Reflexive Self Research Articles

Queering Gender Boundaries and Redoing Heteroamorous Desire: Youth Scenes As a Social Field for (Re-)Negotiating Gender Arrangements and Sexuality

In Second Modernity, traditional affiliations, ideals and norms continuously are becoming less important. Among the things affected by that are gender norms and sexualities, so that the reflexive self now has the task of relating to these transformations. Based on scene ethnographies (interviews, group discussions, participant observations), this article examines how the (youth) scenes Visual Kei and K-pop serve as social fields to challenge traditional societal norms of gender and heterosexuality. Gender-neutral ideals and gender-differentiating norms coexist in Visual Kei; heteroamorous fantasies coexist with various sexual realities in K-pop. In both scenes, the scene-specific gender displays also significantly influence the sexual displays. Scene members embrace a great diversity of sexual orientations, thereby applying cultural globalization and socially constructing post-traditional forms of gender arrangements and sexualities that intertwine ‘Western’ as well as ‘Asian’ practices and aesthetics.

A sociological (Re)construction of the reflexive self: A convergence between Foucault and classical Confucian ethics

The emergence of a body of work on ethics since the 1990s with a special interest in the self in the Western academia, inspired by Michel Foucault's earlier work, resonates with a concomitant renewed scholarly interest in classical Confucian ethics both in China and internationally. An emphasis on culture and the rejection of a Euro‐centric universalist self in these bodies of work accompanies the disavowal of the very possibility of a generic reflexive self. This article seeks to critically examine the ontological positions on the self of these bodies of work, of Foucault's later thoughts, and of classical Confucian ethics. It is argued that there is a theoretical affinity between Foucault's later thoughts and classical Confucian ethics, with both philosophers acknowledging reflexivity as a universally inherited nature of self and making a special consideration of cultural equality and commonality. The examination includes advocacy for a more nuanced approach to notions of cultural equality that relies on targeted research and intercultural dialogue to avoid any predetermining of cultural differences, to allow better‐informed appreciation of differences, and to develop a more dynamic conceptualization of culture. This article concludes by initiating a discussion about the design of an integrated approach to cultivate reflexivity through training practices that bring together Foucauldian and Confucian ideas.

ОСОБЕННОСТИ ПСИХОЛОГИЧЕСКОЙ ГОТОВНОСТИ К ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОЙ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ У СТУДЕНТОВ НА РАЗНЫХ ЭТАПАХ ОБУЧЕНИЯ В ВУЗЕ

At present, as a result of the expansion of the use of the development of information and computer technologies, the increase in the situation of uncertainty in various spheres of a person's life (social, economic, professional), the problem of the formation and development of future specialists, which is directly related to their readiness for professional activity, is becoming more and more urgent. The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze differences in the structure of psychological readiness for professional activity among students at different stages of study at a university. The study involved students of the Faculty of Law of The Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia (St. Petersburg) in the amount of 107 people. To study the components of psychological readiness were used: the technique "Who am I?" M. Kuhn and T. McPartland (translated and adapted by T.V. Rumyantseva), S. Schwartz’s method for studying personality values, R. Cattell’s method of multifactorial personality research (187), method of studying professional identity statuses (A.A. Azbel, A.G. Gretsov) and the methodology for diagnosing the socio-psychological attitudes of the individual in the motivational-demand sphere of O.F. Potemkina. The following methods were used to process the data obtained in the study: descriptive statistics, comparative statistics (parametric statistical tests of Student's t-test and non-parametric statistical test of U-Mann Whitney). Mathematical data processing was carried out using the Statistica package (Version 10). The study found that students of the 1st and 4th courses have the most pronounced socio-psychological attitudes “Orientation to freedom”, “Orientation to the process” and “Orientation to the result”, statistically significant differences were found only in the indicator “Orientation to the result”. The subjects are characterized by a similar personality profile, and statistically significant differences between the samples were established only for the indicator G - moral normativity. In the student environment, values that reflect personal success are more important than the interests of the group. Statistically significant differences were found only in the "Conformity" indicator. In the study of the cognitive component, it was found that the largest number of self-descriptions refer to the personal identity of students of both courses, to personal qualities, character traits, to an individual style of behavior ( "Reflexive Self").

Sociological Drivers of Segmentation Within Youth and Children's Mission and Ministry in Western Contexts

The sociological drivers of segmentation within youth and children's mission and ministry in Western contexts are commonly seen as social developments in the last 70 years. This view focuses on the symptoms of foundational issues relating to modernity (specifically the emergence of the reflexive self) and so overlooks the significance of deeper questions that began further back in history. Considering these foundational issues should lead churches to reflect on the value of more intergenerational approaches.

