Axiological Identity of Russian Students at Different Stages of Social Digitalization: a Meta-Analysis

Social informatization and virtualization are changing the living environment and life values. The article introduces a meta-analysis of the axiological identity of Russian students at various stages of the social digitalization. The authors selected sources, defined their relevance based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and performed their qualitative and quantitative analysis. The sample included 90 publications, 53 of which featured Russian students. The resulting trends in the axiological identity of Russian students were compared with foreign studies. The research revealed the following developmental trends in the life values of Russian students: individualistic values are giving way to collective ones, and conservative values are becoming more and more significant.

Prediction of Shear Strength of UHPC Beam with Small Shear Span to Depth Ratios Based on Modified MCFT

Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) has been gradually used in structure engineering due to its excellent mechanical performance, however, predicting the shear capacity of the UHPC beams is still a challenge, especially for the beams with small shear span to depth ratios. To address this issue, this paper devotes to developing a rational model to predict the shear capacity of the UHPC beams with stirrups based on the modified compression field theory (MCFT) and plastic theory. The shear force will be balanced by the stirrups, matrix, fibers and shear compression zone. The contribution of stirrups, matrix and fibers on shear capacity can be predicted by MCFT, and the contribution of compression zone is determined based on plastic theory. 12 UHPC beams was designed and tested to validate the proposed model. It can be found that the predictions agree well with test results, while the current design codes, including SETRA-AFGC and SIA, give overly conservative values for UHPC beams when the shear to span is less than 2.5.

Post-Heroic Time: Digitalization, Precariate, Qualimetry

The collective monograph, along with the classical themes of V.A. Kutyrev, contains new themes of his co-authors V.V. Slyusarev and T.M. Khusyainov: transformation of social structures, problems of interaction with virtual assistants, personal self-identification in the information society, labor resources in the context of globalization, opposition to humanism and efficiency in the market. The second theme is the increasing complexity of the information society through speed, data volumes, convergence, and dialogue. Religious differences that have fundamentally differentiated ethnic groups for so many centuries are a thing of the past. Differentiation of consumption styles, the ecological load on the biosphere and the capacity of the habitat; these are the current antinomies of man and technology. The paper deals with the effects of current social dynamics, in particular, the increasing processes of precarization, the accelerating pace of life and population growth. Stable employment, sustainable development, wisdom, conservative values; all of this is offered as a sacrifice to civilization, gamification, informatization and together constitutes a society of risk. Can we talk about human consumption by Technos? Isn't this black slug on the cover of the monograph yet another philosophical hypostatized metaphor? It would be correct to say that in conditions of overproduction of people, we need equipment for more efficient production. Without it, we cannot remain human. Technology helped us to leave a purely biological state and become sapient, civilized. Artificial intelligence, neural networks, robotics, blockchain (data processing distribution), 5G standard, big data, internet of things, cloud computing, 3D printing, augmented reality; these are not monster technologies, transhumanist actors, but something that can provide promising employment to millions of people. The problem of unemployment in post-industrial society is already becoming global, because humanity has reached the limits of development. The rapid precarization of the population is proof of this. The mass of people on the planet cannot find normal employment with social guarantees. So maybe we need to thank tech? The review ends with such an ambiguous conclusion.

Agree to Disagree: Generational Differences in Ideological Values and the Impact on Depressive Symptoms

Family Systems Theory states that values are transmitted between generations within families and, while many of these values are similar between immediate generations, there may be more differentiation in values between generation gaps. Ideological differences between generations may potentially cause subsequent tension and fluctuations in well-being. The current study sought to examine the moderating effect of generation on the relation between ideological values (political and religious) and depressive symptoms. Participants included 419 grandparents (age: M = 76, SD = 5.18) and 638 adult grandchildren (age: M = 29, SD = 5.57) from the 8th wave of the Longitudinal Study of Generations (LSOG) data set, collected in 2005. While violations in assumptions for the testing of religious ideology prevented additional analyses with that variable, significant mean differences were found between grandparents and grandchildren in political ideology scores, with grandparents expressing more conservative views. Generation also moderated the relation between political ideation levels and depressive symptoms. These relations trended in opposite directions for each generation (with non-significant conditional effects), such that when grandparents endorsed more conservative values, depressive symptoms decreased. Conversely, when grandchildren endorsed more conservative values, depressive symptoms increased. These findings indicate that while the older generation found a conservative viewpoint to be a protective factor for mental health, this was not true of younger generations, and indicates a need for age-specific cultural factors to be included in clinical intervention plans. Further implications for these findings will be discussed.

Analysis of Media Bias—Glenn Beck TV Shows: A Content Analysis

This study provides an overview of the media’s role in shaping public discourse and belief through framing news stories in a biased perspective and setting an agenda that is in keeping with the interests of the corporate and institutional funders of the media apparatus. Support for such an analysis is provided by a literature review that covers many critical aspects of news framing, agenda setting and cultivation theory, especially with respect to the emergence of a new ‘network society’. The ‘content analysis’ approach is utilised to search for biased content via the use of coders and decoders in some 140 randomly selected sampled links of the ‘Glenn Beck’ show during the two periods of time from 1 January 2010 to 30 June 2010, and from 1 January 2011 to 30 June 2011, each of these periods consisting of 70 samples. The results ultimately show that the programme almost unilaterally provides supportive views of moral conservative values, and slight negative portrayals of Muslims. The programme presents critical views of President Obama and his policies, although the finding in opposing Obama’s policies is not statistically significant. The significance of these findings is discussed within the larger context of media bias and its influence on political reality, as well as public discourse and belief; although the study and hence, the findings suggesting ‘bias’ do not represent the entire media industry representing conservative values.

