Sociocultural Stereotypes Research Articles

THE SPECIFICITY OF AUTHOR'S REPRESENTATION OF MODERN FAMILY MODELS AND MATERNAL CHARACTERS IN NOWADAYS UKRAINIAN LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH

The article considers the specificity of the author’s representation of modern family models and maternal characters in nowadays literature for children and youth on the example of works of Ukrainian writers. The relevance of the research is emphasized, which is caused by the transformation of socio-cultural stereotypes in the maternal sphere. Classical and modern approaches to understanding the concepts of family and motherhood in the socio-psychological context, in folklore and fiction are outlined. The collection “Mom on Skype” highlights informal family models: children without fathers; children with a father/in the father’s new family; children in a full family after the mother’s return. The problematic and thematic proximity of the stories and the commonality of motifs are emphasized. The artistic means of creating images of children and mothers are characterized. Attention is focused on understanding the fact of a mother’s remote stay as a stressful situation that affects the child’s personal and psychological development. The book “Maya and Her Mothers” records the transformation of ideas about family and family values. The diversity of children’s families (a child and two mothers, a child in a family of guardians, a child in a family with a stepfather or stepmother, a test-tube child in a full-fledged family) is noted as the author’s fixation of a cross-section of modern society in its gender, social, and mental manifestations. The contrast between the motifs of the work and the collection “Mom on Skype”, their characters, their harmony, the absence of internal contradictions and conflicts are emphasized.

The Infl uence of Trickster Behavior in the Media Space on the Dynamics of Cultural Industries

The trend of media consumption in recent years has been the sharp interest of the mass audience in communication and entertainment. This practice can also be traced in the dynamics of the development of cultural industries, where the emergence of new words (“blog”, “podcast”, “hashtag”, etc.) is noted. This indicates that the media continues to play a huge role in the production and preferences of certain cultural products. Under the infl uence of mediatization, there is a steady demand for behavioral models that, based on humor, irony or deception, contribute to changing the existing order. One of these models is trickster behavior. Such actions in the society of impressions are perceived as a form of entertainment. The purpose of this article is to attempt a philosophical understanding of such transformations in public consciousness and media consumption in the context of cultural and economic dynamics. My thesis is that the trickster, who is a universal archetypal fi gure immersed in a socio-cultural context, plays an important role both in mythology and in religion, culture, media, economics, and politics. It serves as a unifying principle in the process of forming the social memory of peoples, exposing the negative qualities of man and society, showing the level of existing values and morality. Sociocultural, semiotic, historiosophical, communicative and psychoanalytic approaches have been applied to the study of trickster behavior. As a result of the research, manipulative tactics used by tricksters in the media space have been identifi ed, which make it possible to implement a strategy of theatricality: in behavior and speech on the verge of “norm – outrageousness”, an unconventional vision of the situation, a reaction to the challenges of social reality, the introduction of new cultural mythologies into public consciousness. The infl uence of their actions on the formation of sociocultural stereotypes is noted. The study expands the understanding of trickster behavior through the prism of established trends in media consumption and reproduction of cultural products (movies, games, blogs, performances by media personalities, etc.). The relevance of the trickster model of behavior is justifi ed by the digitalization and mediatization of the space of human existence. Keywords: trickster, trickster behavior, cultural industries, archetype, cultural mythologies

Beyond wrinkles: ageing, graphic medicine, and Zidrou and Aimée de Jongh’s Blossoms in Autumn

Ageing, an inevitable biological process, is often oversimplified, subjecting elderly individuals to both positive and negative sociocultural stereotypes. Elderly individuals are stigmatised as passive, suffering and asexual, while simultaneously being...

Being Attractive on a Dating App: Generational and Gender Differences in Tinder Bios and Profile Pictures

On dating apps, the image that users project of themselves, especially in terms of physical attributes, is important. This study explored how individuals of different generations and genders present their desirability through photos and self-descriptions—‘bios’—on their Tinder profiles. Through a virtual ethnographic study, 400 profiles of users aged 18–70 years were analysed and grouped into generation- and gender-based categories. The photographs were thematically analysed using observation matrices and descriptions. The results showed that, although all groups try to present themselves positively, generation- and gender-based differences exist in how individuals present their physicality through photographs (postures, angles, type of photo, place, facial expressions, body stereotypes, sexualisation) and bios. With respect to generations, these differences are attributable to the values and preferences of each group. Regarding gender differences, the influence of sociocultural stereotypes and ideals of femininity and masculinity is observed.

