Factors influencing the choice of friends : analysis of bulgarian friendship networks = Factores que influyen en la elección de amigos : análisis de redes de amistad búlgara

Este artículo presenta los resultados de una investigación que tiene lugar en 2006 usando un análisis sobre la red de amigos. Se estudian las relaciones de 223 pares de amigos. Había reciprocidad en las nociones de los que respondieron sobre el hecho de cómo percibían a sus amigos y cómo estos les percibían a ellos —como hombres o mujeres, como jóvenes, como habitantes de una ciudad, como vecinos, familiares, a través de características personales dominantes, como extranjeros, como europeos. Usualmente los amigos tenían la misma ocupación y el mismo estatus social. La identidad étnica, territorial Europea y de género influenciaban la elección de amigos y el desarrollo de la amistad. Los miembros de la mayoría étnica en Bulgaria mantenían amigos principalmente con los miembros del grupo étnico y con gente que declaró la misma religión, mientras que la gente de minorías étnicas mantuvo más frecuentemente amigos con miembros de los grupos étnicos externos y con gente de diferentes religiones. La identidad europea unificó a los miembros a encontrar cosas más comunes entre ellos cuando tenían diferentes identidades étnicas. La identidad territorial y la identidad de género dominaban más en las amistades de la gente joven que de los mayores.________________________________This paper presents the results from a research carried out in 2006 in Bulgaria by using the analysis of friendship network. The studied relationships were between 223 couples of friends. There was reciprocity in the respondents' notions about the fact how they perceived their friends and how their friends perceived them — as men/women, as young people, as inhabitants of a city, as neighbours, as relatives, through dominant personal qualities, as foreigners, as Europeans. Usually the friends had the same occupation and the same social status. The ethnic, territorial, European and gender identity influenced the choice of friends and the development of the friendship. The members of the ethnic majority in Bulgaria maintained friendships mainly with the members of the ethnic in-group and with people

Book Review: Managing and Sharing Research Data: A Guide to Good Practice

No abstract available

Qualitative and Quantitative Aspects of Interviewing – Different Communication and Interpreting Approaches

The books by M. Alvesson and J. Salmons deal with some different kinds of methodologies: qualitative (case study, grounded theory, phenomenology, and multiple qualitative methodologies), quantitative (experimental and quasi-experimental), and mixed methods. The trends in and the future of interview research, qualitative and mixed research methods are discussed. Language: Englis

"Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Sexual Psychology and Behavior": New Edited Volume by Weekes-Shackelford and Shackelford

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Mental Resilience and State Anxiety in Bulgarians Living in their Country of Origin or Abroad During COVID-19 Pandemic

Comparing state anxiety and mental resilience among people living in their country of origin and emigrants abroad may reveal if they have different experiences of negative emotional states, as well as different resources for coping with changes in everyday life brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants were 142 Bulgarians living in Bulgaria during COVID-19 pandemic and 142 Bulgarians living in different countries abroad, whose age varied from 21 to 44 years old. The study was conducted online by means of Qualtrics applying Spielberger’s State Anxiety Scale and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale CD-RISC2. State anxiety was significantly lower (t(282) = 3.242, p = .001) in Bulgarians living in their country of origin (M = 40.39; SD = 10.58) than in Bulgarians living abroad (M = 44.82; SD = 12.34) during COVID-19 pandemic. Mental resilience was significantly higher (F Levene = 8.298, p Levene = .004, t(272) = 7.522, p \u3c .001) in Bulgarians living in their country of origin (M = 5.96; SD = 1.41) than in Bulgarians living abroad (M = 4.80; SD = 1.16). Higher state anxiety of emigrated people than state anxiety of people living in their country of origin may mean more vulnerability to mental health disorders during COVID-19 pandemic in the host country than in the home country that may be related to some adaptation difficulties. Higher mental resilience in the home country may be due to the stronger sense of belonging to one’s own community in the country of origin, more sources of social support and sharing of more resources with the community and family members in the home country, better mastery of the native language that may increase perceived self-efficacy in the country of origin compared with a host country. Higher mental resilience of people living in their country of origin than mental resilience of emigrated people may mean better coping and adaptation to the changes in the way in life during COVID-19 pandemic in the home country than in a host country

Sentimentality and Nostalgia in Elderly People: Psychometric Properties of a New Questionnaire

A new questionnaire measuring sentimentality and nostalgia in elderly people was developed based on the scale Sentimentality from HEXACO Personality Inventory – Revised (Lee & Ashton, 2013), the scale Sentimentality from Psychological Inventory of Criminal-Thinking Styles (PICTS) (Walters, 2002; Walters & Geyer, 2005); the subscale Sentimentality from Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R) (Cloninger, Svrakic, & Przybeck, 1993). A sample of 121 Bulgarian elderly people was studied. The results revealed the importance of the past for the elderly people. The questionnaire had good psychometric properties. Four factors were extracted - Past emotions continue in the present; Nostalgia of the Past; Sentimental compensation; and One’s past perceived by the others. Comparison of the average values on the factors divided into the number of the items in the factor indicated that nostalgia of the past was the most strongly expressed among the elderly people, followed by the experiences related to one’s past perceived by the other people, past emotions continuing in the present, and the attempts for sentimental compensation of some past bad deeds

FUNCTIONAL, DYSFUNCTIONAL IMPULSIVITY AND SENSATION SEEKING IN MEDICAL STAFF

Background: It is important to study impulsivity and sensation seeking in medical staff because they might shed light into the effectiveness of decision-making processes and performed responses. The aims of this study were to specify if functional impulsivity prevailed in medical staff compared to dysfunctional impulsivity; how strong the relationships between functional, dysfunctional impulsivity and sensation seeking were; furthermore, it aimed to differentiate functional and dysfunctional impulsivity, according to the size of the place where medical care was practised. Subjects and methods: A sample of 323 medical workers and 99 medical students filled in questionnaire measuring sensation seeking, functional impulsivity and dysfunctional impulsivity. Results: Sensation seeking and functional impulsivity in medical staff did not differ statistically significantly (t(421)=1.171, p=0.242), but functional impulsivity was significantly more intensive than dysfunctional impulsivity among medical personnel (t(421)=8.132, p<0.001). Sensation seeking was significantly more strongly expressed than dysfunctional impulsivity among medical specialists (t(421)=7.388, p<0.001). Correlation analysis revealed that sensation seeking in medical specialists was more strongly related to functional impulsivity than to dysfunctional impulsivity (p<0.001). The studied medical staff practicing in the capital were more prone to functional impulsivity than the medical staff practicing in towns up to 50,000 inhabitants (pTukey=0.007). Conclusions: This was the first study to reveal stronger relationships between functional impulsivity and sensation seeking in medical staff than between dysfunctional impulsivity and sensation seeking which were interpreted as an influencing factor of the quality of decision-making responses. Functional impulsivity prevailed over dysfunctional impulsivity in medical occupations, so decision-making in medical care should be more effective and timelier than inappropriate, especially for medical personnel working in the capital