Social Dangers of European Integration

Integracja europejska jako proces społeczny pozostaje pod wpływem licznych zagrożeń, które w różnym zakresie mogą na nią oddziaływać. Przynajmniej częściowo występują one na płaszczyźnie politycznej - stając się konsekwencją zachodzących procesów ekonomicznych czy psychologicznych. Ewolucja postaw społecznych jednostek może mieć negatywne znaczenie dla europejskich społeczeństw. W niniejszym artykule szczególną uwagę autorzy poświęcają zagrożeniom płynącym z atomizacji, anomii oraz społecznej alienacji. Odniesieniem dla ich oddziaływania jest sfera społeczno-polityczna. Atomizacja może wpływać na poziom uczestnictwa politycznego i doprowadzić do upadku moralnych i społecznych zasad demokracji. Anomia wiąże się z reakcjami adaptacyjnymi, które mogą powodować wycofanie się z istniejących norm i wartości społecznych. Dodatkowo anomia i atomizacja mogą oddziaływać w ramach megatrendów sprawiając, że trudniej adaptować procesy demokratyzacyjne. Mając na uwadze znaczenie aspektu psychologicznego funkcjonowania jednostki w środowisku społecznym, analizie został poddany także problem alienacji społecznej, który w określonych wymiarach może stanowić istotne zagrożenie dla procesów integracji europejskiej.European integration as a social process is endangered by phenomena which can reduce, stop and downgrade this process. They occur, at least partly, out of political intentions. They become a conseąuence of existing processes in the political, industrial and psychosocial spheres. The evolution of social attitudes of an individual can take the wrong direction, and this can result in a negative influence on social systems. In this paper, special attention is placed on a few of them: atomisation, anomie and social alienation, linked to political and social problems. Atomisation can effect political participation and can lead to morał decay of the social rules of democracy. Anomie leads to adaptation reactions, which can cause withdrawal from existing values and social norms. Additionally, stratification of anomie and atomisation in terms of megatrends makes it harder to counteract their results, because the character of these phenomena leads to an indirect relationship with integration. Bearing in mind the importance of psychological functioning of individuals in a changing social environment, the issue of social alienation that at certain levels of intensity can pose a threat to European integration was also analysed

Competencies important for careers of young women and men related to attitudes of their mothers and fathers

"Currently, the young generation entering the employment market experiences various possibilities that can help them to plan and conduct their professional carriers, the possibilities which were not available before the transformation of political system. Such variety offers an outstanding chance of professional development, which did not exist before. In the same time, it occurs to be one of the reasons making the choice of occupation and life decisions connected to it so difficult. The above might often cause the lack of confidence and safety. Bańka (2008) emphasises that present-day transition from education to employment is less and less clear and more difficult to plan, so the decisions concerning the career path are deferred. Hence, it has resulted in distinguishing a new period, covering the age of 18—30 and called “rising maturity” (Bańka, 2006). Its main characteristic feature is openness to new life and professional experience. In that time, young people create their individual professional development, plan and build new models of their carriers in which the role of personal and social competencies is significantly increasing. Nowadays, such competencies are the essential condition of functional adaptation of a person to new work conditions and new organizational reality"

Is Double-Degree Goal Equally Good for All Students? Moderating Impact of Interval Activity Style

Similarly as in the USA, more and more students in Poland decide to pursue multiple degrees in order to improve their chances of success on the job market. The aim of the study (N = 1070) was to investigate some differences between students who aim at double degree with those who study one major only. The role of the range of goal categories connected with interval vs. point activity style (Wieczorkowska & Burnstein 1999, 2004 a, b) was analyzed. Data confirmed that Intervalists are more likely to choose two majors and if they do that they feel better than if they do not (which shows the importance of Goal-Activity Style congruence). Limitations of the study and further research directions are discussed

A career model under the conditions of change and economic crisis – a comparative study conducted in Poland and Russia

Rozdział z: Functioning of the Local Production Systems in Central and Eastern European Countries and Siberia. Case Studies and Comparative Studies, ed. Mariusz E. Sokołowicz.Currently, the entire space professional functioning of individuals undergoes significant changes. These changes on the one hand have a global character, but on the other hand are strongly determined by local factors. The theoretical aim of this paper is to describe a new career model and to indicate the factors determining its course. Whereas, its practical aim is to explain in what scope these changes have been incorporated in the perception of professional career representatives of generation Y from Poland and Russia.Monograph financed under a contract of execution of the international scientific project within 7th Framework Programme of the European Union, co-financed by Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education (title: “Functioning of the Local Production Systems in the Conditions of Economic Crisis (Comparative Analysis and Benchmarking for the EU and Beyond”)). Monografia sfinansowana w oparciu o umowę o wykonanie projektu między narodowego w ramach 7. Programu Ramowego UE, współfinansowanego ze środków Ministerstwa Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego (tytuł projektu: „Funkcjonowanie lokalnych systemów produkcyjnych w warunkach kryzysu gospodarczego (analiza porównawcza i benchmarking w wybranych krajach UE oraz krajach trzecich”))

