Social Life Research Articles

The Paradoxical State: The Political Economy of Multidimensional Gender Inequality in Korea

ABSTRACT Why do Korean women, who live in one of the most technologically and economically dynamic countries in the world, lag so far behind men in most important aspects of social life? Conventional answers to this question believe that more government intervention is needed, but Korea has followed state feminist policies since democratisation with limited success. This article draws on insights from the field of feminist political economy and the theory of performativity to propose a revised model of state–society interaction that better explains this puzzle. Historically, the South Korean state has oscillated between creating gender inequality for its economic and political nation-building projects, and then seeking to reduce it for the purposes of social reproduction. However, this reverse movement is ‘sticky’ because many non-state actors’ performances of gender inequality are resistant to state feminism, and others are closely associated with national identity. We conduct a plausibility probe of our model by applying it to three key performances of gender in Korea: traditional culture, conscription, and sex work. Our findings suggest the need for more bottom-up activism and campaigns against actors within and beyond the state who continue to resist gender equality.

“My Little Penguin Has Come Back to Life”: Chinese Nitizens’ Digital Memory and Narrative Practice of Tencent Pets Game

As the world’s largest online virtual pet community, Tencent pets had accompanied numerous Chinese netizens, particularly the younger generations. It was not only their earliest “Internet memories”, but also became an integrated part of their personal life experiences, even influencing their understanding of social life. Through textual statistics, thematic analysis, and discourse analysis of 7,623 posts from Chinese BBS, this study identifies three narrative paths of memory—“mourning”, “nostalgia”, and “resistance”—which have formed around Tencent pets. People do not perceive Tencent pets merely as a “technical object”, but rather as a form of real “life”. Writing memories about Tencent pets also serves as a form of resistance against the passage of time and the fading of one’s own life course. This study contributes to a further understanding of China’s digital gaming culture, as well as enriches research on media memory and Internet history.

Influence of puberty stage in immune-inflammatory parameters in well-trained adolescent soccer-players, following 8-weeks of pre-seasonal preparation training

Aim: The immune system can experience temporary suppression following acute or prolonged strenuous exercise, potentially increasing susceptibility to infections. Young athletes, who must balance school, training, studies, and social life, may further disrupt their immune-inflammatory responses. This study aimed to investigate the effects of an 8-week pre-season training on circulating leukocyte responses in well-trained adolescent soccer-players at different stages of puberty. Methods: Thirty-six soccer players, divided into two groups based on their biological age-under sixteen (U16) and above sixteen (A16)-underwent two rounds of assessments. These included evaluations of anthropometrics, physical fitness, and immune parameters before and after an 8-week pre-season soccer training program. Results: No significant treatment or interaction effects were found for erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), platelets, total leucocyte count, immune inflammation markers (IIM), weekly rating of perceived exertion, body composition, sit-and-reach flexibility, or VO2max (P > 0.05). However, post-intervention neutrophil counts were increased, while lymphocyte counts decreased, and IIM levels rose in both groups (P < 0.05). Neuromuscular explosiveness and strength endurance were significantly higher in the A16 group compared to the U16 group (P < 0.05). Body fat was reduced, and all physical fitness parameters improved in both groups over time (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The 8-week soccer-specific training program did not lead to different effects on immune-inflammatory parameters between youth soccer players at different stages of puberty. However, training adaptations, including improvements in physical fitness, were observed in both groups. This suggests that when the same training load (frequency, duration, intensity) is applied to adolescents at different stages of puberty, immune-inflammatory responses are not significantly influenced by age, but physical fitness improves regardless of puberty stage. A key limitation of this study is the lack analysis of lymphocyte subpopulations, which could provide a deeper understanding of the cellular effects of training on immune function.

Comparative Views on the Global Energy Problem in the Oil and Gas Pattern

The article puts forward views on the global energy problem. It focuses on population growth, industry, energy, consumption, exhaustible and inexhaustible resources. Energy has become an indispensable element of social and economic life due to its early use in lighting and heating, and since the early twentieth century in industry and other fields. It is considered that the causes of the global energy problem are related to the rapid growth of the world's population, the growth and development of industrial production. The implementation of these is considered to lead to the efficient use of energy resources, both globally and domestically. There is a need to make certain changes in people's lifestyles, conserve natural resources and increase the use of alternative energy sources. Against the background of a 7-fold increase in the world's population, the growing demand for energy resources of people and society as a whole is a topical issue. The main purpose of the study is to increase attention to the problem of energy in the world, to make certain changes in people's lifestyles and to make sound proposals on alternative energy resources. From a global point of view, the trends in the modern development of energy and the suggestion of more efficient ways of using energy are the scientific novelty of the research. Specifically, in many countries, oil comes out at a depth of 5,000 m and more, instead of the previous 500-1000 m, which has a negative impact not only on society, but also on the environment.

