focus on decision-making within and across cultures, the
relationship between decision-making and empathy, and the qualitative reports.
The non-normal nature of the data required assessment through non-parametric
tests.

Classification of the Decision-Making Scenarios

The decision-making scenarios can be classified into two groups with

emphasis on people (humanitarian) and an emphasis on businesses (economic).
We included four humanitarian, four economic, and one control scenario to assess

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differences in response patterns through various lenses (Table 1). A McNemar

chi-squared test revealed statistical differences between humanitarian and
economic responses across participants, χ2 (1, 4488) = 337.67, p < .0001 (Table
2). Notably, a greater number of participants chose the lesser impact-later
timeframe (LL; e.g., return to normal daily activities now and 60,000 people are
infected with the Coronavirus) outcome than the greater impact-sooner timeframe
(GS; e.g., return to normal daily activities in two weeks and 20,000 people are
infected with the Coronavirus) outcome when framed as
humanitarian. Conversely, there was a smaller disparity between participants’
choice of the LL or GS outcomes when the scenarios were economically framed.
Across the two conditions, there were large disparities between the number of
participants who chose the LL and GS outcomes. More respondents chose the GS
outcome in economic compared to humanitarian scenarios. When further
assessing the difference in scenario phrasal (e.g., infected/survive vs. die/fail),
there were notable differences. For the humanitarian scenarios, a greater number
of responses for the LL outcome when the scenario was negatively framed (e.g.,
die), χ2 (1, 4488) = 584.43, p < .0001. The opposite was apparent for the economic
scenarios, wherein the LL was chosen more often when the scenario was
positively framed (e.g., survive). The control scenario paired the two scenarios
against each other (‘flatten the curve vs. revive the economy’). Respondents
notably chose the humanitarian option (flatten the curve) over the economic
option (revive the economy), regardless of the timeframe (humanitarian n = 433;
economic n = 128).

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Table 1. The categorization (humanitarian vs. economic) of the confidence

contexts used in the present study is shown. Contexts that were framed in terms of
people (e.g., X people infected) qualify as humanitarian, whereby contexts that
were framed in terms of businesses (e.g., X% of businesses survive) qualify as
economic.
Source: Author
Humanitarian
return to normal daily activities now and 60,000 people are infected with the
DM1 Coronavirus vs. return to normal daily activities in two weeks and 20,000
people are infected with the Coronavirus
return to normal daily activities now and 60,000 people are infected with the
DM2 Coronavirus vs. return to normal daily activities in two months and 40,000
people are infected with the Coronavirus
return to normal daily activities now and 2,500 people die from the Coronavirus
DM3 vs. return to normal daily activities in two weeks and 1500 people die from the
Coronavirus
return to normal daily activities now and 2,500 people die from the Coronavirus
DM4 vs. return to normal daily activities in two months and 750 people die from the
Coronavirus
Economic
return to normal daily activities now and 85% of businesses survive vs. return
DM5
to normal daily activities in two weeks and the 75% of businesses survive
return to normal daily activities now and 85% of businesses survive vs. return
DM6
to normal daily activities in two months and the 65% of businesses survive
return to normal daily activities now and 15% of businesses fail vs. return to
DM7
normal daily activities in two weeks and 25% of businesses fail
return to normal daily activities now and 15% of businesses fail vs. return to
DM8
normal daily activities in two months and 35% of businesses fail
Control
DM9 flatten the curve vs. revive the economy

Table 2. The frequency of greater impact-sooner timeframe (GS) and lesser

impact-later timeframe (LL) are presented in the table. Four types of each
scenario (humanitarian vs. economic) were assessed in the present study, calling
for a repeated measures design in how participants responded to either decision-
making context.
Source: Author
Humanitarian Economic
GS 328 934
LL 1916 1310

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Pandemic Decision-Making across Cultures

To further investigate decision-making in pandemic contexts, we assessed

cross-culture comparisons of response patterns using the three groups: United
States (US), Other Western countries (OW), and Non-Western countries (NW). A
binomial regression was conducted on each of the nine decision-making scenarios
to assess cultural group differences. Participants (N = 561) either chose a greater
impact-sooner timeframe (GS) or lesser impact-later timeframe (LL) outcome to
each of the scenarios. The US group was treated as the baseline comparison group
and the GS outcome as the baseline choice for the regression interpretation. Given
that the GS outcome is the baseline choice, all comparisons will concern group
differences at this level.

Of the first four decision-making scenarios (otherwise grouped as the

humanitarian scenarios), one showed marginal group effects and three showed no
statistical group difference (Table 3). The first decision-making scenario
postulated returning to normal daily activities now and 60,000 people are infected
or returning to normal daily activities in two weeks and 20,000 people are
infected. The binomial regression yielded a difference in the response patterns of
US and OW respondents for the GS outcome (US n = 20; OW n = 8; BOW = 0.986,
pOW = .023, OR = 2.680, CI[1.149, 6.247]). Due to this difference between US and
OW respondents, a follow-up regression was conducted to control for empathy,
age, and political position. When accounting for the selected demographic
variables, the statistical difference disappeared, which suggests the underlying
driving factor was between political positions (Politically neutral: B = -0.830, p =
.050, OR = 0.436, CI[0.190, 1.000]; Politically conservative: B = -1.685, p <
.0001, OR = 0.185, CI[0.083, 0.413]). The second, third, and fourth scenarios did
not demonstrate a difference between groups (Table 3). However, the fourth
scenario approached the margins with GS responses between US and OW
countries (US n = 36; OW n = 23; BOW = 0.534, pOW = .067) respondents. Notably,
these effects are marginal at best, in which follow-up regressions indicated a
driving effect of political position, as in the first scenario, resulting in no effect
between groups once it was controlled (Politically neutral: B = -0.797, p < .01,
OR = 0.451, CI[0.250, 0.811]; Politically conservative: B = -1.370, p < .0001, OR
= 0.254, CI[0.139, 0.465]).

The second set of decision-making scenarios (otherwise grouped as the

economic scenarios) shows a similar trend in response patterns, by which only
one yielded a statistical group difference (Table 3). The seventh decision-making
scenario, postulating a return to normal daily activities now and 15% of businesses
fail versus a return to normal daily activities in two weeks and 25% of businesses
fail, elicited a difference between the GS response frequency of US and NW
respondents (US n = 62; NW n = 84; BNW = -0.497, pNW = .020, ORNW =0.608,
CINW[0.400, 0.925]). Like the differences in the humanitarian scenarios, this effect
was driven by differences between political positions (Politically neutral: B = -
0.743, p < .001, OR = 0.476, CI[0.315, 0.718]; Politically conservative: B = -

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1.544, p < .0001, OR = 0.214, CI[0.129, 0.354]). The other economic decision-
making scenarios demonstrated no such group differences. Interestingly, no
decision-making scenario yielded a true group difference that was not underlined
by the demographic variables. This may indicate that cultural differences, at least
as defined in the present study, did not contribute to these pandemic decision-
making scenarios.
Table 3. The table reports the frequency of the greater impact-sooner
timeframe (GS) between groups, demonstrating the lack of differences between
responses.
Source: Author
DM United States Other Western Non-Western
Scenario GS n countries GS n countries GS n
Humanitarian
DM1 20 8 17
DM2 49 43 50
DM3 18 19 19
DM4 36 23 26
Economic
DM5 52 53 60
DM6 87 94 79
DM7 62 72 84
DM8 92 98 101

Empathy and Decision-Making

Empathy may be a telling factor driving decision-making as it is central to

our ability to understand and connect with others. So, interpersonal consideration
(i.e., caring for the well-being of others and empathizing with their situation) may
be expected during a global pandemic. Therefore, empathy was included as a
potential predictor in the regressions. However, little evidence pointed to empathy
as a modulating factor. To further explore the relationship of empathy and the
decision-making scenarios in the present data, a correlational analysis was
conducted, in which there was no notable relationship between empathy and any
of the decision-making scenarios.

Influencing Factors on Decision-Making and the Next Steps

Participants were asked four qualitative questions, of which three were

analyzed. The questions included in the analysis were the following: (1) Other
factors influencing your perspectives; (2) What are the next actions moving
forward; and (3) What can we do to be better prepared for future situations. These
questions elicited rich and diverse responses among participants; however, in-
depth analysis revealed several common themes which varied across the created
groups (i.e., US, OW, and NW). The most frequent topics were (1) science,
scientists, and scientific recommendations, (2) a governmental take on rules and
regulation and the role of leadership, (3) prevention and preparedness with

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mitigation actions in practice, (4) trust in media, and (5) overall well-being
encompassing economy and care for the most vulnerable. Participants came up
with an array of different solutions that were related to pandemic-specific task
forces, personal hygiene and care, self-agency, international collaboration,
quicker responses guided by the current knowledge, and paths to normalcy. In the
following section, we will elaborate on these occurring themes and their
implications found in the qualitative data.

Scientific underpinnings

One of the most common recurring themes was related to science and
participants’ ability and willingness to trust what messages and directions are
relayed to them. There were different takes on how science should be listened to;
however, most participants reiterated the importance of listening to the body of
knowledge, studies related to the pandemic, individuals closely associated with
research, and those working in healthcare. The analysis showed that more than
400 participants reflected on the scientific underpinnings and elaborated on how
critical those dimensions were for the pandemic.

Participants suggested that the general population would need to “take

seriously information coming from the scientists and physicians who are in the
know.” At the same time, participants reiterated that science explains how viruses
are spread, and that one should trust epidemiologists. Another perspective
regarding scientific underpinnings related to the statistical data. Here, participants
insisted that any action should be governed by the “number of infected or dead
per region.” Comments such as “number of cases” should also be used to instruct
behaviors and guide rules and regulations.

At the time of data collection, vaccination development was still in the early
stages, and participants placed their hopes into finding one. The most frequent
comments included “once there is a vaccine”, “vaccine invention”, and “further
research in order to get vaccines properly out.” There was no difference among
the groups in a desire to develop a vaccine, and comments, such as “to work
efficiently on getting vaccines for the whole world”, were frequently encountered.
Overall, the participants were adamant that new knowledge and its sources were
most relevant; additionally stating that the world should “listen to science” and
follow “the recommendations of global medical professionals, such as the CDC,
WHO, and other.”

Government and Leadership

Another salient theme that emerged from the qualitative analysis concerned
governments, and their issuance of rules and regulations. The comments ranged
from too tight lockdown restrictions to a slower and phased out release of rules in
place. Participants often talked about needed transparency from leadership, as
well as leadership that inspired confidence and cooperation. More than 360

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participants reflected on governmental rules and regulation, tightening border

control, and transparent leadership.

Those reflecting on the level of lockdown severity often stated opinions

coinciding with “in my opinion, we should move ahead by using smart lockdown
and implementation of strict rules and regulations.” Furthermore, they would
reiterate that “everyone should follow the guidance provided by the government,”
and that the government should be “preventing the infections by applying
restrictions and having a plan” while having “tighter restrictions for travel
between high risk areas.”

When talking about the issues in leadership, some suggested that their
government should have ensured more timely responses to the issues, as well as
engaged in public education and open communication. Comments such as the
“government need[s] to be more transparent” and “consistent communication”
were aimed at the leadership. Often, these comments criticized the lack of
responsiveness and decisiveness, stating that “lack of thoughtful and consistent
leadership at all levels of government” contributed to high prevalence of the virus,
and that “better leadership” would help in overcoming the current crisis.

Prevention and preparedness

A key takeaway from the qualitative responses related to a timelier response

based on the data. Whether it was per scientists’ recommendations, based on
current and past pandemic knowledge, or experiences from the international
community, participants had strong opinions on preparation and preparedness.
Concerning preparation, the most common comments related to the act of
gathering information to create and implement a plan, while preparedness related
to obtaining personal protective equipment (PPE) and preparing for the upcoming
challenges. Mitigation action, such as social distancing, hygiene, and mask
wearing, were generally considered common sense. Like the previous dominant
themes, more than 250 participants mentioned the relevance of preparation and
preparedness.

Part of the prevention suggestions were solely focused on mitigation options.

Participants said, “do not leave the house unless it is necessary.” They further
emphasized the “use of face masks…”, “…etiquette sneezing and coughing”, and
“wash your hands, bathe daily, eat well, and disinfect the whole house.” One
pervasive theme related to the healthy lifestyle, in which individuals would not
only need to self-regulate with social distancing and mask-wearing but also with
daily exercise and healthy eating (e.g., no meat, no sugar, no toxic food).

Quite often, participants mentioned the importance of PPE, especially when

reflecting on the first responders. This expressed the idea that our obligation
should be to protect them, as they are crucial to help the infected. Participants
mentioned the need to “have a better storage supply of PPE, biohazard suits, face

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shields in hospitals, and sell them in mainstream stores for average

civilians/consumers to purchase them.” Another dimension, besides self-isolation
for prevention, was timely response. There was a strong push for health promotion
campaigns, in which there should be a “continuous health promotion campaign
normalizing mask-wearing, physical distancing, regular hand washing, [and]
alcohol-based hand sanitizer usage…”

Media

Media was a theme that largely divided our participants. One participant
nicely captured the essence of media communication in the pandemic: “there is
too much information or misinformation.” Primarily, this was how participants
learned about the pandemic, what to do, how to go about it, as well as the
prevalence of the virus and resulting deaths. Social media, news, and radio were
cited as the most frequent sources of information. While many participants
pointed out conflicting information, others were increasingly distrustful of all
information.

Some were concerned that “the media exploits stories and skews numbers to
their benefit.” Others were quick to point out that “conspiracy theories, myth, and
irrational misinformation compete with real data for popularity in the society.”
Furthermore, some participants were convinced that even officials and scientists
were involved in a misinformation agenda and would state “media should not give
false information by virologists in order to unsettle the population.”

Conversely, others scrutinized the quality of reported news by “searching

[the] internet for false and true information.” The idea intended for “... correct
information [to be] spread throughout the country.” Some also mentioned the
absence of transparency and called for “more information sharing in general” by
“verified/trusted/legitimate sources.” This line of thinking highlighted the need
for a “cohesive, science-based message” that would simultaneously be a “single
source at all times.” Lastly, some sought information exclusively from official
sources, such as the CDC, WHO, and various departments of health experts, as
they wanted a comprehensive picture of the situation. Such behaviors indicate that
individuals sought international statistics to figure out how their country
compares, while seeking diverse sides of political sources. One such example
reads, “I regularly look at Worldometers to look at the data for different countries.
I also look at varied online news from various political viewpoints and seek out
new research. From all this I get a feel for what I think seem right.”

Well-being

While our participants tackled many different topics, one was consistently
related to well-being; well-being for themselves, their families, those they care
for, as well as the global society. Many were concerned about the economy and
individuals’ ability to financially survive the crisis, overcome mental health issues

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triggered by the pandemic, and provide sufficient care for those most vulnerable.
Consistent with the literature on in-group and out-group relations [1], participants
showed the highest regard when their loved ones were closely affected by the
pandemic.

These opinions were consistent across all groups. Participants would insist
that we would need to “maintain social distancing for a while but be able to change
the status of phase because people [adults and children] are having psychological
as well as economic consequences.” Many encouraged the economic efforts to
implement remote work, including statements such as “encourage work from
home”, “revamp the current employment system – allow employers to work from
home”. However, others were quick to plead that we would need to “try find a
good balance between restrictions and maintaining the economy.” Overall, the
majority thought that we would need to be careful to maintain “the wellbeing of
society, which is a balance between avoiding becoming ill and avoiding too much
economic loss.”

Mental health issues were often brought up in combination with the economy
and restrictions. “[P]eople are more affected now by all the restrictions,
financially, and more important [,] mentally.” There were suggestions that
everyone should “do research before sacrificing everyone’s mental health and
livelihood”, that the restrictions should be reconsidered because there were cases
of “mental issues [and an] increase in suicides”, as well as feeling “disappointed
and passive under the lockdown” which would significantly disrupt their “happy
life.”

Lastly, many were concerned about others and mentioned that the pandemic
is causing them to be “more responsible, and [to] be sure that our neighbor is
[doing fine].” This responsibility extended to their families – “the fact that I got
children that need to be protected” – however, there were those who expressed
“more worry for the elderly and vulnerable people who would be of higher risk.”
Time and time again, participants clearly expressed concern for protecting their
elderly parents and ensuring their loved ones were safe by learning how to care
for others aside from themselves.

GENERAL DISCUSSION

The findings demonstrate a distinction in pandemic-specific decision-

making. When asked about whether to return to normal daily activities under a
specified timeframe (i.e., now, 2 weeks, 2 months), respondents largely chose the
delayed timeframe when the risk was an increased infection or death rate. The
choice between time frames and the associated risk was not as clearly
differentiated when the risk pertained to business survival and failure. While our
study does not allow us to conclude the underlying reasons for such differences,
this finding may be related to long-term orientation. For example, respondents
displayed greater long-term orientation and consideration when pondering the

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outcome of a person rather than a business. However, this distinction lessened

when respondents were considering a business’s outcome. This is not to say that
participants lacked a sense of long-term orientation. One possible explanation
may concern the people behind the businesses posited in the question. In this
sense, respondents may have also exhibited interpersonal consideration for the
people behind the businesses. Since the extent of underlying rationale could not
be adequately assessed in the present study, future investigations should aim to
identify the rationale driving decision-making in the pandemic or a general crisis.

The evaluation across cultural groups demonstrated a lack of differences in

pandemic-specific decision-making. This is inconsistent with the studies
investigating cross-cultural decision-making styles [12][13]. While we did not
directly address decision-making styles, rather the action of decision-making
itself, it is still plausible that cultural differences would exist. Importantly, the
development of the decision-making task in the present study was contextually
biased, given that the story, which participants were asked to consider for each
scenario, was based on the pandemic statistics of the United States at the time of
survey development. This likely impeded some respondents from applying the
scenario, considering that the pandemic situation likely differed in their country.
Additionally, the decision-making task did not allow for further assessment into
the rationale in choosing one scenario over another. We also were unable to
stringently categorize culture, which would be pertinent for additional inference.
Further investigation is necessary to better understand the underlying mechanisms
of decision-making across cultures.

The data also suggest that empathy had no modulating effect on decision-
making within or across cultures. Given that the two are intertwined, this finding
was surprising. Conversely, the qualitative data reveals that empathy and
interpersonal consideration were commonly reported as influential in
respondents’ pandemic perspectives, as well as a key factor when planning
pandemic actions. There was a variety of reflections in the qualitative analysis,
ranging from taking care of the immediate family to acting for the common good.
Some participants mentioned how they had more responsibility about their
neighbors and those vulnerable: “I am more worry(ied) for the elderly and
vulnerable people who would be of higher risk,” while others were concerned
about their children and their families: “the fact that I got children that need to be
protected” and “my parents are at risk and I live with them. I want to protect
them.” Many used the airplane oxygen mask model, in which they mentioned
taking care of themselves so they would not cause harm to other people’s health.
Notably, there was considerable differences when talking about pure numbers of
those infected or deceased and when reflecting on those close to them.
Nevertheless, many participants supported behaviors that would contribute to the
common good. Future research may consider a more comprehensive measure of
empathy to better investigate empathy across cultures.

