Interaction of Psychological and Sociological Factors in Political Behavior

1952 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Else Frenkel-Brunswik

The theoretical models developed to deal with the interaction of sociological and psychological factors in the formation of political behavior indicate a wide divergence of opinion. At one extreme area group of scientists, mainly psychiatrists and anthropologists, who see most social phenomena as deriving from the subjective experiences of the individual. The specific traumata inherent in different methods of upbringing and in the resulting renunciations imposed upon the child are regarded by them as the formative basis for customs, religions, social attitudes, and so forth. Some specific examples of their point of view may be found in attempts to explain war as an expression of the destructive instincts, or capitalism as a manifestation of the anal syndrome. But at the other extreme are proponents of the view that the social structure is independent of the single individual and that individual behavior can be explained and predicted in terms of membership in classes and groups as they have developed historically, mainly on the basis of mode of subsistence.Failing to agree with either of these extreme points of view, one may argue that any speculation about the causal interrelation of sociological and psychological factors in the group and in the individual must recognize the fact that these factors have been artificially isolated and abstracted and that no exclusive factual primacy can be given to any of the aspects in a pattern so closely interwoven.

2021 ◽  
Vol 273 ◽  
pp. 11012
Author(s):  
Polina Dmitrieva

The article is devoted to the description and explanation of individual psychological and social phenomena from the point of view of actualizing thanatic issues during the COVID-19 pandemic and its information coverage. The relevance of the study is due to the situation of the spread of coronavirus infection, the peculiarities of combating its spread, the influence of information technologies on this process and the need to understand the phenomena that have developed in society. The novelty of the research lies in the complex consideration of various social and individual psychological phenomena from the standpoint of the influence of the vital threat and existential fears on the individual and social consciousness. The article contains information on the socio-psychological phenomena that manifested themselves during the COVID-19 pandemic (alarmism, infodemic, intergroup tensions, stigmatization of certain groups of the population, a shift in political preferences, aggravation or emergence of mental disorders, inadequate purchasing activity) and describes them in terms of Terror Management Theory. In the conclusion, prospects are given for using the provisions of Terror Management Theory to develop a strategy for overcoming a pandemic situation, taking into account the action of proximal and distal defenses. The author comes to the conclusion that the features of the information coverage of the situation have a strong influence on its further development, in connection with which it is necessary to develop a clear plan for the preparation of official information that meets the criteria of completeness, credibility, scientific character and conveys the idea of positive realism.


2020 ◽  
pp. 26-33
Author(s):  
D. M. Shakirova

The article considers the conflict from the point of view of a social phenomenon, as a result of which the main approaches to the study of this category were identified. According to one of them, the conflict is based on the opposition of certain interests, goals, aspirations of the individual. The second approach puts into conflict a contradiction, in connection with which it is the result of its aggravation and actualization. In the third approach, conflict is a type of structural imbalance and is characterized by the impossibility of a system or social relations remaining in the same form. Another approach at the heart of the conflict addresses social tensions of dual significance. The structure of the conflict itself (the object, the subjects of the conflict, etc.), as well as the content of its constituent elements, are studied in detail. Dismantled and disclosed the environment in which the conflict takes place. In general, the article is of an overview nature and can be useful as a theoretical and methodological basis for the study of conflict in various organizations, institutions, etc.


Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 547
Author(s):  
J. Aaron Simmons

Kierkegaard’s authorship is frequently charged with being so radically individualistic that his work is of little use to social theory. However, in this essay, I argue that Kierkegaard’s notion of “the single individual” actually offers important critical resources for some aspects of contemporary identity politics. Through a focused consideration of the two notes that form the little essay, “The Individual” (published with Point of View), I suggest that Kierkegaard does not ignore embodied historical existence, as is sometimes claimed, but instead simply rejects the idea that one’s moral dignity is determined by, or reducible to, such embodied differentiation. Instead, what we find in Kierkegaard is a rejection of the quantitative judgment of “the crowd” in favor of the qualitative neighbor-love of community. In light of Kierkegaard’s claim that it is the specifically religious category of the single individual that makes possible true human equality, I contend that we can develop a Kierkegaardian identity theory consistent with some aspects of the standpoint and intersectionality theory of Patricia Hill Collins and Kimberlé Crenshaw. Although Collins and Crenshaw operate at a structural level and Kierkegaard works at a theological level, they all offer important reminders to each other about the stakes of lives of meaning in light of the embodied task of social justice.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-293
Author(s):  
Fabíola Langaro ◽  
◽  
Daniela Ribeiro Schneider ◽  

Narratives in health research offer the subjects' point of view about their illness processes, contributing to the realization of a “first person” clinic, meeting the recommendations of palliative care, which emphasize an organization of care contemplating people in need. their biographies. This article presents analyzes of two narrative interviews conducted with João and Maria, hospitalized for palliative cancer treatment. The research aimed to understand the experience of illness and the perspective of death based on the existential phenomenological approach. Following the biographical method proposed by Sartre, a movement was made to dive into the individual trajectories and experiences of these participants, seeking an understanding of the psychic acquired inside their stories. In the analyzes, two stories were shown that point to the complexity of life, in a dialectical movement between sociomaterial conditions and subjective experiences, which allow reflecting on the entanglements and tensions that past, present and future engender in the lived. Is considered, then, that disease and death promote (re) formulations in the subjects' projects of being, but that these original projects are the background of the experiences of illness and death and the reinterpretations of the existential trajectory carried out in view of the imposition of finitude.