The power of images: hysteric symptoms as representations of the self

The diagnosis of hysteria, despite being fundamental in the birth of psychiatry, has currently been removed from nosography. This choice speaks of the renunciation by contemporary nosography of understanding psychopathological conditions as structural entities, with internal coherence and meaningfulness – which on the contrary should be reconsidered. Hysteria represents a mirror of social and cultural changes. The metamorphoses throughout history of hysterical symptoms reflect the changing interests of medicine (the greater legitimation of somatic symptoms over psychic ones) and, in general, mirror the increasing importance of images in the contemporary world. Despite its nosographical fragmentation, hysteria continues to be talked about. Phenomenologically, hysteria is described not as a diagnosis but as an existential position, freeing it from gender prejudices. Hysterical persons suffer from a hypo-sufficiency of the self, from a difficulty in feeling from within, which ends up hypertrophying the identity definitions coming from without: the gaze of others, socio-cultural stereotypes, gender models. Visibility therefore takes on a central role, and images become a vehicle to represent oneself – capable of attracting the attention of others and enchanting them. Different powers have been attributed to images throughout the history of thought: that of paralyzing, that of moving to action, that of underlining the contingency of experience. Hysterical persons embody images, generating with their symptoms a world of representations. However, what characterizes hysteria is not the symptom, but the use made of that symptom: it becomes a catalyst for the gaze of others, which allows one to assume an otherwise lacking identity-consistency. For this reason, hysterical persons are not only passively subject to their symptoms, but actively make use of them in interpersonal relations.

Applying intersectionality to address inequalities in nursing education

AimThe aim of this paper is to discuss the significance of the intersectionality framework for addressing prejudices, racism and inequalities in nursing education and clinical learning environments. BackgroundDiscrimination and racism against nursing students and educators based on their gender, ethnicity, race and social identities is well-documented in the nursing literature. Despite documented discrimination and incivility based on intersectional factors, it is reported that often nurse educators show limited interest in the culture, diverse experiences and values of nursing students with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. DesignDiscussion paper MethodsThe discussion was based on contemporary literature about intersectionality, discrimination and racism in nursing. We completed a cursory search of literature in nursing education journal and selected nursing and health science databases. This was not a formal literature review. Using a fictional example, the application of intersectionality to address inequalities in educational settings is illustrated. ResultsIntersectionality is an invaluable tool for examining interwoven power relations and power struggles arising from racial, gender, ethnic, religious and sexuality and disability-related differences. Nurse educators, students and leaders should be more cognizant of their preconceived views, sociocultural stereotypes and varied forms of sociocultural oppression affecting their interactions with each other in clinical learning environments. ConclusionsIncorporating intersectionality can address prejudices, racism and inequalities arising due to sociocultural, ethnic, power-related and intergenerational issues among educators, students and other personnel involved in creating clinical learning environments.

Исследование социальной дистанции в этнических молодежных группах на основе применения методики «Семантический дифференциал»

This study examines the stereotypes that determine the trends in the development of a large social group within a regional society, understood in the context of the research as an entity uniting homogeneous elements in the form of subjects belonging to the same ethnic group. The content and conclusions of the study are based on the results of applying the Semantic Differential method to study the perception and specificity of assessment by representatives of various ethnic youth groups residing in the Irkutsk region of each other based on national identity. It is emphasized that the values of the studied indicators represent the social distance between com-munities, which is the subject of study within the framework of this research. The differentiation of large social groups in the region is revealed based on parameters of perception of interaction forms between them and the prevalence of socio-cultural stereotypes, which is manifested in different evaluative judgments from represent-atives of ethnic youth groups regarding personality traits, activity, and degree of dominance in the social space. In conclusion, the study underscores the need for continued research into the dynamics of social distance and stereotypes within ethnic youth groups. By shedding light on these phenomena, the research contributes to broader discussions on intergroup relations and social cohesion in regional contexts.