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The most salient portion of the qualitative analysis were recommendations

given for the current COVID-19 pandemic. Those ranged from needs assessment,
distribution of PPE material, and proactive measures to healthcare revolutionizing
and improved communication from the government and those in leadership
positions. Overall, the consensus expressed that we, as a whole (i.e., the whole
world), need to learn from current experiences and apply them in the future.

When talking about needs assessments, participants were concerned that all
measures were not equally effective and there should be some contextualized
effort in addressing those differences; for example, differences in rural versus
urban places, differences in the spread of the infection, and differences in access
to the preventative measures (e.g., PPE, sanitization, masks, etc.). The highest
concern was for essential workers and for governmental responsibility to provide
safe working conditions for such workers. Numerous comments mentioned
urgency and the need for quicker/faster reaction times.

Moreover, there was a pervasive theme that included better communication

and the issues of false information and misinterpretation of data. Participants were
adamant that leadership should take firm actions, such as keeping restrictions in
place, mask mandates, develop vaccines, and plan, while limiting
misinterpretation of the available information. Furthermore, increased
international collaboration and lessons learned from other countries across the
globe in similar situations and similar contexts would aid combative measures
already in place. The government would also be responsible for building the crisis
management, evaluating the current situation, and adjusting as needed. It seems
that many thought the world failed to respond to the pandemic adequately on all
previously mentioned areas.

CONCLUSION

The present study explored pandemic perspectives and associated decision-

making through a forced choice task positing two pandemic-specific scenarios.
Respondents’ subjective reports elaborated on what influenced their perspectives,
and ultimately their decision-making, as well as suggestions for future situations.
The findings revealed that decision-making differed in the context of humanity
versus economy, with suggestively greater consideration in the humanitarian
context scenarios. A lack of cross-cultural differences with regards to decision-
making was also demonstrated in the present study and further suggests no
modulating effect of empathy on decision-making. However, these findings
should be further investigated with an adjusted decision-making task, as well as
increased stringent classification of cultural groups. It may be insightful to
evaluate decision-making style as well as cultural tendencies (e.g., long-term
orientation) next to the decision-making task. These investigations would allow
for proper examination into these relationships. Importantly, the subjective
reports emphasize prevention and preparedness through increased response time,
trust in a scientific recommendations, and statistics, as well as communication and

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unity from the governmental level. Therefore, the present study roundly highlights
public perspectives on a global scale, which seemingly calls for similar actions
and preparedness and comparably prioritizes delayed decision-making
concerning reopening strategies.

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[12] Mann L., Radford M., Burnett P., Ford S., Bond M., Leung K.,
Nakamura H.m Vaughan G., Yang K.S., Cross-cultural Differences in Self-
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SOCIAL COUNSELLING CHATBOT - PILOT TESTING

Mgr. Jan Hloušek, Ph.D.1

PhDr. Martin Smutek, Ph.D.2
Mgr. Zuzana Hloušková3
1, 3
Civic Counseling Center, Czech Republic
2
Institute of Social Work, Philosophical Faculty, University Hradec
Králové, Czech Republic

ABSTRACT

Counselling chatbot - The innovative way of communication with the client

within the field of social work. The current development of modern technological
possibilities of machine learning software enabled the Institute of Social Work of
the Philosophical Faculty of the University Hradec Králové in cooperation with
the Občanské poradenské středisko, o.p.s. (Civic Counselling Center) in Hradec
Králové, Czech Republic to develop content for a new platform of communication
with the client in the field of social counselling. Such an innovative tool in the
field of social work is intended to be the initial contact of clients with professional
social counselling organization in the web interface of the Internet. There is the
first experience and initial conclusions from the pilot testing presented now.
Innovative counselling chatbot is not in active service yet, so the pilot testing was
managed in a „controlled environment“ of university students in the field of Social
Work in May and June 2021. The topic of work/employment (which was chosen
as the first of many topics that social counselling typically deals with), investigate
the initial reactions of respondents to communication with a chatbot, the preferred
style of communication etc.
Keywords: social work, social counselling, chatbot, jobs and employment

INTRODUCTION

In the period from 2020 to 2023 University Hradec Králové (Czech Republic)
- Institute of Social Work of the Philosophical Faculty received a TAČR grant
(Technological Granting Agency of Czech Rep.), focused on the pilot deployment
of new technologies in professional social counselling in the Czech Republic
entitled "The use of elements of artificial intelligence in the provision of
professional social counselling." Specifically, the project will deal with the
possibilities of applying new communication platforms - chatbot, later voice bot.

There are three partners developing the chatbot: The Institute of Social Work
of the Philosophical Faculty, University Hradec Králové; the Civic Counselling
Center in Hradec Králové and the technology partner is Artin, the company that
supplies software.

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In order to fulfill the goal, a knowledge database will be created for the
chatbot / voice bot communication platform usable for professional social
counselling provided on the public information network internet. Main reasons
for the development of the chatbot we described in the article “Use of New
Technologies in Social Counselling – Chatbot as a Plan“ in 2020. [1]

It should be the tool to help existing human resources (professional

counsellors) to adapt to the growing quantity of work (growing size of target
groups dealing with unemployment, loss of housing, over-indebtedness ...).

The authors also perceive the application of chatbot in the practice of

professional social counselling as a tool to prevent the departure of professional
counsellors to another area of the labor market (due to work overload, wage
underestimation ...). The innovativeness of the solution is the partial replacement
of man by a machine, in phases of counselling dialogue that can be significantly
structured. In general it should not harm any of the points of the Ethical code of
the social counselling worker. [2]

The goal of chatbot development is to take over part of the workload of

human counsellors in the initial (initiation) phases of the counselling process. The
task is therefore to play the role of the first contact with professional social
counselling and to be able to orient the clients in the basic possibilities of solving
their current social situation. It should be offered on the free of pay basis and
promote as much as the possible concept of digitalization in the social service
sector as described e.g. in the Federation of European social employers Joint
Position Paper on Digitalisation in the Social Services Sector. [3]

On the contrary, what is certainly not the goal of development is the

replacement of human work by machine work, the displacement of a human
expert in social counselling into other spheres of the labor market. The ambition
for the chatbot is to be an assistant, a helper, not the "master" of the situation. It
should avoid negative impacts of digitalization on the labour market as described
for the Czech republic e.g. by Chmelař et al. (2015) [4] and is longitudinally
discussed under the concept of the Industry 4.0 - in Czech Republic predominantly
Mařík et al. (2016) [5] and in also adopted in strategic documents like Action Plan
for Society 4.0 (2017). [6]

After all, the goal of "controlling the space" of professional social counselling
would be really bold for chatbot, as you will find out from the following results
of the initial evaluation of its abilities by human users.

METHODS

Design of a pilot testing of a counselling chatbot: The first step was to choose
a thematic area that the authors of the chatbot will "teach". Based on the stability
of the topic and the long-term availability of clients, the topic of work /

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employment was chosen. The chatbot was literally trained by its creators,
professional counsellors from a civic counselling center, to understand various
questions on the same topic.

For the purpose of pilot testing, the authors devised a number of tricky
situations that clients of the civic counselling center typically try to solve in the
field of work / employment. Chatbot had to deal with a total of 60 model
situations. Difficult questions such as the following were prepared:
• a woman of 56 years of age, working on an employment contract,
needs a planned medical examination during working hours, does
not know whether she must notify the employer in advance (this is
sensitive information for her)
• a woman of 57 years, the employer wants to offer repeatedly (third
time) a contract for a definite period, does not know if it is possible
• a man of 50 years, before the end of the year he has already used up
a regular vacation day, he needs to move his household, he wants to
ask the employer for some other form of leave
• 60-year-old woman, dismissed by her employer, is not sure she
seems entitled to obtain severance pay
• a woman aged 50, needs to take care of a sick mother for a long
time, does not know if the employer is obliged to release her
• a woman of 25 years, accompanies her grandmother to the doctor,
wants to take some kind of leave so that she does not have to take
regular vacation

These model situations were subsequently sent to the group of respondents

for pilot testing in May 2021 (May 1 - May 14, 2021), which were students of
Social Work at the Institute of Social Work, Philosophical Faculty, University
Hradec Králové. A total of 357 respondents were contacted in the form of bulk e-
mails. Respondents conducted an anonymous discussion on selected topics and
then filled in a questionnaire, which was attached to the end of the chat thread.
The questionnaire contained a total of 14 questions, which focused on the form
and content of communication with the chatbot. There were 63 completed
evaluation questionnaires that became the subject of the analysis (return ratio
17.6%).

RESULTS

What did the respondents rather appreciate: The question "Do you have all
the information needed to solve your problem?" 76.2% answered yes, which
means only a quarter of respondents would need further dialogue on their topic
and clarification of the description of the situation.

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Table 1. Do you have all the information needed to solve your problem?
Freq. Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid Yes 48 76,2 76,2
No 15 23,8 100,0
Tot. 63 100,0

Source: Own data, 2021.

Respondents also appreciated the comprehensibility of how the chatbot

provided information: The variant "definitely yes" and "rather yes" was chosen
by a total of 85.8% of respondents, the variants "no" and "rather no" only 14.2%.
It also seems that the chatbot has no problem with the factual accuracy of its
content. To the question: "Did you find a mistake in the chatbot information?" as
many as 49.2% of respondents said “no”. However, it should be noted that another
44.4% could not assess the factual accuracy.

What the respondents were dissatisfied with, what we have to work on when
developing the chatbot: What chatbot can't do yet is "ask" about other
circumstances of the life situation of the client. To the question: "Are there
important circumstances of the problem that the chatbot did not ask?" as many as
57.1% of respondents answered "definitely yes" and "rather yes". Only 6.3% did
not feel that the chatbot should ask further questions.

Fig. 1. Are there important circumstances of the problem that the chatbot did
not ask? (Source: Own data, 2021.)

Form of communication: Respondents also focused on the format of

communication with the chatbot. To the question: "Do you like communication
via buttons, or do you prefer to formulate your own question?" we were surprised
that the "button" variant won (77.8%). We are a little sad about it, because we
wanted to focus on recognizing the content of the written word from the long-
term perspective. The chatbot was told that if it didn't understand the question, it
should politely answer: "I'm sorry, but I don't understand. My options are limited."
Respondents mostly did not encounter this sentence at all! (as much as 71.4%).
This sentence was used once in 11.1% of dialogues, twice in 15.9% of dialogues.

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Chatbot's personality through the eyes of respondents - language: As chatbot

speaks "like a book" and is based on the knowledge of legal laws, we asked
respondents if they would appreciate a more informal way of communication.
However, the opinion that the chatbot remained with a formal style prevailed
slightly (58.1%, of which 20.9% said "definitely" formal). Only 7% of
respondents said "yes" to the informal way of communication.
Table 2. Would you appreciate a more friendly (informal) style of chatbot
communication?
Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative
Percent Percent
Valid definitely 3 4,8 7,0 7,0
yes
rather yes 15 23,8 34,9 41,9
rather no 16 25,4 37,2 79,1
definitely 9 14,3 20,9 100,0
no
Total 43 68,3 100,0
Missing System 20 31,7
Total 63 100,0

Source: Own data, 2021.

One of the basic questions was: “Can chatbot play adequately the role of
initial contact with professional social counselling organization”? 53.5% chose
the option "definitely yes" and "rather yes", "rather no" and "definitely no" 46.5%
of respondents.
Table 3. Can chatbot play adequately the role of initial contact with
professional social counselling organization
Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative
Percent Percent
Valid definitely 6 9,5 14,0 14,0
yes
rather yes 17 27,0 39,5 53,5
rather no 15 23,8 34,9 88,4
definitely 5 7,9 11,6 100,0
no
Total 43 68,3 100,0
Missing System 20 31,7
Total 63 100,0
Source: Own data, 2021.

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Fig. 2. Please evaluate after immediate experience with the chatbot: What
form of initial contact with the citizens' counselling center would you choose?
(Source: Own data, 2021.)

The traditional forms of initial communication with the counselling center

would still be chosen by the predominant number of respondents: 27% telephone
contact, 15.9% personal contact, 14.3% email contact. Chatbot ranked 4th
(11.1%).

CONCLUSION

The main strength of the social counselling chatbot is, according to the
respondents, the speed of response (10% of open question answers), followed by
correct information (7.5%). Among the pros, the respondents in the open question
also included the anonymity of the dialogue...

Amongst the main suggestions for further improvement, the respondents

concluded in the open question mainly the need to further inquire about the
circumstances of the life situation, they were also afraid that some clients would
not understand the professional language.

We were also pleased that the respondents were mostly not afraid to describe
their life situation with the chatbot - sensitive data (74.4%). However, we take this
number with a limited value, as the respondents have so far only been students
who are not the real bearers of a difficult life situation. They only tried to
empathize with the client's feelings according to model situations.

Thus, in its early stages of development, chatbot still has significant

limitations. It is not yet ready to interact with real clients. According to the plan,
the first contact with a real client should take place in the spring of 2022.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This paper was prepared as the output from the research grant by TAČR no.
TL03000671 „The use of elements of artificial intelligence in the provision of
professional social counselling”.

REFERENCES
[1] Smutek M., Hloušek J., Růžička V. Využití nových technologií
v sociálním poradenství – Chatbot jako záměr. In: Sociální práce jako nástroj
prosazování lidských práv. Hradec Králové: Gaudeamus, 2020, p. 52 - 58.
[2] Etický kodex občanských poradců [online]. Praha: Asociace občanských
poraden, [cited 2021-02-01]. Available from:
https://www.obcanskeporadny.cz/cs/ke-stazeni
[3] Federation of European social employers. Joint Position Paper on
Digitalisation in the Social Services Sector – Assessment of Opportunities and
Challenges [online]. 6. 6. 2019 [cited 2020-10-14].
[4] Chmelař A., Volčík S., Nechuta A., Holub O. Dopady digitalizace na trh
práce v ČR a EU. In: OSTEU [online]. 12/2015 [cited 2020-11-18]. Available
from: https://www.euroskop.cz/gallery/89/26848-studie.pdf
[5] Mařík V. et al. Průmysl 4.0 – Výzva pro ČR. Praha: Management Press,
2016.
[6] Akční plán pro Společnost 4.0. In: Databáze strategií: Portál strategických
dokumentů v ČR [online]. Ministerstvo pro místní rozvoj ČR, 8/2017, s. 91 [cited
2021-03-14]. Available from: https://www.databaze-strategie.cz/cz/urad-
vlady/strategie/akcni-plan-pro-spolecnost-4-0-2017?typ=download

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SOCIOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS ON IDENTITY AND

SOCIAL IDENTIFICATION: THE INDIVIDUAL IN
AMBIGUOUS MODERNITY

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anna Karnat

Pedagogical University of Krakow, Poland

ABSTRACT

The paper examines the diverse ways of self-definition of individuals in a

changing reality, which is attributed to a hybrid and ambiguous character. The
emphasis is on identity discourse in the individual dimension. While questioning
the possibility of clearly defining the Self in the world of diverse relations and
ambiguous social reality, a dilemma arises: one identity or many identities? It
should be pointed out here that there is a transition from identity as a complex and
dynamic attribute (aspect) of the individual to the multiplicity of individual
identities as a variety of its identifications with the objects of the social world.
More radically, doubts can be raised here about the usefulness of the category of
identity. Behind such thinking are not merely methodological difficulties in
recognizing the different dimensions and contexts in which the individual defines
his or her identity or identities. It is certainly possible to speak here of a different
meaning attributed to the category of identity, especially in its theoretical-
cognitive sense. The consequence of this is also the different meaning that is
attributed to the utility of this category, i.e. its instrumental use for the self-
determination of individuals. The stronger the adherence to the terminology of
modernity, the stronger the indication of a possible and fully conscious (reflexive)
project that identity may become for the constructively acting individual.
Departure from modern nomenclature complicates the issues of defining identity
itself, and thus also does not make the task easier in the sphere of social practice
and does not provide easy utilitarian solutions. Moreover, the difficulties concern
not only what individual identity is (or could be) in the functional sense, but also
its very structure and the fundamental question of its durability (or at least relative
stability) in the context of individualization.
Keywords: Individual Identity, Social Identifications, Individualism, Process
of Individualization, Ambiguous (Hybrid) Reality

INTRODUCTION

Regarding the genesis of identity as a product of modernity, there is quite a

general consensus in the social sciences. However, when it comes to the
contemporary formulations of the category's scope of meaning, there is no such
agreement. It suffices to point to the discrepancies in defining identity in two
different contexts of analysis of modernity, namely the reality of late modernity

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and postmodernity. The definition of individual identity, although repeatedly

undertaken in the field of sociology and other social sciences, is still far from
unambiguous. In a way, this is because the differences in meaning result from
different theoretical currents and intellectual traditions in which the category of
identity has been explained. Despite the disputes over the definition, there is,
however, quite a general consensus that the issue of identity entered the social
sciences with modernity, that is, when the actual conditions of social life seemed
to provide an opportunity for individual self-definition in a changing world. It
seems, however, that the lack of consensus as to the status of this concept in
sociology has not prevented its fairly widespread use and application as a tool for
examining the condition of individuals, and even – in the collective dimension –
of entire groups. More important than the theoretical-cognitive specification
turned out to be its research application. The dispute over definition, however
cognitively interesting, turned out to be unsolvable.