Реконструкция проблематики темпоральности повседневного мышления в феноменологической социологии А. Шютца

Introduction.The article is aimed at identifying the problematic place of temporal foundations of everyday life, formulated in the framework of phenomenological sociology. The concept of everyday life outlined by A. Schütz is based on the conceptual provisions of E. Husserl’s philosophy about the inner consciousness of time and A. Bergson, who distinguished the reflexive self and the vital unity of conscious processes. Theoretical analysis.The author reveals the thesis that the correlation between the past and the present is the basis of everyday thinking and, together with spatial proximity, forms the area of the typical. The temporal sequence of the elements of the typifications chain is expressed in an assumed relation to the world, where the occurrence of an event leads to a calculated result. The horizon of contemporaries plays a key role in the everyday cognitive attitude, in which the correlation of subjective and objective times takes place, which means a close connection between the everyday cognitive attitude and objective knowledge. Everyday thinking is intertwined with the intersubjective world of social reality and transcends the limits of everyday inter action. Conclusions. The mechanism of functioning of everyday life identifies knowledge and freedom, therefore, it has an all-encompassing character of ordering knowledge and extends to the areas of scientific and creative thinking too.

Despair of Self: Strategies of Seeing and Becoming in Linn Ullmann'sDe urolige

Despair of Self: Strategies of Seeing and Becoming in Linn Ullmann's<i>De urolige</i>

The socio-professional identification of entrepreneurs and leaders

The article is devoted to the study of the specifics and types of socio-professional identification. The basis for the research is formed by the study conducted in the city of Perm using the “Who am I?” method that involved surveying the socio-professional groups of entrepreneurs and leaders. It was found that entrepreneurs and leaders typically self-identify through the “social self” and “reflexive self”. Common to the two types of entrepreneurs in terms of self-identification (having and not having an in-depth identification with their socio-professional group) is the correlation of self-confidence and the ability to persuade others. In leaders with in-depth self-identification with their socio-professional group, self-confidence correlates with the ability to organize work while in leaders lacking such self-identification, self-confidence correlates with the ability to talk to people. It is tested whether the self-evaluation of one’s financial status and readiness to change the sphere of one’s activity influence the degree of awareness of socio-professional identification and whether socio-professional identification affects the perception of success in life.

The reflexive self; adapting to academic life in a time of social turmoil

ABSTRACT This autoethnographic study explores the lived-experiences and academic perceptions of a first-year non-Lebanese assistant professor working in a private English language university in Lebanon during a period of socioeconomic turmoil. The PI kept an autoethnographic journal throughout the Spring 2020 semester, and data from this journal is triangulated with information from local English language newspapers, documenting key events occurring in Lebanon during this turbulent period. The findings show how the PI found the Spring 2020 semester challenging, struggling to navigate multiple intersecting national crises in conjunction with the demands of transitioning from doctoral studies to academia and forming a coherent academic identity. The author concludes that academic journaling, and the resultant reflexive praxis, were beneficial, helping him to navigate the adverse conditions he faced during the Spring 2020 semester.

КРОСС-КУЛЬТУРНЫЙ АНАЛИЗ Я-КОНЦЕПЦИИ РУССКИХ И КОРЕННЫХ НАРОДОВ ЯКУТИИ

The article presents the results of a cross-cultural Self-concept study of the peoples living in Yakutia. The research is carried out in line with the social psychology of the individual. The author is interested in the self-perception of the individual in terms of cultural and ethnic diversity. The study was conducted in a multi-ethnic region - the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The article presents the results of cross-cultural analysis of Russian and indigenous peoples of Yakutia. The hypothesis is tested that the common history and living conditions determine the formation of common contact points at the personal level. Here the author perceives the personality from the point of view of L. S. Vygotsky's cultural-historical approach, according to which the personality is a product of cultural-historical development. The study sample consists of 697 people from 12 to 79 years (479 women and 218 men). Of these, 111 are Russians, and 586 are representatives of the indigenous peoples of Yakutia. The method of research is the "Who Am I?" method of M. Kuhn and T. MсPartland. Taking into account the specifics of the research object, the author added two categories of Self-concept, such as racial identity and identity with the natural world. The results of the study were processed using statistical Mann-Whitney criteria, student t-criteria, content analysis, and ranking. The study was conducted throughout Yakutia. The instructions were presented in Russian and Yakut. The study revealed that the Self concept of the Russian and indigenous peoples of Yakutia have both common and different features. Common characteristics are a high level of reflec-tion, statistically significant similarity of important Self concept characteristics: reflexive Self, emotional Self, communicative Self, and the lack of regional identity in both groups. The common most frequently mentioned characteristics are the following: hardworking, kind, smart, cheerful, purposeful, hardy, and sociable. The distinctive features of Self concept reflect the uniqueness of the national character of the compared peoples. For Russians, this is largesse and sincerity. For indigenous peoples, honesty, pitying, and modesty are used for psycholinguistic analysis of the meaning of words. Honesty is also perceived as straightfor-wardness, modesty as a manifestation of emotions and actions of a person in moderation. It was also revealed that the family identity of indigenous peoples is more significant in the Self concept than in Russians. The conclusion is made about the importance of having both common and unique features for multi ethnic Russia.