Men as victims of domestic violence: aspects of legal regulation

The representative article is devoted to the legal regulation of prevention and counteraction of domestic violence against men in Ukraine. It is pointed out the lack of due attention of the scientific legal doctrine to the problems of domestic violence, especially regarding the connotation of men as victims of this de-axiological phenomenon.
 It is motivated that the peculiarity of the socio-legal position of men as victims of domestic violence is that they often face social stereotypes and complicated challenges associated with insufficient recognition of their vulnerability due to socio-cultural ideas about traditional gender roles. Society often deliberately or indirectly places men in the role of the «strong half», which can lead to stigma and internal conflicts that make it difficult to identify the facts of domestic violence.
 The spread of the gender «stereotype of domestic violence» was dropped.
 It has been proven that socio-cultural stereotypes that assign men the role of strong, steadfast and self-sufficient make it difficult to recognize and accept their vulnerability.
 The article indicates that the latency of such a negative phenomenon among men is also due to the fact that the social reaction can be reinforced by the lack of appropriate resources and services that specialize in supporting men, and the lack of widespread awareness of their problem among the public. Men who become victims of domestic violence often feel a deep fear that they will not be believed or understood, it is caused by difficulties in society’s perception of the image of a male victim, which contradicts traditional ideas about male strength and independence.
 The legal need for special legal regulation regarding male victims of domestic violence is motivated by the recognition that men can also become the object of violence and need the protection and support of social and legal mechanisms. The proposed set of such measures includes preventive, psychological, legal, socio-cultural and organizational and managerial spheres.

Depression in the Face of Racism: A Socio-Psychological Analysis of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ’s Short Story “The Thing Around Your Neck

The short story “The Thing Around Your Neck” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie encapsulates the escapade of a migrant American Visa Lottery winner from Nigeria. A poor Nigerian, her image of America used to be influenced by some socio-cultural stereotypes promoted by Hollywood and various types of political and commercial media institutions. Soon, she finds no truth in what she used to believe about America as an economic heaven. She learns about America’s immoral give-and-take policy from her surrogate uncle who makes sexual advances towards her. She finds higher education extremely expensive and engages in the rat race to support herself as a waitress at a restaurant, a part-time student, and a breadwinner for her family in Nigeria. Constantly subjected to acute depression and loneliness, she feels stifled and suffocated in bed every night. Thanks to her white American lover, she recovers from it. Yet, so sensitive in mind, her body reacts to even the slightest emotional disappointment by getting frozen and irresponsive. Often, her dark complexion proves highly detrimental to her happiness as a black American. Although she is accepted by her lover’s parents, in her daily life, she experiences insults from both blacks and whites she meets in the streets. Such realities appear dark and negative and repulse her faith in the so-called sophistication of the American people. However, by the time she decides to visit Nigeria to commiserate with her mother bereaved by her father’s demise, her white American lover proves to be an inseparable tour de force.

Care of People Living with Dementia in Bulgaria: Between Over-Responsibility to the Family and Distrust in Public Health Services and Policies

Abstract Thirty years after the transition to democracy in Bulgaria, there is a lack of social and community support for people living with dementia and for their families and caregivers. Both residential and assisted living facilities in the country have remained both unpopular and underdeveloped, and based on in-depth biographical and expert interviews and focus groups, we shall discuss the subjective experience of informal caregivers of people living with dementia, accumulated in the confined space of home and family. We shall try to show how inconsistent application of the European Union’s social policies as well as the existence of enduring socio-cultural stereotypes relating to parental care places caregivers in passive, but over-responsible and implicitly critical positions towards the management both of public and private services for older people in Bulgaria.

PROJECT LEARNING AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Purpose. The study aims to integrate theoretical and applied linguistic knowledge and a project method of teaching a foreign language thus assimilating socio-cultural stereotypes of the native and foreign languages in comparison. Methodology. The article describes a project method that has been implemented in teaching English to young athletes. The study has made use of systematic, culturological, linguocognitive methodological approaches. The empirical base rests on the linguistic studies of terminological systems and socio-cultural stereotypes. The main results of the research conducted are the following: improvement of the language skills of the students involved, building the understanding of the cognitive processes of language nomination in Russian and English in comparison in the students’ mind. Since these processes are based on the worldviews peculiar to each language, as a result of studying the nomination mechanisms, students add to their knowledge of the socio-cultural stereotypes characteristic of each of the above languages. Practical implications. The applied method of involving students of non-linguistic specializations into language studies has as a result in the formation of a deeper understanding of the essence of the interaction of languages and peoples as social communities. This research area is prospective for further studies.