The interest in identity in social sciences derives from two different sources,
which causes it to take two main forms: psychodynamic – based on Freud's theory
of identification and Erikson's concept of “identity crisis”, and sociological –
directly connected with symbolic interactionism and James's pragmatic theory of
the self. [1] The former one is primarily an internal process of self-identification,
that is, locating oneself in socially constructed categories, which happens through
language. The second form of identity is nowadays exposed to enormous
challenges related to the dispersion and ambiguity of the contexts of participation
in the social world, and consequently to the increasing difficulties in building
common, consensually shared meanings. Indeed, defining oneself on the basis of
coexistence with others must take into account the ways in which communities
construct conceptions of human beings and social life. Hybrid forms of social life
do not provide a foundation that guarantees transparency and stability. And this
is one of the essential elements in the process of forming one's Self. It should be
underlined that modern man has been largely stripped of the identity previously
guaranteed by the so-called commonsense. Therefore, identity has been described
in a pessimistic mode, where the distinctions between culture and self are blurred
in mass culture, resulting in the rise of the narcissistic personality or marked by
meaninglessness, lack of sense and the possibility of losing authority figures. All
of these, combined, lead to the growth of selfish, closed to others, inbred
identities. However, it also takes into account its optimistic dimension, understood
as the „democratization of personality”. In this view, thanks to the increasing
individualization of life, such mechanisms are liberated that allow the individual
to make free choices from among a wide range of identities. [2]

However, regardless of the origin of the concept, in the case of the concept
of individual identity one can clearly see its connections with the structures of
consciousness. The sociological theory of individual identity was sparked by the
idea of the self-conscious social subject. The spread of this notion and the increase
in its popularity had to do with real transformations in the ways of human
functioning in the world. Just as the sphere of consciousness has been linked to

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the category of the subject, or rather the subject has taken possession of it and
made it his own, so identity has emerged as another stage in the development of
subjective consciousness. [3] Being so correlated with modernity, the identity
perspective turned out to be adequate to describe the condition of an individual in
the world in which the view of reality is reduced primarily to the optics of
individual functioning and coping with the rapid changes. Gaining self-
awareness, understood as empowerment (in the philosophical sense, it is the
possibility of being and remaining oneself and influencing the shape of being
oneself in relation to the surrounding world) has constitutive features in common
with identity formation. In a broader context, the process of human empowerment
as accompanying the emergence of modernity became the subject of Alain
Touraine's analysis. [4]

AROUND THE CONCEPT OF IDENTITY

Identity is most often understood as a process, a phenomenon that continues

and develops over time. Though the phenomenon itself is not fully defined, to
some extent it defines the individual or even the necessary mechanism needed for
that definition. When searching for identity, one asks a fundamental question:
“who am I?” Definitional discrepancies include the durability of the construct
called identity. In sociology we can point to the presentation of identity as a real
and permanent object defining an individual (self-conception) and as a changeable
and contextual phenomenon (self-image). These two ways of explaining identity,
originating in the tradition of American symbolic interactionism, can be, in a way
of simplification, considered as typological patterns of defining identity and the
ends of the continuum, between which many intermediate forms of individual
identity can be found, never in their pure form, but always within the framework
of such dichotomously considered ideal types of identity. In other words, the term
“identity” is applied both to a long-lasting and hardly removable structure (self-
conception) and to the image of a person at a given moment (self-image). A more
appropriate term here is the Self, and individual identity is essentially that which
lies between the biographical self and the situated Self. More precisely, it is what
results from their continuous coexistence. It is a resultant of an established
concept of oneself and an impression about oneself created in the situation of each
act of interaction. [5]

Although various concepts of identity approach in their form to one end of

the mentioned continuum, in reality both models are realized in individual lives.
For example, Anthony Giddens, presenting the concept of individual identity as a
reflexive project carried out in late modernity, is closer to understanding identity
as a biographical self. Although he emphasizes the dependence of the construction
of oneself on every single act of decision made by an individual in everyday life,
the overall vision, according to him, is closed in the broader plans of life and
determines the trajectory of identity. [6] The individual's behaviour on the way of
constructing oneself is deeply considered, takes into account the risk inherent in
late modern existence and treats the achievements of highly developed societies

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as an opportunity for individual development and modelling one’s own life

according to intended goals and in a specific time (conducting a dialogue with
time).

On the other hand, the postmodern world, as described by Zygmunt Bauman,

seems to determine identity to a greater extent in every single act of action and
decision-making. The changing (fluid) and multifaceted context of individual
actions makes the process of identity construction not so much an opportunity as
a necessity, even a requirement. In this sense, it becomes a task to be performed
and takes on ethical significance because it is really a way of survival and
individual being-in-the-world. The indication of contextuality and situationality
in identity formation reflects the difficulties an individual encounters in their
attempts to define themselves holistically. The biographical self, however
dynamic, possesses the qualities of a certain stability and continuous construction
may seem to be an unhelpful strategy in a hybrid world due to fragmentation,
uprooting and trust deficit in society. To use Bauman's metaphor, it is the
personality model of the “tourist” that is more adequate in liquid modernity than
that of the “pilgrim”. [7]

Once again, it should be emphasized that individual identity is usually related

to the temporal factor, and different understandings of time and the positioning of
the human being in relation to its different dimensions. As an illustration, we can
point to private time (the individual's internal time), intersubjective time (shared
with other people with whom the individual stays), and biographical time
(determined by the individual's life course). In all its dimensions we can speak of
manifestations of identity, in varying scope and intensity. The degree of its
articulability, i.e. the individual's awareness of the essence of his or her own
identity and the possibility of verbal expression of what features are its essential
components, probably also varies. From a methodological point of view, it is the
recognition and naming of these characteristics and the ability to verbally express
the components of one's identity, and therefore the ability to answer the question
“who am I?”.

Apart from temporality, the active and passive aspects of identity should be
pointed out. The most significant determinant of the understanding of identity is
the active aspect, that is, the description of identity by each individual in terms of
processuality and duration over time. Instead, the semantics of the term indicates
that identity is a property of being “the same” or a feature of “being” in general.
However, in his opinion, it is contextuality, interactivity and dynamism (constant
changeability) that are the most significant features reflecting the nature of
identity. Hence, the “having an identity” thesis should be considered a
simplification typical for the social sciences, which stems from the fact that they
try to describe reality as it is or appears to be (a state of affairs rather than a
process, difficult to grasp methodologically). Therefore, it would be more
appropriate to speak of the attribution of identity to others and identification.
However, the identification includes both external (objective) and subjective

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(internal) processes. The former, as externally imposed, is related to power

because it illustrates the relationship between the identifier and the identified. This
relationship is based on naming and identification: The second process, i.e. the
attribution of characteristics from within, is in other words self-definition, which
is in close relation to an externally imposed identity (it may or may not accept it).
[8]

In light of the above, the shortest definition of identity can be formulated as

follows: it is a complex consisting of self-creation and external identifications.
Only with the assumption that we adopt a static view of identity can it be treated
as a set (syndrome) of social or cultural features focused in the individual and
manifested in a specific situation (in a certain social context). Only in this limited
sense is any adjudication of “possession” of identity legitimate.

USEFULNESS OF THE CONCEPT OF IDENTITY

A cognitively interesting question is to what extent can identity be considered

a useful category in explaining the condition of contemporary man? Does the
process of individualization mark the detachment of individuals from social
conditions and complete freedom in the process of self-creation? It is then the
free, intentional acts of identification of the individual with human objects and
subjects that become important. Or does the inscription of individuals in
institutional worlds still set limits on their creative self-definition? The answer
cannot be unambiguous. It seems, however, that still identity, also due to the high
popularity of the concept and its ambiguity, brings many unknowns, but at the
same time hope for finding a meaning-oriented key to the contemporary man.
[9]

In broad terms, constructing identity is one way of using practical reason.

Leszek Koczanowicz, using the terminology borrowed from Michel Foucault,
identifies four basic “technologies” developed by humans as ways of actively
realising themselves. [10] These are:
• production technologies that allow things to be transformed,
produced and operated in any way;
• sign systems technologies, i.e. the use of symbols, the recognition
of meaning and the use of all kinds of signs, including language;
• power technologies that subordinate human behaviour to certain
goals or to a particular dominance, thereby organizing and
objectifying it;
• identity technologies.

It would probably be inappropriate to reason that currently, human self-

realisation takes place only within the scope determined by the last sphere of
activity. However, it is probably not much of an exaggeration to say that it is
precisely the technologies of identity that are considered as a determinant of

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modern times. Practical reason still has ample opportunity to realize itself and
emanate its activity in all the spheres indicated, and this is indeed what happens.
However, it can be assumed that the strong emphasis currently placed (starting
from the modern era) on identity technologies is related to the profound changes
taking place in the other three technologies. This is indicated by the justifications
that identity sociology theorists use to find the foundations of their proposed
concepts. For instance, Giddens and Bauman show such specific phenomena in
the sphere of work, new rules of establishing relations, and transformations in the
world of power that make individual self-determination through identity both an
opportunity and a necessity in modern societies. Identity is seen as an antidote to
the challenges posed by the ongoing transformations to the functioning of an
individual in a diverse and semantically ambiguous social environment. [11]

Reaching for the mechanisms of self-creation has become a determinant of

modern times, and individual existence is based today on a deepened awareness
of oneself and the world in which one lives and acts. Identity is largely a
consequence of using one's own thought structure, reflecting on oneself, but it
also includes attempts to understand the surrounding world. It can also be
considered in terms of instrumentality – since it is a consciously created project,
it becomes, in a way, a tool for shaping oneself. Recognition by the unit of the
conditions of its operation allows for their optimal use and inclusion in the unit
project carried out. The intensification of such tendencies is evident in the
recognition of the role of conscious reflection on reality as a fundamental attribute
(and practical skill) of modern man. He/she is required to develop such strong
thinking as a desirable and useful competence. In such a context one can place the
definition of contemporary developed societies as reflective or simply knowledge
societies.

Since the concept of identity is to introduce new possibilities of capturing the

dimensions of self-identification and self-definition of individuals, the variability
of the social world becomes at the same time the basis on which individual identity
is built. The ongoing changes in society result in different conditions for identity
formation and the acquisition of self-awareness. In this sense, it is a search for the
“real Self” (Ralph Turner's term), which is the expression of one's own Self and,
according to him, increasingly shifts from emanation in the world of institutions
to emanation in the form of “impulse”. Bauman presents such a view of identity
as a recipe for life in fluid modernity and, at the same time, as a constant struggle
with the process of its creation. On top of that, he repeatedly emphasized the
weakening role of the nation-state in the post-industrial era. Touraine, on the other
hand, goes even further in his considerations, as he discredits the very concept of
society as inadequate to describe contemporary “societies”

IDENTITY AND THE PROCESS OF INDIVIDUALIZATION

In general, it should be said that the philosophical search for the sources of
identity and its existence as a phenomenon has been linked either directly to

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consciousness (thinking) or to the subject. Nowadays, the development of the

ideas of consciousness and subjectivity are important for the definition of identity,
if only in the sense that consciousness makes it possible to see one's own life as a
narrative (which is a condition for constructing identity), and subjectivity
determines self-determination, that is, it organizes basically everything that an
individual may be a part of during his or her life.

However, what is most significant, in terms of contemporary identity

contexts, is the relationship of this category to the process of individualization.
The popularity that the concept of identity has gained in the social sciences,
including sociology, in recent decades can be attributed to the process of
individualization. The fact that it is applied to both individual and collective being
does not undermine this thesis, because the heterogeneous sources of identity
make it possible to separate its collective and individual dimensions. Although
there is a visible tendency to transfer the characteristics of individual identity to
social entities, the existence of individual identity is impossible without the social
environment in which it is created.

In tying the category of identity to the process of individualization one must

point to a quite clear gap between the European and the American view of the
question of individualism. It should be emphasized that individualism and the
process of individualization appear in many forms and are variously understood
not only because of their different origins, but also their variability with social
development and modernization. We can speak here, for example, about
individualism of the “first modernity” and various models of “late modernity”
individualism. [12] Regardless of the differences in interpretation, it should be
acknowledged that individualism is an essential component of modernity. What
aroused resentment and strong criticism, and what in Europe was regarded as a
threat of some sort, in America was a virtue on which the whole democratic
machinery and its influence rested. We are speaking here, of course, of
individualism as a trait determining the functioning of entire communities, and
thus an attribute shaping interpersonal relations and individual self-
determination.

Nowadays, however, individualisation is most often perceived as a real

tendency, an objective process accompanying the transition of societies from the
stage of industrial capitalism to post-industrial capitalism, or in other words to the
“economy of minds”. In a more radical version, it is heading towards a new post-
market era. [13] Such are the social conditions for the realization of the main
slogan of modernity, i.e. individual self-determination carried out in the identity
scheme. As Jean-Claude Kaufmann notes, individualization is the key to
understanding modernity, and personal identity construction is its expression.
However, in his view, true individual liberation came relatively late, only in the
second half of the 20th century. [14] According to Ulrich Beck, on the other hand,
individualization seems to be the most advanced form/scheme of socialization.
[15] This means that the process of individualization is spreading and becoming

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more widespread (democratising) and that it actually forces the individual to self-
determination and self-definition, inscribing numerous threads of the external
world into his or her self-created biography. They take the form of
institutionalized regulations of social life, but they can equally represent
unpredictable and ambivalent patterns flowing from a hybrid, ambiguous
contemporary.

CONCLUSION

The historical variability of identity models is a fact. However, there are

doubts whether and to what extent the construction of individual identity is
connected with the conditions in which this process takes place. If there are any
socially produced rules that govern this process, then identity construction must
refer to these rules and cultural patterns in place at a given time and place. If, on
the other hand, we assume that with the advent of modernity man decides
individually about the formation of oneself and is fully autonomous in these
decisions, then identity no longer belongs organically to the culture in which it is
created and does not have to reproduce its patterns. All the more so if culture can
no longer be defined in a hierarchical system defined by a symbolic code. The
second type of point of view on the formation of individual identity includes, for
example, the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, in which the individual has at his
disposal essentially unlimited means in the construction of his or her own
personality.

The existing differentiation in defining identity, mentioned above, derived

from the two sources of the concept, means also specific consequences for the
process of identity formation. Identity consists of elements and patterns received
from others, internalised in the course of interaction (identification), as well as
distinctness and uniqueness, and thus a psychic internal construction
(identification). Such definitions, so to say, external and internal identity, together
determine the proper construction of the individual, which is the result of the
constant clash (confrontation) of these two ways of looking at identity.

Considering the deep and dynamic changes taking place in the globalising
world identity can be reduced to “consciousness of continuity”. This is to be
understood in the sense that identity marks the human remaining the same (but
not identical) in the course of the changing circumstances of life, even if these
circumstances provide heterogeneous or even contradictory patterns. It is a kind
of temporal continuation (continuity) of certain personality traits or personality as
such and signifies for the individual the sameness of his/her self (self-sameness).
Even in the context of hybrid social reality.

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REFERENCES
[1] Plummer K., Identity [in:] The Blackwell Dictionary of Twentieth-
Century Social Thought, (eds.) Outhwaite W., Bottomore T., Oxford, 1993, pp
270-272.
[2] Fukuyama F., Tożsamość. Współczesna polityka tożsamościowa i walka
o uznanie, Dom Wydawniczy Rebis, Poznań 2018.
[3] Paleczny T., Socjologia tożsamości, Krakowskie Towarzystwo
Edukacyjne sp. z o.o. - Oficyna Wydawnicza AFM, Kraków 2008.
[4] Touraine A., Rola podmiotu w społeczeństwach nowoczesnych [w:]
Współczesne teorie socjologiczne, (red.) Jasińska-Kania A., Nijakowski M.,
Szacki J., Ziółkowski M., Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar, tom 2, Warszawa,
2006, ss. 769-788.
[5] Turner R. H., The Self-Conception in Social Interaction [in:] The Self in
Social Interaction, (eds.) Gordon Ch., Gergen K. J., John Wiley & Sons, New
York, 1968, pp 93-106.
[6] Giddens A., Modernity and Self-Identity. Self and Society in the Late
Modern Age, Polity Press in association with Blackwell Publishers, 1991.
[7] Bauman Z., Ponowoczesność jako źródło cierpień, Wydawnictwo Sic!,
Warszawa 2000, ss. 133-153.
[8] Ardener E., Tożsamość i utożsamianie [w:] Sytuacja mniejszościowa i
tożsamość, (red.) Mach Z., Paluch A. K., Prace Socjologiczne, Zeszyt 15, ss. 21-
42, Kraków 1992.
[9] Borowik I., Leszczyńska K., Wokół tożsamości: teorie, wymiary,
ekspresje, Zakład Wydawniczy Nomos, Kraków 2008.
[10] Koczanowicz L., Technologie tożsamości i perspektywa
transcendentalna [w:] Kultura i świadomość, Prace Kulturoznawcze, (red.)
Pietraszko S., Zeszyt 7, ss. 77-91, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego,
Wrocław 1999.
[11] Karnat A., Individual Identity in the Postmodern Era – Critical Thoughts
[in:] Science & Arts. Conference Proceedings, Volume II, pp 275-282, SGEM
2017, Albena, Bulgaria 2017.
[12] Bokszański Z., Indywidualizm a zmiana społeczna. Polacy wobec
nowoczesności – raport z badań, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Wraszawa
2007.
[13] Rifkin J., Koniec pracy. Schyłek siły roboczej na świecie i początek ery
postrynkowej, Wydawnictwo Dolnośląskie, Wrocław 2003.
[14] Kaufmann J.-C., Ego. Socjologia jednostki. Inna wizja człowieka i
konstrukcji podmiotu, Oficyna Naukowa, Warszawa 2004.

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[15] Beck U., Spoleczeństwo ryzyka. W drodze do innej nowoczesności,

Scholar, Warszawa 2004.

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TEA PARTIES IN RUSSIAN PAINTING IN THE SECOND

HALF OF THE NINETEENTH – BEGINNING OF THE
TWENTIETH CENTURY: REFLECTIONS OF EVERYDAY
LIFE AND SOCIAL HISTORY

Prof. Dr. Irina Rutsinskaya 1

Assoc Prof. Dr. Galina Smirnova 2
1, 2
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

ABSTRACT

Tea in Russia is not only the drink loved by millions of people but also a
national symbol closely and inseparably connected with Russian culture. The
dominance of realism in Russian fine art in the second half of the nineteenth –
beginning of the twentieth century gave birth to the widespread popularity of
genre painting which started playing a very special role in the country. It is not
surprising that tea parties became common themes in these works. Over a cup of
tea, the characters in the paintings perform everyday activities: chatting,
contemplating, indulging in memories, while taking the opportunity to enjoy their
favourite drink.

Paintings are a unique and rarely used source for social history and culture
studies as they allow us not only to reconstruct the everyday life of past eras, but
also to study how contemporaries saw, perceived, and evaluated a variety of
everyday practices. The research undertaken is descriptive and analytical with
reference to the principles of historicism, academic reliability and objectivity that
help to determine important trends and patterns and characterize the various social
phenomena and developments that took place in Russia during the period under
study. Unlike Western European painting, the representation of tea ceremonies on
the canvases of Russian artists romanticizes both the philosophical aspect and the
harmonizing function of the ceremony, but at the same time focuses attention on
social issues, which obviously reflects the specifics of national consciousness.

The present research is based on the analysis of eighty-two genre painting

works by Russian artists (among them there are the well-known ones by: Ivan
Bogdanov, Vasiiy Makovsky, Konstantin Makovsky, Vasily Perov, Konnstantin
Korovin, etc.). They not only provide the audience with information about
different aspects of everyday culture in Russia from the second half of the
nineteenth to the beginning of the twentieth century but also trace the trends in
the development of public consciousness and help to determine the main social
problems that characterize the historical period and the attitude of society to them.
The process of the democratization of society in the second half of the nineteenth
century is reflected in the depiction of the ambiguous relationship between society

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and the church. The canvases draw attention to the place of tradition in the life of
an individual and a family, the changing social role of the nobility which
exemplifies the passing era, increasing interest in the way of life of the
intelligentsia, and creating the image of the merchant as a new social class with a
specific culture. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the nostalgic
description of the tea party as a symbol of a bygone era of prosperity and a lost
past prevails.
Keywords: social history of Russia, Russian fine arts of the second half of the
nineteenth – beginning of the twentieth century, tea party, Russian nobility,
Russian merchant

INTRODUCTION

It was in the middle of the twentieth century when everyday life as a social
and cultural phenomenon first came to the attention of researchers. It was
examined by philosophers and sociologists from a variety of perspectives: B.
Waldenfels, [14], E. Husserl [3] and A. Schutz [10] examined everyday life from
the point of view of phenomenology; it was studied by R. Barthes [1] and R.
Merton [6] [7] in the framework of structural functionalism; it became a subject
for postmodern studies in the work of J. Baudrillard [2] and J.F. Lyotard [5], etc.