Flora planine Aydogdu (Denizli / Turska)

The floristic characteristics of Mt Aydogdu (Denizli, Turkey) are presented and the vascular plant species growing in the area are documented. The study was carried out between 2000– 2003, and 1112 vascular plant samples were collected. At the end of the study, 586 taxa (at specific and infraspecific ranks) belonging to 82 families and 314 genera were identified. Asteraceae (76 species), Fabaceae (65 species) and Brassicaceae (43 species) are the largest families and Trifolium L. (13 species), Ornithogalum L. (9 species) and Veronica L. (9 species) are the largest genera in the area. The phytogeographic elements and their proportion represented in the study area are as follows: Mediterranean 180 (30.7%), Irano-Turanian 43 (7.3%), Euro-Siberian 24 (4.0%) and multiregional or of unknown phytogeographic origin 339 (58.0%). The endemism rate of the area is 9.7%, less then one third of the mean endemism rate in Turkey.U radu su prikazane florističke osobine planine Aydogdu (Denizli, Turska) i zabilježene su vrste vaskularnih biljaka koje rastu na tom području. Istraživanje je provedeno između 2000. i 2003., a prikupljeno je 1112 uzoraka vaskularnih biljaka. Na kraju istraživanja determinirano je sveukupno 586 svojti (na razini vrste i podvrste) iz 82 porodice i 314 rodova. Najzastupljenije porodice su Asteraceae (76 vrsta), Fabaceae (65 vrsta) i Brassicaceae (43 vrste), te rodovi Trifolium L. (13 vrsta), Ornithogalum L. (9 vrsta) i Veronica L. (9 vrsta). Fitogeografski elementi i njihov omjer je sljedeći: Mediteranski 180 (30.7%), Irano-Turanski 43 (7.3%), Eurosibirski 24 (4.0%) i multiregionalni ili nepoznatog fitogeografskog porijekla 339 (58.0%). Stupanj endemizma ovog područja je 9.7%, manje od jedne trećine srednje vrijednosti endemizma za Tursku

Basic hope and positive orientation as predictors of young people’s political involvement

Przedstawiany artykuł mieści się w nurcie badań poszukujących psychologicznych uwarunkowań zaangażowania politycznego młodych. W badaniach zweryfikowano znaczenie predyktorów nadziei podstawowej (mierzonej Kwestionariuszem Nadziei Podstawowej – BHI-12 Jerzego Trzebińskiego i Mariusza Zięby) i orientacji pozytywnej (mierzonej Skalą Orientacji Pozytywnej w polskiej adaptacji Marioli Łaguny, Piotra Olesia oraz Doroty Filipiuk) dla zmiennej zależnej, przedstawianej jako trzy autonomiczne czynniki: partycypacja wyborcza, inne formy partycypacji politycznej oraz postawa obywatelska. Mając na uwadze założenia teoretyczne zmiennych w procesie projektowania badań postawiono hipotezę, że zmienne te mogą odgrywać istotną rolę w zaangażowaniu politycznym. Założono, że może to być jeden z istotnych fundamentów generujących zachowania wspólnotowe i kształtujących postawy ukierunkowane na drugiego człowieka i dobro wspólne. Przeprowadzone badania (N = 422) potwierdziły przypuszczenia, przy czym model dwuzmiennowy okazał się najsłabszym predyktorem partycypacji wyborczej, z kolei dla innych form partycypacji politycznej oraz postawy obywatelskiej okazał się lepszą determinantą.The paper presents a study aimed at finding psychological determinants for the political involvement of young people. The study involved verification of the importance of predictors such as basic hope (measured with the Basic Hope Inventory BHI-12 by Jerzy Trzebiński and Mariusz Zięba) and positive orientation (measured with the Positivity Scale, adapted into Polish by Mariola Łaguna, Piotr Oleś and Dorota Filipiuk) for the dependent variables presented as three autonomous factors: electoral participation, other forms of political participation, and civic attitude. Taking into account the theoretical assumptions connected with the variables, it was hypothesized in the study design process that those variables could play a significant role in political involvement. They were assumed to be among the potentially significant foundations generating community behaviors and leading to the development of attitudes oriented towards neighbors and the common good. The study (N=422) confirmed these expectations; the bivariate model proved to be the weakest predictor of electoral participation, but was a much better determinant for other forms of political participation and civic attitude

The Specificity of Electoral Volatility in European Parliamentary Elections

European Parliament elections are a special area for the analysis of electoral volatility understood as changes of electoral support for individual parties occurring in time. Firstly, it is so because they are referred to as second-order elections. Secondly, because despite their supranational character, voting behaviours occurring in them are to a considerable extent moderated by the national context. The article discusses the qualities of European elections which generate electoral volatility at various analysis levels