Trends of Women’s Participation in Engineering Education in the Republic of Benin and Implications for the Future of Higher Education

Engineering, as well as men’s and women’s valuable labours or contributions, are important for the socioeconomic development of countries. This reality and the lack of data in this field in developing countries brought this paper’s authors to investigate the extent to which female and male students are enrolled and graduate in engineering education faculties in the Republic of Benin, a West African country. To this end, statistics of enrolment, graduation, failure, and exclusion of female and male students of the two oldest engineering education faculties, i.e., the Polytechnics School of Abomey-Calavi (EPAC) and the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences (FSA) of the University of Abomey-Calavi (UAC), have been estimated using Excel software and available enrolment, and academic results’ books and database. Pedagogical bylaws and other education policy documents were also reviewed for the sake of understanding the gender participation trends of the studied faculties. The analysis of almost four decades (1985–2022) of data revealed that very few (about 4,912, including 694 women) students got enrolled in the engineering programmes of the studied faculties. The total number of engineering students enrolled in the two faculties represents less than 1% of the total number of those who got their baccalaureate over the study period. Of the total number of women enrolled over the four decades, about 25% got excluded, while only about 22% of men got excluded at the polytechnic school EPAC. Meanwhile, at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences FSA, 2% of the women enrolled were excluded against 1% of men. These results show that students are more excluded in the industrial engineering programmes of the polytechnic school compared to the agricultural engineering programmes of FSA. The main reasons identified for the small number of students enrolled in the engineering education faculties were, among others, the limited number of scholarships and places given to the engineering programmes by the government, donors and the faculties due to limitations in infrastructure and other resources available. With regards to the very poor participation of women in engineering programmes, socio-cultural stereotypes, poor social support or care provided to ladies and women, poor gender-responsiveness of STEM education and pedagogies, poor and late information on the advantages of engineering education and careers, sexual harassment, and early pregnancy, are few of the reasons mentioned by interviewees. More advocacy and more gender-responsiveness of further interventions might help improve the overall number of engineering students and the participation of women and other valid but less-represented people in engineering education programmes in universities of the Republic of Benin.

Socio-psychological factors and conditions for the formation of responsible parenthood

The proposed article highlights the conditions for the formation of parenthood as a psychological phenomenon, which acts as an integral psychological development of the personality. Parenthood includes the value orientations of parents, parental attitudes and expectations, parental positions, parental attitudes, parental feelings, parental responsibility, and the style of family upbringing in its developed form. It was determined that the purpose of this article is to deepen the conceptual foundations of the study of responsible parenthood and to present it as an integral derivation that must be considered from the standpoint of a systemic approach. The task consists in researching social and psychological factors that determine the formation of the parenting system and clarifying the conditions for the formation of responsible parenting. It was analyzed in the article that the phenomenon of parenthood is systemically determined. It represents a relatively independent system, simultaneously acting as a subsystem in relation to the family. The authors characterized the features of the phenomenon of parenthood, which simultaneously appears in several angles from different sides and reveal the complex structure of its organization. Attention is focused on the fact that young people's perception of parenthood most often depends on their image in the parental family and sociocultural stereotypes. In conclusion, the fact that the combined influence of the factors that characterize the considered levels leads to the formation of a certain model of parenting is highlighted as an argument of significance

Barriers and facilitators to the formation of professional identity among nursing students: A four-year longitudinal qualitative study