But much earlier, starting from Modern History, everyday life became the
object of artistic reflections. The birth of genre painting can be considered the
main evidence of the existence of a purposeful interest in this area. The genre was
entirely focused on recording the routines of everyday life. Unfortunately, this
huge array of sources remains almost unexplored so far. Notwithstanding the
modern interest in visual sources, philosophers, historians and sociologists do not
refer to paintings as a valuable source of academic data: paintings and graphics
"do not leave the limits" of art history.

In this article, we present an analysis of the group of paintings created in

Russia in the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth century dedicated
to the very important phenomenon in Russian culture of tea drinking from the
point of view of social history and cultural studies.

The history of tea expansion in Russia is well explored by academics [4] [9]
[11], [12]. In recent years, the interest in the topic is on the increase: conferences
are held, monographs and articles are published [8] [13]. In our research, we
would like to concentrate on the unknown sphere of the topic: representations of
tea parties in Russian realistic arts.

The aim of the report is to reveal how and to what extent Russian painting,
from the nineteenth to the beginning of the twentieth century, reflected the idea
that the tea party was an integral part of the Russian daily routine and reflected
social realities. What were the connotations of the tea drinking process? How did

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Russians consider this everyday act: as a secular ancient tradition or an aesthetic

ritual full of philosophic meanings; a depressing and routine part of everyday life;
a form of social denunciation?

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We based the research on eighty-two Russian genre paintings (second half of

the nineteenth – beginning of the twentieth century); the most complete catalogue
of the canvases devoted to the topic was made for the needs of the investigation.
The works are created by well-known Russian artists along with provincial ones
famous only in their region. There was no need to estimate the artistic value of
the canvases; moreover, less important works of art can sometimes reveal the
traits of the epoch better than masterpieces.

While conducting research into gastronomic culture, modern academics

rarely refer to paintings as a source of information; but we consider visual arts as
a powerful tool to fix and examine not only routine aspects of a tea party but to
trace its roots in the culture of Russian society and to reveal the peculiarities of
the national mentality.

We refer to empirical methods of observation and use generalization and

analysis based on the principles of histories, reliability and objectivity as the basic
research methods.

RESULTS

No wonder that tea has become the national drink in China, Japan, or India
where it grows, is collected and cultivated. But it is amazing that an exotic product
from faraway lands became a national drink in a country where it is not produced
but just imported. In the modern global world, the fact could be explained easily:
we can name a great number of foreign food products that became an essential
part of our daily diet. But we are going to talk about the seventeenth – eighteenth
– nineteenth − twentieth-century phenomenon when tea (simultaneously with
Britain) became not only the drink loved by millions of people but also a national
symbol closely and inseparably connected with Russian Culture. The popularity
of Russian tea in the country could be (and still can be) compared to only one
national drink – Russian vodka!

The process of tea consumption brought to life the industries producing tea
accessorises, tea crockery, tea furniture. It formed cultural and family customs
and traditions, influenced national cuisine and eating etiquette. Tea parties were
depicted by artists.

Genre painting is presumed to display everyday practices on canvas while

creating a sense of place. It is generally recognized that genre painting appeared
in Russia in the first half of the XIX century – which is much later than in other

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European countries. However, for a long time its positioning in the hierarchy of
genres was one of the lowest, reflecting the fact that the attitude towards this genre
was far from reverential.

The situation changed only in the second half of the XIX century, when
realism was proclaimed as the leading movement in art.

The daily life of society in general and of the individual, in particular, became
the subject of artistic interest: the household genre manifested its place in Russian
art. Neither before, nor since this time in the history of art in Russia, has it
occupied such an honorable position. Consequently, tea drinking has not been
such an important theme either before or after this period.
The analysis presented in the research defined three main forms of the
tea party present in the works of the nineteenth-century Russian
painters:
• the tea party as a form of social criticism
• the tea party as a form of narration about everyday practices
• the tea party as a form of poetic admiration

All three existed in parallel. The characteristic features, vitality and

presenting this or that topic on canvases varied due to the social and cultural
peculiarities of the historical period. For example, in the middle and the second
half of the nineteenth century, Russia accusatory pathos became the central topic
of the artistic works, while at the turn of the century, poetic and aesthetic motives
prevailed and influenced the way tea parties were presented on canvas.

Not in any other national art school have the topics dealing with tea
consumption become the basis for social injustice and accusation. In Britain, for
example, the depiction of tea rituals is always conflict-free: the space is socially
homogeneous presenting people from the same social group, no outsiders can be
involved. In Russian painting, the situation is very different. The harmony of a tea
party space commonly trespasses, the artists depict people who, due to their social
status, can by no means be allowed to participate in the action or be invited to
share a meal at the table. On the canvases, they usually stand at a distance and are
depicted to draw the audience’s attention to the problems of suffering and
destitution or even inequality and abuse. It can be seen it in the works by Ivan
Bogdanov (For Payment, 1890), Vasiiy Makovsky (Hiring a servant, 1891) and
others. Social denunciation is often expanded by adding anticlerical motives: in
this case a monk or a priest is the person drinking tea; he is fat, satisfied and
indifferent to anyone else’s needs (Alexey Korsukhin, In The Monastery Hotel
(1882), Vasiliy Perov, Tea Party in Mytischi (1861), etc.).

In the painting Tea Party in Mytischi, we can see a priest sitting at tea, his
eyes half-closed. He does not notice the beggars standing in front of him
pointedly: a soldier, who lost his leg at war, and a child. Tea drinking here is

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synonymous with indifference; it shelters the need for compassion, which is a

feeling one could expect would arise in a priest.

Now we will turn our attention to how the compositional schemes are
repeated in the "accusatory" works listed. On the left side people are always
sitting, while on the right side - they are standing; on the left side - the subjects
are well-fed and indifferent, while on the right – we see the unhappy and the
offended. The persistence of the composition involuntarily echoes the Christian
understanding of the left (as sinful) and the right (as righteous).

Presentations of tea parties on the canvases allowed for a reflection of social

and cultural processes. In the beginning of the nineteenth century, the main heroes
of the works of art were noble people. In the second half of the century and later
on, the situation changed due to democratization tendencies in Russian society:
peasants, the petty bourgeoisie, merchants, priests became the main subjects of
paintings while depictions of the noble tea party tradition is out of fashion. If you
find noble people in the picture they are “endangered species”, very old and
decrepit old men and women (Konstantin Makovsky, Lady of the Manor (1888),
Vasily Maksimova, Everything is in the Past (1889)).

Maksimov’s painting thoroughly collects and displays the wreckage of a once

magnificent world: a decaying uninhabited manor house in the background; dying
trees in front of it, the decrepit landlady of the destroyed «gentlefolk», an
exhausted dog at her feet, and an old servant woman next to her. Of course, in this
case, there is not any grandeur or aristocracy in the depiction of the tea party: no
performers, no entourage, no proper place of action. The remaining scattered
pieces of a once expensive full set of china wear look inappropriate on the wooden
steps and weedy lawns; the same happens to the old-fashioned lace, furs, and
velvet clothing of their owner. Indeed everything remains in the past. It is
significant, that it was the tea party scene that the artist needed for the most
adequate expression of the idea suggested by the title of the picture.

Arts impartially and cruelly monitored social and cultural changes of norms
and practices: noble values and patterns fell into disuse, no nostalgia, no
compassion or at least “admiration of the passing trend” was involved.

More and more often tea parties were interpreted as a routine activity, an
occupation that inevitably followed the everyday existence of a person and not
connected with global or painful issues of contemporary realities.

Dozens of works of art showed people listening to birds singing while

drinking tea (V. Makovsky, Nightingale Lovers (1873)), philosophical
conversations (Vladimir Makovsky, The Conversation. Idealist-expert vs.
Materialist-theorist (1900)), meetings and send-offs (Alexey Korzukhin, Parting
(1872)), writing letters (Vasiliy Golynsky, Letter to Petersburg (1902)), family
parties (Nikolai Bogdanov-Belsky, Birthday Party in the Garden (1920),

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discussions of household issues (Konstantin Makovsky, Household Conversation

(1862)), moments of recreation at home with the family (Alexander Gerasimov,
Tea Party (1915)).

An unhurried course of routine life in paintings is lovingly revealed in details:

it is full of numerous everyday features. The author's intonations, sometimes
serious, sometimes touched with a good-natured smile or light irony, do not
contain even a shadow of condemnation of the "joys of philistine life". Despite
the fact that the tea party in most of these works is not a central but a concomitant
event, it does not appear by chance, each time focusing on the private, family,
everyday nature of the event, introducing this moment in the context of the day-
to-day circle of human existence.

If a painter happens to depict the members of his family drinking tea the topic
becomes very intimate and family values are of primary importance (Konnstantin
Korovin, At the Tea Table (1888), Boris Kustodiev, On the Terrace (1906),
Lukjan Popov, In the Garden. Tea Party (1911).

The topic that unites all these works is: the harmonious and happy existence
of an artist’s family. The canvases do not tell stories or depict events. People are
never in a hurry, nothing disturbs them. They are calm and content. The artist tries
to communicate the feeling of comfort and a homely atmosphere. Parents and
children, pets, white tablecloths, light clothing, samovars, pots, chinaware: all
these details are presumed to create a poetic atmosphere of everyday realities.

The tea party is moved out of the traditional home settings: it now takes place
on the terrace, in the garden, or on the playground in front of the house, which
enhances the sense of poetic harmony of the event. The routine household details
are replaced by the silence of a beautiful summer landscape.

The table, at which the household is gathered, is placed near the foreground
of the picture so that you can see a few, simple, but rather refined details of the
serving. Still, life plays an important role in the paintings, where the time of tea
drinking appears as a moment of fullness, joy and spirituality of being. It is
important for the artist to show how the sun reflects on the glass, how the porcelain
glitters coldly, how the colored highlights fall on the white tablecloths. The life
of things becomes an organic and necessary part of the depicted world: objects do
not convey information but form a poetic and esthetic kind of environment.

The Russian painter Boris Kustodiev praised the everyday life of tradesmen.
In his pictures, you will see curvy merchant women and bearded merchantmen.
He created about two dozen paintings, in which the characters drink tea, and sit at
a table with a samovar on it. B. Kustodiev can be called the creator of the visual
formula of the Russian merchant tea party.

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None of the paintings from the second half of the nineteenth century,
mentioned in this paper, can be considered a hymn to hedonism. Even if the artists
were interested in the objects displayed on the table, and they carefully depicted
the treats displayed on it, the images of the treats struck the viewers with their
restraint, or even asceticism. Bread, jam, bagels form the main "tea set essentials"
within Russian painting. Boris Kustodiev was the first artist to get inspired by the
generous, excessive beauty of merchant life. His feasts feature the merchants
sitting at tables that represent luxurious still lives with a variety of pastries, a tray
with all sorts of fruits next to it, and an indispensable watermelon that rises above.
The painter continued admiring the redundancy of their life even creating his
works during starvation in post-revolution Leningrad.

If you look at the dates when most of the «tea paintings» were created by the
artist, it is the period between 1918 and 1926. In reality, during that period, the
well-fed life of a Russian merchant that the paintings depicted was long in the
past. In contrast to the tea parties described by the Kustodiev’s works, a half-
starved existence became the norm of life for a significant part of the country's
population during that time. The artist himself is bedridden by an incurable
disease. However, there is not the slightest hint of the mood of the time in which
Kustodiev lived on the canvases dedicated to the tea parties: they present a
nostalgic dream of the past rather than a depiction of reality. Kustodiev continued
to create his myth about Russia even when nothing that «fed» that myth existed.
As a result, his depictions of tea parties are the form of memory of a lost Russia.

CONCLUSION

Thus we can see that the tea party theme became very important for Russian
art in the nineteenth – beginning of the twentieth century. Though being very
private, unimportant and domestic, it reveals different and important aspects of
social and cultural life. It can be the subject of a light conversation or anecdote as
well as the basis for philosophic reflections or criticism of society; it can also
inspire authors to admire routine life. The subject not only illustrates the national
preoccupation with tea drinking and peculiarities of the Russian tea party but also
reveals the social and cultural context of the epoch: the process of the
democratization of society, the relationship between society and the church,
traditional values of society, the changing social role of the nobility and the
intelligentsia, the merchant culture. In the new epoch that followed the Russian
Revolution of 1917 and brought a new way of life to the country, the tea party
remained a nostalgic relic of happier times.

Summing up, we emphasize once again that tea-drinking, according to

modern researchers, is a kind of social technology, a means to influence society
in a certain way: "in a series of everyday rituals, it is always an occasion and a
consequence of the interpenetration of being and everyday life, a way of
establishing world order, harmonizing what is happening."[15] Yet, not
everything was so unambiguous in the Russian tradition. Paintings, a valuable but

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undervalued source, provide unique information on various aspects of social

history. Artists demonstrated the harmonizing function of the tea ceremony, while
at the same time underlining its insecurity and its dependence on social issues,
and they worked on these two elements with the same level of intensity.
Obviously, this fact can be explained by the peculiarities of Russian national
consciousness as opposed to, for example, as mentioned above, English painting
where it is impossible to find canvases in which the tea ceremony would be used
to present social problems. In Russian painting, there were two mutually exclusive
tendencies: to glorify, to emphasize the harmonizing function of the tea ritual and
at the same time to destroy it, turning the tea party into an expression of social
injustice. In the first case, the tea party is a symbol of pleasure, far removed from
any problems and complex issues, while in the second, it is a symbol of the
"abused tea party", a harsh and direct form of social denunciation. This duality is
the most important feature of the Russian consciousness. The works of art manage
both: to praise and enjoy as well as denounce and destroy. Russian painting from
the second half of the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century exposes
this duality with a visual certainty.

REFERENCES
[1] Barthes R. Mythologies, France, 1970.
[2] Baudrillard J. La Societe De Consommation Ses mythes, ses structures,
France, 1970.
[3] Husserl E. Cartesianische Meditationen. Eine Einletung in die
Phänomenologie, Germany, 1977.
[4] Lubimenko V.N. Tea and its Culture in Russia, Russia, 1919.
[5] Lyotard J. F. Soundproof Room: Malraux’s Anti-aesthetics, USA, 2001.
[6] Merton R. K. Civilization and Culture, Sociology and Social Research,
USA, vol. 21, pp. 103-113, 1936.
[7] Merton R. K., Barber E. The Travels and Adventures of Serendipity: A
Study in Sociological Semantics and the Sociology of Science, USA, 2004.
[8] Pavlovskaya A.V., Rutsinskaya I.I., Shtulberg A.M. The Great Unifier.
Tea and Tea Drinking in the History and Culture of Russia and Britain Russia,
2020.
[9] Pokhlebkin V. V. Tea and Vodka in Russian History, Russia, 1995.
[10] Schutz A. Realities from Daily Life to Theoretical Contemplation,
Collected Papers, Great Britain, vol. IV, pp 25-50, 1962.
[11] Semenov V. M. Everything about Tea and Tea Party. Modern Tea
Encyclopedia, Russia, 2006.
[12] Sokolov I. A. A Long Way of Tea to Russia: 1690 – 1910, Russian
Scientific Magazine, Russia, vol. 1 (8), p. 25-27, 2009.

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[13] Tea in the Historical, Cultural, Medical Aspect. Materials of the I

Scientific and Theoretical Conference, Kursk, Russia, 2020. URL:
https://kurskmed.com/upload/departments/library/files/conf/conf-2020/Tea-
2020-sbornik.pdf.
[14] Waldenfels B. Everyday life as a melting pot of rationality, Russia, pp
39-50, 1991.
[15] Yakusheva L. A. Russian tea drinking as the text of everyday culture,
Cultural Analyusis. Electronic scientific publication, Russia, issue 3, 2009. URL:
http://analiculturolog.ru/journal/archive/item/309-article_19-7.html.

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THE PRINCIPLES OF GUIDED EVOLUTION OF SOCIETY

– A SYSTEMIC PERSPECTIVE

Damir Marinić, PhD1

Ida Marinić, MA2
1
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Osijek, Osijek,
Croatia
2
Center for Integral Studies “Spajalica”, Osijek, Croatia

ABSTRACT

Since the beginning of the 21st century, many regions in the world have faced
with economic volatility, political instability, environmental degradation, cultural
wars and various cyber threats, which only intensified during the coronavirus
pandemic. The reason behind these crises is a fragmented character of human
interactions that are motivated by self or local interest, despite the fact that we are
becoming increasingly interconnected in complex global networks. From a
systemic perspective, human interactions in contemporary society are motivated
by centrifugal social forces, promoting independence and an increased sense of
entitlement, exclusive individualism, hostile competitiveness, all of which are
completely purposeless, even harmful in today's global society. We are constantly
trying to implement pre-global individualistic values in a global interdependent
system, thus causing "cracks" in the social fabric of reality, which we could
especially witness during the coronavirus pandemic. In order to bring about a
change in current trends, a paradigm shift is required, first of all in human values,
which would increase existing centripetal social forces. This means that the
generation living today must formulate a commitment to global citizenship
alongside involvement in local citizenship. In order to protect ourselves from
future outbursts of pandemics and other similar systemic crises, a new vision of
human society is required which fosters openness, care for the "other", and mutual
responsibility across national borders, as well as cultural, religious, racial,
gendered and other divides. The only effective response to global crises is – global
response.
Keywords: social evolution, interdependence, global society, systemic
perspective

INTRODUCTION

The world today is faced with economic, environmental, social, cultural, and
security challenges of unprecedented proportions, and it becomes increasingly
more difficult for us to adapt to the stormy changes the world brings, especially
after the coronavirus outbreak. These changes not only invade our “personal
space” in an unpleasant way, but it is getting more and more difficult to navigate
through information flows that are abundant of information, but don't give us a

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true picture of what exactly is happening. Many people do not understand how to
behave, what rules to follow, what to expect from the future. In such an uncertain
and complex situation, the question of how to go on living is acute both for society
and each individual.

Hence, we can say that today we live in a VUCA world [1], which is an
acronym for the world which is volatile, demanding from us immediate reactions
to unpredictable and perpetually changing conditions, which are out of our direct
control, and which we must perform under growing level of uncertainty. This is a
complex world, dynamic with increasing interdependencies, creating new,
ambiguous conditions, which we never experienced before.

