(Not)others? – self-stereotype of people with a homosexual orientation

The aim of the article is to present the self-stereotype of people with homosexual orientation. For this purpose, the study involved the application of the Twenty Statements Test developed by Manford Kuhn, used to describe oneself and perceive oneself. The theoretical basis for the considerations is the theory of biculturalism in relation to the acquisition of identity by a minority group. It shows the process of acquiring „biculturalism” by people with homosexual orientation, which proceeds in the opposite direction than in ethnic groups. 90 people of homosexual orientation participated in the study. The research material was collected using the snowball method. The respondents described themselves primarily in terms of groups and categories, and the research results indicate three pillars of their identity: sexual orientation, gender, sense of being human. The statements of the respondents also highlight the difficulties they face due to their sexual orientation – stereotypes, discrimination, social exclusion. The article shows homosexual people as perceiving their „otherness”, while pointing to their broad interests, passions, positive character traits, as well as negative attitudes of society towards this group and their possible consequences.

Religiousness and the sense of identity of students from the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia

The subject matter explored in the article include the issues related to religiousness of university students. This category comprises their denominational structure, their attitude to religion, their self-evaluation of the essence of religion in life, the frequency of participation in religious practices. These categories are shown in relation to their sense of identity. The research with the use of the survey method was conducted among students from the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia who live in culturally diverse territories. The research results show the ongoing changes in Polish and Slovak societies. Young people take advantage of the possibility of making choices and their choices concern not only education and professional paths, but also the beliefs, behaviour and activities in the religious sphere. The surveyed students’ freedom of choice is manifested, among others, in their sense of a multidimensional identity and in the consciousness of belonging to the Church. Among the surveyed university youth – in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia – one can observe the individualization of religiousness in the form of the departure from religious affiliation, as well as in “belonging without faith”.

The sense of identity of academic youth from the socio-ecological perspective

The article is aimed at analyzing the identifications of academic youth, with pedagogy students as an example, on the basis of the assumptions of Uri Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model. Particular importance was given to the socioecological and contextual determinants in which the sense of identity of emerging adults is formed. The aim of the research was to analyse the development of the sense of identity resulting from participation in the socio-cultural conditions surrounding the individual. The surveyed emerging adults (140 individuals) aged 20–25 answered the question “Who am I?” using the TST (Twenty Statement Test) by M.H. Kuhn and T.S. McPartland (1954). The research was a pilot study. The collected research material was developed using a holistic content analysis of self-definitions. On the basis of the research results, it can be concluded that the surveyed emerging adults most often use identifications related to the individual with respect to gender, possessed personality traits or to the defining oneself as a human being. In addition, there were categories of sense of identity resulting from social roles in the microsystem (a family member, a student or an employee). Less frequently, respondents identified themselves with their nation or religion, which are the result of macrosystem participation. In relation to this, educational and preventive premises were formulated.

The subject matter discussed in the article comprises the issues related to social relations, in particular with making life choices by young adults: the decisions related to the choice of friends, the choice of a life partner or a consent to the marriage of the child with a person of a different religion or nationality. The research with the use of the survey method was conducted among students from the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia, living in culturally diverse areas. The surveyed students show an open attitude towards Others in terms of religion. The results of the study confirmed the earlier tendency to choose close acquaintances and friends, regardless of their religious denomination. Students are a little less willing to choose a life partner and are aware of the difficulties encountered by mixed marriages.