Hikikomori and Internet Gaming Disorder: a Case Report

Aim: Social withdrawal is frequently considered a result of or a symptom of several mental health issues that can significantly alter a person’s way of life. Excessive internet use is also a mediating factor for increasing social withdrawal. To our knowledge, a classic case of Hikikomori had never been reported from India. We report a case who sought help to manage social withdrawal and online activities at a tertiary specialty centre of India. Case report: Student Mr. A, aged 18, residing with his parents, working as professionals, and younger brother, reported with complaints of ambivalence to take action and to plan his future activities, along with low self-confidence and feelings of sadness, hesitancy to establish contact with his friends, poor social life and difficulty in controlling his online gaming for the last 3 years. Mr. A met the criteria for internet gaming disorder on the Internet gaming questionnaire. Cognitive behavioural therapy was initiated to address his cognitions about gaming/online activities, decreased socialization, lower levels of behavioural activation, and enhancement of interpersonal interactions with family members. Since he could not regularly come for psychotherapy sessions, significant treatment progress could not be achieved. Conclusions: The case implicates more focused individual & family interventions to improve resocialization to mitigate the risk of Hikikomori and IGD.

Six provocations for metaverse datafication: an emergent cultural, technological, and scholarly phenomenon

ABSTRACT Although the ‘metaverse’ is still the feverish pipedream of tech companies and venture capitalists, it is also a powerful imaginary for channelling enormous resources towards deepening and extending ongoing processes of digitalization and datafication. It is thus likely that an increasing amount of human activity – both professional as well as leisure-related – will take place in metaversal spaces, and that the paradigm of ‘Big Data’ is about to be expanded with massive amounts of new and varied or multimodal data that capture even more (corporeal, sensorial, spatial, and temporal) information produced by and about people as well as their interactions as these unfold in (mixed) spaces over time. Much like the rise of big data, the emergence of metaversal data gives rise to important tensions and issues. From the perspective of critical data studies, media studies, and science and technology studies, this paper spotlights the role of data obtained about, in, and through metaverse technologies and environments as well as how this can be understood as both an intensification and extension of the datafication of social life, the quantification of research methodologies, and the exacerbation of social inequality. We discuss these issues through a series of six provocations that each address a distinct tension between metaverse data, the production of knowledge, research methodologies, and various social issues that are central to the datafication of contemporary societies.

Mazowiecki Projekt Edukacyjny „Aktywni Społecznie”

The Masovian Educational Project „Socially Active” was developed and implemented to increase the involvement of children and teachers of educational institutions in social life in the Masovian Voivodeship. Project participants were kindergarten groups and primary school students, whose task was to present social activities in the Facebook group by performing tasks in accordance with the project regulations. 25 educational institutions completed the project and participated in a summary meeting, during which the project authors awarded the facilities with certificates and statues for coordinators. As a result, the authors of the project achieved the involvement of the young generation, teachers and the local community in the education and culture, which leads to the development of these fields and contributes to increasing the attractiveness of the region. Regardless of the chosen form of activity, it is important to act with passion and commitment and to contribute to positive changes in the life of the local community.

Happily Old! A Qualitative Inquiry into Sources of Happiness Among Older Adults of Nepal

Old age is characterized by a decline in physical ability, less social life, and a lowering of cognitive functioning, but older adults have distinct ways to enjoy life. This study aimed to explore and understand the sources of happiness among the older adults of Nepal in a phenomenological qualitative design. A convenient sample of 39 was made with the help of research assistants. The data collected by interviews were transcribed, coded, and categorized in the framework of thematic analysis. The interpretation of data was summarized in four themes: physical agility, social harmony, correct thought, and retirement management. The understanding of the causes of happiness for older adults can be useful for the design of interventions to enhance the quality of life among them. The limitations and future studies have also been discussed.