In attempts to deal with the challenges it brings, more and more experts are
incline toward the use of systems methodologies and multidisciplinary
approaches. In normal science, we are used to describing the world in terms of
individual phenomena, organized according to appropriate research disciplines or
areas of life to which they most relate. The contemporary world, on the other hand,
demands a shift in perspective from focusing on individual phenomena from an
aspect of a certain field of science, toward focusing on connections existing
between them, which mostly determine the dynamic of the world. Systems science
not only captures the aforementioned dynamic of today's world, but also manages
to explain how the world ended up being such a volatile, uncertain, complex and
ambiguous place. In order to outline this trajectory of development, we need to
examine the process of evolution not only from a systemic, macroscopic
perspective, usually called "big history" [2].

EVOLUTION AS A DIRECTED PROCESS

There are several features of systemic perspective, which make it fit for
examining the structure and dynamics of evolution on a macroscopic level. First,
everything existing within the space-time continuum, from particles to societies
and culture (including evolution itself), can be described in terms of a system - a
set of elements that is coherently organized in a structure that performs a certain
function [3]. Second, since everything can be described in terms of a system,
certain universal patterns of systems' behavior could be observed and abstracted
into general scientific laws and principles. Lastly, if such universal patterns exist,
and if they are truly products of underlying laws and principles, we could use them
to predict the future behavior of the system, and plan our actions accordingly.

If we examine the process of evolution, not from the aspect of mechanisms

of variation, natural adaptation, and "survival of the fittest", but from the
overarching, macroscopic perspective, we can deduce that evolution is a directed
process of gradual and stepwise increase of integration of evolutionary substrate
– matter, energy and information. This pattern was observed not only in the
domain of the evolution of matter [2], but also in the domain of the evolution of
life, where the process of evolution results in successive emergence of major

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evolutionary transitions, or major evolutionary transitions in individuality [4],

which are characterized by individual entities which could sustain themselves and
replicate independently, start connecting between themselves in order to form a
more complex form of life.

What we are about to show is that the same pattern applies to human and
social/cultural evolution as well and that current social processes, especially the
ongoing coronavirus pandemic, are “aimed” at bringing human civilization into
more integrated form of existence. Actually, several attempts for such a notion
were already made in the past, not only in the philosophical, but in the scientific
domain as well [5]. According to this perspective, the future evolutionary step of
humans is in transition toward emergent, distributed worldwide intelligence, often
referred to as “global brain” or “noosphere” (a sphere of interconnected human
minds, which envelops the globe and affects the whole life, biosphere), which
should happen by our volition, as humanity starts gaining more and more
conscious and intentional control over the process of (its) evolution, since
evolution itself is also a system which is evolving [5].

Although a considerable number of scientists from different fields of inquiry

work on understanding future trajectory of humanity’s development, until recent
times the above-described perspective on future human evolution didn’t gain
much attention in main-stream science but was often perceived as being
“mystical” to a certain extent, thus belonging more to New Age, than to science.
The reason for it probably lies in the fact that it failed to provide a clear
explanation of the process and causal mechanisms by which such evolutionary
transition could happen, thus leaving enough room for different kinds of
“mystical” explanations to fill in the gaps over the years. This is even more true
for the notion of “directed evolution”, which is a concept most main-stream
evolutionist discard without any consideration.

At this point, it is important to emphasize that directedness of the process of

evolution by no means implies the existence of a certain supernatural intelligence
governing the process of evolution. Rather, as we will try to explain in the
following section, “directedness of evolution” is a pattern of emerging complex
systems which stem from simple natural forces acting upon evolutionary
substrate.

DYNAMICS OF EVOLUTIONARY TRANSITIONS

From a systemic perspective, the emergence of a complex systems from

simple systems (e.g. emergence of multicellular from unicellular life forms),
happens due to their mutual dynamical interactions, creating interdependencies
which give rise to (higher order) hierarchical levels (more complex systems),
which exhibit emergent behavior that cannot be simply inferred from the behavior
of its components (simple systems) [3]. The reason for the existence of such a
pattern of growing complexity lies in the fact that all forms of existence, be it an

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atom or an organism, are specific space-time structures able to maintain an

optimal flow of matter and energy, under given (environmental) conditions [2],
since according to empirically substantiated constructal law, in order for any
space-time structure to come into existence and persist in time, meaning reach a
certain state of stability or equilibrium, it has to evolve in such a way that it
provides easier and easier access to the currents of matter and energy to flow
through it [6]. In other words, the more complex the space-time structure is, the
more it is able to maintain the flow of matter and energy through it, and this can
actually be measured as energy rate density, which is the amount of power per
unit volume which a certain space-time structure needs in order to maintain its
existence (e.g. the human brain has a much higher energy rate density, relative to
its size, than the entire galaxy) [2].

This process, from its inception (initial conditions in the early universe), has
been guided by natural forces maintaining two parallel processes: 1) entropic
processes, which maintain the ever-increasing energy flow and are manifested on
a cosmic scale as expansion, radiation and dark energy, and 2) order-generating
processes, which on a cosmic scale generate space-time structures and are
manifested as contraction, gravity, or dark matter [7]. For the sake of simplicity,
we will denominate these two sets of forces as entropy-creating "centrifugal
forces", and order-generating "centripetal forces", since the same processes exist
in human society, and are responsible for its evolution, as we will discuss later in
this article.

Fig. 1. Bifurcation diagram of the logistic map

Figure 1 shows the most precise description of all possible states potentially
existing in a dynamical system, whose behavior can be described by the logistic
map equation, where x (y-axis) represents "order parameters", which designate an
intrinsic dynamics of system's behavior, and r (x-axis) so-called "control
parameters", which represent (usually external) factors acting upon system's
intrinsic dynamics. In terms of above-mentioned forces, order parameters

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represent order-generating centripetal forces, while control parameters represent

entropy-generating centrifugal forces.

As we stated before, in order to maintain its existence and structure, every

natural system depends on the flow of matter and energy through it, which, in
turn, initiates the influence of centrifugal forces upon the system's structure,
because increased energy flows through the system, evoke structural perturbations
of the system. As the energy flow through the system gradually increases,
provoking greater structural perturbations, the system starts to absorb these
perturbations and balance them out by generating intrinsic centripetal forces,
which maintain the process of continuously increasing interdependencies between
system's elements, making its structure more integrated and complex, but also
more sensitive to structural perturbations, thus demanding more energy to
maintain its state [3], [8].

As this process continues, growing interdependencies in the system’s

structure create a critical threshold of instability, where infinitesimally small
change is enough to create a qualitatively new behavior of the system, and in some
cases, even complete reorganization on the superordinate level (transition in
individuality). These points are represented in Figure 1 as bifurcations – points in
which future trajectory of the system’s development divides or branches out in
two different directions/states: 1) under influence of centripetal forces, system
moves toward reorganization on the superordinate level, reaching a new form
which is able to maintain stability of system’s structure (far from thermodynamic
equilibrium), or 2) under influence of centrifugal forces, system’s structure
disintegrates, moving system closer to thermodynamic equilibrium (maximum
entropy) [8].

It turns out that rise, of complexity in nature provides conditions both for
greater integration as well as greater instability, thus paving the road for ever-
increasing flow of energy, reorganization, and evolutionary development,
producing ever more open and coherent space-time structures, maintained far
from thermodynamic equilibrium by a flow of energy through it [2], [7].

EVOLUTION OF HUMAN/SOCIAL SYSTEM

Now we can more precisely understand the nature and process of evolution
of human/social system, since the same principles and forces act in the symbolic,
cognitive-affective realm of human society, as in other natural systems. With that
respect, human/social evolution can be seen as a process of ever-growing
interdependencies between individuals, creating different social structures, from
simple tribes to complex global society, under influence of centripetal and
centrifugal social forces – the former ones bringing people closer together, and
the later ones pulling people apart. We will not delve into details of this process,
since it exceeds the scope of this article, but will immediately “jump” to the

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current state of humanity. But, before we do that, we need to examine the nature
of the human/social system.

We deliberately made a denomination “human/social system”, because it is

impossible to clearly differentiate between the human individual and its social
counterpart. The reason for it is that the very thing which differentiates humans
from animals, namely the human mind with its capacities for reflection and
symbolic representations, is actually both embodied, meaning "attached" to the
brain and the body of a person, as well as relational, meaning it is "present" in the
interpersonal space between people [9]. Although we don't fully understand the
mechanism behind this phenomenon, there is extensive empirical evidence for the
relational nature of mind coming not only from the field of interpersonal
neurobiology and social neuroscience, which show that the human mind wouldn't
be able to exist and develop without other people and their minds [9], but also
studies from network science, which clearly show that our desires and
characteristics are under a constant influence through a dense social network, by
people we've never even met in person [10].

From a systemic perspective, this means that human society is fundamentally

built on positive feedback relations (interdependencies) between humans, which
are the key driver of the development of human society, since they increase the
values – desires, tendencies or states – which are associated with them. As
opposed to negative feedback where we can observe a gradual and often stable
development over a prolonged period of time, positive feedback relations work to
amplify change usually to an exponent. This is the reason why development
caused by positive feedback relations is fundamentally unsustainable because all
systems, in reality, exist in an environment that will ultimately place a limit on
their growth [3].

Of course, this was not apparent until 20th century, when human society
become global. Until then, these effects were mitigated by strict hierarchies
(kingships) and wars and conflicts between nations, all of which managed to
constrain positive feedback effects. Once society became global, it began to
develop exponentially, all inherent instabilities of positive feedback relations
began to surface. Garrett Hardin over 50 years ago very eloquently described the
state in which humanity found itself in the 20th century, naming it “the tragedy of
the commons” [11]: ”The tragedy of the commons develops in this way. Picture a
pasture open to all. It is to be expected that each herdsman will try to keep as
many cattle as possible on the commons. Such an arrangement may work
reasonably satisfactorily for centuries because tribal wars, poaching, and disease
keep the numbers of both man and beast well below the carrying capacity of the
land. Finally, however, comes the day of reckoning, that is, the day when the long-
desired goal of social stability becomes a reality. At this point, the inherent logic
of the commons remorselessly generates tragedy. As a rational being, each
herdsman seeks to maximize his gain. Explicitly or implicitly, more or less
consciously, he asks, "What is the utility to me of adding one more animal to my

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herd?" This utility has one negative and one positive component. 1) The positive
component is a function of the increment of one animal. Since the herdsman
receives all the proceeds from the sale of the additional animal, the positive utility
is nearly +1. 2) The negative component is a function of the additional
overgrazing created by one more animal. Since, however, the effects of
overgrazing are shared by all the herdsmen, the negative utility for any particular
decision-making herdsman is only a fraction of -1. Adding together the component
partial utilities, the rational herdsman concludes that the only sensible course for
him to pursue is to add another animal to his herd. And another; and another....
But this is the conclusion reached by each and every rational herdsman sharing
a commons. Therein is the tragedy. Each man is locked into a system that compels
him to increase his herd without limit-in a world that is limited.”

On the one hand, from the aspect of the society as a whole, positive feedback
relations are a manifestation of centripetal social forces, acting in a way to
strengthen and expand human relations, thus creating stronger and stronger
interdependencies, until almost entire human society entered into a state of global
interdependence. On the other hand, from the individual aspect, the same system
of positive feedback relations amplifies existing individual desires and tendencies,
thus increasing diversity in human society. According to laws of development of
the system, as growing social interdependencies along with growing social
diversity start approaching a certain maximum, which is defined by structural
constraints of the system of society, it enters a critical period, where it becomes
vulnerable to even the smallest influence coming from individual actors
(elements) in the system [8].

As soon as these instabilities start affecting each individual in the system, due
to existing interdependencies on the social level, it activates their short-term self-
interest goals, which introduces centrifugal forces into the system of society.
These forces manifest themselves both on an individual level, as different kinds
of alienation-driven behaviors, as well as collective level, as different kinds of
isolationist and separationist politics. In relation to that, studies have shown an
increase in narcissistic tendencies by 70% along with a decrease in empathy by
more than 40%, since early 1980s until mid-2000s [12], while there is a rise in
popularity of anti-systemic parties, especially in Europe, where in many countries
they managed to become parliamentary parties, which is something that was, until
recently, completely unimaginable. All of these tendencies were only attenuated
by the coronavirus outbreak, which in very short time managed to create a
pandemic, with unprecedented systemic effects on the whole human society,
precisely because of existing interdependencies, making the world even more
volatile and unpredictable.

SOLUTION FOR THE CURRENT STATE OF HUMANITY

Considering all of the above, the question is what can be done in order to
mitigate the current state of humanity? From the systemic perspective, as we

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outlined in this article, all of the phenomena we are facing today are no more than
a product of natural forces acting upon human society as a whole and each
individual as a part of it, and are “pushing” it to evolve either to a new stable state,
or to its demise and disintegration. In order to promote evolutionary change, the
only solution is for each individual member of society to consciously choose to
pursue “common good” which is comprised of everyone else’s “individual good”.
This shift in perspective implies changing our attitude toward each other, rather
than changing our behavior, which demands from us to adopt a new set of global
integrative values which promote such attitudes. Making such a shift would not
only stabilize initially unstable positive feedback relations existing in society, but
would also set the conditions for evolutionary change in individuality, turning
human civilization into a truly integrated human society.

Nevertheless, in order for humanity to adopt this shift in values, it has to

happen systematically and intentionally, through a system of education, aiming to
enable each individual to internalize the values of global perspective on life and
existence in human civilization, because it is impossible to impose such values
coercively. Such a system of education should be inclusive, able to include an
extremely diverse community of individuals in its educational process. Our
internal capacities as human beings are instinctively tribal; regardless of us living
in a global society, we are "designed" to build trusting relations with people who
are close to us – our families and friends – and to distrust those who are more
emotionally distant. The proposed educational system should facilitate
development of capacities which are able to bridge precisely those internal
limitations, because the greatest potential for change and growth is created in
relations between individuals who are most different from one another [13]. If
humanity succeeds in establishing such an educational system, we will be able to
see a development of an emotional culture which will enable individuals and
communities to build trusting, mutually supportive relations between themselves,
in which capacities for interconnected thinking, often referred to as collective or
group intelligence can emerge and develop [14]. Precisely these capacities can
facilitate the adoption of global worldview and values, by the help of which
human communities can evolve towards higher order complexity and stability.

CONCLUSION

The main purpose of this article was not to outline practical aspects of the
process of guided evolution of society, but rather to expose the rationale, causal
forces and inner mechanics of social change. Regarding that, in conclusion to this
article several generalizations can be drawn. First, the process of evolution is a
directed process, "guiding" evolution toward more complex and integrated forms
(human society included), which are able to manipulate matter, energy and
information in more efficient way. In this process, each new evolutionary form
becomes a new whole individual entity comprised of elements existing in the
previous evolutionary form. Second, this process is manipulated by two sets of
forces we can denominate as centripetal, which bring elements of the system

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closer together, and centrifugal force, which pulls them apart. Under the influence
of these forces interdependencies start being formed in the system, until it reaches
a point of crisis – a maximum number of interdependencies – after which the
system is pushed to either self-organize into a higher-order system, or disintegrate.
The system of human society is not excepted from this process. Third, evolution
of human society is maintained by positive feedback relations between
individuals, which are initially unstable, since they cause infinite exponential
growth, which is naturally unsustainable. In such a society, individuals tend to
instinctively react by introducing centrifugal forces into a social system. In order
for society to reach a stable structure in today's conditions, additional centripetal
forces have to be introduced in the system, through a process of education, thus
stabilizing existing positive feedback relations.

REFERENCES
[1] Mack O., Khare A., Krӓmer A., Burgartz T., Eds., Managing in a VUCA
World, Springer, Switzerland, 2016.
[2] Chaisson, E.J., Cosmic Evolution: Rise of Complexity in Nature, Harvard
University Press, USA, 2001.
[3] Meadows, D.H., Thinking in Systems: A Primer, Chelsea Green
Publishing, USA, 2008.
[4] Maynard Smith, J., Szathmáry, E., The Major Transitions in Evolution,
Oxford University Press, UK, 1995.
[5] Stewart, J., Evolution’s Arrow: The Direction of Evolution and the Future
of Humanity, Chapman Press, Australia, 2000.
[6] Bejan, A., Lorente, S., The Constructal Law of Design and Evolution of
Nature, Philosophical Transactions B, UK, vol. 365/issue 1545, pp 1335–1347.
[7] Layzer, D., Cosmogenesis: The Growth of Order in the Universe, Oxford
University Press, UK, 1991.
[8] Prigogine, I., Stengers, I. Order Out of Chaos: Man's New Dialogue with
Nature, Bantam, UK, 1984.
[9] Siegel, D.J., The Developing Mind: How Relationships and the Brain
Interact to Shape Who We Are, Guilford Press, USA, 2012.
[10] Christakis, N.A., Fowler, J.H., Connected: Surprising Power of Our
Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives, Little Brown Spark, USA,
2011.
[11] Hardin, G., The Tragedy of the Commons, Science, USA, vol. 162, pp
1243-1248, 1968.
[12] Twenge, J.M., Campbell, W.K., The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the
Age of Entitlement, Free Press, USA, 2009.

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[13] Hwang, V.W., Horowitt, G., The Rainforest: The Secret to Building the
Next Silicon Valley, Regenwald, USA, 2012.
[14] Vester, F., The Art of Interconnected Thinking, MCB Verlag, Germany,
2012.

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THE PROBLEM OF FOREIGN MIGRANT WORKERS IN

THE CONTEXT OF RUSSIA’S NATIONAL SECURITY

Prof. Dr. Svetlana Bondyreva1

Assoc. Prof. Alexander Nikitin2
Alexander Prudnik3
Prof. Dr. Elisaveta Savrutskaya4
Prof. Dr. Sergey Ustinkin5
1
Moscow Psychological and Social University, Moscow, Russia
2, 4, 5
Linguistics University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
3
Institute of Political Psychology LLC, Russia

ABSTRACT

In the article, the authors made an attempt, on the basis of the results of
sociological research among students, to identify trends in the transformation of
their value orientations in relation to foreign migrant workers and ethnic groups
that make up the population permanently residing in Russia. Research Methods.
Questionnaire survey of target groups using a specially designed questionnaire
made it possible to obtain primary empirical data on the distribution of the main
characteristics of the value attitudes of young people concerning foreign migrant
workers and representatives of nationalities permanently residing in the territory
of the Nizhny Novgorod region of the Russian Federation.

At the time of this writing, within the framework of the project "Dynamics of
value orientations of youth", six stages of research on the value orientations of
students aged 16 to 24 were carried out. So, in 2006, on the territory of the Nizhny
Novgorod region, 1915 students of secondary general education schools and
secondary vocational educational institutions, as well as students of higher
educational institutions, were interviewed, in 2011 - 3,000 people; in 2014 - 2,500
people; 2015 - 2750 people; 2016 - 2750 people, 2019 - 2750 people. The number
of interviewed respondents testifies to the high representativeness of the research
results obtained.

When processing the primary database obtained during the field part of the
study, special statistical methods of analysis were used:

a) one-dimensional and two-dimensional percentage distributions, which

made it possible to identify the prevalence of individual characteristics of value
orientations, both in general, among young people, and in its individual groups,
distributed by socio-demographic and ideological groups.

b) factor analysis made it possible to identify the main set of factors and the
level of significance of each of them, in the formation of a certain set of value
attitudes of young people.

