Vol 19, No 1 (2022)

The article examines the role of responsibility of residents of a metropolis as a resource for their social activity aimed at ensuring the well-being of the urban environment. This problem is investigated by the authors on the example of Moscow residents. The study involved Muscovites (N = 359) aged 18-75 living in different administrative districts of the city. The following methods were used: questionnaires composed by the authors to identify the type of responsibility of the citizens and their readiness for active participation in the life of the city; value orientation technique by E.B. Fantalova; and set of questions about socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents. The first stage consisted in (1) dividing the respondents into three groups according to different levels of responsibility; (2) determining the direction of responsibility in these groups; (3) identifying the relationship between value orientations and indicators of responsibility; and (4) describing the readiness of the respondents with different levels of responsibility to take an active part in the life of their city. At the second stage, based on the data of regression analysis, the authors show the role of responsibility as a predictor of the activity of the respondents to improve living conditions in their city. It is found that the levels of responsibility for what is happening in their city in the three groups of the respondents differ mainly in the severity of their internal/external judgments or their pessimistic/optimistic moods regarding belief in their own strengths, willingness of other people to support initiatives, and positive/negative expectations of changes in urban life, subject to the active participation of all citizens in any transformations or events. Based on the results of the age analysis of the sample, it is concluded that young people are poorly represented in the group with a high level of responsibility. Prospects for further research are also outlined.

In the 21st century, in the era of growing infantilism, one of the important tasks of modern psychology and pedagogy is to solve the problem of educating and developing the responsibility of adolescents and young people. There are various hypotheses about the emergence of infantilism and irresponsibility and their manifestations in childhood and adulthood. The strength of society is the strength of individuals who make it up; therefore, in modern science it is important to identify the causes of social infantilism and introduce technologies for its prevention and correction. On the basis of a theoretical analysis, the authors consider the dominant symptoms of infantilism (irresponsibility, mental discomfort, loneliness, sexual behavior disorders, narcissism and gender chauvinism) as well as their manifestations in different age periods. According to the authors, the main reasons for the development of infantilism in adolescents and young people are as follows: (1) the lack of collective education and the low influence of teachers, psychologists and the educational environment as a whole on the personality development; (2) the pronounced style of pedagogy of freedom, provoking the development of egoism; (3) the delegation of responsibility for education exclusively to the family in the absence of psychological and pedagogical support for family relations; (4) the deformed model of family relations against the background of falling birth rates, shifting gender roles and family values. To prevent and correct infantilism among adolescents and young people, specialists in the field of modern education need to carry out systematic diagnostic work with families and pay close attention to the introduction of practical technologies for the prevention of irresponsible behavior among younger schoolchildren and adolescents. In addition, it is necessary to introduce psychological and pedagogical education of the younger generation on the issues of personal self-development, self-education and self-fulfilment.

Safety, which is currently recognized as the leading condition for the organization of the educational space, remains little studied in relation to language training. Meanwhile, its representation in the minds of subjects of learning a foreign language allows us to predict the vectors of efforts to improve their activities. The aim of the study was to identify personal meanings of safety in the minds of professional francophones. The respondents were teachers and graduate students of the French language. The methods used in the study included: directed statements, content analysis and scaled survey. The study revealed the following semantic groups of the category ‘safety’ in the educational space of learning the French language: (1) the environmental parameter of the educational process; (2) the characteristics of the interaction of the subjects of the educational process (teacher and students); (3) the internal state of the subjects as a predictor of learning a foreign language; and (4) the expectation of French language proficiency. The situations of its ‘binding’ by professional francophones to the educational space of learning the French language are established, namely: the organization of the educational space; the construction of methodological approaches to teaching the language; the implementation of educational interaction; and the French language acquisition. Based on the results of the study, the significance of the category of ‘safety’ for professional francophones was confirmed in three aspects of the organization of the educational space for learning the French language, i.e., general methodological, general linguistic and private linguistic ones. In the process of teaching the French language, it seems appropriate to take into account the safety needs relevant to the modern educational space, to highlight in it the features that are significant in general for the practice of language training as a direction of pedagogical activity, as well as the nuances that are characteristic exclusively for teaching a particular language.

