What narrative patterns do young adults apply when they relate stories about their lives? How do they perceive their lives? Finding the answers to these questions was the aim of the research described in this article. The study involved fourteen people aged 26–35, who talked about their lives in the form of a monologue. They were asked to speak on the subject: „Tell me about the last few years of your life”. The results of the thematised information analysis suggest that their narrations resemble autopresentations included in a CV or an application letter. The results of the implied information analysis point to the illusory character of what is said explicitly. The reconstructed hidden stories do not confirm the presented stories about successful life.

Opracowanie jest próbą spojrzenia na miejsce, jakie zajmuje edukacja uniwersytecka w procesie budowania projektu życiowego przez młodych dorosłych/cieszyńskich studentów na pograniczu polsko-czeskim. W tekście podjęty został ważny wątek, opisujący stosunek młodych ludzi do kształcenia, rozumianego nie tylko jako proces podnoszenia poziomu swojego wykształcenia, ale - w głównej mierze - wzrostu życiowych kompetencji, a także podnoszenia poziomu zadowolenia ze swojego życia. Jednym z wymiernych efektów tego procesu powinno być bardziej świadome podejmowanie decyzji i odpowiedzialności za siebie, a także własne życie i dokonywane wybory. Grupą, która w sposób najbardziej bezpośredni może tego doświadczać, jest młodzież studiująca, w tym opracowaniu opisywana jako „młodzi dorośli”. Przed nią bowiem otwiera się szansa nabywania nowych umiejętności w oglądzie świata i swojego w nim miejsca, które wzrastać powinny wraz z okazją do zauważania i pomnażania własnych zasobów, by łatwiej zabezpieczyć swoją przyszłość. Studiujący młodzi dorośli na pograniczu polsko-czeskim stanowią grupę, dla której ten etap edukacji jest przepustką do dojrzałości, a obecne w nim wydarzenia współtworzą jakość ich życia. Wspomniani młodzi dorośli są świadomi potrzeby utrzymania wysokiego statusu wiedzy i kompetencji za pośrednictwem sprofilowanej i ustawicznej edukacji, co sprzyja ocenie ich własnego życia jako zgodnego z zadaniem rozwojowym tego okresu i satysfakcjonującego na tym etapie.

This study is an attempt to look at university education as an important developmental task and an element of young adults’ life project. Both the expert literature and the results of empirical research make it possible to treat higher education as an important element of entering adulthood and undertaking mature social and professional roles. Fulfilling those roles enables the young to collect life experience and to crystallize their mature life project. That project comprises many tasks the fulfilment of which allows young people to become adults and to build a mature identity. Becoming an adult occurs very individually, with the use of one’s own experience, resources, and competences. Therefore, the final developmental task can be viewed as the pursuit of adulthood and as undertaking mature obligations. In the case of young adults studying at university, that task involves the fulfilment of many social and (pro-)professional roles. Moreover, university students are provided with the possibility of verifying their current choices and investments in their own future before undertaking permanent obligations. In this context, it seems worth to raise questions of how students perceive this psychological period, how they find their place and what importance education has in their life project.

The COVID-19 pandemic is recognized as one of the most dramatic global health, social, and economic crises of the last decades, and maybe the whole century. Therefore, it is obvious that there is a need to examine the constructs of new thinking, new ways of life, and new behavior, which will help people not only to overcome the pandemic but also to build a future after it. The words isolation, quarantine, social distancing, lockdown, masks, antibodies, and zoom meeting quickly became the keywords of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this article, which is based on an analysis of the scientific literature and interviews, we ask whether new behavioral patterns such as social distancing, mask-wearing, online communication, and others might become the “new normal”. However, what might be perceived as the “new normal” to some, may seem like social absurdity to others. Thus, with an open-minded approach, we analyze the “new normal” as a complex, controversial, and evolving concept.

The primary goal of the study was to examine the relationships between spirituality, belief in free will and perceived self-efficacy among young adults. In order to develop the preliminary adaptation of the FAD-Plus questionnaire, used for measuring the lay beliefs in free will and three related constructs, Study 1 was carried out among 485 young adults. The tool had satisfactory psychometric properties. Study 2, in which 340 students participated, verified the role of believing in free will as a potential mediator between spirituality and perceived self-efficacy. In the case of male students, total mediation was found, and in the case of female students, partial mediation was noted. The studies indicate the need to put greater emphasis on the spiritual sphere and the sense of free will in the education provided for young adults.