2019 ◽  
pp. 22-29
Author(s):  
Н. В. Фрадкіна

The purpose and tasks of the work are to analyze the contemporary Ukrainian mass culture in terms of its value and humanistic components, as well as the importance of cultural studies and Ukrainian studies in educational disciplines for the formation of a holistic worldview of modern youth.Analysis of research and publications. Scientists repeatedly turned to the problems of the role of spirituality in the formation of society and its culture. This problem is highlighted in the publications by O. Losev, V. Lytvyn, D. Likhachev, S. Avierintsev, M. Zakovych, I. Stepanenko and E. Kostyshyn.Experts see the main negative impact of mass culture on the quality approach, which determines mass culture through the market, because mass culture, from our point of view, is everything that is sold and used in mass demand.One of the most interesting studies on this issue was the work by the representatives of Frankfurt School M. Horkheimer and T. Adorno «Dialectics of Enlightenment» (1947), devoted to a detailed analysis of mass culture. Propaganda at all socio-cultural levels in the form is similar in both totalitarian and democratic countries. It is connected, according to the authors, with the direction of European enlightenment. The tendency to unify people is a manifestation of the influence of mass culture, from cinema to pop. Mass culture is a phenomenon whose existence is associated with commerce (accumulation in any form – this is the main feature of education), in general, the fact that it exists in this form is related to the direction of the history of civilization.Modern mass culture, with its externally attractive and easily assimilated ideas and symbols, appealing to the trends of modern fashion, becomes a standard of prestigious consumption, does not require intense reflection, allows you to relax, distract, not teach, but entertains, preaches hedonism as the main spiritual value. And as a consequence, there are socio-cultural risks: an active rejection of other people, which leads to the formation of indifference; cruelty as a character trait; increase of violent and mercenary crime; increase in the number of alcohol and drug addicts; anti-patriotism; indifference to the values of the family and as a result of social orphanhood and prostitution.Conclusions, perspectives of research. Thus, we can conclude that modern Ukrainian education is predominantly formed by the values of mass culture. Namely, according to the «Dialectic» by Horkheimer and Adorno, «semi-enlightenment becomes an objective spirit» of our modern society.It is concluded that only high-quality education can create the opposite of the onset of mass culture and the destruction of spirituality in our society. It is proved that only by realizing the importance of cultivating disciplines in the educational process and the spiritual upbringing of the nation, through educational reforms, humanitarian knowledge will gradually return to student audiences.Formation of youth occurs under the influence of social environment, culture, education and self-education. The optimal combination of these factors determines both the process of socialization itself and how successful it will be. In this context, one can see the leading role of education and upbringing. It turns out that the main task of modern education is to spread its influence on the development of spiritual culture of the individual, which eventually becomes a solid foundation for the formation of the individual. Such a subject requires both philosophical and humanitarian approaches in further integrated interdisciplinary research, since the availability of such research will provide the theoretical foundation for truly modern educational and personal development.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 556-563
Author(s):  
Adam Burley

This is a personal and reflective piece written from a clinician's point of view on the influence that the developing awareness around the consequences of childhood adversity has had upon the discussions, thinking and practice across the areas in which they are working. It seeks to argue that the increased understanding and recognition of the potential impact of early adversity can not only enhance and deepen the understanding of an individual's difficulties, but can serve to inform how services respond in a way that takes account of this. It suggests that the research and literature on childhood adversity can offer a route map away from a model of mental health that focuses predominantly on the individual as the sole source of interest.