Labor market reintegration strategies of Albanian return migrants from Greece

For many migrants, returning to their country of origin is an important turning point in their migration trajectory. However, whether reverse migration proves successful depends largely on whether returnees are again able to participate in the social, economic, cultural, and political life of their country of origin. This paper draws on 37 biographical interviews conducted with Albanian returnees in three different geographical areas of Albania: Fier, Tirana, and Voskopoja. It aims to capture the diverse strategies the return migrants employed in navigating the labor market upon their return. We examine how the social and human capital the returnees accumulated while abroad shaped their patterns of reintegration into the labor market. We find that the returnees’ social capital in the form of social relationships and their human capital in the form of work experience influenced their entrepreneurial activities in their home country. Moreover, we observe that some of the returnees who were able to capitalize on their migration experiences in their host country introduced a new work culture and new products to their home country and offered better quality work than their local competitors. Our findings further indicate that while the returnees’ social networks improved their economic prospects, the levels of trust and social responsibility in these networks enabled them to develop and expand their business activities.

A review article on the Ayurvedic aspects of Manyastambha

In today’s era, because of the stressful and fast lifestyle people are suffering from various degenerative diseases. Manyastambha is one of the lifestyle disorders which have a very high prevalence at present. Manyastambha is the clinical entity in which the back of the neck becomes stiff or rigid, painful, Stambh in the cervical region, and neck movement are hampered. Manyastambha has been enumerated in eighty Vataja Nanatmja Vyadhis as well as Urdhwajatrugata Vikaras. It can be clinically co-related with cervical Spondylosis in modern medicine. Cervical Spondylosis is a degenerative condition of the cervical spine. Ruk and Stambha are the primary symptoms. It may cause pressure on nerve roots with subsequent sensory or motor disturbances if severe. The prevalence of cervical spondylosis is rising due to the increase in a busy, professional, and social life, poor sitting posture in offices, continuous work, working long hours on computers, night jobs, watching hours of television, sleeping on abnormally soft mattresses and pillows, and placing the bare minimum importance on healthy physical, mental, and dietary habits.

EMOTIONAL EDUCATION AND ITS IMPLICATION IN ADOLESCENCE

This article has as its title “Emotional Education and its implication in adolescence”, and aimed to present and discuss the main concepts and particularities regarding emotional education and its implication in adolescence. The study provides a reflection on the adolescent's education and emotional balance, where this is an indispensable element for a more significant coexistence. To this end, the theme cited from the bibliographic research regarding the subject exposed seeks through the authors, to understand that emotional education has been developed in the most varied situations of social daily life and the current socio-political conjuncture and the need for its reach in Life of the teenager.

A Review on the Sublethal Effects of Pure and Formulated Glyphosate on Bees, with a Focus on Social Bee Species

Glyphosate, one of the most widely used herbicides globally, has been extensively applied in agriculture due to its efficacy in weed control. However, recent studies have raised concerns about its sublethal effects on non-target organisms, particularly social bee species such as honeybees (Apis mellifera), bumblebees (Bombus spp.), and stingless bees (e.g., Melipona, Trigona). While glyphosate's primary mechanism targets the shikimate pathway, which is absent in animals, emerging evidence suggests it can indirectly impact bees by altering their gut microbiota, immune responses, and behavior. Research shows that even at sublethal doses, glyphosate can impair navigation, learning, and foraging efficiency, leading to reduced colony growth and survival rates. Field and laboratory studies indicate that the impact is exacerbated when bees are exposed to formulated products containing surfactants, which increase glyphosate’s toxicity. Furthermore, the disruption of social behaviors within colonies, such as communication through the waggle dance in honeybees, has profound implications for hive health and productivity. Despite growing evidence, there remain significant gaps in our understanding of glyphosate’s long-term and chronic effects, especially across diverse ecosystems and bee species. Current research is limited by a lack of longitudinal field studies that assess the cumulative impact of low-dose exposure over multiple generations. Most studies have focused on honeybees, with less attention given to wild and native bee populations, which may respond differently to glyphosate. To address these challenges, future research must prioritize mechanistic studies, explore eco-friendly alternatives to glyphosate, and implement integrated pest management strategies to reduce agrochemical dependence. Collaboration among scientists, policymakers, and stakeholders is critical to developing evidence-based regulations that protect pollinator health. Given the essential role bees play in global food security through pollination, protecting these vital species from the sublethal effects of glyphosate is not only an ecological imperative but also a socioeconomic necessity. Immediate actions in research, policy reform, and sustainable agricultural practices are needed to mitigate the risks posed by glyphosate and safeguard the future of pollinators.

