The Structure of Social Activity and its Correlation with the Civic Consciousness of Young People

Abstract

Objective. Study of the relationship between the forms of social activity of young people with the phenomena of civic consciousness, motivation and socio-demographic characteristics.Background. The living conditions and activities of modern youth are characterized by a variety of social activities, an increase in social contacts, at the same time, a transformation of communication, an increase in the number of its virtual forms. It requires scientific understanding and socio-psychological analysis of the structure and motivation of the social activity of young people, its relationship with civic consciousness.Study design. The work studied the numerous interrelationships of 18 forms of social activity of young people, the predisposition to which was determined by self-esteem according to the author’s scales. Then each form of social activity was assessed by the respondents at three levels: 1) communication, discussion, organization; 2) individual implementation; 3) collective interaction. The method of factor analysis was used to determine and interpret the enlarged groups of social activity. the motives of social activity were identified and a comparative analysis of the severity of motives in the groups of men and women was carried out. The relationship between the forms of social activity of young people and various parameters of civic consciousness and readiness to support various ideas for the development of the country and region of residence was determined by correlation analysis. All author’s scales have been peer reviewed by social psychologists and tested for internal consistency.Participants. 764 respondents, average age 19.7 years (64.5% women, 35.5% men). 85% — unmarried, living in rural areas — 6.1%, in small towns — 19.3%, in large cities (regional centers) — 68.4% and 6.2% of megalopolis residents. 77.7% have completed secondary (school) education, 7.6% — secondary vocational education, 14.7% — higher education.Measurements. Scales aimed at measuring various types of social activity (R.M. Shamionov, M.V. Grigoryeva, I.V. Arendachuk, etc.). Author’s scales aimed at studying individual forms and levels of manifestation of social activity and identifying the motivation and civic consciousness of young people.Results. The structure of social activity includes three levels: 1) communication, discussion, organization; 2) individual implementation; 3) collective interaction. At each of the presented levels, forms of social activity are realized, the most important of which are 18 — altruistic, leisure, sports and recreation, cultural, family and household, environmental, socio-political, Internet network, Internet search, civil, social economic, professional, educational and developmental, spiritual, religious, protest, radical protest, subcultural activity. In the structure of the social activity of young people, taking into account various forms and levels, 7 enlarged groups can be distinguished that characterize the types of social activity of young people: 4 mixed (Participation in collective subcultural protest actions, Discussion of socio-political and economic activity for subsequent individual implementation, Participation in collective environmental — altruistic actions, Cultural and leisure activities associated with individual education) and 3 homogeneous (Sports and recreational, Family and household and Religious). Among the motives of the social activity of young people, the motives for learning new things and self-development are most pronounced. Women, to a greater extent than men, express the motives of respect and love and harmony with others. With an increase in the age and educational level of young people, territorial stability increases, both at the regional and national levels.Conclusions. Various forms of social activity are interconnected, complementary and can be combined and transformed into each other. Social activity of young people is positively associated with civic consciousness and regional identity. Among the motives of the social activity of young people, the most pronounced are the motives of learning new things and self-development.