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c) cluster analysis made it possible to record the level of heterogeneity of the

youth environment, the distribution of young people in individual groups,
depending on the value system characteristic of each of these groups.
Keywords: youth, values, migrants, security, factors of influence

INTRODUCTION

The problem of migrant workers in Russia from the Republics of the former
USSR has often been considered in a purely economic aspect. Migrants were
perceived, first of all, as labor resources, the involvement of which had been a
forced measure due to the shortage of labor in the Russian Federation. However,
the issue of foreign migrant workers has long gone beyond just economic
problems and has become a part of social, political, interethnic and interfaith
relations in Russia. Migrant workers are not impersonal units of labor resources,
but are carriers of certain cultural, religious, social and everyday patterns of
behavior. It is in this capacity that they contact the population permanently
residing in Russia (hereinafter referred to as the local population). The interaction
of these groups creates a new specific social reality. Its study, according to the
authors of the article, will not only reveal the existing, largely spontaneous,
system of relations between the communities of foreign migrant workers and the
local population, but can become the basis for the formation of the foundations of
state policy to regulate these processes and, in general, to ensure national security
and long-term sustainable development of the Russian Federation.

The National Security Strategy of the Russian Federation notes that

«implantation of alien ideals and values, implementation without taking into
account historical traditions and experience of previous generations of reforms in
the field of education, science, culture, religion, language and information
activities lead to increased disunity and polarization of national societies, destroy
the foundation of cultural sovereignty, undermine the foundations of political
stability and statehood. Revision of basic moral standards, psychological
manipulation causes irreparable damage to a person's moral health, encourage
destructive behavior, create conditions for self-destruction of society. Generation
gap widens. At the same time, manifestations of aggressive nationalism,
xenophobia, religious extremism and terrorism are growing» [1].

Considering these problems from the point of view of the national interests
of Russia, the need to ensure state and public security the National Security
Strategy of the Russian Federation pays special attention to the development of a
secure information space, protection of Russian society from destructive
information and psychological impact, strengthening traditional Russian spiritual
and moral values, preservation of the cultural and historical heritage of the people
of Russia, prevention of manifestations of radicalism, prevention of extremist and
other criminal manifestations, primarily among minors and young people [1].

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Within the framework of the project «Dynamics of value orientations of

youth» considerable attention was paid to the problems of interethnic relations in
general and attitudes towards foreign migrant workers in particular. The time
frame of this study made it possible to record the dynamics of public sentiments
of young people in this area [2], [3].

This article presents the survey results for 2011, 2014 and 2019 and their
comparative analysis. The reader may wonder why exactly the results of the polls
over these years formed the basis of this study.

The results of the survey for 2014, for example, attracted special attention
due to their sharp difference from the findings for other periods: there was a
significant increase in the share of negative assessments associated with the
problems of migrant workers. Suffice it to point out that in 2014, 39.2% of the
respondents were ready to support the deportation of persons belonging to
"undesirable" ethnic groups. In 2011, the share of respondents supporting this
position was 21.5%, and in 2019 it dropped to 14.1%. This is due to the fact that
in 2013-2014 external pressure on Russia increased in connection with the
Ukrainian events. In society, especially among young people, the rapid formation
of the psychology of the "besieged fortress", and the process of internal national
consolidation was launched. As a result, there has been an increase in negative
attitudes towards migrants as bearers of a different culture and representatives of
external forces.

The results obtained at this moment of crisis are unique, since they allowed
to fix how foreign policy problems can have a decisive influence on the situation
inside the country, in this case, on the sphere of interethnic relations. These factors
should be taken into account in their work by those state bodies that are
responsible for policy in the field of labor migration. At the same time, in the
process of making managerial decisions, these state bodies should proceed not
only from the quantitative characteristics of migration flows but also their national
composition, distribution in individual regions of the country.

It was not by chance that the authors of the article chose the Nizhny Novgorod
region, which is part of the Volga Federal District, for the research. According to
S. Huntington's classification, the Volga line of the civilizational fault includes
the Nizhny Novgorod region, where the Orthodox and Muslim civilizations
oppose each other [4]. However, this position is convincingly opposed by V.Y.
Zorin, rightly pointing out that in the Volga region over the centuries, not a fault
line has formed, but a zone of the harmonious intertwining of cultures and
traditions of different peoples [5]. Both of the above circumstances indicate the
uniqueness of the Nizhny Novgorod region from the standpoint of the subject of
this research. It is also important that more than 140 nationalities live on the
territory of the Nizhny Novgorod region [6].

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The main value of this study is that it is based on the results of three replicate
studies. Since these studies were carried out according to a unified methodology
and the same questionnaire was used, the possibility of a statistically correct
comparison of the results obtained at different times has appeared.

Given the above, the subject of research in the article was social relations,
arising in connection with migration and interethnic processes in Russia as factors
influencing the formation of value orientations of young students and the stability
of the national security of Russia.

The purpose of the work was to study the impact of migration processes and
interethnic relations on the transformation of value orientations of young people
in the context of Russia's national security and identify the most significant factors
that currently determine the level of interethnic tension in the youth environment.

RESULTS

The studies carried out indicate positive dynamics in the sphere of attitudes
of Russian youth towards foreign migrant workers [7]. The situation by 2019
looks quite positive. At the same time, this conclusion should not cause an
unjustifiably optimistic perception of the processes taking place in this area of the
life of Russian society. An in-depth analysis of the research results allows us to
single out the processes hidden from a superficial glance, in the depths of which
alarming shoots of future conflicts are formed.

The most important problem of the internal stability of Russia is the question:
to what extent can relations with foreign migrant workers lead to an increase in
interethnic tensions within Russia? Are these processes related to each other, or
the recorded problems in interethnic relations are only national in form, but in fact
it is just a negative reaction of the local population to the influx of guest migrant
workers?

In order to avoid such a meaningful substitution, a comparison was made of

the dynamics of attitudes towards both foreign migrant workers and
representatives of indigenous nationalities permanently residing in Russia. The
results of this comparison are as follows:

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Table 1. Dynamics of youth attitudes towards migrant workers from other

countries and representatives of other nationalities in Russia (column percent)
Time of polls (year)
2011 2014 2019

How do you feel about migrant workers from Positively 11,5 8,3 16,2
other countries? Neutrally 69,1 60,5 72,5
Negatively 19,4 31,2 11,3

How do you feel about representatives of Positively 16,0 12,0 22,7

other nationalities permanently residing in Neutrally 69,1 63,5 68,2
Russia? Negatively 15,0 24,5 9,1

Source: Authors data

Fig. 1. Dynamics of youth attitudes towards migrant workers from other
countries (%)

Source: Authors data

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Fig. 2. Dynamics of youth attitudes towards representatives of other

nationalities permanently residing in Russia (%)

Source: Authors data

Fig. 3. Comparison of the dynamics of the positive attitude of young people

towards migrant workers and indigenous nationalities of Russia (share of those
who noted a positive attitude) (%)

Source: Authors data

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Fig. 4. Comparison of the dynamics of the negative attitude of young people

towards migrant workers and indigenous nationalities of Russia (share of those
who noted a negative attitude) (%)

Source: Authors data

The presented results indicate that although the attitude of young people
towards representatives of other peoples of Russia is generally better than towards
foreign migrant workers, nevertheless, the processes associated with these two
groups of the population are developing according to a similar scenario.

The problem is that interethnic relations within Russia and attitudes towards
foreign migrant workers turned out to be synchronized with each other. At the
same time, it is the foreign migrant workers that are the active component of the
dynamics of such relations. It is not interethnic relations within the country that
determine the attitude towards foreign migrant workers, but, on the contrary, the
nature of relations with external migrants influences the situation inside Russia.

The results of the study demonstrate a high level of influence of the nature of
attitudes towards migrant workers from other countries on interethnic relations
within Russia.
Table 2. Correlation between attitudes of young people towards migrant
workers from other countries and attitudes towards persons of other indigenous
nationalities of Russia (line percent)
Attitude towards representatives of other nationalities
Attitude towards migrants from in our country
other countries
Positively Neutrally Negatively
Positively 87,8 10,9 1,4
Neutrally 10,1 86,2 3,7
Negatively 10,7 34,2 55,0

Source: Authors data

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Fig. 5. Attitude towards persons of other indigenous nationalities of Russia

in youth groups with different attitudes towards migrant workers from other
countries (%)

Source: Authors data

The above data once again confirm the high degree of correlation between
negative attitudes, both in relation to foreign migrant workers and in relation to
representatives of other indigenous nationalities of Russia.

Among those young people who have a positive attitude towards migrants
from other countries, 87.8% also have a positive attitude towards people of other
indigenous nationalities permanently residing in Russia. However, if the
respondents have a negative attitude towards foreign migrant workers, then in
55.0% of cases, they will also have a negative attitude towards other indigenous
nationalities of Russia.

Under certain conditions, the problem of foreign migrant workers can turn
from an external into an internal problem of Russia. In other words, the particular
issue of the attitude of the local population of Russia to foreign labor migrants
under certain conditions can transform into the problem of interethnic relations
within Russia.

Thus, the external component: the problem of foreign labor migrants is

becoming a factor determining the internal policy of Russia. In order to preserve
the stability of the socio-political situation inside Russia and make it little
sensitive to external influences, it is necessary to "uncouple" in the public
consciousness the connection between relations with foreign labor migrants and
interethnic relations of the indigenous peoples of Russia.

The study recorded the following alarming trend: the very presence of large-
sized groups of foreign labor migrants living compactly in certain settlements
provokes an increase in anti-migrant sentiments. This phenomenon is clearly
demonstrated by the data below.

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Table 3. Assessment by the respondents of the level of influence of foreign

labor migrants at the place of their temporary stay and their attitude towards
foreign labor migrants (line percent)
I have a negative attitude towards migrants
The level of influence
of migrants on life in Found it Do
Totally Rather Rather
the city, settlement difficult not
agree agree disagree
to answer agree
Strongly affects 25,2 18,5 24,4 15,4 16,5
Influence
11,5 16,9 25,7 24,9 21,1
insignificantly
Virtually no effect 3,2 7,3 22,9 31,8 34,7

Source: Authors data

Fig. 6. Correlation between the respondents' assessment of the degree of
influence of foreign labor migrants on the life of settlements and their negative
attitude towards foreign labor migrants (%)

Source: Authors data

These data indicate that the stronger the presence of foreign labor migrants is
felt in a given settlement, the more negative attitude they cause towards
themselves. Graph 6 shows that in the case of a significant influence of foreign
labor migrants on the life of a settlement, the share of those negatively related to
them among the local population reaches 43.7%, while where there are practically
no foreign labor migrants, this share decreases by 4 times and reaches only 10.5%.
Thus, we can conclude that the existing spontaneously formed mechanism for the
placement and integration of foreign labor migrants in the places of residence of
the local population carries a potential source of contradictions.

At present, the relationship between the communities of local residents and

arrived groups of foreign labor migrants from a certain point can acquire a rather

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conflict character. It is these conflicts that determine the attitude of the local
population towards foreign labor migrants. This dependence is clearly
demonstrated by the data given in table 4.
Table 4. Impact of the experience of interethnic conflicts on attitudes towards
foreign labor migrants (%)
I have a negative attitude towards migrants
Have you
witnessed ethnic Found it
conflicts? Totally Rather Rather
difficult to Disagree
agree agree disagree
answer
Yes, often 17,3 16,9 23,0 16,3 26,5
Yes, but rarely 13,3 12,9 22,3 25,6 25,8
Once or twice 4,8 14,0 24,1 28,3 28,7
No, I haven't 4,4 8,5 28,8 30,1 28,2
Source: Authors data
Fig. 7. Influence of personal experience of interethnic conflicts on negative
attitudes towards foreign labor migrants (%)

Source: Authors data

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Fig. 8. The influence of personal experience in the field of conflicts on ethnic

grounds on the negative perception of the influence of foreign labor migrants on
the life of the respondents' settlement (%)

Source: Authors data

Currently, the mechanism for triggering interethnic conflicts is as follows: an

increase in the number of foreign labor migrants leads to an increase in their
influence on the life of the settlement; due to the increasing frequency of contacts
with the local population, conflicts arise between them; an increase in the number
of conflicts, in which the local population becomes a participant or witness, leads
to an increase in negative attitudes towards foreign labor migrants.

In this regard, the question arises: what turns contacts between the local
population and foreign labor migrants into conflict relations and transfers them to
local indigenous peoples? Considering that the overwhelming majority of foreign
labor migrants come from the area of Islamic civilization, it is logical to assume
that this conflict is, inter alia, of a civilizational nature. The results obtained in the
course of the study indicate the validity of this assumption.
Table 5. Influence of religious affiliation of young people on attitudes
towards foreign labor migrants from other countries (%)
Attitude towards migrants from other countries
Religious affiliation
Positively Neutrally Negatively

Orthodoxy 14,3 74,0 11,6

Islam 48,3 39,7 12,1
Other denominations 14,2 72,5 13,3
Non-denominational believers 17,8 74,0 8,1
Atheists 16,3 71,8 11,8

Source: Authors data

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Fig. 9. The influence of religious affiliation on attitudes towards foreign

labor migrants (%)

Source: Authors data

Table 6. Influence of nationality of Russian citizens on attitudes towards
foreign labor migrants (%)
Attitude towards migrants from other countries
Nationality
Positively Neutrally Negatively

Russians 15,8 73,7 10,5

The peoples of the Volga region 32,8 56,9 10,3
Other nationalities 34,7 52,8 12,5

Source: Authors data

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Fig. 10. The influence of the nationality of Russian citizens on their attitude
towards foreign labor migrants (%)

Source: Authors data

Table 7. Distribution of assessments of the nature of the influence of foreign
labor migrants on the life of settlements in groups of Russian citizens of different
religious affiliation (line percent)
The nature of the influence of migrants on life in the city, settlement
Religious Very Rather Rather Extremely No Found
affiliation positive positive negative negative influence difficult
to
answer
Orthodoxy 3,6 5,2 26,7 15,2 31,3 18,1
Islam 13,3 11,1 15,6 8,9 40,0 11,1
Source: Authors data

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Fig. 11. Distribution of assessments of the nature of the influence of foreign

labor migrants on the life of settlements in groups of Russian citizens of different
religious affiliation (%)

Source: Authors data

It should be recognized that the factor that the majority of the local population
and foreign labor migrants belong to different civilizational areas (Orthodox and
Islamic) creates a fertile ground for conflict between them. And since these two
groups differ ethnically, the conflict immediately turns into the status of an
interethnic conflict. In this case, 41.9% of the respondents who identify
themselves with the Orthodox system of values believe that foreign labor migrants
have a negative impact on life in their places of permanent residence, while only
8.8% of respondents perceive this influence as positive.

A completely different picture is observed among the respondents positioning

their Islamic identity. In this environment, the attitude towards foreign labor
migrants is much more positive. The shares in this group of respondents who gave
either positive or negative assessments of the impact of the presence of foreign
labor migrants are almost equal and amounted to 24% each.

Such a significant gap between the positions of the two groups of the local
population of Russia, which differ from each other only in religious identification,
suggests that elements of a civilizational conflict are indeed present in the life of
modern Russian society and are objective in nature.

A rather alarming consequence of this process is the growth of the ethnic

factor, which splits the consolidated position of the local population of Russia in

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relation to the common problem. In this case, we are talking about the problem of
foreign labor migrants. The appearance of such a split is evidenced by the data
given in Table 8.
Table 8. Distribution of assessments of the nature of the influence of foreign
labor migrants on the life of the local population belonging to different national
groups (line percent)
The nature of the influence of migrants on life in the city, settlement
National Very Rather Rather Extremely No Found
groups positive positive negative negative influence difficult
to answer
Russians 2,7 5,7 26,9 14,7 32,3 17,6
The
peoples of
5,6 11,1 19,4 11,1 36,1 16,7
the Volga
region
Source: Authors data
Fig. 12. Distribution of opinions on the positive or negative impact of foreign
labor migrants on the life of the local population belonging to different national
groups (%)

Source: Authors data

CONCLUSION

Thus, as a result of the study, the following most significant factors were
identified that currently determine the level of interethnic tension in the youth
environment of Russia:

the numerical scale of the presence of foreign migrants at the place of

residence of the respondents:
• personal experience of interethnic conflicts.
• religious identity.
• nationality.

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The results of the study indicate that in the country in recent years there have
been significant changes in the field of interethnic relations, and their source was
labour migrants from other countries. This causes an urgent need to develop new
instruments of state policy in the field of interethnic relations and migration
processes that are adequate to the modern realities of Russian society.

Unfortunately, least of all, both in foreign and domestic scientific and

philosophical-sociological studies, the problem of the influence of modern
migration processes on the cultural and communicative situation of the countries
of Western Europe and Russia is the least studied. And this is despite the fact that,
according to the just remark of S.A. Myasnikov, «the dominant factor in global
politics and the fundamental source of conflicts will not be political or economic
differences, but cultural and ethnic differences and contradictions» [8]. The fact
is that in the conditions of the growing integration of cultures caused by the
processes of globalization and the widespread dissemination of mass culture, the
destruction of the communicative space of ethnic groups that has been created for
centuries, as well as cultural codes that fix the national-ethnic picture of the world,
is taking place. As a result, there is a destruction, distortion of the natural
processes of reproduction of national cultures [9], strengthening the influence of
mass culture on the perception of the world, primarily of young generations.
Popular culture is increasingly acquiring the character of a “transnational culture
that does not have a national identity» [10]. In these conditions, one of the main
social contradictions in the development of modern social reality is a
contradiction, which consists in the "collision of the world of the «old «traditional
culture, which forms the closed communicative space of ethnic groups, and a new,
extremely mobile» mosaic «culture» [11], blurring the boundaries of
ethnocultural identity, thereby transforming the communicative spaces of national
states, ethnic communities, historically formed in certain territories, in certain
natural-geographical and cultural conditions.

Analysis of the "images" of interethnic relations clearly testifies to the place

and role of modern migration processes on the state of interethnic relations, as
well as on economic, political and sociocultural processes. In the communicative
space of a foreign country for migrants, the latter occupies a certain niche with
their way of life, spiritual values. Language barriers, religious differences,
alienation of attitudes make it extremely difficult for migrants to integrate into the
culture and way of life of the host countries. As a result, cultural and
communicative communities are created within the boundaries of the country's
communicative space, based on their own cultural traditions, language, attitudes,
social mechanisms of national and civic identity.