An Application of Machine Learning Models in Detecting Vietnamese Fake News

Nowadays, with the development of the Internet, publishing and sharing news has become very easy, and anyone can do it. Along with the increasing amount of information on the internet, besides official information, fake news continues to rise and spreads quickly across the network. Fake news has become a major societal problem, negatively impacting all aspects of economic, cultural, and social life. How to prevent the spread of fake news online is an urgent issue today. To help readers recognize whether news is trustworthy, this paper proposes using natural language processing techniques and machine learning models to detect fake news in posts on the social network Facebook in the Vietnamese language. After the training process, the resulting model can predict whether the news is real or fake. The model's evaluation results are presented according to popular machine learning metrics, and the best-performing model on the dataset used in this paper is the Light Gradient Boosting Algorithm – LGBM – with an accuracy of 88.21% compared to other models used in this paper.

Navigating LGBTQ+ visibility in Poland: evidence from a community experiencing minority stress

The aim of this study was to analyse the visibility management strategies used by individuals within the LGBTQ+ community in Poland. Narrative interviews were conducted with ten adults who had experienced minority stress, affecting their family, school, professional and social lives. In the process of coming out, all the interviewees had adopted at least two visibility management strategies. These strategies included avoidance, pretence/fitting in, escape, aggression/defence, and openness. Findings contribute to understanding of the visibility management strategies used by individuals who experience minority stress and illustrate the individual aspects of the visibility management process as influenced by the family and social context. The conclusions reached should be treated as the starting point for further research on visibility management among gender and sexuality minority individuals in Poland.

History and Evolution of the Folk Tale Genre Through the Prism of Reflection of the World of the People

A fairy tale, as one of the folklore genres, is a traditionally orally transmitted work of an artistic nature. She is influenced by a general oral-poetic character, which will determine the collectiv of the author's beginning, the traditionality of the artistic components of the narrative, the typification of all the characters represented in the dynamics of action, and not the dynamics of the psychological development of the image. The «setting on fiction», which is realized in the fantastic elements of the narrative and the displacement of the image plan to the unreal, became specific to the genre itself; the individual inclusion of the author-creator in the selection of those compositional and artistic techniques and methods that are personally sympathetic to him. The amount of fiction in fairy tales depends on the degree of remoteness from reality, which leads to genre differentiation into fairy tales, household and tales of animals. The article proceeds from the fact that the problem of reflecting the popular understanding of the surrounding world in a folk tale still exists in literary studies, and also requires a comprehensive interpretation of textual material. The aspect of social life is reflected in household tales, demonstrating the views of the people on class stratification. The plots are based on the extreme sharpening of conflict situations, exposing the parasitism of the clergy, the exploitative attitude of the nobility in generalized images. In the second type, there are intersperses of household traditions, wedding customs, as well as relationships within the patriarchal family and contradictions in it. Based on the fact that the history of the appearance of fairy tales as a folklore genre originates from mythological views of the world, it becomes possible to create tales of animals. They bear historical evidence of the prevailing totemic and the further decline of mythological consciousness, which reduces the sacred image to an allegorical representation of human character. The fairy tale captures the reinterpretation of rituals unnatural to the folk worldview, reveals the idea of dividing reality into the afterlife and the world of the living.

The Role and Significance of Monastic Chronicles in Reflecting Social and Monastic Life in Ukrainian Lands in the

The article presents the role and significance of monastic chronicles from Ukrainian lands as an important element of reflections on the historical processes of a given era. They were written in Ukrainian, which is very close to the people’s spoken language. Keeping chronicles in monasteries was one of the main tasks of monks and nuns, who left behind a rich spiritual and historical heritage. The development of historical events in the Church and the state during those times is shown using one such chronicles, namely the chronicle of the monastery of the Protection of the Mother of God in Yavoriv in the years 1897–1935. The monastery of the Basilian Sisters in Yavoriv was the center of spiritual and cultural life for Ukrainians. The chronicle compiled there reflects not only the facts of the monastic life of the Basilian Sisters, but also events from the social, political and cultural life of the region at that time. It is a valuable source of research for both historians and linguists.

Likuba and Annang proverbs: An ethnographic and sociolinguistic stud

Abstract. Proverbs are essential elements of communication in African communities. These are the traditional maxims that people use to relate to others in societies. They are also powerful tools that propel stimulating, interesting, culturally impactful and wisdomfilled interactions (primarily in informal contexts) among Africans. This study aims to explore the categories and functions of proverbs in two African communities (the Likuba people in the Cuvette region of northern Congo and the Annang in Akwaibom State in Nigeria). This is a qualitative-descriptive research. The participant-observation method was used to collect data. Functional and sociological theories of proverb and content analysis were applied in processing the data under study. It is based on 24 proverbs of which 12 Likuba and other 12 Annang. The analysis of Likuba proverbs takes into account the intentions of the speakers in daily greetings. Ultimately, it turns out that the Likuba and Annang proverbs pertain to diverse categories. They fulfill social, artistic and didactic functions. Likuba proverbs are unique because of their occurrence as an integral part of the act of greeting in social life. This ethnographic indication reveals that the speaker's intention goes beyond the attention of his interlocutor to that of the entire Likuba community. So, this article is intended as a contribution to previous work on proverbs in general, and the Likuba and Annang proverbs in particular. Mots-clés : Proverbes, Likuba, Annang, salutation, communication. Keywords: Proverbs, Likuba, Annang, salutation, communication