2020 ◽  

BACKGROUND: This paper deals with territorial distribution of the alcohol and drug addictions mortality at a level of the districts of the Slovak Republic. AIM: The aim of the paper is to explore the relations within the administrative territorial division of the Slovak Republic, that is, between the individual districts and hence, to reveal possibly hidden relation in alcohol and drug mortality. METHODS: The analysis is divided and executed into the two fragments – one belongs to the female sex, the other one belongs to the male sex. The standardised mortality rate is computed according to a sequence of the mathematical relations. The Euclidean distance is employed to compute the similarity within each pair of a whole data set. The cluster analysis examines is performed. The clusters are created by means of the mutual distances of the districts. The data is collected from the database of the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic for all the districts of the Slovak Republic. The covered time span begins in the year 1996 and ends in the year 2015. RESULTS: The most substantial point is that the Slovak Republic possesses the regional disparities in a field of mortality expressed by the standardised mortality rate computed particularly for the diagnoses assigned to the alcohol and drug addictions at a considerably high level. However, the female sex and the male sex have the different outcome. The Bratislava III District keeps absolutely the most extreme position. It forms an own cluster for the both sexes too. The Topoľčany District bears a similar extreme position from a point of view of the male sex. All the Bratislava districts keep their mutual notable dissimilarity. Contrariwise, evaluation of a development of the regional disparities among the districts looks like notably heterogeneously. CONCLUSIONS: There are considerable regional discrepancies throughout the districts of the Slovak Republic. Hence, it is necessary to create a common platform how to proceed with the solution of this issue.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (38) ◽  
pp. 6942-6969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico Mucci ◽  
Maria Teresa Avella ◽  
Donatella Marazziti

Background: Attention deficit hyperactivity (ADHD) disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, disruptive behaviour, and impulsivity. Despite considered typical of children for a long time, the persistence of ADHD symptoms in adulthood gained increasing interest during the last decades. Indeed, its diagnosis, albeit controversial, is rarely carried out even because ADHD is often comorbid with several other psychiatric diosrders, in particular with bipolar disorders (BDs), a condition that complicates the clinical picture, assessment and treatment. Aims: The aim of this paper was to systematically review the scientific literature on the neurobiological, clinical features and current pharmacological management of ADHD comorbid with BDs across the entire lifespan, with a major focus on the adulthood. Discussion: The pharmacology of ADHD-BD in adults is still empirical and influenced by the individual experience of the clinicians. Stimulants are endowed of a prompt efficacy and safety, whilst non-stimulants are useful when a substance abuse history is detected, although they require some weeks in order to be fully effective. In any case, an in-depth diagnostic and clinical evaluation of the single individual is mandatory. Conclusions: The comorbidity of ADHD with BD is still a controversial matter, as it is the notion of adult ADHD as a distinct nosological category. Indeed, some findings highlighted the presence of common neurobiological mechanisms and overlapping clinical features, although disagreement does exist. In any case, while expecting to disentangle this crucial question, a correct management of this comorbidity is essential, which requires the co-administration of mood stabilizers. Further controlled clinical studies in large samples of adult ADHD-BD patients appear extremely urgent in order to better define possible therapeutic guidelines, as well as alternative approaches for this potentially invalidating condition.


Author(s):  
Toke Aidt

Corruption, understood as a special means by which private agents may seek to pursue their interest in competition for preferential treatment by government officials or politicians and where the “means” are valued by the recipient, is viewed by most social scientists as a major obstacle to economic, political, and social development and a source of inefficiency. This chapter presents a framework and taxonomy for the study of corruption. Within this framework, corruption is conceptualized as a particular instance of the more general social phenomena we call influence-seeking activities. The chapter provides an overview of theoretical models of corruption, summarizes cross-country evidence on the causes and consequences of corruption, and evaluates the recent literature on laboratory, field, and quasi-natural experiments.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (14) ◽  
pp. 4842
Author(s):  
Waldemar Kamiński

Nowadays, hydrostatic levelling is a widely used method for the vertical displacements’ determinations of objects such as bridges, viaducts, wharfs, tunnels, high buildings, historical buildings, special engineering objects (e.g., synchrotron), sports and entertainment halls. The measurements’ sensors implemented in the hydrostatic levelling systems (HLSs) consist of the reference sensor (RS) and sensors located on the controlled points (CPs). The reference sensor is the one that is placed at the point that (in theoretical assumptions) is not a subject to vertical displacements and the displacements of controlled points are determined according to its height. The hydrostatic levelling rule comes from the Bernoulli’s law. While using the Bernoulli’s principle in hydrostatic levelling, the following components have to be taken into account: atmospheric pressure, force of gravity, density of liquid used in sensors places at CPs. The parameters mentioned above are determined with some mean errors that influence on the accuracy assessment of vertical displacements. In the subject’s literature, there are some works describing the individual accuracy analyses of the components mentioned above. In this paper, the author proposes the concept of comprehensive determination of mean error of vertical displacement (of each CPs), calculated from the mean errors’ values of components dedicated for specific HLS. The formulas of covariances’ matrix were derived and they enable to make the accuracy assessment of the calculations’ results. The author also presented the subject of modelling of vertical displacements’ gained values. The dependences, enabling to conduct the statistic tests of received model’s parameters, were implemented. The conducted tests make it possible to verify the correctness of used theoretical models of the examined object treated as the rigid body. The practical analyses were conducted for two simulated variants of sensors’ connections in HLS. Variant no. I is the sensors’ serial connection. Variant no. II relies on the connection of each CPs with the reference sensor. The calculations’ results show that more detailed value estimations of the vertical displacements can be obtained using variant no. II.


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