‘I still want to know they’re not terrible people’: Negotiating ‘queer community’ on dating apps

Digital media has played a historical role in orienting LGBTQ+ young people’s notions of ‘community’ around performances of identity and selfhood. In our research with LGBTQ+ dating app users aged 18–35, ‘queer community’ materialised in relation to participants’ expectations of ethical alignment with others, with an emphasis on performing a reflexive self who was clear and consistent in what they sought on apps. Participants described apps as providing access to community, or enhancing existing connections forged via other social media or in-person contexts. In ways that both cohered with and diverged from historical framings of ‘queer community’, the concept emerged as a shared understanding of ethical conduct, where emotional safety and connecting with ‘nice people’ were prioritised. App users acknowledged the challenges of navigating the constraints and possibilities of dating app cultures and infrastructures, alongside negotiating one’s political responsibilities to ‘queer community’.

Navigating Risk Discourses: a Narrative Analysis of Parental Experiences in the Career and Life Development of Youth not in Education, Employment, or Training

Although the career and life development needs of young people not in education, employment, or training (NEET) have garnered interest from researchers and policymakers in recent decades, how parents experience their NEET children’s development and how they make meaning of their parental journeys remain underexplored. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine such parents’ experiences with their NEET children’s career and life development by conducting individual, semi-structured interviews with such parents, particularly in the Chinese cultural context of Hong Kong. Fourteen parents of NEET youth in Hong Kong were recruited via purposive sampling, each of whose NEET child was between 15 and 21 years old. Using narrative thematic analysis of interviews for data analysis, the results revealed that the parents had experienced a range of negative emotions and relied upon both contemporary and cultural conceptualizations of career, risk, and parenting to make sense of their children’s circumstances. Whereas some parents blamed themselves or their children for their negative experiences, others attempted to reinterpret their parenting decisions and actions, as well as their children’s career and life challenges, by reconstructing their personal meanings of parenthood. The results suggest that the parents’ self-perceptions and well-being were subject to the influence of risk discourses on parenting. They also suggest that though macro- and micro-environments were liable to heavily influence the parents’ self-perceptions, parents who could reconstitute their reflexive selves were more likely than others to form more positive views of themselves, their children, and their parental journeys.

Decision-Making Processes in Surrogates of Cancer Patients in a Taiwan Intensive Care Unit.

Background: Few studies in Asian countries have explored the emotional entanglements and conflicts that surrogates often experience during the medical decision-making process. This study was to explore decision-making processes in surrogates of cancer patients in a Taiwan intensive care unit (ICU). This qualitative study surveyed a purposive sample of surrogates (n = 8; average age, 48 years) of cancer patients in the ICU of a medical center in Taiwan. A phenomenological methodology was used, and a purposive sample of surrogates of cancer patients were recruited and interviewed during the first three days of the ICU stay. Results: Based on the interview results, four themes were generalized through text progression: (1) Use love to resist: internal angst. This theme was related to the reflexive self -blame, the feelings of inner conflict, and the reluctance to make healthcare decisions, which surrogates experienced when they perceived suffering by the patient. (2) Allow an angel to spread love among us: memories and emotional entanglements. Memories of the patient caused the surrogate to experience emotional entanglements ranging from happiness to sadness and from cheerfulness to anger. (3) Dilemmas of love: anxiety about ICU visitor restrictions. The confined space and restricted visiting hours of the ICU limited the ability of surrogates to provide emotional support and to share their emotions with the patient. (4) Suffocating love: entanglement in decision-making. Emotional entanglements among family members with different opinions on medical care and their struggles to influence decision-making often prevented surrogates from thinking logically. Conclusions: Expression of emotions by ICU surrogates is often restrained and implicit, particularly in Asian populations. These results can help health professionals understand the psychological shock and inner conflict experienced by surrogates and provide a useful reference for improving their communications with surrogates.