Urban Environmental Management Practices and Green Roof Technologies in Malaysia: A Path to Sustainable Development

Malaysia is the developing country, which develop in contraction, agriculture, and many more kinds of activities. The construction activities for Malaysia is less implemented the green materials technology and the Environmental Management. The Environmental Management Practices is not usually applied by the construction workers. The government also show no enforcement and awareness on the Environmental Management Practices in Malaysia. There are some importance of the Environmental Management Practices is described and also the plan to improve the implementation of Environmental Management Practices under construction of Malaysia. The green roof is one of the technologies of green materials. There three kinds of green roof system as intensive green roof system, semi-intensive green roof system, and extensive green roof system. These three different systems have its own advantages and this advantages. The green materials that can be used for the green roof construction are bamboo, stones, and recycled bricks. The green materials or green roof system help to reduce the environment impact, social impact, and economic impact of Malaysia. The better environment, social life and economic can lead to sustainable development in Malaysia.

Analyzing the Effect of Factors on Individuals’ Subjective Well-Being with Quantile Bayesian Structural Equation Modeling Approach

This study investigates factors influencing individuals’ levels of subjective well-being by examining fundamental variables, called life domains, such as satisfaction with health, education, marriage, housing district, work life, social life, relationships, and public services. The aim is to understand how these domains affect various quantile values of subjective well-being. To achieve this, the Life Satisfaction Survey dataset for 2020, obtained from the Turkish Statistical Institute, was utilized, and Bayesian Quantile Structural Equation Modeling and Bayesian Structural Equation Modeling methods were applied. The empirical study indicates that all life domains were found to have a positive impact on subjective well-being, except for housing-district satisfaction and education satisfaction. In particular, for individuals with low subjective well-being, satisfaction with work life, relationships, and public services has a stronger effect on subjective well-being compared to those in higher quantiles. Conversely, marriage satisfaction has a stronger effect on subjective well-being among individuals in the higher quantiles. This study’s unique contribution is that examining subjective well-being according to quantile values provides detailed information on how the factors influencing individuals’ subjective well-being vary across different levels.

Role of conscious awareness and Big Five in predicting the digital addiction

IntroductionDigital addiction is discussed in the literature as a type of addiction that negatively affects the personal, social, and societal lives of individuals. Digital addiction is a behavioral addiction that occurs as a result of the problematic and unconscious use of digital tools with features such as compulsive, excessive, impulsivity, and includes human-machine interaction. What is meant to be expressed with conscious awareness is to accept the facts and experiences as they are without judgment, and to be aware of them. With awareness, it is aimed to contribute to individuals to evaluate their past experiences more objectively, to get rid of automatic behavioral and emotional patterns, and to show more moderate reactions by avoiding aggressive reactions. In this context, this study examines the Big Five and Mindfulness as predictive variables for digital addiction, focusing on them as a cause and a solution variable that can be used in interventions for digital addiction. Given its prevalence and negative effects, it is important to identify and analyze the relationship patterns between digital addiction and related variables in order to define and resolve the problem. In this context, the present study aims to determine the levels of conscious awareness and digital addiction among university students and to examine the predictive effect of conscious awareness levels and Big Five variables on predicting digital addiction behaviors.MethodsThe present study is designed to employ the survey method. Data were collected from 1,664 university students selected by using the convenience sampling method, and the data obtained were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling. The SPSS 25 and LISREL 8.8 software packages were used in the analysis process.Results and discussionThe results achieved in this study revealed that university students have a moderate level of conscious awareness and that the overall level of digital addiction is generally moderate. The results achieved from the structural equation modeling for the measurement model constructed for the relationships between variables confirmed the validity of the proposed model. It was determined that the model had a good fit with the latent variables, which represent the indicator variables, and also other latent variables. In conclusion, it was found that Big Five and the level of conscious awareness have a reducing effect on digital addiction and serve a protective function against this negativity among university students.