Stigmatization of Voluntarily Childfree Women and Men in the UK

People who choose not to have children may face negative social judgment. Using a UK sample, Study 1 ( N = 199) successfully replicated Ashburn-Nardo’s (2017) finding that childfree targets are perceived as less psychologically fulfilled than targets with children. The effect, however, appeared limited to expected decision regret rather than general fulfillment, which was later confirmed in Study 2 ( N = 329). In contrast to Ashburn-Nardo , our results did not indicate that moral outrage mediates the effect (Study 1), but exploratory findings suggested that perceivers who intend to have children of their own perceive the childfree as morally inferior and less likable (Study 2). Participants’ endorsement of conservative values was not consistently related to negative perceptions of childfree targets.

Transforming Rebellion into Affirmation

Youth cultures grounded in commercial youth literature became national and international phenomena during the late eighteenth century. For generations, these cultures were at the forefront of efforts to legitimize young people’s emergence as consumers, as readers’ desire for entertainment and representations of youthful independence in their stories compelled producers to mitigate their instructional impulses. Yet as other industries like fashion, television, and music increasingly eschewed obligations to instruct young consumers, youth literature has retained its conservative values. Most of its successful narrative models follow a period of adolescent rebellion with a conclusion that affirms the value of existing institutions, values, and hierarchies. This pattern has caused books and magazines to recede from the vanguard of shaping youth cultures.

Study reveals “dark side” of training in Israeli Defense Force that instills conservative values at odds with more progressive organization

Purpose The study was inspired by previous research showing the importance of congruence between declared and actual content. But the authors said there was a dearth of research into incongruence between training content and values of an organization. Design/methodology/approach The study focused on a leadership skills development course in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The course was developed and delivered by military clergy. The initial purpose was to investigate the effectiveness of intra-organizational training for developing leadership skills. But qualitative analysis of the data revealed an incongruence between the declared content of the course – to develop leadership skills – and the actual content of the course – instilling conservative values. Findings The authors said that the military clergy in the IDF hold conservative views that are traditional and nationalist, whereas the formal values of the IDF are quite different. They are based on the values of democratic state and military professionalism. The authors say this incongruence “may be harmful and cause a long-term clash of values in the organisation”. Originality/value The authors said the most important contribution was to illuminate the potential “dark side” of training. Exposing the covert side of training can inspire scholars to search for more hidden in organizational HR routines, they said. Awareness of the potential “dark sides” should also lead to improvements in training, making it more effective in the short and long term. An important practical implication was that a “clash of values” might occur between traditional values and the organization’s formal values.

A Tale of Peaks and Valleys: Sinusoid Relationship Patterns Between Mountainousness and Basic Human Values

Mountains—mythic and majestic—have fueled widespread speculation about their effects on character. Emerging empirical evidence has begun to show that physical topography is indeed associated with personality traits, especially heightened openness. Here, we extend this work to the domain of personal values, linking novel large-scale individual values data ( n = 32,666) to objective indicators of altitude and mountainousness derived from satellite radar data. Partial correlations and conditional random forest machine-learning algorithms demonstrate that altitude and mountainousness are related to increased conservation values and decreased hedonism. Effect sizes are generally small (| r| < .031) but comparable to other socio-ecological predictors, such as population density and latitude. The findings align with the dual-pressure model of ecological stress, suggesting that it might be most adaptive in the mountains to have an open personality to effectively deal with threats and endorse conservative values that promote a social order that minimizes threats.

That Swimsuit Reveals You: Body Image and Bathing Suits of Florida Women

Swimsuits are the most revealing garment that American women wear publicly. Yet wearing them affects how women feel about their bodies and attractiveness. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from convenience samples of Florida women and analyzed in terms of five strata: Competitors (competitive swimmers, beauty-pageant contestants, swimsuit models); College students (Afro-Caribbean, Asian, Black/Afro-American, Hispanic, White); and Adult women (North Florida Black and White; South-Beach Hispanic, and pregnant, as well as older women (doing water aerobics). Anthropometric data (BMI, waist circumference, waist-hip ratios, and bust-waist ratios) were collected and related to Figure Rating Scales and body descriptors, preferred and actual body shapes and sizes, and swimwear types and usage by situations (one-piece, two-piece, bikini, and thong worn in the presence of family and friends or on the beach and in private). Results, matching the literature show participants: (1) overestimate their body size and shape discrepancy from cultural ideals; (2) are affected by the media-depicting “thin ideal. Details of swimwear usage show that for Black and some Hispanic women, constructions of attractiveness are changed to laud larger size to mediate body dissatisfaction and enhance swimsuit use. For Asian women, conservative values rather than body size affect swimsuit usage. But even competitors who enjoy the benefits of swimsuits, as well as women of all ages (body-dissatisfaction continues throughout the lifespan) and ethnic/racial groups, still express body dissatisfaction.