Reimaging ‘the Self’ in Criminology: Transcendence, Unconscious States and the Limits of Narrative Criminology

Notions of ‘the self’ in criminology are rarely explored or defined, which is surprising given how pervasively the term is used. According to narrative criminology, the self is generated and moulded by the stories we tell; our identity emerges through narrative scripts and these stories motivate future action. But this understanding of selfhood is quite narrow. This article attempts to widen it by separating selfhood into three categories: ‘the reflexive self’ (the person we think we are); ‘the unconscious self’ (things we do not know that shape us); and ‘the experiencing self’ (the in-the-moment, living and breathing feeling of being alive). The article begins with a critical engagement with the field of narrative criminology which tends to address ‘the reflexive self’ somewhat in isolation. Then a number of findings in criminology, psychology and theology are presented which reveal alternative notions of selfhood. This includes engaging with theological accounts that can be described as transcendent or transpersonal. Second, psychoanalytic research notes how our behaviour is often motivated by unconscious processes that are hard to reconcile with traditional notions of selfhood. There is a call to bring these different ‘selves’ into dialogue and to draw cleaner distinctions between them. Increasing our understanding of selfhood helps us to think more clearly about key criminological debates, such as the causal mechanisms undergirding adaptation and desistance from crime.

Adopting and Adapting Hermeneutic Method Within Translation Studies

The present study focuses on the application of the hermeneutic method within translation process. The examination of the issue draws on the already established concepts of translational hermeneutics, which consider this method as a part of the initial phase of the translation activity. However, the study presents the approach according to which hermeneuticactivity is present throughout whole translation process. The author thus examines deployment of Ricoeur’s hermeneutic concept of interpretation and understanding of the complex translation activity. Finally, a new hermeneutic-pragmalinguistic conceptualization method is introduced applying the hermeneutic approach within the complex translation process. It is noted that on a semantic level the person who pronounces the word I, which is associated with a specific name, forms personal identity. At the pragmatic level, the meaning of the word I become contextually dependent on the discourse in which it is constantly formed. On the borderline between semantics and pragmatics, a person becomes a reflexive Self, capable of hermeneutical activity of understanding. The author focuses on Ricoeur's research, which defines language as an objective system and / or code and discourse. He also argues that language as a code is collective in that it exists as a set of parallel rules (synchronous system) and is anonymous in the sense that it is not theresult of any intention. The language is not conscious in terms of structural or cultural unconsciousness. The author focuses on the stages of hermeneutic activity. This indicates that the first stepreveals the essence of interpretation as an important part of the hermeneutical method, which is a dynamic process that includes a non-methodological moment of understanding and a methodological moment of explanation. Characterizes the second stage of hermeneutic activity it is the stage of configuration. That is, the stage of conceptualizing meaning in language. The third stage, that is, the stage of refiguration, is a complete understanding of the discourse and its interpretation. Hermeneutic activity is fully realized in reading, which represents the space between pragmatics and semantic structure. This phenomenon is described as the stage where a person operates with all their knowledge, pragmatic language and experience, not yet structured to solve one particular cognitive-reflexive task. With regard to the thematic and non-thematic cognitive abilities of each person, the translator, as a professional user of at least two languages, has a cognitive-reflexive knowledge in which at least two language cultures interrelate and intersect. It is vaccinated that, at the interlingual and interlingual levels of hermeneutic activity (in interpretation and understanding), an individual not only uses language but also changes andtransforms it.

Diagnostic Concepts of the Unconscious as a Foundation of Romanticist Identity: Maine de Biran’s Psycho-Physiological and Psycho-Pathological Self-Investigations

ABSTRACT The foundations of psychoanalysis in the German idealist concepts of the reflexive human self have been the subject of detailed investigations devoted to the intertwined processes of introspection, consciousness, and the unconscious. Much less consideration has been given to the contemporary French spiritualist philosopher Maine de Biran (1766–1824), whose physiologically-oriented philosophical psychology was (partially) known in its essence by some of the founding thinkers of psycho-analysis. According to Biran’s explicitly anti-Cartesian notion of individual identity, consciousness is constitutively generated through voluntary corporeal effort—by the resistance implied in the act of (ap)perception. Biran’s shift from an empiricist and sensualist outward perception to a spiritualist introspection (sens intime) marks the turn from Enlightenment to Romanticism. In his chef d’oeuvre, the Essai sur les fondements de la psychologie (1811–ca. 1813), he distinguishes four concentrically layered, heterogeneous spheres or systems of consciousness. At its core is the instinctively motivated système affectif (shared by both animals and humans), followed by the système sensitif that is still subordinated to affections, albeit interconnected with consciousness. The système perceptif involves the tactile and visual senses of attention, while the outer système réflexif of communication via cultural signage is critically interconnected with terminology-based experimental sciences. Departing from Biran’s crucial transformation of Leibniz’s term “petites perceptions” (1704/1714) to “impressions affectives” (1807), this article examines the functioning of the affective unconscious, as analyzed in Biran’s diary, his first treatise (1799-1802), and a speech on obscure perception (1807), delivered during sessions of the Société Médicale de Bergerac.