Although dominant cultural groups as a rule have the main impact on the mutual acculturation process, they receive much less attention in the literature. This article, firstly, challenges the common implicit position that dominant cultural groups do not have variety in their acculturation expectations regarding different non-dominant cultural groups, and, secondly, proposes Ethnic Group Position Model (EGPM) to explain and predict acculturation expectations regarding a particular non-dominant cultural group in society. The empirical study tests the relationship of structural variables of the group position by the new model (status, interdependence, similarity) and acculturation expectations while taking into account the relevant individual difference variables (the degree of agreement and endorsement for authoritarian attitudes and intergroup ideologies), thus covering the cognitive and motivational foundations underlying acculturation expectations. The participants in the survey were 377 Russian representatives of the dominant cultural group in Russia, who filled out a questionnaire containing questions about acculturation expectations (e.g., integration, assimilation, separation), evaluation of ethnic groups according to the feelings thermometer, perceived group positions, and also about an endorsement of authoritarian attitudes (right-wing authoritarianism and social domination orientation) and intergroup ideologies (e.g., assimilationism, multiculturalism, interculturalism). The results showed that Russians did vary their acculturation expectations towards different cultural groups according to the EGPM, even when controlling for their individual differences in ethnic bias. The conclusions emphasize that the cultural groups’ images are steam from ordinary observations of their life outcomes or circumstances, primarily in terms of vertical inequality (prestige and respect), i.e. perceived status (e.g., education, professional prestige, connection with crime), which largely shapes intercultural relations and in particular acculturation expectations.

Most people assume studying or working abroad would be stressful - but would one ever think that it could be detrimental to the health? Stress literature relates cross-cultural transactions to the chances of gaining higher levels of chronic stress. This paper reports the results of two studies on international students in Moscow in 2018. Specifically, Study 1 assessed how cross-cultural transactions perceived to affect health state during the first 6 months of their relocation. Study 2 aimed to investigate if the psychological stress linked to relocation to a different country can possibly lead to psychobiological effects of chronic stress. In Study 1, qualitative methods were applied to conduct 21 interviews with international students. In Study 2, a longitudinal pilot study was conducted for 10 foreign students during the first 2-5 (M = 3.6) months of their relocation. Stress related to cross-cultural transactions was expected to affect subjective well-being and health variables. The health state was a relatively silent topic in the interview participants of Study 1. The results of Study 2 showed that the participants had changes in the resting heart rate (RHR) baseline. Perceived chronic stress related to cross-cultural transactions may affect psychophysiological state; however, the affect varies depending on a person. Further research is required for the data consistency and for identifying non-invasive objective risk markers and individual stress pathways, with the goal of identifying “at-risk” students and providing treatment options before any serious harm is done to their health.

Scientific research at the present stage of development of higher education is the basis of the academic reputation of the university, an aspect of the educational activities of the teacher and student. Quantitative indicators of scientific performance are the most important criterion for evaluating effectiveness at different levels. The article analyzes the implementation of scientific research based on grant support for four of the most authoritative foundations in Russia in 2006-2020: the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, the Russian Humanitarian Science Foundation, the Council for Grants of the President of the Russian Federation and the Russian Science Foundation. The assessment was made on the example of projects in the humanities and social sciences, including linguistics. The conclusion of the study introduces a statement of the importance of funds for the preservation of classical areas of scientific activity. It also demonstrates the necessity of an increase in the number of scientific research at Russian universities funded by these funds both in general terms and in relation to the number of grant projects conducted at academic institutions and an assessment of the activities of funds as a structure that determines priority directions of research. The most popular contests for universities have become contests in the areas of fundamental research and research support for young scientists.