The existing borders have very often lost their meaning and do not fulfil the functions assigned to them for many centuries. Today, especially in Europe, many borders are “dematerialized” and exist mostly in the memory and consciousness of people. Contemporary academic youth is in a special situation – they participate in the rapidly changing sociocultural world and, at the same time, experience some phenomena that have never been present on such a large scale. The reflection upon the young, learning generation of Czechs, Poles and Slovaks is associated with an attempt to find answers to many questions, among which those regarding plans for the future and the sense of life satisfaction seem to be of great significance. What I have recognized as important is finding out if the young plan their future during their studies and/or work abroad and how they assess their sense of life satisfaction, taking into account two aspects – their family life and financial situation.

The contemporary socio-economic reality generates the need to create a life project that determines the direction of implementing important goals as well as of developing new competences. This inspires the individual to look for ways of thinking and behaving which can serve as protection against various risk factors. This applies to the factors which enhance socio-professional ambivalence, the difficulty of taking advantage of life opportunities and performing new social roles. The study introduces the subject of designing the future by academic youth. It is a group that, at the stage of entering adulthood, takes up the challenge of adequate learning about their own needs and confronting them with the value system, in order to realistically determine their capabilities, both at the emotional and behavioral level. Then they will be ready for their internal and external exploration. In early adulthood, developing a plan for life turns out to be both an important protective factor and a manifestation of proactivity. In this context, creating a plan for life can also mean taking care of oneself and one’s self-development.

The aim of the study was to measure the association among Health Belief Model (HBM) variables and self-reported physical activity of young adults. A survey research protocol was employed. Participants were 391 university students (245 females), 19–22 years old (–x = 21.41±3.49). Analyses revealed that the strongest predictor of physical activity is self-efficacy, followed by perceived benefits and the perceived barriers. Other HBM variables, such as the perceived susceptibility or perceived severity, were not associated with physical activity. On the basis of the obtained results it may be concluded that the HBM as a model of avoiding diseases is not adequate to explain and predict physical activity of young adults.

Mobility of young adults from Central and Eastern European countries – a Polish-Czech-Slovak-Ukrainian comparative study

The young generation is treated as the future of society. This generation’s size, skills and knowledge, as well as economic activity, socio-cultural involvement, marital intentions and family (procreation) plans determine the quality of society. Thus, an important issue is the outflow of young people who decide to migrate abroad. It is therefore important to recognize both the current experiences and the life plans of the young generation in this field. In post-communist countries, the fall of the communist system had a major impact on the increase in mobility. Political, sociocultural and economic changes have contributed to the emergence of new migration-related phenomena and the so-called fluid migration, characterized by free movement of labour, massiveness, diversity and plasticity. The surveyed youth from Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have experiences related to functioning within open borders, unlike the youth from Ukraine, where the borders are closed. Wioletta Danilewicz notices the existence of the so-called migration culture, i.e. the acceptance (by the participants of migration processes) that these are phenomena constituting an inherent element of their lives, despite their awareness of the unfavourable co-occurring elements. The research results presented in the text indicate that the surveyed young adults do not fully follow this trend.

The aim of the study was to determine how university students perceive their personal attractiveness, how pressurized they feel into being up to the dominant ideals of body attractiveness and if they undertake actions aimed at shaping their appearance. A cross-sectional design was used. A total of 257 university students (including 160 women aged 19 to 27 (M 21.0 SD 17.0) were surveyed. The students completed questionnaires measuring perceived social pressure on attractive appearance, satisfaction with one’s appearance and actions aimed at shaping one’s appearance. The results suggest that the respondents are moderately content with their body images with more positive scores obtained by men. The parts of the body which are the source of disappointment in women are buttocks, hips, thighs and stomach while in men stomach and legs. What is interesting is that the women see the above-mentioned parts as too fat or shapeless whereas the men consider them too weak. The approval of the body image seems to depend on the level of social pressure under which the respondents are; however, the negative influence of the social pressure was noticed mainly by the women. A very low score has been observed in actions taken towards one’s own body eg physical activity, dieting, taking medicines or paramedicines and beauty sessions.