The marginal culture or the culture of the marginalized formed under these
conditions is a special type of subculture that has its own specific features. In
contrast to the openness of the communicative space of the titular national
communities, marginal groups lead a closed way of life, not integrating or poorly
integrating into the socio-cultural environment of the host country. For these and

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a number of other reasons, the need to study changes in all spheres of social reality
under the influence of migration processes is becoming more and more obvious.
One of the primary tasks of a scientifically grounded approach to solving this
problem, both in economic and social terms, is to predict the further development
and transformation of the modern communicative situation in connection with
new trends in ethno-confessional and intercultural interaction. It is obvious that
taking into account the influence of marginalization on the modern
communicative situation is important in terms of understanding the need to
coordinate educational, information and communication, as well as law
enforcement activities, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, real conditions of
social reality that give rise to a certain type of personality and form value
targeting, first of all, the youth one.

REFERENCES
[1] Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of 2 July 2021 No. 400.
On the Strategy of National Security of the Russian Federation, Russian
Federation, 2021. Retrieved from: http://ivo.garant.ru/#/document/401425792.
[2] Savrutskaya E. P. et.al., Dynamics of value orientations of young people
(2006–2014), Nizhny Novgorod, Linguistics University of Nizhny Novgorod
Publ., Russian Federation, p 232, 2014.
[3] Zhigalev B.A., Savrutskaya E.P., Sdobnikov V.V., Ustinkin S.V., Nikitin
A.V., Influence of migration processes on modern communicative space and
ethnicities’ cultural patterns, 4th International multidisciplinary scientific
conference on social sciences and Arts. SGEM 2017. Science & society
conference proceedings. Volume III / Sociology and healthcare, Bulgaria, vol. 3,
pp 337-349, 2017.
[4] Hungtinton S.P., The Clash of Civilizations, Journal “Polis. Political
Studies”, Russian Federation, issue 1, pp 33-48, 1994.
[5] Zorin, V. Y., Political Scientist's Notes, Nizhny Novgorod, Russian
Federation, Volgo-Vyatka Academy of Public Administration Publ., p 46, 2006.
[6] Representatives of more than 140 nationalities live in the Nizhny
Novgorod region, Russian Federation, 2010. Retrieved from:
https://pridesaratov.ru/sever/naselenie-nn.html (accessed 15 June 2021).
[7] Savrutskaya Е.P., Zhigalev B.А., Nikitin А.V., Ustinkin S.V., Modern
world and youth: values, risks, threats: Monograph. T. 1, Nizhny Novgorod,
Linguistics University of Nizhny Novgorod Publ., Russian Federation, p 268,
2019.
[8] Myasnikov V. A., Formation of a new civic identity of the population of
post-Soviet states, Journal «Social and humanitarian knowledge», Russian
Federation, issue 3, pp 137-148, 2006.

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[9] Kostina A. V., Globalization and its sociocultural processes, Materials of

the international forum «Global space of culture», St. Petersburg, Russian
Federation, pp 33-37, 2005.
[10] Münch R., Social integration in open spaces, Journal «Philosophical
Sciences», Russian Federation, issue 2, pp 30-59, 2004.
[11] Savrutskaya E. P., The culture of interethnic communication: traditions
and modernity, Materials of the IV International Scientific and Practical
Conference on Regional Culture «Culture and problems of interethnic
communication. The role of NGOs in optimizing interethnic relations», Nizhny
Novgorod, Russian Federation, pp 15-19, 2002.

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THE TRUST OF THE ALBANIAN YOUTH TOWARDS THE

EUROPEAN UNION INSTITUTIONS

Adela Danaj, PhD1

Prof. Dr. Kornelia Lazanyi2
Heidi Kasa3
1
European University of Tirana, Albania
2
Obuda University, Hungary
3
Salzburg University, Austria

ABSTRACT

Albania appears to provoke a new problem. The desire of young people to

leave the country, as well as the strong focus on EU membership of the country
as the greatest answer for their future and that of the country, has drawn academics
to the topic. According to studies, young Albanians' trust in national institutions
has fallen significantly. Based on these findings, the purpose of this study is to
examine the factors, such as: perceived political situation, trust in the national
situation and EU education programme, that contribute to a high degree of trust
in EU institutions. From a methodological standpoint, the paper is based on the
quantity approach, and the survey is the technique of data gathering. The survey
was established as part of this research, and the categories for the analyses were
determined by the theoretical foundation. A total of 212 people responded to the
survey. The analytical model of the paper is based on authors Fukuyama and
Putnam. They define trust as an expectation that evolves in a community as a
result of regular and societal changes in common norms. This declaration served
as the foundation for the entire project. Following the examination and processing
of the data, as well as running a multiple linear regression, it was determined that
a negative perception of the political situation, low level of trust in national
institutions and high level of trust in the EU education programme contribute to
the high degree of trust towards EU institutions.
Keywords: Albanian youth, trust, perceptions, institutions, EU

THE TRUST OF ALBANIAN YOUTH TOWARDS EU

INSTITUTIONS

The concept of trust and changes in how it is understood has recently become
one of the most hotly debated topics among academics working on trust issues at
both the personal and institutional levels. Recent events in Europe have once again
demonstrated that European citizens' trust in European authorities and institutions
is eroding. The fall appears to be related to economic and political issues, and
neither the Union's members nor its institutions have been able to adequately
address the crisis' roots [1]. Trust is also perceived as the expectation that grows
inside a community with regular, honest, and cooperative behaviour by other

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members of this community, based on common norms [2] In contrast to EU

member states, however, the crisis has had less of an impact on non-member but
aspirant countries' trust in EU institutions. The same conclusions can be drawn in
the situation of Albania, which is one of the countries that has been designated as
a candidate country. On the other hand, trust levels appear to vary from nation to
country [3], but Albania continues to have the greatest degree of trust in the EU
thus far. This attitude is particularly evident among Albanian youth, who appears
to be attempting to find solutions to EU membership through expressing faith in
EU institutions [3].

Recent research on Albanian youth, on the other hand, do not appear to have
been undertaken until 2015-2016. As a result, there has recently been a scarcity
of data that can be used to build a clear framework for measuring or understanding
if support has changed in recent years. Albanian youth are obviously pro-
European, according to a study performed by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in
2015 [4]. According to their research, 87 percent of Albanian young people would
vote in support of EU membership in the event of a referendum. While 62 percent
of Albanian youth feel that integration will result in political and economic
prosperity. Taking these studies into account, research in this area has mostly
concentrated on identifying probable characteristics that influence the increase of
trust in Albanian youth. The following are some of the probable variables linked
to a significant measure of influence in this context: (i) internal political situation;
(ii) level of trust at individual and national level; and (iii) EU youth development
and integration projects, such as Erasmus programs.

The main aim of this study is to examine the features that influence Albanian
youth's increased trust in EU institutions, as well as to develop an analytical and
theoretical profile of Albanian youth. This issue was sparked by the
commencement of discussions for Albania as a candidate country on March 24,
2020, and it intends to examine the elements that influence the increase of
Albanian youth trust in the institutions of the European Union. Some influencing
elements derived from the literature review will be examined in the context of this
paper. The study focuses on three main areas to assess the elements that influence
Albanian youth's trust in EU institutions: (i) The political situation in the country;
(ii) Trust in Albanian institutions; (iii) European youth-focused programs.

According to Mathews and Roz, the core analysis of this study is based on a
quantitative methodological approach that is founded on positivist
epistemological views, according to which social reality is objectively measurable
[5]. The factors used to establish this article are based on Putnam's thesis [6],
which claims that communities with high levels of trust are better able to
collaborate to solve social problems, making their governments more accountable
and honest, as well as improving democratic institutional performance.

Based on Putnam's reasoning, this study examines whether internal political

reasons, trust in national institutions, and the impact of Erasmus programs all

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contribute to young Albanians' increased trust in EU institutions. The analysis of

the paper focused on the analysis and interpretation of the data generated by the
survey used in the context of this paper. The survey was distributed to Albanian
youth between the ages of 19 and 40, both inside and outside the country. The
survey was carried out using the snowball method. A total of 212 young Albanians
from inside and outside Albania completed the survey. When accounting for (i)
the political situation in the country; (ii) trust in Albanian institutions; and (iii)
European youth-focused programs, multiple linear regression is used to estimate
the likelihood that trust in EU institutions will increase, while controlling for the
economic well-being (incomes) of the survey participants.

POLITICAL SITUATION IN ALBANIA

Albania should align its legislation with that of the European Union in order
to join the EU and ensure its efficient implementation. The EU-Albania
Stabilization and Association Agreement [7], which was signed on June 12, 2006
and entered into force on April 1, 2009, requires the Republic of Albania to align
its legislation with the EU acquis. Albania will seek to ensure that its present laws
and future legislation gradually align with the EU acquis, according to Article 70
of the SAA. This transformation was planned to happen over the course of a 10-
year transition period, separated into two phases. The approximation concentrated
on the important elements of the internal market acquis during the first phase of
the transitional period, which began with the entrance into effect of the SAA,
while Albania would have to approximate the remaining portions of the acquis
during the second phase.

The development of judicial reform, as well as the strengthening of the fight

against corruption and organized crime with real achievements, has been
emphasized by internationals and re-articulated by the German Bundestag in
2019. In response to these calls, the Albanian Parliament and the relevant
institutions worked to establish a special prosecutor's office that is focusing on
issues of corruption and organized crime. The Albanian Parliament has approved
Law No. 95/2016 on the establishment and operation of institutions fighting
corruption and organized crime, such as the Special Prosecutor's Office (SPAK).
The prosecution of all of the aforementioned instances, including those involving
MPs or judges, is at the heart of the SPAK's foundation. SPAK has begun the
activity and is currently reviewing the first issues.

All of this hasn't convinced Albanians that the country's political situation is
improving. This could be linked to the lack of interpersonal trust. Albanian
inhabitants are wary of national institutions and have a low level of trust in them.
As a result, trust has a direct impact on the attitude of (non) trustful institutions
[8].

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TRUST AND INSTITUTIONS IN THE ALBANIAN CONTEXT

The scholars have addressed the notion of trust, highlighting some of its
significance, as a mechanism to build healthy relationships between individuals
with each other, but also individuals in relation to the state and institutions. This
occurrence appears to be able to be explained by institutional theory. The origins
of institutional theory can be traced back to James Coleman's Theory of Rational
Choice [9]. By addressing how we understand procedures, theory borrows logical
reasoning and contextualizes it. This method asserts and supports the notion that
actors use utilization to optimize tire utilization [10]. In this approach, this theory
presents theory as an entity that enables individuals and societies to comprehend
the game rules that affect people's interactions. Institutions are established to
examine the boundaries that society erects.

According to Mishler and Rose [11], political trust is perceived as the trust
that citizens have in the effectiveness of public institutions believing that public
administration policies will serve society. Trust in institutions implies the
expectation that individuals have on the positive results of institutions [8].
Emphasizing the significant role of political trust towards the consolidation of
institutions, it is essential to establish political trust between citizens and the
political elite because under the presence of trust citizens can cooperate with the
political elite [12]. In this context, it appears that institutional trust is a critical
component in maintaining a strong link between the political elite and the general
public. If this link is broken, it may have negative effects for democracy's health.
This appears to have occurred in Albania, where national institutions have a low
level of trust in Albanian residents, according to the Public Opinion Trust in
Government measurement. Religious Institutions (76 percent), Armed Forces (63
percent), Public Education Institutions (63 percent), Civil Society Organizations
(57 percent), Media (54 percent), Public Health Institutions (53 percent), and State
Police (53 percent) are among the national institutions that receive more than half
of respondents' trust in 2017 [13]. In contrast to this, citizens appear to have a high
level of trust in EU institutions and other foreign organizations. In contrast to
national institutions, international institutions/organizations such as the EU
(85%), UN (85%), and NATO (84%) are regarded as the most trusted institutions
for the fifth year in a row [13].

TRUST IN EU EDUCATION PROGRAMS - ERASMUS

PROGRAMS

Erasmus is a European Union program that promotes education, training,

youth, and sport throughout Europe. Its budget seeks to provide approximately 4
million Europeans with the opportunity to study, train, and gain experience
abroad. These initiatives have a significant impact on young people's
consciousness by encouraging them to become more involved in numerous social
concerns, civil society, and decision-making. On the other hand, the interaction

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between different cultures in order to promote distinct values is the major goal of
such programs.

According to EU regulations, the objectives of the Erasmus program will be

as follows:
• Creating a unified sense and strengthening the spirit of European
citizenship based on understanding and respect for human rights and
democracy;
• Encouraging tolerance and respect for peoples and other cultural
heritage;
• To cultivate understanding and solidarity among peoples;
• Finally, support knowledge building.

Education, youth work, and athletics are all important aspects of spreading
European values. The ways in which this is immediately reflected in young people
reveal themselves in a variety of ways. The well-known Erasmus Program
(European Community Action Scheme for University Student Mobility) has
heavily funded education in order to improve intercultural competencies and
understanding across different cultures [14]. Students recreate their social circles
overseas through these activities, based on perceived similarities and differences,
which goes hand in hand with altering group borders [15].

ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

This study aims to understand whether internal political reasons, trust in

national institutions, and the impact of Erasmus programs all contribute to young
Albanians' increased trust in EU institutions. Through multiple regression analysis
our attempt is to test the above postulate.

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Table 1. Regression Analysis estimating the effect of the political situation in

the country, trust in Albanian institutions, and European youth-focused programs,
on Trust toward EU institutions

Source: own compilation

The table shows which model outperformed the others. Model 1 reveals that
citizens' perceptions of Albania's political condition have no impact on their trust
in EU institutions. Model 2 found a significant regression equation accounting for
the interaction effect between the political situation in Albania and trust in
national institutions (Predicted Trust in EU Institutions = -0.322 + 0.235 (political
situation in Albania) + 0.069 (trust in Albanian institutions)- 0.052 (income) -
0.026 (political situation*trust in national institutions).

The results show that the political situation has an effect on trust towards EU
institutions when is associated with trust in national institutions. The significant
interaction term means a better fit of the model to the data, and better predictions
from the regression equation. However, it creates uncertainty about the relative
importance of the main effects of the Political Situation. Especially because the
relationships between the interaction effect of the political situation and trust in
national institutions and the dependent variable it is negative.

Model 3 results are more nuanced. A significant regression equation was

discovered (Predicted rise in Faith in EU Institutions = -0.648 + 0.023 (political

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situation) + 0.144 (trust in national institutions) + 0.217 (EU Education

Programme) - 0.031 (Income) - 0.039 (trust in national institutions*EU Education
Programme). When it comes to EU education programs, the data suggest that trust
in national institutions has an impact on trust in EU institutions. The significant
interaction term indicates a better fit of the model to the data and better regression
equation predictions. However, it raises questions about the relative relevance of
the primary consequences of national institutions' trust. Especially when there is
a negative link between the interaction impact of trust in national institutions and
EU education programs and the dependent variable.

According to the findings, trust in EU institutions grows when people have a

bad assessment of the current situation and have low trust in national institutions.

CONCLUSION

This paper aimed to analyse the factors that affect the increase of trust of
Albanian youth towards the EU Institutions. A quantitative methodological
approach was used to achieve the purpose of the paper. Furthermore, based on the
theoretical argument, a questionnaire was designed which aimed to test the main
hypothesis and generate some important findings regarding the trust of Albanian
youth. To sum up, this study identified the main variables affecting the increase
of the Albanian youth towards EU institutions, that are (i)the political situation in
the country; (ii) trust in Albanian institutions; and (iii) European youth-focused
programs. In order to run the analysis, 3 models have been established,
respectively: Model 1: the association between perceived political situation and
trust towards EU institutions. The analysis showed that perception of the political
situation has no effect on the trust of the Albanian youth towards EU institutions.

Model 2: the association between perceived political situation, trust in

national institutions and trust towards EU institutions. Running model 2 a
significant regression equation was found. The results show that the perceived
political situation has an effect on trust towards EU institutions when is associated
with trust in national institutions.

Model 3: the association between perceived political situation, trust in

national institutions and EU education programmes and trust towards EU
institutions. Model 3 generated a significant regression equation, too. The results
show that trust in national institutions has an effect on trust towards EU
institutions when is associated with the EU education programmes. According to
the results of the multiple regression analysis, Trust towards EU institutions is
more likely to increase, when citizens perceive a negative political situations, low
levels of trust in national institutions and high levels of trust in EU education
Programmes.

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REFERENCES
[1] Foster, C., Frieden, J., Crisis of Trust: Socio-economic determinants of
Europeans confidence in government, Harvard University, 2017;
2] Fukuyama, F., Trust: The Social Virtues and The Creation of Prosperity,
Simon & Schuster, 1995;
[3] Beckmann, E., Dvorsky, S., & Scheiber, T., Focus on European Economic
Integration Trust in the EU in CESEE: Did the Crisis and EU Integration Have an
Impact? Evidence from the OeNB Euro Survey, 2013, pg. 77-90;
[4] Friedrich Ebert Stifung, Albanian Youth 2015-Slow change, Internet
dependency and …EU trust, Friedrich Ebert Stifung, 2015;
[5] Matthews, B., Ross, L., Research Methods, Pearson Longman, London,
2010;
[6] Putman, R., Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American
Community, Simon &Schuster, 2000;
[7] EU-Albania Stabilization and Association Agreement, Ratification of the
Stabilization and Association Agreement between the Republic of Albania and
the European Communities and their member states, Law no. 9590/2006, 2006;
[8] Danaj, A., Lazanyi, K., and Bilan, Y., Perceptions and implications of
immigration in France – economic, social, political and cultural perspectives,
Journal of Economics & Sociology, 2018;
[9] Coleman, J. S., Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital, The
American Journal of Sociology, 94: S95, 1988;
[10] Shepsle, K., Rational Choice Institutionalism, Oxford University Press,
2005;
[11] Mishler, W., Rose, R., What Are the Origins of Political Trust: Testing
Institutional and Cultural Theories in Post-Communist Societies, Sage Journals,
2001, pg. 30-62;
[12] Hadenius, A., Institutions and democratic citizenship, Oxford University
Press, 2004;
[13] Opinion poll -Trust in Governance, Institute for Democracy and
Mediation, 2017;
[14] Holicza, P., Erdei, R. Factors Influencing International Students’
University Choice: 8he Case of Hungarian Inbound Mobility, In: Almádi, B.;
Garai-Fodor M.; Szemere, T. (Eds.) Business as Usual: Comparative socio-
economic studies, Budapest: VízkapuKiadóKft, 2018, pp. 81-86;
[15] Van Mol, C., Intra-European student mobility in international higher
education circuits, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.

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VISUALIZATION OF EVERYDAY SOCIAL AND

CULTURAL PRACTICES: VICTORIAN PAINTING AS A
MIRROR OF THE ENGLISH TEA PARTY TRADITION

Prof. Dr. Irina Rutsinskaya 1

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Galina Smirnova 2
1, 2
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

ABSTRACT

Throughout the second half of the seventeen and the eighteenth centuries, tea
remained an expensive exotic drink for Britain that “preserved” its overseas
nature. It was only in the Victorian era (1837-1903) that tea became the English
national drink. The process attracts the attention of academics from various
humanities. Despite an impressive amount of research in the UK, in Russia for a
long time (in the Soviet years) the English tradition of tea drinking was considered
a philistine curiosity unworthy of academic analysis. Accordingly, the English tea
party in Russia has become a leader in the number of stereotypes. The issue
became important for academics only at the turn of the twentieth and twenty-first
centuries. Currently, we can observe significant growth of interest in this area in
Russia and an expansion of research into tea drinking with regard to the history
of society, philosophy and culture.