Struggling to be a person: Lived experience of avoidant personality disorder.

To better understand the subjective lived experience of persons diagnosed with avoidant personality disorder (AVPD). Persons with an AVPD (N = 15) were interviewed twice with semistructured qualitative interviews and analyzed through interpretative-phenomenological analysis. Persons with first-hand experience of AVPD were included in the research process. The superordinate theme, "struggling to be a person," encompassed two main themes. The first, "fear and longing," incorporated the subthemes "longing for connection," "dreading to get close" and "being alone, for better or for worse." The second main theme, "a doubting self," included the subthemes "feeling insecure" and "searching for a sense of self." The findings shed light on how the reflexive selves of people with AVPD might struggle with sense-making, sense of agency, and identity. This study underscores how impaired tacit knowledge of social behavior can hamper the process of being a person in relation to others.

Re-conceptualizing escape in consumer research

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the notion of escape, which is central to the consumer experience literature, yet remains largely undertheorized. By surfacing the multi-dimensionality of escape, the authors develop a more fine-grained conceptualization of this notion. In addition, this work helps shed new light on past consumer research findings that mobilize the notion of escape.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on a review and interpretation of literature referring to the notion of escape in consumer research.FindingsThis paper’s first contribution is to extend the concept of escape based on the Turnerian framework of structure/anti-structure, by establishing a key difference between objects to “escape from” and the major themes of “escape into”. A second contribution is to identify other forms of escape that are mundane, restorative and warlike, and that mobilize the self in different ways.Practical implicationsThe paper provides a more precise conceptualization of escape to motivate further research on this particularly important concept for understanding consumer experience.Social implicationsEscape from one’s own self has become an important feature of contemporary life. Consumer experiences may be ways of crafting identities, but they also form the means of escaping the pressures that come with the burdens of identity.Originality/valueThis paper goes beyond past research on escape by identifying other types of escapes, which have not really been theorized in consumer research. The authors especially note the importance of ephemeral moments where people temporarily suspend their reflexive self, which the authors conceive as a new type of escape route.

The Polyptych Methodology and New Histories in Art Education: Charting a Legacy of Stories From Central Technical School, 1896–2014

AbstractThe art education program at Central Technical School (CTS) in Toronto, Canada, is so vast in terms of longevity and curriculum that it will never be documented in its totality. My research on this institution of applied and fine art does not provide a definitive story of the past, but a reflexive history self consciously produced: selected, ordered, and interpreted to make sense of the oral histories, archival sources, and material culture of students and teachers viewed through a postmodern lens. In the following invited article, I have not attempted to summarize my qualitative dissertation; instead, I peel back the layers of stories that form my program of research to focus in on the theoretical and methodological foundations supporting my new history of art education.

The Body, Technology and Translation: Mapping the Complexity of Online Embodiment

This theoretical article considers the potential for a revival of sociological interest in online embodiment by developing a conceptual alternative to the predominant framework of self-presentation, and showing how social theory may benefit from exploration of this field. It starts by critically reviewing the discussion on online embodiment, pointing out its theoretical shortcomings, and arguing that they result from the difficulty that social theory has with accounting for the increased ontological complexity of embodiment induced by the pervasiveness of digital technologies. Treating a theory of practice as an inspiring perspective, it then adapts the notion of translation as a general term capable of grasping the complex relationships between physical bodies, digital technologies, reflexive selves and the social aspects of online embodiment. An important advantage of this concept is that it makes it possible to see the role of technology as constitutive without losing the sociological perspective, and encompasses a wide range of contemporary body-technology interactions. Furthermore, it also has the potential to foster a sociological understanding of the relationships between bodily, technological, mindful and social elements, and to do so without slipping into reductionism.

Reflexivity and the Symbolic We-Relation

This essay considers the features constituting the symbolic We-relation to seek how the reflexive Self can generate changes to the Self, the You, and the We-relation itself. While critically dialoguing with phenomenological and pragmatist social theories, the essay investigates how subjectivity emerges in the interaction with (verbal and non-verbal) symbols and tries to avoid both subjectivism and the relationism.