BackgroundNursing professional identity (NPI) is essential for nurses to develop their nursing profession. It reflects the competencies consistent with the professional practices of nurses and contributes to them providing better healthcare and public health. The formation process of NPI started with undergraduate nursing education and continued throughout the nursing career. ObjectiveTo explore nursing students' perceptions of facilitators and barriers to the formation of NPI during their study. MethodsA 4-year longitudinal, qualitative research design with yearly semi-structured interviews undertaken from 2019 to 2022. The reflexive thematic analysis methodology was applied for the data analysis. ResultsNinety-three nursing students were recruited, joining a group or individual interview. The four-year nursing baccalaureate program revealed a dynamic formation process of NPI: “Outsider of nursing”, “Entering the nursing courses”, “Building nursing competence”, and “Thinking and acting like a nurse”. A total of 12 themes were identified to present the barriers and facilitators to the NPI formation at different stages. Specifically, the six barriers include conflict between their ideals and reality, sociocultural stereotypes about nursing, the negative impact of COVID-19, the pre-internship concerns, struggling to meet expectations, and potential danger and discrimination in the healthcare settings. The enablers were: self-motivation and inner belief towards the nursing profession, the power of role models, the improvement of nursing capacity, well integration into the healthcare professional teams, understanding of the clinical environment, and recognition and encouragement from others. ConclusionsThe formation of nursing students' NPI is an ever-changing process, with various intrinsic and extrinsic influences during their four-year study. Nursing educators are suggested to prepare and develop students' professional comportment in their theoretical and clinical practice to develop their professional identity as a nurse.

THE IMPACT OF WOMEN’S FEARS ON GENDER INEQUALITY IN BELARUSIAN IT

This research aims to understand the gender disparity in the IT sector within Belarus by examining both overt and covert factors dissuading women from pursuing careers in the domain. Using a blend of quantitative and qualitative methodologies, the study identifies socio-cultural stereotypes, structural impediments, and the ramifications of gender inequality on women’s career choices and overall well-being in the industry. The quantitative facet of the study, involving a comprehensive electronic survey, revealed that societal stereotypes about women are primary barriers discouraging 75% of the interested respondents from pursuing IT-related professions. To delve deeper into the on-ground experiences of women in the IT sector, a subsequent qualitative investigation employing semi-structured interviews was undertaken with 23 Belarusian women actively engaged in the field. Preliminary findings suggest that even within the modern IT landscape, societal norms, internalized misogyny, and emotional challenges linked to a predominantly male-centric workspace significantly affect the experiences of women professionals. This research, backed by the “Gender Studies” Master’s program at the European Humanities University and the Women in TECH initiative, underscores the need for holistic strategies to bridge the gender divide in the IT sector. The insights from this study not only spotlight the challenges confronting Belarusian women in IT but also pave the way for future research and policy interventions to foster a more inclusive and gender-equitable IT landscape.

Women as Subalterns: An Analysis of Khaled Hosseini's Novel The Kite Runner

This research article reports how Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner depicted subaltern women characters and their consciousness regarding the injustices imposed on them. There have been a limited number of female characters in the novel, albeit they have been enough to explore the ground reality of their contemporary time. This study utilized subaltern theories, particularly those developed by Ranajit Guha and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, to explore the depiction and consciousness of subaltern women characters in the novel. The findings of this article reveal that the majority of the women characters were victimized and ignored in society because of their socio-cultural stereotypes and national and international intervention in their lives. As a result, they were deprived of the opportunity to follow their passions and make their own decisions, not only in their society but also within their families. This study further shows how social, cultural, and religious milieus became responsible for making them invisible and unheard in their own society. In addition, this study sheds light on how patriarchal ideology became an indispensable component of women's marginalization by restricting their voices, freedom, and social mobility. However, the majority of the female characters developed their consciousness about injustices against them and resisted such injustices by breaching long-established social and religious norms and values in their society. In a broader sense, this study will have important significance in unfolding subaltern women's ground reality in further study.