Despite this fact, there are still serious lacunas in the research of English tea
parties in the Victorian era. One of them is related to the analysis of visualization
of this practice in Victorian painting. It is a proven fact that tea parties are one of
the most popular topics in English arts of the nineteenth and the twentieth
centuries. No other art school in the world referred to the topic so frequently:
painting formed the visual image of the English tea party, consolidated,
propagandized and spread ideas of the national tea tradition. However, this aspect
has been reflected neither in British nor Russian studies. Being descriptive and
analytical, the present research refers to the principles of historicism, academic
reliability and objectivity, helping to determine the principal trends and social and
cultural features and models in Britain during the period.

The present research is based on the analysis of more than one hundred genre
paintings by British artists of the period. The paintings reflect the process of
creating a special “truly English” material and visual context of tea drinking,
which displaced all “oriental allusions” from this ceremony, to create a specific
entourage and etiquette of tea consumption, and set nationally determined patterns
of behavior at the tea table. The analysis shows the presence of English traditions
of tea drinking visualization. The canvases of British artists, unlike the Russian
ones, never reflect social problems: tea parties take place against the background
of either well-furnished interiors or beautiful landscapes, being a visual

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embodiment of Great Britain as a “paradise of the prosperous bourgeoisie”,

manifesting the bourgeois virtues. Special attention is paid to the role of the
women in this ritual, the theme of the relationship between mothers and children.
A unique English painting theme, which has not been manifested in any other art
school in the world, is a children’s tea party. Victorian paintings reflect the
processes of democratization of society: representatives of the lower classes
appear on canvases. Paintings do not only reflect the norms and ideals that existed
in the society, but also provide the set patterns for it.
Keywords: tea parties in Britain, British Victorian art, visual sources, social
and cultural studies, national tradition

INTRODUCTION

These days, there are a great number of social and cultural practice
classifications, both in a detailed and global sense. Tea drinking, of course, refers
to everyday practices which present “an alternative line of metaphysical practices
that turned out to be implemented in real life” [11], and are intricately intertwined
with everyday and existential origin. One can consider tea parties as a tool for
harmonizing life, the way to consolidate hierarchies of value and a form of
reflection on cultural codes.

Usually, such interpenetration of everyday and existential principles becomes

an obstacle to the adequate perception of national forms of tea parties by
representatives of another culture, when, first and foremost, external forms of
social and cultural practices, its everyday, sometimes random elements are
perceived. This was precisely the way the concept of the English tea party was
understood in Russia. For a long time the subject’s perception was stereotyped
and marked with approximate examination through paying attention to external,
insignificant features. Russian sociologists, experts in cultural studies and
historians turned to the academic understanding of everyday culture, and at the
same time to the study of national traditions of tea drinking, at the turn of the
twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

The situation has improved significantly today. The first monographs devoted
to English tea drinking have been published [10], numerous articles have been
written. The following issues are of interest for Russian academics: the history of
the English tea party [7], [9]; national peculiarities of this social and cultural
practice and its transformation over time [4], [8], [12]; a comparative study of tea
drinking traditions in different cultures [13], [5]; a reflection of the cultural
characteristics of tea drinking in language [15] and literature [14].

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Despite the significant expansion of the range of issues studied, it can be

argued that there are significant lacunas in the study of English tea parties. One

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of them is the lack of analysis of the visualization of these social and cultural
practices in English painting (in the Victorian epoch in particular) which allows
us to identify important trends and patterns characterizing various social
phenomena and processes and based on the method of describing and analyzing
works of art, using the principles of scientific reliability, historicism and
objectivity.

The task of the present research is to fill the existing gap partially by
considering English painting of the Victorian era (1837-1903) as a reflection and
at the same time as a tool for constructing national traditions.

Perhaps nowhere else and never again in history has the tea party attracted
such close attention from artists as in England during the Victorian era. This topic
was addressed by famous and not so famous masters, metropolitan and provincial.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of tea-themed canvases. The study is based
on the analysis of more than a hundred works of genre painting by British artists
(among them there are famous works by George Goodwin Kilburn, Henry
Spernon Tozer, Charles West Cope, Hilda Fearon, etc.).

RESULTS

Before the Victorian era, tea in England was a luxurious foreign exotic drink.
Along with tealeaves, expensive Chinese porcelain, accessories and furniture
were imported into the country. As a result, the tea table was a field of extremely
intense Chinese-English dialogue. It was during the sixty-four-year period of the
reign of Queen Victoria that tea gained the status of a national drink. This is
primarily due to a change in the scale of its consumption. In the second half of the
nineteenth century, tea ceased to be an expensive aristocratic drink. Everyone
gained the chance to enjoy it: members of the royal family, upper-middle class,
workers etc.

However, to determine the significance of the drink in the structure of the

gastronomic identity of the people, not only quantitative indicators of its
consumption are important. The mechanisms of assimilation of tea included the
creation of a special “truly English” material and a visual context of a tea party,
which displaced any “oriental allusions” from this ceremony. It was already in the
second half of the eighteenth century when locally manufactured porcelain
appeared along with British tea furniture and silver tableware. The production of
these goods increased on a massive scale in the following decades. In the
Victorian era, there was a fashion for special tablecloths, napkins, even special
dresses and suits for tea parties.

The change in the external entourage was accompanied by the formation of a

specific English tea party etiquette. In the nineteenth century, books appeared
regulating all aspects and details of the tea ceremony: how to make tea, how and
where to serve it, who to invite to tea, what to talk about at the table. It is

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significant that in the Victorian etiquette tradition, along with the norms of how
to behave, the prohibitive rules were prescribed in great detail: you could not sip
tea from a cup in which a teaspoon had been left; you could not look at others
when you took a sip; you could not lower your little finger while holding a cup;
ladies should not wipe their lips with a napkin; they should not put a napkin on
the table when leaving the tea table (only on a chair), etc., etc. The nuance of such
prohibitions was extremely important and vividly reflected English ideas about
decency and, what worried the English even more, about indecency in behavior.

The transition from ritual to etiquette, to the creation of a whole set of

nationally determined rules of behavior at the tea table marked a new stage of its
implementation in English culture and society.

However, in addition to these, there was another mechanism for embedding

tea into English culture: the creation of a stable visual formula for English tea
drinking. National painting played a significant role in this process.

The first thing that catches your eye when you look at the numerous canvases
depicting the tea ceremony is how cozy the world in which all this happens is.
Cozy, furnished and bourgeois. There were only two types of surroundings for tea
parties in Victorian works of art: either well-furnished interiors or beautiful
landscapes. It would seem that there should be nothing unexpected in such
representation, because tea is the drink that accompanies a person in the moments
of domestic peace, and embodies the simple joys of life. However, in Russian
painting of the same time, tea drinking was not only a narrative about a quiet home
life. Very often, it became a form of a narrative about how the world is being
destroyed, entire estates are disappearing due to the changes in the social and
economic context of the era, or about how ruthless and indifferent a person can
be towards his neighbor or people from a different social class. Using painting as
covert social commentary, Russian artists often forced their characters to drink
tea in the interiors of houses abandoned by the owners, against the background of
dilapidated estates, on the road, in crowded foyers of uncomfortable hotels.

The world of Victorian painting did not know such a connotation. There were
only two types of surroundings for tea drinking here: either well-furnished
interiors or beautiful landscapes. In British art, there was no place in this tea party
atmosphere for something bad, unfair, ugly or “indecent” and coming from
outside the generally accepted norm. The tea plot in the interpretation of Victorian
artists has never become a reason for social criticism (as it was, for example, in
Russian painting of the second half of the nineteenth century). An only slight
irony about the mores and habits of the inhabitants was permitted. The canvases
literally exuded peace and contentment.

The picturesque scenes of tea drinking were a visual embodiment of Great

Britain as a “paradise of the prosperous bourgeoisie”. So, in the paintings of
George Goodwin Kilburn Tea Time the girls meet their father who has returned

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home, receive a guest, the young wife serves tea for her husband. Everyone is
friendly and caring. Everything here is exemplary, everything is correct,
everything can serve as an example for the viewer. The man is sitting while the
girls are fussing, the elderly man looks at the young creatures with paternal
condescension, they look at him respectfully. Each character with all his
individuality is the personification of a certain human type; each of them fits into
the Victorian ideas of order and norms [1].

A similar order “reigns” in hundreds of English canvases from the second

half of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. An elderly lady is sitting by the
fireplace with a cup of tea in Henry Tozer's painting Tea Time. The surrounding
interior is full of touching details, it is simple and radiates an otherworldly charm:
this is how sweet and kind grandmothers are described in children's literature, just
like in a fairy tale. The depicted world is calm, bright and kind and does not
contain a single disturbing note.

A quiet old age, a beautiful youth, nobility in relationships, respect for age,
etc., etc.: the tea party plots of Victorian paintings seem to be taken from a kind
of a catalog of bourgeois virtues, the one that can be compiled from the most
sentimental novels. The sober English mind obeyed the emotional demands of the
new ”customer”. Bourgeois tastes of this era were broadcast not only by
representatives of the middle class: they captured everyone involving Queen
Victoria herself, who is often called the “bourgeois queen”.

The Victorian tea party is always an intimate activity usually taking place at
home. Images of ceremonial receptions, spacious living rooms with a large
number of guests were now in the past. In the new era, artists rarely gathered more
than three or four people at the table: only family members or close friends. At
the same time, the world of English tea canvases is a women's world. Ladies in a
circle of friends, next to children, together with maids: there is almost never a
male present in these scenes.

The hostess of the house “reigned” over the tea table. She brewed and poured
tea (one should keep in mind that this was perceived not only as a privilege, but
also as an important duty, a high mission), and, consequently, the woman turned
out to be the center of the ritual, both due to her role and according to the visually
perceived tea mise-en-scene. It was the woman who set the entire sequence of the
ritual in motion monitoring its compliance with norms and decency.

As a result, the woman became the main actor in the English process of the
“visual appropriation” of the tea party. Men supplied and sold tea. Women bought
tea and served it. No matter how unequal these functions were, everything that a
woman did was an obligatory part of everyday life, repeated daily, and in full view
of everyone. The visual formula of the English tea party, first and foremost,
involved an elegant English lady pouring her favorite drink gracefully and
unhurriedly. This can be compared to a theater play when hundreds of people

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prepare a performance behind the scenes but the success of the play depends on
the actors who are in the foreground.

It is also important that this female role was easily visualized. During the
second half of the nineteenth century, English artists created numerous female
images at the tea table. General mise-en-scenes were developed, specific poses,
head turns, hand movements were thought out. An English lady pours tea; an
English lady hands the guest a cup; she is sitting thoughtfully and abstractedly
with a cup in her hand. All these options were brought to the level of clichés, fixed
in the subconscious of the viewer in the form of well-assimilated formulas.

It is noteworthy that British artists consistently bred two hypostases of a

woman, her two main roles: she is either a caring mother or a faithful wife. Men
and children depicted in the Victorian painting in the space of a house live
separately and intersect extremely rarely. Such pictorial norms were formed only
in the nineteenth century. In the previous era, there were many paintings of the
genre, called “conversation pieces”, in which children participated in a tea party
with their parents. There was no reality involved as children in English aristocratic
and bourgeois families always drank tea separately with their governesses and
nannies. The distance between father and children, mother and children
throughout the eighteenth century was equally great. Gathering the whole family
on the canvas, the artist pursued the tasks of portrait representation which had
little bearing on reality.

As for Victorian painting, the desire to draw a different model of relations is

obvious: leaving the distance between father and children insurmountable, the
artists sharply reduced the distance between children and mother. The tea party
was depicted as a time and place, justification and motivation for their
rapprochement and communication. The canvas by Charles West Cope Breakfast
Time. Morning Games depicts a mother and her two young daughters. Coming
together to drink morning tea, they are distracted by playing games together. The
little blonde girl is so sweet and touching, her mother is so elegant and at the same
time caring that the picture is perceived as a kind of visualized example of the
Victorian daughter-mother relationship, where all the participants seem to have
descended from the pages of children's books about good children and friendly
families.

In the painting by J. G. Kilburn Tea in the Nursery, a mother and her children
are watching kittens. The mother’s face shows almost no emotion; she hugs her
youngest daughter making a gentle gesture, and this gesture emphasizes Kilburn's
desire to show the warmth and closeness of their relationship. However, the girl's
pose shows shyness, even stiffness, she is clearly not used to such close contact.
Children standing apart from their mother feel much more natural.

The deliberate composition of these and dozens of similar plots becomes even
more obvious when comparing them, for example, with Hilda Fearon's painting

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The Tea Party, created a little later (in 1916) and already beyond the exact
chronological framework of the Victorian era. Her heroine is just sitting at the tea
table with two children, holding her son trustfully clinging to her on her lap. These
poses reflect a high degree of closeness, a very common mood and habit of
spending time together, which do not need to be deciphered and strengthened by
inventing additional common activities for the heroes. Against the background of
the painting by Hilda Fearon all previous works look like theatrical productions
in which clichéd classes from the list “parents spend time with children” are
”prescribed” for the actors.

Behind the ostentatiousness of the compositions is the real life of Victorian

England: the main rule that children were taught from the cradle was that they
should be visible, but not audible. Being under the supervision of a nanny all day,
and later governesses or tutors, and spending most of their time in the nursery,
they often saw mother and father only when they went into the living room to say
good night [3; p.132]. It is significant, however, to emphasize the real desire of
many authors to remove the distance between mother and children, to show the
increased warmth and closeness of their relationship. This aspiration referred not
to the norms that existed in society, but to the ideals that were being formed. The
artists painted blissful scenes and praised the cult of the family and family virtues
but “let slip” the Victorian distance between children and parents and the detached
restraint of their relationship.

Very often, the desire to remove the cold note of relationships from the
paintings turned into an increased sentimentality of the works. Such sweetness in
the scenes depicted did not seem deliberate or excessive to British viewers. There
is a feeling that it played a kind of compensatory role in a society where people
were always extremely restrained in expressing their feelings.

However, these were the scenes of a children's tea party where Victorian
sentimentality along with the desire to demonstrate pleasant and sweet aspects
manifest themselves to such an extent. This theme in the English tea party painting
tradition is unique. In other European art schools, it is represented by single works
(in the Russian one it did not exist at all), while in the English school it was
extremely widespread. Everyone admired the cute babies drinking tea, and the
tone of these works of art, as it often happened, was set by Queen Victoria. Her
favorite artist was Charles Burton Barber; more often the artist painted cute
crumbs, mostly little blond girls drinking tea with their equally cute pets (Prayer,
Time for Tea). The extreme degree of sentimentality combined with technical
virtuosity literally fascinated the buyers of the canvases.

Besides Charles Burton Barber, Arthur John Elsley, Harry Brooker and many
others specialized in such subjects. On their canvases, children either drink tea in
the company of their peers or play with their dolls drinking tea with them; they
share this ritual with pets. In any case, they diligently imitate the manners,
movements and poses of adults. The prevalence of such plots is one of the most

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convincing proofs of the deep penetration of the tea ritual into British life. It
became an integral part of everyday life, which was assimilated as a completely
natural one from childhood and did not involve special training, which is
definitely implied in the case of foreign imported practices.

Both in children's and adult performances, the British tea party ritual imposed
increased demands on the appearance of the participants. Tea drinking was by no
means considered as a simple thirst-quenching exercise: it was an event even
though it was repeated every day (or several times a day). Not a single artist caught
their characters ‘by surprise’, nor did they paint them careless in their dress or
with untidy hair. In the context of the Victorian era painting, it is impossible to
imagine even a tea party in a bathrobe, quite common in the eighteenth century.
Such transformations indicate the changes that took place not so long ago both in
the tea party itself and in the guidelines of its representation. The image became
a model and a kind of advertising picture visualizing the rules of decency, the
norms of behavior of a true English gentleman or lady. These norms included the
requirements to “be buttoned up” as a rule, and not to let anyone into your personal
space or show others your true nature.

Victorian painting, of course, reflected the processes of democratization that

affected tea consumption in the country. It was during this period that
representatives from the lower classes appeared on the canvases depicting tea
parties [6]. The artists carefully drew very modest or even poorly furnished
houses: clay or wooden floors, rough furniture, dull interior colors. They depicted
the simple clothes of the characters in detail and emphasized the absence of any
jewelry. However, the tea table is always shown covered with a tablecloth; there
are not just cups on the table but a porcelain set. Only an expert can tell that this
porcelain is much cheaper than the one on the canvases dedicated to aristocratic
tea drinking. The poses and gestures of the characters are only slightly less elegant
and a little more restrained and simple. They do not have brittleness and
affectation that some artists endowed their aristocratic characters with trying to
emphasize their innate elegance. However, they reveal their importance, self-
esteem and an understanding of the seriousness of the ritual being carried out.

There can be chickens walking in the depicted interior (as in Tom McEwan's
painting Tea Time), vegetables lying on the floor of a rustic cottage, but the tea
table is presented in perfect order with an obligatory white tablecloth, porcelain
set with a milk jug, butter dish, cups and saucers. There is no negligence in
people's clothes. Most of the characters on these canvases behave as if they are
familiar with the basic rules of tea etiquette: no one puts their elbows on the table,
everyone shows restraint and an unhurried significance in their movements.

Such interpretations, of course, demonstrate a tangible degree of didacticism,

which characterizes English art of the Victorian era in general, and a desire to
match the viewer's ideas about a perfect tea party. In any case, in relation to the
second half of the nineteenth century, we can talk about the existence of an

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English (and even British) concept of a tea party, which is independent of wealth
or social status.

CONCLUSION

Thus, since the Victorian era, the notion of the English tea party has become
understandable and common and acquired a set semantic fullness. The English
finally appropriated the imported drink, adapted and recoded the practices
associated with it and painting became an important and valuable participant in
this process. Rarely were English works of art devoted to the topic created by
great artists; the painters were not famous or well known outside the country. But,
while maintaining a fairly high level of skill and professionalism as well as a
desire to trap a new social order and respond to it adequately, they were in great
demand: one could see them in every bourgeois English house of the second half
of the nineteenth century.

According to the Dictionary of English Artists [2], more than eleven thousand
painters worked in the Victorian era, and most of them specialized in everyday
genre. Hundreds of artists worked on the visualization of what was called the
English tea party, helping to introduce the tea ritual as an integral part of British
everyday life. Its connection with the national ideals of a prosperous, comfortable,
unhurried, protected life is undeniable. The paintings not only reflected the ideals
that existed in society, but also gave them stable patterns and promoted them in
society. Having internalized the tea party so it became their own national idea and
custom, the British were able to broadcast it to the whole world.

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