Le discours médiatique transatlantique avant 1900: L'exemple de la première tournée de Sarah Bernhardt en Amérique

Abstract: Sarah Bernhardt's first American tour (1880–81) is one of the most publicized cultural events in France and the United States. The controversial actress's performances are commented at length by the Parisian press and the American newspapers, as well as the account of the actress Marie Colombier, fragments of which appear in the press. In my study of this vast corpus of publications from a discourse analysis perspective, I focus on the transatlantic media discourse: a specific discourse based on socio-cultural stereotypes, highlighting new relationships and commonalities in the French and American media systems. While emphasizing the impact of the concepts of distance and circulation on transatlantic media discourse and its enunciators, this article will also point out the similarities between this particular discourse and that of the French colonial press at the end of the nineteenth century. (In French)

FORMATION OF SOVIET IDENTITY BY MEANS OF DOMESTIC CINEMATOGRAPHY IN THE 1920–50S: TO THE PROBLEM STATEMENT

The article substantiates the need for a comprehensive study of the processes of the formation of Soviet identity by means of cinema in the 1920–50s. The article analyses the possibilities of feature films as a special instrument of influence, as an important semantic technology that helped to consolidate the postulates and principles of a new era in the public consciousness, and to model an impeccable image of the country. Cinema constructed a new social reality, laid the basic values of the emerging Soviet reality, formulated a civilisational super-task, created ideal behavioural patterns, gave birth to socio-cultural stereotypes and guidelines that determined the worldview, ideological, political, economic, economic, aesthetic content of the new living space; all the said instead of reflection of numerous realities of the Soviet era. The article substantiates the choice of the chronological framework of the study and gives a historiographical analysis of the problem. It reveals the cross-cutting themes of the Soviet cinema of the 1920–50s, the period that influenced the formation of a new identity. It also formulates possible approaches to the scientific understanding of the proposed topic and outlines a circle of the most promising research tasks. In particular, it notes the need for a systematic study of the methods, techniques and forms of representation of Soviet reality and everyday life by cinema in its key sociocultural models (family, everyday life, school, work, leisure, holiday, etc.) and concepts (“peoples’ friendship”, “happy Soviet Motherland”, “labour feat”, “public enemy”, “proletarian solidarity”), which acquired the qualities of the life coordinates of a Soviet person and largely determined its world outlook. The conclusion is made about the complexity, multidimensionality and multi-level nature of the proposed topic, which covers different aspects of life – everyday, historical, ideological, socio-cultural, artistic and creative ones. The choice of an interdisciplinary approach is substantiated as the optimal methodological basis for research, which combines the cognitive arsenal of history, social philosophy, cultural anthropology and history of arts.

Rating gender stereotype violations: The effects of personality and politics

The Gender Stereotype Effect in language comprehension refers to the increased processing load that occurs when comprehenders encounter linguistic information that is incongruent with their understanding of gender stereotypes; for example, upon encountering the pronoun he in the sentence The maid answered the phone because he heard it ring. We investigate the Stereotype Effect using appropriateness and correctness ratings and ask whether it is modulated by individual differences in participants' personality and political ideology. Results from this study indicate that the Stereotype Effect can be replicated in an offline paradigm and that the Effect is specific to a discourse character's gender: sentences describing male agents fulfilling stereotypical female roles were rated lower in both appropriateness and correctness than sentences describing female agents fulfilling stereotypical male roles. Further, more open, conscientious, liberal, and empathetic individuals were more sensitive to the character gender-specific effect, rating stereotype incongruent sentences, particularly female role-male pronoun pairings, lower than congruent ones. Overall, these results point to certain individual differences being associated with differences in the strength of stereotype perception, indicating the possibility that these individuals use more top-down language processing, where comprehenders higher on these scales might be able to make more use of extra-linguistic, sociocultural factors in their language comprehension. Additionally, the results indicate a character gender-based difference in sociocultural stereotypes.

Model for monitoring the psychological safety of young people based on automated analysis of queries in search engines

The paper considers the method of parsing and processing information in combination with classical psychological science. The result of the synthesis of the two directions was a predictive model of the mood and psychological state of city residents. The analysis of information about self-destructive practices and the need for psychological assistance based on search engine statistics is one of the most objective analysis tools, since it allows you to evaluate large amounts of information without the influence of social desirability and socio-cultural stereotypes about psychological assistance. The study showed that the analysis of queries in a search engine can serve as an important source of information about psychological security, self-destructive practices and the dynamics of demand for the services of specialists in helping professions. The results of the work can be used to visualize and track the seasonal dynamics of requests for psychological help and monitoring the quality of life of the population. In the course of the work, 30 topics in the field of psychology were analyzed, a database and a predictive model of the psychological state of urban residents based on big data from search engines were developed.